"bud sparhawk - the suit" - читать интересную книгу автора (Sparhawk Bud)

Finally, concluding that this wasnтАЩt going to work, and much to the
relief of numerous nervous doormen, I headed for the kiosk to pick up my
ice cream. Maybe that would console me for my loss.

тАЬI ordered chocolate chip,тАЭ I keyed to the machine.

ERROR. YOUR ORDER WAS A PINT OF LOW-FAT CHOCOLATE
CHUNK PISTACHIO, the ice cream kiosk disagreed with all the weigh of
authority vested in it by its software.

I checked my to-do and found that damned milk reminder I had
missed earlier. Where was the ... There, I had it: one order for low-fat
chocolate chunk pistachio, just as the machine claimed. Obviously the
dietary conspiracy had changed my order. It wasnтАЩt the kiosk that screwed
up, it was those damned appliances.

тАЬIтАЩm changing the order. Give me a pint of chocolate-chip,тАЭ I keyed.

YOU HAVE NOT BURNED SUFFICIENT CALORIES, my shoes said
in rhythm to its aerobic background beat. There was a twitter of interchange
from my briefs.

CONFIRMING, the machine acknowledged as a pint clunked into the
delivery chute. HAVE A NICE DAY.

I looked at the container. It was a pint of low-fat chocolate chunk
pistachio. I looked around but there was no one I could complain to. It
seemed that all my software were now part of the conspiracy.
 ****

Slowly I slouched away from the kiosk. Nothing, not a damn thing was
going right today. I couldnтАЩt eat the food I wanted, couldnтАЩt find a freaking
address I needed, and IтАЩd never get to find out why the redhead had run
away from me.

Then the phone rang. тАЬThis is Viola, Jeff. Where are you? Did
something happen?тАЭ It was a reprieve, a breath of fresh air, an awakening
of possibility once again. Life was suddenly good.

тАЬI didnтАЩt get your address,тАЭ I blurted. тАЬMy suitware has a bug thatтАФтАЭ

тАЬNever mind,тАЭ she replied before I could finish. тАЬIтАЩll bring your stuff
over and take a cab. IтАЩm late already.тАЭ

I beat her to my flat by three minutes, threw the pint on the table, and
barely had time to grab the other package when she rang the bell.

She was as breathless as I. She had a makeup case and two
packages under her arms. тАЬI got here as fast as I could,тАЭ she said and
pointed at the larger package in my hands. тАЬIs that my dress?тАЭ I nodded