"Clifford D.Simak. All the traps of Earth" - читать интересную книгу автора

"Even so," the lawyer said, "there are such things as records. There
must be a file on you..."

"The family," explained Richard Daniel, "in the past had many
influential friends. You must understand, sir, that the Barringtons, before
they fell upon hard times, were quite prominent in politics and in many
other matters."

The lawyer grunted knowingly.

"What I can't quite understand," he said, "is why you should object so
bitterly. You'll not be changed entirely. You'll still be Richard Daniel."

"I would lose my memories, would I not?'

"Yes, of course you would. But memories are not too important. And you'd
collect another set."

"My memories are dear to me," Richard Daniel told him.

"They are all I have. After some six hundred years, they are my sole
worthwhile possession. Can you imagine, counselor, what it means to spend
six centuries with one family?"

"Yes, I think I can," agreed the lawyer. "But now, with the family gone,
isn't it just possible the memories may prove painful?"

"They're a comfort. A sustaining comfort. They make me feel important.
They give me perspective and a niche."

"But don't you understand? You'll need no comfort, no importance once
you're reoriented. You'll be brand new. All that you'll retain is a certain
sense of basic identity - that they cannot take away from you even if they
wished. There'll be nothing to regret. There'll be no leftover guilts, no
frustrated aspirations, no old loyalties to hound you."

"I must be myself," Richard Daniel insisted stubbornly. "I've found a
depth of living, a background against which my living has some meaning. I
could not face being anybody else."

"You'd be far better off," the lawyer said wearily. "You'd have a better
body. You'd have better mental tools. You'd be more intelligent."

Richard Daniel got up from the chair. He saw it was no use.

"You'll not inform on me?" he asked.

"Certainly not," the lawyer said. "So far as I'm concerned, you aren't
even here."