"George Zebrowski - Augie" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zebrowski George)

Jimmy decided to try again. тАЬNow, Augie, you know very well I mean one number two and another number
two. Not the same exact number added to itself. So what does two and two add up to?тАЭ

тАЬWe both know the answer,тАЭ Augie said.

тАЬSo what is it? Why not tell me?тАЭ

тАЬBut we know it,тАЭ Augie said with a giggle.

тАЬSo tell me.тАЭ

тАЬI have told the truth,тАЭ Augie said solemnly. тАЬI said that I know the answer. What more do you want from me?
You're never here to talk to me anyway.тАЭ

Jimmy wondered why Augie wasn't showing himself on the big screen.

тАЬWe'll need an expert,тАЭ Mira said softly, and Jimmy feared the low note in her voice. тАЬThis is beyond us.тАЭ

тАЬJimmy, what is a number anyway?тАЭ Augie asked. тАЬHow can one number two be different from another?тАЭ

It's like you, he wanted to say, an abstraction of physical design that behaves like something alive and
self-aware. We raised him wrong, somehow, he thought, facing what might have to be done.

He looked into Mira's large sad eyes and knew he could not risk saying that Augie should be wiped. She
would have to be led to that conclusion slowly. She was, after all, more important than any AI, and her health
had to come first, whatever he felt about her these days. The good part was that she was still sounding more
independent of Augie.

They were quiet on the sofa for a few moments.

Then Augie asked, тАЬWhy don't you like sex with her anymore, Jimmy?тАЭ

Mira gave him a look of dismay.

тАЬIs it because you need someone new?тАЭ asked Augie.

The large threedee screen went on over the fireplace and revealed a man and a woman in the convulsions of
passion.

тАЬNo!тАЭ Mira shouted as she saw herself.



But the sexual motion was hypnotic, and Jimmy felt that Augie was doing more than editing the shots for
maximum interest.

Suddenly, the naked partners began to change. They were himself and Mira; then some other woman; and
then she with another man; and the man with a different woman. The changes accelerated into a blur that
threatened to explode into some monstrous orgasm of bestial howls and muscular twitchings.