"Rudy Rucker & Bruce Sterling - Hormiga Canyon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rucker Rudy)

Jayson was staring at StefanтАЩs cracked leather armchair. тАЬYou gonna
finish that sandwich? Is that baloney organic?тАЭ

тАЬItтАЩs salami,тАЭ said Stefan. тАЬIтАЩll get you a bottle of beer.тАЭ

Jayson wolfed down the ant-teeming sandwich in three bites. тАЬTastes
like dill pickles.тАЭ

тАЬThat would be the formic acid.тАЭ

Jayson chugged the whole bottle of Mexican beer and fetched
himself another. He then focused his professional attention on the four little
glass phials heтАЩd brought, deftly unlimbering his multitool and twisting off
the screw-tops. Jayson loved using his pliers.

тАЬEucalyptus, peppermint, cinnamon, and verbena,тАЭ intoned Jayson.
He dribbled reeking herbal essences on the floor around the television.
тАЬOrganic, non-toxic, all-natural, ants hate it. This potion never fails.тАЭ

The ants tasted of the dropletsтАФand found them good. The trails on
the floor thickened as ants seethed out of the TV, so many ants that the
trails looked like glittering syrup.

Not wanting to admit defeat, Jayson began stomping the ants. тАЬMy
essences drew тАШem out of hiding. This way we can wipe them out!тАЭ One of
the old pine floorboards gave a loud crack and split along its length.

тАЬJayson!тАЭ
 тАЬDog, you got so many ants that they gotta be living under your house.
You got some serious Los Angeles ants here, man, you got atomic mutant
ants like those giant ants in Them. We rip up these crappy old floorboards,
napalm those little suckers with flaming moth-balls, then float in some
plywood and throw down a cheap carpet. Presto, problem solved.тАЭ

тАЬSave the pyro stunts for Burning Man, Jayson. YouтАЩre not wrecking
my vintage floor.тАЭ

Jayson knelt and peered through the broken board, getting the
antтАЩs-eye view. тАЬThatтАЩs a great movie, Them, itтАЩs got those classic
rubber-model bug effects. None of your digital crap.тАЭ

тАЬDigital is not crap,тАЭ said Stefan with dignity. тАЬDigital is everything. The
world is made of ten-dimensional loops of digital cosmic string.тАЭ

тАЬSure, sure, but BugтАЩs Life and Antz were totally lame compared to
Them.тАЭ

тАЬThatтАЩs because they didnтАЩt use giant ants,тАЭ said Stefan. тАЬCertain
intellectual lightweights have this wimpy notion that giant ants are physically
impossible! Merely because the weight-to-strength ratio scales nonlinearly.