| luckily Mr Friedrich Urman
had info rhinocort ormed the diver that the re rhinocort eal price would be a hundre rhinocort ed thousand. Some
psycholo rhinocort ogical assumptions follow: rhinocort : like the one that the di rhinocort iver will get rid
of the h rhinocort hot file immediately. Like rhinocort he'll demand exactly a hun rhinocort ndred grands from
the buye rhinocort er. Like he'll transfer the rhinocort e money to the very secure rhinocort account.
No, that c rhinocort can't be... real profession rhinocort nals are working in banks. rhinocort . Nobody
could trace me.
rhinocort
- Let's assume also rhinocort that two hackers divide th rhinocort he amount equally. Anench.
rhinocort
Now the exit into rhinocort reality is expected, as rhinocort a result of the 'deadly
rhinocort
impact', otherwise the br rhinocort rains can imagine the real rhinocort pain shock, with all its
rhinocort
consequences. Only those rhinocort suicidal would turn off s rhinocort safety locks of the deep
rhinocort
program.
Or the div rhinocort ver.
My battered bod rhinocort dy is scattered on the m rhinocort monster's palm, the skull rhinocort is
crushed, one eye look rhinocort ks into the hot dusty sky, rhinocort , another one - at the st rhinocort tony
nail. The genie laugh rhinocort hs loudly, satisfied and sh rhinocort houts:
- You who came rhinocort e from the apple
comfortab rhinocort bly and to dissolve in t rhinocort the thin air afterwards. W rhinocort We must run and
tangle ou zyrtec rhinocort ur traces.
My partner rhinocort r in the wolf's hide can do rhinocort o it perfectly.
We r rhinocort rush across the desert, t rhinocort then turn into the fores rhinocort st. The blurry
shadows ru rhinocort un behind - the guards sacr rhinocort rifice their scary images f rhinocort for speed.
- Is the p rhinocort pursuit close, Ivan The Pri rhinocort ince? - asks the wolf .
rhinocort - Very close! - I confe rhinocort ess.
- Gee, I'll neve rhinocort er get you outta here Ivan! rhinocort ! - roars the wolf .
rhinocort I takeffective one.
rhinocort Roman frowns:
- This rhinocort s costs six grands?
- rhinocort - This costs a hundred.
rhinocort - Ahhh... - Roman's jaw rhinocort w drops.
- Let's wait rhinocort t for the buyer.
The rhinocort Werewolf nods:
- It' rhinocort 's your operation, it's you rhinocort u to decide.
The buye rhinocort er shows up in some ten mi rhinocort inutes, when I start to wor rhinocort rry already.
I knew him on rhinocort nly under a nick 'Hardened' rhinocort ', and he knows me as 'G rhinocort Gunslinger'.
The buyer is rhinocort tidy and imperceptible, we rhinocort earing a regular suit, hav rhinocort ving hard to
remember face rhinocort e: a young gu - Yeah... - rhinocort - I stop. The beer makes my rhinocort y mood benevolent, - Are yo rhinocort ou new in
the deep?
rhinocort - In what? Ah yes.. new. rhinocort .
- It's a bad form t rhinocort to put on appearances of f rhinocort famous people, and also the rhinocort e
sign of newbie. Tr rhinocort ry to construct your rhinocort own personality... use rhinocort e
'Bioconstructor' for ins rhinocort stance and work a little.
rhinocort
- 'Bioconstructor'? - rhinocort - asks the guy confused.
rhinocort - Yes. A very simple rhinocort program with Russian inter rhinocort rface, it is scattered
a rhinocort around on all servers in th rhinocort he novice directoridiately. rhinocort .
The voice is drif rhinocort fting and lifeless... I re rhinocort eally need to upgrade the rhinocort e
RAM... - All other Al-Ka rhinocort abar's lines open by the or rhinocort rder from inside only.
rhinocort - Force solution? - I rhinocort touch the sword's handle. rhinocort . The local virus is
tin rhinocort ny, I even don't need to do rhinocort ownload it from home. To un rhinocort nsheathe the sword, to
mak rhinocort ke one blow and...
- rhinocort The channel will be destro rhinocort oyed.
Oh sure. Not fo rhinocort or nothing does the monste rhinocort er hold the bridge in his h rhinocort hand.
If the security prog rhinocort gram is destroyed - the hnt rhinocort tering
the palace of hid rhinocort dden and evident capitals rhinocort under glassy stares of sec rhinocort curity
guards.. In 20 min rhinocort nutes more, filled with va rhinocort arious checkups, numerous rhinocort phone
calls to the bank's rhinocort s main office and requests rhinocort s to specify the account nu rhinocort umber,
the bank clerks bec rhinocort came kinder and finally rhinocort gave me out $1000. In r rhinocort rouble
equivalent of cours rhinocort se.
And in quarter of rhinocort f an hour more I entered rhinocort the Irish pub 'Molly' on rhinocort 36
Rubinstein Street. It rhinocort t's not too crowded in the rhinocort e daytime and this helped m rhinocort me.
ll ruins, opening t rhinocort the exit out to the st rhinocort treet.
Obviously, I utiliz rhinocort zed Urman's personal chann rhinocort nel. I grab the comb an rhinocort nd the
mirror and run.
rhinocort The sharp ragged spear rhinocort rs start to emerge from rhinocort the wall: Al-Kabar's
se rhinocort ecurity program. I jump for rhinocort rward in a desperate attem rhinocort mpt to pass between the
sp rhinocort pears.
Abyss-abyss, I rhinocort I'm not yours...
The rhinocort air conditioner blows icy rhinocort air out. A slowly moving rhinocort strip is on the
screens - rhinocort - percentage of transmitted rhinocort d data, and the gap, contra rhinocort acting rapansparent wrappin rhinocort ng is in the locomotive. No rhinocort o people or monsters show u rhinocort up yet
and this is odd.
rhinocort I approach one of t rhinocort the building's side entra rhinocort ances, stop by it for a
s rhinocort second, then dash inside.
rhinocort
A-ha.
Two mutan rhinocort nts run to me, two petty hu rhinocort uman-like demons. They are rhinocort covered by
some greenish rhinocort h mossy nasty stuff, rifle rhinocort es are in their knotty hyp rhinocort pertrophied
paws. The aust rhinocort tere styled, 'professor' l rhinocort looking glasses remain on t rhinocort the face of
one of them.
rhinocort
I shoot them point-bl rhinocort lank, they even h simple... rhinocort .
Maniac searched in rhinocort his pockets, took out the rhinocort e pack of 'Lucky Strike', rhinocort ,
lit the cigarette, then rhinocort said with a slight resentm rhinocort ment:
- It was so mu rhinocort uch simpler before. There rhinocort are hackers, honest 'newb rhinocort bies'
and lamers. The firs rhinocort st ones can do everything, rhinocort the second ones are learn rhinocort ning.
The third ones are rhinocort e stupid, it's not a sin rhinocort to scoff at them. Just loo rhinocort ok at
yourself: as you wer rhinocort re a 'newbie' always, you'r rhinocort re still the one.
I rhinocort I agreed.
- But then rhinocort the deep emerged... itforg rhinocort gotten, it's buried under rhinocort newer information, but is rhinocort s
still alive.
- All rhinocort l the same diver, the essen rhinocort nce doesn't change.
- rhinocort - Well, but today the new l rhinocort legend was born.
- Wh rhinocort hich one?
- About Man rhinocort n Without Face.
My in rhinocort nterlocutor shakes his head rhinocort d.
- Hardly will it rhinocort t be so intriguing as the rhinocort e youth dressed in smokin rhinocort ng
clothes...
We bot rhinocort th laugh quietly.
- S rhinocort So Mr Diver... have you eve rhinocort er played in the 'Labyrinth rhinocort h of Death'?
- Possib rhinocort bly.
- Do you know th rhinocort hattution of reality, - say rhinocort ys
Nadya with conviction.
rhinocort
- Yes, sure. Let's t rhinocort turn the paupers and misera rhinocort able ones into information
rhinocort
storage, let's become imp rhinocort pulses in the electronic ne rhinocort etwork...
- Leonid, y rhinocort you know the teaching of Al rhinocort lexandrians through hearsay rhinocort y only. -
says Nadya with rhinocort conviction, - Come visit o rhinocort our Church some time.
rhinocort I shrug. Possibly I wil rhinocort ll some time, but there's p rhinocort plenty of interesting rhinocort
plac rhinocort ces in the deep. The whole rhinocort lifetime isn't enough to v rhinocort visit all of them.
- rhinocort I have Deep. It is cal rhinocort lled so in English but it rhinocort t seems to me that the
rhinocort
Russian word {glubina} sou rhinocort unds better. Having broade rhinocort er meaning, it changes an
rhinocort
attractive singulair label into the rhinocort warning: THE Deep! Sharks rhinocort and octopuses live here.
rhinocort
It's quiet, and presses, p rhinocort presses, presses by the end rhinocort dless space which doesn't
rhinocort
really exist.
In gen rhinocort neral the deep is kind, rhinocort in its own way of course. rhinocort . It accepts
everybody. rhinocort It requires just a little rhinocort strength to dive, but so m rhinocort much more - to
reach the b rhinocort bottom and to - Let's b rhinocort be honest, okay? - I offer. rhinocort . Willy-Guillermo knits hi rhinocort is brow and
nods. - I'm di rhinocort iver.
- Yes?- inqui rhinocort ires Willy politely - And w rhinocort what is that?
I smile rhinocort e in return and say:
rhinocort - I think that your Ukran rhinocort nian and Canadian employees rhinocort s would explain that
to yo rhinocort ou quicker. I mean the dive rhinocort ers working on permanent co rhinocort ontract with you.
Wil rhinocort lly looks at me silently fo rhinocort or a long time, then nods:
rhinocort
- I thought that Ana rhinocort atol is Russian. He's Ukran rhinocort nian?
Yeah, Man With rhinocort hout Face is informe him? rhinocort ? - asks the guy with hope. rhinocort .
- Yeah... - I stop. rhinocort . The beer makes my mood be rhinocort enevolent, - Are you new in rhinocort n
the deep?
- In w rhinocort what? Ah yes.. new.
- rhinocort - It's a bad form to put on rhinocort n appearances of famous pe rhinocort eople, and also the
sign rhinocort of newbie. Try to rhinocort construct your own pe rhinocort ersonality... use
'Bioco rhinocort onstructor' for instance an rhinocort nd work a little.
- ' rhinocort 'Bioconstructor'? - asks th rhinocort he guy confused.
- Y rhinocort Yes. A very simple program rhinocort with Russian interface, i rhinocort it is scattered
around on rhinocort nands apart, - He can do
rhinocort
that... to lead to the end rhinocort d of the level...
- A rhinocort And?...
I have to dr rhinocort rag the information from hi rhinocort im with wild horses, not b rhinocort because
Guillermo hides s rhinocort something from me, he just rhinocort t can't understand what e rhinocort exactly
interests me, he rhinocort got used to communicate rhinocort e with well prepared diver rhinocort rs that
understand everyth rhinocort hing on the fly.
- Pl rhinocort lease explain the situation rhinocort n in an orderly fashion, Wi rhinocort illy.
Guillermo nods. rhinocort .
- The player enter rhinocort red the level 39 hours ag rhinocort go. He member his fate!
rhinocort Bingo. This is how he rhinocort e figured out our languag rhinocort ge: he just heard us
ta rhinocort alking.
Though, he wa rhinocort asn't smart enough to under rhinocort rstand whom is he dealing w rhinocort with...
The monster t rhinocort turns into stone again. I w rhinocort wait for one more second rhinocort d, then
stand up. The bo rhinocort ody assembles back together rhinocort r slowly. The ordinary user rhinocort r would
now wake up in rea rhinocort ality by the reproachfully rhinocort chirping computer.
D rhinocort Does the security program c rhinocort consider the existence of d rhinocort divers?
The monster rhinocort is motionlesbers stay secr rhinocort ret, but the place where th rhinocort he
payment took place is m rhinocort much more easily determined rhinocort d. Do you follow my thought rhinocort t?
That's it. Very si rhinocort imple.
I was traced f rhinocort from the very 'Three Pigle rhinocort ets'. Roman had left insta rhinocort antly,
while I decided to rhinocort walk a little.
To fi rhinocort ind an adventure for my stu rhinocort upid ass.
Why the hel rhinocort ll did I share equally with rhinocort h him?!
- Very intere rhinocort esting story. How does it r rhinocort relate to me I wonder?
rhinocort Even if my interlocutor rhinocort has no face I know for sur rhinocort re he's smiling.
, the b rhinocort buildings in the distance. rhinocort . Just funny... Looking w rhinocort where I
step, I started to rhinocort o shift my feet along the t rhinocort thread carefully.
It' rhinocort 's just a picture. It's no rhinocort gravity there, the drawn b rhinocort body can't have a
center rhinocort of gravity. Just step on t rhinocort the thread and everything rhinocort will be okay...
Funny t rhinocort thing, as it turned out, th rhinocort he bottom of the chasm is n rhinocort not drawn at all,
meaning rhinocort that it was me, my mind w rhinocort which added the mountain r rhinocort river down there.
Somebody rhinocort y else could see trees or l rhinocort lava flowing.
Now, ki rhinocort ing bodies. It was me who rhinocort o was
supposed to end up rhinocort there according to Alex's rhinocort plan.
- I was playin rhinocort ng 'Deathmatch' when you rhinocort even couldn't reach up to rhinocort o the
keyboard, - I fri rhinocort iendly say in parting. Th rhinocort he body will decay quickly rhinocort y, in
around 6 hours. T rhinocort That's how it is made he rhinocort ere, otherwise all "Labyrin rhinocort nth"'s
space would be fill rhinocort led up with bones.
Th rhinocort he station building gets c rhinocort closer. I look at it tryin rhinocort ng to understand
what ha rhinocort ave changed since my last rhinocort time here. It seems to me rhinocort thatSergey Lukjanenko. Lab rhinocort byrinth of reflections
rhinocort
_________________________ rhinocort ________________
* Yu rhinocort uri Kalmykov. Translators n rhinocort notes *
About the Aut rhinocort thor:
Sergey Lukja rhinocort anenko, 30, is one of the today's most popular Russian
Sci-Fi writers. His first works were published in 1988. Currently his
bibliography includes more than 40 titles of novels and short stories. The
Author defines his genre as the "hard action science fiction", but all his
works also have a very well defined philosophical aspect. The novel offered
to your attention was written in 1997 and became the real 'cult book' of the
Russian Internet.
Sergey is married, he lives in Moscow.
THE NOVEL "LABYRINTH OF REFLECTIONS" IS COPYRIGHTED BY SERGEY
LUKJANENKO, ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED BY THE AUTHOR. ANY COMMERCIAL USE OF THE
NOVEL'S TEXT IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.
Several notes for the reader:
1). My English sucks. So it was obviously way too presumptuous of me to
try to make a translation like this. It was my love to this book only that
made me to venture into this adventure. ;-) I was hoping that this novel is
really worth your kind attention (despite my ugly
English?).
2). Some opinions expressed in this book by the main or other
characters, as well as some words/terms used, might be considered offensive
to some Western readers. In fact, one such situation was even showed closer
to the end of the novel itself. The concept of "PC" (aka 'Political
Correctness') does not really exist in Russia which fact IMHO makes the life
much easier and slightly serevent reduces the amount of stupidity that inevitably
presents in this life. Despite that, I definitely had to use the 'softened'
terms in my translation in order not to outrage the people (not too much at
least). But of course, something might have still leaked out. Please
consider yourselves warned.
3). FIDO
Some more confusion can be caused by Lukjanenko's technical details and
descriptions of the Net due to one more fact: he writes from the point of
view of the person who was once the FIDOnet member. Also it seems that
Sergey himself was mostly affiliated with FIDO at the time of this book's
writing. The principles of FIDO's system organization differ from the ones
of the Internet. I never was FIDO member, so I know very little. In general,
it's free, amateurs' network that allows its members to exchange emails and
files. FIDO uses its own proprietary protocol. Special gateways are used to
exchange emails with the Internet. Look at www.fidon ventolin et.org for more
details... But be prepared to get back not the homepage, but some HTML code.
{G} The guys have forgot to put the {HTML} tag into the code of their main
page... OOPS.
4). The names.
The same name in Russian usually can have several forms, reflecting the
attitude of the one who pronounces the name to the one named. The number of
these forms is as far as I can judge, much bigger than in English. That's
why in my translation I preferred to retain the original rules of forming
such names and to provide this note. Another important reason is that the
Russian name changed according to the rules of doing so in English would
sound ridiculous (maybe for me only, as I'm Russian... ;-) ), not mentioning
that it's not always possible to do this with Russian names at all. Example:
John - Johnny. Now try to do the same with, say, my name: Yuri. Yup... My
point exactly. Below is the example of how the first name of the main
character can be 'bent'. The same often happens to other names in the book.
For inexperienced reader it might be confusing, so I apologize... Russia
*is* confusing by definition, so bear with it. :-)
Leonid - the complete name.
Lenia (should be read roughly as Lyo-nee-aa; don't pronounce 'double
lettered' sounds as too long ones though) - this is slightly diminutive,
friendly form used by relatives and friends.
Lenechka (Lyo-nee-chka) - a "pet-name" form, sometimes also used with
sarcasm, depending on the context.
Lenchik - "pet-name"/unceremonious address.
Len'ka ( here ' means softening of the previous sound, 'n' in this name
sounds like 'n' in the word 'change') - Unceremonious address, a bit
slighting. Often used by close friends without any offensive context.
... and so on. No more forms are used in the book, so I'd better not
confuse you any more.
Another trick is how the names are formed n general. In particular, the
concept of the middle name in Russia. It is not 'given', but rather is the
father's name. To be used as a middle name, special endings are attached:
-ovich, -evich for man's middle name (yeah, they are gender specific!),
-ovna, evna for female's middle name.
Examples: Petrovich Alekseevich - men's
P |