S A R A N S C O M P U T E R N A G A G A Z E T A
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DATA OUTPUT LIGHT 1 0 . 1 2 . 2 0 0 0 g
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ +PIXBRWWWY DDDt tDDDt DDDt .DDDD| │
│ BWWWWWWWWD YWWW. .WWWWe =WWWX DWWWM. │
│ :WWWWWWWWW= tWWWt =WWWW. IWWWX.MWWWe │
│ tWWWWWWWWW+ .WWWY IWWWY RWWWXPWWWR. │
│ DRWWWBXXXX XWWW.RWWWt :XWWWRWWWWt │
│ DWWW+ eWWWPWWWM WWWWWWWR │
│ DWWW+=t| :WWWMWWWI WWWWWWW+ │
│ DWWWDMWWB: BWWWWWW+ WWWWWWM │
│ DWWWBWWWWR: eWWWWWR WWWWWWW= │
│ DWWWBWWWWWD |WWWWWD WWWWWWWR │
│ DWWW+:WWWWR RWWWW: WWWWWWWW= │
│ DWWW+ YWWWW PWWWB WWWXBWWWR │
│ DWWWt|MWWWR XWWWe WWWX+WWWWt │
│ DWWWWWWWWWP WWWW. WWWX YWWWR │
│ DWWWWWWWWY: +WWWY WWWX |WWWWt │
│ tXXXXXXI| tXXX= XXXP DXXXI │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
(c) С.Лукьяненко
Л А Б И Р И Н Т О Т Р А Ж Е Н И Й
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
continuation
The helmet's air conditioner blows icy air onto your face. On
screens - slowly creeping bar - percentage of pumped
information, and under it a predatory contracting hole - a tapering
communication channel. This is what beauty really looks like
intense virtual fights. Stripes, letters, numbers.
A clash of programs, modems, bytes of information.
Don't want. Disgusting and sad.
- Deep! - I commanded.
My head hurts, but I don’t care! I'm flying between
spears, I fall to the floor. A sparkling ribbon snakes down the street, falling
everything is on its way. Buildings crumble and fly apart with a roar
wall The tape crosses the ravine. Forward...
The old guards rush out to meet you. Both with swords, but also me
already pulled out the blade. Whose virus will be smarter and faster?
My.
This is a gift from Maniac, my friend who is a computer specialist.
viruses. A killer gift - air under the blow of a blade
flares up and hits the guards with a dragon burp. Those
burn instantly. Turn into black charred skeletons.
Maniac loves beautiful effects. Now the guards' computers are
throats are busy with incredibly important work - calculating the number "pi"
accurate to one million decimal places. They don't even have
resources left to remove operators fromvirtuality.
Great, they’ll lie in the depths and not sit next to other cars...
- Unethical... - Windows Home whispers mournfully.
I'm running along the tape. The communication channel is excellent, in a couple of seconds I’m already
over the wall. The tape springs under your feet, pushes you, hurries you.
I want to laugh, but I still look around.
Wow!
What's going on at Al-Kabar! The streets are filled with people, along the tape
other guards are already running, and something is crawling out of one building
huge, snakey, unpleasant. There is no desire to peer.
Faster...
The ribbon jumps over the monster and arcs into the ground.
The guard came to life again, twitching, pulling his paws up - so
the hair bridge breaks, but does not reach me. And he left his place
unable - rigidly fixed to its communication channel.
In the last meters the tape under your feet suddenly begins to shake,
and tries to push me back. Al-Kabar programmers
regained control.
But it’s too late, I’m on the ground, and a gray wolf runs up to me.
- Sit down, Ivanushka, it’s time to get going! - he yells.
I jump onto the wolf and look around for the last time. From the tape
the guards jump down, a winged shadow flies over the abyss.
- Sax! - I whisper the favorite curse of virtual workers. Sachs
this is a “hanging” computer, a program that does not want to work,
sour beer or a trolleybus running away from under your nose. In this case
such a vigorous pursuit. We don't have time to be quietpump the information contained in the “apple” and dissolve in
air. We must run, we must confuse our tracks.
But my partner in wolf's clothing can do it.
We rush through the desert, then turn into the forest. They are rushing after us
smeared shadows - the guards sacrifice their intimidating appearance in
exchange for speed.
- How far is the pursuit, Ivan Tsarevich? - asks the wolf.
- Close! - I admit.
- Oh, Ivan, I can’t stand you! - the wolf roars.
I take out a comb, break it in my hand and throw it behind my back. Deafening
cracking - the cloves fly apart, stick into the ground and begin to grow,
turning into gigantic trees. The movements of the guards between
they become lethargic, sleepy - the space is oversaturated
suddenly appeared objects, and enemy computers get stuck in
abundance of empty information.
Unfortunately, this trick is old, and the method of dealing with it
perfectly done. Most of the guards managed to narrow the field
vision or reduce the detail of the image, and missed a dangerous
place. More precisely, it was not the guards themselves who did this, but their
deep programs. Mostly non-professionals dropped out,
giving chase out of enthusiasm.
- Oh, Ivan, my strength is running out! - the wolf screams. I can't
understand whether he is really worried, or whether he is playing so recklessly as a fairytale
plot?
Now comes the turn of the mirror. When I throw it back my
the discreet Windows Home screams:
- Unethical!
Certainly,unethical. Of course. This is no longer a petty prank with
fast-growing baobab trees, and not even a local sword virus. This
logic bomb of considerable power.
Where the mirror fell, it appears and begins to rapidly
expand the pond. Some of the guards fly into it and “drown”
disappears without a trace. The rest stop helplessly
shore.
In this area of virtuality all lines are tightly blocked
communications. You cannot pass through this zone for at least a couple of hours -
then the pond will dry up.
- Where did you get the things? - asks the wolf.
“Marya the mistress,” I answer hesitantly. Honestly speaking,
it was the nickname that suggested to me today's masquerade... The wolf is not
will give out. And such programs may also be useful to him.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” the wolf thanks, quickly looks around and asks:
What do you have for third, hero?
A dragon is rushing after us - a combat program-interceptor of the highest
discharge. The dragon has three heads - apparently three
human operator, and plus the usual arsenal - claws, teeth and
flame. Hundreds of different viruses and strong protection. Over the pond
the dragon slows down just a little.
“I spent the third one first,” I admit.
- Couldn’t you take more? Played with fairy tales, three objects -
that's all? - the wolf growls. He's wrong, of course, there's too much fighting
You can't carry viruses on yourself. But both of us are losing our nerves.
The wolf makes some decision andturns sharply to the side
speeding up your run even more. Stops at a wide mossy
stump, so sharply that I fly to the ground. Looks at me intently
glance, and jumps over the stump.
I prefer to use water when I change my appearance. stream,
a river, or at least a full ladle. But werewolves are conservative.
In the air, the wolf turns over and turns into a man.
A young man in a modest gray suit and patent leather
boots. My diver buddy looks elegant as always. Barely falling
he gets up, jumps again, and turns into my exact
copy.
- Vika, stream! - I command, realizing what he was up to. But
the former wolf is already grabbing me by the shoulders and shouting: “There is no time!”
throws over the stump.
Being exposed to someone else's mimicking program -
a little pleasure. I barely have time to whisper: “Vika, freeze!”
so that the caring Windows Home does not oppose the reincarnation.
I was in the skin of a wolf a long time ago, when virtuality was only
formed, and everyone indulged in metamorphoses. Fortunately,
I don’t have to get down on all fours - I just change
externally. I unfasten the sword and hand it to the new Ivan Tsarevich, who
grabs the weapon and jumps on my shoulders.
- Come on, eat up, grass bag! - he yells, pounding his heels. I
I rush forward, and just in time - a dragon appears above the trees.
Dives at us and fires threejets of flame. Carefully
Our course is on fire.
- Let's! - my partner yells, and adds in a whisper: - In the evening,
where always... I jerk sharply, throw it off, and run away,
showered with curses.
The dragon circles above us for a second, then makes a simple choice, and
falls next to the fairy-tale hero. His cowardly partner
interested.
That's what was required.
I run to the side and whisper:
- Vika, download new files!
The battle is raging behind me. However, not for long. Werewolf
manages to touch the dragon with a sword, but against the defense
The virus interceptor program is powerless. There's a boil around the werewolf
a white snow cloud and he freezes.
Freezing. All. My friend left the game - he's already home,
pulls off the virtual helmet. And in front of the grinning faces of the dragon
there is a copy of it, along with all the obtained programs... if only
Of course he had them.
The dragon lightly hits the frozen body with its paw, and it crumbles
ice shards. All three heads are leaning towards them... looking for
stolen apple
And I'm running.
The apple in your bosom is getting lighter - information is leaking to
my computer. I weave between the trees, then I stop,
to make it easier for Windows Home to download the file.
I can hear the roar of the dragon - he did not find the stolen,
and realized what was going on.
Who's faster?
The dragon soars into the sky again. He will find me easily -movements in virtuality leave traces. I stand and wait.
- File transfer is complete.
All. Victory.
“Exit,” I command.
- Seriously? - Windows Home clarifies.
- Yes.
“Exit from virtuality,” the computer reports. Before my eyes
Multi-colored sparks sparkle. The world is losing its brightness...
turns into a faded, flat picture.
- Your exit from the virtual space has been successfully completed! -
Windows Home says happily. The voice from the headphones is harsh and
too loud. On the helmet screens there is thick blue and white
a figurine of a floating, or rather falling, man. Famous
everyone is an icon of deep, depth, virtual world.
to be continued...
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