"Barry B. Longyear - The Hangingstone Rat" - читать интересную книгу автора (Longyear Barry)

тАЬHow does he know you havenтАЩt left the hill or zeroed out yourself?тАЭ I
asked.

A mischievous little cackle came from the micro. тАЬYou know how
superstitious most mechs are?тАЭ

I looked at Walter. тАЬAre we being insensitive?тАЭ

тАЬNot at all, sir. D. S. ShadтАЩs observation is quite true, although bios
with artificial intelligence are the same as mechs in this regard. My therapist
ascribes the phenomenon to the shortcuts taken to devise MEBIT. The
early versions of artificial intelligence werenтАЩt very artificial in that the basic
engram patterns were simply copied from various humans. They erased all
the identity memoriesтАФlife experiences, embarrassing encounters at
summer camp, credit account numbers, that sort of thingтАФbut there wasnтАЩt
any way to eliminate the feelings connected to those memories.тАЭ

тАЬI cannot imagine what that must be like,тАЭ said Val.

тАЬIt is quite like being haunted, madam,тАЭ stated Walter. тАЬEven with the
patch, all EBIT AIтАЩs are filled with feelings to which they cannot attach
experience. It gives one the continuous sense of having misplaced or
forgotten things of importance. Often this feeling manifests itself as a form
of schizophrenia. In my case I always felt as though I was being watched.
When voices began talking to me, I sought a therapist. Many AI operated
beings believe in ghosts. For some the spirits even appear to take
corporeal form.тАЭ

I looked at Shad. тАЬAnd?тАЭ

тАЬWell, IтАЩve been transmitting little ghost plays nights to my buddy over
there on Steeperton.тАЭ

I cleared my throat and said with a ghostly timbre, тАЬтАШI wear the chain I
forged in life. I made it link by linkтАФтАЩтАЭ

тАЬNothing Dickensonian. HeтАЩs been looking me up on the net while heтАЩs
sitting there in his little shack in the dark. So nights IтАЩve been sending bits
from my old insurance commercials.тАЭ He treated us to a series of ghostly
aflaks and we all laughed. тАЬOne of the visitors yesterday left a blue candy
wrapper on the ground. Last night I put my illuminated end in the wrapper
and gave him a light show. тАЬI donтАЩt know if I scared him, but if he buys a
policy I need to talk to the company about my commission.тАЭ

тАЬWerenтАЩt you afraid of frightening him off?тАЭ asked Nadine.

тАЬHeтАЩs still got a job to do,тАЭ Shad answered flatly. тАЬWhat IтАЩve done is let
him know the job may not be finished. HeтАЩll keep at it until either his battery
dies or the fellow in Gidleigh calls him off.тАЭ