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just about ready for us next door. We can go straight on in." He picked up a folder from his desk and
selected a few other papers. "Did you get that house in the end, Mat the one you wanted?"
"The one up near the bridge, right. Got it for eight grand off the asking, too."
"Splendid. Your wife must be very happy about it."
"She's delighted. First thing is a warming party. You'll have to come along."
"I'd love to, Mat. I'll have to see if I can find somebody pretty to bring along."
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"Somehow I can't see you without a woman around, Nigel," Glinberg said as they moved out of the
room.
"Oh, but I don't keep them," Korven answered. "It's better to have new ones frequently. They're so
much more pleasant to be around when they're on their best behavior and trying to make an impression."
He winked reassuringly at Corrigan. "Right, Joe?"
Hamils drew Corrigan aside as they were about to follow the other two out into the corridor. "Let CLC
decide what its policy is," he murmured. "We want these people to feel that we can help them solve their
problems. They won't connect if you make it sound too remote."
Corrigan nodded. "I'll remember."
They went into a room a few doors away, where two more people were waiting at a large central table.
Korven introduced Walter Moleno, fortyish, dark-haired and tanned, with a thin mustache: "Our man in
Southeast Asia, back on one of his rare visits home."
Moleno shook his head. "It's not a place, I keep telling you, Nigel. It's a computer. They don't need VR
out there. They all live in computers already. I come back for the reality experience."
"In New York? My God! A bit like going to Kansas for the views, isn't it?"
The other person was a woman called Amanda Ramussienne: probably in her mid-thirties, with high,
angular features, wavy ginger hair, and alluring, green, feline eyes that caught the light in a way that made
it seem to be coming from inside. Her makeup was generous but professional, and the image completed
by a beige dress and gold jewelry that blended impeccably and had not come from the neighborhood
mall. She spoke animatedly, with lots of expression and gestures, and in some other setting Corrigan
would have guessed her background to be theatrical. Korven introduced her vaguely as an "analyst";
from the preamble after they sat down, Corrigan gathered that her work involved contact with the media.
"I had lunch with that awful creature from Time-Life again yesterday," she told Korven. He smiled a
mixture of amusement at her feigned indignation and despair that she should have known better.
"You mean the fat one who smokes buffalo shit?"
"Ofcourse the one who smokes buffalo shit. He definitely wants me to go to bed with him. He even had
the nerve to say so. . . ." She waved imploringly at the ceiling. "What is so special about this job that I
should put up with this? I mean, when is the harassment thing going to be extended to apply to customers
too?"
"Why not try seeing it not as harassment but as opportunity?" Korven suggested sagely. "Mostmen
would."
"If it were the sexy, good-looking ones who came on, I might," Amanda agreed with a sigh. "But why
does it always have to be exactly the opposite kind?"
"Who are we waiting for?" Hamils cut in. "Victor?"
"He'll be in when he's finished a call he's on," Moleno said, nodding. "We thought half an hour here to get
to know each other. Then we'll collect a couple of others and go for lunch."
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"Have we picked a place?" Korven asked.
"Just downstairs." Moleno looked at the three from CLC. "It's one of those weeks, I'm afraid.
Everyone's flying with both feet off the ground."
Hamils nodded. "What kind of mood is Victor in today?" he asked.
Korven turned his head toward Amanda. "Oh, I don't know. What would you say? Is the beast human
today?"
She nodded. "Yes, I'd say so. He wasn't devouring anyone the last time I saw him."
"We think he's human," Korven told Hamils.
Corrigan looked at Hamils inquiringly. "Victor's okay," Hamils said. "But at times he can be a bit . . ." He
looked diplomatically to the three F & F people before choosing a word. "What would you call it?
Temperamental? . . ."
"Obstinate. Opinionated. Bombastic," Korven supplied, with the candid air of somebody saying what
everyone else knew perfectly well anyway. "But we all love him, just the same."
"Just don't argue with him," Hamils translated. "If he gets something wrong, let it keep and tell us
afterward. We'll straighten it out later." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]