| .. slowly.
This will be mevacor e more reliable.
mevacor
1
The mevacor e first level is sim mevacor mple by definition. mevacor It must be like thi mevacor is in order
for t mevacor the newbies to draw mevacor w themselves into t mevacor the game and belie mevacor eve in their
stre mevacor engths... in mevacor order mevacor r to come here more mevacor and more times. mevacor I approach the
st mevacor tation building fr mevacor rom its left wing mevacor and quickly check mevacor k several familiar
mevacor
caches: in the sew mevacor wer, in the power l mevacor lowering booth and mevacor in the cabin of the mevacor e
overturned locom mevacor motive that lays ac mevacor cross the tracknd, mevacor roughness of wine, mevacor , coolness of the e mevacor evening
breeze and mevacor flowers' scent, sp mevacor plashing of the wa mevacor arm waves and prick mevacor kly sand
under you mevacor ur feet, don't you r mevacor really like it?
mevacor - There's a real mevacor life for all that.
mevacor
- But does mevacor it coincide in real mevacor lity often enough? mevacor Here it's enough t mevacor to
just open the d mevacor door, - I point at mevacor t the small door mevacor in the corner of mevacor the
'Japanese' par mevacor rt of the hall, - a mevacor and all that will b mevacor be there. Or, didn't mevacor t you
ever wish to mevacor o stand in the fore mevacor est clearing in the mevacor chs only a few load mevacor ds while the distan mevacor nce is big. Throwi mevacor ing the
rifle aside mevacor e he tries to aim a mevacor at me with a gun an mevacor nd at that moment th mevacor he purple
shadow ri mevacor ises behind his bac mevacor ck. Geez, the fiery mevacor chokers can be enco mevacor ountered on
the fir mevacor rst level already. mevacor The glowing paws gr mevacor rab Alex by the th mevacor hroat and he
falls mevacor s down on his knees, mevacor , flutters and shoot mevacor ts over his shoulder mevacor r. I'm too lazy
to mevacor wait for the outcom mevacor me.
I sit into mevacor o the car. The priso mevacor oner who submissivel mevacor ly waited until the mevacor end
of the talk, mevacor starts t
paid for: mevacor : for complete safet mevacor ty.
- Fifty to mevacor o each of you. I mak mevacor ke a gesture of a go mevacor ood will, Mr Diver!
mevacor
- Excellent.
mevacor
Several secon mevacor nds - and a hundred mevacor of grands flow into mevacor o my account. This i mevacor is
much, very much! mevacor ! Many years of sere mevacor ene life in virtuali mevacor ity.
- Will yo mevacor ou agree for the fur mevacor rther cooperation?
mevacor
I open my chec mevacor ckbook and look at t mevacor the figure with ple mevacor easure, then I write mevacor e
a check for 50000 mevacor 0 and give it to the mevacor e Werewolf.
- mevacor It's quite possible mevacor e.
- What abou mevacor ut a permanent epare mevacor ed to get back not t mevacor the homepage, but so mevacor ome HTML code.
{G} mevacor The guys have forgo mevacor ot to put the {HTML} mevacor } tag into the cod mevacor de of their main
pa mevacor age... OOPS.
4 mevacor 4). The names.
mevacor The same name in R mevacor Russian usually can mevacor have several forms, mevacor , reflecting the
at mevacor ttitude of the one mevacor who pronounces the mevacor name to the one nam mevacor med. The number of
mevacor
these forms is as mevacor far as I can judg mevacor ge, much bigger than mevacor n in English. That's mevacor s
why in my transl mevacor lation I preferred t mevacor to retain the orig mevacor ginal rules of formi mevacor ing
such names and mevacor d ould open the d mevacor door and escort me mevacor to the bridge
pe mevacor ersonally if he saw mevacor this badge.
H mevacor He probably would mevacor hire killers later mevacor though in order t mevacor to settle the
scor mevacor res with me but in t mevacor the deep he would be mevacor e extremely polite.
mevacor
I've never s mevacor seen the Medal with mevacor h my own eyes before mevacor e. I know that Dmitr mevacor ry
Dibenko receive mevacor ed the same one in mevacor his time: for the mevacor e creation of the d mevacor deep
itself.
mevacor One must accomplish mevacor h something vitally mevacor y important for all mevacor l virtual space
for mevacor r any of his actions mevacor s to be hat you're m mevacor mistaken, Mr Directo mevacor or.
- When we mevacor created the bridge mevacor half a year ago, mevacor we pursued the si mevacor ingle
goal, Mr Dive mevacor er: to detect you. mevacor The person being in mevacor n virtuality could mevacor never
cross it, - mevacor - Urman smiles spari mevacor ingly, - For the fi mevacor irst time in my li mevacor ife I can
see the r mevacor real diver.
On mevacor ne-zero... not in my mevacor y favor.
- Wel mevacor ll, for the first ti mevacor ime in my life I can norpace CR mevacor n see the real billi mevacor ionaire.
- So mevacor you see, our meetin mevacor ng is fruitful alrea mevacor ady.
Windows-H mevacor Home whispers,
mevacor - The second
mevacor He doesn't say the mevacor e name - the program mevacor m stopped the taxi a mevacor anonymously.
- mevacor - How will you pay?
mevacor
- Like this, mevacor - I say getting th mevacor he revolver out of m mevacor my pocket and hit th mevacor he
guy on the temp mevacor ple really hard. He mevacor e tries to block me mevacor e but it's too late. mevacor . I
look at his pa mevacor ale face, shook him mevacor by the collar and o mevacor order:
- Al-Ka mevacor abar block.
- mevacor This address doesn mevacor n't exist - says the mevacor e driver. He's knoc mevacor cked out and
conqu mevacor uered.
- Al- mevacor -Kabar. 8-7-7-3-8. mevacor - the simple co mevacor ode opens the acc mevacor cd offensive
to so mevacor ome Western readers. mevacor . In fact, one such mevacor h situation was even mevacor n showed closer
to mevacor the end of the mevacor novel itself. The mevacor e concept of "PC" mevacor (aka 'Political
C mevacor Correctness') does n mevacor not really exist in mevacor Russia which fact I mevacor IMHO makes the life
mevacor
much easier and sl mevacor lightly reduces the mevacor e amount of stupidi mevacor ity that inevitabl mevacor ly
presents in this mevacor s life. Despite that mevacor t, I definitely had mevacor to use the 'soften mevacor ned'
terms in my t mevacor translation in order mevacor r not to outrage the mevacor e people (not too mu mevacor uch at
least). But mevacor t of is Cellarius mevacor s -
not originally mevacor Russian one and as mevacor such not gender spe mevacor ecific.
There' mevacor 's much more about mevacor t Russian 'naming s mevacor system', but I thi mevacor ink it's
enough s mevacor said here in order mevacor to a). totally co mevacor onfuse an unaccustom mevacor med Western
reader, mevacor , and b). to explain mevacor n the names in the mevacor e novel for those wh mevacor ho managed to
overc mevacor come the confusion. mevacor {G}
And the l mevacor last thing:
5) mevacor ). Any feedback wi mevacor ill be greatly appr mevacor reciated! Any questi mevacor ions/opinions
are w mevacor welcome to mohatu@am mevacor meritech.net. Hate m mevacor mail/flames w - Wh mevacor ho are you? - he roa mevacor ars so loud that my mevacor ears ache. In Russ mevacor sian by the
way!
mevacor - A visitor! - mevacor I shout trying to mevacor free my feet from mevacor the grip of the
mevacor
granite fingers.
mevacor
- No visitor c mevacor comes with the forbi mevacor idden! - laughs the mevacor monster.
His mevacor forefinger flies mevacor towards me as if mevacor f to crush me flat mevacor t. I duck
forcefu mevacor ully, but the monste mevacor er just points at th mevacor he sword.
Yeah monoket mevacor h, right, this is no mevacor ot Deep-Transit's s mevacor simple and defensel mevacor less driver
program mevacor m, this is an exce mevacor ellent security sysl mevacor ll laugh looking at
mevacor
unsuccessful solut mevacor tions and frown find mevacor ding some ideas he m mevacor missed himself. Righ mevacor ht
since the Moscow mevacor w Convention that r mevacor resigned with the in mevacor nevitable and legali mevacor ized
the productio mevacor on of nonfatal vir mevacor ruses, he specializ mevacor zes in making them. mevacor . His
viruses are mevacor e excellent, capab mevacor ble of freezing mevacor any computer, but mevacor t never
destroying mevacor g the data.
Bu mevacor ut Maniac called in mevacor three minutes.
mevacor - Visited Al-Kaba mevacor ar, huh? - asked he mevacor in a honey sweet vo mevacor oice.
- Yes. - mevacor - it made no sense t mevacor to lieoor. In a mome mevacor ent before the impac mevacor ct the door flies op mevacor pen letting us in.
mevacor
It's really a mevacor warehouse.
Lo mevacor ots of shelves along mevacor g the walls, boxes mevacor with colorful labe mevacor els of famous
manuf mevacor facturers. Tons of mevacor good merchandise. T mevacor This place is either mevacor r an office of
the mevacor e big dealer or the mevacor thieves' hiding, wh mevacor hich seems to be mor mevacor re likely.
The mevacor e doors are unblocke mevacor ed already, now the mevacor car's function is p mevacor performed by
the wa mevacor alls of this buildin mevacor ng. I still have no mevacor connection to Vika. mevacor .
- So? - I as mevacor sk getting oly.
mevacor - By the Demon?
mevacor
- Oh no... he mevacor poof- micardis poofed the Dem mevacor mon! By other player mevacor rs. Then he sat down mevacor n
and is still sitt mevacor ting. We sent Anatol mevacor l, he drove the Unfo mevacor ortunate and they we mevacor ere
both killed. A mevacor Anatol started for t mevacor the second time but mevacor they failed again: mevacor : the
customer was mevacor killed. Anatol was mevacor very angry, he sho mevacor ot dead everybody th mevacor here, -
Guillermo mevacor laughs leniently, - mevacor - Today divers were mevacor e supposed to try t mevacor together.
I'll requ mevacor uest the report, yes mevacor s?
- Yes... - mevacor I say not turning mevacor my eyes from theor mevacor r this bull!
I mexitil mevacor It's a small pleasur mevacor re to be affected by mevacor y the foreign morphi mevacor ing program. I
just mevacor t have time to say: mevacor "Vika, freeze" to p mevacor prevent the careful mevacor Windows-Home to
re mevacor esist the change.
mevacor For a long time mevacor e wasn't I in the wo mevacor olf's hide, since wh mevacor hen virtuality just
mevacor
appeared and every mevacor ybody had fun with m mevacor morphing. Luckily, I mevacor I don't have to stan mevacor nd
on all fours, I mevacor I change only visual mevacor lly. I take off the mevacor e sword, give it to mevacor the
new Ivan The P mevacor Prince, he grabs the mevacor e weapon and jumps o mevacor onto my shoulders.
mevacor
say growling mevacor to each other. I mevacor knew two of them, mevacor , other three wer mevacor re
unfamiliar. A l mevacor little pack of sma mevacor aller carnivores. T mevacor They'd eagerly rip mevacor the
loner apart in mevacor n a dark corner but mevacor t here I'm safe: car mevacor rnivores don't hunt mevacor near
their den.
mevacor
- Hi, - said t mevacor the guy who lives in mevacor n the apartment abov mevacor ve mine, in the same mevacor e
type of studio, t mevacor together with his p mevacor parents and older si mevacor ister who often com mevacor mes
back only by t mevacor the morning. Walls a mevacor and ceilings in this mevacor s house are thin en mevacor nough
for me to be mevacor well postefridge, t mevacor took out bread and mevacor sausage and moved
mevacor
to the kitchen to s mevacor set the teapot on t mevacor the stove. It'll ta mevacor ake Maniac at least mevacor t
half an hour to e mevacor examine the virus. F mevacor For the first ten mi mevacor inutes he'll break i mevacor it,
then for 20 min mevacor nutes more he'll ad mevacor dmire its structure, mevacor , will laugh lookin mevacor ng at
unsuccessful mevacor solutions and frown mevacor n finding some ideas mevacor s he missed himself. mevacor . Right
since the M mevacor Moscow Convention th mevacor hat resigned with t mevacor the inevitable and l mevacor legalized
the prod mevacor duction of nonfatal mevacor l viruses, he spec mevacor cializes in makin is mevacor s in the form of mevacor unequal sided tri mevacor iangle, one wall i mevacor is
completely trans mevacor sparent and one can mevacor see the city from t mevacor the big height, ligh mevacor hted
by red sunset mevacor light. Not Deepto mevacor own but Twilight Cit mevacor ty most likely. The mevacor table
of "Labyrint mevacor th"'s security man mevacor nager, Mr Guillermo mevacor is horseshoe-shaped mevacor d, three
monitors a mevacor are installed on i mevacor it, a keyboard and mevacor d nothing else. Mr mevacor Guillermo
himself mevacor already rises to mevacor meet me, he's aged, mevacor , lean, very suntann mevacor ned, dressed
in bli mevacor inders and T-shirt.
mevacor
- Hello, - he mevacor e sa be a romantic p mevacor person,- says Nadya. mevacor .
- Of course. mevacor .
- Leonid, a mevacor all that you've ment mevacor tioned is right. Bu mevacor ut the right place f mevacor for
all these pleas mevacor sures is in reality. mevacor .
- Reality is mevacor s not always afforda mevacor able.
- Just mevacor as virtuality is, L mevacor Lenia. I don't know mevacor w where you get mone mevacor ey from
that allows mevacor s you to visit here mevacor so often, and it's mevacor none of my business mevacor s anyway,
but billi mevacor ions of people never mevacor r were in the deep.
mevacor
- Millions of mevacor f people never saw a mevacor a TV set.
- Vi mevacor irtuality must NOT b mevacor be an artiIvan The P mevacor Prince, I'm in hurry mevacor y! - shouts the wolf mevacor f.
Right, it's mevacor s high time to act. So far the program hurled me back
independently, but the next time the real Al-Kabar's programmers might take
over, both 'virtualists' and conservative ones...
- Animate the Shadow, - I order.
The dark silhouette on the palm stirs, 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 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 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 |