"Vernor Vinge - Fast Times at Fairmont High" - читать интересную книгу автора (Vinge Vernor)

тАЬThat's the strange part. She guessed that you were still
hanging around. She said, in particular, if I show you the
message or let you participate, she'll find out and she'll drop
the exam, even if it means getting an F.тАЭ And in fact, that
was the entire content of the message. It had a kind of
nonnegotiable flavor that Juan envied.
They walked in silence the rest of the way to Juan's
bicycle. Bertie's face was drawn down disapprovingly. Not a
good sign. Juan hopped on his bike and pedaled off on New
Pala, up over the ridge, and onto the long downslope toward
home. Bertie's image conjured up a flying carpet, clambered
aboard and ghosted along beside him. It was nicely done, the
shadow following perfectly along over the gravel of the road
shoulder. Of course, Bertie's faerie overlay blocked a good bit
of Juan's visual field, including the most natural line of sight
to see real traffic. Why couldn't he float along on Juan's other
shoulder, or just be a voice? Juan shifted the image toward
transparency and hoped Bertie would not guess at the
change.
тАЬC'mon, Bertie. I did what you asked. Let's talk about the
unlimited exam. I'm sure I can be a help with that.тАЭ If you'll
just let me on the team.
Bertie was silent a second longer, considering. Then he
nodded and gave an easy laugh. тАЬSure, Juan. We can use you
on the unlimited team. You'll be a big help.тАЭ
Suddenly the afternoon was a happy place.
They coasted down the steepening roadway. The wind that
blew through Juan's hair and over his arms was something
that was impossible to do artificially, at least without gaming
19
 Fast Times at Fairmont High
by Vernor Vinge


stripes. The whole of the valley was spread out before him
now, hazy in the bright sun. It was almost two miles to the
next rise, the run up to Fallbrook. And he was on Bertie's
unlimited team. тАЬSo what's our unlimited project going to be,
Bertie?тАЭ
тАЬHeh. How do you like my flying carpet, Juan?тАЭ He flew a
lazy loop around Juan. тАЬWhat really makes it possible?тАЭ
Juan squinted at him. тАЬMy contact lenses? Smart clothes?тАЭ
Certainly the lense displays would be useless without a
wearable computer to do the graphics.
тАЬThat's just the final output device. But how does my
imaging get to you almost wherever you are?тАЭ He looked
expectantly at Juan.
C'mon, Bertie! But aloud, Juan said: тАЬOkay, that's the
worldwide network.тАЭ
тАЬYeah, you're essentially right, though the long-haul