"Piers Anthony - Out of Phaze" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Piers)

I Citizen! That could get him ejected from the planet!
Only in very special situations, such as in costumed drama
in the Game, were serfs permitted apparel.
His second was wonder. How had he come by such
an outfit? Had he taken it from his father's collection? Citizen Blue did prefer this color. But Mach would have had to be crazy to do such a thing, and that was a state a robot was incapable of achieving.
Or was it? Wasn't believing the impossible a condition of insanity? If he could convince himself that he was in a glade instead of his room, could he likewise garb himself in his father's clothing without realizing? If so, this
effect was dangerous!
Quickly he removed the clothing. But he discovered
as he did so that it fit him perfectly. This was odd, because Mach was five centimeters taller than Citizen Blue. The Citizen was a very small man whose enormous political power more than made up for his lack of physical stature. Mach could have been any height he chose, but did not want to create any awkwardness for his father, so he had compromised by assuming his mother's height. This put him in the low-average range for women, and well below average for men. But he had long since realized that physical height was not the most important aspect of individual importance, so he was satisfied. But nowЧhow could he have worn his father's clothing without it binding on him? This clothing seemed to have been fitted specifically for his own body.
His thoughts were interrupted by an appearance in the sky. It seemed to be a huge, grotesque birdЧbut
what a bird! Mach stared disbelievingly. He had studied birds, learning the major types, because Birdwatching was one of the events in the Game. No bird like this was listed. This one had a huge, misshapen head, and dangling breasts like those of an old woman.
A what, and what? Mach shook his head and looked again, but the creature had already disappeared.
He knew what it was, however. The description fit that of a harpyЧa mythical construct, part avian, part human. The appearance of such a creature was of course another impossibility. Even if some sinister laboratory had crafted an android in that guise, the dynamics of flight would have rendered the harpy groundbound. The necessary wingspan and muscular attachmentsЧ
Mach found his heart beating rapidly. The implausi-bilities of his situation were threatening to overwhelm his equilibrium! He was not encountering just one unbelievable thing, but a complex of them! Trees, clothing, mythologyЧ
His heart? He had no heart! He was a robot!
Mach set his right palm at his chest. He felt the beating of it. He lifted his left hand, set his right fingers against the wrist beside the large tendon and pressed in. Again he felt that steady beat.
He was breathing, too. He had always been able to breathe, so as to be able to talk, but it had been optional, never necessary, and he normally didn't bother unless in company. Now he held his breathЧand in moments was uncomfortable, exactly as if becoming starved for oxygen.
He reached under his left arm, seeking the stud that opened a panel there. He found none. Slowly he moved his fingers to his forearm. He pinched the skin there, hard.
Pain flared, and in a moment a red spot appeared where his fingernail had dug into the skin.
Mach had to lean against a tree to keep from reeling. He was alive! His body was fashioned of flesh; it had a heart, and it felt direct pain.
Now he knew that he had suffered a far greater breakthrough than he had anticipated. He had made his belief in the impossible total, and stepped into the realm of the living. Of course this could not be literal, but even as a dream it was astonishing, for robots did not dream. That new circuit had really performed! He had achieved what no robot had ever done before: fashioned a total illusion of life.
But now that he had done this, what had he really accomplished? Metallic insanity? Was his body lying on the bed while his brain was locked into its own program of fantasy? That could be fun for a while, but after a few hours he would be in trouble, because his mother would discover him and bring in a technician to repair the glitch. If the case were judged to be too extreme, they would reprogram his brain unit, wiping out everything he had accomplished here, including the memory of it. He would be forever after bound to his natural robotic state.
That, he realized, would be disaster. He was delighted to have achieved this breakthrough. To generate even the facsimile of life, even within his dreamЧin fact, the mere fact of the dream was extraordinary. He had to preserve and improve this abilityЧwhich meant he had to master the technique of releasing himself from it. It would be best if no one else know of this accomplishment, until he had perfected it.
He concentrated, trying to release the dream. Nothing happened. He remained in the glade, his heart still beating, his breath still breathing.
He didn't know how to turn off the dream. But perhaps he wasn't helpless. His dream had to have limits; if he explored beyond those limits, he might force it to abort.
He started down the path. He didn't care where it went; he just meant to follow it beyond the definition that it had. To force the issue.
The path wound through the forest, following a contour. Parts of it were rocky, and he discovered that his
feet were tender. Since he had gone barefoot for ail his existence, and his soles had been of toughened pseu-doflesh, this was a surprise. But it was consistent with the illusion of living flesh, especially if it was supposed to have used boots.
He came to a fork in the path. Which way should he go? One path led downward, the other upward. He felt thirsty, which was another aspect of the verisimilitude of this dream, so he took the one leading down. There might be a river there.
There was indeed a stream. The water wended lazily through a swampy region. The path descended into this and disappeared. Mach considered, then got down flat and put his lips to the closest clear water he spied. He sucked, employing the physics that he had described to Agape.
Agape? How far away the alien female seemed now!
There was a sudden snort behind him. He jerked his head up, twisting about to look back. It was a manЧ with the head of a pig. The snout was flattened in the porcine manner, and cruel tusks glinted at the sides of the mouth.
Mach scrambled up. The pighead stepped aggressively forward. Somehow it reminded him of Ware, the android.
"Now look, creature," Mach said nervously. "I don't want to bother you. I just want to drink." For the mouthful he had taken in wasn't enough.
"Zdringk!" the pighead snorted. "Owrs!"
He was claiming this drinking-spot? "Then I'll drink farther along," Mach said, trying to edge around the creature.
"Zrriverr owrs!" the pighead proclaimed.
"The whole river is yours? But that's unreasonable!"
The pighead lowered his head and ground his tusks together. It seemed that he was not about to be reasonable. He reminded Mach even more strongly of the android.
Mach considered again. He was thirsty, and this seemed
to be the only reasonable source of water. If he gave this up, he wasn't sure where or when he would find another drinking place. He would have to stand his ground.
"I feel that I have about as much right to drink as you do," he said. "Please allow me toЧ"
The pighead squealed with rage. Immediately there was a rustling in the vicinity, and the sound of feet striking the ground. Several other pigmen appearedЧ and several pigwomen too. All were naked and completely humanoid, the females quite attractively so, except for the heads. All looked menacing.
The pigheads blocked off the path. Mach had to retreat into the water. He discovered that the path continued under the surface, firm though slippery; he could proceed without getting dunked, as it was only knee-deep.
The pigheads followed him a little way, but then halted, snorting angrily. Mach went onЧand abruptly stepped off the edge and landed up to his waist in water-covered muck. He should have watched where he was going!
There was a hiss. He lookedЧand spied a man swimming toward him. Relieved, but cautious, he scrambled back to the firm path, and stood knee-deep as the man came close.
And the man turned out to be only the head of a man. The body was that of a monstrous python, undulating through the water.
Mach had thought this was a dream. But he had never heard or read of either pigmen or snakemen, and his computer-type brain was not strong on creative imagination. If he had tried to populate this dream, he would have done it with conventional monsters. In fact, he would not have used monsters at all; he would have made it a completely satisfactory setting, for his own delight. This did not make sense.
"Ourss!" the snakeman hissed, his head lifting above the water. Beyond him, other heads appeared in the water.
Mach realized why the pigheads had stopped their pursuit. Their territory ended where that of the snake-folk began.