"Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Chimera" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

He whipped his head toward her, that same sudden movement he had shown at
Anna's house when Gen had said she was interested in him. His eyes seemed
wider than they had before. If a cat could show surprise, he had.

"You injured your paws," she said. "I'd like to clean them."

As if in answer, he sat down and began licking his front paws himself. She
watched the choreographed movement. His pads were bloody and the top part of
the paws was missing some fur. The white was streaked brown with drying
blood.

"Well," she said, "make yourself comfortable. I'll put out some food and water
for you."

She felt a bit odd talking to a cat, but she reminded herself that he wasn't
ordinary. He seemed to understand her. He paused as she spoke that last, and
then continued licking as if her words meant nothing to him.

His licking was noisy and ostentatious. She stood slowly, gathering the dirty
paper towels and sticking the roll under her arm, and went back to the
kitchen. She found a dish, poured some cat food in it, and put out a bowl of
water. Then she stacked her dirty dishes and put them in the washer.

Her entire body was shaking. She stopped after a few moments and gripped the
edge of the sink. The work wasn't physically demanding, but it was so
familiar, so domestic, that it hurt.

People used to go through this all the time. The loss of a loved one, sudden
stark tragedy invading lives. When she had been a little girl, her grandfather
had died of old age. She still remembered his soft, wrinkled skin, the age
marks mottling his hands, his silver hair which had been so very thin that his
scalp had been visible through it.

Except for the handful of Naturals—those who refused to change their looks
despite the demands of fashion—no one allowed themselves to deteriorate any
more. If a body part decayed, from the heart to the skin, it was repaired or
replaced, most of the time without surgery. Exercise programs had become
mandated by the government which, thanks to insurance lobbies, had been
unwilling to pay for problems caused by inactivity. Serious illness still
happened—although most could be controlled—and people still had an occasional
cold, or a flu, or an injury caused by too much exercise. Those things were
expected. Death was not.

She made herself take a deep breath, then splashed water onto her face. Dr.
Prichard's voice went through her head. Death is still expected, Gen. We're
just not as used to it. No one knew the upper limits of the rejuvenated human
body. Barring some irreparable setback (which often happened to the elderly
who had been around long before the medical innovations became common), people
were still jogging at a hundred and ten. A large section of the population was