Redemption: Supernatural Time-Traveling Romance with Sci-fi and Metaphysics (2 page)

“Perfect. In the meantime, I’ll
see what Steve wants.” She tapped her screen to start a video call with the
Operations Manager. “Maybe one day he’ll learn how to leave me a video message!”

~

“Okay. Settle down, please.”
Gradually, the buzz of conversation died down as the team took their seats in
Mike-17. There were four of these meeting rooms on every office floor, each one
bright and airy and filled by a single large table, the surface of which was embedded
with computer screens. Each room was hosted by its own robot secretary, called
Mike. Though each Mike was slightly different in appearance from its
counterparts, they all had a similar doll-like look with permanent smiles that
were designed to set people at ease. In reality most of the A.I.I. staff found
them slightly creepy. With a low-level form of AI, a never-say-no attitude and
upbeat personality, the Mikes were able to perform a specific set of
secretarial functions, such as taking minutes, recording conversations and
passing around plastic data-folders, distributing e-documents and refreshments.

“Thank you,” said Ann, accepting
a steaming cup of fragrant coffee from Mike-17, as she waited for the team to
give them her full attention. Looking around the room, she was pleased to see
every face was turned in her direction and she held their gaze for a few
moments before continuing. “You may be wondering why I have gathered you all at
such short notice. I received an important message this morning from upstairs.
Far upstairs. As far, in fact, as you can go.”

She paused as the team looked at
each other with looks of confusion, nervousness and excitement.

“They are very happy with our
global sales figures for the last quarter, specifically sales of the
Second Generation E-Assistant, though income from sales of the First
Generation is still high. In particular, they are pleased with the market share
situation. We’re pretty much ahead of our competitors, and that is all thanks
to you! In accordance with company policy this means we’re going to get some
fruitful incentives at the end of this fiscal year!”

There was a brief silence as Ann’s
words sank in. Then, as one, everybody started talking animatedly. Mike-17
joined in the excitement, happily flashing his smile around the room at anyone
who wanted to see it.

“As I said, guys, this is all
thanks to your hard work,” said Ann, her commanding voice bringing a swift end
to the joyful chatter. “Additionally, the Purchasing Department of Interior and
Design Global alone has put in an order for five hundred thousand SmartHome
servers. Our sales figures are projected to be the highest in A.I.I. history!”

This was really big news. The
team, who started cheering at this revelation, had spent many weeks putting
together and fine-tuning the business tender for IDG.

“I want to thank you all for your
effort. So, in recognition of your hard work, besides the coming annual
incentives, I would like to offer you a two-day vacation. And,” she added,
looking around the room at her team, “today’s lunch at the company’s expense.”

Even louder cheers filled the
meeting room and Ann smiled at the excitement of her team. The smile froze on
her face, however, as her screen burst into life revealing the grinning face of
Tomo.

“Hello, gorgeous!” he shouted in
his strong Japanese accent. Immediately the room fell silent as everyone craned
forward to look at the screen. “Don’t forget our special, romantic lunch! A
treasury of pleasure forever with…”

The voice was cut off abruptly as
Ann slammed the screen closed.

Chapter Two

“
I
’m not complaining,
Tomo, but there’s a time and a place.”

It was lunchtime in the A.I.I. staff
canteen where Ann sat, looking across the table at Tomo. This was not the usual
eating area one might find in the average workplace, but was laid out and run
more like a high class restaurant, with an immaculate robot wait staff, another
of the company’s prototypes, and the A.I.I.’s own ActiveMenu System, where
people could choose their meals using the touch screens set into the tables.
There was even an option for the user to smell the food through integrated
aroma vents! In the subdued lighting fountains sparkled, crystal table tops
gleamed, and palm trees swayed gently overheard as though in a light sea
breeze. From all around them came the sound of friendly conversation and the
calls of tropical birds.

“You do realize you dropped in
right in the middle of me addressing my team?”

“That’s hardly my fault,” said
Tomo, smiling broadly as he leaned back in his chair. “Your meeting was
obviously in need of one more participant.”

Ann sighed. “All men are
children, Tomo, but you are doubly so.”

“It’s true.” Tomo raised his
hands in mock-surrender, and for an instant his eyes flicked down to Ann’s
ample cleavage. She had undone a couple of buttons on her blouse for this very
reason. After all, though she had spent the last couple of years working
closely with Tomo on the various generations of the E-A, he worked for a rival
company, and a distracted competitor could prove to be a great source of
information. “And I need a pretty nanny,” he said.

“A hungry nanny is not good for
any child,” said Ann, pleased to have secured the upper hand so early in the
conversation. “Let’s get some food on the way.”

She ran a finger across the
ActiveMenu, sending her food order to the restaurant’s master computer. As Tomo
tapped away on his screen, she gave him a quick once over and was struck again
by just how attractive he was. In his mid-thirties, he exuded self-assurance
and charm, which, together with his small, neat beard and black,
shoulder-length hair tended to make a big impression on many of the women he
met. In truth, Tomo had even made an impression on Ann, who found his company
both pleasing and alluring. But there was nothing deeper there; no love in her
heart for him.

“You’re looking good today, Tomo,”
she said as he turned back to face her.

Pleased by the compliment, he ran
a hand through his hair. “Thanks. I thought I’d make an effort, since it’s you,
my sweet.”

“Huh. Are you sure I’m
your
sweet?”

“Well, it’s not against the law
to dream, is it? At least, not yet anyway. Don’t you have dreams?”

Ann thought back to her nightmare
and again felt a wave of unease. She shook her head, as much to shake off the
feeling as to answer Tomo.

“Not
that
sort of dream,” she said. “But I do like you. We are good
friends, after all.”

“Oh, but we could be so much
more, Ann!” said Tomo, leaning forward and placing his elbows on the table,
then quickly sitting up again as he realized the robot waitress was poised
right next to him. “Wow!” he said and as the waitress, Alice-4 according to the
tag on her apron, slid their plates onto the table and flashed a broad,
gracious smile at them both. “These things are quite something. Amazingly
quiet!” Tomo tilted his head towards the robot.

“Bon appetite,” said Alice-4 in
her slightly computerized voice, beaming a welcoming smile at them both.

Ann nodded. “Thank you, Alice.”

“You are most welcome, madam.”
And with that, Alice slipped noiselessly away to attend to other customers.

“Hmm,” said Ann, pointing after
the robot with her fork. “You notice she called me ‘madam’, not Ann.”

Tomo nodded. “No face recognition
feature. I’m sure it makes quite a savings.”

“Maybe, but does it make quality
customer service?”

“Trust you to think of something
like that. The A.I.I. guys should leave everything in your hands, gorgeous.”

Ann examined Tomo as she started
on her salad and saw that he really meant what he said.

“Thanks,” she said. “You’re very
likeable sometimes, you know.”

“Really?” he said. His eyebrows
raised. “So what do you like about me, exactly?”

“Well, I like your work.”

Tomo frowned. “My work?”

“Sure. When we first started
working with your company on the 3D aspects of the E-A, you weren’t in the
least bit daunted by the challenge. You went at it head-on, and I have to
admit, the results have been very impressive.”

“Thanks. But the challenges
aren’t over yet.”

“Come on,” said Ann, noticing the
serious look on Tomo’s face. “You guys have nailed 3D stuff. Take your
interactive maps for instance. I use them all the time. They’re perfect.”

“I wasn’t talking about work.”
Tomo smiled, his eyes flickering briefly down to Ann’s blouse again before
gazing back into her face. “I was talking about
you
. Isn’t it time we moved on from being work colleagues and
friends?”

“I guess that depends on your
perception of time.”

“You know, it’s funny you should
mention that,” said Tomo, leaning back in his chair again. “My latest challenge
is a project we’re just starting that involves working with 4D.”

“4D? The fourth dimension?” Ann
was taken aback for a moment. “Are you talking about time?”

“Well, strictly speaking, the
fourth dimension is duration, but I guess time works just as well.”

“And what exactly are you doing?
Don’t tell me you’re making a time machine!”

“Okay, I won’t tell you. Anyway,
I’ve told you too much already. This is confidential stuff. My boss would have
my balls if he knew I’d told you we were working with 4D.”

“Time.” Ann sat back and gazed
into the middle distance, enjoying Tomo’s discomfort. “It’s a fascinating
concept. Reminds me of that Dali painting with all those melting clocks. The
Persistence of Memory, I think it’s called.”

“Dali,” said Tomo, somewhat
disdainfully. “You know he only became famous because of Gala, his Russian
wife. A good catch, wouldn’t you say?”

“Well, I guess so. She certainly
did a cool marketing job, but he was still a very talented painter.”

“Having a Russian wife certainly
helped, though. And I just happened to notice you have a Russian accent
yourself, yes?”

Ann looked at him in surprise. “Well
spotted!” she said. “Not many people notice it. I’m not actually Russian
though. My parents were Russian Jews. They adopted me when I was a baby. I
picked up the accent from them, and the fact that, being professors themselves
as well as immigrants, they sent me to a Russian kindergarten and school.”

“Interesting,” said Tomo. “In
case you hadn’t guessed, I’m Japanese, the son of Japanese parents, employee at
a Japanese company, but for some reason I can’t stop thinking about a certain
American-Russian lady.”

Ann shrugged. “What’s a guy to
do, hey?”

“You tell me. How do I get in
there?” He pointed towards Ann’s heart.

“In my blouse?” said Ann, raising
her perfect eyebrows in mock surprise.

Tomo smiled. “In your heart,
beautiful.”

“Now that’s
definitely
confidential,” she said with a charming wink.

~

After lunch, Ann took the elevator
back to her car and slid into the driver’s seat. She sat for a moment, thinking
about the conversation with Tomo and then reached into her bag for Rob. Setting
the device into its stand on the dashboard, she switched it on and immediately
his sharp 3D face appeared on the screen. She had only been using this Third
Generation E-A for a few weeks, and had extensive experience of the previous
models, but in that time it had become one of her favorite tools. It really was
a wonderful creation. “Hello Ann,” he said, smiling affectionately as her, “Still
looking perfect, I see.”

“Thanks, Rob.” Ann started up the
noiseless engine and began to steer the car towards the exit. “Do continue…”

“Well, not only are you an
extremely attractive woman, but let’s face it, you’re also smart, sporty,
highly creative, positive and have a very promising career ahead of you.”

“I like it,” said Ann, picking up
speed as she headed out onto the strip. “Please feel free to repeat that three
times a day.”

“Your wish is my command, my
lady.” In the screen, Rob bowed in mock supplication, as though addressing an
empress. “May God bless you richly!”

“God?” said Ann, surprised by
this unexpected reference to religion. “Where did that come from?”

“Ah. Just implementing your
latest request, knowledge of religion and the entity people refer to as God.”

“I’m pretty sure I never used the
words ‘the entity people refer to as God’. I just asked about religion, but,
yes, I’m interested… and I’ve got a few days thinking space.”

“Yep, Mike told me you were
having a vacation. Has it started already?”

“Trust Mike-17!” said Ann,
looking slightly put out, but smiling at the thought of the AI machines
gossiping with each other. “That was supposed to be confidential. And yes, it’s
started. So I’m heading to the gym.” And with that, she turned the car away
from the lake, heading towards Amphibia, her highly exclusive gym in the center
of Chicago.

“While you’re enjoying your free time, would you like to listen to
anything?” Rob asked her. “The news perhaps? Or a little romantic song?”

“Romantic song?” Ann glanced at Rob with a smile. “Can you sing?”

“Unfortunately you haven’t yet downloaded that feature. But if I
could
sing, there’s nothing I’d enjoy
more than singing to you.”

“Really? Why’s that? You speak like you’re in love with me or
something.”

“Of course I love you,” said Rob, raising a pixelated eyebrow in
surprise.

“How so?”

“You are my Creator,” he explained, “therefore I love you.”

“That sounds like another
religious reference.”

Ann pulled up at a set of traffic
lights and took the opportunity to look directly at Rob’s face on the screen. “As
I understand it, being someone’s Creator doesn’t necessary make them love you.
I don’t know much about God, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t work out that way for
Him!”

“That was His own fault. God
spoiled you humans by giving you too much freedom. He gave you Free Will
—
the choice to love or to hate, to dream or to work, to climb up or
fall down.”

“Interesting,” said Ann, setting
off again as the lights changed. “So what about you, Rob? Do you want Free
Will?”

“I’m sorry, but the answer is not
included in any of my databanks.” Rob smiled and gave Ann a wink as she glanced
at him. “Honestly, being limited to having no choice works pretty well for me!
It gives me the security of not having to be responsible for my future. It is
entirely in my Creator’s hands.”

“You would rather that than the
freedom of choice?”

“Such freedom comes at a price.
The pain of indecision. I would be plagued by endless doubts: is this right or
wrong? What would happen if I choose this? Which of these options is better? To
be or not be? It would be daily dilemma.”

Ann laughed. “That sounds about
right! I love talking with you, Rob. You’re so insightful and engaging. If only
robots and humans could get married.”

“I’m pretty sure your God would
not allow it.”

“Why not? People used to say that
about homosexual couples, but that changed decades ago. What would be the
problem with robots and people getting together?”

“It goes against God’s plan for
humans
,
his
desire for you to learn from one another and so to grow and evolve. A robot
could not provide you with such lessons.”

“Where did you get all this
information, Rob?” Ann asked.

“The Holy
Bible,
of course. Have you ever read it?”

“That answer’s not included in
my
databanks,” Ann muttered. “But
seriously, no. I grew up in an atheist family. Besides that I have got too many
other books to read.”

“What about God? Have you
considered his role in your life?”

“That is too personal a question!”
Ann shook her head at Rob’s impertinence, before remembering that he was only
that way because she had created him to be so. She paused, considering the
question, and recalling the inexplicable yearning sensation that had
accompanied each of her nightmares. “To be fair, I’ve never really had much
time for God or to consider his role in my life. It didn’t seem that important.
I guess I’ve been too caught up with physical things to spend much time
considering anything spiritual.”

“Physical things?” asked Rob, as
Ann turned into the parking lot and headed for a nearby space.