– Why?

The general looked at Rutra surprised, not answering the question, he continued:

– Perimeter" requests "Cheget" and "Kazbek", but there is silence. We wait for a request directly to the post to confirm the presence of a person, i.e. to manually give the command "Stand down", and then it turns itself off. And the automatics records in the log that the command to disconnect was from a person. Who gave the command? At first we thought it was the understudies. We're waiting to see who will be sent to the "grave". A large gathering is announced. The question is raised: who made such a regulation? Specifically unknown. From official positions – the head of the Ministry of Defense, Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and Commander-in-Chief – refer to the requirement of the developer of the system. All those who had anything to do with it, veiledly hint that it is necessary to deal with the specialists of NPO "Impulse", on whose recommendation the regulations were changed. That is with the specialists of the Zero Center, because in this situation our specialists acted under the legend of this enterprise. You should know that by the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation NPO "Impulse" was determined to be the leading organization for creation of automated control systems for the benefit of the Russian Armed Forces. Those responsible for Cheget and Kazbek report that the command came through an internal closed line. That it was coordinated and approved by the top leadership. It is not known who or what gave the command "Stand down". We had to close the case and deal with it quietly. That is, to take the blow on ourselves, declaring that there was no failure, the system worked according to its program. We appointed a guilty person for misinterpretation of the functionality of the stages of routine work, which was the reason for the fuss. Everything was settled, settled, but the questions remained. It is impossible to hide it completely. That's why "specialists" of NPO "Impulse" had to write a report about possible failures in the system due to interference from an unknown source. Admiral Hent says that after he conducts an internal investigation at the Zero facility, we will reconvene. The investigation isn't finished yet, though a reassembly is scheduled in a couple days. So time is short…

The general was silent again, thinking.

– What?" Ruthra asked warily.

A certain Admiral Hent, whom only the "veterans" of Center Zero knew, was an unknown, mythical person for Rutra. And if Vasilievich said that Zero was an international supranational organization that analyzed information flows from all intelligence services, including "hostile" ones, then who could this Hent be? His level Rutra was still imagining in the abstract.

– It would be surprising to me if you didn't have questions," the head of the "P" department finally spoke up.

– How, after your story…

– So think about it, but do not forget that at first glance this is some kind of official, let me say, vested interests, and secondly, it is a serious danger in the security system. And thirdly, it is a catastrophic situation at the world level. Do you realize what can happen if someone thinks that we do not control it or, even worse, that the control is in unknown hands? And what if it fails at all and goes off automatically?

– I can imagine," Ruthra replied quietly, and he realized the precarious ground on which the world and human existence lay. – Are you saying she can launch missiles?

– Exactly. When it happened, Hent looked like he was in first grade and they were asking him to solve an integral equation. I mean, there was no team with Zero.