"Rudy Rucker and Bruce Sterling - Junk DNA" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rucker Rudy)

"Your Pumpti is very eager," said Veruschka, reaching for it. "Now, into the freezer! We will store it,
to show our financial backers."
"What?!" said Janna. She felt a sliver of ice in her heart. "Freeze my Pumpti? Freeze your own Pumpti,
Vero."
"I need mine," snapped Veruschka.
To part from her Pumpti -- something within her passionately rebelled. In a dizzying moment of raw
devotion Janna suddenly found herself sinking her teeth into the unresisting flesh of the Pumpti. Crisp,
tasty, spun cotton candy, deep-fried puffball dough, a sugared beignet. And under that a salty, slightly
painful flavor -- bringing back the memory of being a kid and sucking the root of a lost tooth.
"Now you understand," said Veruschka with a throaty laugh. "I was only testing you! You can keep
your sweet Pumpti, safe and sound. We'll get some dirty street bum to make us a Pumpti for commercial
samples. Like that stupid boy you were talking to before." Veruschka stood on tiptoe to peer out of the
bank's bronze-mullioned window. "He'll be back. Men always come back when they see you making
money."
Janna considered this wise assessment. Kelso was coming on pretty strong, considering that he'd
never talked to her at school. "His name is Kelso," said Janna. "I went to Berkeley with him. He says he's
always wanted me."
"Get some of his body fluid."
"I'm not ready for that," said Janna. "Let's just poke around in the sink for his traces." And, indeed,
they quickly found a fresh hair to seed a Kelso Pumpti, nasty and testicular, suitable for freezing.
As Veruschka had predicted, Kelso himself returned before long. He made it his business to volunteer
his aid and legal counsel. He even claimed that he'd broached the subject of Magic Pumpkin to Tug
Mesoglea himself. However, the mysterious mogul failed to show up with his checkbook, so Magic
Pumpkin took the path of viral marketing.
Veruschka had tracked down an offshore Chinese ooze farm to supply cheap culture medium. In a
week, they had a few dozen Pumpti starter kits for sale. They came in a little plastic tub of
pumptose-laced nutrient, all boxed up in a flashy little design that Janna had printed out in color.
Kelso had the kind of slit-eyed street smarts that came only from Berkeley law classes. He chose
Fisherman's Wharf to hawk the product. Janna went along to supervise his retail effort.
It was the start of October now, a perfect fog-free day for the commercial birth of Magic Pumpkin. A
visionary song of joy seemed to rise from the sparkling waters of San Francisco Bay, echoing from the
sapphire dome of the California sky. Even the tourists could sense the sweetness of the occasion. They
hustled cheerfully round Kelso's fold-out table, clicking away with little biochip cameras.
Kelso spun a practiced line of patter while Janna publicly adored her Pumpti. She'd decked Pumpti
out in a special sailor suit, and she kept tossing him high into the air and laughing.
"Why is this woman so happy?" barked Kelso. "She's got a Pumpti. Better than a baby, better than a
pet, your Pumpti is all you! Starter kits on special today for the unbelievably low price of--"
Over the course of a long morning, Kelso kept cutting the offering price of the Pumpti kits. Finally a
runny-nosed little girl from Olympia, Washington, took the bait.
"How do I make one?" she wanted to know. "What choo got in that kit?" And, praise the Holy
Molecule, her parents didn't drag her away, they just stood there watching their little darling shop.
The First Sale. For Janna, it was a moment to treasure forever. The little girl with her fine brown hair
blowing in the warm afternoon wind, the dazedly smiling parents, Kelso's abrupt excited gestures as he
explained how to seed and grow the Pumpti by planting a kiss on a scrap of Kleenex and dropping it into
the kit's plastic jar. The feel of those worn dollar bills in her hand, and the parting wave of little Customer
Number One. Ah, the romance of it!
Now that they'd found their price point, more sales followed. Soon, thanks to word of mouth, they
began moving units from their website.
Janna's dad, who had a legalistic turn of mind, had warned them to hold off any postal or
private-carrier shipments until they had federal approval. Ruben took a sample Pumpti before the San