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

lawyers lofting-out a downtown high-rise. In the sharp-edged shadows
lurked a sugar ant as big as a cockroach. The huge ant was tugging at
something. A curly bit of wire, maybe. For a crazy, impossible instant the
ant looked as big as a hamster.

Stefan rocked back on his heels. These ants were blowing his mind;
they were dancing on the surface of his brain. He was losing it. It was very
bad for him to be deprived of a computer. He needed some help right
away.

тАЬCall Jayson,тАЭ he told his phone.
 Although Jayson Rubio sometimes worked StefanтАЩs nerves, the two
of them had a true and lasting bond. During each year theyтАЩd spent at
Square Root of Not, theyтАЩd ventured to Burning Man together, displaying
their special-FX wizardry to the festival crowds in the desert.

Both of them had all-devouring hobbies: StefanтАЩs was string theory;
JaysonтАЩs was memorabilia. Since leaving the FX company, Jayson had
started his own little online business, marketing Renaissance-Faire-type
costume gear that he made. Stefan maintained JaysonтАЩs website.

Jayson was old-school, very analog. At Square Root of Not, heтАЩd
been the go-to guy for everything physical: stringing power cables, putting
up drywall, sanding the floors, fixing the plumbing. As a fix-it wizard, Jayson
was a human tornado. He always carried a sheathed multitool on his belt:
knives, pliers, wrench, saw, scissors, cutters, strippers, punchers, pokers,
rippers, pounders, and more. Jayson never lacked for options.

The phone was successfully ringing. Now that Stefan was in a jam, a
jam full of sugar-ants, good old Jayson would pitch in.

тАЬStefan!тАЭ shouted Jayson, answering. тАЬCall me back later.тАЭ

тАЬNo no no, listen to me,тАЭ Stefan babbled. тАЬAnts are eating my
hardware!тАЭ

Someone else was angrily yelling at Jayson in the background.
Jayson had a fetish about holding his cell phone at armтАЩs length, so that the
powerful microwave phone-rays wouldnтАЩt foment a brain tumor. Whenever
you called Jayson Rubio, you werenтАЩt calling an individual, you were calling
an environment.

JaysonтАЩs current environment featured an echoing garage roar of
biker engines and snarling heavy-metal music. тАЬWhat? Not one more
dime!тАЭ Jayson was barking. тАЬYour ad said тАШruns great,тАЩ it didnтАЩt say тАШskips
gears!тАЩ Are you waving that tire-iron at me, you frigginтАЩ grease monkey?
What? Sure, go ahead, call the cops, Lester! I love the L.A. cops!тАЭ

Stefan heard more angry demands, and finally the roaring of a
motorcycle. The engine noise rose to a crescendo, then it smoothed down.