"John E. Stith - All for Naught" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stith John E)

thanks to the smooth walls all reflecting the sound so well.
The elevator hesitated. "What?"
The man spoke louder. "Five."
"What?" asked the elevator, using exactly the same
intonation it had used the first time.
Nick grimaced. He tapped the man on the arm, about to say
something, but the man ignored him.
"Five!" the man shouted.
Nick winced.
"What?"
Nick sighed and put a hand over his eyes. The high volume
made his head hurt.
The man screamed, "Five!"
"What?"
The man's face colored. He sucked a full load of air into
his chest and moved toward the microphone grill.
Nick whispered quickly, "Five." Experience had told him the
elevator's voice-sensitivity setting was out of whack.
"Thank you!" said the elevator.
The man, still with lungs bloated with air, looked at Nick,
amazed, as the elevator doors finally closed. The two men
dropped in silence four more floors, and the elevator admitted a
woman wearing a green business suit. In one hand, she held a
book-viewer that seemed to absorb most of her attention.
"Good morning!" said the elevator.
Apparently absorbed in her reading, the woman ignored it.
The elevator doors stayed open.
The elevator said, "I said good morning."
The woman suddenly looked up from her display, and her eyes
opened wide in surprise. "Morning."
 "What floor please?" the elevator asked, sounding much
happier.
"Six."
The burly guy looked like he was hoping the elevator would
give her a hard time, too, but the elevator merely said, "Thank
you!"
The man looked disappointed as the elevator doors closed and
the elevator started to drop.
It stopped at the sixth floor and the woman got off.
"Have a nice day!" said the elevator.
The elevator dropped to the fifth floor, where the burly guy
scowled at the speaker grill and got off.
The elevator repeated its refrain. "Have a nice day!" As
the doors began to close, the elevator voice added, more softly,
"Dipstick."
The burly guy hesitated, still facing away from the
elevator, probably trying to decide if his ears were playing
tricks on him, or if Nick had said it. Before the guy could turn
around, the elevator doors closed very quickly.