"Weiner-PurplePill" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weiner Andrew)

prefer to wallow in this absurd mire of your own creation. Why, Cogan? Why?"

"Because it's my life," he said. "That's why."

He leaned forward to press the button that would release the hatch.

"Cogan?" It was another voice, this one female. "What are you doing Cogan?"

He turned to see Harper, coming down the corridor toward him.

"You'll kill yourself," she said. "You'll kill me. Don't do it, Cogan."

He paused, frozen, his finger on the button.

Harper was reaching out her hand toward him. "Come back to our quarters," she
said. "We still have some time before our next watch."

He stared at her finely etched features, her glorious tattoos. He took a step
toward her. As he moved, his hand brushed against the pocket of his jacket, and
he felt the outline of the pill container inside.

Take one if you feel another episode coming on. That was what Dr. Graves had
told him. Why hadn't he done so?

"Cogan," Harper was saying. "I've missed you, Cogan."

She was still holding out her hand. He reached out to take it, then pulled his
hand back. He fumbled in his pocket for the pill container. His hands were
shaking so badly that when he opened it, he spilled the contents on the floor.
He got down on his hands and knees and picked up a pill.

"What are you doing?" Harper asked.

"He's acting out of his delusion," the voice of the computer explained. "I
believe he thinks he's taking some kind of medication."

Conway popped a pill in his dry mouth and tried to swallow it. He gagged
momentarily. Then the pill went down.

He stood up and faced Harper.

"I've taken an anti-psychotic drug" he said. "In a minute or two, all this will
fade away. You, too, Harper. I'm sorry."

He wondered why he was apologizing.

"Cogan," she said. But her voice was fainter now, it came to him as if from a
great distance. And her tattoos were fading, too. He realized that he was
staring at a Filipino woman, one of the building's night maintenance staff. She
was staring back at him in some concern.