Nueva-Delhi visits Frosty's Snowflake factory for a tour, but sabotage turns the visit disastrous. Someone dislikes winter or has issues with the factory. Join Nueva-Delhi in uncovering the mystery.
Nueva-Delhi Visits the Secret City of Frosty to enjoy a tour at the renowned Snowflake factory, producing snow and an integral part of winter. But unforeseen circumstances occur, turning a regular tour into a dreadful catastrophe. It seems someone doesn't like winter, or was unhappy with the factory for some reason? All of this we are about to uncover together with the brave and unwavering Nueva-Delhi. (Translation of russian fanfiction. https://ficbook.net/readfic/018aec67-3c9e-74cc-ab44-fccd3fd215f0 . Permitted by the author.) Fanfiction has two OC characters: Nueva-Delhi, Vasilly
The wheels clattered as the train moved along. Outside, a snowy landscape slowly passed by. Single snowflakes twirled in the sky, rhythmically descending onto the white fields. Trees swayed in the light wind, occasionally brushing the window with their bare, crooked branches.
Nueva-Delhi gazed out the window, resting her head against her hoof. A cup of morning coffee sat on the table beside her. Next to the cup lay a half-eaten cookie. Nueva-Delhi glanced at it, sighed, and then turned her gaze back to the window.
Across from her sat an elderly horse with dark gray fur and a long white beard. He stubbornly held onto his favorite cane with a golden star-shaped knob at the end of it. Occasionally, out of boredom, he would tap it on the floor, causing Nueva-Delhi slight irritation, though she tried not to show it.
The compartment neighbor watched the young mare attentively, his eyes fixed on her for minutes without wavering. Nueva-Delhi thought he might want to ask something — she couldn't think of any other reason for such a look. She turned to him.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
The old horse cleared his throat.
"Are you also heading to Frosty?" he inquired.
Nueva-Delhi turned to face him fully and looked at him closely.
"Yes," she replied. "Exactly there."
The old horse smiled.
"How fortunate," he said. "All because of the bicentennial of the famous Snowflake factory?"
Nueva-Delhi smiled back and glanced away.
"No," she said. "I wasn't aware of this significant date."
"How is that possible?" the old horse exclaimed in surprise. "To travel to the city and not know exactly when you're going?"
In reality, Nueva-Delhi had no plans to go anywhere at all. But just before New Year's, her friend Meladonia gave her tickets for a tour of the "Snowflake" winter factory. More precisely, Meladonia paid for the entire trip. You might wonder why Meladonia didn't go herself?
In fact, according to Meladonia herself, she received the voucher from an acquaintance living in Frosty. But the thing is, Meladonia couldn't go on the tour. She had already made plans with her family for the holiday. Besides, Meladonia wasn't one of those mares who enjoyed trips. So the tickets became a gift for Nueva-Delhi, who had no objections to traveling during the holidays. She had no plans of her own.
"I..." Nueva-Delhi hesitated. "I received the tickets as a gift, and my friend didn't bother to explain anything to me. So what? Is it true that this factory is already two hundred years old?"
"Yes," nodded the old horse. "A round anniversary," he drew a circle with his hoof in the air.
Nueva-Delhi chuckled.
"To be honest, I know nothing about this factory," she admitted.
"No big deal," the old horse waved off. "Many people don't know about the existence of this factory. I just have a granddaughter working there. That's why I'm going to visit her. I can't miss such a day."
"Absolutely," nodded Nueva-Delhi with a smile.
"In fact, it's a very interesting place," observed the old horse. "It has a special atmosphere, and there's even some mystery about it," he looked up at the ceiling for a few seconds, then shook his head. "But I won't spoil it for you. You'll see everything for yourselves."
"Oh, you won't tell us anything at all?" Nueva-Delhi said disappointedly.
The old horse smirked cunningly.
"The first impression is the most important," he remarked. "And everything else is just... an addition. By the way, who are you?"
"Oh, right," Nueva-Delhi slapped her forehead. "We haven't even introduced ourselves. I'm Nueva-Delhi Wallen-Delamot."
"You can just call me Frankl," the old horse replied. "Nice to meet you."
"Likewise," said Nueva-Delhi.
Frankl looked into Nueva-Delhi's eyes intently. She glanced around nervously. His suspicious gaze unsettled her.
"For some reason, your name seems familiar to me," he observed. "Are we perhaps acquainted with your father?"
Nueva-Delhi breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.
"It's quite possible you've heard of him," she said. "He's one of the famous detectives."
"Ah," exclaimed Frankl. "Of course! Gustav Wallen-Delamot! Of course, I've heard of him! But it just completely slipped my mind. I'm getting old."
"Yes, he's my father," Nueva-Delhi smiled.
"I first heard about him from 'The Case at the Cargo Pier,'" said Frankl. "A very grand case! And your father — a genius. An incredible horse."
"Yes," nodded Nueva-Delhi.
Frankl remained silent for a while, then suddenly said:
"But why are we still talking about your father? We wanted to talk about you."
"What is there to say about me?" Nueva-Delhi remarked. "I haven't done anything in my life that would be worth your attention. I'm just a student."
"Don't be like that," Frankl objected. "To be an interesting horse, you don't have to accomplish some grand event. Although I believe you'll prove yourself."
Nueva-Delhi blushed slightly.
"Thank you," she replied.
The train gradually slowed down. The wheels creaked. Frankl and Nueva-Delhi both glanced out the window simultaneously.
"Here we are," Frankl said with a satisfied smile and tapped the floor again with his cane.
***
Nueva-Delhi wasn't alone. She arrived in the city with three other tourists. There was the cheerful pink horse, Mila, the cold and indifferent cat, Rita, and the tall, strong, but somewhat dull-witted black horse, Alen. They all received the same vouchers as Nueva-Delhi. Their mutual acquaintance expressed a desire for them not to separate so they wouldn't lose each other.
Now they stood on the platform, waiting for the horse who had given them all the vouchers.
After a few minutes, she finally appeared.
"Sorry," she exclaimed, putting a hoof to her chest. She needed a moment to catch her breath after the quick run. The horse's coat was dark blue, and her mane was white. She was short and quite plump. She wore a ridiculous, tasteless woolen scarf around her neck.
"Sorry," she repeated. "If Richard hadn't delayed me, I would have been on time. So..." She looked over those present. "Mila, Rita, and Alen. And you," she pointed a hoof at Nueva-Delhi, "must be Meladonia's friend?"
"I'm Nueva-Delhi," the horse introduced herself.
"I'm Jessica," the conductor replied with a smile. "Nice to meet you. Let's go, standing around here doesn't help anyone."
She headed towards a large building with transparent walls made entirely of windows. The others followed her.
***
They walked through the huge train station building and emerged outside. A small town awaited them. Tiny low houses with white snow caps dotted the landscape. Garlands and various decorations hung everywhere. In the center of town stood a large stage with a huge banner overhead reading, "Our 'Snowflake' turns two hundred!"
They strolled leisurely along the street. The locals greeted them warmly and waved their hooves. Nueva-Delhi smiled back at them. Frankl was right. There was indeed a wonderful atmosphere here.
Near the factory, tourists crowded in anticipation of the tour. Jessica was late again. It seemed to be one of her harmful habits. Nueva-Delhi boredly moved away from the crowd and looked through the black bars of the fence at the towering, huge white factory building. White smoke billowed from the randomly protruding pipes. Could those be clouds? And were there snowflakes in them?
Behind the fence, workers crowded. They were mostly felines. They wore clean white work clothes, and some of them held signs. They were shouting something. This seemed very strange to Nueva-Delhi. What made the workers gather together and revolt? The factory seemed to be functioning, and the winters of the past years had been the same as always. Were they paid too little? That was a reasonable guess because they should be working right now, but instead, they were causing some kind of commotion here.
Finally, Jessica arrived. She again mentioned something about Richard, who had delayed her. However, Nueva-Delhi already understood that Richard had nothing to do with it, but she saw no point in getting upset with the absent-minded horse.
Nueva-Delhi approached the group of tourists.
"So," said Jessica, "is everyone here? Then let's go."
She approached the fence and swung open the gate. With a terrible creak, the gates slowly parted, allowing everyone to see the full picture. The factory was incredibly huge. The eye couldn't fully grasp its bulk and grandeur.
"Welcome to our famous 'Snowflake' winter factory," Jessica solemnly announced, ushering the tourists forward.
Nueva-Delhi entered the factory grounds with the crowd. She looked around with surprise and excitement at the white building emitting whistling and buzzing sounds.
But then a ginger cat jumped up to her and yelled furiously:
"You won't replace us! Manual labor is irreplaceable!!!"
Nueva-Delhi raised one eyebrow in confusion. However, supporters joined the ginger cat. They began to shout together some nonsense about artificiality and manual labor. Jessica hurried over to Nueva-Delhi.
"How did they get here again?!" she wailed. "Who let them in?!" Jessica turned to Nueva-Delhi. "I'm sorry. We'll sort this out now." After saying these words, she shouted loudly, "Security! Security!"
Following these shouts, menacing white bears in black uniforms appeared. The sight of them made the angry crowd of workers uncomfortable, and they backed away.
"Don't let them near the guests!" Jessica commanded sternly and turned to the crowd of tourists. Some of them were already taking pictures with keen interest and bright flashes of workers and security. "Don't disperse! Stick together! The factory is very large; we wouldn't want anyone to get lost there. Let's go."
Everyone followed her again. Nueva-Delhi had a somewhat unpleasant feeling after this small incident. She didn't know why, but she felt that something was wrong here. She didn't like how Jessica spoke to the workers.
Nueva-Delhi lowered her head sadly and slowly followed everyone, but after a few steps, she turned around. The rebellious workers looked at her with predatory, malicious glances. They clearly weren't pleased with the guests.
"There's not as much interesting stuff there as it seems," shouted the ginger cat to Nueva-Delhi. "Soon there'll be nothing worth seeing."
"They've completely gone mad," said Mila to Nueva-Delhi. She, too, was looking at the workers. "They've overworked, apparently. Where have you seen civilized creatures throwing themselves at ordinary citizens for no reason?"
"Don't worry," Nueva-Delhi replied calmly. "He didn't even touch me."
***
They all found themselves inside the factory. The vaults soared high, and even if you raised your head high, you couldn't see where the ceiling ended. There were galleries everywhere, and cats-workers scurried about them. The factory was extremely lively now. Huge mechanisms creaked, pipes emitted cold steam, and somewhere water bubbled loudly.
"Don't disperse!" Jessica shouted again.
Bright flashes of cameras flickered again. Restless tourists began to photograph everything. Alen approached a huge water tank closely. He seemed to want to take an impressive shot, but a gray striped cat stopped him. He descended on a rope right in front of the lens and waved a hammer threateningly.
"No-no-no," he said. "Don't cross the line."
The cat nodded his head towards the red line drawn on the floor. Alen was standing right on it. After the warning, he stepped back.
"Please observe safety protocols," the cat said displeasedly. "Otherwise, disaster is inevitable."
"I understand," Alen replied fearfully and hurriedly stepped away from the reservoir.
"Please gather everyone together," Jessica's displeased voice was heard.
The tourists obediently huddled together. Jessica ascended to a raised platform so that she could be better heard.
"Dear guests," she began again in a solemn tone. "Today marks the two-hundredth anniversary of our greatest factory, and you've all gathered here to commemorate it. Allow me to tell you the story of how this production came to be."
The crowd joyfully started cheering. Everyone was eager to hear the story. Jessica smiled and gestured for them to quiet down.
"Allow me," she said and began descending the stairs slowly. "Can you imagine that there was once no winter?"
Negative responses echoed in reply.
"Of course," Jessica chuckled. "We're all accustomed to the fluffy snow falling from the sky. We've seen it since childhood and can't imagine life without it. Yet it's only been two hundred years since Aaron Agatov invented his first machine, which turns water into snow and ice. That's where it all began."
Jessica turned and pointed to a portrait hanging on the wall, depicting a white horse with lavish gray whiskers.
"If it weren't for Aaron, we would have never experienced all the joys of winter," Jessica continued, approaching the portrait. Underneath it, mechanisms were arranged, cordoned off with red ropes on chains. Tourists immediately rushed over to photograph them. "Yes, here you can see examples of his early works and clay molds of his first snowflakes."
Nueva-Delhi also approached to take a look. Clay rectangular hollow forms with imprints resembling not very intricate snowflakes were stored beneath thick glass. Some of them had stickers with dates underneath.
"But Aaron's main problem was that his machine produced critically little snow," Jessica said. "It wouldn't have been enough to cover even one city. Aaron was extremely dissatisfied with this. But then his works were noticed by Victor Vetrov. It was the most momentous encounter in our city's history. Victor, wealthy and affluent at the time, financed Aaron's project, and after years, this huge factory grew, and now snow falls every year all over the world!"
The crowd erupted in joyous applause. Jessica solemnly bowed, then called for silence once more.
"Since then, the factory has been sustained by these two families: the Agatovs and the Vetrovs," she concluded.
The crowd burst into joyful applause again. Jessica laughed.
"Well, let's go," she remarked. "It's time to explore the greatness of this factory."
The tourists began to excitedly chatter. Everyone followed Jessica.
Initially, they were each given a white robe and a cap for their heads. One interesting thing Nueva-Delhi noticed was that both the cap and the robe were insulated inside. However, this was logical. After all, workers needed to handle snow and ice.
The first workshop they visited was the craftsman's workshop. Mechanisms with small, delicate fingers crafted neat, intricate patterns of snowflakes on plates. The mechanisms consisted of tiny gears that rotated slowly, activating the fingers. Passing by several machines, Nueva-Delhi noticed that they were producing suspiciously similar snowflakes.
"Here you can see the latest technologies created by our best designer-engineer, Vladimir Dubov," Jessica said. "They've significantly simplified the work for our workers and multiplied production speeds."
"But I remember," interjected the haughty Rita, indifferently examining the snowflakes, "that according to the latest statistics, the implementation of these technologies has been detrimental to the factory, and lately, it has been experiencing financial difficulties."
Jessica couldn't find a response to that, and Rita was soon surrounded by a crowd, happily posing for photographs.
"Well..." Jessica trailed off. "It's still early days. We'll get used to it, and production will speed up..."
Everyone moved to the next workshop. It was a room for producing clouds. Surprisingly, it wasn't as cold in this room as in the previous one. The temperature here was quite warm. Clouds emerged from large pipes. Cats gathered them into piles using ordinary rakes. Pegasus helped them with this task. When they managed to compact one large pile, they sent it into a large tank and sealed it tightly with a lid. As Jessica explained, these tanks are sent to the warehouse to settle, and from there, they go straight into the sky.
The remaining workshops all looked quite similar to each other. In reality, the factory was quite monotonous, and Nueva-Delhi was glad she didn't work there. She noticed that half of the production had been replaced by machines, but there were still plenty of cats and horses in their work uniforms. By the way, Jessica explained that in the future, they planned to install machines throughout the entire factory and use as little manual labor as possible.
Soon they circled around the entire factory and returned to the water reservoirs. Then, shelves with souvenirs were brought out, and everyone immediately began to go through them. Nueva-Delhi stood aside. She was not impressed by what she had seen. And she didn't like those discussions about technologies at all. She began to suspect that the rebellious workers and these very technologies were somehow connected.
Nueva-Delhi approached the reservoir and looked thoughtfully at her reflection. And then she noticed a small crack. She touched it, and more cracks appeared. Nueva-Delhi stepped back from the reservoir, sensing trouble. Soon the entire reservoir was covered with a web of cracks.
"Jessica!" Nueva-Delhi shouted.
A thick layer of unbreakable glass shattered into pieces, and a huge stream of icy water rushed out.
The wave was so powerful that it knocked everyone off their feet. For a moment, Nueva-Delhi felt herself spinning and twirling, almost on the verge of drowning. Along with the wave, she forcefully collided with the heavy steel gates of the factory.
Struggling, Nueva-Delhi realized she couldn't swim and feared she might drown. Then came a deafening screech, followed by the sound of shattering glass. The second reservoir had burst. Water surged even more forcefully. Eventually, the gates gave in with a thunderous creak, parting ways. Nueva-Delhi felt the pull of a new wave carrying her away. Desperately, she tried to grasp onto something, but found herself once again in the nauseating carousel.
What made things worse was that the wave carried not only living beings but also various objects. Nueva-Delhi dreaded colliding with them, especially the large and sharp ones.
To Nueva-Delhi, it seemed like the torrent would never cease. She was tossed and thrown in different directions, colliding with several walls, acquiring bruises and scrapes. Meanwhile, the water seemed to be ever-increasing.
Soon, this nightmare came to an end...
***
Nueva-Delhi abruptly opened her eyes and coughed. Water rushed out of her throat like a fountain. The sensations were repulsive. Nueva-Delhi placed a hoof on her chest and continued coughing for a while. She looked up. A penguin in a white coat and a hat with a red cross stood before her, leaning in.
"Can you speak?" he inquired.
"Yes," Nueva-Delhi managed to rasp out with a hoarse voice.
"Excellent," the penguin began jotting down notes. "I'll direct you to the hospital. They'll provide additional assistance. Can you manage to get there yourself?" He looked at Nueva-Delhi over the top of his notepad.
Her head was still spinning, and she was shivering from the cold. After all, she had just bathed in icy water, and her limbs were trembling spasmodically. Nueva-Delhi struggled to stand properly.
The surroundings were chaotic, with penguins rushing around providing first aid. There was widespread destruction, and crystalline deposits from frozen water adorned the buildings. Only now did Nueva-Delhi notice they were standing on a roof, overlooking icy streets below where some animals were trapped. How lucky she was to be swept onto the roof. Otherwise, who knows when she would have been freed.
"Uh, miss?" the penguin prompted.
"Oh yes!" Nueva-Delhi snapped back to reality and didn't want to burden the doctor-penguin with unnecessary troubles. Others also needed help. "Yes, of course. No problem."
The penguin nodded, tore a sheet from his notepad, and handed it to Nueva-Delhi. She took it, and the penguin smoothly slid down from the roof. Nueva-Delhi looked at the sheet. It had an address and the doctor's name written on it.
A gentle breeze blew, penetrating Nueva-Delhi's soaked body to the bones. She shivered, shook her shoulders, and started moving forward.
Her attempt to descend from the roof wasn't as graceful as the doctor-penguin's, resulting in a knee bruise to accompany the cold. Nueva-Delhi sniffled and got back on her feet. Her throat was terribly scratchy, and her head was still spinning. She sat down for a moment, deciding to wait until the dizziness subsided. In this condition, moving was perilous, and she had time to reflect on what had just happened.
Things were getting stranger. First, the rebellion, the factory management's negative attitude towards them, the new technologies... And, in the end, why did the reservoir burst? Was it intentional? Did someone deliberately break it? But they surely knew it would harm not only the factory but also the common residents. Or was it just an unfortunate accident? Why on such an important day for the factory and the city?
Suddenly, she heard a cry for help. Nueva-Delhi immediately stood up and looked around. For a second, she thought she might have imagined it. She listened more attentively, twitching her ear. The cry echoed again, coming from the north. Nueva-Delhi slowly moved in that direction. Walking was incredibly challenging as her hooves slid on the ice, causing her to fall several times.
Finally, she managed to reach the destination. A well was just a few steps away, and the cry was emanating from inside. Nueva-Delhi approached the well and peered in. Someone was struggling in the water at the bottom. In the dimness, only bright green eyes were visible. The trapped one seemed to have noticed Nueva-Delhi.
"Help me!" he shouted louder, scratching the walls with his claws. "Please, I beg you!"
"Of course," Nueva-Delhi replied immediately.
She snapped back to attention and began scanning her surroundings for something long. The well was made of stone but lacked a cover or bucket, which complicated matters. The poor soul was fortunate to fall into this particular well.
Nueva-Delhi circled around the well area. Empty buckets, uprooted fir trees, Christmas baubles... And then luck struck. She found a long garland torn off a house. It was torn, but despite that, it was still long enough.
Nueva-Delhi wound the garland into a coil and approached the well. The trapped one had started worrying that she had forgotten about him, but when he noticed the horse's face appearing, his eyes immediately lit up with joy.
"I found a rope," Nueva-Delhi said.
"Great," came the reply from the well. "Lower it down here."
Nueva-Delhi wanted to comply immediately, but then she froze. If she did that, he wouldn't be able to climb up. He was currently in the water and, obviously, his paws were slippery. He wouldn't be able to grip the garland. Something else was needed...
"What's the matter?" the trapped one asked anxiously.
"This won't help you at all," Nueva-Delhi said. "We need to think of something else."
"What are you talking about?" persisted the one stuck in the well.
"Wait," Nueva-Delhi replied shortly.
She stepped away from the well and looked around. There was a tree growing nearby, its long branches hanging directly over the well's abyss. An idea struck Nueva-Delhi's mind immediately. She approached the tree closely and threw the end of the garland. She wanted to toss it over the branch, but it took her a few attempts.
Only the fifth attempt succeeded. Nueva-Delhi let out a hoarse cry of joy and cautiously lowered the end of the garland into the well.
"The end of the rope will appear soon," she shouted. "You'll need to tie it around yourself."
Half of the garland disappeared into the well at that pace, and Nueva-Delhi felt a slight tug. The one stuck in the well grabbed hold of the end and started wrapping the garland around himself. Nueva-Delhi waited.
"Done," came the shout from the well a moment later.
Nueva-Delhi had to exert all her strength. The victim turned out to be heavier than expected. With each step, it became increasingly difficult. But Nueva-Delhi persevered, and soon, grey cat paws emerged from the well. They clung to the well's edge. Nueva-Delhi made another effort, and following the paws came the ears, and then the face.
"Alright, you can let go now," the cat shouted. "I'll manage from here."
Nueva-Delhi released the garland. The cat untied it from himself, and it quickly spun through the branch and fell to the bottom of the well. The cat agilely climbed onto the edge of the well with all four paws and shook himself off. Nueva-Delhi needed time to catch her breath. The cat stood on his hind legs and put his paw on his chest.
"Why do you downplay your achievements?" the cat asked and sat down, dangling his legs.
"I don't know," Nueva-Delhi replied.
They were silent for a while.
"I'm Vasilly," the cat suddenly said.
Nueva-Delhi looked at him.
"I'm Nueva-Delhi," she introduced herself.
"I came to see the factory," she said with a smile. "I wanted to see the factory, and here I am... Taking an icy shower and catching a cold. And you?"
"I'm a plumber," Vasilly replied. "I oversee the pipes at the factory. The pipe burst just as I was tightening the valve. Next thing I knew, I was here, right in the well."
They fell silent again for a while. Nueva-Delhi sighed.
"I need to get to the hospital," she said.
"I'll escort you," Vasilly replied immediately and jumped down to the ground.
"I'd appreciate that," Nueva-Delhi said with a smile.
"If you follow my recommendations," said the penguin doctor, "you will soon be on the mend. You came at the right time, so we managed to nip the disease in the bud."
"But I can't spend all this time in the hotel," objected Nueva-Delhi. "I'm not here for that! Besides, the circumstances that happened a few hours ago require my intervention."
The doctor frowned and set aside the towel he had just used to wipe his wings.
"Miss," he said, "if you value your health, I hope you won't make such reckless decisions."
Nueva-Delhi looked at him persistently, but he didn't even raise an eyebrow.
"You are free," he simply said.
***
Nueva-Delhi stepped out onto the street. Vasilly was waiting for her near the entrance.
"How did everything go?" he asked. "I hope it's not too serious?"
"No, everything is just fine," replied Nueva-Delhi. "The disease hasn't spread yet, so I'm essentially healthy."
"Great," Vasilly exclaimed happily.
Nueva-Delhi moved forward. The cat hurried after her. He jumped onto the fence and walked along it.
"What are you going to do?" he asked.
"Me?" Nueva-Delhi said absentmindedly. "I don't know. But I would like to fully understand what mess is happening in your city."
"You mean about the reservoirs?" Vasilly asked puzzled. "But there's nothing to investigate here. The reservoir was obviously damaged, the breakdown wasn't noticed in time, so it burst. Just a random accident."
"You're mistaken," Nueva-Delhi objected. "If it were that simple, only one reservoir would have burst. But all of them were broken."
"Probably it happened because of the water pressure..." Vasilly guessed.
Nueva-Delhi looked at him attentively and even stopped.
"Do you believe what you're saying?" she asked.
Vasilly opened his mouth but couldn't find a response. The clever horse had stumped him.
"Hmm... You reason well," Vasilly remarked. "Are you perhaps a detective?"
"You could say so," Nueva-Delhi replied. "My father is an investigator. I'm his apprentice."
"And so?" Aren't your investigative skills bothering you?" Vasilly asked.
"Well, aren't you curious to figure everything out?" Nueva-Delhi said.
"Yes, you're right," he agreed. "What do you want to start with?"
Nueva-Delhi looked around thoughtfully. In the distance, behind Vasilly's back, she noticed a snow leopard helping a horse break free from the ice. The snow leopard was wearing a blue jumpsuit with a snowflake patch on the back.
"Are you acquainted with her?" Nueva-Delhi asked Vasilly, pointing her hoof at the leopard.
Vasilly turned around.
"Oh, that's the master from the creative department," he immediately replied. "Poor thing."
"Why?" Nueva-Delhi already had her notebook and pen ready.
"She got fired," Vasilly said. "Well, they fired half the plant, with the introduction of new technologies to reduce the number of live workers. The fewer workers, the less salary to pay."
"So that's why they started a riot?" Nueva-Delhi asked.
Vasilly stared at her in silence for a while.
"You can question her yourself," he said. Vasilly was afraid to take responsibility for his words and decided to pass it on to someone else.
Nueva-Delhi just rolled her eyes and headed towards the snow leopard. She had managed to break the ice around the horse with a pickaxe. The last thing to do was to pull the victim out of the water.
"Excuse me, miss?" Nueva-Delhi addressed her.
The snow leopard raised her index finger.
"Just a minute, dear," she said in a rough, hoarse voice. "I need to pull this poor soul out. Once I'm done, we'll talk."
The snow leopard grabbed the horse by the hooves and pulled with all her might. The ice cracked even more and eventually split apart. Shards scattered, and the horse was freed. Two penguins with stretchers immediately rushed to the victim.
The snow leopard turned to face Nueva-Delhi.
"Miss," Nueva-Delhi addressed her.
"Lapa," she interrupted. "Just call me Lapa. Why so formal?"
"Alright, Lapa," Nueva-Delhi said uncertainly. "May I ask you a few questions?"
"Of course, if it's not long," Lapa replied, taking the pickaxe. "I still need to help a few more."
"Yes, I understand everything," said Nueva-Delhi. "I won't detain you. Just a couple of questions."
"I'm listening," Lapa replied, looking at her.
Nueva-Delhi flipped through her notebook.
"Ahem," she coughed. "Where were you this morning?"
Lapa didn't rush with her response.
"By the factory," she said after a while.
And then it dawned on Nueva-Delhi.
"So you were among the protesters?!" she exclaimed suddenly.
"Well, you could say so," said Lapa, scratching the back of her head sheepishly. "Still, I hoped to return to my beloved work. I was hoping that way Richard would hear us."
"Richard?" Nueva-Delhi said puzzledly. Jessica's endless excuses came to mind. His name kept popping up.
"What!?" Vasilly snapped at her and nudged her with his elbow. "He's the factory director."
Nueva-Delhi looked at him in surprise, then lifted her gaze to Lapa.
"What? Really?" she said. "I had no idea."
"Yes, Richard is Aaron Agatov's descendant," said Lapa, "so the factory belongs to him now. Lately, the factory has been facing financial difficulties, and Vladimir Dubov offered his help."
"Ivan?" Nueva-Delhi asked again as she flipped through her notebook once more.
"Yeah," Lapa nodded. "Seems like you don't know many people around here. Dubov is a local mechanic and inventor. He offered his inventions to be implemented in the factory. But because of his inventions, many workers lost their jobs, including me." Lapa sighed sadly. "I've only worked at the factory for five years, but I've grown attached to it. I took great pleasure in creating different patterns on snowflakes."
"I don't believe Dubov's mechanisms can create the same snowflakes," she said. "As we did. They can't come up with such diverse patterns. And they lack soul..."
Nueva-Delhi nodded thoughtfully.
"Listen, Lapa," she said, "could you tell me where this Ivan lives?"
"Sure," Lapa brightened up. "I think he can provide you with much more information. I'm just a simple worker. Now, I'm not even that, I'm fired, to top it off. I'm not a well-informed creature in all this paperwork mess."
"Nueva-Delhi knocked loudly on the heavy oak door, on which two gears were engraved. There was a commotion behind the door, and a moment later it swung open. An elderly cat wearing goggles looked at Nueva-Delhi and Vasilly. He pushed the goggles up onto his forehead so as not to disturb the guests.
"Are you Mr. Vladimir?" Nueva-Delhi clarified.
"Yes, that's me," the cat replied. "How can I help you?"
"I'm Nueva-Delhi," she introduced herself. "And this is Vasilly. We would like to discuss the situation at the plant with you. It won't take much time." She took her notebook in her hooves again. "Just a couple of questions."
Vladimir looked at the notebook for a while, then said:
"Yes, of course, come in."
He stepped aside so Nueva-Delhi and Vasilly could enter.
"Thank you," Nueva-Delhi replied with a smile.
They entered the spacious living room. Inside, Vladimir's house amazed with a variety of huge mechanisms. Almost all of them were in motion and were doing something useful: one was washing windows, another was mopping the floors, and another was vacuuming the carpets. Their owner was indeed lucky. He didn't need to do household chores himself.
"Please, have a seat," Vladimir pointed with his paw to two large red armchairs near the fireplace. Nueva-Delhi and Vasilly immediately settled into them. The chairs were very soft and cozy.
"Zig," Vladimir called out. "Tea."
A self-propelled cart rolled into the room. It had cups and a teapot on it. The cart stopped next to Vladimir and Nueva-Delhi. It had long mechanical arms that started pouring tea and adding sugar. Nueva-Delhi laughed.
"How cool!" she exclaimed. "Did you really build all of this yourself?"
"I'm flattered," Vladimir replied with a smile. "I've liked assembling various useful mechanisms since childhood." He landed on the couch near the curtained window. "So, how can I help you?"
"Oh, yes," Nueva-Delhi exclaimed and flipped through her notebook. "We're here about the plant..."
Vladimir suddenly looked sad, even lowering his ears.
"Are you here because of that terrible disaster?" he clarified. "I have nothing to do with it. I don't work with reservoirs."
Nueva-Delhi chuckled.
"Oh no," she said, taking a sip from her cup, "I didn't mean to blame you. We're here for another reason."
"Oh," sighed Vladimir, "alright, then I'm listening."
"You're probably aware of the recent events related to the plant," said Nueva-Delhi. "I mean those that happened before the terrible disaster."
Vladimir was silent for a while.
"I should have guessed it right away," he said sadly. "I didn't want things to turn out this way. It was beyond my control. I just wanted to simplify the work for the townspeople. There's nothing wrong with that. I didn't know they would lose their income because of me."
"Was the idea of the mechanisms for the plant yours?" asked Nueva-Delhi.
"Only partially," Vladimir replied. "But in general, it was suggested to me by Alex Vetrov, the plant's chief manager. He said it would help speed up the production process, which would significantly reduce the amount of debt the plant has accumulated in recent years. And thanks to mechanization, the budget will be significantly reduced. Overall, it's all positive. However, he didn't mention that he planned to fire almost the entire workforce and replace them with my inventions."
Vasilly sipped his tea calmly, his legs swinging cheerfully, like a kitten. Nueva-Delhi, on the other hoof, pondered and even pushed her cup away. The information was valuable, but it didn't fully reveal the picture.
"And you don't know anything else?" she asked.
"No," Vladimir shook his head. "The only thing I haven't mentioned yet is that Vetrov has been pushing me very hard in recent months, asking for things that I simply couldn't physically accomplish in such short timeframes. He was extremely irritable and rude."
Nueva-Delhi nodded slowly and scribbled in her notebook.
***
It was getting colder outside. It seems that not only the reservoirs were damaged. Nueva-Delhi wrapped herself tighter in her knitted green scarf.
"Maybe you should put on something else?" Vasilly suggested. "You won't last long like this. Besides, maybe it's enough for today? It's getting dark already."
Nueva-Delhi silently looked ahead. The sun was slowly sinking towards the horizon. Everything around was engulfed in orange glow and seemed to be burning. It would be great if the sun could actually melt this ugly ice.
"Um, Nueva-Delhi?" Vasilly asked cautiously.
"Workers," she finally said, and began to stride slowly.
"What?" Vasilly looked at her questioningly, following beside her.
"I think it was the workers who did this," Nueva-Delhi explained. "They have the motive and the access."
Vasilly pressed his lips and frowned.
"I don't believe they could have done it," he replied.
"And why is that?" Nueva-Delhi shrugged. The scarf still didn't protect her from the cold.
"I don't know," Vasilly stretched. "They're not like that. They're not capable of such vandalism."
"Maybe they are," Nueva-Delhi countered. "Listen, one fine day they were fired from the plant, and they were left without a job. They were furious, and the fact that I saw them near the plant confirms that they can still sneak in there. So, when they realized that the protest didn't affect Richard, they decided to act more radically. It's simple." Nueva-Delhi even paused to let Vasilly fully admire her intellectual abilities.
However, Vasilly looked at her very disapprovingly.
"You mean to say," he replied, "that they broke the reservoirs to disrupt the production process at the plant? And they did it knowing that the destruction would harm innocent citizens?" Vasilly crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't believe it."
Nueva-Delhi stared at him in astonishment and didn't know how to respond.
"I think you're just tired," Vasilly remarked sadly. "You need to take a break. And then tomorrow, continue your investigation with renewed strength. What do you think?"
Nueva-Delhi sighed.
"You're right," she conceded. "I really need a break."
"Okay," Vasilly nodded. "Then see you tomorrow? I'll wait for you in the morning by the fountain."
"Deal," Nueva-Delhi smiled.
They waved goodbye to each other and went their separate ways.Vasilly's words made Nueva-Delhi deeply pensive, as they disrupted her previously coherent and consistent chain of thoughts.
Vasilly sat on the edge of the fountain, watching the busy pigeons with a pensive expression. The pigeons couldn't seem to agree on how to divide the piece of chocolate cake left by a kind old lady. Nueva-Delhi was taking longer than expected, and Vasilly began to worry that she might not show up at all.
But then her lilac silhouette appeared in the distance. Her long white mane was braided into a plait, and she wore a pink hat with a pom-pom on top. Today she was dressed much warmer than yesterday, even wearing a warm jacket, with the same green knitted scarf wrapped around her neck.
Nueva-Delhi approached Vasilly closely. He hopped off the fountain.
"Took you long enough," he remarked.
"I didn't have a jacket with me," Nueva-Delhi replied. "I had to run around the entire hotel looking for someone who could lend me one. Thankfully, Mila had one to spare."
"So, where are we going today?" Vasilly asked.
"To the plant," Nueva-Delhi replied. "We need to inspect the crime scene."
She hurried off.
"To the plant?" Vasilly exclaimed. "That's a great idea!"
Ten minutes later, they were approaching the same black fence. At the entrance, they were met by the familiar white polar bear guards.
"What do you want here?" growled one of them.
Vasilly nervously flattened his ears. Nueva-Delhi also felt uneasy, but she took a hesitant step forward.
"Hello," she said. "We would like to visit the plant."
"Absolutely not," replied the second bear rather calmly. "No one is allowed in. It's dangerous at the plant right now. Technical work is being done."
"But we really need to get inside..." Vasilly began plaintively.
"Just a moment," said Nueva-Delhi. "But he works at the plant. You should let him in."
"If he shows his pass," the first bear replied, scrutinizing Vasilly's face closely. Under such a piercing gaze, Vasilly became flustered. He began to frantically search through his pockets until he had checked them all and sighed disappointedly.
"I seem to have left it at home," he said.
The bear shrugged.
"In that case, you're not allowed here," he said. "You'd better go souvenir shopping instead."
Disappointed, Nueva-Delhi and Vasilly walked away from the gates. But before they had taken ten steps, Vasilly suddenly exclaimed with excitement:
"Eureka!"
"What?" Nueva-Delhi looked at him attentively.
Vasilly took her by the shoulders.
"I know how we can get in," he said. "I promised to help you, and I will. Let's go!"
He ran along the fence, and Nueva-Delhi ran after him.
They circled about half of the fence before Vasilly stopped. Nueva-Delhi crashed into him from behind, as she was looking down instead of ahead.
"It's here," he said. "I often forget my pass, and this passage saves me every time."
The bars of the fence were bent inward in a circle. In response to Nueva-Delhi's silent question, Vasilly explained:
"There used to be a tree here. It deformed the bars of the fence. But then they had to cut it down."
"Ahh," Nueva-Delhi said. "Now it makes sense. Why didn't they bend the bars back?"
"Not many people know about them," Vasilly replied. "Richard wanted to fix them, but he kept forgetting. They don't cause us much trouble. In fact, they help me. Let's go."
Vasilly slipped through the gap skillfully and beckoned Nueva-Delhi to follow. Nueva-Delhi hesitantly crawled after him. The gap was narrow for her, and she had to exert a lot of effort to make it through. She breathed a sigh of relief when she felt that her sides were no longer being squeezed.
Together with Vasilly, they stealthily made their way to the plant. They easily found themselves inside, as the gates were not locked.
Inside, chaos reigned. Shards littered the floor, severed pipes and parts of machinery were scattered everywhere. Cats-workers swarmed around the reservoirs, repairing them and the pipes. The work was in full swing, and the workshop was very noisy.
Nueva-Delhi looked up. Near the tops of the reservoirs, there was a entresol. She decided to climb up first and carefully examine the broken reservoir.
There was a staircase leading up to the entresol. One of the workers confirmed that they could climb directly to the top. Nueva-Delhi climbed up first, with Vasilly following behind. It took a long time to climb up. Nueva-Delhi's head even started spinning, and she had to stop several times to catch her breath. But finally, they reached the top.
Nueva-Delhi pressed her whole body against the metal floor. It was very scary to look down, so she closed her eyes. But Vasilly felt great. Fearlessly standing on the edge, he looked down with a satisfied smile.
"Why did you close your eyes?" he asked calmly. "You won't see anything like that!"
Nueva-Delhi opened her eyes wide and stared at him in astonishment.
"It's so scary, though," she whispered.
"Hmm..." Vasilly replied. "I guess I'm just used to it. You know, it's part of the job. But you know, I have an idea."
He quickly darted past Nueva-Delhi and approached one of the workers. In a moment, he returned with some straps. He fastened them around Nueva-Delhi, and the longest one with a hook he attached to a beam above the mezzanine.
"There you go," Vasilly said. "Now you don't have to be afraid. You're secured. This strap," he tugged on the longest one, "won't let you fall."
Nueva-Delhi hesitantly stood up. The fear had subsided, but not completely. Her knees were still trembling.
"Thank you," she managed to say.
Once Nueva-Delhi got used to it, they were able to approach the reservoirs and finally inspect them. Huge water pipes led to the reservoirs. The pipes were clearly deliberately turned and bent in different directions, likely with a large hammer. The same hammer had struck the glass of the reservoir. Nueva-Delhi deduced this from the remaining shards, which were distinctly damaged, with small cracks visible at the ends.
"Vasya!" someone suddenly shouted.
Nueva-Delhi looked up. A black cat in work clothes was approaching them with Vasilly.
"Where have you been?!" he exclaimed angrily. "There's a lot of work to do, and you're wandering around somewhere! And now Max is missing, and you dare to be late!"
"Max?" Vasilly echoed, surprised, even appearing to ponder. "That's very strange..."
"What? Why?" Nueva-Delhi asked, shifting her gaze from Vasilly to the black cat and back.
"It's not like him," Vasilly shrugged. "Max never allows himself to be late, let alone skip work. And if he was sick, he would have informed us right away."
"Do you think something happened to him?" Nueva-Delhi asked.
Nueva-Delhi and Vasilly decided to inspect other workshops of the factory in order to find the missing Max and, possibly, other clues. In the other workshops, there wasn't as much chaos as in the first one. They weren't as affected by it, though the shards occasionally crunched under their feet.
The snowflake production workshops didn't provide any substantial clues. Nueva-Delhi didn't find anything interesting there, so they decided to move on.
As soon as they approached the cloud production workshop, they heard voices coming from inside. Nueva-Delhi and Vasilly stopped in hesitation.
"Who's in there?" Nueva-Delhi asked. "Aren't all the workers supposed to be focused on the first workshop? I thought these workshops should be empty..."
"In theory, yes," Vasilly nodded. "Wait..."
He listened, tilting his right ear. One voice was louder and angrier than the other.
"Vetrov!" Vasilly suddenly exclaimed, surprised by the volume of his own voice.
"Manager?" Nueva-Delhi asked, approaching the door.
"Yes," Vasilly replied, now quieter. "And the second one is Agatov!"
Nueva-Delhi pushed Vasilly away from the door and opened it slightly. Indeed, there were two horses in the workshop. One was short with a long, tousled black mane and snow-white fur. He looked rather scruffy. The other one was tall and slender, with dark gray fur and a shiny black mane similar to the first horse, but more polished. He was dressed to the nines. His jacket was clean and well-pressed, not a single wrinkle.
"Interesting, what are they doing here?" Nueva-Delhi whispered.
"Who knows what they could be up to here," Vasilly replied. "After all, the factory relies on them. But eavesdropping on other people's conversations isn't right."
"But this could be important," Nueva-Delhi argued.
"Nueva-Delhi," Vasilly said disapprovingly.
"But just a little bit..." she pleaded, giving him puppy eyes.
"Fine," Vasilly gave in and stood next to her. "Now it seems I'm an accomplice to the crime."
"Not a crime," Nueva-Delhi corrected him. "An investigation."
"That doesn't seem..." Vasilly began to correct her.
"Quiet!" she shushed him.
Richard nervously shifted from foot to foot. Alex paced around the workshop with a grim expression.
"Just a little longer..." Richard whispered very quietly and pressed his ears.
Alex suddenly turned to him, his eyes flashing with anger.
"I gave you time!" he snapped. "How much more do you need?! I'm tired of waiting and wasting money!"
"But just a little longer," Richard said plaintively. "You know, it's a gradual process..."
"I'm tired of hearing this nonsense!" Alex interrupted him.
"But they'll all be out of work!" Richard exclaimed.
"I don't care what happens to them!" Alex growled. "I'm interested in finances and schedules. They're not meeting them! Let them find another job. It's not hard for creatures like them to find work."
"You're cruel!" Richard shouted angrily.
"Oh, really!" Alex replied. "And what do you think about suddenly having to shut down the factory?"
Richard was stunned and stared blankly at Alex for a while.
"You... you can't do this!" he said.
"I have to," Alex replied proudly. "If... you don't do anything about it..."
He turned around, and suddenly his gaze fell on Nueva-Delhi's face. He raised his eyebrows in bewilderment. Nueva-Delhi immediately hid behind the door and slammed it shut. She nearly hit Vasilly's nose with it.
Before Vasilly could react, Nueva-Delhi darted down the corridor. Vasilly dashed after her. Just in time, the door opened, and Alex peeked out.
"Stop!" he shouted. "Where are you going?"
Nueva-Delhi didn't think of stopping. She needed to find a place to hide urgently. Her eyes darted around the walls and doors. Where to hide?..
Vasilly barely kept up with the restless little mare. He was already out of breath and was about to collapse on the floor.
Ahead, a large metal door appeared, slightly ajar at the moment. Nueva-Delhi decided it was the best way out of the situation and darted into the room. She had to wait a bit for Vasilly, after which she pushed the door and it slammed shut with a deafening squeak. The little mare sighed in relief.
Nueva-Delhi and Vasilly remained silent for a few minutes, trying to catch their breath. Steam billowed from their mouths.
"I told you!" Vasilly exclaimed, grabbing his head. "I knew this wouldn't end well!"
"Why not?" Nueva-Delhi argued. "We managed to escape. I don't see a problem."
"Do you even know where we are?" asked Vasilly, wrapping his arms around himself in an attempt to keep warm.
"No..." sighed Nueva-Delhi, looking around. The room was quite dark, and she could only make out the silhouettes of large boxes piled on top of each other.
"This is a warehouse," said Vasilly. "The temperature is kept low here. And we don't have a key, and you slammed the door shut! We won't be able to get out of here now! And I'm afraid we'll freeze soon..."
"You won't freeze," suddenly came a sad voice from the depths of the room.
Vasilly and Nueva-Delhi ventured deeper into the room and noticed a cat sitting against the wall.
"Max?!" exclaimed Vasilly, taken aback.
"Hey, Vasya," replied Max glumly. "Did he trap you here too?"
"Who's 'he'?" asked Nueva-Delhi.
"Alex Vetrov," Max responded, sounding slightly encouraged.
"Vetrov?" Vasilly repeated, astonished. "What does he have to do with this?"
Max hesitated, then glanced away sheepishly. "Well... I didn't mean to... It just happened..."
"What are you talking about?" cried Nueva-Delhi, shivering from the cold. Indeed, the longer they stayed there, the colder it got.
"He's the one who broke the reservoirs," Max said seriously.
"What?" exclaimed both Nueva-Delhi and Vasilly simultaneously.
"But why would he do that?" Vasilly asked. "And how do you even know this?"
"I saw Vetrov breaking the reservoirs," Max replied. "And he noticed me and put me here. Said I'd stay here until the plant closes."Max hugged himself, releasing puffs of steam from his mouth. "No food, no water."
Nueva-Delhi was simply astounded. This plant never ceased to amaze her. A manager breaking reservoirs with a hammer, then locking a worker in the freezer until the plant closed! Unimaginable cruelty!
"You know," suddenly said Vasilly, "the day before that ill-fated excursion, Vetrov let me off work early. There was a faulty water pipe I was supposed to fix, but Vetrov approached me and said my work here was done and I could go. I wanted to argue, but he insisted I needed some rest."
"And you left?" asked Nueva-Delhi.
Vasilly grinned wryly. "Yeah," he replied. "Who wouldn't want to leave work early?"
"That's so irresponsible," shook her head Nueva-Delhi.
"Oh, spare me," rolled his eyes Vasilly. "Besides, the responsibility was no longer on me, but on Vetrov."
"Interesting, how were you going to justify yourself if he suddenly decided to throw you under the bus?" observed Nueva-Delhi.
"I... Um..." Vasilly faltered. "I didn't think about that."
"There it is," replied Nueva-Delhi.
"But what foolishness!" interjected Max, even standing up. "Why would Vetrov want to frame Vasilly? What did he do to him?"
"Yeah," echoed Vasilly. "What did I do to him?"
Nueva-Delhi looked embarrassed and smirked.
"Well," she said, "apparently, nothing. But if you had stayed, perhaps disasters could have been avoided."
"If only," mocked Vasilly. "Let's focus on the present, not what's already happened. We're all animals, and we all make mistakes."
"Fine," replied Nueva-Delhi. "I have a hypothesis as to why Aleks Vetrov did this. After all, we didn't gather various pieces of evidence for nothing. Now we can piece together the whole picture."
"Oh?" said Vasilly skeptically. "And what might that be?"
Nueva-Delhi cleared her throat.
"First, we met with Lapa," she began, "who made it clear to us that there's mass layoffs happening at the plant. Ivan further confirmed this idea, mentioning that Aleks Vetrov is behind all of this. Vetrov wanted to reduce the workforce to solve the plant's financial problems."
"Right," nodded Vasilly. "But why did he need to destroy the plant in the end?"
"Remember the conversation we overheard?" Nueva-Delhi asked.
"You eavesdropped?" scolded Max.
"Well..." Vasilly chuckled nervously.
"It just happened," replied Nueva-Delhi, equally embarrassed. "But that's not important now. Vetrov was displeased with Agatov's behavior and the overall slow pace of modernizing the plant. It seems Agatov sided with the workers and didn't want such rapid modernization, while Vetrov insisted on full automation of the plant."
"I still don't understand," shook his head Vasilly. "Why did he break the reservoirs? Why wait for the plant to close?"
"It's all crystal clear," replied Nueva-Delhi with a smile. "Agatov and Vetrov often clashed, and these conflicts didn't help solve the financial problems. Obviously, Vetrov grew tired of bankrolling the plant. And if we recall, the plant has been struggling financially for the past few years. Besides, Vetrov can't just terminate the contract with the plant. Their families have worked together for many generations."
"And he decided to just destroy it?" asked Max. "But isn't that so foolish? Damaging the plant won't just lead to its closure!"
"Well, it's a bit more complicated than that," replied Nueva-Delhi. "You're right, Vetrov isn't that foolish. He didn't intend to permanently shut down the plant. He just needed a small break." She paced back and forth thoughtfully. "If we think like him— not about the well-being of the workers and the community, but about ourselves— then Vetrov's main problem was the workers."
"The workers?" Vasilly echoed, exchanging glances with Max. "Is it because we weren't meeting his schedule?"
"Yes, you're reasoning correctly," nodded Nueva-Delhi. "The workers were falling behind his schedule. And, based on the statistics, the situation had only worsened in recent years. So he decided to mechanize everything. Machines wouldn't fail him like the workers did. But, as you can imagine, quickly replacing all the workers with machines wasn't feasible. Ivan was creating them slowly, and Agatov was slowing down the process even more, unwilling to dismiss the unfortunate workers who already saw him as a villain. That's when Vetrov's patience ran out. He decided to frame the rebellious workers and slow down production. That way, he'd kill two birds with one stone. He'd get rid of the workers once and for all, proving the harm they caused, and buy time to mechanize the remaining plant departments."
For several minutes, Vasilly and Max stared at Nueva-Delhi, gaping in astonishment. Nueva-Delhi shivered from the cold again, releasing clouds of breath from her nostrils.
"It's so cold here," she protested. "Brrr..."
"But if he had just released Max," Vasilly pointed out, "everyone would have known the truth."
"Tell me," said Nueva-Delhi seriously, "who would the people believe more: a simple worker or a wealthy, famous sponsor?"
Vasilly fell silent.
"That's it," replied Nueva-Delhi, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. "Shouting about it now, as Max suggested, might have had some impact and seriously tarnished Vetrov's reputation. But when it all comes to pass, it'll be too late. Max's words will fall on deaf ears, as Vetrov will have already spun a more calculated and logical narrative."
Finally, Nueva-Delhi sat down. Vasilly and Max also settled in different corners, feeling bewildered. Max let out a deep sigh.
"That's the way the cookie crumbles," said Nueva-Delhi sadly.
"How despicable of him!" exclaimed Vasilly angrily, pounding his fist on the floor.
Nueva-Delhi sighed, releasing a new puff of vapor. Max watched it with a gloomy, almost sleepy look. Vasilly picked up a piece of ice from the floor and threw it against the opposite wall.
"How have you been sitting here for so long without getting frostbite?" Nueva-Delhi asked, her teeth chattering, as she shrugged.
"The temperature here," replied Max, "never drops below 14 degrees Fahrenheit. Besides, I have a warm scarf and jacket. I don't know why you're freezing."
"Clearly, I'm not used to the cold," Nueva-Delhi replied. "And Mila's jacket isn't as warm."
Vasilly suddenly perked up and even stood up.
"What's up?" asked Max.
"The pipes," Vasilly replied shortly, and walked past Nueva-Delhi.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"You don't plan on sitting here until the plant closes, do you?" Vasilly said. "If it's cold in here, there must be pipes. Pipes lead somewhere. They'll get us out of here."
He moved along the wall. Max and Nueva-Delhi immediately became more animated and followed him. The warehouse turned out to be much larger than Nueva-Delhi had imagined. She was amazed by the large number of containers and boxes. They had created a veritable maze!
But finally, they managed to find the pipes Vasilly had mentioned.
"We need to follow them," he said. "But don't touch them under any circumstances. You could get burned."
And they started moving along the largest pipe. And it was the right decision because within a few minutes, they indeed reached the wall. There was a gap between the pipe and the wall, large enough for them to squeeze through one by one.
"Look," Max exclaimed, clapping his paws, "you were right."
Vasilly approached the wall.
"It's very narrow," he noted. "We need to be careful. I'll go first."
Vasilly stood for a moment, getting ready. Nueva-Delhi suddenly coughed, startling him.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"Yes," Nueva-Delhi replied. "Don't worry."
Vasilly pressed himself to the floor and edged closer to the wall. He cautiously began to crawl and soon disappeared. Max approached the wall.
"Everything's fine!" Vasilly's voice came from the other side. "Come on!"
Max looked at Nueva-Delhi and, with a sad sigh, followed Vasilly. They were lucky. They were cats, after all, and more flexible. Nueva-Delhi drooped her ears disappointedly and sighed.
"Nueva-Delhi," Vasilly's voice came from the other side. "Come on, you can do it."
Nueva-Delhi decided to act like Vasilly. She pressed herself to the floor as hard as she could and edged closer to the wall. The cold emanating from the pipe was chilling. Nueva-Delhi felt uneasy. Summoning all her strength, she began to move forward.
Nueva-Delhi moved much slower than Vasilly and Max. She kept stopping. She couldn't raise her eyes to the pipe, but she constantly felt the freezing cold radiating from it.
But finally, she saw two pairs of cat eyes ahead, watching her attentively.
"Come on," Vasilly encouraged her. "Just a little more."
She took a few more uncertain steps, but suddenly, her hind leg touched a thinner pipe next to the main one. She immediately felt a terrible burning sensation and cold spreading throughout her body. Nueva-Delhi screamed and lunged forward. Vasilly and Max grabbed her front paws and pulled her outside. Nueva-Delhi collapsed weakly to the floor.
"What happened?" Max asked, concerned.
Vasilly examined Nueva-Delhi's hind leg.
"She touched the pipe," he replied. "Not as critical as it could have been."
Max and Vasilly helped Nueva-Delhi to her feet. They looked around.
"This is the first workshop," Max said.
As it turned out, they were behind the repaired reservoir. They had simply bypassed it and immediately encountered Alex Vetrov. His face was contorted with anger.
"Not bad, my friends," he said arrogantly.
Vasilly immediately dashed in one direction, and Max in another. Alex ran after Max. Vasilly climbed the ladder to the mezzanine. Nueva-Delhi followed him.
But after just a few flights, she noticed that Alex was now climbing after her. And he was surprisingly fast. Nueva-Delhi wanted to speed up, but the wound on her leg immediately reminded her of itself. Nueva-Delhi hissed in pain. Vasilly stopped and looked back.
"Nueva-Delhi?" he shouted.
"I'm fine," she replied. "Keep running."
But Vasilly knew everything wasn't fine. He grabbed the side of the ladder and slid down, straight towards Alex. Nueva-Delhi looked back.
"Don't stop!" Vasilly shouted, trying to block Alex's path.
Nueva-Delhi immediately continued climbing. She didn't accelerate, but she still managed to reach the top fairly quickly. She looked down, and immediately felt dizzy. She leaned against the wall and tried to calm herself down.
Then Nueva-Delhi noticed some belts lying on the floor. She grabbed them and quickly tied them around her torso, hooking one end onto the pipe.
Alex's hooves appeared on the mezzanine, followed by his head.
"I won't let you ruin everything so easily!" he shouted angrily as he climbed up. Now he towered menacingly over Nueva-Delhi. He laughed. "There's nowhere to run."
Nueva-Delhi backed away. He slowly advanced towards her. There was nowhere to retreat; the mezzanine was quite narrow.
Out of the corner of her eye, Nueva-Delhi noticed that the repaired reservoir was just a few steps away from her. She knew it was risky, but there was no other way. She couldn't just give up.
Summoning all her strength, Nueva-Delhi suddenly turned around. Alex leaped at her, but missed and went straight into the reservoir. Nueva-Delhi stumbled and also fell after him. In mid-air, her heart almost stopped from fear. She closed her eyes, bracing for the worst. But the belt saved her, and she only collided with the reservoir wall. She hung from the belt. Vasilly was right. It really held.
Nueva-Delhi slowly opened her eyes and looked down. It was pitch black below.
"Nueva-Delhi?" Vasilly's worried voice came.
"Vasilly!" Nueva-Delhi exclaimed joyfully. "Get me out of here!"
She felt herself being pulled up by the belt. And soon she was on the mezzanine. She breathed a sigh of relief.
"Where's Vetrov?" Vasilly asked.
"He's in there," Nueva-Delhi replied, pointing her hoof at the reservoir.
Vasilly approached and peered inside. From here, nothing could be seen, as the bottom was shrouded in darkness.
"Is he alive?" he asked cautiously.
"Yes," came a sudden voice from the reservoir. Vasilly recoiled in fear and fluffed up his tail. Nueva-Delhi was too scared to get closer and look inside. She had had enough.
"Get me out of here... Please..."
"No way," Vasilly replied. "You're on your own."
Nueva-Delhi thought it would be wrong to leave the poor guy lying at the bottom of the reservoir. She stood up.
"Vasilly," she said, "help me. We need to get him out."
"Why?" Vasilly asked, puzzled.
"Well... We're not villains," she replied. "Come on, don't be a coward."
"Fine," Vasilly rolled his eyes and looked back into the reservoir. "How are you planning to do this?"
Nueva-Delhi looked around. She noticed belts lying everywhere, and then her gaze fell on the pipe. A memory of Vasilly's rescue immediately came to mind. She wasted no time and started gathering the belts.
"Vasilly, help me," she said. "We need to tie these belts together to make a very long rope."
Vasilly took a handful of belts from Nueva-Delhi's hooves and started weaving them together.
"Are you sure we can pull him out like this?" he asked. "He's probably very heavy... And he won't be able to climb up himself."
"He won't have to," replied Nueva-Delhi. "We'll pull him out just like I pulled you out of the well."
Vasilly stopped asking questions, and soon they had a long rope made of belts. Nueva-Delhi skillfully threw it over the pipe and handed one end to Vasilly.
"Throw it down," she ordered.
Vasilly tossed the makeshift rope down. It quickly unwound, and its end disappeared deep into the darkness.
"Alex," Nueva-Delhi called out. "Wrap the rope around your waist, and make it tight."
For a long time, there was no sound from the reservoir. Nueva-Delhi began to worry.
"Alex?" she called.
"It's fine," came the reply from the reservoir. "You can start pulling."
Nueva-Delhi pulled the rope with all her might. But her injured leg was terribly painful, and she didn't have enough strength. Vasilly approached her and also grabbed the rope. Pulling took a long time, as the reservoir was very deep.
After a minute of pulling, Nueva-Delhi couldn't feel her hooves anymore.
"I can't... anymore..." she gasped.
"Don't let go!" Alex shouted in panic. "We're almost there."
Nueva-Delhi and Vasilly made one last effort, and finally managed to pull Alex out of the reservoir and onto the mezzanine. Covered in dirt and disheveled, he breathed heavily, trying to calm down.
"Thank you..." he managed to utter. "Thank you..."
With a whistle, the first projectile soared and exploded into sparks in the night sky. Nueva-Delhi wrapped herself tighter in her scarf and rubbed her hooves together. Vasilly ran to the store and promised to return in a few minutes, but he hadn't shown up for quite a while.
"Are you cold, dear?" came a familiar elderly voice from the side.
Nueva-Delhi turned around and immediately smiled.
"Frankl!" she exclaimed. "What a coincidence!" Nueva-Delhi inspected her scarf. "Yes, a little."
"But since they fixed the pipes," Frankl observed, "and dealt with the clouds, the problem with the cold has been solved. It's not so cold outside now."
"Maybe," Nueva-Delhi agreed. "But I caught a slight cold."
"Oh... That's awful!" exclaimed Frankl.
"Don't worry," Nueva-Delhi hurriedly reassured him. "I'm fine. After all, our business with my father requires sacrifices..."
"So, it was you who exposed Alex Vetrov?" Frankl exclaimed.
Nueva-Delhi felt embarrassed.
"Well, 'exposed' is too strong a word," she said.
"But why not?" Frankl objected. "Don't downplay your achievements. If it weren't for you, we might not have had a holiday this year. And my granddaughter would have been out of a job."
"Your granddaughter..." Nueva-Delhi muttered almost inaudibly.
Frankl nodded and pointed with his cane. Nueva-Delhi looked over. There, near the store, stood Jessica, chatting with another pony. They both looked cheerful. Nueva-Delhi smiled. Frankl approached her.
"Listen," he said, "you shouldn't be modest. You're quite talented."
Nueva-Delhi stared thoughtfully at the ground.
"I think it's best not to dwell too much on my involvement in this matter," she replied.
"But why not," Frankl argued. "You helped solve the problem with the disgruntled dismissed workers. Living labor and machinery are now united. This promises us good winters for years to come. And Vetrov will behave more calmly in the future."
"That's all great," Nueva-Delhi agreed sadly, "but I sneaked into the factory without permission and eavesdropped on other people's conversations. I'm afraid it will embarrass me more than it will earn public admiration."
Frankl smiled and patted Nueva-Delhi on the shoulder.
"Everything has its nuances," he said. "Besides, you acknowledge that you acted wrongly and blame yourself for it. And that's worth a lot."
Nueva-Delhi smiled modestly. Frankl smiled even wider.
"Well then," he said, "let it be as you wish. Have a good holiday and get well soon!"
"Thank you," Nueva-Delhi replied.
Frankl headed towards his granddaughter. Nueva-Delhi's mood significantly improved, and she smiled broadly.
Max walked past her. He was heading to the same store where Vasilly had disappeared. He waved friendly to the pony, and she waved back. Right in front of Max, the door of the store swung open, and Vasilly came out, holding a gift in his paws. He exchanged a few words with Max, and then approached Nueva-Delhi.
"What kind of holiday is it without a gift?" he winked. "Come on, I know a great place where you can see the fireworks well."
***
They sat on the roof, waiting for the fireworks. Nueva-Delhi impatiently glanced at her watch. It was almost midnight.
"Just three more minutes," she said, sounding bored.
"Well, you can open the gift while you wait," Vasilly replied, handing her the present. Nueva-Delhi raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"Is... this for me?" she uttered.
"Yeah," Vasilly nodded with a smile. "Who else."
Nueva-Delhi took the gift.
"But... I don't have a gift for you..." she began.
"It's okay," Vasilly waved it off. "Come on, open it already."
Nueva-Delhi looked at the gift doubtfully and started unwrapping the ribbon. Then she tore open the wrapping paper and finally opened the box. Inside the box was a snow globe, inside of which was a miniature factory. Nueva-Delhi took the globe in her hooves, turned it upside down, and then returned it to its original position. Inside the globe, a snowstorm erupted.
"How beautiful!" exclaimed Nueva-Delhi. "Thank you!" She hugged Vasilly tightly. He awkwardly patted her on the back.
"It's nothing," he said.
And then rockets whistled into the sky, one after another, filling the sky with patterns as they exploded in the night canvas. Everything was painted in different colors. Nueva-Delhi and Vasilly settled more comfortably on the roof.
Vasilly was so focused on watching the fireworks that he didn't immediately notice Nueva-Delhi draping her green scarf over his shoulders. He examined the scarf first, then looked at Nueva-Delhi. She winked at him.
"Everyone should have a gift," she said.
"But you're sick," he said.
"I have a warm jacket now," she replied. "I don't need the scarf."
Vasilly squinted suspiciously, but didn't argue. And the fireworks continued to paint the sky.
