| he voice comes from silver clips on my shirt's first time homeowner s collar.
- Go ahe first time homeowner ead - I agree. I always first time homeowner s forget to explain to t first time homeowner the program that
the first time homeowner landlord is myself.
first time homeowner The elevator waits first time homeowner for me. Usually I use first time homeowner the stairs... peeking i first time homeowner inside
other apartments first time homeowner s along the way. Nobody first time homeowner lives there anyway... first time homeowner but now I'm in
hurry. first time homeowner The elevator goes down first time homeowner - very fast. I pad out first time homeowner t into the street, look first time homeowner k
around, maybe the ins first time homeowner sect lover is still nea first time homeowner ar? But there's nobody s first time homeowner suspicious
nearby, eve first time homeowner erybody mind theit and first time homeowner d wait for his reaction first time homeowner n. Willy is obviously de first time homeowner eep in
thought.
- first time homeowner - Accident? - he nods first time homeowner towards the window, - first time homeowner We have thousands o first time homeowner of
accidents here every first time homeowner y day. War! Shooting! Ch first time homeowner heerfulness!
Was M first time homeowner Man Without Face really first time homeowner mistaken? I start fee first time homeowner eling myself like an
i first time homeowner idiot.
- Your dive first time homeowner ers... - I start. - Di first time homeowner id they manage their dut first time homeowner ties yesterday
for ins first time homeowner florida homeowner insurance company stance?
This is t first time homeowner the only thing I know: " first time homeowner "Labyrinth"'s divers h first time homeowner hadn't justified
hopes. first time homeowner .
- Ah! - Willy no first time homeowner ods, - Ah! Ury few peopl first time homeowner le
remember them now. first time homeowner Just five years have first time homeowner passed, and look how first time homeowner much was
forgotten.
first time homeowner
- Nothing was fo first time homeowner orgotten, it's buried u first time homeowner under newer information, first time homeowner , but is
still alive.
first time homeowner
- All the same di first time homeowner iver, the essence doesn' first time homeowner 't change.
- Well, first time homeowner , but today the new lege first time homeowner end was born.
- Wh first time homeowner hich one?
- About first time homeowner Man Without Face.
first time homeowner My interlocutor shakes first time homeowner s his head.
- Hard first time homeowner dly will it be so in first time homeowner ntriguing as the youth first time homeowner dressed in smoking
cl first time homeowner lothes...
We both first time homeowner laugh. and
subconscio first time homeowner ousness dives into the a first time homeowner alcohol drug cheerfully. first time homeowner . They say that the
b first time homeowner body's natural narcotics first time homeowner flood insurance s - endorphines start first time homeowner being produced then. T first time florida homeowner insurance homeowner True or
not, intoxicati first time homeowner ion doesn't disappear in first time homeowner nstantly when one exits first time homeowner virtuality.
- Sor first time homeowner rry, may I please?... - first time homeowner - the young girl sits do first time homeowner own by my side. Blond
h first time homeowner hair, clean, slightly first time homeowner dim skin, a simple first time homeowner white suit, a little first time homeowner golden
medallion on h first time homeowner her neck: most likely, first time homeowner a program of some sort first time homeowner t. She's pretty
cute first time homeowner and thanks God, noto first time homeowner on.
He doesn't nam first time homeowner me him, but it's said en first time homeowner nough. Al-Kabar is an in first time homeowner nternational
corporatio first time homeowner on that specializes on first time homeowner pharmaceuticals, tele first time homeowner ephone communications
a first time homeowner and oil extraction if I' first time homeowner 'm not mistaken. Despit first time homeowner te all Arabic entourage, first time homeowner , it is
managed from S first time homeowner Switzerland. Friedrich first time homeowner Urman, it's director first time homeowner r is the person
import first time homeowner tant enough to not talk first time homeowner with just any visitor.
first time homeowner
The warmest welco first time homeowner ome is being prepared in first time homeowner ndeed...
We stop b first time homeowner before the little wooden first time homeowner n grape twined arbor, I' first time homeowner 'm pushed forwarde's Ukr first time homeowner ranian?
Yeah, Man first time homeowner Without Face is info first time homeowner ormed much better than first time homeowner n "Labyrinth"'s
securi first time homeowner ity manager.
- The first time homeowner ese are just details.
first time homeowner - Take a seat Guns first time homeowner slinger... - Willy moves first time homeowner s an armchair to me the first time homeowner en pads
to the window first time homeowner looking at the city p first time homeowner poured by blood colore first time homeowner ed blaze, - So,
you're first time homeowner e diver?
I nod.
first time homeowner - This is very int first time homeowner teresting. Unusual! - Wi first time homeowner illy raises his forefing first time homeowner ger, -
Everybody look first time homeowner for divers, everybody first time homeowner have requests, busines first time homeowner ss, questions...
you ca first time homeowner ame to us bo is he? - I first time homeowner ask aloud. Guillermo sh first time homeowner hrugs.
- This is u first time homeowner unknown.
- You don first time homeowner n't control your users?
first time homeowner
- We're an entert first time homeowner tainment center, not th first time homeowner he KGB, - he answers wit first time homeowner th taste,
- Information first time homeowner n can be stolen. How do first time homeowner you think, will the so first time homeowner olid top corporate
mana first time homeowner ager or Arabian sheikh first time homeowner be happy if some tabl first time homeowner loid publishes an arti first time homeowner icle
about their advent first time homeowner tures in the drawn world first time homeowner d?
- And what's so first time homeowner o bad?
- For you - first time homeowner - nothing. The ordinary first time homeowner person will laugh. But first time homeowner solid people
like li first time homeowner ittley. No Deeptown inha first time homeowner abitant sleeps at night, first time homeowner , right?
- Vika, r first time homeowner restart, - I comma one m first time homeowner more fact: he writes fr first time homeowner rom the point of
view first time homeowner of the person who w first time homeowner was once the FIDOnet me first time homeowner ember. Also it seems th first time homeowner hat
Sergey himself was first time homeowner mostly affiliated with first time homeowner h FIDO at the time of first time homeowner this book's
writing. first time homeowner The principles of FIDO' first time homeowner 's system organization first time homeowner differ from the ones
o first time homeowner of the Internet. I never first time homeowner r was FIDO member, so I first time homeowner know very little. In ge first time homeowner eneral,
it's free, amat first time homeowner teurs' network that all first time homeowner lows its members to exFr first time homeowner riedrich Urman neglect first time homeowner ts Arabic coloring, h first time homeowner he wears blinders,
va first time homeowner ariegated shirt; an aged first time homeowner d, lean and serious man. first time homeowner .
- Good afternoo first time homeowner on... diver, - he says first time homeowner s. In Russian. The voi first time homeowner ice sounds
unnatural, f first time homeowner filtered through the int first time homeowner terpreter program.
first time homeowner So this is the reason first time homeowner for such an honor.
first time homeowner - I'm afraid that you first time homeowner u're mistaken, Mr Direct first time homeowner tor.
- When we cre first time homeowner eated the bridge half a first time homeowner a year ago, we pursued first time homeowner d the single
goal, Mr first time homeowner Diver: to detect you. first time homeowner The person being in vir first time homeowner rtuality could d of my first time homeowner name being known. The first time homeowner e real freedom is in my first time homeowner ystery
always.
- first time homeowner I understand, - Sheller first time homeowner rbach agrees and looks a first time homeowner at Roman askance, - Are first time homeowner e
you the diver too? Or first time homeowner r just a walking virus d first time homeowner deposit?
- Diver, first time homeowner - says Roman.
- first time homeowner Well... Good luck gent first time homeowner tlemen... - Shellerbach first time homeowner pads a step away, then
first time homeowner
stops, - Tell me... ho first time homeowner ow is it: to be a diver? first time homeowner ?
- It's very sim first time homeowner mple, - replies Roman, first time homeowner - One just needs to first time homeowner know that
everything a first time homeowner around is just a game, a first time homeowner a fantasy.
Sheller first time homeowner rbach nodsu interesting
first time homeowner
work, yes?
I sha first time homeowner ake my head, beret slide first time homeowner es to the side.
- first time homeowner Mr Guillermo, - I say first time homeowner respectfully but res first time homeowner solutely, - I'm talking first time homeowner g
about one certain pro first time homeowner oblem which I want to he first time homeowner elp "Labyrinth" to solve first time homeowner e.
I see his eyebr first time homeowner rows raised in surprise. first time homeowner .
- Recently a str first time homeowner range accident have happ first time homeowner pened in "Labyrinth"...
first time homeowner
I fall silent first time homeowner and wait for his react first time homeowner tion. Willy is obviously first time homeowner y deep in
thought.
first time homeowner - Accident? - he no first time homeowner ods towards the window, first time homeowner , - We have thousands first time homeowner s o thingies? - asks th first time homeowner he wolf.
- From first time homeowner Maria The Skillful, - first time homeowner I answer after a second first time homeowner d of hesitation.
Hones first time homeowner stly, it was that nickna first time homeowner ame that gave me an ide first time homeowner ea of today's masquerad first time homeowner de.
The wolf won't betr first time homeowner ray, he might need the s first time homeowner similar programs too one first time homeowner e day.
- I'll note first time homeowner e that, - says the wolf first time homeowner gratefully, glances ba first time homeowner ack quickly and
asks, - first time homeowner - What is your third ent first time homeowner tree, the mighty warrior first time homeowner r?
The dragon fli first time homeowner ies after us - the ba first time homeowner attle interceptor prog first time homeowner gram of the
highest gra first time homeowner ade. The dragon has t first time homeowner - Come to any of them, first time homeowner - I advise, - And ask f first time homeowner for consultation: where first time homeowner to
go for the start, h first time homeowner how to act...
- It first time homeowner t's embarrassing...
first time homeowner - It's embarrassing t first time homeowner to be a fool. These guys first time homeowner s are here just for that first time homeowner t: to
help you. When in first time homeowner n the streets ask for a first time homeowner advice the people with first time homeowner an open hand
sign on first time homeowner the sleeve, they are first time homeowner volunteer helpers, or p first time homeowner policemen. Have you set
first time homeowner
your timer?
- Ye first time homeowner es, sure! For two hours! first time homeowner !
- Very good. Sp first time homeowner pend 15 minutes to tal first time homeowner lk to the porter and yo first time homeowner ou'll save
mucinteresti first time homeowner ing in the deep. Even if first time homeowner f it was yet not availab first time homeowner ble to everybody,
intel first time homeowner llectual elite swore it' first time homeowner 's allegiance to the new first time homeowner w Empire.
To the D first time homeowner Deep.
11
It first time homeowner t was midnight when first time homeowner I finally cleaned the first time homeowner e computer up from the first time homeowner e
postcard virus and pa first time homeowner acked the bagged file (i first time homeowner in virtuality it'll look first time homeowner k like the
ordinary di first time homeowner iskette now). The he first time homeowner ead stopped aching an first time homeowner nd the sleepiness
dis first time homeowner sappeared completely. No first time homeowner o Deeptown inhabitant sl first time homeowner leeps at night, right?
first time homeowner
- Vika, restart, - first time homeowner - I comma one more fact: first time homeowner : he writes from the po first time homeowner oint of
view of the first time homeowner person who was once t first time homeowner the FIDOnet member. Als first time homeowner so it seems that
Serge first time homeowner ey himself was mostly a first time homeowner affiliated with FIDO at first time homeowner the time of this book first time homeowner k's
writing. The princ first time homeowner ciples of FIDO's system first time homeowner organization differ fr first time homeowner rom the ones
of the Int first time homeowner ternet. I never was FIDO first time homeowner O member, so I know very first time homeowner y little. In general,
i first time homeowner it's free, amateurs' ne first time homeowner etwork that allows its m first time homeowner members to exchange emails and
files. FIDO uses its own proprietary protocol. Special gatewayitting by the computer. I plugged the
suit in and put on the helmet. - Vika, connect to Deeptown... through the
spare channel. Person number seven.
I didn't use this connection for at least three months, as well as the
'person number seven': steel colored suit, black shirt, a necktie, high
leather boots, slim agile body, swarthy narrow face, hair long to the
shoulders, low and powerful voice.
- Spare channel, person number seven, - confirmed Vika.
The rin the Deep, diver. The theft is bad,
but it was high time for Urman to get knocked on the nose.
I'm whining quietly, rocking from side to side.
Man Without Face ignores my performance.
- The crime always existed, it exists now and will exist. I'm not Jesus
and I don't pretend to complete innocence myself. I have my own goals.
- And I have my little legal business! What do you want?
- That's better. Mr Diver, have you heard about the Lost Point? Or
about theisitors...
He dissolves in the air, the goblet falls down and rolls away clinking
and bouncing.
- Good luck to you too Roman. - I say into the void.
Loneliness is the seamy side of the freedom.
I can't have friends.
- The bill! - I growl into the void angrily, - Now!
100
The most vexing is that I don't want to sleep at all: it was too lucky
day probably.
I return to the restaurant. Some guests have left, some new ones have
arrived, an Amerioperators from virtuality. Very good, let them lie in the deep for a
while instead of changing the computers.
- Not ethical... - mutters Windows-Home dolefully.
I rush along the band. The channel is excellent, I'm above the wall in
a couple of seconds. The band under my feet pushes me forward. I laugh
loudly and look back.
Wow!
Just look what's going on in Al-Kabar! The streets are flooded with
people, the other guards already run along the band, andn the last meters the band starts shaking suddenly and tries to kick
me back: Al-Kabar's programmers have restored the control.
But it's too late, I'm on the ground already and the Wolf rushes to me:
- Jump on me NOW Ivan, time to scarper!
I leap on the wolf in an instant, look back for the last time. The
guards jump down from the band and the winged shadow soars above the chasm.
- Sux!!! - I mutter the favorite virtual folks' curse. 'Sux' means a
'frozen' coSergey 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 florida homeowner insurance quote 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' first time homeowner 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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