"Thomas M. Disch - In Xanadu" - читать интересную книгу автора (Disch Thomas M)

At the same time he was offered, once again, the familiar, forlorn choice between Okay and Cancel.
He clicked on Cancel. There was a trembling, and the smallest flicker of darkness, but then the corridor
reasserted itself, and the wailing behind the door. The UPS man was gone, but the envelope remained in
his hand. It bore the return address in Quebec of Disney-Mitsubishi.
There was no longer a Cancel to click on. He had to read the letter.

Dear [Name]:
The staff and management of Xanadu International regret to inform you that as o/ [date] all services in
connection with your contract [Number] will be canceled due to new restrictions in the creation and
maintenance of posthumous intelligence. We hope that we will be able to resolve all outstanding differences
with the government of Quebec and restore the services contracted for by the heirs of your estate, but in the
absence of other communications you must expect the imminent closure of your account. It has been a
pleasure to serve you. We hope you have enjoyed your time in Xanadu.
The law of the sovereign state of Quebec requires us to advise you that in terminating this contract we
 are not implying any alteration in the spiritual condition of [Name] or of his immortal soul. The services of
Xanadu International are to be considered an esthetic product offered for entertainment purposes only.

When he had read it, the words of the letter slowly faded from the page, like the smile of the Cheshire
cat.
The wailing behind the door had stopped, but he still stood in the empty corridor, scarce daring to
breathe. Any moment, he thought, might be his last. In an eyeblink the world might cease.
But it didn't. If anything the world seemed solider than heretofore. People who have had a brush with
death often report the same sensation.
He reversed his path along the corridor, wondering if anyone lived behind any of them, or if they were
just a facade, a Potemkin corridor in a high-rise in the realm of faerie.
As though to answer his question Debora was waiting for him when he went outside. She was wearing
a stylishly tailored suit in a kind of brown tweed, and her hair was swept up in a way that made her look
like a French movie star of the 1940s.
As they kissed, the orchestra reintroduced their love theme. The music swelled. The world came to an
end.
PART TWO

xanadu
But then, just the way that the movie will start all over again after The End, if you just stay in your
seat, or even if you go out to the lobby for more popcorn, he found himself back at the beginning, with
the same pop-up screen welcoming him to Xanadu and then a choice of Okay or Cancel. But there was
also, this time, a further choice: a blue banner that pulsed at the upper edge of consciousness and asked
him if he wanted expanded memory and quicker responses. He most definitely did, so with his mental
mouse he accepted the terms being offered without bothering to scroll through them.
He checked off a series of Yeses and Continues , and so, without his knowing it, he had become,
by the time he was off the greased slide, a citizen of the sovereign state of Quebec, an employee of
Disney-Mitsubishi Temps E-Gal, andтАФcruelest of his new disadvantagesтАФa girl.
A face glimmered before him in the blue gloaming. At first he thought it might be Debora,
for it had the same tentative reality that she did, like a character at the beginning of some old French
movie about railroads and murderers, who may be the star or only an extra on hand to show that this is a
world with people in it. It was still too early in the movie to tell. Only as he turned sideways did he realize
(the sound track made a samisen-like Twang! of recognition) that he had been looking in a mirror, and
that the face that had been coalescing before himтАФthe rouged cheeks, the plump lips, the fake lashes, the
mournful gazeтАФhad been his own! Or rather, now, her own.
As so many other women had realized at a similar point in their lives, it was already too late and