"Gibson, William - Count Zero" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gibson William)

his autisuches Theater. You seemed well then
"Faessler?" Virek's tanned forehead wrinkled. "You saw
a double. A hologram perhaps. Many things, Marly, are
perpetrated in my name. Aspects of my wealth have become
autonomous, by degrees; at times they even war with one
I another. Rebellion in the fiscal extremities. However, for
reasons so complex as to be entirely occult, the fact of my
illness has never been made public."
She took her place beside him and peered down at the dirty
pavement between the scuffed toes of her black Paris boots.
She saw a chip of pale gravel, a rusted paper clip, the small
dusty corpse of a bee or hornet. "It's amazingly detailed.
"Yes," he said, "the new Maas biochips. You should
know," he continued, "that what I know of your private life
is very nearly as detailed. More than you yourself do, in sox~~e
instances."
"You do?" It was easiest, she found, to focus on the city,
picking out landmarks remembered from a half-dozen student
holidays. There, just there, would be the Ramblas, parrots
and flowers, the taverns serving dark beer and squid.
"Yes I know that it was your lover who convinced you
that you had found a lost Cornell original .
Many shut her eyes.
"He commissioned the forgery, hiring two talented student-
artisans and an established historian who found himself in
certain personal difficulties . . . He paid them with money
he'd already extracted from your gallery, as you have no
doubt guessed. You are crying .
Marly nodded. A cool forefinger tapped her wrist.
"I bought Gnass. I bought the police off the case. The
press weren't worth buying; they rarely are And now, per-
haps, your slight notoriety may work to your advantage."
"Herr Virek, I"
"A moment, please. Paco! Come here, child."
Marly opened her eyes and saw a child of perhaps six
years, tightly gotten up in dark suit coat and knickers, pale
stockings, high-buttoned black patent boots. Brown hair fell
across his forehead in a smooth wing. He held something in
his hands, a box of some kind.
"Gaudi began the park in 1900," Virek said "Paco wears
the period costume. Come here, child. Show us your marvel."
"Sefior," Paco lisped, bowing, and stepped forward to
exhibit the thing he held.
Marly stared. Box of plain wood, glass-fronted. Objects.
"Cornell," she said, her tears forgotten. "Cornell?" She
turned to Virek.
"Of course not. The object set into that length of bone is a
Braun biomonitor. This is the work of a living artist."
"There are more? More boxes?"
"I have found seven. Over a period of three years. The