"Kristine Kathryn Rusch - Millennium Babies" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

breath."
"I don't really believe that our entire personalities are formed at birth," she said. "Or that our destinies are written
before we're conceived."
"None of us do," he said. "If we did, we wouldn't have a reason to get out of bed in the morning. But we do
acknowledge that we're all given traits and talents that are different from each other. Some of us have blue eyes. Some
of us can hit golf balls with a power and accuracy that others only dream of. Some of us have perfect pitch, right?"
"Of course," she snapped.
"So it only stands to reason that some of us are born with more happiness than others, and some are born with
more drive than others. If you consider those intangibles to be as real as, say, musical talent."
His argument had a certain logic, but she didn't want to agree with him on anything. She wanted him out of her
office.
"But," he said. "Those with the most musical talent aren't always the ones on stage at Carnegie Hall. There are other
factors, environmental factors. A child who grows up without hearing music might never know how to make music,
right?"
"I don't know," she said.
"Likewise," he said, "if that musically inclined child had parents to whom music was important, the child might hear
music all the time. From the moment that child is born, that child is familiar with music and has an edge on the child
who hasn't heard a note."
She started tapping her fingers.
He glanced at them and leaned forward. "As I said in my message, this study focuses on success and failure. To my
knowledge, there has never before been a group of children conceived nationwide with the same specific goal in
mind."
Her mouth was dry. Her fingers had stopped moving.
"You Millennium Babies share several traits in common. Your parents conceived you at the same time. Your parents
had similar goals and desires for you. You came out of the womb and instantly you were branded a success or a
failure, at least for this one goal."
"So," she said, keeping her voice cold. "Are you going to deal with all those children who were abandoned by their
parents when they discovered they didn't win?"
"Yes," he said.
The quiet sureness of his response startled her. He spread his hands as if in explanation. "Their parents gave up on
them," he said. "Right from the start. Those babies are perhaps the purest subjects of the study. They were clearly
conceived only with the race in mind."
"And you want me because I'm the most spectacular failure of the group." Her voice was cold, even though she had
to clasp her hands together to keep them from trembling.
"I don't consider you a failure, Professor Cross," he said. "You're well respected in your profession. You're on a
tenure track at a prestigious university--"
"I meant as a Millennium Baby. I'm the public failure. When people think of baby contests, the winners never come
to mind. I do."
He sighed. "That's part of it. Part of it is your mother's attitude. In some ways, she's the most obsessed parent, at
least that we can point to."
Brooke winced.
"I'd like to have you in this study," he said. "The winners will be. It would be nice to have you represented as well."
"So that you can get rich off this book, and I'll be disgraced yet again," she said.
"Maybe," he said. "Or maybe you'll get validated."
Her shoulders were so tight that it hurt to move her head. "'Validated.' Such a nice psychiatrist's word. Making me
feel better will salve your conscience while you get rich."
"You seem obsessed with money," he said.
"Shouldn't I be?" she asked. "With my mother?"
He stared at her for a long moment.
Finally, she shook her head. "It's not the money. I just don't want to be exploited any more. For any reason."