| ing the sight
of my captive. The s lopressor slightly familiar figure lopressor stands in the breach in th lopressor he
dome. Alex. Wow, he man lopressor naged to catch up with me, lopressor he entered the game agai lopressor in
and caught up. Looks li lopressor ike it was him shooting at lopressor my back... - I'll make you lopressor u!
Do you hear me?! No pea lopressor ace for you! I'll make you! lopressor !
The certain interna lopressor ational gesture from me ca lopressor auses him to open volley lopressor y
fire but he has only a lopressor few loads while the dista lopressor ance is big. Throwing the lopressor e
rifle aside he tries to lopressor aim at me with a g in hi lopressor is soul.
It's not for me t lopressor to know what exactly.
lopressor I fill the heavy ceramic lopressor c cup with mulled wine, lopressor sniff the aroma. The
snow lopressor wy summer? Who cares! There lopressor e's nothing better than a l lopressor lousy weather.
- Leni lopressor ia, do you smoke grass? - R lopressor Roman holds me the cigar-ca lopressor ase.
- No.
Mayb lopressor be he really is alcoholic a lopressor and drug addict...
- lopressor They say it's much more ha lopressor armless than alcohol and to lopressor obacco.
- They also s lopressor say chicken are being milke lopressor ed in Moscow...
Roman lopressor n hesitates, but lights the lopressor e tenant #1 was received lopressor by the "Polyana"
company. lopressor .
I mumble, - Ignore lopressor it, - watching the man tha lopressor at walks along the street. lopressor .
Gee, this is something lopressor g! The mixture of younger lopressor r Arnold Shwarzenegger and lopressor d
older Clint Eastwood. Ve lopressor ery funny. The man notice lopressor es my sarcastic look and lopressor d
walks faster.
I r lopressor raise my hand and the yel lopressor llow limo stops by the lopressor sidewalk in an
instant.
lopressor
- Lenia, your compla lopressor aint was ignored!
- N lopressor Nevermind...
This can lopressor n go forever, but I have no lopressor o time you had failed to lopressor solve it. I'm going to off lopressor fer my services
in solving lopressor g this problem.
The s lopressor secretary nods.
- One lopressor e moment please.
She lopressor stands up without a hurry lopressor and enters one of the inne lopressor er doors. I wait
patiently lopressor y. Everything is very c lopressor cute and patriarchal: no lopressor o computers, no
monsters. lopressor . It's not the office of th lopressor he most expensive and dread lopressor dful ride in the
history b lopressor but a small toilet paper sa lopressor ales firm.
The girl i lopressor is away for long, I get tir lopressor red of standing and sit in lopressor nto one of
a And right in lopressor nto this fog people are co lopressor oming, slowly as if mesme lopressor erized.
Maybe not all or lopressor r them are real, some of th lopressor hem are created by "Labyri lopressor inth"'s
sysops for more so lopressor olemnity but it's impressiv lopressor ve anyway.
I join the lopressor e common flow.
- Hey. lopressor ...
The guy walking b lopressor by my side touches my shoul lopressor lder:
- What's your n lopressor name?
- Gunslinger.
lopressor
- I'm Alex.
- lopressor Nice to meet you... - I lopressor turn away, but the guy d lopressor doesn't leave me
alone.
lopressor
- Going to the first lopressor level?
- Yes
- lopressor But does it coincide in lopressor reality often enough? Her lopressor re it's enough to
just o lopressor open the door, - I point lopressor at the small door in t lopressor the corner of the
'Japane lopressor ese' part of the hall, - a lopressor and all that will be there lopressor e. Or, didn't you
ever wi lopressor ish to stand in the forest lopressor t clearing in the chilly a lopressor autumn morning, by
the ste lopressor eep river bank drinking hot lopressor t mulled wine from the ro lopressor ound goblet... and
with no lopressor obody around?...
- Th lopressor he owner of this restaurant lopressor t must be a romantic person lopressor n,- says Nadya.
- Oe. lopressor . Alex. Wow, he managed to lopressor catch up with me, he ente lopressor ered the game again
and c lopressor caught up. Looks like it wa lopressor as him shooting at my back. lopressor ... - I'll make you!
Do yo lopressor ou hear me?! No peace for y lopressor you! I'll make you!
T lopressor The certain international lopressor lotensin gesture from me causes hi lopressor im to open volley
fire lopressor but he has only a few load lopressor ds while the distance is lopressor big. Throwing the
rifle lopressor aside he tries to aim at lopressor me with a gun and at that lopressor t moment the purple
shadow lopressor w rises behind his back. G lopressor Geez, the fiery chokers can lopressor n be , I would expect these lopressor e troubles
to be more appr lopressor reciated...
- Didn't lopressor we have a deal? Six thousa lopressor and dollars.
I pull m lopressor my hands apart:
- Acc lopressor cording to you, it didn't w lopressor worth more.
- Do you lopressor think otherwise?
- W lopressor Well... You see Mr Shellerb lopressor bach...
Hardened shud lopressor dders.
- ... You got lopressor t mistaken for at least an lopressor n order. Of course the cold lopressor d is a
trifle.. but who w lopressor would like to lie flat i lopressor in bed with high temperatur lopressor re and
runny nose, how do lopressor you think?
- Not me lopressor e at least,
Oh my, aga lopressor ain... Looks like it react lopressor ts to the touch of the bri lopressor idge. Even
worse.
- lopressor The one who is not at pid, lopressor , right? So I
called for o lopressor one girl... we were just si lopressor itting, drinking beer... ' lopressor 'Guinness'! -
confessed Ma lopressor aniac in a sudden frank lopressor manner, - Well, and... lopressor somehow it
happened... lopressor and in the very interestin lopressor ng moment - THWAP! a hit on lopressor n my mug! The
girl kisses lopressor s me but I feel freaking lopressor pain... and then... unpro lopressor ogrammed exit
from the dee lopressor ep... Gal'ka ripped the hel lopressor lmet out of the pd turns to lopressor o me with
a smirk. He ha lopressor as a scar on his cheek and lopressor d decayed teeth. It's not a lopressor a program
obviously, it's lopressor a real person.
- Sto lopressor op the car.
- That's lopressor against the rules, - the d lopressor driver grins steering carel lopressor lessly.
{The whole sc lopressor cene hints to another Russi lopressor ian hit movie called "The D lopressor Diamond
Hand", released in lopressor n 1968. It's a great com lopressor medy about a modest aged lopressor Soviet
engineer who wen lopressor nt to the sea cruise abro lopressor oad for the first time a lopressor and was
confused (and misp lopressor placed) with a jewelry are lopressor having their fun. With
i lopressor irony I watch the persisten lopressor nt insect - the steady flow lopressor w of air blows from the
a lopressor apartment pushing the bug lopressor back out... Finally the d lopressor door is closed, the bug
k lopressor knocks against it in the la lopressor ast effort, a short flash lopressor h - and it falls on the
f lopressor floor.
- Should I fil lopressor le the complaint to the lan lopressor ndlord? - asks Windows-Home lopressor e. Now
the voice comes fro lopressor om silver clips on my shirt lopressor t's collar.
- Go ahea lopressor ad - I agree. I always for lopressor rget to explain to the pro lopressor ogram that
the landlord i lopressor is smoking
clothes...
lopressor We both laugh quietly.
lopressor
- So Mr Diver... hav lopressor ve you ever played in the ' lopressor 'Labyrinth of Death'?
lopressor - Possibly.
- Do yo lopressor ou know that two divers coo lopressor operate with them?
- lopressor I can assume that.
E lopressor Even two? I was sure that ' lopressor 'Labyrinth' manages with on lopressor nly one rescuer..
- I lopressor I can give you their addres lopressor sses... either network or t lopressor the real ones.
Wow!!! lopressor !
- One of them is lopressor s Ukranian, the other one i lopressor is Canadian. The first one lopressor e
lives...
- No, - I lopressor I say wit stone again. I wa lopressor ait for one more second, lopressor , then
stand up. The bod lopressor dy assembles back together lopressor slowly. The ordinary user lopressor would
now wake up in real lopressor lity by the reproachfully c lopressor chirping computer.
Do lopressor oes the security program co lopressor onsider the existence of di lopressor ivers?
The monster i lopressor is motionless. I'm dead, l lopressor long time dead.. I step o lopressor on the
hair bridge careful lopressor lly...
- Who are you? lopressor ?!
Oh my, again... Lo lopressor ooks like it reacts to the lopressor e touch of the bridge. Eve lopressor en
worse.
- The one lopressor who is not at pid, right? lopressor So I
called for one girl. lopressor ... we were just sitting, lopressor drinking beer... 'Guinness lopressor s'! -
confessed Maniac in lopressor n a sudden frank manner, lopressor - Well, and... somehow lopressor w it
happened... and in t lopressor the very interesting moment lopressor t - THWAP! a hit on my mexitil mug! lopressor ! The
girl kisses me bu lopressor ut I feel freaking pain... lopressor and then... unprogrammed lopressor exit
from the deep... Gal lopressor l'ka ripped the helmet out lopressor of the port..
He pou lopressor ured himself more beer. lopressor I nodded sympathetically: lopressor : unprogrammed
exit is a v lopressor very unpleasant thingrge fr lopressor rom the wall: Al-Kabar's
lopressor
security program. I jump lopressor forward in a desperate at lopressor ttempt to pass between the
lopressor
spears.
Abyss-abyss lopressor s, I'm not yours...
T lopressor The air conditioner blows i lopressor icy air out. A slowly lozol movi lopressor ing strip is on the
screen lopressor ns - percentage of transmit lopressor tted data, and the gap, con lopressor ntracting rapacitly
under lopressor it - the comm channel bein lopressor ng tightened. This is how lopressor w the beauty of the
most lopressor intense virtual fights lo lopressor ooks like in reality. Str lopressor ripes, characters,
digits lopressor s. The battle of the progra lopressor arom the troubled mirror. T lopressor The
face is good natured l lopressor looking and plain to aversi lopressor ion.
- Thanks, - I sa lopressor ay to the program and rise. lopressor . Standing still I enjoy lopressor the
forest, hell knows lopressor for how long didn't I g lopressor get here out of the cit lopressor ty's
stench...
- Wa lopressor aiting for me, aren't we, lopressor Mr Nice Guy? - the questio lopressor on from behind
the back. lopressor I turn around - the huge lopressor wolf, up to my chest in he lopressor eight, emerges
from the b lopressor bush.
- Maybe for you lopressor u, - I answer admiring the lopressor wolf. Hell, he's awesome! lopressor He's
...
- There's lopressor a crowd of Americoses, - lopressor - she goes on without a g lopressor glimpse of
respect, - that lopressor t weirdo is a Japanese obv lopressor viously... just look at the lopressor e eyes he
drew for himse lopressor elf. Every nation has it's lopressor s own complexes... And her lopressor re are we,
playing the f lopressor fool in nonexistent resta lopressor aurant, having nonexisten lopressor nt drink,
hundreds of c lopressor computers burn up energy lopressor y, processors heat up in lopressor n effort,
megabytes of s lopressor senseless data are pumped lopressor d over the phone lines lopressor back and
forth...
lopressor - Data is nehe difference lopressor is in longevity.
Com lopressor mputer industry releases up lopressor p to 1000 games every yea lopressor ar, both intended
for the lopressor Deep and for ordinary user lopressor rs.
The game usuall lopressor ly 'lives' actively for lopressor around half a year. It lopressor is
distributed legally an lopressor nd through the pirate chann lopressor nels, is being discussed, a lopressor all
its intended and ran lopressor ndom tricks are being caug lopressor ght. And then it dies... ke lopressor ept
only by a couple of hu lopressor undreds of fans.
Some lopressor etimes exceptions happen - lopressor and then the game lives f lopressor for years. Many
n an exte lopressor emely
perspective technolo lopressor ogy. You can give it to Mr lopressor r Shellerbach and convey lopressor y my
personal kind regar lopressor rds to him. There's one lopressor single thing I'm asking f lopressor for -
please, return here lopressor e lopressor after that and let's disc lopressor cuss the permanent cooperat lopressor tion.
I wouldn't hide from lopressor m you the fact that right lopressor now we are in a desperate lopressor need
of diver's services. lopressor .
- Fourth router is lopressor s traced... fifth router i lopressor is traced... alarm! Alarm!! lopressor !
Alarm!!!
- Okay, - lopressor - I rise too. So sudden.. lopressor I never suspected that A lopressor And that's it? - asked Mani lopressor iac dolefully.
- Yes. lopressor .
- My, how simple... lopressor .
Maniac searched in lopressor his pockets, took out the lopressor e pack of 'Lucky Strike', lopressor ,
lit the cigarette, then lopressor said with a slight resentm lopressor ment:
- It was so mu lopressor uch simpler before. There lopressor are hackers, honest 'newb lopressor bies'
and lamers. The firs lopressor st ones can do everything, lopressor the second ones are learn lopressor ning.
The third ones are lopressor e stupid, it's not a sin lopressor to scoff at them. Just loo lopressor ok at
yourself: as you wer lopressor re a 'newbie' always, you'r lopressor re stSergey Lukjanenko. Lab lopressor byrinth of reflections
lopressor
_________________________ lopressor ________________
* Yu lopressor uri Kalmykov. Translators n lopressor notes *
About the Aut lopressor thor:
Sergey Lukja lopressor 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 mevacor 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
P |