A car rental company charges a fixed rate per kilometer driven. Suppose the rate is $0.50 per kilometer. A customer drives from point \( A \) to point \( B \), which is 3 kilometers away, and then from point \( B \) to point \( C \), which is 4 kilometers further in a direction orthogonal to the previous path. Calculate the total cost for the trip from \( A \) to \( C \). Let's think step by step and output the final answer within \boxed{}.
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