Shocker #01 20 января 1998

Самиздат

Samizdat - Act of War.

              Act of War


                (Abridged).


  Time dragged tediously slow.
Edward Mays for ten minutes, ran from
one window to another, waiting for the truck
company. Finally he sat down at the very
large windows in the house, overlooking the 65-th
the street and stared at the wet from the rain
glass.

  In his small town, some in the U.S.
thousand for the third day was rain. Drops
big balls fell on the window glass,
creating a uniform roll, why
incredibly attracted to sleep. The clouds seemed to
rooted to the sky, it seemed that the rain does not
never go away. These thoughts are more
yawnful to Ed. He is the fifth day
was on vacation, and his plans for cleaning and
repair rear yard had not been met
and ten per cent.

  The foliage of the trees have almost all fallen off.
Some of the most persistent leaves still
kept on the branches, but their army drops
more and more carried away on the withered
grass lawn. On the track orazovalas puddle
and in it as old ships sailed
heroes dying army leaves.

  Nature of the transition into the most boring and
lyric of the year - autumn. Then it will be
winter, followed by spring ... That spring, Ed
I saw a brochure about the new
computer. As reported in the prospectus -
this is the most perfect for today
computer. Giant performance and
superrealnoe perception of information
the user makes this machine a miracle
electronics end of the twentieth century!

  But the price! .. The price was not an American
with average incomes.

  And then, Edward has decided what would be something not
was to buy a miracle. He is six months
saved literally everything. Identified
room in the house, especially for him,
dreaming about the end of his idleness and
bachelor solitude in the evenings. And now
An unexpected rise in wages before
leave. He plucked up the necessary
amount.

  Ed was in seventh heaven. Today he
made a general cleaning, as before
receiving distinguished guests, and phone
ordered the purchase.

  "My God, where is that truck?" - With
he thought bitterly. And then he saw
drove to his house in a yellow van.
Suddenly was sleepy and the whole body
filled with some new energy. He
jumped up and in an instant was at the front
door. "Finally!" Ed raspohnul door
ignoring the rain came on
threshold. The workers who carried the box, with
umbrella and briefcase in hand, walked a man in
dark suit.

  - Mr Edward Mays? - Asked the man
in suit jumping the last puddle.

  - Yes. I Edward Mays. - Ed missed in
house men and came himself.

  - I am an employee of the company, Clive Colton. Where
you would like to put a Computer?

  - I will hold you. - Lifting of
Ed thought that the stairs should not have let
unknown people in the house, he would himself
figured with the computer. But the joy of
shop filled his soul and bad thoughts
receded into the background.

  When the work was finished, and check with Ed
round sum drowned in Cormany
Colton, and Colton presented a pen in
Ed's pocket, it was 11:45. At 11:46 am with Edward
carried forward into the rain with Colton
workers. At 11:47 he ran into the room where
On the table stood a miracle ...


  Miracle resembled an ordinary personal
computer, which Ed had a case on
service at the bank, but the design was very
unusual. System unit, the heart of the machine,
was less than usual, and unlike
the latter had no one angle that
gave him a resemblance to some
fantastic creatures. Monitor with
absolutely flat screen does not reflect any
One ray of light as Ed does not
scrutinized and compared to
TV screen was garazdo wider.
The keyboard had the same unusual shape
Like everything else on this table: keys
located on the edges and placed with
first sight, chaotic. But the signs on
Edu keys were familiar, and this is his
reassured.

  Besides all this on the table were other
subjects. Some Edward knew immediately
others remained a mystery for him. As
Mr Colton said: "They will for the first
time is not needed, but if that
Call ... "

  But the interesting thing was lying on the couch:
costume to enter the virtual reality.
The costume consisted of three parts: helmet,
jacket and pants with a perfectly round hoop
replace the belt.

  Follow the instructions in Colton, Ed uploaded
system and the machine came to life. Monitor so
actually transmitted images in five
minutes, Edward realized - the best he had seen.
Its filled with a sense of pride in the car
this was not even his boss -
bank branch manager.

  Ed decided it was time to walk through
virtual reality. Quickly
dressed in a costume he picked up from the couch
helmet and went to the mat from a variety of
balls, which is located just opposite
videoglaza machine. Computer reading
information from the camera determines the position of
Ed in space.

  Ed stood on the mat, but slipped on the
it and almost fell. Mat was
slippery as ice. A second later he realized
What is the reason, and pressed the button on the hoop
around his waist, wrap softly hummed and now
Ed easily stood on a mat of beads.

  He put on his hat and stopped in surprise.

  Edward Mays was standing in the hall of the old
castle. But in this room at all
absent from the floor. Ed was standing right in
air, unknown, unseen support.
Under the feet of passing clouds, and through
gaps in them, he saw a green plain.

  Sounded old-time music and the sound
weak wind. It seemed that Edward
felt like the flutter of his clothing.
Only now he noticed that wearing a
Apparel worn by medieval
vassals.

  Opposite him, on an invisible floor was
beautiful princess, dressed in the fashion
Middle Ages.

  - Welcome to the virtual
reality. I'm Alice, a computer
samoobuchyuschayasya shell. Understand speech in
English. Programmers have created
this image of the princess in order to facilitate
Use laptop. If you do not
Like my way, my name, and that either
yet, you can modify to your taste.

  Ed saw the advertisement on television
perfect virtual reality in this
system, but this he did not expect. Approaching
Princess closer, he almost felt her
breathing.

  Name, and the more it looks princess
arranged.

  - No. To change anything I do not want. I
like you, and all that. - He gestured
Hall.

  - What do you want? - In front of him
having three slabs of granite carved with
them with options. Ed did not hesitate
touched to the word "PLAY", granite
plates scattered in the dust, and dust
blowing.

  Ed recalled that a month ago bought
CD-ROM with the widely publicized
strategic game.

  The game is called "The Law of War," her
invented specifically for this machine, one
famous programmer.

  As the newspapers, the programmer was
mad. But this does not prevent him from raking
millions of dollars for their programs.

  Edward Mays felt God. Or
demigod. Marble, granite, just
stone slabs carved with options
different menus at the touch of his hands fell into
abyss, crumbled into dust, blasting,
burned, dissolved in the air. Alice
standing on his right hand, helped
configure the game, place of force.

  Now Ed was Julius Caesar.

  Before him unfolded grandiose
battle in which thousands died. He
commanded the army of the Romans, and saw how
Greeks fleeing from the battlefield. He could turn
the course of history, losing or winning, or something
otherwise the battle. But in the end
Caesar Mays was playing one of the
another battle. The Roman Empire came to
decline and the game ended in his defeat.

  Then he was Napoleon, Hitler,
Alexander Nevsky.

  Even after some time he was tired
wander in the past, and Ed chose the option
"THE FUTURE?", "Nuclear war."

  Here, Ed, was an American general,
started the war with Russia. He could have a
bird's-eye view as falling
and explode nuclear warheads, as die
not thousands, but millions of people, blurred
the face of the Earth hundreds of cities and entire countries.

  When the war in which there was no
winner over Edward swept
over the whole planet, and it became difficult to
soul, as if he really is guilty of
the destruction of humanity.

  All lay in ruins. Nothing living on the
the continents he discovered. Several
islands in the ocean lived another ten days. A
when were acid rain, and all the water
on the planet has become radioactive, in
pitch darkness came the word "END."
End of the game and end of life ...

  To the limit of its burden the act
thought, Ed decided to unwind with some
an entirely new war.

  Dug up, not without the help of Alice, among
stone slabs with the options "Mental
War ", he decided to end his acquaintance
wars, it is on this game.

  Alice explained that playing in this war
should be together, but as the configuration
its systems are not designed for two
users, Alice will be his
opponent. Ed immediately agreed to play,
best opponent he could not come up.
He began to forget that Alice only
program.

  Reby thrown.

  The first move fell on Alice.

  Ed prepared to take strike. "What
I can make this cutie? "- he thought.

  Nothing happened.

  Ed stood in a dark room. Was so
the thick gloom that the walls were not visible, but
intuitively it oschuschschal that this is
room.

  Suddenly a blinding bright flash led
him from the waiting state. Sounds in
stereo headphones rose to its climax
volume, and passed the entire frequency
range for the second. After a few moments
Ed lost his sense of time. He understood
I should rip the helmet off and this
fucking machine, but a strange kakafoniya
melteshenie incomprehensible sounds and objects
before the eyes of more and more fascinated by him. Ed
did not understand what prevents him to take off the helmet ...

  Then there were bright flashes, and beat them
drums.

  The frequency of flares and shocks grew consciousness
extinguished.

  With each passing second ed becoming more aware of:
he does not get out of here. The body is fettered
infinite sudorga. He could not move
and finger.

  Another five seconds and the man in
strange suit with a helmet on his head
staggered and fell.

  Fell to the floor. Falling, he threw away
hands, as though wanting to reach out to
computer. But his hand was grazed only
black box from the CD ...

  A man in strange clothes lying on the
floor. Helmet, breaking off the wire, rolled
far into a corner.

  The system has analyzed the state of
mat - the user is absent;
state suit - the user
absent, the state of the camcorder -
user is absent. Alice-program
decided that Edward Mays left the room.

  Edward Mays, the average American,
owner of an expensive supercomputer did not leave
of the room. He died.

  It was 5:30 am.

  Finally ended the rain.

15.01.1998 Dr.Up



            With these words, they sat down with

          We have water. Bao took the tube

          (Its sweet, pungent stench, I

          felt from afar) and filled

          a mixture of milled sugar beet,

          Cannabis leaves, chopped acorns

          and sorrel. He lit, rose,

          delayed, issued a stream of smoke

          in the heavens and the earth and said: - There,

          upstairs, living the good spirit and

          here on earth - plants and

          beasts, which he created for

          Kiowa Warriors.

            After that he made

          four puffs, the smoke produced by

          south, north, east and west and

          continued: .......

            Karl May, "Winnetou leader

          Apaches. "


  Ensued the mankind with hemp
long and dense. The first mention of her
cultivation dates from the third SD. to
BC (Ie, at the dawn of mankind).
Motherland - Central Asia, where hemp
and began a winning streak.
Cultivation of cannabis was one of the main
studies of ancient worlds, so it is found
all Scythian burial mounds. The very first
ypominanie the Scythians in Herodotus is associated with
inhalation of smoke of smoldering hemp. On
images of Ukrainian Cossacks,
relating to shestnadtsatomu century, rises
nice guy with a pipe in his mouth. What
The Cossacks were smoking when tobacco in Russia was
introduced only in the eighteenth century, and
Cannabis has been used to treat
mastitis, and bronchitis. However, it all works
bygone days, for now smoking cannabis -
it is a sin, and punishable
public authority.


  In fact dosih since World
Health Organization does not nashlarelnyh
the grounds on which cannabis can be considered
harmful to health. According to official
data, smoking marijuana is less harmful than
tobacco smoking. Konplya - the only
drug of all drugs
which is never the cause of death.
When people die after
alcohol (also, incidentally,
narcotic substances) - the masses.


                  OPINION


  Yuri M. (1921, cannabis smoking around
years before more "respected" vodka).

  - Hemp is better. Vodka drink dureesh,
the exploits pulls fight there, or else
what. A smoked - sit. WELL
ulybaeshsya, all people are brothers. And the head with
am not in pain.


  Vadim Samoilov (gr. "Agatha Christie").

  - A man napivshiysya vodka, is capable of
more hooliganism than a person
smoked marijuana.

  In a strange way with these two highly
private views agreed gollanskoe
government, because no criminal
cases that are associated with smoking cannabis (in
Unlike cocaine and criminogenic
heroin). After cannabis people
become silent and nebuynymi - no one
killed and the windows do not rush. Worth
remember that cannabis was a cult
plant hippies, people indefinitely
quiet and peaceful.

  Hemp can not be found in the rave - an environment where
in favor with all sorts of chemicals, causing
a wild burst of energy. Neobyaztelno
this drug. However, alcohol, sold
in any shop or stall, is
sufficient stimulant that can

drive a person to completely
unmanaged state, or hallucinations.
However, all of Alcohol - is a direct
popolnitel treasury, and someone will come up against
tradition?

  P.S. This is all not a
appeal to score all of kosyachki directly
now and sow the fields of hemp. The author
adheres to the idea of ​​human freedom from
drugs in any form (including
money, power, ideology, etc. ). Just
sometimes you need to look at things other
eyes.


                     According to press materials.