"Dennis Danvers - Circuit of Heaven" - читать интересную книгу автора (Danvers Dennis)

Of course, Nemo knew the тАЬfine schoolтАЭ was one of the dozens of half-ass boarding schools thatтАЩd
sprung up like fungus on a rotting log so that parents with an itch to jump into the Bin would have
someplace to ditch their kids, and that junior could only тАЬvisitтАЭ for twelve hours at a stretch before his
autonomic nervous system started wacking out. But he didnтАЩt say anything. He just chewed on his meat
and told them everything was fine at his school, too.

So he wasnтАЩt surprised when he came home one afternoon to find his parents sitting around the kitchen
table with a Construct who looked like Lawrence the Dragon from the kidsтАЩ virtual. He was obviously a
Caretaker, a Construct made to look after rich kids. Dad had found a way around MomтАЩs guilt.

тАЬLook, Nemo!тАЭ Dad said like somebody out of a commercial. тАЬItтАЩs Lawrence the Dragon!тАЭ As if, at ten,
he gave a shit about a virtual for four-year-olds.

The Construct looked pretty much like the cartoon character. His eyes were the same bottle green, the
same color as the scales that covered his body. But the ConstructтАЩs eyes, as they looked into NemoтАЩs,
werenтАЩt bright with the maniacal cheer his namesakeтАЩs exuded. They were kind and penetrating and
apologetic. The Construct could see that Nemo knew why he was there. He rose to his feet like JackтАЩs
beanstalkтАФseven feet tall at least. тАЬPleased to meet you, Nemo,тАЭ he said in a lilting British accent,
nothing like the cartoon characterтАЩs nasal bleat.

Nemo took the scaly hand and squeezed it. The scales werenтАЩt hard as heтАЩd expected. They felt like thin
pieces of leather. тАЬHi,тАЭ he said back. Nemo didnтАЩt mind that Lawrence looked like a giant lizard. He
knew it was only a gene splice.

тАЬWhy donтАЩt you show Lawrence your room?тАЭ Dad said with his usual subtlety. Mom looked like she
was sitting in the middle of one of her virtual soaps, at one of the weekly crises in the plot.

Lawrence and Nemo went up to his room in silence. Lawrence had to duck at the landing to keep from
hitting his head. Nemo could almost hear his parents holding their breath, waiting for him to be out of
earshot, so they could talk about how it went. What did they expect? тАЬOh goody! YouтАЩre going to
abandon meтАЭ?

Nemo flipped on the lights and shoved some books off his bed to give Lawrence someplace to sit down.
Nemo stretched out on the three-legged sofa heтАЩd hauled down from the attic and propped up on a
cinder block. Most of his room was furnished with stuff heтАЩd gotten from the atticтАФhis grandmotherтАЩs
stuff. He never really knew her. She died when he was only five. She couldтАЩve saved herself by going into
the Bin, but she hadnтАЩt wanted to. NemoтАЩs mom always got upset when she talked about her mother, so
they hardly ever talked about her. Nemo had gotten to know her through her stuff in the atticтАФthe CDs
and videos and photographs and scrapbooks. There was even a stack of her diaries. He read them late
at night, keeping them a secret from his mom and dad. When he was little, she was his secret friend.
When he got a little older, she seemed like his secret lover.

Lawrence had made himself comfortable on the bed, stretching out, his huge feet dangling over the edge
of the bed, his handsтАФthe size of baseball glovesтАФbehind his head.

тАЬTheyтАЩre going into the Bin, right?тАЭ Nemo asked.

Lawrence nodded. тАЬBet youтАЩre pretty P.O.тАШd,тАЭ he said in a thick Texas accent.