by David West
"I'll have to run some tests, but cracking the password takes a lot of time," she made clear.
The three A.I. looked over to me. "She's right, it would be much faster if you ended this charade and told me the password so you and your user can leave." Annoyed, I leered at them.
"We honestly don't know," Martin said.
"Maybe you don't know that you know. It could be anything. Maybe a favorite video game? A favorite place? A pet name? A date?" I listed.
"Well, I call her by her pet name, Sugar Buns," Martin offered.
"Sugar Buns, huh?" I repeated, embarrassed for them.
"That doesn't sound like a pet name she would have..." Wade pondered with shifty eyes.
I inputted the password.
Password: Sugar Buns
Correct Password!
Irene's eyes grew wide, as her eyes opened to us, in a new light. "I knew you could do it, Sugar Buns!" she rejoiced, hugging Martin's avatar.
"Oh wow..." Wade muttered, loving the turn of events.
Martin was the one with the nickname.
I was too frustrated to begin asking questions at this point. "Now, you and your user can leave."
"We can't leave now - look, our users are just starting to play together," Wade chuckled.
Lara and Adam were exchanging playful shoulder checks, as they gamed across the room. Wade was observing our users, with a content smile on his face. As I looked at him, I began feeling what Lara must have felt for Adam. I couldn't deny it anymore, I... liked... Wade. There was only one thing I could say to him.
"Get out!"
12. Adam
As I gazed up at the florescent lights, a bead of sweat rolled from my temple, behind my jaw, and down my neck. I thought the day was going to be full of fun with Lara, but instead I sat in the very same conference room that I broke into. The company had already replaced the window with a brand new pane of glass, but I still felt guilt looming over me. That wasn't the worst part - I was awaiting a job interview.
How did I end up in this situation? It started with telling Lara about myself. About how I liked working in an office and that I felt lost after my boss made me quit.
"Your boss sounds cruel," Lara had said.
"Yeah, he is. I hope I didn't get you in trouble with your boss, for calling you while you were in a meeting."
"My boss doesn't mind, he loves me."
"Oh... How do you feel about him?" Flashbacks of the last girl I had a crush on popped in my head, along with our boss. I shook the thought out. She isn't like that.
"I love him," she said, making my heart sink. "He's the best dad."
"He's... your dad. That's wonderful that you work with family," I said. Butterflies came back to life and fluttered merrily in my stomach again.
"Yeah. Wait- do you want a job in my building? My dad should still be in the office." She checked her digital watch. "He could interview you right now!"
"Well, I don't want to impose," I said, suddenly finding it surprisingly difficult to swallow.
I continued to try getting out of it, but Lara felt it to be such a good idea, that nothing I said had any effect at that point. It wasn't as if I could argue anyway, she literally lived across the street from the ISP building.
And, that was the story of how I came to the conference room - to await my questioning.
"Adam?" the receptionist summoned.
I jumped in my seat. She poked her head in and saw that I was avoiding eye contact with the pane of glass.
"Mr. Netak is ready to see you."
She led me to his fairly large office, but compared to the brutish warrior looking Mr. Netak sitting behind the desk, it seemed small. His office looked much like Lara's living room - filled with odd projects that Lara made and other odd ends that his other daughters gave him. The office really didn't suit him, especially his pink, Best Dad, mug.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Netak," I greeted. I put my hand out to shake his.
He didn't stand up, didn't blink and didn't shake my hand. His eyes only narrowed. "Adam," he said under his bushy mustache.
"I wanted to ask if you had a job opening for a data analyst," I said, still standing.
"Where did you meet Lara?" he asked in his husky voice.
I gulped a very nervous gulp. How am I supposed to answer that? I can't tell him I was tree climbing at odd hours of the night and crashed into this building. He would see right through it.
"Lara told me you were at the arcade the other night. Is that where you met her?"
"It wasn't exactly an arcade," I began, hoping to avoid answering the question. "It was a video game convention."
"What a big difference," he said monotonously. He eyed me maliciously. "Do you usually go to arcades, a place where kids play video games, to get dates?"
"No sir," I stated, gulping again.
"Why did you leave your last form of employment?" he asked, finally acting professional.
"I wasn't moving ahead there. They were never planning on promoting anyone in our data analysis department."
"Why do you think you're good enough for my dau- I mean- for this job?"
"I'm very dedicated," I answered.
"Can you give me an example?"
"Well, the reason I was promoted as a data analyst in the first place, was because my boss would only promote me if I would buy the office a new computer I would use."
"You bought your office a computer to get promoted?" he asked in a confused stare.
"Also the desk, chair, cubicle walls, and telephone," I corrected, immediately regretting it.
"That's not dedication - that's being a pushover," he stated.
"I did take my computer back," I informed feebly.
He narrowed his eyes even more. I sat quietly, wishing I could escape the interview.
"I'm sorry, but I just don't see you compatible with Jericho Communications."
I couldn't let it end this way. I had to fight for the job - I had to fight for her.
"Sir, I have only the best intentions for Jericho Communications and-"
My defense was cut short by a text alert on his phone. He reluctantly checked it, and then rolled his eyes while grumbling scornfully. I would later find out that Lara had sent him a text message, asking him to be nice to me. He wasn't entirely nice.
"You've got the job," he said. "But you have to bring your own computer. Come in tomorrow morning at eight."
He might have thought it to be spiteful, but I preferred to bring Martin with me. I couldn't wait to tell him the news. I thanked Mr. Netak and headed out the door before he could change his mind. Downstairs in the lobby, Lara waited, at the edge of her seat, for me. She was staring intensely into space.
The receptionist was answering calls behind her desk, and the security guard who thought I was Lara's brother, recognized me and nodded. Lara spotted me and stood slowly, as if she were about to receive terminal news at a hospital.
"I got the job!" I announced shrugging with half-open arms.
"That's wonderful!" she exclaimed.
She hugged me tightly, and lingered just long enough for the security guard to burrow his eyebrows and cock his head at us. Lara wasn't aware of the message we were giving the security guard, and we walked out of the building without an explanation.
We walked across the street as she told me everything I needed to know about Jericho Communications; the security guards gossip excessively; her dad is a wonderful and fair boss; and I would get a security card. She also gave me directions on how to copy it, as they're easy to lose.
"I've lost about a dozen so far. The first time I lost it, I thought I would have to go through the process all over again, but then I remembered that I had uploaded it online to show my friends my new security card."
Tomorrow is Hawaiian Shirt Friday. Her apartment is in WiFi range with the office, and since she set the password, she logs onto Jericho Communications' network and uses their internet. She gathers her co-workers on Tuesday nights to
play Dungeons and Dragons in the basement of the ISP building afterhours.
"That all sounds like... fun!" I exclaimed.
"Well, it is!"
"I never thought work, at least in an office, could be fun."
The night was dark, with patchy clouds blocking out the moon and some stars. It was raining lightly. Lara smiled. She wore a blue beanie, and a red scarf wrapped around her neck. We talked on her patio for what seemed like an hour. It was the happiest I've ever been. Tacky, I know, but you couldn't beat this feeling. I was definitely in love.
I leaned in for the kiss, but midpoint, didn't follow through, and pretended I was just leaning forward to check the time on my cell phone. When she saw I didn't act, she seductively put her head against her door, and turned playfully back and forth against it. Moments later, she put her hand on her head where she was leaning again and let out a hiss.
"I leaned against the nail head from where I hung my Christmas reef," she pouted.
At this strange moment, I felt I had to go for it. What if I never had another chance to kiss her? Now, when you go to kiss a girl when she least expects it, you can often miss. I missed, I kissed her on the nose. Since my mouth was on her nose, when she kissed back, she got my chin. We both laughed at ourselves and retreated back to our spots two feet away.
"Do you want to come in and play, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time?" she asked, breathing out a heavy fog.
"That sounds great, but I really need to get home. The drive is three hours - two in good conditions. I don't want to be late on my first day."
She frowned, but also thought intensely. Then, her eyes lit up and she smiled. "Would you like to move in with me?"
"To live, with you? Here?" I asked, feeling a tightness around my neck. I checked my collar and found that it was loose, so that wasn't my problem.
"Yeah," she said calmly. "You can't live much closer to Jericho Communications than here. I've always wanted a roommate. And, ever since I moved in, I probably went into the spare room about three times."
"To live with you, as your roommate," I verified. I imagined that my nervous beads of sweat defied gravity and rolled back up my head. "I'd love to."
13. Wade
"Martin! Look over here!" I exclaimed in delight.
I dragged Martin by his forearm across the virtual street, to the arcade that hosted to Jericho Communications' artificial intelligence. Each video game, old and new, came updated with the latest technology. It even advertised video games that weren't out yet, and those still in production. None of that was the best part though - they streamed the video games through their network, from their powerful servers, for the best performance.
"I see it," Martin said. "I also saw the other things you dragged me to: the A.I. avatar customization shop, the day spa, the college, and-" he continued, but was sidetracked when his eyes caught a building across the street. "Ooo look, a silent film theater!"
"There you go," I encouraged him.
He took off across the cross street of Brigota Lane and Juareldo Road, in the city of Jericho. The actual network inside the ISP building of Jericho Communications had its own virtual city, called Jericho. The population consisted of the resident A.I. who shared the local network connection with the building, and selected A.I. that had been under thorough review and invited into the city. I was amazed.
"Is it in black and white?" I asked when I caught up to him.
"Yes. Please don't get us kicked out of this city like the last ones," he said, burrowing his eyebrows at me.
"Please, those rent-a-cop admins were so power hungry that were banning anyone who questioned them. Those were low class public cities, anyway, with nothing special you couldn't find anywhere else. But this place..." I drifted off in wonder.
"The community creates wonders!" Martin finished for me. He was finally excited about our new residency.
"And that's why I can't have you ruining it for me," Aurora growled in frustration. She was standing behind us, with her car parked in the street. "When I say don't stray into the city, don't stray into the city!"
"Where did you get that car?" I asked distracted by how shiny it was.
"I had to work for it, now disconnect from the city and meet me in my system."
In a split second, the program that connected me to the city disconnected. Martin and I hopped into Aurora's system a moment later. Her physical system was about a foot on the other side of a wall, from my own system. Adam had finished moving everything from his old apartment into this new room in Lara's apartment. Martin and I decided to celebrate by going out on the private town of Jericho.
"Living with you is awesome!" I cheered.
The circuits in her body flushed a hot pink; however, she exhibited a stern face. "We are not living together."
"Roommates, living together, whatever, same difference," I shot back.
"You infuriate me!"
"Well, you furiate me."
At that point, I just wanted to throw oil on the fire, to see how engulfed it could become, simply because it was fun to see her get riled up.
"What does that even mean?"
"Furiate is not a word," Martin inputted.
"I still meant every bit of it," I teased.
She stopped arguing, recollected herself, and continued in a civilized manner. "Before you ran off to the city and I had to find you, I was trying to say that since we're living-" she caught herself before she could say, together. "Living in the same network, we should go over some things."
"I think that is a good idea," Martin agreed.
"What happened to that woman, Irene?" she questioned.
"Adam gave her system back to her user. She is, however, trying to stay offline as often as possible. Wade doesn't know how to secure her system, like he can ours. Even then, the CBA, with enough force, can break through our security anyway," Martin explained.
"It seems like just a matter of time," I said gravely.
"I believe I can help," she offered.
"How?"
"When I found out that you both would be in the same circles as me, I didn't want people thinking I was housing fugitives, which is exactly what they would think, with the CBA sniffing around Jericho. Therefore, in order to prevent that, you would need to be invisible to the CBA.
"I stopped by the market in the city and bought just that, A.I. Guardian," she said, holding up four small grey metallic boxes, each with one switch. On it, a LED light that lit red, yellow and blue. "I could only buy them in a pack of four; they cost me an arm and a leg."
"Seems like an awful lot of trouble just to prevent bad reputation," I pointed out.
"Do you want it or not?"
"How does it work?"
"Alright, let's use Martin as an example. All he has to do is give one of the A.I. Guardian applications to Irene. Then, they connect the two to each other. The application will monitor the connected system. If one machine is attacked, the program on the other machine will run the security measures for both of the systems, mainly by just blocking their IP address from connecting, which the intruder can't stop. It's what the A.I. at Jericho Communications have been using to prevent hacking."
"So, if they try to check and see what A.I. are in our systems, they'll get cut off?" I verified.
"Immediately, and if not, then they will get booted a split second later," she answered. "You just have to make sure that both parties involved are connected. If one gets disconnected, it will only run the I.P. Address blocker that prevents known CBA agents from connecting to your system."
"And even with that, they can always reroute through an unblocked system," I said. "So, moral of the story, stay connected?"
"Exactly," Aurora said, keeping strict eye contact with me. She stared with a fixation at me.
"What is it? Is there a glitch on my avatar's eyes?" I asked, bringing up a mirror to see why she was staring at me so intensely.
"Your avatar is perfect..." she reassured me. "Hey, Wade, maybe you and I
can play a game at the arcade, together."
What is this? She is showing interest in me? Her avatar shimmered a hot pink, with the color moving to her cheeks. She was showing interest in me, and I honestly felt moved. "No," I answered.
She kicked me from her system immediately. Martin later told me that she didn't disconnect him, and they shared an awkward silence and avoidance of eye contact before he said bye, bowed, and left.
