Tea From an Empty Cup by Pat Cadigan Page B

been.
    ‘Help you?’ said a hard-edged male voice. The short, plump man who appeared on the other side of the counter looked as if he were answering a casting call for a play about bank tellers in 1900. The green visor on his forehead cast a shadow that it made it hard to see anything of his eyes except reflected pinpoints of light.
    ‘Where’s the rest of your hat?’ Konstantin asked impulsively.
    ‘This is an eye-shade, not a hat,’ he replied, in that same sharp, almost harsh tone. ‘Its presence connotes items and equipment available to you in AR, some at a surcharge. Do you want to see a list: of items and equipment with their corresponding surcharges? These can also be itemized on the hardcopy printout of your receipt.’
    ‘I don’t know. Is a persona classified as an item or as equipment?’
    ‘Neither. A persona is a persona. Did you have someone in particular in mind or were you planning to construct one in here? Morphing services within AR are available for a surcharge. However, there is no extra charge if you have brought your own morphing utility with you. Except, of course, for any extra time that might be consumed by the morphing process.’
    Konstantin found herself yawning. So far, her big AR adventure was turning out to be even more tiresome than the reality she was used to. ‘Does anybody really do anything in here besides listen to how much everything is costing them?’
    ‘First-time users are advised to take the orientation sequence. Usually in some location easier to navigate than a post-Apocalyptic scenario.’ His harsh voice sounded as bored as she felt.
    ‘I want out,’ she said. ‘Out of the whole thing, I mean. Exit. End it. Good-bye. Stop. Quit. Logging off. Is that enough or do I need a fucking thesaurus utility?’
    Abruptly, she was staring at a blank illuminated screen. Her ’suit was in
Suspend
, she saw, but still active. Words began to crawl up the screen in a steady scroll.
    Your time in your chosen AR location has been halted. Readings indicate a high level of tension and stress in a low-level situation. Generally this occurs when the user is confused or has not taken proper instruction in the use of AR. You may also be experiencing onset of an illness; you should seek the advice and, if necessary, treatment from a qualified health practitioner. It is also possible that you may be too fatigued to cope with an AR experience; if so, it is advisable that you terminate your on-line session and rest. In rare cases, AR has triggered episodes of psychomotor epilepsy or other seizure disorders in those persons who are susceptible or who may have ingested certain kinds of medications or drugs that put them at risk. Please be advised that although AR does not cause seizure disorders, it can cause the onset of symptoms of a pre-existing yet (until now) hidden disease. See your qualified health practitioner for advice and treatment. Do you wish to continue in AR, or do you wish to terminate the program and exit? Please choose one option and one option only.
    She was about to tell it to terminate when she heard what sounded like a telephone ringing.
    The words on the screen vanished and a new message appeared quickly, word by word.
Realtime communication with you is being requested. Do you want to talk to the caller? Please answer yes or no
.
    ‘Who is it?’ she asked automatically.
    Secretarial services are extra
.
    ‘Never mind,’ she groaned. ‘Put them on. I mean,
yes
.’
    There was a click and she heard the familiar cartoony tones of Guilfoyle Pleshette. ‘What are you doing?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ Konstantin admitted.
    ‘Yeah, what I thought. Icons and passwords don’t do you a bit of good if you don’t know what you’re doing. That’s an advanced ’suit I put you in. It doesn’t carry a prefab for you. You got to bring your own.’
    ‘My own what?’ asked Konstantin, stumbling as she tried to keep up.
    ‘Your own
persona
. I thought the way you were talking