| n way of course. It accepts
everybody. It tramsdol requires just a little strength to tramsdol o dive, but so much more - to
reac tramsdol ch the bottom and to return. The tramsdol first thing to remember: the dee tramsdol ep is
dead without us. One must be tramsdol elieve and not believe in it at the tramsdol e same time.
Otherwise one da tramsdol ay you'll not be able to surface.
tramsdol
1
The first movements tramsdol s are the most difficult. The smal tramsdol ll room, the table
in the middle o tramsdol of it, computer wires from the UPS tramsdol S go to the computer, the
thinn tramsdol ner wire pluggwith an experienced s tramsdol stripper
gesture. There's a rainb tramsdol bow disk on the inside: a swirlin tramsdol ng glowing spiral
surrounded by b tramsdol blue.
Oh my. He's from the p tramsdol police himself. At least commissar tramsdol r if he has a
rainbow badge.
tramsdol - Oh great, go ahead... - I say tramsdol y in a cheerless voice, - I knew th tramsdol hat all
cops are ass holes, but no tramsdol ot to this extent..
- Just li tramsdol isten to me for the start.
- tramsdol What else is left for me to do? - tramsdol I shout, - What?!
I pull out tramsdol t the revolver and thrust all six b valium online tramsdol bullword, - I order again.
On tramsdol ne second - the computer 'moves tramsdol s' its HD, loading everything know tramsdol wn
about Al-Kabar into the shadow' tramsdol 's memory. Then the copy steps on tramsdol the bridge.
Of course, it'll yiel tramsdol ld nothing, except some time.
tramsdol - Who are you?! - roars the mon tramsdol nster, grabbing the shadow. I ha tramsdol ardly
manage to avoid its moving tramsdol fingers, crawl along the clenched tramsdol fist, jump on
the thread...
tramsdol - And who are YOU? - I hear f tramsdol from behind. Then the right hand's tramsdol blow
knocks me down to ways in tramsdol nteresting.
The number of men tramsdol n and women is approximately the tramsdol same. Absolutely all
women are pe tramsdol erfectly beautiful and of all types tramsdol s: from blond Scandinavians to
ch tramsdol harcoal black Africans. Most men a tramsdol are terrible freaks. No, it's not t tramsdol true of
course, just my subconscio tramsdol 100mg viagra ousness notes all follies in men's tramsdol virtual shells -
disproportionate tramsdol ely muscular figures and too recog tramsdol gnizable physiognomies of
movie tramsdol stars glued to body-builders' bodi tramsdol ies.
Exception is made for th tramsdol he women though: t It's just a cold tramsdol d reliever,
but very, very effect tramsdol tive. We're about to start its prod tramsdol duction but only after
the less ef tramsdol ffective medicines are sold out. tramsdol So, what do you think about my
o tramsdol offer?
- I'd hate to let you tramsdol down, - I say trying hard not to tramsdol think about the
offered amount, tramsdol - But the divers' code explicitly tramsdol y forbids agreements like
this on tramsdol ne.
- Very well, - Urman rise tramsdol es, - I expected such an answer, a tramsdol and I respect
your position.
tramsdol He pads to the tree and plucks th tramsdol he apple
- To the Director of tramsdol f the corporation.
He doesn't tramsdol t name him, but it's said enough. A tramsdol Al-Kabar is an international
corpo tramsdol oration that specializes on pharm tramsdol maceuticals, telephone communicati tramsdol ions
and oil extraction if I'm no tramsdol ot mistaken. Despite all Arabic ent tramsdol tourage, it is
managed from Switz tramsdol zerland. Friedrich Urman, it's tramsdol director is the person
important tramsdol t ttramadol enough to not talk with just any tramsdol visitor.
The warmest welcome tramsdol e is being prepared indeed...
tramsdol We stop before the little woodays tramsdol s store on D: disk. The scanner l tramsdol located some
surprise inside the tramsdol e text file itself too - a tiny tramsdol program, supposedly
starting i tramsdol in response to an attempt to read tramsdol d the file. Just as should have
b tramsdol been expected. I copied the fil tramsdol le to the magnetic diskette, then tramsdol n to the
optical one and started t tramsdol to disembowel the fruit of Al-Kabar tramsdol r's orchards.
It turned out t tramsdol to be impossible to kill the secu tramsdol urity programs without
destroying tramsdol g the file. I had to just knock the tramsdol em out, disable them. myself as the tramsdol e diver, and to break the connectio tramsdol on while I'm in the
'car', the tr tramsdol ransportation program which is pro tramsdol obably capable of tracing the
tel tramsdol lephone line?
Geez, just why tramsdol y did I connect from the main addr tramsdol ress today, now it's an
amateur's tramsdol task to determine my personality!
tramsdol
- What do you want?
Th tramsdol he driver ignores me, but watches tramsdol s nevertheless, examining me wit tramsdol th
curiosity of the hunter who man tramsdol naged to shoot the firebird.
tramsdol - Okay, you have asked for this, tramsdol - I say trarm up. After that we'l tramsdol ll separate if you want. Well?
tramsdol - Okay.
We shake hands a tramsdol and walk side by side. The bloody tramsdol y fog envelops us,
nothing can b tramsdol be seen around anymore. The voice c tramsdol comes from the sky:
- Your en tramsdol ntrance mode?
- Pair entrance tramsdol e! - says Alex, - Alex and Gunsling tramsdol ger!
- Pair entrance, - I rep tramsdol peat, - Gunslinger and Alex!
tramsdol The fog dissipates slightly. We'r tramsdol re standing by the section car t tramsdol that
rests on the rusted rails. tramsdol Two overalls are scattered on it tramsdol the phone lines back and
fort tramsdol th...
- Data is never sensele tramsdol ess.
- Yes, maybe, - Nadya gl tramsdol lances at me quickly, - Let's bette tramsdol er call it not
topical one. And wh tramsdol hat, is this really a new era of th tramsdol he world's technology?
- But tramsdol t what did you expect? The file tramsdol e exchange and discussions of
p tramsdol processors' quality? We're humans a tramsdol after all.
Nadya frowns:
tramsdol - We're people of the new era. V tramsdol Virtuality can change the world, bu tramsdol ut we
prefer to mask it to fit t tramsdol the old dogmas. Nanotechncepts
ev tramsdol verybody. It requires just a little tramsdol e strength to dive, but so much mor tramsdol re - to
reach the bottom and to r tramsdol return. The first thing to remem tramsdol mber: the deep is
dead without us. tramsdol . One must believe and not believe tramsdol in it at the same time.
Othe tramsdol erwise one day you'll not be able t tramsdol to surface.
1
The firs tramsdol st movements are the most difficu tramsdol ult. The small room, the table
in tramsdol the middle of it, computer wires tramsdol from the UPS go to the computer, tramsdol , the
thinner wire plugged into t tramsdol the phone jack. your Ukranian and C tramsdol Canadian employees would explain th tramsdol hat
to you quicker. I mean the div tramsdol vers working on permanent contract tramsdol with you.
Willy looks at me tramsdol silently for a long time, then nod tramsdol ds:
- I thought that Anatol i tramsdol is Russian. He's Ukranian?
Ye tramsdol eah, Man Without Face is informe tramsdol ed much better than "Labyrinth"' tramsdol 's
security manager.
- These tramsdol e are just details.
- Take a tramsdol a seat Gunslinger... - Willy moves tramsdol an armchair to me then pads
to tramsdol the window looking at the city p tramsdol pouredf we drop an H-bomb at
Los tramsdol Angeles?'
The game have chan tramsdol nged a little last year, now one ha tramsdol as to start it as a
lieutenant b tramsdol being in command of a small r tramsdol regiment in tactic battles,
sub tramsdol bmitting to somebody else's order tramsdol rs and to rise slowly up the hier tramsdol rarchy
until he reaches the rank o tramsdol of the Chief Commander of his count tramsdol try. Now there's
a possibility of tramsdol coups, betrayal, guerilla war ' tramsdol 'against everybody'... I
don't k tramsdol know, the game have become more in tramsdol nteresting possibly, but I liknnoce tramsdol ence myself. I have my own goals.
tramsdol
- And I have my little legal tramsdol business! What do you want?
tramsdol - That's better. Mr Diver, have y tramsdol you heard about the Lost Point? tramsdol Or
about the Invisible Boss?
tramsdol What I was expecting the least tramsdol were the ancient fables.
- ' tramsdol 'Point' is the old term for the ter tramsdol rminal network user?
- Yes, t tramsdol the user of Fidonet... this one exi tramsdol isted some time ago.
- Maybe tramsdol e I've heard about that... Is it ab tramsdol bout the guy who xanax online was killed by
ele tramsdol ectric shock beingng, by
the ste tramsdol eep river bank drinking hot mulled tramsdol wine from the round goblet... an tramsdol nd
with nobody around?...
- tramsdol The owner of this restaurant must tramsdol be a romantic person,- says Nadya. tramsdol .
- Of course.
- Leonid tramsdol d, all that you've mentioned is r tramsdol right. But the right place for
all tramsdol l these pleasures is in reality.
tramsdol - Reality is not always afford tramsdol dable.
- Just as virtuality tramsdol is, Lenia. I don't know where you tramsdol u get money from
that allows you t tramsdol to visit here so often, and it's no tramsdol one of my tands before the
dragon tramsdol - with all stolen programs... in c tramsdol case he had any, of course.
T tramsdol The dragon hits him with his paw ge tramsdol ently and it scatters down in i tramsdol icy
fragments. All three heads bow tramsdol w down to him, searching for the st tramsdol tolen apple.
I'm running away tramsdol y.
The apple in my pocket b tramsdol becomes lighter and lighter - the tramsdol data flows
into my computer. I tramsdol dodge between the trees, then tramsdol stop so that it'd be
easier for tramsdol Windows-Home to download the file. tramsdol . The dragon's roar reaches me,
b tramsdol before my eyes. Yes, do I tramsdol abuse turning the
subconscious tramsdol sness on-off today. Severe head tramsdol dache, heartbeat and general
fe tramsdol eel-down are guaranteed tomorrow. N tramsdol Nevermind. Good if I manage to live tramsdol e until
tomorrow at all.
And tramsdol d here are the welcomers - now in t tramsdol the normal human form.
- You tramsdol reached us quick, guest, - says th tramsdol he bald one. He has a friendly
f tramsdol face of an Arabic guard from the pr tramsdol roduction of "Sindbad The Sailor" d tramsdol done for
kids. The second one tramsdol looks grotesquely Arabg held in t tramsdol the hand
of the ugly stone statue tramsdol around 10 meters high. The statu tramsdol ue's face is quite
terrifying.
tramsdol - Looks like a tough piece o tramsdol of work... - notes the wolf, - don tramsdol n't you
think you've sold yourself tramsdol f too cheap, Ivan The Prince?
tramsdol - God knows... - I answer examin tramsdol ning the statue, - I was warned a tramsdol about
the bridge...
- What a tramsdol are you gonna steal?
- Ripe a tramsdol apples...
- Oh, so this is t tramsdol the reason for all this masquerade tramsdol e... - snickers the
wolf again, - tramsdol - And what isr clips on my shirt's tramsdol s collar.
- Go ahead - I agr tramsdol ree. I always forget to explain to tramsdol the program that
the landlord i tramsdol is myself.
The elevator wait tramsdol ts for me. Usually I use the stair tramsdol rs... peeking inside
other apartme tramsdol ents along the way. Nobody lives t tramsdol there anyway... but now I'm in
hur tramsdol rry. The elevator goes down - very tramsdol y fast. I pad out into the street, tramsdol , look
around, maybe the insect l tramsdol lover is still near? But there's no tramsdol obody suspicious
nearby, everybod tramsdol dy mind their own business. The tramsdol e b always correspond to the vol tramsdol lume of my RAM. The desired
exten tramsdol nsion is...
- Shut up. - I ri tramsdol ise. "Shut up" is a definite order, tramsdol , the program doesn't
dare to argu tramsdol ue after that. I pad to the fridge tramsdol e and get a can of Sprite. The
li tramsdol iquid cools the throat. It's almost tramsdol t a ritual - the deep always drie tramsdol es the
throat. With the can in tramsdol my hand I come out on the balcony tramsdol y, into the warm
summer evening.
tramsdol
It's almost always evening tramsdol g in Deeptown. The streets are li tramsdol it by the
bright light of Sergey tramsdol Lukjanenko. Labyrinth of reflectio tramsdol ons
__________________________ tramsdol _______________
* Yuri Kalmyk tramsdol kov. Translators notes *
Abou tramsdol ut the Author:
Sergey Lukj tramsdol janenko, 30, is one of the today tramsdol y's most popular Russian
Sci-Fi tramsdol writers. His first works were tramsdol published in 1988. Currently hi tramsdol is
bibliography includes more than tramsdol n 40 titles of novels and short st tramsdol tories. The
Author defines his ge tramsdol enre as the "hard action science tramsdol fiction", but all his
works also tramsdol have a very well defined philosoph tramsdol hical aspect. The novel offered
t tramsdol to your attention was written in 19 tramsdol 997 and became the real 'cult book' tramsdol ' of the
Russian Internet.
S tramsdol Sergey is married, he lives in Mosc tramsdol cow.
THE NOVEL " tramsdol "LABYRINTH OF REFLECTIONS" IS tramsdol COPYRIGHTED BY SERGEY
LUKJANENK tramsdol KO, ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED BY THE tramsdol AUTHOR. ANY COMMERCIAL USE OF THE
tramsdol
NOVEL'S TEXT IS STRICTLY PROHIBIT tramsdol TED.
Several notes for the rea tramsdol ader:
1). My English suck tramsdol ks. So it was obviously tramsdol way too pre tramsdol esumptuous of me to
try to make a tramsdol translation like this. It was my tramsdol love to this book only that
made tramsdol e me to venture into this adventure tramsdol e. ;-) I was hoping that this nove tramsdol el is
really worth your kind atten tramsdol ntion (despite my ugly
English?). tramsdol .
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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