When Alexander opened his eyes, a bright light momentarily blinded him. In the first seconds, he could not understand where he was, but then the familiar face of Sofia appeared before his eyes. With relief and tears in her eyes, she hugged the hare tightly to her.

- Why do you always scare me?! - she said through tears. - You’ve been lying dead for a whole hour, I was so scared...

Alexander was able to squeeze his face through the embrace to grab some air and look around. There was a bustle and tense atmosphere around them. Alexander slowly looked around the room. Next to them stood a group of scientists in white coats, their faces full of concern and concentration. One of the scientists was holding a strange device in his hands that made squeaking sounds, the other was writing something in a notebook. Their gazes were fixed on Alexander, as if they were waiting for a detailed report from him, but the hare was silent and slowly moved his muzzle from side to side.

Ivan stood a little to the side. He caught the hare's gaze and nodded to him - simply, silently, like a man. There was fatigue and relief in his eyes that Alexander was okay. The hare moved his head from side to side. There were many people in the room, but Andrei was not among them.

At the moment when Alexander realized Andrei’s absence, his thoughts briefly touched upon the assumption of discord in the team. Perhaps the accumulated disagreements and tensions that escalated in Grani pushed Andrei to the decision to leave. While Sofia and Ivan, recognizing Alexander as an important part of their team, remained in place, waiting for his return to life.

- He’s a military man, where will he go? - thought Alexander.

Then there were the standard procedures for those returning from Grani. The hare was taken to the laboratory where it was checked for health. Everything was filled with the sounds of various medical equipment. Scientists and doctors worked around, dressed in sterile white coats, their faces hidden behind masks. They carefully studied the readings of the monitors connected to Alexander and carefully carried out various tests, checking his reflexes and vital functions.

Sofia and Ivan were in adjacent boxes, where they also underwent a medical examination. In their boxes there were similar beds with monitors, and doctors also scurried around them, checking their condition after returning from the Border.

As Alexander understood, they did not want to leave him while he was dead, while Andrei had already completed all the necessary isolation procedures and left the underground complex. After all examinations were completed, and having ensured that all participants were in good condition, the group also left the laboratory and headed back to their location.

A lively atmosphere reigned in the military town on the eve of the Far Eastern Forum. The snow covering the streets gave the area a wintry beauty, but did not stop the intense preparations for the upcoming event. There was movement and activity everywhere: soldiers and officers hurried about their business, carrying equipment, coordinating units and discussing plans.

“They’re only transferring the top guys, but the fuss is as if they’re transferring the entire base...” muttered Ivan, but Alexander heard him perfectly well.

Ivan did not understand all the changes at the base, since the events in Grani, in which Alexander’s group participated, caused a wave of concern among the military leadership. During this time that the hare was dead, Andrei managed to meet with the curator and gave an oral report, and then a written one. It's not about the guy's speed, but about how long Alexander spent in Grani.

Meetings and deliberations took place one after another, where the consequences and possible risks associated with the chaos in the Edge and its impact on the real world were discussed. The troops were on alert, considering the potential threats that could arise due to instability in the other dimension. Nobody wanted to repeat the second stage, which was popularly called “Battle with Zombies.” Now there was already a turbulent situation with the constant appearance of abilities in people, and then there was a wave of strong monsters.

In the laboratory complexes, scientists and researchers analyzed the data obtained and worked to understand the changes in the Edge. Some of them studied in depth the violet of life obtained by Alexander’s group, trying to unravel its composition, but so far there has been no progress.

At the same time, preparations for the Vladivostok Forum continued. Security measures were strengthened, and personnel training switched to an enhanced regime. Those of their superiors, no matter how busy they were on missions, were now staging a show of abilities at the training grounds.

Ivan and Sofia reached their building, after which they separated. It was necessary to prepare for a report with management. In normal times, they had plenty of time to prepare a written report on past events, but now the deadlines were tight. They will only have time to change clothes and run to headquarters. Where they will prepare documents, and then meet with management.

Sofia quickly ran into her room and carefully released the hare onto the floor. Looking around the room, she said:

- I won’t be back soon, as always, I’ll have to write a bunch of reports and sit at meetings, don’t get bored. I'll come back and feed them souls. - she blew a kiss towards the hare and, hastily running out of the room, slammed the door behind her. Alexander was left alone.

The room became quiet. Alexander went to the window and looked out. The snow continued to fall, giving the military town a calm and quiet that contrasted with its usual liveliness.

Feeling alone, but at the same time protected within the walls of this room, he made himself comfortable. Left alone with his thoughts, he tried to find calm and strength for the upcoming trials. And one of them was connected with a monster from the Edge, which gave him an interesting idea.

- Now I can’t talk to anyone, but we communicated with the power of thought... If Roman had been here, he would definitely have suggested experimenting until he lost consciousness... Roman... I would need his help in the future, which means it is vital for me to learn to communicate without words. So, let's experiment...

Alexander understood that learning to communicate with the power of thought is a difficult process that requires patience and consistency. He decided to approach this methodically.

At first he started with simple exercises. He tried to visualize simple objects. For example, he imagined an apple or a book and tried to hold this image in his mind as clearly and as long as possible. This is something that people do all the time, but it is often really difficult to maintain one image for a long time. Alexander withdrew into himself, repeating the same thing until he could say that he was doing it confidently.

He then moved on to more complex exercises, trying to create entire scenes or situations in his imagination. Then he repeated them, adding details, and played them again in his head. Creative people often don’t even think about the flow of thoughts in their heads that give rise to the plots of paintings, books, films and other manifestations of creative activity.

At the same time, Alexander tried to improve his ability to concentrate. He understood that successful communication with the power of thought requires clarity and focus. Alexander tried to drive away distracting thoughts, focusing solely on the task of communicating his thoughts. This was already like the development of a meditative state among monks or enlightened people. And if you think about it, Alexander had already been torturing his brain for four hours, continuing to build up the tension from intensifying mental training.

In addition, he worked on strengthening his intuition and sensitivity, trying to feel his thoughts "leaving" his consciousness and "reaching" the intended recipient. He tried to detect changes in his internal state that could indicate the success or failure of his attempts. It was like trying to feel my own emotional background, invisible to the eye.

When the hare's ears began to ring, Alexander decided to take a break, as he felt that he was exhausted and needed rest. He involuntarily glanced at Sofia’s watch and realized that she had been gone for more than five hours. It is unknown when she will come, which means it is unknown how much time there is to train in a calm environment. It only seems from the outside that these mental exercises can be done in any environment, but this is not so. Any external irritant can be the key to absent-mindedness or even laziness.

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- Sleep is not an option, time is precious. There will be a transfer soon, and there will be a possible meeting with Roman, for which you need to be prepared. I will need his help to regain my body. So no sleep, just a little relaxation. - After giving himself a little rest, Alexander returned to training.

One of the directions of his experiments was to enhance the emotional component of his mental messages. He tried to convey not only visualized images or words, but also the feelings and moods that accompanied them. Alexander realized that emotions can play a key role in mental communication, making messages more vivid and understandable. The young man saw somewhere that the transfer of emotions occurs easily and sometimes even uncontrollably. Perhaps it was some kind of series, but who will remember now.

He also began to use associations. Alexander realized that some images and memories have strong emotional connections that can help convey thoughts. For example, he tried to visualize moments from his past that were especially meaningful to him, and tried to convey these memories along with the sensations they evoked.

- Mom, dad... Now that I remember them, the emotional color of my emotions has changed a lot... - the guy became slightly sad, but will continue training. He has already taken his revenge once against Twilight. All that remains is to avenge his death, but this has nothing to do with his parents.

In addition to training, Alexander initially had an idea for the sake of which he began these experiments. In its original form the idea sounded like this:

- Perhaps you should try to use the power of the soul... You can try to saturate your thoughts with the power of the soul. Since I can't speak...

He turned to his soul vault, the place where the energy he collected was stored, and carefully took a small portion under his control. However, the next step was a mystery to him:

- How can the thought with which I control the soul be imbued with the power of the soul? Experiments! - I remembered the words of one presenter from the past guy.

Alexander began the second stage of experiments. He tried to focus the energy of the soul and direct it into his mental images and words. He imagined energy enveloping his thoughts, giving them greater strength and clarity. However, the first attempts were unsuccessful. When he tried to form a mental message, his energy dissipated without achieving the desired goal. Essentially, he was trying to do two things at the same time, and with one tool.

With each attempt, he felt a little of his energy was lost, not bringing the expected result. It was like trying to grasp an elusive thread that was slipping through his “fingers” of soul power. Alexander understood that he needed a different approach, but what exactly he could not yet understand.

However, he did not give up. His determination to explore and develop this new ability was indomitable. He knew that if he found the right way to use soul energy to communicate, it could open up new horizons and opportunities for him.

And he already had a headache from constant training. The hare fell onto his back, which looked cute from the outside, and stared at the white-painted ceiling. Another short break so that the pressure on the brain subsides and we can continue. Alexander decided to rethink his approach to communicating with the power of thought.

- What if you try the other way around – fill the power of the soul with words, images and emotions? - he thought. - It turns out that I will be like a radio transmitter, and the people around will be receivers. And for this, you need to release the power of the soul in a wave... In principle, it is possible.

He concentrated and began to fill his soul energy with a thought that suddenly came to mind. "Guys! They're beating our people!" Charging these words with strong emotions and images of struggle and resistance. Then, gathering his will into a fist, he released this saturated energy in a wide stream around himself, trying to achieve as wide a radius of action as possible.

Immediately after this, Alexander felt severe weakness. He even thought that the experiment had failed, but then several voices sounded in his head. One of them sounded questioningly: “Where? Where to run? Hey?!”, and the other, a little irritated, added: “What kind of jokes?”

At this time, in the corridor outside the door of the room, the voice of the person on duty in the residential building was heard, duplicating the second voice:

- Hey!? Where are our people being beaten? - this confirmed that Alexander’s experiment was successful. He realized that everyone who was in the range of his energy briefly acquired the ability to communicate with him mentally.

- It turns out that everyone who is touched by my energy can communicate with me at my expense. - Alexander concluded. - And perhaps it’s worth trying to address it more concentratedly, but to whom?

Alexander turned to his soul with concentration, exploring his newfound ability to communicate with the power of thought. He felt waves of energy emanating from his soul, diverging in two directions. These waves were like thin rays of light penetrating the darkness, invisibly connecting him with the outside world. One of the waves was bright and direct, pointing to the duty officer in the corridor, the second was weaker and blurry, heading somewhere deeper into the building. The feeling of thought transfer was amazing, but Alexander realized that it required a lot of energy:

- Energy is wasted from every word that is transmitted through this connection. You need to try to interrupt the transmission. - he concentrated and blocked the access of energy, which instantly stopped the connection. He felt the waves of energy die down and the connection was severed. And most importantly, the weakness passed and the pressure on the brain decreased.

“We need to try something more targeted, but don’t anger the person on duty...” Alexander decided and jumped to the window. By the way, the duty officer was still walking around looking for the joker, but that was no longer so important. The hare's gaze fell on the snowy military town. Military buildings lined the streets, strewn with freshly fallen snow. The snow gave the austere military structures a softness and calmness. In the distance the figures of soldiers could be seen moving about their business.

Around the corner of one of the buildings, hidden from prying eyes, two fighters took a smoke break. They stood against the wall, where they were not visible from most of the windows, and quietly discussed something. This was the ideal moment for Alexander to try his abilities on new “objects” of research.

Alexander was intently preparing for a new experiment. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and began repeating the same process he had used before. This time, he focused on narrowing the range of his thought wave, limiting it to only the two military men around the corner of the building.

He visualized their images in his mind and directed his soul energy towards them, putting into the wave a simple question: “How to get to the library?” He felt his energy leaving him and heading towards his goal. At the same time, he monitored his condition. The weakness that appeared in his body and the changes in the waves of his soul were a sign that a message had been sent.

Until this moment, the two military men were talking calmly:

- Have you heard about the new rotation? - asked the first one.

- Yes, they say we will be transferred to the northern post. - answered the second one. - It won't be easy...

And suddenly, out of nowhere, a clear question sounded in their minds: “How to get to the library?” They both perked up, looking around in search of the source of the voice. At the very least, it was unexpected and strange.