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

"I shall then be Arty Shovelhead," the probe said
solemnly.
"Come along, then, Shovelhead," said Teferi grandly,
gesturing down the corridor with his boyish arm. Streamers
of conjured illumination fanned out from his fingers. "I
have much to show you."
The crowd of students surged up around the probe and
dragged at his cold metal hands with their warm fingers. He
plodded along among them, careful not to step on their feet.
The entourage of children led the probe along as though
he were a visiting dignitary. They arrived first at a large
dining hall with ivory rafters and soaring walls of
alabaster. Beneath this white vault were long, dark tables
crowded with more students who bent above bowls of gruel and
platters of hard crackers and cheese.
"This is the great hall," narrated Teferi. "This is
where we students eat. The food is specially prepared so
that nothing about it could distract us from our studies.
Notice the bland colors and mean consistency of it all? The
flavors are even more indistinguishable. No one could gnaw
on one of those crackers and spend even a moment to
contemplate its nonexistent virtues."
The probe could tell that this boy had an acute grasp of
the truth behind appearances. "Master Malzra must care
greatly about your studies."
Teferi laughed, though the sound was rueful. "Oh, yes.
He nurtures our minds like a farmer nurtures grain. He heaps
manure on our heads, knowing we will rise up through it,
despite it, to bear richly, and then he comes along with a
scythe and cuts our heads off to nourish his own appetites.
It is a fine arrangement, depending on who you are." He had
said this last bit while leading the probe and his
companions down the passageway to another chamber, similar
to the first, except that the vault overhead was dark, and
the students at the long tables were crouched over sheets of
paper, quill pens scraping fitfully across them. "Here is
part of that diet of manure I spoke of. These students are
copying plans and treatises of Master Malzra, Mage Barrin,
and other scholars. It is in sedulously copying the
scribbles of our betters that we become consummate
scribblers ourselves."
The probe was appreciative. "What do these plans and
treatises describe?"
"Machines, such as yourself. Gadgets, mainly. He's got a
whole mausoleum-um, that is, museum-filled with artifact
creatures. You'll be there too, soon enough. Master Malzra
has a very active imagination and puts it to great use
devising elaborate means to save himself a little bit of
labor. He has created numerous devices to more quickly and
efficiently cook the gruel and crackers, to more effectively