英文短篇故事（紐約）397 Shopping with Avatars

Brad walked into Walbrowns. He swiped his rewards card. He said, "Avatar, appear." His avatar appeared. Brad said, "Unscented deodorant, all brands." He followed the avatar down the escalator. The avatar hovered at the deodorant section. It shined a bright light on the shelf containing unscented deodorant. Brad selected a container. He opened the top. He sniffed the contents. He couldn't detect any scent. This'll do, he thought. He said, "Avatar, disappear." The avatar disappeared. Thank goodness for avatars, Brad thought. Most stores had avatars now. An avatar could find anything instantly. All a shopper had to do was follow his avatar to each item. Shopping was now a little more pleasure, a little less torture. Progress had finally arrived for befuddled shoppers. Brad took the escalator back upstairs. He groaned at what he saw. A dozen people were standing in line. There were six registers. There were two clerks.