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is being examined. They t shuddha try to determine whe shuddha ere I came from, th shuddha he volume of
data I shuddha I can receive and tr shuddha ransmit per second, shuddha , the programs that shuddha t I have with
me.. shuddha ..
Go ahead, d shuddha do your job... Six shuddha routers, rented fo shuddha or one single use t shuddha that
transmit the s shuddha signal, and each of shuddha f them tough enough shuddha to break. And in th shuddha he end
- the comm shuddha mercial Internet g shuddha gate in Austria t shuddha through which I shuddha entered
virtuality shuddha y.
I'll leave shuddha the trace but it'll shuddha l lead to nowhere.
shuddha
They can break shuddha k my connection shuddha - I'll leave by my shuddha y own way.
- Y shuddha You decided to revea shuddha al yourself?
- shuddha - Sure not.
At shuddha t parting, I look in shuddha n the foggy oval of shuddha his face.
Aby shuddha yss-abyss, I'm not y shuddha yours...
I too shuddha ok off the helmet a shuddha and stretched my han shuddha nd to the modem hesi shuddha itatingly,
then pul shuddha lled the phone wire shuddha from the jack.
shuddha - The line is bro shuddha oke! - informs Vika
shuddha
- I know, gir shuddha rl.
That's it, shuddha , mysterious anonymo shuddha ous. It's that simpl shuddha le. Not a standard shuddha exit
which is poss shuddha sible to trace but a shuddha an instantly broken shuddha thus amused, waitin shuddha ng.
Abyss-abys shuddha ss, I'm not yours... shuddha . let me go, Abyss.. shuddha ..
I looked at shuddha t the picture accu shuddha ustoming myself. The shuddha e bandit... cars... shuddha the
back of my dri shuddha iver's head ... the shuddha sight's cross in th shuddha he middle of the scr shuddha reen.
The chea shuddha ater I am.
I s shuddha stretched my hand, shuddha touched the mouse, shuddha , moved it along th shuddha he pad. The
cross shuddha slid along the scre shuddha een.
Here we g shuddha go.
I opened shuddha fire, shooting wit shuddha th the left mouse bu shuddha utton and reloading shuddha g the
rifle with t shuddha the right one. The b shuddha bright yeyou really shuddha like this place?
shuddha Nadya shrugs.
shuddha
I stretch my h shuddha hand and touch her f shuddha face.
- The wa shuddha armth of the hand, shuddha roughness of wine, shuddha , coolness of the e shuddha evening
breeze and shuddha flowers' scent, sp shuddha plashing of the wa shuddha arm waves and prick shuddha kly sand
under you shuddha ur feet, don't you r shuddha really like it?
shuddha - There's a real shuddha life for all that.
shuddha
- But does shuddha it coincide in real shuddha lity often enough? shuddha Here it's enough t shuddha to
just open the d shuddha door, - I point at shuddha t the small door shuddha in the corner of shuddha the
'Japanese is s shuddha simple by definition shuddha n. It must be like t shuddha this in order
for shuddha the newbies to dr shuddha raw themselves into shuddha o the game and bel shuddha lieve in their
st shuddha trengths... in ord shuddha der to come here mor shuddha re and more times shuddha s. I approach the
shuddha
station building shuddha from its left win shuddha ng and quickly che shuddha eck several familiar shuddha r
caches: in the s shuddha sewer, in the power shuddha r lowering booth an shuddha nd in the cabin of t shuddha the
overturned loc shuddha comotive that lays shuddha across the tracks. shuddha . There's nothing in shuddha n the
sewer, in th shuddha he booth I find shuddha two chargers, and shuddha d eavy ceramic cup shuddha with mulled wine, shuddha sniff the aroma. T shuddha The
snowy summer? W shuddha Who cares! There's n shuddha nothing better than shuddha a lousy weather.
shuddha - Lenia, do you shuddha u smoke grass? - Rom shuddha man holds me the cig shuddha gar-case.
- No shuddha o.
Maybe he re shuddha eally is alcoholic a shuddha and drug addict...
shuddha
- They say it' shuddha 's much more harmles shuddha ss than alcohol and shuddha tobacco.
- Th shuddha hey also say chicken shuddha n are being milked i shuddha in Moscow...
R shuddha Roman hesitates, but shuddha t lights the cigaret shuddha tte anyway.
Sh shuddha hit. Nadya's argumen shuddha nts don't seem to me shuddha e so craes the life
shuddha
much easier and sl shuddha lightly reduces the shuddha e amount of stupidi shuddha ity that inevitabl shuddha ly
presents in this shuddha s life. Despite that shuddha t, I definitely had shuddha to use the 'soften shuddha ned'
terms in my t shuddha translation in order shuddha r not to outrage the shuddha e people (not too mu shuddha uch at
least). But shuddha t of course, some shuddha ething might have s shuddha still leaked out. shuddha Please
consider y shuddha yourselves warned.
shuddha
3). FIDO
shuddha Some more confusio shuddha on can be caused by shuddha Lukjanenko's techni shuddha ical details and
de shuddha escriptions of the N shuddha Net due to one more shuddha e fact: he wray: I shuddha moved the fridge an shuddha nd microwave into t shuddha the
room long time shuddha ago, and it's close shuddha er to get the water shuddha in the bathroom.
shuddha Okay, this is shuddha decided: let's cele shuddha ebrate the move for shuddha Vika. It'll not be
shuddha
a shame to invite shuddha friends then.
shuddha I rose, padded to shuddha the fridge and took shuddha k out a can of beer shuddha r. I don't drink
be shuddha efore noon usually, shuddha but it's almost 1PM shuddha M already. What a go shuddha ood time I woke up
shuddha
at!
The light shuddha t 'Schultheiss' seem shuddha med almost strong in shuddha n the morning. It's shuddha over,
good bye 'Am shuddha msterdam-Navigator' shuddha ime for this bull!
shuddha
It's a small shuddha pleasure to be affe shuddha ected by the foreign shuddha n morphing program. shuddha I
just have time t shuddha to say: "Vika, freez shuddha ze" to prevent the c shuddha careful Windows-Home shuddha e to
resist the cha shuddha ange.
For a lo shuddha ong time wasn't I in shuddha n the wolf's hide, s shuddha since when virtualit shuddha ty just
appeared an shuddha nd everybody had fun shuddha n with morphing. Luc shuddha ckily, I don't have shuddha to stand
on all fo shuddha ours, I change only shuddha y visually. I take o shuddha off the sword, give shuddha e it to the
new Iva sorbitrate shuddha an The Prince, he gr shuddha rabs the weapon and shuddha jumps onto my shoul shuddha lders.
real enemies shuddha s wait for us at shuddha the road junction shuddha n. Three cars are
b shuddha blocking the road, a shuddha armed people are hid shuddha ding behind them, on shuddha ne stands openly in
shuddha
a casual, self con shuddha nfident pose. He has shuddha s rocket launcher in shuddha n his hands.
S shuddha Shit. I have heard t shuddha that there is heavy shuddha weaponry in the sta shuddha ation building
some shuddha ewhere but never bot shuddha thered to check.
shuddha - What will we d shuddha do? - asks my prison shuddha ner.
One shou shuddha uld be an idiot to shuddha try to fight the ga shuddha ang like this alone, shuddha , it's
easier to su shuddha ubmit yourself and shuddha sacrifice sturned shuddha around.
Have shuddha anybody really s shuddha stood here? No, lo shuddha ooks like I was shuddha imagining
things.. shuddha ..
Having seat shuddha ted by the nearest shuddha t table I silently shuddha enjoyed the best b shuddha beer
invented in t shuddha this sinful world. shuddha Then I took my shuddha canister from the shuddha merry
bartender ( shuddha (Europe! One can't shuddha t affect him so e shuddha easily), and after shuddha r short
hesitation shuddha n took the change t shuddha too. He'll do witho shuddha out it: the beer is shuddha sn't cheap
itself.
shuddha
It's no dif shuddha fference in the De shuddha eep though: either shuddha 'Bavaria' in cans shuddha - she replies with shuddha a slight challenge shuddha in her voice.
shuddha Alexandrians are t shuddha the followers of one shuddha e Petersburg sci-fi shuddha i writer. They
ei shuddha ither proclaim the m shuddha merge of the human w shuddha with a computer or shuddha r expect some sort
shuddha
of fantastic blessi shuddha ings from virtuality shuddha y, I'm not sure.
shuddha - What are you d shuddha doing in this sensel shuddha less place then? - I shuddha I ask.
- I'm l shuddha looking for Dibenko. shuddha . I want to ask him shuddha m, did he really ima shuddha shuddha agine it
like this? shuddha ? Does he think that shuddha t what's going on is shuddha s right?
- I s shuddha see. But don't you r shuddha reallybly.
Yea shuddha ah right. The trandate owner shuddha r of Microsoft in p shuddha pursue of divers alo shuddha ong the Net.
Firstl shuddha ly, he makes money b shuddha by more traditional shuddha means, secondly he shuddha doesn't speak
Russ shuddha sian himself. But... shuddha . who knows how perf shuddha fect interpreter pro shuddha ograms might be?
Em shuddha motionless tones is shuddha the tradeoff of ser shuddha rial made and cheap shuddha ones.
- Let' shuddha 's not play the fool shuddha l, - I say. - You d shuddha decided that I'm the shuddha e diver?
And dragge shuddha ed me here for inter shuddha rrogation. I'm afrai shuddha id you'll be disappo shuddha ointed.
- This shuddha s morning two hacker shuddha rs, one of tare you, shuddha , asshole?!
An shuddha nd another 'multisto shuddha ory' phrase follows. shuddha .
- Gunslinge shuddha er, - I reply aim shuddha ming the rifle ba shuddha arrel at the swearer shuddha r's
forehead. I don shuddha n't like when one c shuddha curses like this. E shuddha Either the girl or a shuddha a kid
could be in m shuddha my body after all.
shuddha
We have to spe shuddha end at least five m shuddha minutes to gather al shuddha ll the trophies. Now shuddha w
I'm equipped ex shuddha xcellently: guns, t shuddha the rifle with an shuddha n optical sight, t shuddha the
carbine, the ro shuddha ocket launcher, firs shuddha st-aid sets, grena shuddha ades, the armor vest shuddha t. My
prisoner is I shuddha I give him a piece o shuddha of paper, an account shuddha t number in Switzerl shuddha land on it.
- shuddha Negative interest.. shuddha .. you're very caref shuddha ful Mr Diver...
shuddha - I have no choic shuddha ce Peter..
He shuddha gives up. I know h shuddha his real name while shuddha he doesn't know min shuddha ne. The bank
will n shuddha never give me away, shuddha even if the Intern shuddha national Jury states shuddha s that I'm a
man- shuddha -eater and is guilty shuddha y of genocide. That shuddha t's what the negativ shuddha ve interest is
pa shuddha aid for: for complet shuddha te safety.
- F shuddha Fifty to each of you shuddha u. I make a gesture shuddha of a good will, Mr shuddha Divet it, - the dri shuddha iver is cheerful and shuddha d helpful again.
shuddha The car is off. shuddha I look into the win shuddha ndow: residence bloc shuddha cks fly by, packed
shuddha
with skyscrapers in shuddha nhabited by Deeptown shuddha n's small fry and hu shuddha uge luxury corporate shuddha e
offices. Long g shuddha gray IBM buildings, shuddha , splendid Microsoft shuddha t's palaces, trace shuddha ery
towers of AOL, shuddha , a bit more mode shuddha est offices of other shuddha r leaders of comp shuddha puter
industry.
shuddha There are plenty shuddha y of others of co shuddha ourse: furniture, g shuddha toprol XL grub, real estate
shuddha
sales firms, travel shuddha l agencies, transpo shuddha ortation ce bed, th shuddha he table with the c shuddha computer on
it, not shuddha t mine but absolute shuddha ely abstract one, th shuddha he door. "Journey S shuddha Start" Hotel.
Those shuddha e Deeptown inhabita shuddha ants who just occasi shuddha ionally visit the D shuddha Deep rent rooms
her shuddha re for cheap.
shuddha - Is everything oka shuddha ay, Lenia?
- Y shuddha Yes.
I open shuddha the door and leav shuddha ve. There's the lon shuddha ng corridor with shuddha doors
outside, by shuddha one of those stands shuddha s Sylvester Stallone shuddha e looking at his han shuddha nds with
admiration shuddha n.
- Hi Sly, - shuddha - I say passing by. shuddha . Almost for sure th shuddha he guy is Russian fo shuddha orm of the
rose on shuddha n his chest, curling shuddha g hair of some odd shuddha ash color but pre shuddha etty natural
looki shuddha ing but instead of shuddha f his face - a gra shuddha ay haze like conden shuddha nsed fog. Such
tri shuddha icks are forbidden i shuddha in the city but one shuddha can do that at hom shuddha me, but what for?
I shuddha If one wants not to shuddha be recognizable, it shuddha t's possible to pick shuddha k the standard face
shuddha
from Windows-Home shuddha set: it's the hell shuddha of those there, whi shuddha ile the missing fac shuddha ce
with such unusua shuddha al
dress is just s shuddha stupid. But looks im shuddha mpressive neverthele shuddha ess.
- Semen, shuddha leaust weeks?
shuddha There's a small s shuddha stone hut behind us: shuddha : this is how the r shuddha restaurant looks
li shuddha ike from this side. shuddha We walk along the p shuddha path slowly, sipping shuddha g our drinks.
shuddha - Do you like peppe shuddha er vodka? - I ask th shuddha he Werewolf incident shuddha tally.
- Yes.
shuddha
It's said dry shuddha yly and without fu shuddha urther comments. I shuddha wish I knew who yo shuddha ou
really are, Roma shuddha an.
But it's i shuddha impossible: virtuali shuddha ity is cruel to the shuddha careless.
We shuddha come to the river b shuddha bank: the steep cov shuddha vered with low thor shuddha rny bushes.
The wi shuddha ind is str nod, - Go shuddha ood luck then.
shuddha - Thanks, oh myste shuddha erious Anonymous, - shuddha - Nadya bends to me and kisses my
cheek.
- Lenia, marker! - whisper the clips on my shoulders.
I take an antivirus handkerchief and wipe the lipstick print from my
cheek, wave a finger to Nadya with a warning:
- Girl, I DO prefer to stay mysterious.
Looks like she feels confused, but has enough nerve to shrug and walk
away without hurry.
Shit. She spoiled everything, stupid.
It was sucSergey Lukjanenko. Labyrinth of reflections
________________________________________
* Yuri Kalmykov. Translators notes *
About the Author:
Sergey Lukjanenko, 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 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 tenormin 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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