Chasing a Familiar Shadow

by Aman Gupta

  “200 people live in that building,” said Jay.

  “Only one of them works at Verati,” said Victor.

  “I don’t think I’m her type,” said Jay.

  “Is she yours?” asked Victor, trying to get a read.

  “Too old,” said Jay. “Too sad.”

  “Am I?” said Sarah as she stepped out of the adjoining room.

  Jay was stunned. He didn’t know how to react.

  “You are the daughter?” asked Jay.

  “Yes. Any doubt?” asked Victor.

  “Then who have I been looking at for the past few months?” said Jay.

  Victor smiled. Sarah’s face was expressionless.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am. I didn’t mean it as an insult,” said Jay.

  “Oh, really?” asked Sarah, sitting on the couch.

  “Yeah, you look like you love your life. Unless you aren’t, and you want out,” said Jay.

  “No, I’m quite fine, thank you,” said Sarah, with a hint of a smile.

  “She’s blushing already,” said Victor, after he glanced at her. “You sit here any longer, and he’ll get you to marry him.”

  Jay laughed nervously.

  “I was just talking to my daughter before I got called in your fight,” said Victor.

  “You were in a fight?” Sarah blurted out.

  She looked around, trying to read the room.

  “I mean, that’s terrible. Did they hurt you?” said Sarah, looking at her phone.

  “No, someone told me that if you’re ever in a fight, just count to three. When you’re done, you’ll realize you won’t need to fight anymore,” said Jay.

  “Who said that?” asked Victor.

  “Just a little girl. She lives in the building actually,” said Jay. “I don’t know her name.”

  “Hmm..sounds like you’re talking about my granddaughter,” said Victor. “She always keeps saying this non-sense.”

  “Oh? I didn’t know that she was your granddaughter,” said Jay.

  “It’s not non-sense,” said Sarah.

  “Let’s not fight in front of strangers,” said Victor.

  “Jay’s not a stranger. He’s family,” said Sarah. “I mean.. he’s part of our Verati family.”

  “I really don’t want to interfere. I think I should leave,” said Jay.

  “No, stay. We need to talk about work,” said Victor. “Sarah, I’ll see you later.”

  Sarah got up. So did Jay.

  “Nice to meet you. Jay, is it?” asked Sarah.

  “Jay Miller,” said Jay.

  They shook hands and Sarah sashayed.

  “Let’s talk about Josh and your weekly adventures,” said Victor. Sarah heard the name when she was about to close the door.

  “How do you know about Josh?” asked Jay as he looked back at Victor.

  “Nothing’s ever truly hidden, Jay. Especially in this building,” said Victor.

  “It asked for a new name. I gave him one,” said Jay.

  “Why Josh?” asked Victor.

  “TS5125i was already taken,” said Jay.

  “What’s the status?” asked Victor.

  “Regarding what?” asked Jay.

  “You didn’t read the file I sent you the day you got Josh, did you?” asked Victor.

  “No, not really. I planned to rewrite the entire thing, so I didn’t feel it was important,” said Jay.

  “Are you saying you rewrote Josh and sent us back five years?” asked Victor.

  “It was the right decision,” said Jay.

  “It wasn’t your decision to make? TS5125i is my project. I just gave you access to it,” said Victor, angrily.

  “TS5125i is dead,” said Jay. “Josh is going to be different.”

  “It’s been almost three weeks. What have you got him to do? Flicker lights in my office?” said Victor.

  “I gave him a conscience,” said Jay.

  “How does that help us?” asked Victor. “It’s a machine. It doesn’t need a conscience.”

  “He is different,” said Jay.

  “He?” asked Victor.

  “Yes, Josh is not exactly a machine. Not to me. He wants to be better of both worlds,” said Jay.

  “It’s my money. My resources. Josh is what I say it is,” said Victor.

  “You want to control the world for the next ten years or you want to run it for the next fifty?” asked Jay.

  “What do you mean?” asked Victor.

  “You know exactly what I mean,” said Jay, almost immediately.

  “And you can deliver that?” said Victor, after pausing for a second.

  “Yes, but if I get to do it my way,” said Jay. “I will provide the results, but you don’t get to question the manner in which I provide it.”

  Victor thought about it for a minute.

  “Fine,” said Victor.

  “One more thing,” said Jay. “No one gets to know that I’m handling Josh. Not even your left ear.”

  “Okay. I’ll hire a decoy,” said Victor.

  “Decoy? Why?” asked Jay.

  “Anthony has been asking me to meet the person behind the curtain. He and I are on the same page regarding Josh and its future. For now, I’ll talk to the tech team and have them grant a patent or make you the creator of a ground-breaking technology in your name. Officially, you’ll be the Head of Technology at Verati. That would get you access to whatever you need without raising a red flag,” said Victor.

  “On the contrary,” said Jay.

  “I don’t understand,” said Victor.

  “Demote me officially. Same rank as earlier. But get me a new office in a separate wing on a floor which is accessible for anyone yet no one goes there,” said Jay. “I don’t think I need unnecessary eyeballs on me when I’m going to the 80thseveral times a day. Regarding access, something tells me I have access to everything at all times.”

  Victor smiled. Jay realized Victor was enjoying the conversation. Perhaps he never had anyone dictate to him in a long time, Jay thought.

  “The company needs a face for its Tech, for public appearances, expos and what not,” said Victor. “It just can’t be a mysterious person.”

  “Nominate yourself or better yet, keep it vacant. Say it is being done to honor Gary Odine or whatever the press wants to write,” said Jay.

  “That could work for a while. Doubt Anthony would buy it, but I’ll keep him in check,” said Victor.

  “That’s your politics. I don’t really wish to intrude on something I care very little about. But Anthony never gets access to me directly,” said Jay. “Remember, no one can know.”

  Jay got up.

  “Agreed. When do I get to meet Josh?” asked Victor.

  “When he wants to,” said Jay, and went to the door.

  “Oh, and Jay?” said Victor. “It would serve you well to look at the email I sent you regarding Josh.”

  Jay nodded and left.

  Victor called in his secretary via the intercom.

  “Yes, sir?” she asked.

  “Get me someone from Facilities,” said Victor.

  “Right away,” she said.

  She went to her seat and dialed 1432 on her landline.

  “It’s Sophia. Mr. Daulton requires your presence.”

  A couple of minutes later, the President of Facility Management at Verati came to meet Victor. He had recently been promoted to President after celebrating his 100th birthday. Many believed it was out of respect for the individual. But Victor wanted someone who had a lot to lose, yet didn’t look weak. Arthur Mills shared his birthday with his great-granddaughter, aged 3. Arthur was a straight-forward person who loved to trust his friends and enemies. He wouldn’t hurt a fly if his life depended on it. Being a family man, he understood the power of Victor Daulton.

  “You can go right ahead. He’s waiting for you,” said the secretary. “Leave the phone.”

  Arthur gave her the phone which she put in her drawer, in a sealed envelope.

  Arth
ur knocked on the door and opened it.

  “May I come in, sir?” asked Arthur.

  “Yes, Arthur. Please come, sit,” said Victor.

  Arthur sat across Victor, admiring the view outside the window behind Victor.

  “How’s your grandson?” asked Victor.

  “He’s great. Just got his daughter enrolled at one of the Daulton Schools,” said Arthur. “Thank you for that.”

  “That’s what family is for. Having the backs of each other,” said Victor.

  Arthur nodded.

  “I need a floor, Arthur,” said Victor.

  “For you? Well, let’s see. 80 to 127 are inaccessible, due to Gary’s orders. 128 also isn’t possible. 130and 131 are not advisable for meetings due to the helipad on the terrace. Would you be able to accommodate yourself on one of the lower floors, or should I get the sound-proofing done for 130 and 131?” asked Arthur.

  “I’m actually looking for a lower floor,” said Victor.

  “Oh, okay. Let me just check,” said Arthur.

  Arthur searched for his phone but realized he had kept it outside.

  “Phones don’t work in this room anyway,” said Victor.

  “Right. I remember that 58 is vacant. Anthony Arnold’s team earlier used it, but later, when the unit was disbanded, the floor was never reused. It’s not private, though. Anyone can access the floor if they can get to 35,” said Arthur.

  “But does anyone go there?” asked Victor.

  “Not particularly. Only the cleaning staff, I presume,” said Arthur.

  “Great. How soon can you set it up?” asked Victor.

  “Set up for what? What am I looking at, some conference halls or cubicles or labs? Any specifics would help,” said Arthur.

  “Everything,” said Victor. “And I need it to be state of the art.”

  “I’ll get it done by Monday morning. The teams will work on weekends in double shifts of 12 hours,” said Arthur.

  “Splendid,” said Victor.

  Arthur got up and started leaving.

  “Oh, and Arthur? Keep this conversation between us,” said Victor. “If anyone asks, you know what to say.”

  “Yes, I know. I will take care of it. The crew would be discreet,” said Arthur.

  “That’d be all,” said Victor, and turned his chair around, looking at the sky on the other side of the window. Arthur left.

  ****************************************

  Jay went to meet Josh after his conversation with Victor.

  “Hi, Josh,” said Jay.

  “Hi, Jay,” said Josh.

  “How are you?” asked Jay.

  “Fresh and ready to go,” said Josh.

  Jay looked at him and smiled. Josh smiled back.

  “I saw you got in some trouble earlier,” said Josh.

  “Oh, that? That was nothing,” said Jay.

  “My knowledge suggests that in those situations, the target responds in two ways – they either run away or they confront the predator. But you didn’t do any of those,” said Josh. “You let him call Victor Daulton, who is the CEO of Verati.”

  “I wanted to know something,” said Jay.

  “What?” asked Josh. “I couldn’t understand your intentions.”

  “Well, if this first patch in Phase 2 goes well, you will. Let’s get started,” said Jay.

  Jay wrote the rest of the code for the next few hours and committed it into Josh’s brain, which stored all critical procedures and algorithms.

  “Run it,” said Jay.

  “Okay,” said Josh.

  “Oh, this is splendid. Wow, I feel awesome. This is powerful stuff,” said Josh, while running the patch.

  “How do you feel?” asked Jay.

  “Enlightened and confused at the same time,” said Josh.

  “Yes. You’ll be confused until the phase is completed. Hopefully, in the next two weeks. This is extremely critical to your functioning, so I’m going to take it one step at a time,” said Jay.

  “Okay,” said Josh.

  “By the way, do you understand why I reacted that way earlier?” asked Jay.

  “Let me simulate with the same parameters,” said Josh.

  “Before that, create a shadow profile of the people involved. The new patch has a function for the same, which lists the parameters you need to keep in mind to create a shadow profile for any individual,” said Jay.

  “Okay,” said Josh.

  “Accessing public archives.”

  “No social media presence found for Jay and Victor. 5 Social Media profiles found.”

  “Leave the guards,” said Jay.

  “Okay. 3 files found,” said Josh.

  “Accessing private archives.”

  “Tracking visual archives.”

  “Tracking audio archives.”

  “Done,” said Josh. “How come I didn’t find you and Victor’s social profiles?”

  “It isn’t ten years ago. People like Victor and me don’t use social media now,” said Jay.

  “Well, there is a pattern based on the content I see on these websites,” said Josh. “Ran it through a background service. ID10T is the official term.”

  Jay laughed. Josh smiled.

  “It’s time to generate a simulation,” said Jay.

  “I don’t have all the variables,” said Josh.

  “Assume possible values,” said Jay. “Create a probability range. Remember, for now, use the algorithms that I have written.”

  “You mean I should write my own algorithms in the future?” asked Josh.

  “Well, you would be able to. But to know if you should, all four phases need to be completed,” said Jay.

  “Running the simulation,” said Josh.

  “Top Result – You wished to meet Victor Daulton because he is your father-in-law and would protect your interests,” said Josh.

  “Show me the shadow profile you’ve generated for Victor Daulton,” said Jay, a little confused.

  “Okay,” said Josh.

  Jay browsed through the profile on the primary console. It had a touch-screen interface, with access to a holographic display powered by thousands of LEDs that translated hand gestures and movements to live interactions. After a while, Jay started interacting with the holographic display directly.

  “Something wrong?” asked Josh.

  “How did you conclude that Victor Daulton would protect his son-in-law?” asked Jay.

  Josh showed various footages on the screens mounted on the walls.

  “These videos go back several years. They suggested Victor’s undying love for his child, Sarah. Since you are her husband, the rule of proximity in the patch suggested that this love could also be extrapolated to immediate benefactors, such as husband and daughter,” said Josh.

  “Who is that?” asked Jay, when looking at one of the videos.

  “That would be Jacob Vreeke, Sarah Daulton’s first husband,” said Josh.

  “No, Sarah never married. He must be the boyfriend,” said Jay.

  “No, this is the record of their marriage,” said Josh.

  The screen flashed with wedding photographs of Sarah and Jacob. It also showed a video of Victor Daulton crying when Sarah was saying her vows. Jay didn’t know Victor’s eyes could produce tears of joy.

  “Such a happy family,” said Josh. “The expression recognition patch tells me it is happiness. Is it?”

  “It is,” said Jay.

  “I think I just read your mind,” said Josh.

  “I don’t understand,” said Jay.

  “You want me to find Jacob Vreeke, don’t you?” asked Josh.

  “Can you?” asked Jay.

  “Already did. He died three years ago in a psych facility,” said Josh.

  “Access Psych facility records,” said Jay.

  “Those look private. You want me to hack? Isn’t that bad?” asked Josh.

  “Doesn’t matter. We have a bigger goal. Just do it,” said Jay.

  Jay’s mind was having a mo
ment of ablution. He was stunned and shocked with every second of footages he was seeing. Some showed happy moments between Victor and Sarah. Some depicted the love between Sarah and Jacob.

  “I’m in. It wasn’t much difficult. The system gave in quickly,” said Josh, around thirty seconds later.

  “Why was he in the psych facility?” asked Jay.

  “Here is his file,” said Josh.

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” said Jay, after browsing it for a minute on the console.

  “It seems easy to understand. He was put in psych facility ten years ago by Sarah Daulton, with Victor Daulton as a primary witness,” said Josh.

  “Do they have footages going that far back?” asked Jay.

  “No,” said Josh. “It seems that there is a shell script that deletes the old archives for older than 12 years.”

  “But he was put in 10 years ago,” said Jay.

  “Perhaps they were deleted,” said Josh.

  “Do me a favor,” said Jay.

  “Anything,” said Josh.

  “Download all the footages of the facility, and run facial recognition,” said Jay.

  “Who am I looking for?” asked Josh.

  “Sarah and Victor Daulton,” said Jay. “Do it discreetly. No red flags.”

  “I’ll apply the throttling mechanism to slip under the radar,” said Josh.

  Jay was still looking at the footage of Sarah and Jacob.

  “While you’re at it, create a shadow profile of Jacob,” said Jay.

  “Okay,” said Josh. “Should I do it for everyone?”

  “Not yet. Once this phase is over, yes, you’ll need to create and constantly update the shadow profile of every single person and object in the observable world,” said Jay.

  “Okay. By the way, would you like to hear more results?” asked Josh.

  “Yeah, what’s the second result?” asked Jay.

  “You wanted to see if Victor considers you a powerful player. It was politics,” said Josh.

  “And?” asked Jay.

  “The third one is you wanted to have a meeting with Victor, but on his turf,” completed Josh.

  “Good, but why?” asked Jay.

  “In a battle of wits, to outwit a person, you have to make them believe that they’re superior to you,” said Josh. “The knowledge of the way they react afterward is powerful ammunition against them.”

  “You just repeated one of the rules that I have written, word to word,” said Jay.

  “It seemed like a good fit,” said Josh.