"FWLS44" - читать интересную книгу автора (A Future We'd Like to See)

ANYBODY can change their appearance, so why bother?) The new
display was a t-shirt with a hologram of the 'net on it. I
hadn't seen the actual net in a long time. No doors in Protege
are marked EXIT. You can jack in, you can jack out, but you
can't leave.

So, it was off to the tearoom. I grabbed my usual (grape
soda) and had a seat.

"Hey there," some eight year old said. Typical kid... black
t-shirt, styled blond hair, sneakers. "Hiya. My name's Max.
Wanna go play Fighter Jock?"

"No," I said, meaning it.

"Come on! I wanna show you my save games back at my
account's home directory. You made the game, right? You're
Benson!"

"Don't scream it out, kid. I'd rather not be mobbed by my
fans right now."

"Come on, we've gotta play!" Max said, grabbing my wrist
with surprising force. The scene shifted, and we were in a
grubby basement.

"What the frack?" I almost cursed. "How'd you do that?
GoTo programs are illegal on Protege."

"Bite me," Max offered helpfully. "Hey, Harden! I got
him!"

A figure stepped out of the shadows.

"Benson," he nodded, fedora type hat bobbing with his head.
"Harden. My companion here's called Max. We're extremely
pleased to meet you."

"You two punks are hackers, right?" I guessed, ignoring the
hand Harden had held out to shake. I didn't like the looks of
him; trenchcoats just scream 'TROUBLE'. "If you're here to
complain about the games, fact off. I've heard enough flak from
the few real net.runners here."

"They suck," Harden said. "Your talents are wasted here,
Benson. You need to rejoin the net."

"Or what's left of it," I laughed. "Have you looked
outside? I've seen the news reports. There's nothing left. The
Net.Cops got all the hackers, all the crooks. The only remaining