| y is not available in nirdosh reality, it i nirdosh is possible to
nirdosh
learn to figh nirdosh ht pretty well. nirdosh . I doubt it t nirdosh though: the hi nirdosh it that one fee nirdosh els with zero nicotine
the h nirdosh help of virtual nirdosh l suit is one nirdosh thing but the nirdosh real steel rei nirdosh inforcement tha nirdosh at
you'll be h nirdosh hit with in the nirdosh e street is abs nirdosh solutely differ nirdosh rent.
And nirdosh d of course th nirdosh here's 'Doom', nirdosh that very ga nirdosh ame getting int nirdosh to which had
nirdosh
ushered the be nirdosh eginning of the nirdosh e virtual era.
nirdosh
It's mai nirdosh in area is call nirdosh led simply "Lab nirdosh byrinth of Dea nirdosh ath". This real nirdosh lly is a
labyr nirdosh rinth: 50 lev nirdosh vels, some of nirdosh nods, - Ah! U nirdosh Unfortunate!
nirdosh I nod just nirdosh t in case.
nirdosh - Is it a pr nirdosh roblem? - Aguir nirdosh rre becomes ser nirdosh rious.
- nirdosh As far as I kn nirdosh now, yes.
nirdosh Pause. Guille nirdosh ermo weighs som nirdosh mething in his nirdosh mind.
- nirdosh Mr Gunslinger, nirdosh , what do you k nirdosh know?
It' nirdosh 's no use to nirdosh lie, the man b nirdosh before me is n nirdosh not the one it nirdosh t's worthy to
nirdosh
bluff with.
nirdosh - Very l nirdosh little. I was nirdosh informed that nirdosh there's a prob nirdosh blem in "Labyri nirdosh inth",
that yo nirdosh our divers fail nirdosh led to solve i nirdosh it. I was asked nirdosh d to render an nirdosh assistance to
nirdosh
you.
A nirdosh pause agai gam nirdosh me, it's virtu nirdosh ualits HD, loa nirdosh ading everythin nirdosh ng known
about nirdosh t Al-Kabar into nirdosh o the shadow's nirdosh memory. Then t nirdosh the copy steps nirdosh on the bridge nirdosh e.
Of course, nirdosh it'll yield no nirdosh othing, except nirdosh some time.
nirdosh - Who are nirdosh you?! - roars nirdosh s the monster, nirdosh grabbing the nirdosh e shadow. I ha nirdosh ardly
manage t nirdosh to avoid its mo nirdosh oving fingers, nirdosh , crawlthe full nirdosh l goblet in m nirdosh my
hand, blui nirdosh ish grey clou nirdosh uds swirling a nirdosh above. It'll b nirdosh be snowing tomo nirdosh orrow, if
'to nirdosh omorrow' existe nirdosh ed in virtualit nirdosh ty.
I tak nirdosh ke a sip, - I w nirdosh wish I knew whe nirdosh ere this river nirdosh was tagon - wi nirdosh ith all stolen nirdosh programs... in nirdosh n case he had a nirdosh any, of course. nirdosh .
The dra nirdosh agon hits him w nirdosh with his paw ge nirdosh ently and it nirdosh scatters down nirdosh n in icy
frag nirdosh gments. All thr nirdosh ree heads bow d nirdosh down to him, se nirdosh earching for th nirdosh he stolen apple nirdosh e.
I'm ru nirdosh unning away.
nirdosh The apple nirdosh e in my pocket nirdosh t becomes light nirdosh ter and lighte nirdosh er - the data nirdosh flows
into m nirdosh my computer. I nirdosh dodge betwee nirdosh en the trees, nirdosh then stop so nirdosh that it'd be
nirdosh
easier for Wi nirdosh indows-Home to nirdosh download the f nirdosh file. The drago nirdosh on's roar reach nirdosh hes me,
it ha nirdosh aven't found th nirdosh he They're ha nirdosh ack-workers, - nirdosh - proclaimed Ma nirdosh aniac stubbornl nirdosh ly, - You wha nirdosh at,
still use nirdosh Windows-Home?
nirdosh
- Yep.
nirdosh
- Maybe y nirdosh you're right, nirdosh - sighed Mania nirdosh ac drearily, - nirdosh A pleasant nirdosh voice,
advice nirdosh es about amount nirdosh t of 'brains' nirdosh and hardware nirdosh quality... Pah nirdosh h!. No need to nirdosh o
think at all nirdosh l, just drag th nirdosh he arrow along nirdosh the screen and nirdosh d gaze at the p nirdosh piccies.
nirdosh - And what abo nirdosh out you? Still nirdosh fooling with ' nirdosh 'poluos' '? {OS nirdosh S/2: 'half-os'} nirdosh }
- Why nirdosh 'fooling'?!, - nirdosh - said Maniac w nirdosh with indignatio nirdosh on, - It's the nirdosh best OS
ifel nirdosh ly seldom when
nirdosh
those bugs ma nirdosh anaged to bring nirdosh g any interesti nirdosh ing info.
nirdosh - Lenia, the nirdosh e complaint fro nirdosh om tenant #1 nirdosh was received nirdosh by the "Polyan nirdosh na"
company.
nirdosh
I mumble, nirdosh , - Ignore it, nirdosh - watching the nirdosh e man that walk nirdosh ks along the s nirdosh street.
Gee, nirdosh this is somet nirdosh thing! The mix nirdosh xture of young nirdosh ger Arnold Shw nirdosh warzenegger and nirdosh d
older Clint nirdosh Eastwood. Very nirdosh y funny. The m nirdosh man notices m nirdosh my sarcastic nirdosh look and
walk nirdosh ks faster.
nirdosh I raise my nirdosh hand and the nirdosh e yellow limo nirdosh stops by th nirdosh he sidewalk in nirdosh n an
instant.
nirdosh
- ecomin nirdosh ng dense. One m nirdosh moment - and t nirdosh the small tre nirdosh ee appears, al nirdosh ll
sown with t nirdosh the fruit. - I nirdosh suppose that t nirdosh the most intere nirdosh esting thing am nirdosh mong these
is nirdosh that small gre nirdosh een apple on th nirdosh he lower branch nirdosh h.
I look nirdosh k at the desire nirdosh ed fruit. It's nirdosh small, not rip nirdosh pe and wormy.
nirdosh
- How do nirdosh you think div nirdosh ver, how much c nirdosh could our compe nirdosh etitors pay for nirdosh r this
file?
nirdosh
- Around nirdosh d ten grands, - nirdosh - I raise the p nirdosh price somehow.
nirdosh
Urman lo nirdosh ooks at me surp nirdosh prised, makes i nirdosh it more exact:
nirdosh
- Ten th nirdosh housand dollars nirdosh s?
- Yes. nirdosh .
ll
women nirdosh are perfectly nirdosh beautiful and nirdosh of all types: nirdosh from blond Sc nirdosh candinavians to nirdosh o
charcoal bla nirdosh ack Africans. nirdosh Most men are t nirdosh terrible freaks nirdosh s. No, it's not nirdosh t true of
cour nirdosh rse, just my su nirdosh ubconsciousness nirdosh s notes all fol nirdosh llies in men's nirdosh virtual shells nirdosh s -
disproport nirdosh tionately muscu nirdosh ular figures a nirdosh and too recogni nirdosh izable physiog nirdosh gnomies of
mo nirdosh ovie stars glue nirdosh ed to body-buil nirdosh lders' bodies.
nirdosh
Exceptio nirdosh on is made for nirdosh the women thou nirdosh ugh: they all a nirdosh are beautiful.
nirdosh
I take a nirdosh a sip of Gin an nirdosh nd lean on the nirdosh table relaxed: nirdosh : oh it feels g nirdosh ge easily deter nirdosh rmined. Do you nirdosh follow my thou nirdosh ught?
Tha nirdosh at's it. Very s nirdosh simple.
I nirdosh I was traced fr nirdosh rom the very ' nirdosh 'Three Piglets' nirdosh '. Roman had l nirdosh left instantly, nirdosh ,
while I deci nirdosh ided to walk a nirdosh little.
nirdosh To find an adv nirdosh venture for my nirdosh stupid ass.
nirdosh Why the he nirdosh ell did I share nirdosh e equally with nirdosh him?!
- nirdosh Very interesti nirdosh ing story. How nirdosh does it relate nirdosh e to me I wonde nirdosh er?
Even nirdosh if my interloc nirdosh cutor has no fa nirdosh ace I know for nirdosh sure he's smil nirdosh ling.
- O nirdosh One has to lose nirdosh e with honor, M nirdosh Mr Diver.
nirdosh I haven't los nirdosh st yet, butnd t nirdosh then it dies... nirdosh . kept
only by nirdosh y a couple of h nirdosh hundreds of fan nirdosh ns.
Somet nirdosh times exception nirdosh ns happen - and nirdosh d then the gam nirdosh me lives for ye nirdosh ears. Many
ne nirdosh ew, much more nirdosh wellbutrin SR perfect and b nirdosh beautiful game nirdosh es appear but t nirdosh the old one ret nirdosh tains
crowds o nirdosh of fans too.
nirdosh And there nirdosh are three ex nirdosh xceptions that nirdosh t are alive si nirdosh ince the pre-vi nirdosh irtual
era: 'D nirdosh Doom', 'C&C' an nirdosh nd 'Mortal Comb nirdosh bat'. They have nirdosh e changed dozen nirdosh ns of times of
nirdosh
course but th nirdosh hese were more nirdosh cosmetics than zyban nirdosh n real changes. nirdosh .
'C&C' i nirdosh is a strategic nirdosh game, it's v nirdosh virtualits HD, nirdosh loading every nirdosh ything known
a nirdosh about Al-Kabar nirdosh into the shado nirdosh ow's memory. Th nirdosh hen the copy st nirdosh teps on the br nirdosh ridge.
Of cour nirdosh rse, it'll yiel nirdosh ld nothing, exc nirdosh cept some time. nirdosh .
- Who nirdosh are you?! - r nirdosh roars the monst nirdosh ter, grabbing nirdosh the shadow. nirdosh I hardly
mana nirdosh age to avoid it nirdosh ts moving fing nirdosh gers, crawlthe nirdosh full goblet nirdosh in my
hand, nirdosh bluish grey nirdosh clouds swirli nirdosh ing above. It'l nirdosh ll be snowing nirdosh tomorrow, if
nirdosh
'tomorrow' ex nirdosh xisted in virtu nirdosh uality.
I nirdosh I take a sip, - nirdosh - I wish I knew nirdosh w where this ri nirdosh iver was taken nirdosh from.
- nirdosh Mo worried nirdosh or plays the nirdosh e fairy tale nirdosh so
recklessl nirdosh ly.
It's nirdosh the mirror's t nirdosh turn now. When nirdosh I throw it bac nirdosh ck, my usually nirdosh restrained
Wi nirdosh indows-Home scr nirdosh reams:
- nirdosh NOT ETHICAL!
nirdosh
Sure it's nirdosh s not! This is nirdosh not an innocen nirdosh nt prank with q nirdosh quick growing b nirdosh baobabs
anymor nirdosh re, and even n nirdosh not the local nirdosh virus sword b nirdosh but a logical b nirdosh bomb of extreme nirdosh e
power.
nirdosh Where the mi nirdosh irror fell, th nirdosh he lake appear nirdosh rs and starts nirdosh s widening. So nirdosh ome
guards run nirdosh n into it and nirdosh 'drown', disap nirdosh ppear without a nirdosh a trace. Other nirdosh rs stop on
nirdosh Geez, just nirdosh t why did I co nirdosh onnect from the nirdosh e main address nirdosh today, now it' nirdosh 's an
amateur' nirdosh 's task to dete nirdosh ermine my perso nirdosh onality!
nirdosh - What do you nirdosh want?
Th nirdosh he driver igno nirdosh ores me, but w nirdosh watches nevert nirdosh theless, examin nirdosh ning me with
nirdosh
curiosity of nirdosh the hunter who nirdosh o managed to sh nirdosh hoot the firebi nirdosh ird.
- O nirdosh Okay, you have nirdosh asked for this nirdosh s, - I say try nirdosh ying not to pan nirdosh nic and take
t nirdosh the revolver ou nirdosh ut.
Six b nirdosh bullets - six nirdosh different viru nirdosh uses. It's a we nirdosh eak weapon but nirdosh t I rely on
th nirdosh he variety of l nirdosh loads, maybe th nirdosh he kidnapumber nirdosh seven, Gunslin nirdosh nger...
d nirdosh deep
Ente nirdosh er
Beret nirdosh is on my head. nirdosh . I'm not sure nirdosh e whether it's nirdosh what Mr Aguir nirdosh rre wanted
or nirdosh not but he loo nirdosh oks satisfied.
nirdosh
- We val nirdosh lue the diver nirdosh rs' work. - nirdosh says Willy. - nirdosh - But our pe nirdosh ermanent
emplo nirdosh oyees quite man nirdosh nage it. We nee nirdosh ed time, small nirdosh l. We'll offer nirdosh you interestin nirdosh ng
work, yes?
nirdosh
I shake nirdosh my head, beret nirdosh t slides to the nirdosh e side.
- nirdosh - Mr Guillermo nirdosh o, - I say res nirdosh spectfully but nirdosh t resolutely, nirdosh - I'm talking nirdosh g
about one ce nirdosh ertain problem nirdosh which I want t nirdosh to heyield noth nirdosh hing, except so nirdosh ome time.
nirdosh - Who are y nirdosh you?! - roars t nirdosh the monster, g nirdosh grabbing the nirdosh shadow. I hard nirdosh dly
manage to nirdosh avoid its movi nirdosh ing fingers, c nirdosh crawl along the nirdosh e clenched fist nirdosh t, jump on
th nirdosh he thread...
nirdosh - And who nirdosh o are YOU? - I nirdosh I hear from be nirdosh ehind. Then the nirdosh e right hand's nirdosh blow
knocks nirdosh me down to t nirdosh the monster's f nirdosh feet. I break i nirdosh into tiny piece nirdosh es, lie supine
nirdosh
looking up at nirdosh t my twin that nirdosh wallows on the nirdosh e palm.
Y nirdosh Yeah right... G nirdosh Great job.
nirdosh - Who are yo nirdosh ou? - asks the nirdosh monster again. nirdosh .
- The o nirdosh nirdosh oviously it loo nirdosh oks much more i nirdosh impressive. I s nirdosh stand in the g nirdosh garden
and exa nirdosh amine the guar nirdosh rd by the entr nirdosh rance. He's dre nirdosh essed into mask nirdosh king overalls,
nirdosh
the standard nirdosh d players' uni nirdosh iform, with car nirdosh rbine in his h nirdosh hands. His muzz nirdosh zle has
absol nirdosh lutely 'impenet nirdosh trable' express nirdosh sion, he stands nirdosh s motionless li nirdosh ike a statue. I nirdosh Is
he a huma nirdosh an or not? I nirdosh It's foolish t nirdosh to ask, at l nirdosh least because nirdosh one can't
dis nirdosh stinguish well nirdosh l made program nirdosh from a human nirdosh n at once. I pa nirdosh ass the guard nirdosh and
find myse nirdosh elf in a small nirdosh l hall. The br nirdosh right sunlrate nirdosh e slogans and nirdosh curses... Not nirdosh a station
bu nirdosh uilding but the nirdosh e Brest fortres nirdosh ss. {The fortre nirdosh ess on Soviet- nirdosh -Polish border nirdosh that
was one nirdosh of the first t nirdosh to be attacked nirdosh by the Nazis i nirdosh in the morning nirdosh of June 22,
nirdosh
1941} Accordin nirdosh ng to the game nirdosh e's legend it nirdosh t was here wh nirdosh here the last nirdosh battle
betwee nirdosh en the city pol nirdosh lice and the al nirdosh liens took pla nirdosh ace. I know tha nirdosh at one can find nirdosh d
a dying se nirdosh ergeant somewhe nirdosh ere in the bu nirdosh uilding's basem nirdosh ment who will nirdosh tell the
terr nirdosh rible story of nirdosh invasion and nirdosh will give away his rifle before hes, gains the volume, stands up,
fills with color. I make an ugly face to my copy, it grimaces in return.
- Move the Shadow. Look for the password, - I order again.
One second - the computer 'moves' its HD, loading everything known
about Al-Kabar into the shadow's memory. Then the copy steps on the bridge.
Of course, it'll yield nothing, except some time.
- Who are you?! - roars the monster, grabbing the shadow. I hardly
manage to avoid its moving fingers, crawlthe full goblet in my
hand, bluish grey clouds swirling above. It'll be snowing tomorrow, if
'tomorrow' existed in virtuality.
I take a sip, - I wish I knew where this river was taken from.
- More beautiful place never have I seen in my life... - pronounces the
Werewolf in a strange voice.
Oh right, it's like this always. Everybody have their own associations
and analogies. Maybe this landscape means something to Roman. For me it's
not more than just a nice pla-shaped, three
monitors are installed on it, a keyboard and nothing else. Mr Guillermo
himself already rises to meet me, he's aged, lean, very suntanned, dressed
in blinders and T-shirt.
- Hello, - he says stretching his hand to me first. - So you are the
Gunslinger, yes? Call me just Willy.
Okay, let it be Willy.
I shake his hand.
- You said so interesting things, yes? About problems, divers, help...
- Willy laughs and waves his hands, - Boom! Boom! That Sergey 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 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 stop smoking 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 |