[rmnull]

i can't seem to find the book by that title by that author. I did find a book by that title but its 800 something pages long and don't think its the title you referred to. do you mind providing a link?

[StingyJelly]

I've red a short story that matches the description and the name. Took a while to remember but it was in A Science Fiction Omnibus [0], apparently it's by Bruce Sterling so could be a different story.

<https://openlibrary.org/works/OL15192261W/A_Science_Fiction_...>

[winnit]

No, you're right - it was Bruce Sterling!

[winnit]

Here's the link, it is actually by Bruce Sterling as another commenter pointed out to me. https://1lib.sk/book/4373271/0a0915