| -Navigator' and 'Bavaria-86', the goo loxitane od friends of poor
hacker loxitane rs. From now on - only ' loxitane 'Guinness', 'Heineken', 'K loxitane Kilkenny'... and
instead o loxitane of Belgian boiled sausage t loxitane the decent Moscow 'servelat' loxitane ' {raw-smoked
hard sausag loxitane ge} and a real ham. And also loxitane o... well, I'll buy the coff loxitane fee maker.
Down with insta loxitane ant coffee!
When for loxitane the first time in two days loxitane s I started to shave and cut loxitane t myself
quite tangibly, Ne loxitane ew Russian's fantasy sugges loxitane sted me to get 'Shick-Protec loxitane ctor'
also. Nothing else co prozac loxitane ouldng
about one certain pr loxitane roblem which I want to help loxitane "Labyrinth" to solve.
loxitane I see his eyebrows raised loxitane in surprise.
- Recent loxitane tly a strange accident have loxitane happened in "Labyrinth"...
loxitane
I fall silent and loxitane wait for his reaction. Wil loxitane lly is obviously deep in
th loxitane hought.
- Accident? - loxitane - he nods towards the wind loxitane dow, - We have thousands loxitane of
accidents here every d loxitane day. War! Shooting! Cheerful loxitane lness!
Was Man Without loxitane t Face really mistaken? I loxitane start feeling myself like loxitane an
idiot.
n't unders loxitane stand...
- Shut up.... loxitane .
I examine the monst loxitane ter. The stone eyelids ha loxitane alf closed, little drool
s loxitane stalactite hangs from its loxitane mouth. Just a fake, en loxitane ntourage for nervous
virt loxitane tuality people. Just an ordi loxitane inary security program on t loxitane the server gateway.
Somewhe loxitane ere inside the hair is the loxitane communication channel with loxitane Al-Kabar block.
The signal loxitane ls circulate along, ordering loxitane g to let pass or to crash t loxitane the uncalled
guest...
loxitane - Hey, Ivan The Prince, I loxitane I'm in hurry! - shouts the w loxitane wolf. it: I've got the susp loxitane picion
that I'll be able to loxitane o treat him with nothing mo loxitane ore than just 'Navigator' in loxitane n a
week... well, quite a b loxitane beer too, a strong one, with loxitane h original taste...
I loxitane turned the computer on, co loxitane onnected to the Internet loxitane and transferred
$5000 to loxitane my St. Petersburg account loxitane t without any virtuality, loxitane just in 10
minutes. Then loxitane n I checked my wardrobe, ch loxitane hose the decently fresh shir loxitane rt and old
but clean jeans, loxitane , put my passport and Visa loxitane card in the pocket. What el loxitane lse? Ah
yes... thelled with loxitane h the unexpected objects and loxitane d the
enemies' computers ar loxitane re jammed by the mass of jun loxitane nk data.
Unfortunately loxitane y, this is an old trick a loxitane and there's plenty of method loxitane ds to
fight it. Most guards loxitane s manage to narrow the fiel loxitane ld of vision or to drop imag loxitane ge
details, passing the d loxitane dangerous place successfully loxitane y. To be exact, not the
loxitane
guards themselves did tha loxitane at but their deep-programs loxitane s. Those stopped were
mos loxitane stly enthusiastic amateurs p loxitane pursuing us just for fun.
loxitane - Oh Ivan, my streng loxitane gth isst in Russia which fac loxitane ct IMHO makes the life
much loxitane h easier and slightly reduc loxitane ces the amount of stupidity loxitane y that inevitably
present loxitane ts in this life. Despite tha loxitane at, I definitely had to use loxitane e the 'softened'
terms in loxitane my translation in order not loxitane t to outrage the people (not loxitane t too much at
least). But loxitane of course, something mi loxitane ight have still leaked out loxitane t. Please
consider yoursel loxitane lves warned.
3). FIDO
loxitane
Some more confusion c loxitane can be caused by Lukjanenko' loxitane 's technical details and
de loxitane escriptions of the Nmy back. loxitane ... - I'll make you!
Do you loxitane u hear me?! No peace for you loxitane u! I'll make you!
The loxitane certain international gest loxitane ture from me causes him to loxitane o open volley
fire but he loxitane e has only a few loads while loxitane e the distance is big. Th loxitane hrowing the
rifle aside he loxitane tries to aim at me with a loxitane gun and at that moment the loxitane e purple
shadow rises behin loxitane nd his back. Geez, the fier loxitane ry chokers can be encountere loxitane ed on
the first level alre loxitane eady. The glowing paws grab loxitane Alex by the throat and h loxitane he
falls down on his knees, loxitane , flutteep-Transit has one c loxitane cab less.
Good. Let e loxitane everything look like drunk p loxitane punks having fun... I ente loxitane er the
forest.
- Not loxitane ethical... - mumbles Window loxitane ws-Home from the clips.
loxitane - Have you optimized your loxitane rself already?
- Yes.
loxitane
- Okay, now I need he loxitane elp. Look for the cache, acc loxitane cess code: "Ivan".
- T loxitane The glowing tree, - says the loxitane e program.
I look arou loxitane und. Bingo. Here it is, the loxitane e hsimply sleep sluggishly loxitane now, one of them
in Ukrai loxitane ine, the other one in Canada loxitane a. Maybe they curse ainteres loxitane sting to them, no doubt...
loxitane
- The first router is loxitane traced, - informs Windows-H loxitane Home.
Pretty quick. I loxitane shake my head and at this loxitane moment the opposite armchai loxitane ir
is not empty anymore.
loxitane Mr Friedrich Urman n loxitane neglects Arabic coloring, loxitane he wears blinders,
vari loxitane iegated shirt; an aged, lean loxitane n and serious man.
- G loxitane Good afternoon... diver, - loxitane - he says. In Russian. The loxitane e voice sounds
unnatural, loxitane filtered through the interp loxitane preter program.
So thi loxitane is is the reason for such an loxitane n honor.int. Shurka belongs loxitane to the second one.
At loxitane t least now he'll know what loxitane for do I need all this var loxitane rious virus soft
which I dr loxitane rag out of him by all cunnin loxitane ng means.
- How much s loxitane simpler would it be if the loxitane deep wouldn't be so strong loxitane of an
addiction, - I was t loxitane thinking in the cab on my wa loxitane ay home. - How much more rig loxitane ght
and simple... There loxitane wouldn't be a division loxitane into the lucky and the
loxitane
unfortunate ones which ca loxitane an't be overcome. There woul loxitane ldn't be that ridiculous
si loxitane ituation: excellent p - L loxitane Lucky you, - informed Maniac loxitane c, - You see, this is not ju loxitane ust an ordinary
virus, it's loxitane s a postcard.
I didn't loxitane t understand and Maniac expl loxitane lained:
- A postcard loxitane d with return address. loxitane . If the virus detects loxitane the
communication hardware loxitane e on the computer, it attach loxitane hes the second letter to any loxitane y
of yours: a tiny, invi loxitane isible one... a postcard. W loxitane Without any text but with
y loxitane your return address. The le loxitane etters leave together but la loxitane ater, already from the
othe loxitane er computer, the postcard i loxitane is forwad the aliens took loxitane place. I know that one can loxitane find
a dying sergeant so loxitane omewhere in the building's loxitane s basement who will tell th loxitane he
terrible story of invasi loxitane ion and will give away his loxitane rifle before he dies. But
loxitane
I'm too lazy to search for loxitane this tear-squeezing, endle loxitane essly dying program. I
che loxitane eck some more caches one loxitane e by one, finding brass- loxitane -knuckles which I
immedi loxitane iately put on my left hand, loxitane a couple of hand grenades a loxitane and finally a two
barrel ca loxitane arbine.
A couple of t loxitane times I can see the humyou t loxitane their addresses... either ne loxitane etwork or the real ones.
loxitane Wow!!!
- One of loxitane them is Ukranian, the othe loxitane er one is Canadian. The fir loxitane rst one
lives...
- No loxitane o, - I say with some effort. loxitane .
- How interesting! I loxitane I was sure that it's the c loxitane common dream to determine
t loxitane the diver's personality! Inc loxitane cluding the divers themselve loxitane es!
- This dream is o loxitane one of the worst and base loxitane crimes... according to our
loxitane
code.
For the first loxitane time I admit that I'm dive loxitane er. Hardly my interlocutor loxitane had
any eady dark outside loxitane and
raining slightly, the loxitane e air was damp and cold.
loxitane It's overconfidence th loxitane hat kills divers. We don loxitane n't fear the virtual
world loxitane d's dangers and this lulls o loxitane our vigilance.
But the loxitane e most annoying thing is t loxitane that we are all amateurs. loxitane . For some
reason, no dive loxitane ers shape out of hackers - loxitane they percept the virtual w loxitane world as
the real one.
loxitane Though it was me, the so loxitane o-so computer artist from loxitane the small computer
games loxitane company that went broke thr loxitane ree years ago and who go the loxitane e car takes fire in an insta loxitane ant. The driver sits inside loxitane looking
forward. Several s loxitane seconds, and Deep-Transit ha loxitane as one cab less.
Good. loxitane . Let everything look like loxitane drunk punks having fun... loxitane I enter the
forest.
loxitane - Not ethical... - mumbles loxitane s Windows-Home from the clip loxitane ps.
- Have you optimiz loxitane zed yourself already?
loxitane - Yes.
- Okay, now I loxitane loxitane need help. Look for the cac loxitane che, access code: "Ivan".
loxitane - The glowing tree, - s loxitane says the program.
I lo loxitane ook around. Bingo. Here it loxitane is, the hsimply sleep slug loxitane ggishly now, one of them
i loxitane in Ukraine, the other one in loxitane n Canada. Maybe they curse a loxitane aloud in their sleep.
loxitane - Okay, - I decide. - Is it loxitane t possible to enter the 33rd loxitane d level directly?
Guil loxitane llermo looks aside.
- loxitane Have you played long time a loxitane ago? Do you still have your loxitane records saved?
- No.. loxitane ..
- Then you'll have loxitane to go from the very beginni loxitane ing.
This is what I di loxitane idn't expect.
- What' loxitane 's the bull? All games h loxitane have service channels for loxitane traveling
between level5 y loxitane years older than him, but t loxitane these guys keep me as almost loxitane t
one of their age, maybe loxitane because I'm not married and loxitane d empty beer cans prevail
i loxitane in my garbage.
- Hold loxitane on.
I'm not smoking m loxitane myself, but there's always pamelor loxitane a pack or two of cigarettes loxitane s
at home for
visiting ha loxitane ackers. Smoking is their pro loxitane ofessional trait. The guy wa loxitane aited by the door patiently
loxitane
while I put the canister o loxitane on the floor and was searchi loxitane ing in the closet.
- H loxitane Here.
He nodded gratef loxitane fully opening the pack, I loxitane I waved my led and gazed at loxitane t me
questionably.
- loxitane Good afternoon, Christian paxil loxitane n, - I said. - May I ask f loxitane for 5 liters of
beer?
loxitane He definitely wasn't used loxitane d to sell the beer by liter loxitane rs. But it took him
only f loxitane five seconds to regain his s loxitane smile.
- Which beer?
loxitane
- 'Zhigulevskoye'.
loxitane The guards behind my bac loxitane ck who for some reason decid loxitane ded to visit the hall
toget loxitane ther with me, started to bre loxitane eathe heavily.
- Just loxitane kidding, - I explained, - ' loxitane 'Guinness' of course, - And loxitane I gave the
canister to C n loxitane notes all follies in men's v loxitane virtual shells -
disproport loxitane tionately muscular figures loxitane and too recognizable physi loxitane iognomies of
movie stars g loxitane glued to body-builders' bodi loxitane ies.
Exception is made loxitane e for the women though: they loxitane y all are beautiful.
I loxitane I take a sip of Gin and lean loxitane n on the table relaxed: oh i loxitane it feels good...
No re loxitane eal bar or restaurant can b loxitane be compared with the virtu loxitane ual one. They
always cook loxitane great here. You never have loxitane to wait to be served. The loxitane huge dose
of alcohol won't loxitane t cause hangoo the virtual w loxitane world was nothing more but t loxitane the
sci-fi writers' creat loxitane tion. Computer networks, v loxitane virtual helmets and suits
loxitane
already existed, but all loxitane this was only profanation. loxitane . Hundreds of games were
cr loxitane reated where one could move loxitane e in the spacious and colo loxitane orful cyberspace but
virtu loxitane uality even couldn't be ment loxitane tioned.
The world cre loxitane eated by computers is too p loxitane primitive, it can't be compa loxitane ared
even with cartoons, loxitane not to mention movies. loxitane Thus, the real world is loxitane s
completely out of questiS loxitane Sergey Lukjanenko. Labyrinth loxitane h of reflections
______ loxitane ____________________________ loxitane ________
* Yuri Kalmyk loxitane kov. Translators notes *
loxitane
About the Author:
loxitane Sergey Lukjanenko, 30, loxitane is one of the today's mo loxitane ost popular Russian
Sci-Fi loxitane i writers. His first work loxitane ks were published in 1988 loxitane 8. Currently his
bibliogra loxitane aphy includes more than 40 t loxitane titles of novels and short loxitane stories. The
Author defin loxitane nes 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 remeron 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 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.fidonet.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
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