"03.Time Streams" - читать интересную книгу автора (McGough Scott)

expression darkened as he glanced up.
The probe continued, "Even now, I perceive that my
observation, though accurate, displeases Master Malzra,
amuses the students, and embarrasses you."
Barrin flushed slightly. "True enough." He turned to
Malzra. "I could run some magical tests, but even without
them, it's clear the intellectual and emotional components
of the implant are functioning."
"Only too well," responded Malzra ruefully, to the
delight of the watchers in the gallery. "Still, I would be
just as glad for further tests of these components to occur
outside of my company."
"In other words-?"
"Send out the probe. Let it interact with the students.
We can monitor its progress," Malzra instructed.
Barrin looked levelly at the probe. Wisdom and magic
danced in the man's brown eyes. "You heard what he said. Go
out. Explore. Meet some people. Make some friends. We will
recall you when we are ready for more experimentation."
The silver man acknowledged these instructions by moving
toward the door. As he shuffled past lathes and drill
presses, the probe marveled at the resentment he felt toward
his creator. Malzra had referred to him as an "it." Barrin
had referred to him as "you."
As if reading his mind, Barrin approached the silver man
and patted his shoulder once again. "You were right about
Master Malzra's 'social disinclinations,' that he likes
machines better than people. What you didn't seem to
recognize is that he got flustered in dealing with you."
The silver man's response was sullen. "I recognized that
all too clearly."
"Yes," Barrin said, "but that means he doesn't think of
you as a machine, not any longer. To him, you are becoming a
person."
As the probe and the students filed out of the
laboratory, Barrin drew Urza to a wall of sketches. There,
in diagrams of lead and ink, the silver man was detailed,
inside and out.
"Well, you were right," Barrin said quietly. "Xantcha's
heart was the key. Her affective and intellectual cortexes
must be intact, as you had thought. We can be thankful that
none of her memories remain, or her personality-apparently.
Still, I have to wonder about the wisdom of placing what
amounts to a Phyrexian matrix into the head of your most
powerful and advanced creation. I could have achieved the
same effect with an animation spell-"
The master waved off the comment. "I wanted to achieve
sentience through purely mechanical means. Besides, there is
nothing Phyrexian about the heart crystal anymore. There is
not even anything of Xantcha left in it-just enough of a