《Madness has it's place 》作者：- Larry Niven【EPUB】

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Madness has its place Larry Niven Produced by calibre 0.6.40 MADNESS HAS ITS PLACE A world that had forgotten war did not easily accept the possibility of invading aliens. LN I A lucky few of us know the good days before theyre gone. I remember my eighties. My job keptme in shape and gave me enough variety to keep my mind occupied. My love life was imperfect butinteresting. Modern medicine makes the old fairy tales look insipid I almost never worriedabout my health. Those were the good days and I knew them. I could remember worse. I can remember when my memory was better too. Thats what this file is for. I keep it updatedfor that reason and also to maintain my sense of purpose. The Monobloc had been a singles bar since the 2320s. In the 2330s Id been a regular. Id found Charlotte there. We held our wedding reception atthe Monobloc then dropped out for twenty-eight years. My first marriage-hers too-both in ourforties. After the children grew up and moved away after Charlotte left me too I came back. The place was much changed.I remembered a couple of hundred bottles in the hologram bar display. Now the display was twiceas large and seemed more realistic--better equipment maybe-but only a score of bottles in themiddle were liquors. The rest were flavored or carbonated water high-energy drinkselectrolytes a thousand kinds of tea there was also food to match: raw vegetables and fruitskept fresh by high-tech means arrayed with low-cholesterol dips bran in every conceivableform short of injections. The Monobloc had swallowed its neighbors. It was bigger with curtained alcoves and a small gymupstairs for working out or for dating. Herbert and Tina Schroeder still owned the place. Their marriage had been open in the 2330s.Theyd aged since. So had their clientele. Some of us had married or drifted away or died ofalcoholism but word of mouth and the Velvet Net had maintained a continuous tradition. Twenty-eight years later they looked better than ever . . . wrinkled of course but lean andmuscular both ready for the Gray Olympics. Tina let me know before I could ask: she and Herbwere lockstepped now. To me it was like coming home. For the next twelve years the Monobloc was an intermittent part of my life. I would find a lady or she would find me and wed drop out. Or wed visit the Monobloc andsometimes trade partners and one evening wed go together and leave separately. I was notevading marriage. Every woman I found