.1.

 

- From the Zync Corp Wendy Satellite Radio Ad 1.26.3002 -

 

Lonely?

 

Upset?

 

Tired?

 

Frustrated.

 

Just need someone to talk to?

 

Well now you can with the Wendy-15 personal companion from Zync Corp. Wendy-15 installs into your home computing station with ease. Only 20 minutes and you will have the wonder that is Wendy. She organizes. She reminds. She filters unwanted calls and makes sure the important ones get through.

 

Just talk and Wendy will listen.

 

Note: Must be using SoftTouch H.O.U.S.E software.

 

Warning: Zync Corp cannot be held responsible for loss of social contact.

 

.2.

 

03.03.2802

 

Prof.Zync bashed open the door of the electronics store with his back as he attempted to exit with three handfuls of newly aquired electronics. Several pieces of polycarbon transistors and one subatomic transistor fell from his bag although he didn't notice. Frowning at the sunlight and than at the crowd pushing him and his bags around, Martin Zync huffed his way forward.

 

Lightly, someone tapped him on the shoulder from behind. Cringing, Zync stopped his in tracks. He didn't turn. He peeked one eye at his shoulder and than shuddered. He paused, thought about advanced microphotons, pleased himself with disproving a colleagues thesis in the process, and started again.

 

This time the tap came with a voice. A female voice.

 

'Martin?' the woman behind him said.

 

Ever pore within his body decided that now was a good time to go into action. Zync felt the water building on the top of his skin, the trickle of sweat running inbetween his eyebrows. He tried to wipe at his face but remembered his hands were filled with the bags. Fidgeting, he could feel the hairs on his recede in embarrassment. His stomach voiced it's displeasure with a growl of discontent from lack of sustinence. His feet however, did nothing.

 

The woman, taking the iniative as she often did, came round Prof.Zync. Martin blink several times trying to focus with little success and increasing dissappointment.

 

But the voice. The voice told him all he needed to know.

 

'Matin, you dropped these when you left the store.' Angela said, holding up the gadgets Zink had forgotten at her entrance. Martin couldn't make out which pieces of equipment he had forgotten, he had purchased quite a few today, nor did he particularly care. Angela was in front of him. Angela was talking to him. He forgot about his sweat. He forgot about his hair. He forgot about the growing hunger although it was becoming quite insistent. He almost forgot his name.

 

And he most definitly forgot to talk.

 

Fortuneatly, Angela was used to this. Smiling, she made some room in one of the bags, shoved the equipment securely into a nook, and adjusted the bags in Zync's hand. Martin didn't say a word although his eyes followed her pony tail where ever it went.

 

'There you go.' She said making sure the particle containers were secure. Didn't want to break those. She stood and smiled. 'See you later, Professor.' And with that, she walked back to the store.

 

'Thank you, Angela.' Martin said, so low that not even he could hear it. He didn't bother to turn to see if she had entered the store. His esteem had reached new lowes, even Martin was unsure had been charted. He stood there, being bumped around by traffic, replaying the now infamous incident in his brain. Over and over and over again. Martin should have been walking, should have been talking, should have been but wasn't.

 

He sighed and moved on, loosing only seven pieces of equipment on the trip home.

 

Perhaps, if Martin had turned around at the moment he had muttered his inaudible apology, he would have seen Angela, stop, stiffen, and turn.

 

.3.

 

03.03.2802

 

Angela walked back into the store. The only reason she still worked at this dump of an electronics store had just left the building and now the six hours before her shift was to end seemed to take on unbelievable proportions. She shivered. Why did Brad have to keep the damn store so cold. Besides obvious reasons, she told herself. Only one section of the store required a constantly low tempature. Why did the rest of the store have to be cold as well? Cheap bastard, wouldn't spring for fluctating tempature control system. Shit, even her crappy apartment had one.

 

Angela was a fifth year college student trying desperatly to avoid a sixth year and rapidly failing at the task. It wasn't that she wasn't bright, she told herself that she was, and most students these days went into their seventh year finishing their undergraduate work. Angela chose to ignore that the students taking those classes were also taking advance nuetrino theory and other topics which made Angela's hair curl. She was majoring in Second Exploration Literature, a major that assured her a gratifying social life and a low paying job when she was finished with it. If she ever would.

 

Angela had begun working at Beyond Technologies Inc, a local distributor of Psion Corp products and inventions, as a means of motivating herself. And by motivation it had done just that. Motivated her to buy a new jacket, some nice boots, and a couple of new ultra discs from Wal-Mart. Sure the money was nice, but it hadn't been the motivating factor either. Angela, like most kids these days in college, was supported by a generous grant from the Parent Corporation, or in other words Mr and Mrs Angela Moorison.

 

No. Angela had donned a blue and yellow shirt for a single reason and it was the same reason she had even come to college although the subject had changed. A man. Angela had followed her boyfriend of three months to Maine Polytech University (MPU) in hopes that she would be able to ride out those four years in the blissful arms of her one and true boyfriend.

 

Unfortuneatly, her one and true boyfriend was also the one and true boyfriend to several other women on campus, most of whom held similar feelings as Angela did. The boyfriend, in Angela's case, did not. In the middle of her second year, he had bid her ado and transfered to another school, one which Angela couldn't get into nor after his crushing speech, would want to follow to.

 

But that had been fours years ago, Angela had mended her heart, had it ripped open again several times, and was now fixated on one who she didn't meet at a party. Martin had been a TA in one of her core classes and had kept mostly to himself. Angela wasn't sure whether it was the glasses, the frumpled hair, or the way she caught him glancing in her direction but she soon found herself needing more and more help in a class she was easily passing.

 

And than, suddenly, Martin vanished. For three months, he didn't show up. Most of the class didn't notice, and for his part the Professor only noticed after the second month. Angela noticed almost immeaditly. She would have noticed immeaditly if she hadn't slept through the first class Martin missed. And the second. And the third. Alright, two weeks. But she had noticed.

 

She tried making indiscreet inquiries hoping no one would become suspious of her asking about the TA. Most of the students didn't care or didn't know their class even offered a TA. Some of the other girls giggled seeing the anxiousness in Angela's eyes. More than a few guys asked her out. She got not closer to finding out where Martin was.

 

And almost as suddenly as he had gone missing, Martin had shown up again. The Professor had yelled at him for an hour after class and a couple of the students had snickered at how shabby he looked but turned back to their M-Pads. Everyone forgot about it almost as soon as they had realized it except for Angela.

 

She noticed the finer details. Martin looked tired, like hadn't slept in weeks. He looked like he had lost several pounds which was life threatening for a man of Martin's size. His hair seemed a bit more gray although that could easily have been polychalc. Angela worried about Martin but couldn't find any way to express her anxiety and by extension resolve it. So, as was most cases, she took the most indirect approach possible.

 

Overhearing a conversation between the Professor and Martin, Angela learned that Martin was a electronics geek which wasn't that suprising. In fact, it fit the puzzle forming in Angela's mind rather nicely and she liked the picture that was showing itself. Returning to her dorm she searched for electronic stores on her M-Pad while listening to the new "Dust Glow" ultra disc. There were too many to count. Angela sank into her chair.

 

Three weeks past. The course ended and Angela feared she'd never see Martin again. If she hadn't, she wasn't sure whether her growing crush would last or whether it would whither like the plant her parents had given her and she'd forgotten to water (although it was self-watering, Angela hadn't hooked it up the A.O.S.E pipes). Luckily for Angela and even luckier for Martin, Angela spotted him leaving Beyond Technologies Inc one day as she was having coffee with friends.

 

Waiting a good twenty minutes after her friends had left, Angela nervously walked over to Beyond Inc. Angela was not a electronics geek. She didn't particularly like electronics although she didn't hate them either. If they worked, they worked, if they didn't, oh well. Walking through the door of Beyond had changed her view of the world forever.

 

Her interview had been short but technical.

 

'What was your last job?' Brad asked.

 

'I worked as a lifeguard at Feguna Beach last year.' She responded.

 

'Okay, how long have you been interested in electronics.' He said scratching his beard.

 

'Since, forever.' Angela gushed. She leaned forward giving Brad a good view of her cleavage which he was not above oggling.

 

'Interesting. What was the first thing you programmed?' He murmured, his eyes still trained on her breasts.

 

'Umm.' Angela scrambled. 'My M-Pad!' She had changed the background and made the default music 'Glammer Shine'.

 

'Excellent, excellent. What kind of hours would you be able to put in.'

 

'Um, maybe twenty hours or so.' Angela guessed.

 

Brad made a sucking noise with his teeth. 'Oooooh, this job requires a lot of extra hours. Most new hires stay more than 40 hours there first year.'

 

'But I thought this was a part time position.' Angela questioned.

 

'It is, it is.' Brad assured 'But most employees feel it's necessary to give that extra time to becoming more knoweledgable with the product. Not everyone knows how to use a Phase Three Tailoring Machine as soon as it's unloaded.' Brad said, making a snorting laugh that nearly had Angela out the door.

 

She leaned over a little more.

 

'Right.' said Brad 'Why do you want to work for Beyond Technologies.'

 

'I love the new x3 sub-system thats coming out.' Angela lied.

 

Brad's eyebrowed raised. 'The new x3 sub-system?' he wasn't sure if she'd gotten that right.

 

'Yes?' Angela responded.

 

Brad shook his head. 'And why does that interest you?' Brad wasn't sure why he wanted to catch Angela in her lie but he tried anyway.

 

'Well, it's going to completely revolutionize the way RD and PL satellite systems commuinicate with each other. Plus, with the added reception rates, communication between sectors is going to be a really interesting industry.' Thank you drunken SAT Major.

 

 

Brad stared at her a few more minutes, dumbfounded by her answer and also her body. No one like her had ever applied to Beyond. Ever. And probably no one else ever would he told himself. What the hell was he waiting for.

 

'You're hired.' He said smiling 'You start Monday.'

 

'Monday doesn't work for me, how about Thursday?'

 

'Um, yeah, sure that'll work too.' Brad grinned hoping he wouldn't screw this up.

 

'Great. Seeya than.' Angela purred, giving Brad a smile he wouldn't soon forget. As soon as Angela was out the door, Brad was on IIIrC telling C0rba and ph3atom about the hot girl that had just applied.

 

They both called him a liar and asked for pictures.

 

-

 

'Yo Angela. What are you doing.' Brad yelled from the back of the store.

 

'What?' She said returning from her daydream.

 

'Your shifts over. Get the hell out of here.' Brad harumphed. Thinking a second, he returned 'Unless you want to put in a little overtime with me?' He made a face that showed lust and stupidity all in one snear.

 

With a smile 'Thanks but you make me want to barf.' she responded, removing her name tag in the process. Brad just laughed and went back to his burger.

 

Picking the mini piece from her ear she dropped it on a pad on the counter.

 

'Oh yeah and Brad.' He looked up 'These new Ultra Ear Plugins suck.' She turned and walked out the door. He laughed again behind her.

 

.4.

 

03.03.2802

 

Dropping the bags as he entered his apartment, Martin stopped. He went back outside and entered his apartment again. To most, this would be the end of this process, but Martin wasn't most nor was this the desired outcome of his entrance into his home. Getting angry, he left again only to return seconds later, flailing his arms around while jumping up and down in the doorway. His neighbor who was walking his dog, took note of this, although not that unusual all things considered. He did live next to a Professor and by this point in scientific discovery, lunacy was not only recommended, it was required.

 

Martin was frustrated. Wendy should have begun speaking by now. He had programmed it in the other night and this was the first test of her automated detection schema. Sure, the algorithm wasn't anything new, he'd been programming those since he was a kid, but Martin had added a twist, one which would make Wendy truly unique. Wendy was receptive of the users needs as he entered. Sure, he hadn't gotten around to programming any of these receptions yet, but he at least wanted the default hello protocol. He stamped his foot again.

 

He heard a giggle. A giggle that wasn't coming from behind, nor from in front of him. He couldn't locate it's source but that was a good thing since it was coming from multiple sources within his house. If a speaker could try to cover it's mouth from laughing, the house would have at that moment.

 

He wasn't sure whether to be angry or jubuliant but he was pretty sure it was cross between the two.

 

Wendy was talking to him.

 

He entered his house and set down the bags.

 

.5.

 

Martin wasn't just anybody. That's what his mother told him.

 

Martin started life as most kids, in a technical public school, in upstate New York with his mother. According to his mother, his father, the brilliant yet unbelievably selfish man that he was, had been assigned to work on research facility in the third sector. His father thinking of the strain a million light years would have on his marriage decided he'd arrive at the third sector facility single. Martin's mother, Monette, learned of this after Martins father's, George, plane had past the first sector outpost. George had left a vid-card as his brief, yet final, apology to his wife and son. Monette had let Martin keep the card as a reminder of what a great things his father was doing. Monette also let Martin have the card to remind him of what a jerk his father was.

 

'Love you. Divorce papers will be telexed by Monday. Kiss Martin for me.'

 

Martin had memorized the words as he had memorized the image that cycled on the reserve side. On it, his father had taken a clip of the three of them on a outing to the coast, where Martin had first learned about Oceanic Wind Power. Great generators lined the coast of New York, indeed all the way up to Maine and all the way back down to Florida. Martin would have liked to have gone swimming in the surf but swimming had been prohibited years ago and the generator facilities were heavily guarded. Monette's second cousin was a security guard. He had let them visit the facility. Martin remembered that almost as well as the card but that memory wasn't as vivid nor a continous loop.

 

The video clip showed Martin's father pointing Martin's gaze in the direction of one of the generators turbines, than to the bank of HVRD satellite transmitters on the roof. Martin's mother stood in the background, a bored smile on her face, content but unamused. George than arced his arm upwards to the sky to the sparkling dots in the midday sky. There, hovering in the cosmos, sat the means of life for the people of earth and their brethren throughout the galaxy.

 

Energy Relay Satellites. The boon of George's generation. Able to siphoned any power source, including the Ocean's, and than redistribute it to the four corners of the Earth. George had been apart of the SATPOWER team. He told Martin he'd constructed the phase amplitude receivers and at the time Martin had been whole heartledly impressed. When he grew older, he learned that phase amplitude receivers was just a fancy word for battery. A complicated, orbital battery to be sure but a battery none the less.

 

But at the time, Martin didn't know that and considered his father a scientific marvel. After George left Martin's life, Martin became consumed with scientific research. His mother for her part, held no grudge against scientific endeavors despite it being the root cause of her failed marriage. Well failed to all else. To Monette, George would come back, delete the divorce papers from the city database, and they'd be a family again. Martin had rolled his eyes and gone back to soddering his PCB board.

 

Maine Polytech University was an odd choice for Martin. Not that it wasn't a technical school, it was, and not that he wouldn't fit in there, he would to the degree Martin could join any social function. It was an odd choice in that, Martin could have gone to a variety of better schools, most notably NYU-OR and CAL-NANO which both had given him a full scholarship. Martin chose MPU because it offered two distinct advantages over his other options.

 

First, it wasn't as technical as technical could be. Martin wasn't going to MPU for study, he did most of that on his own. By the time he started applying to colleges, Martin was as skilled and educated as scientists twice his age and should have been applying for teachers position, not a students. But Martin wanted fun, no matter how much he detested it. He yearned for parties, pranks and amusement. And most of all, he yearned, as all men like Martin, for women.

 

Unlike most men, Martin had a name for the woman he yearned for.

 

Her name, was Angela.

 

.6.

 

03.03.2802

 

'Wendy?' Martin said with more authority than he had ever mustered in an actual converation.

 

'Yes?' Came the voice from the house.

 

'Why didn't you welcome me when I came through the door?' Martin snapped as he shut the door and pushed the bags over to his lab with his foot. Not that his lab was any one particular place, the lab was the house, so it was more he pushed them away from the door.

 

'I didn't want to?' She giggled again.

 

'You....didn't want to?' He returned a bit startled.

 

'Nuh Huh.' She said. If the house could smile, Martin would be looking at the largest set of teeth anyone had ever seen.

 

Martin opened his mouth and than stopped. Started again and stopped again. Shaking his head he went to the dispenser. Tapping in his authorization code and than making his seletion, he was greeted by the whooshing sound of a ice cold Tough Brain energy drink in the dispenser. Closing the lid and opening the drink he took a long swig. Tough Brain, as you can probably guess, wasn't for quenching your thirst although Martin found it quite tasty. It put the synapses in your brain on high alert through the use of Hev-Cordonine minerals. Or in Martin's lingo, bunk. He'd analyzed the drink before he'd tasted it and found it contained a greater amount of sugar citrus but no mystery brain improving ingredient. But Martin enjoyed the drink so he drank it.

 

He flopped down on the nearest available empty space. Since there wasn't one, he flopped down on an open layer of nanosistor mock-up he'd been playing with. He flinched, removed a nanocycle from his lower back and rested again.

 

'Okay, let's try this again. Why didn't you say Hello when I came home today Wendy?'

 

'I thought it would be funn..'

 

'Stop action.' Martin mouthed. The voice stopped without an echo. 'Turn debug mode on. Output all responses to the main display in the ' he looked to see where he was ' dining room and begin logging file upon startup.' A beep told him the action had been noted and was waiting the queue.

 

'Start action.' Martin said and leaned forward. The monitor on the wall came to life and Wendy began again.

 

'..y.' She said, a giggle turning into an unsure answer. 'Is that alright?'

 

On the screen Martin saw:

 

H.O.U.S.E CPU: 45%

H.O.U.S.E Memory: 12%

H.O.U.S.E Net Reference: 88%

 

'No I guess that's alright, I just didn't know you that was a joke.'

 

H.O.U.S.E CPU: 45%

H.O.U.S.E Memory: 12%

H.O.U.S.E Net Reference: 88%

 

'It's not really a joke. Is it? I don't know. I've read about a lot of kids hiding from their parents when they come home.'

 

'What did you read today?' Martin asked. He'd installed a cheap AI device into his H.O.U.S.E OS to help with the personality construct development. AI use was used through-out most of a businesses operations but it wasn't used in a H.O.U.S.E.

 

Yet.

 

Wendy began listing titles and Martin soon lost interest. He stared at the results on the screen.

 

H.O.U.S.E CPU: 45%

H.O.U.S.E Memory: 12%

H.O.U.S.E Net Reference: 88%

 

His Net bill was going to be through the roof this month but that concern wasn't on his mind although it was on the mind of the University accountants who paid it. No, his mind was on Wendy. His Wendy. And maybe someday, everyone's Wendy.

 

.7.

 

Martin had first seen Angela in High School Chemistry class. It was the 'He had noticed her, she hadn't noticed him' scenario that every adolescent geek goes through at some point. In High School, Martin never dreamed of having the courage to ask Angela out. Martin had never asked anyone out, let alone Angela, his one true love. At least he thought it was love. He had done a 5 month self examine on his body, his mind and emotions to make sure it was. At the end of the examine he had determined that yes it was love, his back was curved exactly .021 millimeters, and he needed to to start eating at least five more helpings of vegetables, two more servings of carbohydrates, 1 more serving of meat and ten less servings of donuts.

 

By the end of his senior year, Martin had finally acheived the milestone of confidence and had attempted to ask Angela out. As it would happen the day he had reached this confidence, had also been the day Angela was out sick. It also happened to be the last day of school. Unkown to Martin, it had also been the day Angela had cut class and spent the day doing things with her boyfriend that Martin only saw on the Internet.

 

A sudden burst of spontenaity and stupidity that would have made Angela swoon, had changed Martin's life. He went home, changed his choice of college's and never looked back. Of course, when arriving at MPU, Martin was faced with the problem of actually finding Angela again. He had found her name in the Campus Directory but the campus was huge. He'd walked past her dorm a couple times but didn't believe he had the right room. The names on the door said 'Rick, Mike and Steve' and a smell of ball sweat permeated the corridor. Martin went back to the directory, did some digging behind the campus infrastructure, and found that the pranks he had been looking for in college had been pulled on the computers. Someone had scrambled the database ten ways from Sunday. Even Martin could only backtrack the mess three layers before getting lost. Despondent, Martin gave up.

 

Martin chugged through his classes for the next two years. He passed his classes without opening a text book and only once raised his eyebrows during a lecture. Martin became a TA for extra credit and because he had nothing better to do. He had scanned the directory for Angela's every year hoping for a better match with less luck every year. There was even an Angela in the class he was a TA for but he hadn't bothered to search for her. She looked like Angela but the hair was all wrong.

 

The Angela in his class would constantly pester him with questions and follow-ups that Martin had little patience for. He had snapped at her several times which was an odd occurance for Martin at the time but she had shown up at his room the next day despite it.

 

Opening the door Martin saw Angela. He rolled his eyes. 'What?'

 

'I have a question about yesterdays lecture.' she said in a voice that cut Martin's heart to ribbons. Martin turned and walked back into his room. Angela followed.

 

'Professor Leenick said that the reverse polarity of magnetic resistors would enhance the distribution of sub-atomic particles.'

 

'Yeah?' Martin said. He could see where this was going.

 

'He's wrong.'

 

'I know.' This stopped her.

 

'You do?' She said. He had cut her off before she could begin her prepared speach.

 

'Yeah. It's a little test Leenick gives every year.'

 

'Test?'

 

'Yeah, it's silly really. By the time you've gotten to Leenick's class you should have learned about magnetic resistors already but he gives it anyway. If you go to him and tell him he's wrong he'll buy you a beer I think.'

 

'Really!' She said sitting down on the sofa.

 

'Yup. Three other students have already come to me with the same conclusion. Higher turn out this year. Class of three hundred students and three, I mean four students figured it out. Bout time.'

 

'Would you get a beer with me?' Angela asked looking at her books. Martin blinked, suprised out of his mental arithmetic.

 

'It's not my test. It's Leenick's.'

 

'I know. I just though, if I had someone there who was my own age it wouldn't be so bad. Leenick doesn't have the greatest reputation with the women on campus.'

 

'Nor does he have one with the guys.' Martin shuddered. 'Sure I guess. I'm not a big beer drinker but sounds like fun.'

 

'Great, I'll go talk to Leenick.' and with that Angela turned and left the room.

 

Martin sat for a while. What had just happened. Was he going out? Was he going out with a girl? Yeah Leenick would be there, he'd have to be careful about that, but a girl had asked him out. And her name was Angela to boot. He chuckled.

 

Walking over to his screen he brough up an image of Angela, the Angela he knew and the one that had just left his office.

 

Now Martin's a very smart man. In certain areas. Physics, nanotechology, mathematical theory, communications theory, and applied robotics were all domestic issues. But putting one and one together when it came to women was a form of algebra he'd never been very good at. For the first time, it clicked in his brain.

 

And so did his door.

 

The doorknob twisted and he turned to see if it was Angela coming back with a response.

 

Martin saw a man in his late fifties sit down in a chair before his desk. He had the odd veneer of a man who had watched too many spy movies and than dressed like them. His eyes were rings of black and his hair was a spotty gray that had arrived well before it's time. He had a brief case with him which was odd since no one used brief cases anymore.

 

'Can I help you?' Martin asked the stranger.

 

'Yes. Yes you can.' The Stranger said but than waited for Martin to continue the conversation.

 

'...Okay, who are you?' Martin ventured.

 

'Jasper.' He replied. 'Mr.Zync we need your help.'

 

'My help? Whose we? Help for what? How do you know who I am anyway?' the questions flowed from his mouth.

 

'We need your help on a project. A project that your family has some history with.' Jasper replied.

 

'Again, who is we?' Martin pressed.

 

'The people I work for.' Jasper responded with no indication of explaining that.

 

Martin asked anyway. 'And who are the people you work for?'

 

'You'll meet them if you join the project.'

 

'And what project is that or is that information not available either?' Martin sneered.

 

Jasper opened a brief case and removed a P-Pad. Similar to M-Pad's, a P-Pad was generally used by business and government works since they could be tightly controlled by managers. Jasper pressed at the screen for a minute and than handed Martin the P-Pad and leaned back. Martin took the P-Pad and was lost.

 

For ten minutes, Martin wasn't even aware that Jasper was in the room. For his part, Jasper just sat back and adjusted his jacket while Martin's eyes darted across the screen. Twenty minutes later, Martin looked up, a cold chill of excitment running up and down his spine. He searched for something to wipe his forahead with but found only research papers. Grabbing a three, he smeared his forhead with several student's thesis.

 

'My family never did anything like that.' Martin said after a very long time.

 

'Yes. They did and still do. You just never knew about it.' Jasper responded fully expecting this question.

 

'You mean my father...' Martin's eyes flicked from the screen to window. His eye's saw the heavens but his mind was caring him light years away to a location he had only dreamed about.

 

Jasper shook his head. 'So, are you ready to go?' He asked.

 

'I don't have much of a choice now do I?'

 

'Sure you do.' Jasper smiled. 'You have one choice. Come along.'

 

Martin followed Jasper out his door, forgetting to shut it. And then Martin Zync was gone for three months.

 

.8.

 

- From a Zync Corp Wendy Satellite HoloAd 6.26.3005 -

 

Tired of coming home to an empty house?

 

Lonely and wish you could talk to some face to face?

 

Wish someone was at home to keep the lights on for you?

 

Zync Corp is proud to announce the successor to the fabulously succesful Wendy-15 software line, Wendy-XD. You've seen holograms in business, on planes and even in this very commerical but now for the first time a hologram will be a part of your home. Enjoy the benifits of a hologram companion in your apartment or loft now. The Wendy-XD comes with over 100 amusing games to play and with access to the Net, the Wendy-XD had limitless possibilities. So, before you come home to another night of lonely tomato soop, remember just talk and Wendy will listen.

 

Note: Must be using SoftTouch H.O.U.S.E software and E.M.N Hardware Solutions.

 

Warning: Zync Corp cannot be held responsible for loss of social contact and grace.

 

.9.

 

05.21.2803  

 

Work on Wendy had totally consumed Martin's life. He had perfected the the receptions protocol late last year and was having entire conversations with Wendy throughout the evenings. Martin had been practincing talking to Angela with Wendy and while the attempts were less than graceful, the results were definitly turning in Martin's favor. But something was missing that Martin couldn't help but explorer.

 

Like the automated detection schema that drove his Wendy, Martin had combined another old technology into his project. Holograms. During the 2020's Hologam technology had grown with leaps and bounds with the aide of nanotechnology. It was thought that soon, computers would become the stuff of movie dreams. Unfortuneatly, while hologram techology had progressed so had it's requirements. In order to maintain a stable hologram, even one with only a radius of 15 feet, the base unit had to have an extensive power supply with several banks of computers to feed it. Corporations had jumped on the technology and soon every corporate lobby had a bellhop and a hologram greeting customers as they entered.

 

But for homes, the idea was ridiculous. The energy problems of the 2050's had been the domestic death knell for holograms but the technology was maintained by a few enthusiasts, hoping to bring the light of a hologram from the Gap store to their living room (or more likely, basement bedroom).

 

Now Martin's feild was not holograms. He knew the ideas behind the theories and the technology but he didn't really dabble in it like his friend Sven. Sven was a hologram nut and Martin was content to let him ramble on about it while Martin nosed around Sven's office. Then one day Sven said something that made Martin stop refiling through his academic papers.

 

'What was that?' Martin said. He hadn't been following Sven's line of thought for nearly 3 years. Sven frowned but restarted anyway.

 

'I said, in some test cases holograms are being created with a third of the power requirements.'

 

'And how much is a third of the power requirements?' Martin asked, finally interested. Wendy stirred in the back of his mind but he kept his hopes low. Sven rattled off a number. 'Really.' Martin gasped.

 

'Well sorta. See it all depends on the level of detail you want the hologram to have. It's not even a true hologram if you ask me but it's a good start.'

 

'Why isn't it a true hologram?' Martin wondered out loud. It either is or it isn't he thought.

 

'Well it is, in that it uses light and optic technologies to generate the image but it doesn't obey the four laws of hologram technology.'

 

'And what are the four laws?' Martin asked exasperated by Sven dragging this out.

 

'Well the first law is that it takes at least 210 wattes to power a hologram. This rule of course has been broken.'

 

'Yes, of course, but why does that not make it a hologram. Wasn't that the point?'

 

Sven shrugged. 'About thirty years ago, it was proven scientifically, that the first rule could never be broken. Ever. It simply could be done.'

 

'Well it has been done.' Martin responded.

 

'Yes but we're not sure how it's done and how it has broken the first law of holograms.'

 

'Thanks Sven.' Martin said getting up.

 

'Your leaving? For what?' Sven asked getting up himself.

 

'For giving me an idea.'

 

.10.

 

03.03.2802  

 

Martin wasn't just anybody. That's what everyone else told him too.

 

Martin had returned from Sven's and began studying, with Wenda's assistance, about holograms. For 5 months he was lost in reading. He barely showed up for his TA class and rarely held office hours anymore. Angela was worried about him, he knew that in the back of his mind, but his study came first. Martin learned about holograms in five months what professors learn in their careers. Of course, those professors didn't have an industrious assistant by their side that never slept and predicted accurately (about eighty percent of the time at least) their research needs.

 

He joined the team of scientists at the University with Sven who were exploring the new shift in Hologram technology. With Martin's help, the team was able to recreate the hologram in a lab setting with less power than the original authors had theorized. Combing the particle beams of three nanobeams instead of two while using the power of one nanobeam to partially power the nanobeam beside it had helped them accomplish this feat. It wasn't Martin's idea, but he had been the one to actually construct the nanobeam systems, being the most expierenced of the team to have worked with the technology.

 

Five months later, they applied for a patent and began building prototypes. Martin began his own prototype at home, pilfering a tool or piece of material here and there. It wasn't easy coming across scilica etched carbon at your local hardware store.

 

Martin had a goal, one he didn't trust to anyone and barely even to himself. It was ambious although entirely within the realm of possibility. Martin's idea, which by this point must be painfully obvious, was to merge the movements and reactions of the hologram to the receptions of the H.O.U.S.E systems he had installed. It wasn't that Martin wasn't confident that he could do it, he had mapped out the idea pretty far into implementation design while working with the hologram team. It was the tingling sensation that Martin got in the back of his neck that had him on edge. He was going to attempt to bring Wendy to life. A very basic, hollow version of life to be sure. But the amount of time Martin had been spending talking to Wendy had given him a rampourt with her that he could almost touch.

 

Martin snatched his fingers back, his hands ghosting the dreams playing through his mind. He scolded himself for thinking about Wendy in that way. He scolded himself for thinking about himself in that way. He wasn't that lonely.

 

Was he?

 

.11.

 

03.14.2802  

 

Angela began her day as she normally did with a piece of toast, a glass of orange juice and ten minutes wrestling with her dog, Geek. She ruffled his ears one last time than left her apartment. Stopping at the local coffee hut by her apartment she ran into some friends.

 

'Hey Angela.' One of the two girls said to her.

 

'Hey Angela.' Said the other.

 

'Hey Jessica, Autumn.' Angela returned, trying desperatly not to roll her eyes. Jessica and Autumn had been her friends and roomates from freshman year. She had relied heavily on the two that first year when she was going through her relationship and eventual breakup issues with her one true boyfriend and at the time Angela felt that she had truly forged a bond with these two women. When Angela found out that her one true boyfriend was also the one true boyfriend for both Jessica and Autumn as well she nearly lost her mind.

 

The night she found out, Angela stormed out of the room, drove several hundred miles and than flew several hundred more to a location even her parents didn't know about. They only new about the large credit card debt that was amassed from those two weeks of depression. When Angela returned, she seemed refreshed and noticable tan compared to the other Maine students. She smiled at her two roommates and continued smiling at them while she packed up her things and moved out. She had found a crummy apartment where the pipes leaked, the television only had fifty channels, the Net connection was only a T1, and the landlord made her sign over her first child in order for her to keep a dog in her dungeon. But it got her out of that room.

 

Autumn and Jessica were stupid. Not stupid stupid, although Angela had never ruled that out, but stupid in a oblivious, irritating sort of way. The two had never made the connection of Angela's outburst and their involvement with the nameless boyfriend. Angela wasn't sure whether to hate them or pity them but more often than not she fell back on her office manner of smiling and feeding people a line of bullshit.

 

'So, how are you?' Autumn asked sipping her double whipped mocochocolate latte.

 

'Pretty good. Just found out I own part of the Louvre.' Angela responded.

 

'Well isn't that great for you.' Jessica said, although Autumn to her credit saw the stink in Angela's words. Jessica continued, 'Better make sure you get a good inspector. My cousin Cheryl, just purchased one of those new townhomes on Bleaker Street. Three days after moving in, she found out the walls had been completely stripped of insulation mesh. Can you believe it?'

 

'Insulation mesh theft is pretty common in this area.' Angela remarked, trying to control the seething anger boiling in her stomach.

 

'Really? Maybe we should check our house Jessica.' Autumn said looking at Jessica.

 

'You two still live together?' Angela inquired.

 

'Yup. We have a great little place on Hillmount. It's only three blocks from campus and I swear we have the cutest neighbors living next to us.' Jessica gushed. Figures, Angela thought.

 

'Oh my god, we have the most perfect guy for you Angela!' Autumn squealled. This caught Angela offguard since she really didn't think the two spent much time thinking about setting her up on dates. She was also considering how much commotion the two would make if she bodychecked them to get out of this conversation.

 

'Oh my god, you're so right Autumn!' Jessica joined Autumn's squeals of joy.

 

'How do you know who I'm thinking about?' Autumn asked of Jessica.

 

The two stared at each other and than all of a sudden 'Brett Madison!' the two yelled in sync which caused an even greater scream of joy from two of the participants in the trio standing outside the store.

 

'He's so dreamy Angie.' Angela hated that nickname. 'He's a third year psychology major with just the sexiest chin you have ever seen.' Autumn described.

 

'I thought he was a geology major?' Jessica said. I'm sure the details are difficult to keep clear in an alcohol soaked brain such as yours, Angela though darkly.

 

'Guh, is not. I dated him for three months, I think I know what he's majoring in.'

 

This brought Angela wide awake. The memories of her boyfriend, the memories of the consilation and smiles these two had given her, the utter heartbreak she had felt, and the ensuing two week vacation in Angorwatt had been firmly repressed by Angela. But in those six words, 'I dated him for three months' had brought all those feelings and hatreds back to the surface. Angela had the overwhelming urge to hurt these two.

 

'Well thanks but I'm already dating a nanophysists so thanks but no thanks.'

 

'Oh don't tell me you're dating that dork that dissappeared for three months.' Autumn made a face.

 

'I'm not. Goodbye.' Angela said pushing her way through the two into the coffee house. 'Hope you drop dead.' She added, hoping neither of the two girls had a Ultra Ear Plugins.

 

Standing in line for her single cinnamon espresso, Angela made a fundamental choice about Martin. Why wasn't Martin her boyfriend? She was way above his standards she was sure of that. Why hadn't he asked her out? Why hadn't she asked him out? Why does it take so long to make a damn single cinnamon espresso?

 

Leaving the store, Angela had a new goal.

 

To make Martin her boyfriend.

 

.12.

 

03.17.2802  

 

It had taken Angela several days to work up the nerve to go over to Martin's house. She couldn't understand why she was nervous about asking Martin out. Angela had asked out guys a hundred times hotter than Martin and she hadn't even been drunk. Before leaving her house she considered drinking a shot of rum but thought a slurred speech approach wouldn't get her the desired outcome. Summing up her courage, she grabbed her coat and walked out of her apartment.

 

As she traveled the nine blocks to Martin's house she tried to resolve the doubt in her heart. It probably all led back to that one night when he had suddenly dissappeared. When she returned to his office the door was still ajar and the light was on so she naturally assumed he was there. Walking in, she found her adorable assistant professor missing. It was odd that he'd leave after she'd just asked him out for a drink but maybe he'd gotten excited and gone back to his place to freshen up. Yes, that had to be it she had told herself. It's not like he's going to stand me up.

 

But as we already know, Martin did stand Angela up that night much to Angela's consternation and Martin's infatuation with Jasper's P-Pad. Angela had waited in her apartment for three hours waiting for a call from Martin which never came. After the third hour Angela became angry and stormed over to Martin's place which at the time had been on the University campus. She knocked on the door and when she received no response, the flames of rage pushed her forward into his room.

 

Martin's room was sparse although it was cluttered. While Angela's mind tried to get around the tremendous amount of broken gadgets and electrical parts lying all over the place, she gently stroked the fury of being stood up. A stack of papers stood in a mound, tagged and torn beside Martin's bed, a bed which didn't look like it had gotten as much use as it should have.

 

Walking over to the computer as best she could, Angela saw that Martin had left a document open on the screen. Hoping it was some clue as to the whereabouts of the assistant professor, she pushed aside some clothes and boxes and sat to read. After reading the first sentence she realized this wouldn't help find Martin but kept reading anyway.

 

---

 

Martin's Guide to Conversations

 

If you're reading this, you've already failed. You're thinking way too much about the conversation for your own good. Do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars and most certainly do not collect a date for Friday night.

 

---

 

Angela laughed, turned for a second to see if anyone was watching her but kept reading.

 

---

 

The problem, as I see it, is that the more thought you put into preparing your conversation the worse off you will be. Case in point my dealings with one of my female classmates. On a purely professional level, I can talk to her about the class, how to solve a current problem, etc. But if that conversation should drift in even the slightest towards something meaningful and or random my thoughts begin to get convoluted and I risk saying things which I don't mean or haven't thought through.

 

But perhaps thats it. Perhaps that's the answer. As much as it pains me to say, thinking through your responses isn't always the best course of action when talking. If you've prepared a speech for a forum than yes, you damn better well have your ducks in a row. But for sitting with friends or if the gods would allow it a woman, I think it is best to let the conversation go where it will.

 

In order to do this I have developed a couple of rules to help me. I know this fundamentally voids my first statement but until such time that I can hold a conversation freely and all examples seem to prove that I can not, I must base my behavior around these. Revisions will of course be coming after actual usage.

 

1) Do not think about their reaction. It is best to hope for a pleasant response, however, if that is not the case, do not be discourage by this. Many comedians have told jokes which have failed, so it is far more likely that you will tell a simple line that will not have the outburst of laughts that you are expecting. Accept it and try again.

 

2) Listen to the conversation but do not get lost in it. You must be an active participant in the conversation, nothing else will do. People who do not talk, are not talken to and more often than not forgotten about. And you do not want to be put in the position of the rest of the group having to try to coax you into participating. Speak up or don't speak at all.

 

3) Maintain a positive listening posture even if what the person has said completely rejects all logical thought. And here is the most important lesson to remember. Do not lecture. If the person is wrong, casually correct them. Do not try to explorer their mistake nor try to correct it on the spot. That is their problem which you can talk about later. Remember, smile and nod never hurt anything.

 

4) Be willing to talk about topics that are unfamilar to you. Despite having little or no interest in a subject, it is very likely that the other person does, so for the time being allow for the possibility that you might end up having an interest in it as well. The other person might have a perspective on a particular topic that you never considered. If this is the case, isn't it wise to listen and talk about it? As you learned before, you are not the definitive answer to all problems. Just some of them.

 

5) Do not look at her breasts.

 

6) Before going into a speech about...

 

---

 

Angela stopped when she thought she heard a noise at the door. Turning she found no one but walked over to the doorway to look down the hall. Seeing no one, she took a step back and than stopped. Various post-its and pieces of paper were stuck to walls, bed posts, mirrors and other random places in Martin's room. The one that had caught Angela's eye was stuck to Martin's laundry basket which she yanked to her. On it, she read the word 'Wendy'.

 

The woman in the document hadn't been her, as Angela had believed. It was this Wendy tramp. Probably some math nerd who had gotten Martin's boxers in a twist. Yeah, that was probably it. Furious, Wendy stormed out of Martin's apartment. Walking around the campus, she soon found herself at a frat party which in her current mood suited her just fine. Grabbing a green cup of beer from the first drunken college guy to hand her one, she took a long swig and began dancing and began her search. She was looking for the stupidous, rudess, most unrepentant man at this party with a body that would caress her in ways she'd probably regret in the morning. Luckily for her, this party was awash with them.

 

The next morning, Angela regretted her angry decision which was often the case when it came to her angry outbursts. Paying back those credit card loans had kept her from taking dance lessons and meeting new people her freshman year. Of course they also had led her again to Martin, so it wasn't all bad. As she made the long shameful walk home to her apartment, she tried to remember why she had done what she had done while also avoiding anyone she knew. The memory of an abscent Martin caused her feet to shift direction back to campus. She was going to give Martin a piece of her regretful, angry mind.

 

But when she got to Martin's room, she found the door still flush against the wall from the previous night when she had slammed it open. Anger, as is so often the case, quickly and painfully disipated and became nervousness. Martin was weird, that was for sure, but he wasn't so weird that he'd forget to come home. Angela began to panic which caused her stomach to revolt in painful turbulence. Clutching her stomach, Angela fled the room. As she ran to her apartment, she wasn't sure whether the coming hang over or the shame she felt burned her more. She spent the next three days nursing herself back together and than the next three months worrying.

 

Where was Martin?

 

.13.

 

03.17.2802  

 

Angela knocked on Martin's door which had the appearance of being new but old. Angela noticed metal strips along the top, bottom and sides of the house. She wasn't sure what they were there for but knowing Martin, she was sure they were there for some reason he probably wouldn't have time to tell her about. As she waited, she looked around, trying to keep her mind off her nerves. She thought about Martin's conversation techniques and wondered if he'd be using any now. She wondered if she'd be using any now as well. Before she could remember exactly what the rules were, the door opened.

 

'Hello.' Martin said, opening the door. He seemed suprised to see her, but that faint jolt of joy that Angela noticed every time he looked at her passed his eyes. She smiled, taking heart in that.

 

'Hi Martin.' she replied. Than nothing happened. Angela was a forward person but she had never invited herself into anyones home least of all in Martin's. Well, the other time she had invited herself in but he wasn't there to block her path either. Martin on the other hand just stood there, waiting for Angela to continue, oblivious to the social gaff he was making. Rolling her eyes, Angela asked 'May I come in?'

 

'Huh, oh yeah, um sure.' Martin snapped to attention. Maybe he had caught the movement of her eyes, or maybe he had finally come to the realization that a beautiful woman was standing in his doorstep. In either case, he stepped back to let Angela into his home. Cauticously, Angela entered Martin's domain.

 

Much like his dorm several years ago, Martin's house was an assortment of random objects in equally random places. Where his dishes should have been, two speakers, some cable, and a lamp were stored. In his sink, where Angela thought was the next logical place for the dishes to be, was a stack of mail that Angela guess went back as far as five months, much of it unopened. Scanning the rest of teh visible area in an attempt to locate the dishes she assumed Martin must have, she saw a television hanging from a coat hanger, couches, tables and chairs covered with papers, gadgets, pens, and other assorted professor belongings. Giving up on finding the dishes, Angela turned back to face Martin.

 

She did not find Martin there.

 

What she did find their was not something Angela had expected in Martin's house. She had expected wires connecting exotic devices to even more exotic devices. She had expected fungus growing on month old sandwiches that had been forgotten or perhaps not. She had expected equipment with names she could barely pronounce much less use or understand their findings. Angela even expected to find a naked Martin before finding what she did.

 

She found, a woman.

 

.14.

 

03.17.2802  

 

'Wendy to be exact.' Martin said, poking his head out from behind the woman who was standing in between himself and Angela. Angela assumed she had either gasped or asked what her something because she couldn't remember anything after seeing the six foot tall blonde woman with an odd shine to her standing behind her. Thankfully, the woman was clothed as was Martin.

 

'Pleased to meet you.' the woman said. Angela couldn't place where her voice was coming from but it certainly wasn't from her mouth.

 

'Nice to meet you too.' Angela said reaching her hand out. She was still in shock but she knew she'd be angry soon enough. The woman lifted her hand to meet Angela's and than the strangest thing happened. They didn't shake hands.

 

Or rather, Angela shook a hand, and Wendy shook a hand, but neither of them touched each other. Angela snatched her hand back, although she regretted it as soon as she had done so. She knew Martin was laughing although she didn't hear it.

 

'It's just a hologram.' Martin said from behind Wendy. To illustrate his point, Martin poked his hand through Wendy's abdomen. Angela felt like her stomach was being punched as well. And yet, an odd sense of calm washed over her, the initial fear that Martin had met someone else was dissipating. Angela tried to compose herself.

 

'I didn't know holograms for the H.O.U.S.E were available yet.' Angela tried, looking for a chair somewhere that didn't have something on it already.

 

'There's an open seat 39 degrees to your left Angela.' The hologram said in that echoing voice.

 

'Wait, You know my name?' Angela asked, stopping herself from turning in the direction of the supposed empty space.

 

'Of course. Martin talks about you all the time. You seem like such a nice person.' Wendy smiled. Angela nervously smiled back.

 

'You talk to your hologram?' Angela asked Martin, finally turning in the direction Wendy had told her. Angela hadn't brought her protractor with her, although she was sure there might be one lying around here somewhere, but if she had to guess, the hologram was perfectly exact about her recommendation.

 

'Yes, um, uh.' Martin fumbled. Martin stopped trying to gather his thoughts. Letting out a long breath, Martin turned to Wendy. 'Wendy, where is another open space that is close to where Angela is sitting.'

 

'Right here.' Wendy said. A flash of light, and from where Wendy had been "standing", she moved five feet to a couch across the room. Angela blinked.

 

'What just happened.' Angela asked to know in particular. Wendy seemed to be getting ready to answer when Martin murmurred something under his breath. In another flash of light, the only people remaining in the living room were Angela and Martin. Angela supposed they had been the only two people in their to begin with if you wanted to be exact about it but at any rate, Wendy was gone. Martin sat down in the spot Wendy had marked.

 

'Let me explain.' Martin started.

 

Angela leaned back, getting comfy. She knew that sentence. Through their many study sessions, Martin had begun hour long lectures about topics with the sentence. Normally, that sentence had cause Angela to rest her pencil, put her chin on her hand and gaze idly at Martin as he went off about some minutia she had raised.

 

'Wendy is a hologram.' Martin began.

 

'Gathered that much, thanks. Why can she talk?' Angela asked a little smuggely.

 

'Talking holograms are nothing new.' Martin shot back.

 

'Talking holograms in your home is definitly something new, Martin.' Angela responded, Martin backing down this time.

 

'Alright, alright. Let me explain.'

 

'Knock your socks off.' Angela said. Score one for me she said. She worried it'd be the only point she get in this entire conversation.

 

'Um, alright. Well it all began about three years ago. At first Wendy, that's what I call her by the way. No real signifigance mind you, but it's always nice to associate a name to a voice. Anyway, Wendy was to act as a central voice to the H.O.U.S.E system. She'd provide vocal acknowledgement to commands I'd give to my H.O.U.S.E.' Angela nodded, and Martin continued. 'Well I started it like that but than I realized that's been done a hundred times and why am I reinventing the wheel. So than, as I was returning home one night, from your shop actually, I thought, what if the voice could respond to my commands. Not just with prefeed lines, but with responses that not only matched what I had said, but also what I was doing, how I was feeling and what I might need. What if Wendy, could provide me with...' Martin trailed off.

 

'Provide you with what?' Angela asked.

 

'Uh, it's a little embarrassing but let's just say what if Wendy provided me with responses geared to my interactions with the H.O.U.S.E and even interactions I didn't know I was having.' Martin tried to persaude the conversation away from that fact but Angela wouldn't let him.

 

'No, provide you with what?' Angela insisted.

 

She saw Martin look up into her eyes and in that she saw an entirely new dimension of Martin that she hadn't even begun to envision. In that second of connection, Angela saw in Martin the yearning, desperation and emotion bottled up behind those thick glasses he wore. Angela knew what he was going to say before he said it but she let him anyway.

 

Martin sighed. 'Uhhh well, I made a promise to myself that I would never hold anything back from you, not because I'm trying to help you in class but because I think you deserve it.' Angela waited while Martin fidgeted with something on the coffee table in front of him.

 

'I began Wendy because....' Martin let the answer hang in the air. '....because I wanted someone to talk to.' He said finally, with an air of release and sadness. Angela's heart nearly broke. Not because she had made him reveal something which he didn't want to, she did feel bad about that as well, but the utter loneliness she felt all of sudden radiating not only from Martin but from the entire room. In that moment, Angela wanted to leap across the room and hug Martin.

 

Gathering himself, Martin looked up which caused Angela to pause from jumping across the room. 'Silly I know but a lot of scientific endeavors have been on a silly whim.' Martin continued, forcing a smile.

 

'It's not silly.' Angela said quiet, holding Martin's gaze.

 

They sat there for a long time.

 

.15.

 

03.17.2802  

 

Martin blinked first. Angela couldn't believe that neither of them had made a move towards the other, although she felt that it was an appropriate moment between them. Martin looked at the window.

 

'It's late.' he said shuffling his feet, unable now to retake Angela's gaze despite having been lookeing at it for so long. Angela too seemed to being searching around the room, almost avoiding Martin's eyesight. A few intersecting pathes had caused them both to blush and giggle but not much was said.

 

'Well I guess, I should be going.' Angela said. She wasn't sure if she had accomplished her goal in coming here but she didn't feel like staying here right now.

 

'Oh, okay.' Martin said standing up. She walked with him to the door, neither of them saying much, Martin keeping his eyes on the floor, Angela rustling through her purse looking for her keys despite having walked there.

 

At the door, Angela turned and finally they looked each other in the eyes. Angela was the first to speak.

 

'Well, I guess I'll see you tommorow.'

 

'Yeah, I guess so.' Martin said, leaning against the doorframe.

 

'Well, have a good night.' Angela said feeling her body moving away. Fighting every nervous reaction in her body, Angela forced her body in the opposite direction towards Martin. Before she knew what she was doing, she kissed Martin on the cheek. And it felt right. Not the kiss she had given to her one true boyfriend. Not the kiss she had given countless other blind dates. This was a kiss just for Martin.

 

And before she knew what she was saying, she was talking again. 'You know you can talk to me Martin.' She whispered since she was only a few inches from his ear. 'If you want.' She ammended.

 

She leaned back. A look of utter suprise and joy was quickly spreading it's way across Martin's face, words having no chance whatsoever of escaping his lips. Angela smiled, tucker a strand of her hair behind her ear and back away. 'Again, have a good night Martin.' She said descending the steps of his house.

 

Walking to the street she felt that she had truely accomplished her goal. Martin might not be her boyfriend yet, but she could feel that that was in the future. She felt a burst of happiness in her heart that tommorow something wonderful would happen, if only Martin would make it happen.

 

And than her heart sank. If only Martin would make it happened, she echoed in her head. Angela knew Martin. She knew his inability to communicate on even the slightest social level. She bite her nail. Would Martin have the nerve to ask her out. The ball was firmly in his court now. There was no way she could go trapsing back their to get it again and try for another shot. He'd have to pick up the ball and run with it. How many weeks would she have to wait before he picked up the ball. How many months would she endure before he managed to pick up the phone and call her.

 

How long would it take! She yelled to herself.

 

As it turned out, not long at all.

 

.16.

 

03.17.2802  

 

Had she really just kissed him? Was she really now walking away, out his door and out onto the street. Was this actually happening. Nothing like this had ever happened to him before. What should he do. What should he say. How should he react.

 

Martin thought to call on Wendy, but found that he was soon to far away from his house to do that, the cause of which being his feet were slowly moving him forward in the direction Angela had taken. He wasn't sure if he had given his feet the command to walk but they certainly were, albeit at a fairly slow pace. Realizing what his feet were telling him, Martin relinquished all control over his feet and the rest of his body to his emotions. Soon he was running, running faster than he had ever run before, not that Martin did much running at all so it was fairly unimpressive to most watching on the street but to Martin it was an act of heroism.

 

Martin caught up with Angela at the third corner. Why had she been walking so fast. Or was it, she had walked normally, he had just been a slow walker all these years. Nevermind that, man, that's a problem for another day. Think about what you're going to do.

 

No don't think you twit! his subconscious yelled deep from within him. Clearly, it had been driving him so far but was slowly loosing control to Martin's rational side which had just returned from a trip to the bathroom. Upon getting back, Martin's conscious mind tried to deal with the sudden outburst that was Martin's current life.

 

What the hell's going on around her, it shouted, if a subconscious could shout thought Martin.

 

You're too late, his subconscious laughed. He's already behind her, she knows he's there.

 

No she doesn't, his conscious mind screamed, trying to wrest control of the body and perform a full system reverse manuever.

 

Yes, she does. Look. Martin could feel both his conscious and subconscious minds looking out his eyes. They saw Martin touching Angela's shoulder, they saw Angela turning around, they saw a sudden spike in Martin's heart rate.

 

They saw her smile.

 

She's there. Deal with it, Martin's subconscious said with a finality that stopped all of the conscious thought ordered. And with that, the subconscious was gone, back to wherever it came from to plot for it's next emergence.

 

Shaking his head trying to relieve his mind of his inner forces, Martin looked up. Angela was still standing their smiling.

 

'Angela...' Martin said.

 

'Yes Martin?' she responded.

 

'um, uh, would you like to go get a cup of coffee and uh talk about..' Martin scrambled for something. 'uuhh'

 

'Your hologram?' Angela finished with a smile.

 

Martin smiled, 'Yeah, about the hologram.'

 

'Sure, I'd like that.' she said.

 

With a sigh of relief, Martin smiled and joined Angela's pace. They shifted directions and walked together, to the coffee house.

 

.17.

 

03.17.2802 

 

Standing in line at the coffee house, Martin looked at his shoes. While waiting to order his coffee and Angela's cinnamon espresso, Martin though furiously about what to talk about. He couldn't just talk about the hologram. He could, he thought, but that wouldn't be a very good use of the time nor a very enjoyable use of Angela's. No, he had to tap that other side of his brain, the side that soared above the technical and arcane. The side that let him indulge in flights of fantasy and intrigue.

 

Unfortuneatly, that side of the brain's door was locked.

 

Shaking his head, he turned back to look at Angela. She was looking out the window, idly twirling her finger across the table as she waited for Martin to return. Talking points, conversation starters and opening lines choked in Martin's throat as his heart made a dash for his mouth. My God, is she beautiful, Martin thought to himself. Glancing at a mirror above the coffee counter he caught site of himself. To most, Martin was a decently attractive guy. Not overly handsome but not as hideous as some of his colleagues were rumored to be. Martin shook his head again. How could an angel such as Angela, her parents must have known how she'd grow up to give her such an appropriate name, be interested in a guy such as Martin. Martin didn't remember his parents telling him he was named after anything although if he had to guess it would be mayonaisse.

 

'Can I help you sir?' the salesperson asked, breaking Martin's dissection of his face in the mirror above his head.

 

'Oh, yeah, hey Steve. Um, could I have a tall coffee and a cinnamon espresso.'

 

Steve stopped. 'Two drinks?' he asked.

 

'Yeah...' Martin could feel his facing getting red but kept it to himself.

 

'Didn't know you liked cinnamon espresso Martin.' Steve replied realing Martin in to the answer both of them new was at the end of the line.

 

'I don't Steve.' Martin played his part.

 

'Than whose it for? I don't like them either.' Steve pulled in the fish over the side.

 

Martin sighed 'It's for Angela.' He answered, nodding his head in Angela's direction.

 

'You're shitting me!' Steve exclaimed, leaning so far over the counter that he nearly fell on Martin. 'Hot damn, good for you Martin.'

 

'Yeah, thanks Steve.' Martin said pushing Steve back over the counter. 'Could you, you know, get our drinks now?'

 

'Huh, oh yeah, yeah sure.' Steve said absentmindely. 'You and Angela, huh.' Steve had begun pushing down on the giant coffee thurmous behind the counter, filling Martin's cup. Another server was busy with the espresso machine, fiddling with knobs and valves to create the scandalous cinnamon espresso.

 

'Uh, sorta I guess.' Martin said. He'd never considered Steve a friend but at the moment, he was open to any branch that would save him from the river.

 

'Cool man.' Steve said pushing the cup of warm coffee to Martin, the espresso following almost immeaditly after it. Martin felt a lot more reassured by Steve's simple words than Steve had ever intended but if he did, he wouldn't have mind. Martin had reassured Steve in several classes so if he could return the favor in a different subject than Martin was used to it was only fitting. 'Two standard.' Steve said.

 

'But, the cinnamon espresso costs two fifty alone.' Martin protested.

 

'I know dude. Just go over and talk to your friend' Steve said with a coy smile.

 

'Oh. Uh thanks Steve.' Martin said and turned to walk over to Angela's table.

 

'You're gonna need it.' Steve mumbled smiling. 'What can I getcha sir.' he said to the next customer.

 

.18.

 

03.17.2802 

 

Angela smiled at him as Martin sat down.

 

'Thank you.' She said at the cinnamon espresso he put down in front of her. 'How did you know that's what I liked?' She asked.

 

'Oh. Uhh.' Martin scrambled. 'I must have overheard you say it while I was in the store one time.' He tried.

 

'Yeah probably, I do get these a lot.' She laughed. 'That's awfully sweet of you to remember Martin, thank you.' She smiled at him again and took a sip. Martin blushed but covered it with his own coffee.

 

'So you were saying about the hologram.' Angela started.

 

'The what?' Martin said. He had completely forgotten about Wendy and was putting all of his brain towards thinking of talking points to bring up with Angela.

 

'The hologram in your home. Wendy wasn't it?'

 

'Oh right. Yeah, it's Wendy.' Martin was caught off guard. He had narrowed down the list of topics to two ideas and was about to throw in his opening bid when Angela had beat him to it with a topic he had hoped they wouldn't get back to. 'Um, are you sure you want to talk about that?' He asked.

 

'Why not. It sounds interesting. I've only seen holograms at department stores and they've only spouted prerecorded sales pitches at me. They've never offered me a place to sit.' Angela said with a giggle. Behind the giggle, she remembered the way Wendy had told her where to sit before she had even asked. How did the hologram know that she had wanted to find a place to sit? How had it found a place for her to sit so quickly. She knew some H.O.U.S.E. units monitored certain data about the rooms but they didn't keep records of the actual location of objects in a room. How had Wendy known?

 

Huh, she thought to herself, I guess I really am interested in this topic. Good because knowing Martin it's about to get long and technical.

 

Alright, Martin thought, try to keep it in your pants. Don't go into any long discussions about visual matrix theory or symbolic recognition algorithms. You don't have any white boards here to draw on anyway. Just keep it light and maybe you might not loose her at the crossroads between recitation and response.

 

'Oh. Well okay. Well let me know if I start boring you.' Martin replied. Angela smiled in response, urging him to continue. 'It all began, like I said, as means to help develop my conversation skills, lackluster as they are.' Martin tried a nervous laugh but got only a tilted frown from Angela. Pushing on, Martin explained 'Well with that in mind, I developed a home brewed A.I. system for my H.O.U.S.E. system. Nothing new there really, tons of people have customized their H.O.U.S.E.'s to fill a specific need. But in order for Wendy to be a good conversationlist and not work off of predetermined notes, I had to think about the core of conversation. Namely, what is involved in conversation'

 

Martin saw Angela's eyes perk up, so maybe what he was talking about wasn't so boring after all. He let brief bit of silence intervene with his speech, allowing Angela the chance to jump in. But Angela's beautiful lips didn't break apart so Martin continued. 'We all know that a conversation involves two or more people and usual revolves around some topic which can shift or change throughout the discussion. The mere act of opening ones mouth is the second catalyst to the succesful creation of topic for discussion. Yes, I did say second catalyst and this is what had me stumped for a while. While people will talk about environmental waste, new fashions, and even other conversations, they don't just start talking about it. They need some spark or on ramp for the conversation to begin.'

 

'Which of course makes you wonder, well what is this on ramp which leads to the highway of conversation if you will.' Martin said with a weak smile. Angela returned his smile with a sip of her espresso. 'And what hit me was, a lot of words do not in fact begin with words but with people's actions and consequent reactions to other people. So, with that in mind I feel that the first catalyst to a conversation, and hopefully a successful one, is the reception of moods, motions and other information about the other person you are attempting to talk to.'

 

'Your right Martin.' Angela said for the first time with a look in her eye that she was truly grasping Martin's line of thought. 'I have a lot of friends who complain about not having deep discussions but you can't just jump into them. You have to read the atmosphere conversation I guess.'

 

'Precisely,' Martin responded, a bit too loudly. The table next to them laughed but returned to their conversation about oranges. 'And it's not that talking about the conversation is the difficult, it's actually getting their.'

 

'Oh, I don't find that, that hard.' Angela said.

 

Martin smiled weakly again. 'Anyway, I thought, in order to start a conversation, my H.O.U.S.E. system would need to be able to detect and understand the data it was receiving from me.'

 

'Like what data?' Angela asked.

 

'Oh, almost anything you do can be judged as data to a H.O.U.S.E.. We don't assume most of it is data since we just naturally absorb it into our perception and deal with it subconsciously.' Martin could hear his subconscious laugh deep within him, that dark, arrogant laugh. 'But to a H.O.U.S.E., most of that data is either unintelligable or more likely, not collected. Do you know, most H.O.U.S.E. systems only come with two IO/ER sensors per room and only one voice receiver for the entire house?'

 

'Uh, no I didn't.' Angela said a bit uneasily. She didn't even know there were IO/ER sensors in her house, whatever they were. She laughed it off, 'My crappy apartment probably only has one IO/ER sensor for the entire place.'

 

'Oh no, all rooms have at least two in them. It's a law that was passed fifteen years ago, I think.' Martin said, missing Angela's uncertainty and plowing right into the next part of his thought. 'So the data I was getting from the available sensors wasn't really giving me the data I needed to collect about a persons mood or actions. Of course, I had to figure out what kind of data I wanted to collect in the first place and let me tell you that took a lot of time to figure out.'

 

'Really? I'd think that be kind of easy.' Angela said with a sly grin.

 

Martin hung his head a little. 'I suppose for some it's pretty easy. I'm just not very good at that type of thing?'

 

'What type of thing?' Angela asked in a coy tone.

 

'You know, figuring out what people mean between the lines. What they say and than what they really say. Or when they say something which means one thing but it because they shifted their hips and let their hair hang at at fourty five degree agnle it means something entirely different. That sort of thing.' Martin answered with a hint of anger rising in his voice.

 

'Oh don't be silly.' Angela said, 'Here,' She said, moving her hand away from her cup and towards Martin's head. Ever so lightly, she brushed Martin's cheek causing nerves in Martin's spine to fire like they had never fired before in their life. This frenzy of internal activity was detectable in Martin's eyes, arm hair and breathing. 'See, I know a few things about what just happened without you even saying a word.'

 

Martin tried to take control of himself again. 'Um like what.' He managed, trying to ease his heart rate down to a slow and managed canter.

 

'Well by the way the hairs on your arms are standing on end, either we're near an electromagnetic field or...' Angela let the thought trail off although the answer was plain for anyone to see. Martin blushed.

 

'Oh, well, you're very good at that. Maybe you could help me improve some of Wendy's reception routines sometime?' Martin asked, still reeling from the touch she had given him. That brush of the cheek would be in the top five moments of this life for a long time to come.

 

'Sure, I guess. I'm not very good at writing H.O.U.S.E. instructions though. It's all complicated and strict.'

 

'Well, that's where I come in.' Martin said in as galant a voice as he could muster for someone who was riding the white horse of programming knowledge. 'I'm already familar with Wendy's IDE and API's since I well built them myself. I just need you to help me figure out what I need to listen for.'

 

'Oh, alright. Well, we'll have to do that sometime. But I think we've gotten side tracked.' Angela said with a pleasant smile.

 

'Who wouldn't be sidetracked by such a kind gesture.' Martin responded with more ease than even he knew he could muster. Angela was shocked by this but in a good way. Had Martin just flirted with her? Did Martin know he had flirted with her? Probably not, she thought to herself. She smiled again and let Martin continue with his story.

 

.19.

 

03.17.2802 

 

Unknown to Angela and Martin, a third party watched with interest at the conversation that was taking place several tables across. The man in the corner closed his eyes as if concentrating on words only he could hear. He took a sip from his coffee in a to go cup, that was perched near the edge of the table as if ready for a moments notice of escape. The man wore nondescript clothes. Not so nondescript as to be descriptive such as a spy during the cold war but not descriptive enough for students in the coffee house to remember the man or if they did to be able to redraw a portrait of the man.

 

'Can I get you anything else?' a waitress said. She appeared behind him, having just finished serving the table of math majors behind him. The man jumped and grasped a hand to his ear. His other hand shot out and firmly grasped the waitresses arm.

 

In a voice that made Linda, the waitress, unsure whether he was happy or sad the man replied 'Please, if you could. The next time you ask me a question, if you could simply tap me on the shoulder.'

 

'Um, yeah sure. Why?' Linda asked.

 

'I'm a little sensitive to sound at the moment.' The man answered.

 

'Were you in an accident?' Linda inquired? Her best friend Vicki had had a ringing sound in her ears for weeks after she had totalled her car and her boyfriend.

 

'No.' The man answered again and let it drop at that.

 

Linda rolled her eyes. 'So, can I get you anything?'

 

'No, I'm fine, thank you.' The man said with a grin that made Linda nervous.

 

Walking back to the bar, Linda asked Steve 'Hey, do you know that guy over in 12?'

 

'No. He's been in here a couple times but he normally just sits there.'

 

'He's creepy.' Linda remarked with a sour face.

 

This time Steve rolled his eyes and returned to the next customer.

 

.20.

 

03.17.2802

 

Meanwhile, Angela and Martin had continued their conversation without a thought to the man, Linda, or the three students across from them staring at Angela's chest. Well, Angela was concerned but she resolved that by shifting and facing the window. The three quickly turned back to their chess game, not saying a word, each savoring the memory of Angela's ample bust. Angela groaned inside but blocked the urge to strangle the three. She opened her eyes on Martin.

 

'And really, that's all there is to it. Sure the initial programming was difficult but most of that was done with others from the hologram technical working group. I just made a few adjustments to the way the hologram responds to certain let's say stimuli.' Martin concluded.

 

'That's interesting,' Angela said but both she and Martin doubted the veracity of her words. 'But you didn't tell me how Wendy receives that stimuli.'

 

'I didn't?' Martin looked taken aback. His eyes looked to the left for a second, as if the anwser was in his eye socket and he just had to teach his eyeballs to turn three hundred sixty degrees to gain all the knowledge the little crib sheet held. Before the ligaments in his eyes ripped, Martin remembered that no he hadn't told Angela about the sensors he had installed. 'Well, it's a bit difficult to explain. It's a lot easier to show them through out the house.'

 

'Martin are you asking me out again?' Angela said with a coy smile.

 

'Um. Have I asked you out already?' Martin asked a bit dumbley.

 

'Well besides the coffee shop,' Angela began with a wave of her hand to remind Martin that yes, they were indeed in a coffee shop. 'I thought you asked me to help you with your reception algorithms.'

 

'That's a date?' Martin asked. He wasn't sure what counted as a date since he hadn't been on many or any.

 

'Well, not really. But I figured we'd work on it one day, than as it got later you'd take me out to dinner, than we might walk around campus or go see a movie. And ta da, it'd be a date. Very clever of you really.' Angela said with the same smile remaining.

 

'Ah, well let's assume that is what I had intended,' Martin said with a coy smile of his own. 'What would be the second date I tried to sneak in there?'

 

'Well, coming back to your house to look at the sensors silly.' Angela said with a laugh.

 

'Yeah, I guess that was a little bit obvious.' Martin said with a light laugh. Well, obvious to her at least. Thank god she had explained it to Martin. 'We could go back there now if you'd like, I could show you the sensors and maybe make you dinner?'

 

Martin wasn't sure how he'd make her dinner. To his recollection, he had only three items in his refrigerator, seven in his pantry and none in his cabinets, all of which were unedible. But it seemed this evening was not able the feasible for Martin, but rather the daring which he found exhilerating.

 

'I'd like to Martin but I have to get going. Brad has me working the evening shift tonight. Well actually, in a fifteen minutes.' she said looking at her watch.

 

'Oh, I'm sorry if I'm keeping you with my boring conversation.' Martin said in a rush, rising from his seat.

 

A bit more slowly, Angela stood up  'You're not keeping me, and it wasn't boring Martin.' She whispered since she had gotten considerably closer to Martin than he had ever hoped for. 'How about Thursday?' She said.

 

'What about Thursday?' Martin responded, his thoughts in shambles, his nerves on end, and his skin tingling from sweat and Angela.

 

Angela backed away a bit. 'For dinner.' She said with a laugh again. 'Haven't forgotten about that already have you?'

 

'Oh, ah no, it's not that I forgot, it's just...' Martin stopped speaking before he could get to the humiliating part.

 

Angela foroughed her brow and blew at her hair. 'It's just what, Martin? You can't keep trailing off at these sentences. You leave a lot of opened questions that way.'

 

'It's just......I didn't expect you to say yes.' Martin said, his face becoming red, his body moving to an even higher level of alert than it knew possible.

 

Angela gave a small, sympathetic smile. 'We're going to have to do something about your confidence.' Angela said.

 

'Oh, I don't know, I'm pretty comfortable with the one I've got, wouldn't want to go getting old cocky now would I' Martin said with a chuckle.

 

Before he could finish that chuckle, Angela had placed her hand on his cheek again but this time she kissed him on the lips. Every synapse and even some that Martin didn't know about, went off in his brain. Every pore in his body suddenly stopped. Every hair on his head began to raise with an electric aura. And it only lasted two seconds.

 

As she backed away from the kiss, Angela said 'See you on Thursday around 7?'

 

Martin didn't say anything. His eyes were vacant but his mind was crunching enormous amounts of data it had never processed before. Angela shook her head and pushed him.

 

'Oh, what?' Martin said, his eyes coming back into focus.

 

'Seven. Thursday. Dinner.' Angela said in one word sentences to hopefully connect with Martin.

 

Martin appeared to zone out again but he shook his head. 'Yeah, that sounds great.' Martin answered, a smile now clearly evident on his face with no signs of fading for a couple of days.

 

'Good. See you then.' Angela smiled, finished the last remaining drops of espresso in her cups, picked up her bag and turned to walk away.

 

My god she's beautiful, Martin thought to himself. And she kissed me. I can't believe she kissed me. Where the hell did that come from. Is this a dream. Oh please, let it not be a dream.

 

It's not a dream you monkey, she really likes you, his subconscious said as if it was sitting on his shoulder.

 

I'd have to agree, his conscious mind chimed in from his other shoulder. It does appear that she likes you, although the jury's still out on whether you'll make a fool out of yourself.

 

Don't listen to him, his subconscious chided with more support than it had ever shown previously. She likes you man. Feel good about that and the rest will fall into place. We can help you with that. Right, the subconscious said to the concious mind with a not so veiled threat of menace although Martin was unsure as to what damage his subconsious could inflict if it came ot that.

 

Yes, yes, we'll help you, it's our job remember. I'm just saying our track record isn't very promising when it comes to these sorts of matters.

 

What track record are you basing this off of? his subconscious snarled. Let me look at this list. Oh, looks pretty empty to me.

 

Whose making fun of him now? his conscious mind jabbed.

 

Shuttup, the subconscious said and turned back to Martin. Look, all you have to do is make a nice dinner, hold a nice conversation and things will go great. We've been working on this for years so it shouldn't be difficult. Oh and don't let you know who get involved.

 

Who, Martin asked. He was suprised he didn't know all the actors in his body.

 

You know, the guy between your legs.

 

Hello! his penis said.

 

Yeah, that guy, his subconscious mind said with a grimace. His conscious mind simply shook his head and put it's face, if it had one, in it's hand, if it had one of those as well.

 

Shuttup, both of you, his subconscious yelled, banishing both of them from Martin's thoughts. If his subconscious could hold Martin's head so he could look Martin straight in the eye, it would have done so but instead it left him with these words.

 

You're going to do great kid. She's a great girl, we both know that. I know she likes you, and hopefully by the end of the evening on Thursday, you'll know that too. Look, we all want what's best for you, some more than others and others who have different interpretations on what's best. But we all agree, Angela is the best thing for you. So don't fuck it up!

 

And with that, his subconscious smacked him upside the head and was gone.

 

From across the room at the counter, Linda had been watching Martin stand at his table for seven minutes without so much as a blink.

 

'Steve?' she said still staring at Martin

 

'Yeah.' He said pushing a double chocolate latte to a customer.

 

'I changed my mind. That guy is the weirdest.' She said pointing. Steve followed her finger to Martin. He laughed.

 

'Martin's not weird.' He said shaking his head. The next customer in line began to start his order but Steve continued 'He's just a little abscent minded. He's a big picture kind of guy.'

 

'Those guys are the weirdest of them all.' Linda said with contempt.

 

'How would you know?' Steve asked, turning to the customer finally.

 

'Oh I know. They only think about protons or transistors or whatever.' Linda said derisively.

 

'As opposed to what?' Steve said taking the man's order, a triple blend coffee, tall.

 

'Me!' Linda said with chirp.

 

Steve shook his head, laughed again and told her to go wait on her tables.

 

.21.

 

03.17.2802

 

Martin blinked from his internal struggle, saw that a large number of the people in the coffee house were now staring at him, blushed and headed for the door. Before he could get his foot out the door though, a voice stopped him.

 

'Made a new friend Martin?' the man at the table asked.

 

Martin stopped but didn't turn. All the joy in his body slowly sunk to his feet and onto the ground. He hated that voice. The voice that had taken him away from his life several years ago. Martin slumped a bit, and than turned to the voice.

 

'Take a seat.' the man said with an authority that Martin could not refuse, so he sat down in the seat across from the man. Linda, across the room, tried to point out that both creepy men were now sitting next to each other but Steve told her to shut it and get back to the now busy coffee house.

 

'How have you been.' The man asked, although it was plain that he did not care about the answer.

 

'What do you want Jasper?' Martin said in a low voice.

 

'Is that any way to speak to an old friend?' Jasper said with mock sense of shock, 'You didn't even answer my question.'

 

'You don't care about how I've been, just as I don't care how you have been.' Martin said getting angry.

 

'That's not true. I do care how our little genius is doing.' Jasper said with a patronizing smile.

 

'Shuttup, what do you want, I've got things to do.'

 

'My aren't we in a hurry. Not like the old days.' Jasper said leaning back and putting his hands behind his head. Jasper wasn't going anywhere anytime soon and neither was Martin.

 

Martin leaned back as well, trying to think. Why would Jasper be here? Another job. No, doubtful, the last one would leave his analysts busy for months. Than what. Oh.

 

'What did your morons break this time.' Martin said with an smug grin.

 

Jasper's face soured for a second and than returned to a boyant grin. 'They didn't so much break it as, well, yeah okay, they did break it but they nearly have it put back together. Good as new.'

 

'So what do you need me for if they've already fixed it?' Martin asked although he knew that Jasper's techs couldn't put back together a toaster much less something he'd invented.

 

'Well, they put it back together, but the problem is it's not turning on anymore.'

 

'That's a problem.'

 

'Yes,' Jasper said in a low voice, squinting his eyes. 'It's a problem.'

 

'What are you going to do about it?' Martin said although he already knew what Jasper was going to do about it.

 

And Jasper responded with the answer Martin expected. 'It's not what I'm going to do about it, it's..'

 

'What I'm going to do about it, right?' Martin finished.

 

'Exactly.' Jasper said with a confident smile.

 

'I don't have time to play tech support for the simpletons you call scientists at your operation.'

 

'That's a little harsh.' Jasper said.

 

'Whatever. If they can't fix, they can't very well study it now can they.'

 

'I suppose you have a point.' Jasper responded, letting Martin vent.

 

'Then why would I fix something they'd end up fucking up again?' Martin said at last.

 

'Because I said so.' Jasper said with a finality that made Martin inch back in his seat. 'You were paid for your services Martin, and with those services came a continuing and may I add indefinite, source of support for our project. You don't have to be with the project, you made that much clear, but you do have to fix our fuck up's when they happen.' Martin didn't say anything but conceded the point.

 

'Good, so we'll be going.' Jasper said picking up his coffee.

 

'Like hell we are.' Martin said which suprised both Jasper and himself. 'I'm not leaving here for another three months.'

 

'We already went over this Martin. You have a problem to fix.' Jasper said, trying to keep the smile on his face.

 

'Just because your monkeys can't fix a problem remotely, doesn't mean I can't either. What did they break?' Martin asked.

 

Jasper shifted his eyes around, looking to see if anyone was paying undue attention to their table.

 

'We're in a goddamn college coffee house.' Martin interrupted. 'If any of these people heard us, which most won't, they wouldn't have a damn clue what we're talking about. I should know, I teach most of them.'

 

With a sigh, Jasper pulled out his P-Pad. He didn't know the device that had been broken, only that Martin was needed to fix it. Jasper poked at his P-Pad for a few seconds and then handed it to Martin. Martin studied the screen for a few seconds, than burst out laughing. Jaspers eye's flicked across the room to see if anyone was now paying attention while his hands grabbed the P-Pad from Martin's hand.

 

'Will you shuttup.' Jasper said through grated teeth. He sunk a little further into the booth the two were occupying.

 

'Is this some sort of test or are your guys really that dumb?'

 

'I guess they really are that dumb.' Jasper said with a strained smile, 'Can you fix it?'

 

Martin responded with another short laugh and than picked a napkin from the dispenser on the table. He took a pen from his pocket and began making notes on the napkin. Jasper waited while Martin marked up the napkin for ten minutes, covering both the front, back and inside of the napkin. Finally, Martin was finished. He handed the napkin over to Jasper.

 

'And this will fix it?' Jasper asked. He looked at the napkin, although none of it made any sense to him. He recognized a few symbols but there were a lot of others ones he didn't. He hoped his analysts back at the base could recognize them. They were idiots compared to Martin.

 

'Definitly.' Martin said with confidence that Jasper recognized as a done deal.

 

'Good.' Jasper said. Taking out his P-Pad, he scanned the napkin into the device which were then transmitted back to the waiting and worried engineers. Jasper put the napkin and the P-Pad back in his inner pocket. 'See that wasn't so bad, now was it Martin.' Martin shrugged.

 

Jasper got up to go. 'It was nice working with you again. Hope everything works out with your new friend.' He said with a smile that grated on Martin's nerves. Martin didn't want Angela involved with Jasper and his friends at all. Jasper starting walking towards the door.

 

'Jasper!' Martin called after him. Jasper turned. Martin quickly wrote a few notes on a second napkin. 'Here.' He said giving Jasper the new napkin.

 

'What's this?' Jasper asked. Had Martin been holding out on him?

 

'Two things. The first is a safety precaution I think your engineers should consider before doing anything since we both know how volatile the things they are working with are.'

 

'And the second?' Jasper asked calmly although making a mental note to get those instructions to the engineers as soon as possible.

 

'The second is the solution to the next problem you'll have for me.' Martin said with a grin.

 

'Next problem? What makes you think I'll have another problem for you so soon?' Jasper asked a bit suprised. He knew he was going to have another problem for Martin, he just figured he'd be the one to ask it.

 

'Oh, just the level of expertise you've got working for you, the type of work they're working on, and the probability of problems they'll run into are suprisingly accurate figures to work with.' Martin said getting up himself although he was turning towards the bar.

 

'Okay. Thanks Martin.' Jasper said putting the piece of paper in with the other.

 

'I didn't do it for you. I did it because I don't want you interrupting my date.' Martin said, and then walked away to the bar to talk to Steve.

 

Jasper laughed within himself although you wouldn't know it from looking at him. 'See you soon Martin.' He said to no one in particular, least of all Martin.

 

.22.

 

03.17.2802