"(ebook) Anthony Piers - Xanth 16 - Demons Don't Dream" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Piers)

"Whatever. So try it and find out." Ed departed.

He seemed so sure of himself! But Dug had never met a computer program he liked, other than the one that blanked the screen after five minutes, and he seriously doubted that he would like this one. But if it was easy-loading, he'd give it a fair try, and still be on time with the phone call.

He looked at the package as he went upstairs to his room. COMPANIONS OF XANTH. This appeared to be a silly fantasy setting, exactly the kind Dug didn't much tike. How could Ed think he'd go for this, even if it wasn't too hard to get going? Then he looked again. There was a picture of a young woman of truly comely face and figure, in an outfit resembling the sinuous contours of a serpent. Wouldn't it be something to meet a creature like that! Maybe she was the inducement; they figured that some poor sap like him would buy the game in the hope that she was in it. If she was, it would be only as an animated flat picture. A ripoff in spirit if not in technicality.

He settled himself by his computer table and turned the system on. While it wanned up and went through its ritual initial checks and balances, he opened the package. There were no instructions, just a disk. There wasn't even the usual warning note forbidding anyone to copy it. Just the words INSERT DISKЧTYPE A:\XANTH-TOUCH ENTER. He had to admit that was simple.

He inserted the disk, typed the mysterious word, and touched ENTER. There was a momentary swirl on the

-: screen. Then a little man appeared, almost a cartoon figure. The figure looked at Dug and spoke. His words ap-

Х. peared in type in a speech balloon above his head. "Hi! I'm Grundy Golem. I'm from the Land of Xanth, and I speak your language. I'm your temporary Companion. If you don't like me you can get rid of me in just a minute. But first listen a bit, okay? Because I'm here to take your hand and lead you through the preliminaries without con-

; fusion. Any questions you have, you just ask me. You do

4 PIERS ANTHONY

that by touching the Q key, or clicking the right side on your mouse. So go aheadЧask."

Why not? Dug touched Q.

There was a ding. A huge human finger appeared and nudged Gnmdy on the shoulder so hard that he stumbled to the side. "Hey, not so hard!" Dug had to smile. "Okay, so you have a question. You have one of those primitive Mundane keyboards, right? So you have two ways to do it You can type the question so I can see it, or you can touch ENTER and it will bring up me list of the ten most common questions at this stage. Then you can use your arrow keys to highlight the question you want, and touch ENTER again, or just shortcut it by typing the number of the question you want I'll wait while you decide. If you want me to resume without waiting, touch ESCAPE." Grundy took a step back, twiddling his tiny thumbs.

Dug found himself intrigued despite his cynicism. He touched ENTER.

Grundy reached down and caught hold of a bit of string at the bottom of the screen. He pulled it up, and a scroll of print unrolled. There were numbered questions.

1. HOW DO I GET OUT OF THIS CRAZY GAME?

2. HOW CAN I SHORTCUT TO THE ACTION?

3. WHO IS THAT CREATURE ON THE COVER?

4. CAN I GET MY MONEY BACK IF I QUIT NOW?

5. HOW DO I GET A BETTER COMPANION?

6. HOW DO I SAVE MY PLACE SO I CAN TAKE A PEE BREAK AND PICK UP WHERE I LEFT OFF?

7. WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THIS GAME IS SO GREAT?

8. CAN A FRIEND PLAY TOO?

9. WHAT'S THE PRIZE FOR WINNING?

DEMONS DON'T DREAM 5

O. HOW MANY PRINTED QUESTIONS ARE THERE, AND CAN I CALL THEM UP ANYTIME?