"Тед Чан. Seventy-Two Letters (72 буквы, Рассказ) (англ.)" - читать интересную книгу автора

comparatively straightforward euonym. To make the odds less unfavorable,
Ashbourne and Stratton would need to recruit others to their cause; with
such assistance, it might even be possible to subtly impede the research
of others.
"Who in the group do you think shares our political views?" asked
Ashbourne.
"I feel confident that Milburn does. IТm not so certain about any of
the others."
"Take no chances. We must employ even more caution when approaching
prospective members than Lord Fieldhurst did when establishing this group
originally."
"Agreed," said Stratton. Then he shook his head in disbelief. "Here we
are forming a secret organization nested within a secret organization. If
only foetuses were so easily induced."


* * *


It was the evening of the following, the sun was setting, and Stratton
was strolling across Westminster Bridge as the last remaining
costermongers were wheeling their barrows of fruit away.
He had just had supper at a club he favored, and was walking back to
Coade Manufactory. The previous evening at Darrington Hall had disquieted
him, and he had returned to London earlier today to minimize his
interaction with Lord Fieldhurst until he was certain his face would not
betray his true feelings.
He thought back to the conversation where he and Ashbourne had first
entertained the conjecture of factoring out an epithet for creating two
levels of order. At the time he had made some efforts to find such an
epithet, but they were casual attempts given the superfluous nature of the
goal, and they hadnТt borne fruit. Now their gauge of achievement had been
revised upward: their previous goal was inadequate, two generations seemed
the minimum acceptable, and any additional ones would be invaluable.
He again pondered the thermodynamic behavior induced by his dexterous
names: order at the thermal level animated the automata, allowing them to
create order at the visible level. Order begetting order. Ashbourne had
suggested that the next level of order might be automata working together
in a coordinated fashion. Was that possible? They would have to
communicate in order to work together effectively, but automata were
intrinsically mute. What other means were there by which automata could
exchange in complex behavior?
He suddenly realized he had reached Coade Manufactory. By now it was
dark, but he knew the way to his office well enough. Stratton unlocked the
buildingТs front door and proceeded through the gallery and past the
business offices.
As he reached the hallway fronting the nomenclatorsТ offices, he saw
light emanating from the frosted glass window of his office door.
Surely he hadnТt left the gas on? He unlocked his door to enter, and
was shocked by what he saw.