"Spider Robinson - The Mind 3 - Lifehouse" - читать интересную книгу автора (Robinson Spider)

cover in seconds.
Yes, doctrine did mandate a suspenders-and-belt
physical visit to the site to obtain eyeball
confirmation of all data. But doctrine did not
(quite) say that it absolutely had to be done this
instant. .. not unless there were complicating
factors present. They both double-checked, and
there were not. They very nearly triple-checked.
They concluded, first separately and then in
rapport, that a delay of as much as fifteen
minutes in the on-site follow-up inspection
could not reasonably pose a serious or even a
significant risk. They ran their logic past the Tar
Baby, which concurred. It agreed to notify them
at once if the situation were to degenerate, and
to preserve all data.
This whole process had taken perhaps three
seconds, a total of five seconds since the alarm
had gone off. The weeklong work of art was still
salvageable. Sighing happily, they returned to
their erotic choreography, and in under ten
minutes brought it to a conclusion satisfactory in
every sense of the word, the brief hiatus actually
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Robinson, Spider - The Mind 3 - Lifehouse


improving it trivially, both as sensation and as
art. They spent an additional five minutes on
breath recovery and afterglow, and were just
about to get up, less than fifteen minutes after
the Tar Baby's first callтАФwhen suddenly it
called again.
And this time it shrieked.
***
They came that close to being vigilant enough.
Less than fifteen minutes late on a pointless
backup. Less than one minute too late.
Unfortunately, they were not playing
horseshoes.
And so the whole universe very nearly ceased to
ever have existed. . . .




Chapter 1
A Walk In the Park