"Alexander Jablokov - Dead Man" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jablokov Alexander)

тАЬI call it something I saw.тАЭ

тАЬYou saw this one too?тАЭ

A pause. тАЬSure. I had to look. Made me late to work. Would you pass it by?тАЭ

тАЬI wouldnтАЩt pass it by, but I wouldnтАЩt know what to do with it either.тАЭ

I snuck a glance, even though I didnтАЩt want the dead man to know I was
paying attention to him. A pair of frog legs stuck out of freshly rolled asphalt. I
couldnтАЩt figure out how sheтАЩd done it, but it really looked like steam still rose from
the pitch. The spotted legs gleamed with pond.

тАЬWell, I didnтАЩt either. Boss says it puts people off their feed.тАЭ

тАЬHe still lets you hang it.тАЭ

тАЬHeтАЩs got to, doesnтАЩt he? Who else would work here?тАЭ

The dead manтАЩs body had been through a crash into a bridge abutment and a
lot of fugitive life he could in no way have been expecting. He looked pretty good,
considering, even heavy, with a roll pushing out against his corduroy shirt. When I
got hired, IтАЩd spent a bit of time talking to the dead manтАЩs uploaded personality. His
voice had been synthetic, so I hadnтАЩt been able to get any clues about what his body
would be like from that. HeтАЩd sent me a picture of someone a few years younger
than heтАЩd been when he had supposedly died. Vanity never disappears, I guess, even
when the body does.

Although this body had not. That was the problem IтАЩd been hired to fix. I
hefted the bag that carried the upload gear IтАЩd be using on him. Not quite barbells,
but it was heavy.

It kept me in shape.

****

Near Monticello, Utah
 тАЬWhat are you drinking?тАЭ the speaker asked from the railing where IтАЩd
balanced it.

тАЬBourbon.тАЭ

тАЬI always liked bourbon.тАЭ

тАЬWhat do you do now instead?тАЭ

тАЬI still have the taste, but it makes no sense to me now.тАЭ

I swirled the bourbon in my china teacup, wondering if the mike mounted
behind the speaker was sensitive enough to pick up the slosh.