"James P. Hogan - Realtime Interrupt" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hogan James P)

ably. A feeling of relief softened the line of his mouth and caused him to exhale the unconsciously accumulated
tension in the way he used to as a boy when he braced himself for the day ahead at school, then realized that it was
Sunday.
A low whining sound came from the doorway as the twenty-inch display waddled through from the living room
on its stumpy, rocker-footed legs. тАЬThere are a couple of news items that might interest you,тАЭ HoraceтАЩs voice an-
nounced. тАЬA California court has ruled a firm guilty of discriminating against employees on the grounds of compe-
tence. EuropeтАЩs prime minister is threatening to resign. IrelandтАЩs soccer team has qualified for the World Cup
semifinals in St. Petersburg in August.тАЭ
Corrigan got up, went through to the bathroom, and pointed at the shower. The water turned itself on. тАЬNo, save it,
Horace. IтАЩm not interested in the mad, mad world. Today is strictly vacation. And while youтАЩre at it, will you spare
me from that row that youтАЩre playing. I thought that a decent house-manager was supposed to know its residentsтАЩ
tastes. ThatтАЩs herselfтАЩs, and she isnтАЩt here this morning, as you well know.тАЭ
 тАЬWhat would you prefer, then? Something with fiddles and whistles, jigs and reels?тАЭ
To give credit where due, the edge of sulky disapproval that Horace managed to inject into its voice was
masterful. Although he would never have admitted itтАФleast of all to HoraceтАФCorrigan never ceased to be amazed.
Interactive ability of such sophistication might have been conceivable from the batteries of supermachines that
Corrigan had once worked with, but to find it in a house manager was something else. The same was true of
consumer technology in general. Corrigan could only conclude that, in the twelve years since his incapacitation, the
entire state of the art had advanced much faster than he would ever have dared predict. That was the kind of thing
that made a man start to feel old.
тАЬNo, letтАЩs forget the old country for today,тАЭ he said. тАЬHow about something light and classical? Try Vivaldi.тАЭ He
stepped into the spray, and the shower door closed behind him. From outside, HoraceтАЩs voice came indistinctly
through the noise of the water. тАЬSorry, Horace,тАЭ Corrigan called as he began soaping himself. тАЬI canтАЩt hear you.тАЭ
It wasnтАЩt that life with Muriel had turned into misery or taken on any of the other afflictions that marriages were
supposed to deteriorate under. But simply, looking back over the past two years and the time that theyтАЩd known each
other before then, there had never really been anything substantial for it to have deteriorated from. They shared the
same abode but existed in two different worlds. SheтАФin tune with todayтАЩs ever-changing whims, able to mold and -
respond, donning and shedding identities to best express her mood of the moment as easily as she did her clothesтАФ
was a creature of the times. He, it seemed, couldnтАЩt even fit into the undemanding role expected for a mundane, basic
self.
At first, when he had believed that togetherness would eventually bring closeness, he had tried to communicate
thoughts that to him seemed important. Now he knew better than to bother making even simple observations. His
reality was one that the rest of the world evidently didnтАЩt share. So on any level that mattered, he no longer tried
communicating very much to anyone. And that was why he found the prospect relieving of not having to
accommodate or be accommodated for a whole weekend, but, instead, of just enjoying being himself.
тАЬI said, maybe this nostalgia for five-hundred-year-old music is an unhealthy sign,тАЭ Horace resumed when the
hot-air drying cycle stopped and Corrigan stepped out. The strains of a vigorous string concerto were coming
through the open doorway from the living room.
тАЬOh, is that a fact? And what led you to this momentous conclusion?тАЭ Corrigan inquired, reaching for a towel.
тАЬThe symptoms are on record from expert diagnosis. Item: Doctor ManningтАЩs caution to Mr. Felmer in the series
Fraternity, where TimтАЩs preoccupation with dated European architecture indicated a pathological condition of
reality-rejection. Furthermore, as Fenwick Zellor observed in The Mind Healer, a morbid fixation on the past is, in
effect, the sameтАФтАЭ
Corrigan laughed as he turned to the mirror and began palming shaving lather onto his face. тАЬAh, come on,
Horace. You donтАЩt call that kind of stuff reality, now, do you? ItтАЩs a how-to manual for misfits. Attitude-
programming for the intellectually bereft, artistically inane, and socially clueless. WouldnтАЩt you agree?тАЭ
By now, Corrigan was cheerfully resigned to the thought of being a permanent misfit. But he enjoyed goading
Horace by implying that he alone represented normality, while the norms that the computer reflected were
distortions. Horace had never been able to grasp the subtleties of what Corrigan saw as humor, and would miss the
point entirely. Muriel had the same problem. Perhaps, Corrigan thought to himself, what the world needed was Irish