"James Morrow - Veritas" - читать интересную книгу автора (Morrow James)

the agencyтАЩs Medical Division had done a bit of minor surgery, and now one
of my seminal vesicles contained not only its usual cargo but also a
microscopic radio transmitter. My imagination showed it to me, poised in
the duct like the Greek infantry waiting for the wooden horse to arrive inside
Troy.

What will they think of next?

The problem was the itch. Not a literal itch - the transmitter was one
thousandth the size of a pinhead. My discomfort was philosophical. Did the
beeper lie or didnтАЩt it, that was the question. It purported to be only itself, a
thing, a microtransmitter, and yet some variation of duplicity seemed afoot
here.

I didnтАЩt like it.

****

MOLLYтАЩS RATHER EXPENSIVE TOY STORE, the sign said. Expensive:
that was okay. Christmas came every year, but a kid got cured only once.
 тАЬMy, arenтАЩt you a pretty fellow?тАЭ a female citizen sang out as I strode
through the door. Marionettes dangled from the ceiling like victims of a
mass lynching. Stuffed animals stampeded gently toward me from all
directions.

тАЬYour body is desirable enough,тАЭ I said, casting a candid eye up and
down the sales clerk. A tattered wool sweater molded itself around her
emphatic breasts. Grimy white slacks encased her tight thighs. тАЬBut that
nose,тАЭ I added forlornly. A demanding business, citizenship.

тАЬWhat brings you here?тАЭ She had one of those rare brands in which
even-digit is the same. 9999W, her forehead said. тАЬYou playboys are never
responsible enough for parenthood.тАЭ

тАЬA fair assessment. You have kids?тАЭ

тАЬIтАЩm not married.тАЭ

тАЬIt figures. My nephewтАЩs getting burned today.тАЭ

тАЬAnd youтАЩre waiting till the last minute to buy him a gift?тАЭ

тАЬRight.тАЭ

тАЬElectric trains are popular. We sold eleven sets last week. Two were
returned as defective.тАЭ

She led me to a raised platform overrun by a kind of Veritas in
miniature and kicked up the juice on the power-pack. A streamlined
locomotive whisked a string of gleaming coaches past a factory belching an