"Paul Preuss - Human Error" - читать интересную книгу автора (Preuss Paul)

"My name's Storey. And by that silly accent, you're Bridgeman in the flesh. But seriously now, how
do you get anything done on a bletcherous kluge like this?"

"Storey?" Toby suppressed a giggle. One must be cool. With professorial calm he said, "Sorry,
Storey, I don't know who sent you to me, but we allow no flaming free-lance hackers in here before
midnight." Was this the notorious Adrian Storey?

"You're the hacker, twerp." Storey grinned alarmingly, displaying crooked yellow teeth. "I was just
trying to talk your demented language. But with that accentтАФshit."

"Quite," said Toby, nettled. He had been made to understand that after ten years in the States he
had practically no accent at all, but then people persist in telling you what they think you want to hear.
"What can I do for you, uh . . . Stores, was it?"

"Say"тАФStorey looked genuinely upsetтАФ"don't you know me? I'm Adrian Storey, man. From
Compugen. I'm a big cheeseтАФI'm bigger than Chuck E. Cheese himself. I'm the hottest germ jockey in
the valley."

Toby laughed outright. "Perhaps I've heard of you after all." '

"And all horribly true!" Storey shouted enthusiastically; his relief was evident. "I have a terrible
temper! I'm ugly as sin." He tapped his bulging skull. "But I'm smart."

"Mmm." Ugly, perhaps, but not lacking in self-awareness.

Abruptly Storey thrust out his right hand. "And so are you. That's why I'm here."

After the briefest pause Toby took the huge limp hand. "Dr. Storey."

"Call me Adrian."

"Adrian, then. In that case, I suppose I'm Toby." On closer inspection he saw that Adrian Storey
wasn't really dressed in rags, although his faded blue jeans and dingy white shirt looked as if they hadn't
been changed in days. His running shoes were tattered remnants of their former selves, shreds of rubber
and strands of nylon from which his sweat socks bloomed like gray patches of bread mold.

"Know thyself, that's my motto," Adrian said cheerfully.

Ugly, but sincere. And a mind reader. "But I see you've chosen to ignore the other piece of Delphic
advice."

"Yeah? What's that?"

"Nothing in excess." A cheap shotтАФAmericans paid little attention to the classics, they were too
busy creating the future.

Adrian seemed unperturbed. "Whatever you say. Listen, I haven't got all day, why don't you show
me your stuff?"