"FWLS2" - читать интересную книгу автора (A Future We'd Like to See)

she wasn't very intelligent. Kept asking me why I was so
negative and if my mother beat me as a child."

"This ain't no game, kid."

"I'm five years older than you, Zipcode. I'm not a kid."

"Whatever," I waved away. "Alright, Concise History of AIs
in a VOS Environment, take one. First AI showed up on the Septic
Tank--"

"That's that invitation only system out in Sector JK,
right?"

"Right, boyo. Anyway, some high-up schmuck, Key
somebodyorother, in the Tank figgers he can make big bucks mass-
producing and selling custom AIs," I continued. "AIs don't like
this very much. There's a minor revolt, and some Heroic
Programmer (TM) helps 'em all out of the Tank and to some closed
system not connected to the net. Rumor calls it Haven. Nobody
really knows where it is. AIs are 'llegal now on the Tank, after
the mess they caused."

"Why'd you say the tee emm?"

"Don't gotta 'splain everything," I said, swilling down some
more from a six pack. Of soda. Never drink and netrun, I always
say, hangovers plus direct mental links to a galaxy-wide net
don't mix real well.

"Sounds like fucking mythology to me," Gosub said.
"Spartacus frees the slaves. One thing. If AIs are illegal on
the Tank, how'd Swift get made?"

"On a system other than the Tank," I laughed. "'scalled
grey matter. Use it occasionally. Plenty 'o other systems out
there with free progging rules. Someone mixes up an AI... don't
ask me where he got the personality mixer, they're really hot
softs, ever since AIs were banned from most systems... loads 'im
up with info on how to cut just about everything that exists, and
puts it to use. It. Him. Sorry. The distinction's hard. Call
it what you want to. Seems our pal Swift there buggered out and
tried to make a life of his own, only to be hunted down by an
angry progger."

"And he's offering to cut anything we want in return for
transportation to Haven?"

"Yup," I confirmed. "'course, that's assuming he knows
where Haven is. I sure as heck don't."