（外文电子版资料）Terry Bisson - An Office Romance.pdf

Originallypublished in Playboy, February 1997. AN OFFICE ROMANCE by Terry Bisson The first time Ken678 saw Mary97, he was in Municipal Real Estate, queuedfor a pickup for Closings. She stood two spaces in front of him: blue skirt,orange tie, slightly convex white blouse, like every other female icon. Hedidnt know she was a Mary; he couldnt see which face she had. But she heldher Folder in both hands, as old-timers often did, and when the queuescrolled forward he saw her fingernails. They were red. Then the queue flickered and scrolled again, and she was gone. Ken wasintrigued but he promptly forgot about it. It was a busy time of year, and hewas running like crazy from Call to Task. Later that week he saw her again,paused at an open Window in the Corridor between Copy and Send. He slowed ashe passed her, by turning his Folder sideways--a trick he had learned. Therewere those red fingernails again. It was curious. Fingernails were not on the Option Menu. Red was not on the Color Menu, either. Ken used the weekend to visit his Mother at the Home. It was her birthdayor anniversary or something like that. Ken hated weekends. He had grown usedto his Ken face and he felt uncomfortable without it. He hated his old name,which his Mother insisted on calling him. He hated how grim and terrifyingthings were outside. To avoid panic he closed his eyes and hummed--out here,he could do both--trying to simulate the peaceful hum of the Office. But there is no substitute for the real thing, and Ken didnt relax untilthe week restarted, and he was back inside. He loved the soft electron buzz ofthe search engines, the busy streaming icons, the dull butter shine of theCorridors, the shimmering Windows with their relaxing scenes of theexvironment. He loved his life and he loved his work. That was the week he met Mary; or rather, she met him. Ken678 had just retrieved a Folder of documents from Search and was takingthem to Print. He could see by the blur of