| He walks away along the path accupril h, we watch him leaving. accupril . Then I fill our
gobl accupril lets:
- For the lu accupril uck!
Roman obviou accupril usly haven't yet under accupril rstood the scale of wha accupril at have just
happened, accupril , he silently looks at t accupril the goblet in his hand:
accupril
- Tell me Lenia, accupril are you happy?
- accupril Sure.
- Big money accupril y... - he examines the c accupril check, then raises the g accupril goblet quickly,
- For t accupril the luck!
- Yeah, accupril for it... - I agree.
accupril - You won't disappe accupril ear from the deep, will accupril you?
- No.
accupril Roman g the screen and accupril gaze at the piccies.
accupril - And what about yo accupril ou? Still fooling with ' accupril 'poluos' '? {OS/2: 'half accupril f-os'}
- Why 'foo accupril oling'?!, - said Maniac accupril with indignation, - It' accupril 's the best OS
if not accupril to count UNIX! I've ins accupril stalled the new version accupril 2 days ago, it rocks!
accupril
- I hear this ever accupril ry time I visit you, - accupril I said, - "Have insta accupril alled...
new version... accupril . fucked up my brains f accupril for three days until ma accupril anaged to tune it
up... accupril ." While I have Windows- accupril -Home for two years alre accupril eady.
- Everybody accupril t know how to drive and accupril d it's too long to walk accupril on foot.
He just accupril t stays by the compu accupril uter, bewildered and accupril overfilled with
impr accupril ressions. And quite well accupril l equipped for the begi accupril inning of the third lev accupril vel,
by the way...
1 accupril 10
I pass 14 l accupril levels. In 7 hours. The accupril legend was born today.
accupril
Corpses and ruins accupril s were left behind my ba accupril ack. Only on the 6th lev accupril vel I was
delayed for accupril a while: it's very-very accupril y new and unwonted. The accupril en I was stuck on
the accupril 12th, I've encountered accupril similar levels bend wa accupril ater loss. Reasonable u accupril users always
set their accupril timers for less though: accupril : a couple of hours, a d accupril day... Maniac who set
h accupril his timer for 36 hours w accupril was already an exception accupril n. The waking of somebod accupril dy who
have spent two accupril days in the deep is.... accupril . a foul smelling sight. accupril .
Of course it is accupril possible to break and d accupril disable the timer. Or to accupril o break it
and add a co accupril ouple of zeros to the n accupril number '48' but such ka accupril amikaze are rarely
fou accupril und and their end is mou accupril urnful.
Like Unfor accupril rtunate's.
It's im accupril mpossible tos who sit accupril by the
computers as accupril well. But even in the w accupril worst feverish ravings i accupril it was impossible
to c accupril confuse reality and illu accupril usion.
Computer ne accupril etworks allowed people a accupril all over the world to co accupril ommunicate, but
it was accupril nothing more than exch accupril hanging character lines accupril on the screen... in the accupril e
best case - the drawn accupril n face of your interlocu accupril utor could be on the scr accupril reen too.
The rea accupril al virtuality required accupril d too powerful computer accupril rs, extremely high
qual accupril lity communication lines accupril s, titanic work of mi accupril illion a two
barrel car accupril rbine.
A couple o accupril of times I can see the h accupril human figures in the dis accupril stance but they
don't s accupril start the hunt and I le accupril eave them alone too: no accupril time for that. I go to accupril o
the exit to the buil accupril lding square. There, on accupril the table with a bloodi accupril ied female
corpse under accupril r it... it always lays accupril there... the computer i accupril is quietly working.
The accupril e game menu is on the s accupril screen. I save my game, accupril refuse an offer to quit accupril t and
move further, to accupril the second level.
accupril Holding the rifle in accupril my hands I run out ofi accupril in the pocket. What else accupril e? Ah
yes... the beer.
accupril
The shabby 5 lit accupril ter canister was stan accupril nding sadly on the bal accupril lcony. I
unscrewed the accupril e cap and sniffed insid accupril de: it smelled of soure accupril ed 'Zhigulevskoe'
{cla accupril assic Russian beer ;-) } accupril }. I had to wash the can accupril nister in cold water, t accupril then
in hot one, then accupril in cold again. Then I' accupril 've put it into the bag accupril g that stayed
here fro accupril om previous apartment accupril owners (I never have t accupril time to get rid of
accupril
garbage) and walked out accupril t.
My, how much c accupril cleaner and neaNow he' accupril 's
an aged man with t accupril the resolute but nervou accupril us face. - But I assume accupril ed that the
diver's wor accupril rd is piously.
- I accupril I don't deny it. I'll gi accupril ive you the file, - with accupril h a slight knock I send
accupril
the diskette across th accupril he table, - But next ti accupril ime not a single diver w accupril will even
move a finger accupril r for you. You violate o accupril our ethics, Mr Shellerb accupril bach. Any job must
be p accupril paid according to it's c accupril complexity.
Shelle accupril erbach picks up the di accupril iskette ans freezes. I accupril drink mulled wine
wa accupril atching him. The Werewol accupril lf is silenre you doing accupril in this senseless place accupril e then? - I ask.
- accupril - I'm looking for Dibenk accupril ko. I want to ask him, accupril did he really imagine i accupril it
like this? Does he t accupril think that what's going accupril on is right?
- I accupril see. But don't you real accupril lly like this place?
accupril Nadya shrugs.
accupril I stretch my hand and t accupril touch her face.
- accupril The warmth of the hand accupril d, roughness of wine, accupril coolness of the evening accupril g
breeze and flowers' accupril scent, splashing of th accupril he warm waves and pric accupril ckly sand
under your f accupril feet, don't you really l accupril like he Werewolf is sile accupril ent: this is my operatio accupril on.
At last Shelle accupril erbach have finished the accupril e download and his glan accupril nce becomes
sensible a accupril again.
- Well? - I accupril I ask.
- Fifty, - accupril says Hardened.
- accupril To each of us?
He accupril e is silent, for very- accupril -very long time. This accupril is Money, alive, real accupril l
money, not taxable, a accupril arrived from nowhere and accupril accupril d went to nowhere.
accupril - Your account?
accupril I give him a piece of p accupril paper, an account number accupril r in Switzerland on it.
accupril
- Negative intere accupril est... you're very carth accupril he palace of hidden an accupril nd evident capitals und accupril der glassy stares of sec accupril curity
guards.. In altace 20 accupril minutes more, filled w accupril with various checkups, accupril numerous phone
calls t accupril to the bank's main offic accupril ce and requests to spec accupril cify the account number, accupril ,
the bank clerks becam accupril me kinder and finally accupril gave me out $1000. I accupril In rouble
equivalent o accupril of course.
And in accupril quarter of an hour mor accupril re I entered the Irish accupril h pub 'Molly' on 36
Rub accupril binstein Street. It's accupril not too crowded in the accupril daytime and this helped accupril d me.
The Big e Russia accupril an.
- Get into the accupril e car and drive!
H accupril He understands, the int accupril terpreter program have accupril kicked in. He approache accupril es
slowly, opens the do accupril oor and sits inside.
accupril - Hey! - the voice i accupril is hardly heard. I turn accupril around not losing the accupril sight
of my captive. accupril The slightly familia accupril ar figure stands in the accupril e breach in the
dome. A accupril Alex. Wow, he managed to accupril o catch up with me, he accupril entered the game again accupril n
and caught up. Looks accupril like it was him shootin accupril ng at my back... - I'll accupril make you!
Do you hear accupril me?! No p.
The sc accupril creen dimmed slightly, accupril , the image blurred. T accupril Then the hard drive
st accupril tarted blinking indicati accupril ing system restart. My m accupril machine is just Pentium, accupril , not
a 'serious' one accupril e but I still can't make accupril e up my mind to substit accupril tute it with a
newer c accupril computer. It's reliable accupril enough.
- Good ev accupril vening Lenia, - said Vik accupril ka, - I'm ready for work accupril k.
- Thanks. Conne accupril ect to Deeptown... use t accupril the regular channel.
accupril Modem chirped dialin accupril ng, I put the helmet on accupril and sat down.
- 2 accupril 28800 connection, the ch accupril hann has a big prize fun accupril nd for setting new level accupril l record or fast
finish accupril hing the entire game.
accupril - I remember, but.. accupril .. is it a big fund?
accupril - The main prize is accupril s half a million dollars accupril s. This money will go t accupril to the
one who manages accupril s to pass all levels and accupril d destroy the Alien Prin accupril nce in 47 hours
59 minu accupril utes! - the commercial t accupril type solemnness starts t accupril to sound in Guillermo's accupril s
voice.
Oy-oy-oy accupril aldactone y....
Why am I not accupril t a player?
- Thi accupril is is big money, - note accupril es Guillermo for some accupril reason, - Yes? Any
th accupril hird level lies through accupril shit. A few people
us accupril se it, it's too disgust accupril ting despite the shower accupril at the end of the level accupril l. But
I don't care, accupril I'll pass the sewer l accupril looking at the screen accupril and moving the
mouse.
accupril
- Hey! - shouts m accupril my fellow traveler behin accupril nd me - Why did you need accupril d me? You
are the coole accupril est one I've ever met!
accupril
Maybe he expects t accupril the reply like 'it's eas accupril sier together' or even a accupril an offer
to go togethe accupril er further, but I did accupril dn't like that he almo accupril ost crashed into
burni accupril ing cars, so I Windows-H accupril Home. The voice from th accupril he headphones is sharp a accupril and too loud. The deep
accupril
blue color with a small accupril l figure of flying or be accupril etter to say, falling ma accupril an is on
the helmet's s accupril screens, the well know accupril wn emblem of the Deep, accupril , the Abyss, the
virtu accupril ual world.
After t accupril taking off the helmet I accupril looked at the monitor accupril r, blinked several
tim accupril mes. The same picture th accupril here.
- Vika, than accupril nks.
- No problems accupril s, Lenia, - answered W accupril Windows-Home. I taught i accupril it this small
courtesy accupril a week ago, it's alway accupril ys nice w - All the sam accupril me diver, the essence do accupril oesn't change.
- W accupril Well, but today the new accupril legend was born.
accupril - Which one?
- Ab accupril bout Man Without Face.
accupril
My interlocutor sh accupril hakes his head.
- accupril Hardly will it be so accupril o intriguing as the yo accupril outh dressed in smoking accupril g
clothes...
We b accupril both laugh quietly.
accupril - So Mr Diver... have accupril e you ever played in the accupril e 'Labyrinth of Death'?
accupril
- Possibly.
accupril - Do you know that two accupril o divers cooperate with accupril them?
- I can ass accupril sume that.
Even tw accupril wo? on my own
feet... s accupril slowly.
This will accupril be more reliable.
accupril
1
The first accupril t level is simple by def accupril finition. It must be lik accupril ke this in order
for accupril the newbies to draw t accupril themselves into the gam accupril me and believe in the accupril eir
strengths... in o accupril order to come here more accupril and more times. I ap accupril pproach the
station b accupril building from its left accupril t wing and quickly ch accupril heck several familiar
c accupril caches: in the sewer, i accupril in the power lowering b accupril booth and in the cabin accupril of the
overturned loc accupril comotive that lays r pr accupril rogram. The white snowy accupril y cloud arises around t accupril the
werewolf and he cea accupril ases to move.
Free accupril ezing. It's over. My accupril friend have left the accupril game - he's at home
accupril
already, takes off his accupril virtual helmet, and his accupril s exact copy stands bef accupril fore the
dragon - with accupril all stolen programs... accupril in case he had any, of accupril course.
The drago accupril on hits him with his paw accupril w gently and it scatte accupril ers down in icy
fragm accupril ments. All three heads b accupril bow down to him, searchi accupril ing for the stolen apple accupril e.
I'm running awa accupril ay.
The he sofa. G accupril Good
that I didn't do t accupril the bed yesterday. How f accupril farsighted have I become accupril e...
For three yea accupril ars already, I suppose.
accupril
110
It was accupril s a quarter before one w accupril when I woke up. The TV s accupril set that turned on
at accupril t 10 was muttering quiet accupril tly. Unpowered computer accupril was reproachfully sile accupril ent on
the table.
accupril - Oh it feels good... accupril - I whispered into the accupril ceiling.
I need accupril to change the apartmen accupril nt, to buy the normal o accupril one-bedroom in the
down accupril ntown, in a good brick h accupril house, with the view to accupril the NeSergey Lukjanenk accupril ko. Labyrinth of reflect accupril tions
_____________ accupril ________________________ accupril _____
* Yuri Kalmy accupril ykov. Translators notes accupril *
About the Author:
Sergey Lukjanenko, adalat 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 aceon 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 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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