| n buildings and underground
vault nicotinell ts, others-on the stree nicotinell ets of the Twilight C nicotinell City, an imaginary mega nicotinell apolis
captured by an nicotinell n alien civilization. I nicotinell It's the Deep within a nicotinell Deep with its own
law nicotinell ws and rules.
The nicotinell e game starts at the nicotinell first level - the hal nicotinell lf ruined railway stati nicotinell ion
where the player a nicotinell arrives by the section nicotinell car, with a single gu nicotinell un as a weapon.
The s nicotinell station building is c nicotinell crowded with monsters nicotinell s - former Twilight nicotinell City
inhabitants, and nicotinell d other players. It's d nicotinell difficult to say who is nicotinell s moy. God loves the Tr nicotinell rinity...
- Maybe nicotinell e. And you're Bill Gate nicotinell es possibly. - I reply. nicotinell .
Even if he smil nicotinell les, I can't see it for nicotinell r sure.
- Possibl nicotinell ly.
Yeah right. nicotinell The owner of Microsoft nicotinell t in pursue of divers nicotinell along the Net.
Firstl nicotinell ly, he makes money by m nicotinell more traditional means, nicotinell , secondly he doesn't s nicotinell speak
Russian himself. nicotinell . But... who knows how nicotinell perfect interpreter pr nicotinell rograms might be?
Emot nicotinell tionless tones is the t nicotinell tradeoff of serial made nicotinell e and cheap ones.
nicotinell - Let's not play the nicotinell e fool, - I say. - tin nicotinell ng in the deep. Even if nicotinell f it was yet not availa nicotinell able to everybody,
int nicotinell tellectual elite swore nicotinell it's allegiance to the nicotinell e new Empire.
To nicotinell the Deep.
11
nicotinell It was midnight nicotinell when I finally clea nicotinell aned the computer up nicotinell from the
postcard vi nicotinell irus and packed the bag nicotinell gged file (in virtualit nicotinell ty it'll look like the
nicotinell
ordinary diskette n nicotinell now). The head stop nicotinell pped aching and the nicotinell sleepiness
disappear nicotinell red completely. No Deep nicotinell ptown inhabitant sleeps nicotinell s at night, right?
nicotinell - Vika, restart, - I nicotinell I commanded.
k is not nicotinell big, not more than a nicotinell a square kilometer in
nicotinell
virtuality. It mean nicotinell ns nothing though. So nicotinell ome companies, like Mi nicotinell icrosoft for
instance nicotinell offer whole palaces f nicotinell for their employees to nicotinell work: it's cheap an nicotinell nd
effective. Some oth nicotinell hers do with such puny nicotinell little rooms that one nicotinell can wonder -
what is nicotinell s virtuality here for a nicotinell at all.
Obviously nicotinell y Al-Kabar is one of th nicotinell hose. I peek into the nicotinell window of the low
st nicotinell tone building that we p nicotinell pass by.
Equipmen nicotinell nt... too unfamiliar o nicotinell one to identify, seve nicotinell eral peo
reach the bo nicotinell ottom and to return. nicotinell The first thing to r nicotinell remember: the deep is
nicotinell
dead without us. One m nicotinell must believe and not be nicotinell elieve in it at the sam nicotinell me time.
Otherwis nicotinell se one day you'll not b nicotinell be able to surface.
nicotinell
1
The first nicotinell movements are the mo nicotinell ost difficult. The smal nicotinell ll room, the table
in nicotinell the middle of it, com nicotinell mputer wires from the U nicotinell UPS go to the compute nicotinell er, the
thinner wire nicotinell plugged into the phone nicotinell e jack. The sofa stands nicotinell s by the wall, under
t nicotinell the luxury carpet, th nicotinell he small fridge is by nicotinell ty third shot.
H nicotinell He nods silently.
nicotinell The bandit with rocke nicotinell et launcher looks at us nicotinell s amused, waiting.
nicotinell Abyss-abyss, I'm not nicotinell t yours... let me go, A nicotinell Abyss...
I looked nicotinell d at the picture accu nicotinell ustoming myself. The ba nicotinell andit... cars... the
b nicotinell back of my driver's hea nicotinell ad ... the sight's cros nicotinell ss stop smoking in the middle of the nicotinell e screen.
The che nicotinell eater I am.
I str nicotinell retched my hand, touc nicotinell ched the mouse, moved nicotinell it along the pad. The nicotinell e
cross slid along the nicotinell e screen.
Here we nicotinell e go.
I opened f nicotinell fire, shooting wintrol nicotinell l your users?
- W nicotinell We're an entertainment nicotinell center, not the KGB, nicotinell - he answers with tast nicotinell te,
- Information can nicotinell be stolen. How do you nicotinell think, will the solid nicotinell d top corporate
manage nicotinell er or Arabian sheikh b nicotinell be happy if some tabl nicotinell loid publishes an art nicotinell ticle
about their adve nicotinell entures in the drawn wo nicotinell orld?
- And what' nicotinell 's so bad?
- For nicotinell you - nothing. The ord nicotinell dinary person will laug nicotinell gh. But solid people
nicotinell
like little-little wh nicotinell hen they are laughed at nicotinell t.
- Can you cut nicotinell him off manually?
nicotinell - How?
ut our pe nicotinell ermanent
employees qui nicotinell ite manage it. We need nicotinell time, small. We'll of nicotinell ffer you interesting
w nicotinell work, yes?
I shak nicotinell ke my head, beret slide nicotinell es to the side.
- nicotinell - Mr Guillermo, - I sa nicotinell ay respectfully but nicotinell resolutely, - I'm tal nicotinell lking
about one certai nicotinell in problem which I want nicotinell t to help "Labyrinth" t nicotinell to solve.
I see h nicotinell his eyebrows raised in nicotinell surprise.
- Rece nicotinell ently a strange acciden nicotinell nt have happened in "La nicotinell abyrinth"...
I f nicotinell fall silent and wait nicotinell t for his reaction. Wil nicotinell lly is obviously deep i nicotinell in
thaged, lean, very nicotinell suntanned, dressed
in nicotinell n blinders and T-shirt. nicotinell .
- Hello, - he s nicotinell says stretching his ha nicotinell and to me first. - So nicotinell o you are the
Gunsling nicotinell ger, yes? Call me just nicotinell Willy.
Okay, let nicotinell t it be Willy.
I nicotinell shake his hand.
nicotinell - You said so interest nicotinell ting things, yes? About nicotinell t problems, divers, he nicotinell elp...
- Willy laughs nicotinell and waves his hands, - nicotinell - Boom! Boom! That help nicotinell p?
Very interesti nicotinell ing interpreter program nicotinell m, the strong accent, p nicotinell parasite words
like Gu nicotinell uillermo speaks Russian nicotinell n himself. One starts f nirdosh nicotinell far as I know, yes.
nicotinell Pause. Guillermo we nicotinell eighs something in his nicotinell mind.
- Mr Gunsl nicotinell linger, what do you kno nicotinell ow?
It's no use nicotinell e to lie, the man befor nicotinell re me is not the one nicotinell it's worthy to
bluff nicotinell with.
- Very l nicotinell little. I was informed nicotinell d that there's a proble nicotinell em in "Labyrinth",
tha nicotinell at your divers failed nicotinell to solve it. I was ask nicotinell ked to render an assist nicotinell tance to
you.
A nicotinell pause again. I'm anon nicotinell nymous and it's risky nicotinell to let me into unpleas nicotinell sant
sides of the Comp nicotinell pany's life but Guiller nicotinell rmo has a 'good e no re nicotinell esources left to eject
nicotinell
the operators from v nicotinell virtuality. nicotinell Very good, nicotinell , let them lie in the nicotinell deep for a
while ins nicotinell stead of changing the c nicotinell computers.
- Not nicotinell ethical... - mutters W nicotinell Windows-Home dolefully. nicotinell .
I rush along t nicotinell the band. The channel i nicotinell is excellent, I'm above nicotinell e the wall in
a coupl nicotinell le of seconds. The ba nicotinell and under my feet push nicotinell hes me forward. I lau nicotinell ugh
loudly and look ba nicotinell ack.
Wow!
J nicotinell Just look what's going nicotinell g on in Al-Kabar! The nicotinell streets are flooded nicotinell with
people, the ot nicotinell ther guard overalls,
t nicotinell the standard players' nicotinell ' uniform, with carbine nicotinell e in his hands. His mu nicotinell uzzle has
absolutely nicotinell 'impenetrable' express nicotinell sion, he stands motionl nicotinell less like a statue. Is
nicotinell
he a human or not nicotinell t? It's foolish to a nicotinell ask, at least becaus nicotinell se one can't
distingui nicotinell ish well made program nicotinell from a human at once nicotinell e. I pass the guard an nicotinell nd
find myself in a s nicotinell small hall. The bright nicotinell t sunlight beams thro nicotinell ough windows,
small t nicotinell tables and soft armcha nicotinell airs stand along the w nicotinell walls. More solid table nicotinell e is
in the center of nicotinell thee's nothing better nicotinell than a lousy weather.
nicotinell
- Lenia, do you nicotinell smoke grass? - Roman h nicotinell holds me the cigar-case nicotinell e.
- No.
Ma nicotinell aybe he really is alcoh nicotinell holic and drug addict.. nicotinell ..
- They say it' nicotinell 's much more harmless t nicotinell than alcohol and tobacc nicotinell co.
- They also s nicotinell say chicken are being m nicotinell milked in Moscow...
nicotinell Roman hesitates, bu nicotinell ut lights the cigarette nicotinell e anyway.
Shit. N nicotinell Nadya's arguments don't nicotinell t seem to me so crazy a nicotinell anymore.
I drink nicotinell my mulled wine, Roman nicotinell smokes zero nicotine anasha {marijua nicotinell ana}. In a couple of be nicotinell eing examined. They tr nicotinell ry to determine where nicotinell I came from, the volum nicotinell me of
data I can recei nicotinell ive and transmit per s nicotinell second, the programs t nicotinell that I have with
me.. nicotinell ..
Go ahead, do y nicotinell your job... Six route nicotinell ers, rented for one si nicotinell ingle use that
transmi nicotinell it the signal, and eac nicotinell ch of them tough enough nicotinell h to break. And in the nicotinell end
- the commercia nicotinell al Internet gate in nicotinell Austria through whi nicotinell ich I entered
virtu nicotinell uality.
I'll leav nicotinell ve the trace but it'll nicotinell lead to nowhere.
nicotinell They can break my con nicotinell nnection at ant the {HT nicotinell TML} tag into the cod nicotinell de of their main
page. nicotinell ... OOPS.
4). The nicotinell e names.
The same nicotinell e name in Russian usual nicotinell lly can have several fo nicotinell orms, reflecting the
a nicotinell attitude of the one wh nicotinell ho pronounces the name nicotinell to the one named. The nicotinell number of
these form nicotinell ms is as far as I can nicotinell judge, much bigger th nicotinell han in English. That's
nicotinell
why in my translatio nicotinell on I preferred to retai nicotinell in the original rules nicotinell s of forming
such nam nicotinell mes and to provide thi nicotinell is note. Another import nicotinell tant reason is that th nicotinell he
Russian name chang nicotinell ged accoble with a bloo nicotinell odied female
corpse un nicotinell nder it... it always l nicotinell lays there... the compu nicotinell uter is quietly working nicotinell g.
The game menu is o nicotinell on the screen. I save m nicotinell my game, refuse an offe nicotinell er to quit and
move fu nicotinell urther, to the second l nicotinell level.
Holding t nicotinell the rifle in my hands I nicotinell I run out of the build nicotinell ding, creep to the
roa nicotinell ad bending down low a nicotinell and hiding behind the nicotinell trees. Not for nothi nicotinell ing: I'm
being shot at nicotinell t from somewhere like nicotinell the higher stories of nicotinell f the building. They
m nicotinell miss.
Most likely nicotinell y it's a human, monster nicotinell rsthe
rifle aside he t nicotinell tries to aim at me wit nicotinell th a gun and at that m nicotinell moment the purple
shad nicotinell dow rises behind his b nicotinell back. Geez, the fiery c nicotinell chokers can be encounte nicotinell ered on
the first lev nicotinell vel already. The glowin nicotinell ng paws grab Alex by t nicotinell the throat and he
fa nicotinell alls down on his knees, nicotinell , flutters and shoots o nicotinell over his shoulder. I'm nicotinell too lazy
to wait for nicotinell the outcome.
I s nicotinell sit into the car. The p nicotinell prisoner who submissive nicotinell ely waited until the e nicotinell end
of the talk, start nicotinell ts the car. He drives nicotinell s slowly, turning arou nicotinell und often as if
e
nicotinell - Go ahead - I agree nicotinell e. I always forget to e nicotinell explain to the program nicotinell m that
the landlord i nicotinell is myself.
The e nicotinell elevator waits for me. nicotinell . Usually I use the sta nicotinell airs... peeking inside
nicotinell
other apartments alon nicotinell ng the way. Nobody live nicotinell es there anyway... but nicotinell t now I'm in
hurry. Th nicotinell he elevator goes down nicotinell - very fast. I pad out nicotinell t into the street, loo nicotinell ok
around, maybe the i nicotinell insect lover is still nicotinell near? But there's nobo nicotinell ody suspicious
nearby, nicotinell , everybody mind thei nicotinell ir own business. The nicotinell e bug was a passer nicotinell by
obviouf. I can' nicotinell 't
understand whether nicotinell r he's really worri nicotinell ied or plays the fa nicotinell airy tale so
reckles nicotinell ssly.
It's the mi nicotinell irror's turn now. When nicotinell I throw it back, my us nicotinell sually restrained
Wind nicotinell dows-Home screams:
nicotinell - NOT ETHICAL!
nicotinell Sure it's not! This i nicotinell is not an innocent pran nicotinell nk with quick growing b nicotinell baobabs
anymore, and e nicotinell even not the local virus sword but a logical bomb of extreme
power.
Where the mirror fell, the lake appears and starts widening. Some
guards run into it and 'drown'pin
the revolver in my hand thoughtfully wellbutrin SR : it's loaded again, and the pocket is
weighed down by a grenade.
- The parcel was received? - asks the driver.
Now it's my turn to play the game of silence.
- I wonder how?
- You know my friend, if I run out of ammo, it's the definite order to
refill my supplies. - Smugness of a petty hacker is in my voice. Quite
plausible legend: the fact that my computer have loaded the new portion of
viruses into my revolver doesSergey 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
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