Free Asimov's Science Fiction: February 2014 by Penny Publications

AftrLyf 's world," she said, "but it's built to work with our own minds. Look, what did you do, you know, before you died?"
    "I had tea."
    "I mean for a living."
    "Oh," Oxford said. "I was in insurance."
    "Oh."
    Oxford frowned. Something in the way her voice fell made it seem as if she thought that was a
bad
thing. It's not like he'd been an
attorney
or something. "Why?" he said. "What's wrong with insurance?"
    "Nothing! It's just—" She paused a moment, looking uncomfortable."The computer works with your imagination."
    Oxford looked at her a while, trying to decide if waitresses should tie with shrinks on his "annoying people" list, before sliding out of the booth.
    "You're leaving?" Lily said.
    "I imagine so."
    "I didn't mean to be insulting."
    "And yet..."
    "It's just that you're not very good at being dead."
    Oxford folded his arms across his chest and glared at her. "I don't mean to be insulting, either," he said, "but why should I take advice from a waitress?"
    She laughed, sliding out of the booth. By the time she was standing, her hair was in a tight bun and her uniform had become a white lab coat. She adjusted the dainty, gold-rimmed glasses she was suddenly wearing. "How about from an organic chemist? That's what I used to do. Of course, I was far too shy to give advice to strangers, then, but if it makes you feel better..."
    An uncomfortable feeling roiled in Oxford's stomach. He didn't like being wrong, and he hated apologizing, but he had to admit he might have misjudged this whole Lily situation. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't realize."
    "That," Lily said, suddenly becoming Lily-the-waitress again, "is my point."
    "Do you mind my asking what you did?"
    "I just told you."
    "I mean to warrant this," Oxford said. "The waitress thing. It's punishment, right?"
    Oxford was back to wandering the streets of the Yellow Zone, still not understanding why Lily had thrown him out of the restaurant. Death had unbalanced her, clearly. He was surprised AftrLyf didn't have some kind of screening process to keep the crazies out. So far, he was unimpressed with the whole experience. If he could just find Emily, everything would be fine.
    He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, watching the other pedestrians. Several of them had their PALs out, pointing them this way and that and waving their free hands above them.
    It was worth a try. Oxford pulled the thing out of his pocket and held it up uncertainly. "Hello, PAL," he said.
    An athletic young man in tennis whites stopped. He had his PAL in one hand and a racquet under his other arm. When he looked at Oxford, his smile fell. "Oh, hey," he said. "I'm flattered and all, but—"
    Oxford's PAL display lit up with a page from something called the Dead See Scroll. It identified Mr. Tennis Pro as Randy Fleet. The man's whole pre-death biography was listed, as well as his current address, his hobbies, and his favorite books and music. It also noted that he was gay and "actively seeking companionship."
    "Oh, wait," Oxford said. "I didn't—I mean, I'm not—"
    "If you want to meet people, though," Fleet held his PAL a little higher, "you should turn off the privacy. All it shows is your name."
    Oxford looked at the device in his own hand. "You mean everyone's in here?"
    "Oh," Fleet said. "You're new. That explains the..." He pointed vaguely at Oxford's face.
    "Is everyone here rude?" Oxford said.
    Fleet shrugged. "About as rude as they were on the outside, I guess," he said. Then he turned and walked away.
    Oxford grunted as Fleet's Dead See Scroll page winked out. "Emily Brown," he said.
    The display showed nothing but her name, followed by the words, EMILY DOESN'T SHARE HER INFORMATION PUBLICLY.
    "Tell her it's her husband!"
    EMILY IS CURRENTLY NOT ACCEPTING MESSAGES.
    Oxford sighed, shaking his head. The poor woman had never been very good with computers. She probably hadn't figured out how to set her PAL up yet. He remembered the time he'd tried to show her the multi-dimensional