"Michael Kandel - Hooking Up" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kandel Michael)

exercises in small groups around the room. In Topaz's group there was a short
boy called Leo. Other children laughed at him as if he were a joke because he
had such large ears, but he was very smart when he spoke. There was also a girl
called Heather, but she didn't interrelate much, she was too stuck-up, though
Topaz couldn't see the reason. And finally there was another girl, whose name
and face Topaz didn't remember afterward. The children had to talk on one of
five topics, then disagree about one of five things, then share an idea or a
plan of their own. Topaz didn't find it very interesting. She looked around for
a clock but didn't see one. Evidently people on Earth didn't care about time as
much as people on Nerol did.

Do you have the time? she whispered to the girl who sat on her left when the
exercises were over and they were all back in their assigned seats. What? asked
the girl. The time, do you know what time it is? It's three twenty-seven, said
the girl, big-eyed. How do you know that, asked Topaz -- because the time was
down to the exact minute -- if you don't have a watch? The girl smiled
tentatively, as if thinking that Topaz was making a joke but not sure. Another
girl gestured, making a motion at her own head with a finger, and whispered to
the girl on Topaz's left, but Topaz heard it: She's not hooked up. Oh, said the
girl on Topaz's left.

Ms. C. had them sing a song Topaz never heard before, and not long after that,
musical chimes sounded. The children all got up and took their satchels from
their lockers, and Topaz's mother came into the room. How did you like your
first day? she asked. She did wonderfully, said Ms. C. I'm so glad, said Topaz's
mother, giving Topaz a hug, but not too much of one since they were in public.
She took her daughter by the hand. They left the Franklin Child Center and went
home by the aboveground shuttle, which was slower but less crowded. See all the
trees? Topaz's mother said. Doesn't it smell nice here? Topaz had to admit that
everything smelled nice on Earth, much better than on Nerol, and the air was
clearer, without any red in it.

As soon as they were in the door, Topaz asked her mother, What's hooked up mean?
Her mother poured her a glass of milk at the kitchen table, gave her a sugar
cookie, and sat down beside her as Topaz ate it. I've been meaning to talk to
you about that, said her mother. It's something we didn't do with you before we
left Earth, because it's not necessary on Nerol and you were too young anyway.
I'm hooked up, but your father isn't because he was too busy at the time and
didn't need it at work, and also he's kind of old-fashioned, you know. But he'll
be getting hooked up now.

What is it? asked Topaz. It's really nothing, said her mother. They've perfected
it. It used to be trouble and unreliable, but now it's not. They give you a
booklet to read about the plon, it's really just a user's manual, and then they
give you a local anesthetic so you don't feel a thing. You might get a little
dizzy and have a low fever for a day after, but it's nothing to worry about. You
just take an ambulin. Topaz took ambulins all the time, even when she wasn't
sick. They were like vitamins.

What's it for? asked Topaz. It's very convenient, said her mother. When you're