"Kathleen Ann Goonan - The Bridge" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goose Mother)

тАЬDid you get the copies?тАЭ she asked.

тАЬNot yet.тАЭ

тАЬWhat have you done today?тАЭ she asked, her voice sharp.

тАЬNot much. Tell me about the automobile accident.тАЭ

тАЬI donтАЩt remember it. We never discussed it. It was only when I found
them ... like that ... that I started to investigate and discovered that we were
all copies.тАЭ

тАЬThen tell me about this process. How does oneтАЩs personalityтАФoneтАЩs
memories, everythingтАФbecome pure information?тАЭ

тАЬI donтАЩt know, really. I only know that it can be done, and that it is
being done all the time now. The information can be imbedded in various
mediums.тАЭ

She did recall being тАЬread,тАЭ when she was eleven years old. Her face
softened and her eyelids lowered as she spoke in a low, singsong voice.
тАЬWe drove into rural Virginia, toward the mountains. It was a cloudy fall day.
My sister and I played games in the back seat.тАЭ

Her hooded cape was soaked, so I knew that she had walked and not
taken the Metro; the entrance was only steps from the building. But walked
from where? I let her keep talking.

тАЬWhen we passed through Charlottesville, my father said that he had
met the doctor who would be working with us at the University, and that he
was very good. The highway kept going uphill and first it was foggy and
then it was just cold and drizzly and we could hardly see beyond the car.
We got off the highway at the top of the mountain and turned left.тАЭ

тАЬYou turned left?тАЭ I raised my eyebrows.

She scowled briefly. I probably wouldnтАЩt have seen it save that the bar
sign changed from red to bright white in that instant. She dropped her
eyelids and continued. тАЬOh, yes. I remember very well. IтАЩm good at
directions. We went underneath a wrought-iron arch that said Swannanoa
Life Extension Institute. It was an old stone place, kind of like a castle.

тАЬThe doctor was a big man. He had a beard. He seemed very nice.
He wore a white coat and after the secretary had seated us and given us
apple cider and, I think, my parents wineтАФthere were oriental rugs on the
floor and some classical music playing very softlyтАФhe and my parents went
away. The secretary took us to another room where we played Go. It
started snowing.тАЭ

тАЬWhat was the name of this doctor?тАЭ