Labyrinth of reflections by Sergei Lukyanenko Page B

offer you interesting work, yes?
    I shake my head, beret slides to the side.
    – Mr Guillermo, – I say respectfully but resolutely, – I'm talking about one certain problem which I want to help "Labyrinth" to solve.
    I see his eyebrows raised in surprise.
    – Recently a strange accident have happened in "Labyrinth"…
    I fall silent and wait for his reaction. Willy is obviously deep in thought.
    – Accident? – he nods towards the window, – We have thousands of accidents here every day. War! Shooting! Cheerfulness!
    Was Man Without Face really mistaken? I start feeling myself like an idiot.
    – Your divers… – I start. – Did they manage their duties yesterday for instance?
    This is the only thing I know: "Labyrinth"'s divers hadn't justified hopes.
    – Ah! – Willy nods, – Ah! Unfortunate!
    I nod just in case.
    – Is it a problem? – Aguirre becomes serious.
    – As far as I know, yes.
    Pause. Guillermo weighs something in his mind.
    – Mr Gunslinger, what do you know?
    It's no use to lie, the man before me is not the one it's worthy to bluff with.
    – Very little. I was informed that there's a problem in "Labyrinth", that your divers failed to solve it. I was asked to render an assistance to you.
    A pause again. I'm anonymous and it's risky to let me into unpleasant sides of the Company's life but Guillermo has a 'good nose' for troubles and methods of overcoming them.
    – You'll sign a single-time contract? – his tone becomes quick and business-like.
    – Yes.
    – Complete nondisclosure of the situation, – he adds, – with all possible penalties.
    – Yes…
    – Please Gunslinger, – he points at his table. I pad closer being sure that it'll be now when I'll sign the cooperation documents but Willy points at the monitor in the middle. – This is 33rd level of "Labyrinth" Mr Gunslinger, 'Disneyland'.
    I look at the level and don't like it at all, at least because when I was there last time it looked completely different.
    – Very-very bad level, – says Willy. – Hard. This is the beginning: 'Russian Hills' { roller coaster }. This is… – he puts his hand on the keyboard and the picture slides a little aside, – a Grabber Demon. Bad!
    Gee, as if good demons ever came out of "Labyrinth" creators' minds…
    – This is him… – one more touching the keys, – Unfortunate.
    Guillermo keeps silent, not for theatrical pause – it's nothing unusual on the screen. He's just thinking.
    – So the problem is this Gunslinger? Yes?

1011
    No ordinary Deeptown inhabitant can exit the deep by himself: he'll just never see the computer, won't be able to enter the exit command or to contact the operating system with voice. It's only in virtual houses with drawn analogs of real computers installed where subconsciousness gives a kind break. One can exit the deep only where it was entered: in his imaginary home which might be a palace or a hut but with a 'real' computer.
    That's why timers exist. They are plugged into all programs, from Microsoft's Windows-Home to Russian 'Virt-Navigator' and 'Deep-Commander'. The longest time for being in the deep is 48 hours, the time during which the human won't die of starvation and water loss. Reasonable users always set their timers for less though: a couple of hours, a day… Maniac who set his timer for 36 hours was already an exception. The waking of somebody who have spent two days in the deep is…. a foul smelling sight.
    Of course it is possible to break and disable the timer. Or to break it and add a couple of zeros to the number '48' but such kamikaze are rarely found and their end is mournful.
    Like Unfortunate's.
    It's impossible to pass "Labyrinth of Death" in a single attempt, one can't just have strength for that. The drowsiness retreats in virtuality but there are the limits of stamina anyway. That's why players get access to the game menu at the end of each level where there's an option to save their coordinates and to exit to the outer deep, to