"FWLS39" - читать интересную книгу автора (A Future We'd Like to See)

This was my last hope. If this didn't work out, maybe I'd
become one of those oracle-monks I've heard about.

Ignoring the cheesy outlook of the booth, I stepped inside
and closed the flash curtain.

Not much happened. The inside still looked like a photo
booth. There was the camera, and the little monitor so you could
see yourself, and the overhead light. None of these things
seemed to be functioning, so I couldn't even take a lousy photo.

Then the light flickered, and clicked on. It made a noise
like a small bug zapper, bzzzzzing the night away.

"Hey there!" a voice from in front of me said cheerily.

"Huh? Who's there?"

"You saw my ad?" the voice asked. The monitor flashed the
news clipping in my hand from various angles.

"Umm, yeah. Look, is this for real?"

"Sure it's for real. Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well, this looks suspiciously like--"

"--a photo booth, yeah, yeah, I know. I can't exactly
modify the externals since I technically don't exist. Don't fret
the surroundings, it's what's inside that counts."

Story of my life, I thought. "So who are you?"

The monitor flashed little 3-D rendered hearts and stars.
"Call me Cupid, pal. Programmed by HappyTech Incorporated to
handle the general populace's dating needs. Plugged into the
general C'atel information network to better serve you. I have a
social projection system more advanced than any known to man and
can work out your childhood traumas and alternate personalities
to ten digits. I write romantic comedies in my spare time and
advice books. Want an autograph? Too bad, I lack arms."

"You're artificially intelligent?"

"Yeah. Don't panic, I'm not going to freak out and try to
enslave humanity. I like it here. I genuinely enjoy my work.
Get paid pretty well too. So, how you want to handle this?"

"What?"