by Simon Archer
Each of the individuals involved in its development had allowed the AI to monitor them for a length of time and collect the information needed to write them a game. I’d had Jack’s on file and figured it would be more fun if he could play his own custom version. The two of us made our way over to the chairs near the coffee table and turned them toward the huge TV screen on the wall. As we prepared to play, Jack looked at me, shaking his head.
“How the hell did you come up with the fix?” he puzzled.
I smiled at him and shrugged. “I was reminded that sometimes, melding two completely different types of ‘brains’ just doesn’t work. Now, our program has two brains.”
When Vila and Andi had shown me the disastrous vision of trying to merge a human mind and a technical one, the solution had come to me. A human brain is creative by design. That is why computers came about in the first place, to take over the analytics that humans weren’t as adept at doing. So, why would we force a program to be both innovatively analytical and creative at the same time? The old saying ‘it takes two’ couldn’t be truer, in that case.
“Yeah, what you just said,” Jack joked at his own lack of following my reasoning. “Let’s get going. Being that this is my game, I wager I’m going to kick your ass right about now!”
“Said the businessman to the programmer who just made the game work!” I shot back as the ‘start’ screen came up on the TV. Moments later, Jack and I were at war with each other inside a brand new game written based on his own biometric feedback. I truly felt like I was being made part of history somehow.
We played a flawlessly-presented game for three hours before calling it quits for the night. When we shut it down, the two of us stood up and stretched. While Jack went to the bathroom, I got my money clip and keys from my desk and then shut down my computer station. The windows were dark, so I knew it was night outside. When Jack returned, he had the biggest smile on his face I’d ever seen from him.
“You did it, Anders,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. “And in less than five days!” I looked out the window and then back at him.
“What day is this?” The last time I’d seen a human, it was Wednesday morning. I had assumed it was Wednesday afternoon when I’d gone to get Jack.
“It’s Thursday night,” he laughed.
“Oh, shit!” I called out. “Andi and Vila are going to kill me! I told them it wouldn’t take me long after I figured out what was wrong!”
“Don’t worry about them. I’ve called them a couple of times to report that you were still alive,” he tossed in as he headed towards the door. He stopped and glanced back at me just before he left to get his own things from his office. “By the way, you look a thousand times better than the last time I saw you, and I know you didn’t get any sleep. What are you on?” His question was half-joking, half-concern.
“Your turn not to worry,” I assured him. “I’m not ‘on’ anything. I guess the adrenaline from figuring it all out is the best fuel ever. I’m sure I’ll crash soon.”
“You’d better. I don’t want to see you in here tomorrow,” Jack replied sternly.
“Sven and Asher are leaving, though,” I protested. “I want to make sure they see this before they’re gone!” The worry on Jack’s face turned into mischief almost instantly.
“They aren’t leaving. I spoke with them and guaranteed them they would be very happy if they were to extend their trip a few days,” he informed me.
“When did that happen?” I asked suspiciously.
“Two days ago,” Jack laughed.
“What if I hadn’t finished?” I asked. I was truly surprised that Jack had, in essence, promised them results before I had any to show.
“It’s called faith, Anders,” he replied with a shrug. “Now, go get some sleep!” He walked out of my office without another word.
I decided to take his advice. I shut down my office, walked to my car, which had been parked for four days in the garage, and drove home. The girls wouldn’t even allow me to recount the details of my success to them before forcing me straight into bed.
I fell asleep instantly… and stayed asleep for more than two days.
13
I snapped out of sleep as though someone had flipped a switch from ‘off’ to ‘on.’ I felt fantastic. I started wiggling my arms and legs as I sat up, reveling in how energized I was. As I headed for the shower, I wondered if the extremely refreshing result of the sleep I’d had was associated with the magic the girls used to keep me awake. Perhaps it was from having solved a huge programming mystery. Whatever it was, it would sell for millions if it could be bottled and sold. Fifteen minutes later, I wandered down the stairs and into the kitchen. I was surprised to see both Jack and Glen at the dining table with Vila and Andi.
“Restaurant opened early today, huh?” I joked with them.
“Yay! You’re up!” Vila hopped up out of her chair and ran to pour me a cup of coffee as I found a seat at the table.
“What are all of you up to in here? Jack, are you making house calls now?” I tilted my head and tried my best to look as though it were a serious question.
“I do!” he played along. “But only for people who make things that will retire me early.”
“In that case, welcome to my home,” I laughed as Vila sat my coffee down and took a seat. “Hey, Glen,” I said, turning my attention to him.
“Are you all rested up?” Glen asked me.
“Ah, did you miss me this week?” I teased.
“Hell no! I had a full week of unexpected vacation!” he shot back, acting as though he’d won the lottery.
“Glad you got some ‘me’ time, Glen,” I laughed. “Hey, wait. Did I call you to tell you I didn’t need to be taken anywhere?” I’d just realized I didn’t remember talking to him.
“No, and thank goodness!” Glen said dramatically. “I like it when you don’t call me because then I get to talk to the lovely Vila or the gracious Andi!” He looked at the girls and winked.
“Forever the lady’s man, eh?” Jack chimed in.
“I’m sorry,” Glen replied slowly. “Did you say something? I was busy admiring the beauty in the room.” He turned his head as far toward Jack as he could without actually taking his eyes off Andi and Vila. The five of us broke out laughing. When we calmed down, Jack looked over to me.
“I just figured I’d come to check in on you today since I won’t see you tomorrow,” he said.
“Why would I see you on a Sunday anyway?” I asked. Jack put his head down and started shaking it slowly.
“Bennett, today is Sunday,” he informed me, chuckling.
“I thought today was Saturday!” I replied. I had completely mistaken the length of time I’d been asleep. Perhaps that is why I felt so good.
“We talked to Jack about another day off. You still need to take it easy for a bit. You really put yourself through some stuff with that coding marathon of yours,” Andi told me. I opened my mouth to protest, but Jack interjected first.
“I agree with them,” he said. “Sven and Asher can’t meet until Tuesday anyway. You can remote in for anything you need.” He crossed his arms and sat back in his chair, a clear indicator that he would not be seeing me in the office tomorrow.
“Alright, I’ll stay home,” I responded. His mouth dropped to the floor.
“That was a hell of a lot easier than I thought it’d be!” He uncrossed his arms and picked up his coffee cup to take a drink.
“Meh, why argue? Between you and these two, I have very little say in where I go anyway,” I joked, tipping my head in the girls’ direction.
“Aren’t you just funny,” Vila piped up, sticking her tongue out at me and then smiling. I sarcastically blew her a kiss and turned back to Jack.
“So, what’s going on tomorrow that I need you to come here and tell me on a Sunday?” I asked, still uncertain what he was actually doing in my house.
“I needed to drop those off,” he answered, pointing to a large, thi
ck envelope sitting on the table that I hadn’t noticed before.
“What is it?” I reached over and slid the envelope in front of me.
“The tech dynamics of the contract needs updating now that you changed the program. It should be easy enough, but nobody else can do it,” Jack explained.
His presence made more sense now. The program details were proprietary, and Jack, although an executive for a technology company, didn’t trust technological communication for newly developed programs. He had a typist, with an actual typewriter, on the payroll to draft the secret portions of contracts and such. The woman made a good living working just for 14Tech as she had to type thousands of lines of code into those contracts. It wasn’t until the tech reached the market that he ever let anything like that be put into a communications system, but by then if someone tried to steal or duplicate it, they’d never get away with it.
“I’ll remote in and get the screenshots. I’ll have Glen drop them to you when it’s done,” I assured him.
“Good deal, I appreciate that,” he replied. I turned to Glen, realizing I still didn’t know why he was there either. Andi must’ve guessed what I was thinking because she piped up before I could ask.
“We sent Glen to get Jack shortly before the time we predicted you would be rolling out of bed,” she said. “Also, yesterday, we made sure Carson knew you wouldn’t be making your Saturday appointment.”
“Those two have quite the sixth sense, don’t they?” Glen chuckled.
“You have no idea,” I answered. Vila and Andi blushed, to my surprise. Jack started to stand up.
“I’d better be--” He was cut off by the loud dinging of cell phones. There were five in the room, each of us had one, and they all started an emergency broadcast message notification at the same time. We each looked at our phones. It was a natural disaster area notice.
“Vila, turn the TV on,” I told her as the five of us headed across the room to the kitchen where a thirty-six-inch flatscreen was mounted on the wall. Vila found the remote and turned it on.
“Behind me, you see the remnants of just one of the nearby locations, the city of Pilouwa, where an unprecedented thirteen tornadoes touched down last night without warning,” the newsman on the TV was saying. “Three of the tornadoes were classified as F4s.”
The five of us stood and stared. There was barely anything to look at behind the newscaster. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve thought he was in front of an abandoned lumber yard. As the cameraman panned around, however, a horrific sight was to be seen.
A few houses were left with a wall or two barely standing, but most were completely destroyed. People, still in their nightclothes, were wandering the aftermath in shock, or huddled together, sobbing. Children were clinging to their parents or having adults help them look for their parents who were missing. Mothers were screaming to find their kids. I could barely comprehend what I was seeing. Tornadoes never touched down in our part of the country. I put my hand up, pointing at the screen.
“Jack,” I said.
“I’m already on it,” he replied. He walked swiftly back over to his chair at the dining table and picked up his jacket. Glen put down his coffee cup and did the same.
“Start with any housing arrangements needed to get those people a place to stay and get back to me with a number. I’ll wire it in 14Tech’s name,” I called to him as he rushed out the door, Glen right behind him. I waited until I heard the door close and then turned towards the girls.
“Can you take me there so I can see exactly how much aid these people are going to need?” I asked them.
“Where did Jack go?” Andi asked without answering my question.
“He has contacts at the office that will help get relief efforts started faster. He knows I’ll donate, but he’s going to get on the horn with as many of our clients as possible to request that they do so too,” I told her.
“You two planned all that in under ten words?” Vila asked, confused at the lack of conversation needed for Jack and me to be on the same page.
“Yep. Now, can you take me there?” I repeated.
“It’s best that you don’t actually go. You would stick out like a sore thumb there. We can show you what’s going on, though,” Andi answered.
“Good. Do it,” I told her.
The three of us walked to the living room, and I sat down. The girls sat on either side of me on the couch, and Andi snapped her fingers. Suddenly, we were standing in the middle of the disaster. Or, at least, our consciousness was.
The devastation stretched on for as far as I could see in any direction. Pilouwa had a population of about fifteen thousand, and not a single home was left standing. The emergency response team had managed to set up a few medical areas where injured people were lying on gurneys, sitting on tarps, or spread out across folding tables. Some were suffering from bumps and scrapes, while others very clearly had life-threatening injuries. There were a few clusters of people here and there working frantically to search the rubble for missing people or people who they could hear but not see. I started to go towards one group, but Andi took me by the arm.
“You can’t help like this,” she reminded me.
True. I was only seeing what was happening.
“Let’s go back,” I told her. In an instant, we were back on the couch, and I opened my eyes.
“That is so terrible,” Vila whispered.
“There were no tornado shelters in this area of the country, so nobody was spared the danger,” I told her. “We are going to help them, though.”
“Tell us what to do,” Vila said eagerly.
“Can you create a way to get a wifi signal and phone service to the area without the tech needed to do so?” I asked her.
“It’s possible, yes,” she answered slowly.
I adjusted my question. “I guess the better question is, ‘Will you?’”
The girls didn’t normally use magic for such large situations. A bit here and there was of no consequence if done discreetly, but something as big as a magical internet connection may be too much to ask. She looked at Andi and slowly nodded.
“We’ll need to see the entire area you want to be connected,” Andi pointed out.
“Grab my laptop and meet me at the dining table. I’ll be right in,” I told her. She and Vila disappeared out of the room, and I looked at my phone, still in my hand. I dialed, listened to the other end of the line ring, and then be picked up.
“Lottie Harris,” she said.
“Lottie, it’s Bennett. Did you see?” I asked her, skipping the small talk.
“I did, it’s awful,” she replied.
“I’m working on some things to help those people out,” I told her. “Can you spare a few hours? Nobody I know is better with social media than you.” For being a tax accountant, Lottie had an online presence that nobody would ever suspect.
“I’m setting up a client list to solicit for donations. As soon as it’s ready, I’ll leave it for the team and head over,” she answered. “Should be about twenty minutes.”
“You’re the best, you know that?” I said into the phone.
“Yep, you make sure I do,” she answered sweetly and then hung up. I stood up and walked to the kitchen. The girls had my laptop set on the table and a fresh, steaming cup of coffee sitting next to it.
“Thank you, ladies,” I said as I sat down. I pulled up a map site and zoomed in on the affected area. “Here is the damage. That would mean the internet is down for that specific site, as well as several miles around it.” I looked up at the two of them. They were hovering over my shoulder, watching as I showed them how big the disaster area really was.
“Okay,” Vila said. “You are going to have to send us inside the money clip for us to do it.”
I was not expecting that at all.
“Why?” Not once since I’d met them had they asked to go into the money clip, not for anything.
“The worlds inside the clip are made of pure magic,” Vila
explained. “It will help us make the signal stronger and more stable. We could do it on our own, but it would be very draining. It’s just a drop in the bucket from our homes, however.”
I hadn’t thought of magic as being draining. Sometimes it seemed the girls were doing little magical things all day long, and they were never affected by it. I could understand the need for more power to pull something of this scale off, though.
“How long do you need to be in there? How will I know when to bring you out?” I asked, feeling weird about them going. I knew logically they wouldn’t really be gone, but it was disturbing all the same.
“We’ll only need a couple of minutes. Set a timer for five, and then call for us. That will be plenty of time,” Andi answered. She almost looked excited.
“Five minutes it is,” I replied. I pulled the money clip out of my pocket and set it on the table next to my phone. I set a timer on my phone and looked up at the girls.
“Andi, Vila, please return to your homes until I call for you,” I told them.
The sentence felt un-authentic because, in my mind, my house was their home. Regardless, my statement worked as intended. The girls’ legs turned into mist, and they grasped hands. The tip of their mist trails was the first to go into the money clip. At that point, I remembered that I never really saw them come out of the coin they were in when they came into my life. It was a very strange night when we’d met, and my pulse started racing as I saw their return home take place.
A force pulled them in and shrunk them at the same time. The money clip glowed and shook on the table as they got smaller and smaller. Then they were gone, and the clip returned to normal. My eyes immediately moved to the timer, and I pushed ‘Start.’ My plan had been to do some research while I waited for the timer to go off, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the seconds, counting down to when I could call them out again.
I tried to imagine the place they were in. Vila had talked about a river once. I wondered if that’s where they’d gone to pull more magic from. The time seemed to tick by at a turtle’s pace as my eyes began shifting from the timer to the clip and back. Finally, my phone started beeping.
