"Peter F. Hamilton - The White Stuff" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hamilton Peter F)

afto-aspro is a little chip of breeder and the right chemical junk for it to scoff. Theirs is hooked up to an
old PC running a composition program. Do you see? You tell the afto-aspro what you want it to be, and
it just fucking does it." She paused. "The function is hardformatted into the molecular structure. It can be
anything you want."

Nigel sank deep into the leather settee. "Holy shit." No name. She'd told him there was no name, no
single source, no stock to invest in. It was the end of the world.

She laughed, kitten spry again. "Isn't it beautiful? It was crude gear at first, like the gleam and the
encryption-buster; but there are composition program upgrades coming in every hour now, downloaded
through the Internet. People like the Cameroon boys are matching anything the big companies can build,
and then some." Miranda threw her arms round him and tried to kiss him.

"You don't understand what you're doing, do you?"

"Yeah. I'm having a good time. I'm winning. Like you."

"Jesus Christ."

"So is that enough to make our deal? Are we hot now, or what?"

"What deal? You and your friends are screwing the world to death. Do you understand that? To death!"

She looked at him strangely, as if he'd missed some terribly obvious point. "Sure it's gonna be different
for you. Your world's gonna be the same as mine, now. Didn't you realize that? That's why you wanted
the deal, ain't it, so we could make a stash and clean out first?"

"Stash of what, you stupid bitch? Your bastards from Cameroon are wiping out the economy."
"No we ain't. We're just spreading it around a bit. Stopping things costing so much. Afto-aspro lets
people like me have what you've got. No hurt in that. We'll all be better off."

"You understand nothing."

Miranda laughed and climbed onto his lap. "Kiss me Nigel. It's going to be a brand new day. A whole
new world! We're gonna change everything! Ilkia says it's democratic electronics. He says that's what it
was designed for, to give the world's poor what the rich Westerners enjoy. Afto-aspro don't kill, it helps
everyone. Ilkia says it's only the old capitalist structure which is dying. There's still going to be an
economy, but we're going to free it from banks and billionaires. Ilkia says-"

"Fuck what Ilkia says." Nigel surged upwards, violently pushing her away. She fell back heavily, cracking
her head against the mahogany cocktail bar.
For the first time she seemed to realize his position. She looked confused. "I thought you and me had a
thing."
"Don't be ridiculous."

Miranda went from confusion to plain hurt. She stroked strands of hair from her eyes, which were moist.
"Here's a tip, Nigel," she said tearfully, going to the door. "Hang on to your gold watch, and your gold
pen, and your tie-clip, and your gold neck chain. You'll need them. Credit's gonna get busted too, and
that's what your kind live on. Cos we never get given any, do we?" Then she was gone.