"Karen Traviss - Nanny Estate" - читать интересную книгу автора (Traviss Karen)

When councils wanted, they could move fast, Barton learned. Within six
months
the planning committee had approved a pilot project estate with the
blessing
of the environmental agencies.
Demolition day was a media event. The green-stuff crept smoothly up the
grim
buildings like rising water, and began reshaping their components. The
time-lapse video footage that went out on the news that day was nothing
short
of breath-taking, and even BartonтАФwho'd seen it many times in trials тАУ
still
felt a sense of wonder.
Up to that point the city had been a pretty ordinary one. But now it was
becoming headline news. Its economy was boosted by the influx of reporters
and
urban management professionals who arrived to watch the growth of the first
thinking, breathing, truly green neighbourhood. Barton revelled in the
interviews and chat shows which followed.
There were protests, of course: from people who had grown up in the area
and
liked the buildings and knew they wouldn't be living in the new upmarket
ones.
But Barton had done enough to convince the decision-makers that it would
solve
far more pressing problems than it might cause.
The estate grew, and it was beautiful, a Gaudi cityscape come to life in
jade,
sinuous as art nouveau. It began to feature on postcards. Barton bought one
and kept it in his wallet.

#


Firm in faith in his creation, Barton moved into one of the homes. He kept
open house so interested parties could be entertained and educated. He was
confident that his girlfriend Lin wouldnтАЩt mind. At least he had more time
to
spend with her now: she had stopped complaining sheтАЩd only recognise him by
the back of his head framed in a halo of VDU light.
 "It's quiet, isn't it?" a guest said.
"The walls don't just regulate temperature, humidity and pollution," he
replied, slipping unconsciously into proselytisation mode. "They buffer
external noise, too."
In the kitchen a large transparent patch grew in the wall where a more
conventional home might have had patio doors. Barton emptied a carton of
juice
into a jug and tossed the box into the corner of the room, where the
flooring
ate it.