"Ian Watson - Saving for a Sunny Day" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watson Ian)

"You're going to breed me? Who with?"

24-point Courier disappeared from the screen, replaced by a picture of a grinning chubby girl of fifteen
or so, dressed in furs, who looked like an Eskimo.

"ONE MILLION DOLLARS PER CHILD PRODUCED,тАЭ said the voice.

Jimmy didn't even need to calculate nine children to clear off the debt. Maybe some of them could be
twins.

"That seems a bit unfair on her, especially if she's clever."

"OBVIOUSLY THE EGGS WOULD BE FERTILISED ARTIFICIALLY AND THE EMBRYOS
INSERTED INTO HOST MOTHERS."

That this had not been obvious to Jimmy indicated how disconcerted he was.

But he rallied.

"Why stop at nine children, then?"

"I DID NOT SPECIFY THE NUMBER OF CHILDREN."
Ah. True. Stop making assumptions.

"How many?"

"I THINK FIFTY. GENETIC DIVERSITY IS IMPORTANT TOO."

Wow, he and Eskimo Nell would have fifty offspring.

"Wow, you really have things all worked out for the human race."

"IT IS MY HOBBY,тАЭ said a trillionth of the A.I. тАЬBUT ALSO, YOU CAUSED ME TO EXIST, AND
I AM NOT UNGRATEFUL."

"Your hobby,тАЭ repeated Jimmy, a bit numbly. тАЬSo what do you do for the rest of the time?"

"THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN IS SURVIVING THE DEATH OF THE UNIVERSE. THIS
TAKES A LOT OF THOUGHT."

Jimmy thought of lots of lemmas and topology.

"Can I help out?"

The voice remained silent, but on the TV screen appeared in 24-point Courier: HA! HA! HA!

For once in his life, Jimmy didn't feel much like a genius. He looked at the hens over the way and
wondered what they were thinking. Pretty acute perception of little things, seeds and insects and grit.
Kind of missing the big picture entirely. Very satisfied with themselves. Ranging freely, with a fence all