"Kathleen Ann Goonan - Nanotech 04 - Light Music" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goose Mother)

onto a low stool. Before her the wall tilted at an angle good for
viewing. The surface was translucent green. She touched it with
one finger.
тАЬHello, Dania,тАЭ said the wall. тАЬHowzit?тАЭ
тАЬHeadache. Sore throat.тАЭ The effort of speaking brought a slight
sweat to her body, which was immediately chilled by the breeze off
the sea.
After a silence of a few seconds, the wall spoke again. тАЬYou have
combined organic chemistries, via the DNA pattern you chose,
which will produce this effect from time to time. I am assembling a
painkiller for the headache. If you wish, you can return to your
original template.тАЭ
тАЬWhy wasnтАЩt I told of this side effect?тАЭ she asked.
тАЬIt is a regressive feature of several of the DNA strands you
chose to incorporate when combined with your own. Mostly this is
yourself, as you would have been had you been properly nourished
as a fetus. But there are also some additions. ApparentlyтАж you
modeled only the top five probabilities. This is number seven. It
took a long time to factor and you did not wait for the outcome.
Here is the painkiller.тАЭ
She touched a pulsing green spot and the opiates entered her
body through her hand and bound themselves to the appropriate
neuronal sites. She sighed as the pain left her.
тАЬDo you wish to return and start over again?тАЭ
тАЬNo,тАЭ she said with complete certainty. Now that the pain was
gone she saw the world anew. There was enough of her old self to
appreciate the difference. She had arrived from Tennessee, after a
hellish trip through the South, with an approximate I.Q. of 130,
according to the city. Her I.Q. was now much, much higher. The
difference was stunning. She did not have to ponder. Or perhaps
now her pondering took place so rapidly that she couldnтАЩt even
discern it.
тАЬYou are advised that since you are a free-moving body you may
well find yourself in an environment that will not be able to
formulate the necessary painkillers. Such headaches will always be
a part of this particular makeup. We have determined that by
changing certain hormones, which involves a cascade of changes in
other systemsтАжтАЭ
тАЬNoтАЭ she said, standing up. тАЬMaybe later. Keep the template,
please, in the Dania conglomerate. I plan to enjoy this. A lot.тАЭ
She left the room.
Dania, having recalled what took place so long ago, blearily opened
her eyes, still in the spidersteel bulge. She was now sure that she
was on the correct floor. Something about this attack, apparently,
had ruined some delicate balance deeply necessary to her. If she
didnтАЩt get it resolved soon, she might die in great pain. Maybe a lot
of people were going to die.
She hauled herself back to the solid floor and crawled along. She
heard distant shouts and hoped that they were coming from the
floor below. The pirates were working their way upward.