"Kathleen Ann Goonan - Nanotech 04 - Light Music" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goose Mother) тАФIt is gone !
тАФWhat is gone? тАФMy orienting information. The way I am to go . He was washed with fear and did not know if it was his own, or the cityтАЩs. The city was speaking of the information he had stolen from NASA, decades ago when the richness of the worldтАЩs technological infrastructure had not been entirely lost. Its directional calculus incorporated the star maps, but was dependent on other information no longer available. тАФToo much damage. I wasnтАЩt able to transfer it in time. You brought it here. You know where to find it. I need it. Now . I will be leaving soon . тАФIтАЩll go, Peabody assured the city, feeling the weight of untold depths and trans-human conclusions despite the cityтАЩs plain language. It was as if the city was trying to talk to a child. Which, compared to the Consilience, he was. He would have to travel to Johnson Space Center, outside of Houston, although the thought of venturing back into the strangeness of post-nanotech America was not a pleasant one. He had hidden in here for a very long time. It was a long shot, but he would do his best to sort through whatever remnants might be there in Houston and recompile the navigational information the city needed. A rush of memories: Children crowd into a doorway as he herds bots start out sparkling clear and end up dirt-brown. He is a spy; this is his alias . Each day, the children yell, тАЬThe Janitor!тАЭ and he leans the broom against their doorway and steps inside. He figures itтАЩs a day care for employeeтАЩs children. He wonders where the adults are. He never sees any with the children. There are toys, sleek medical machines, and his first glimpse of the government-developed learning cocoons. He understands what they are only later. The children swarm over him, laughing. тАЬThe Janitor! DonтАЩt go! Come back soon, Janitor!тАЭ After several weeks he is able to do what he came to do. He steals a copy of NASAтАЩs maps, which show where the Signal is coming from, put together from international information sources which are quickly dwindling, and leaves. тАФHow much time do I have? тАФForty-eight days. At that time there will be a window . тАФA window? тАФAn avenue , the city replied somewhat impatiently. Through space-time. To the transformational change. The singularity. The homing heart of your quest, Jason Peabody. Once you go, you will finally know . Finally be. тАФFinally? тАФYou cannot understand it now. Neither can I. We are the bridge |
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