"FWLS44" - читать интересную книгу автора (A Future We'd Like to See)

"Yeah, whatever. I'll change it. Now get the fudge out of
my sight."

Bernard left. I really wanted to curse him, but couldn't.
The public wouldn't like it, so filters were installed.

"Son of a brick!" I screamed to nobody in particular. "You
freaky piece of stuff! Get back here, you peppy little
dumbstick!"

You want to know what hell is? Well, now you've seen it.

*

Lunchtime is the only break I get from working on Protege's
games. (Not my games. They own them, and for all I care, they
can HAVE them.) I typically jack out for my allotted ten minute
daily jack-out time, go take a piss, eat another pastry and get
back in.

The rest of the lunchbreak is mine for recreation. I have
many fine selections of entertainments available. The arcade,
where eight year olds gather to beat the snot out of each other
at video games; without any blood loss, sounds of pain, or actual
physical contact. The chat room, where eight year olds brag
about how well they can beat the snot out of each other. The
tearoom, where confused businessmen and senior citizens stumble
about, trying to understand the AutoDispenser. Let's also not
forget the mall, the main hub you had to walk through to get
anywhere.

The mall takes up 80% of Protege. Virtual reality stores
are the worst... ads can literally jump in your face and start
singing praise of Product X. Some can actually force you into a
store; eventually you learn which shops to keep ten feet away
from at all times. I almost went bankrupt on my first week here,
unable to resist the buying impulse... I ran a trace program on
the stores, trying to figure out what on earth had urged me to
get a garden weasel. My bosses found the program and fried it,
but I discovered two important things.

One, a subliminal impulse to BUY, embedded in half the ads
here.

Two, a packrat program to obtain financial information
directly from your brain. (Guess they don't want to waste the
adverts on anybody who can't afford the product.)

I sighed, passing a clothing store. (Clothes? In VR? Hah!