"David Marusek - Getting to Know You" - читать интересную книгу автора (Marusek David)

“Sub40?” she said.

Passengers consulted the cornice display and groaned. The jerry
said, “At this rate it’ll take me an hour to get home.”

“Again I apologize,” said Zoranna, “but all the down lifts were spango.
However, if everyone here consensed to drop me off first—?”

There was a general muttering as passengers spoke to their belts or
tapped virtual keyboards, and the elevator said, “Consensus has been
modified.” But instead of de-scending as Zoranna expected, it stopped at
the next floor and opened its doors. People streamed out. Zoranna caught
a glimpse of 223rd floor with its rich appoint-ments; crystalline decor; high,
arched passages; and in the distance, a ringpath crowded with joggers and
skaters. An evangeline, her brown puddle-like eyes reflecting warmth and
concern, touched Zoranna’s arm as she disembarked.

The jerry, however, stayed on and held back his com-panions, two
russes. “Don’t give her the satisfaction,” he said.

“But we’ll miss the game,” said one of the russes.

“We’ll watch it in here if we have to,” said the jerry.

Zoranna liked russes. Unlike jerries, they were gener-ous souls, and
you always knew where you stood with them. These two wore brown jackets
and teal slacks. Their name badges read “FRED,” and “OSCAR.” They
were probably returning from a day spent bodyguarding some minor
potentate in Cincinnati or Terre Haute. Consulting each other with a glance,
they each took an arm and dragged the jerry off the lift.

When the doors closed and Zoranna was alone at last, she sagged
with relief. “And now, Bug,” she said, “we have a consensus of one. So
retract my handicap file and pay whatever toll necessary to take us down
nonstop.” The brake released, and the elevator plunged some 260 floors.
Her ears popped. “I guess you’ve learned some-thing, Bug,” she said,
thinking about the types of eleva-tors.

“Affirmative,” Bug said. “Bug learned you developed a cerebral
aneurysm at the calendar age of fifty-two and that you’ve had your brain and
spinal cord rejuvenated twice since then. Bug learned that your organs have
an average bioage of thirty-five years, with your lymphatic system the oldest
at bioage sixty-five, and your cardio-vascular system the youngest at
twenty-five.”

“You’ve been examining my medical records?”

“Affirmative.”

“I told you to fetch one file, not my entire chart!”