"FWLS21" - читать интересную книгу автора (A Future We'd Like to See)

A Future We'd Like To See 1.21 - Death Before Yielding
By Twoflower (Copyright 1993)

And on the third day, Ytt'iok made the land rover. And it
was Good.

That's what my bumper sticker says. Alright, so land rovers
aren't mentioned ANYWHERE in the Scrolls of Ytt'iok. Even so,
Yttian Motors has elevated the production of rovers to a divine
level.

Every casing is fitted perfectly. Ritual layers of paint
are added, creating the perfect blend of colour. The engine
rumbles and roars like the breath of a mighty beast, as the
muffler spews fourth the fumes of hell and ozone depletion. This
was the definition of the word ROVER.

Cost me quite a bit of money, but it was worth it; I got the
most dependable, sturdy, and above all FAST car out there. I
performed weekly rituals to keep it clean and moving along at the
right speed. Once a month, it was treated to an oil change and
new chunk of sucrose-like material to feed upon.

I treated it better than I treat my own children. All it
had to do was get me from point A to point B.

This is no easy task on Yttia. We've got about 500 major
cities, with vast networks of highways, superhighways,
underground tunnels, bridges, overpasses, underpasses, rotaries,
and even some self-morphing roads which add lanes to ease the
flow. None of it works.

If you'd like an accurate vision of the Yttian transit
system, cook up fifty four pounds of spaghetti as one incredibly
long, twisted, tangled strand, and put seventy five thousand ants
on it, each crawling over each other and pushing each other out
of the way to get nowhere quickly. All I can do to stay sane in
this mess is to keep a well-maintained rover.

Fortunately I work in my home city, so my commute is just
down a few normal blocks and intersections to the office.
However, since I am a field researcher for D-FENS technologies
(some Terran pun... sure, you're reading this in flawless
english, but it's all Yttian to me) I have to travel across-
planet occasionally.

I had my wife pack up a large lunch and a few rations, with
water supplements, to put in the back seat. I brought a few
changes of clothing, and some money, as well as a blaster for any
would-be roverjackers. I kissed my wife 'n kids goodbye, and