Forever Yours
34
Personal Assistant
LUKE AND ISOBEL got married. The ceremony and mass were at one-thirty in the afternoon, which gave most of the wedding party a chance to get past their hangovers. Henry had never had that experience before and vowed he’d never have it again. He’d thrown up as soon as he woke up and then ordered coffee and aspirin from room service.
It came with a side of a bloody mary, which the delivery boy said came from the groom’s father. Henry was surprised Paul had managed to get a drink delivered to Henry and presumably the rest of the wedding party without anyone raising an eyebrow about ages. He hesitated a minute and then took a drink of the spicy concoction. He didn’t detect any alcohol in it, so assumed it was a virgin cocktail. He drank it down.
He drank a cup of black coffee as he stood in the shower with the hot water beating on his back and then finally managed to wake up and finish the process. He wondered a little at why the towels in the bathroom were all damp and then realized he’d taken a shower in the middle of the night after he and Izzy…
That memory came as a shock. She was crazy. But he had to be just as crazy to have participated. No matter who’d been with Luke last night, Henry was going to have a shit-load of guilt to carry with him.
He met Luke and the other groomsmen in the hotel restaurant. Chastity met them there. She was the only one dressed in her tux already. They went to the cathedral where a room was prepared for them to change in. There was a strict separation of the bride’s party and the groom’s party. Luke wouldn’t see his bride until she walked down the aisle with her father.
Both families were well connected, so more than three hundred people attended the wedding. When the music finally started playing, the long day really began. While the wedding party stood facing the altar, there were songs, prayers, scripture readings, and a ten minute sermon by the priest before they even got to the part of addressing the bride and groom. Then there was a statement of intent, an exchange of consent, a blessing and giving of rings. This was followed by a profession of faith, a prayer, and the celebration of the Eucharist. Henry identified it as a communion in protestant terms, though he’d never partaken of one. Those in the congregation who were not Catholic were also not invited to participate. Then another prayer, another song and finally, the priest pronounced them husband and wife. They got to kiss.
That still wasn’t the end. There was another prayer, a blessing, and finally the dismissal. The organ in the cathedral boomed out a recessional and then they finally got out to the receiving line where everyone passed the wedding party and said congratulations. That was where Lisa finally caught up with Henry and took a place just behind him. All told it took an hour.
It wasn’t over for the wedding party, though. They filed back into the sanctuary where the official photographer set and posed photos until the priest finally told them they had to leave so he could prepare the four-thirty mass.
Everyone had left and headed for the hotel banquet room by then, where people started drinking about four o’clock and were well past the hors d’oeuvres and ready for the banquet. Fortunately for everyone, the wedding party was seated and dinner was served at five-thirty.
The party went well into the night. Henry managed to separate himself from Brittany, the maid of honor, and rejoined Lisa, who sat with Henry’s parents. Chastity had long-since joined them. It was after ten when Luke and Isobel left to go to the honeymoon suite. Henry, Lisa, and Chastity considered that to be clearance that they could all leave the party, too.
With the chaos brought on by the impending wedding out of the way, the following week brought even more pressure. Everything in the office was packed up and they started transporting things to the new office late in the week. Ray declared the contract work to be finished and Chastity, with Darrel, walked through the new office, accepted the keys, and called the movers to deliver their furniture and equipment.
At the same time, Henry was in his study on a Zoom call with Gene Grey of Grey’s Analysis.
“Henry, welcome back to our podcast. You’ve made quite a splash with another new product since we talked previously. Tell me about the new Open Cloak Search Engine,” Gene said when they got started.
“Personally, I’m very excited about this release, Gene. I’ve been using experimental renditions of this search engine for a couple of years. I routinely get better results from it than from any commercial search engine,” Henry explained.
“Why? What is so different about this?”
“Open Cloak Search is not subject to any kind of advertising or sponsored links,” Henry said. “It works in plain English at the moment, so users of other languages will have to wait a while before we get to a version as robust in other languages. But this is the first search engine that operates as a resident application on your computer.”
“Wait. Aren’t most search engines an application on your computer?”
“Sort of,” Henry said. “As soon as you launch the search engine, it attaches to the index managed in the cloud by the manufacturer. That’s why when you search for something, you see ‘sponsored links’ displayed first. You see, the manufacturers make their money that way. They give you the app for free and collect revenue based on the number of sponsored links users click on. In order to increase that revenue stream, the company collects information about what you click on and all your search terms so they can push more targeted advertising toward you. Open Cloak doesn’t do that.”
“We talked about the dangers of having everything in the cloud during your last interview and you gave some pretty compelling evidence. Are you saying Open Cloak Search user data is not stored in the cloud?”
“Let me clarify. When you search with one of the big engines, the information on your searches is uploaded from one or more cookies the search engine can access to determine all that browsing history. The more you use your browser, the more information that is stored. These cookies are among those that the Open Cloak Optimizer doesn’t interfere with because they are used regularly. We get rid of abandoned or inactive cookies, but don’t disturb the way you currently work. With Open Cloak Search, your personal data is stored in the program file itself where an AI compiles the information and uses it to predict the most useful information for you. But that information is never sent to a corporate server in the cloud. It is used… digested, if you will… by the search engine but no personal information is ever collected by the ubiquitous consumer data engines.”
“What else is different? We get rid of sponsored links. Then is the content pretty much the same as any other search engine?”
“Not exactly. Corporations use what is referred to as SEO, or search engine optimization, to influence where their content is positioned in search results. Conceptually, it’s a great thing that speeds up search results because the engine doesn’t need to look at the whole page it is displaying. It only needs to look at header information. Unfortunately, that header information and other SEO techniques can be manipulated by corporations. In fact, there is an industry devoted to SEO. They broaden the number of keywords, links, and link backs to bring what may be completely irrelevant sites to the top of the search results.”
“Henry, if you don’t use the keywords or SEO, how does your search engine get good results?” Gene asked.
“That’s where the real secret sauce comes into play,” Henry said. “Our search engine will be a little slower when it’s first installed. That’s because the built-in AI has to learn how you work and the kind of information you are likely to want. Since the AI resides on your personal computer, it has access to everything you have there. It will learn what you are interested in and how you work from more than your search results and clicks.”
“Whoa! The search engine is going to what? Catalog everything on my computer?” Gene asked.
“Essentially. That is what we build its training wall on. You see, when you use an AI search engine, it builds the training wall on a broad selection of information, the bulk of which has nothing at all to do with what you are searching for. Open Cloak is your personal assistant and the first and foremost thing you want from a personal assistant is a non-disclosure agreement. None of that information is passed on.”
“A personal assistant,” Gene said. “So, large search engine AIs reveal millions of pages of links. What do you get from Open Cloak Search?”
“Back in November, I started a search with a commercial search engine by asking just ‘Where to.’ I got 186,000,000 results. Now what I was hunting for was ‘Where to vote,’ so I completed the search. By the way, the first result that had to do with polling places was on the third page of results in the first search. That yielded only 17,700,000 results. But after wading through page after page of results, I still didn’t see anything that was specifically about where to vote in the area where I live—Pittsburgh, PA. Of course, getting more specific and asking ‘Where to vote in Pittsburgh,’ yielded only 6,930,000 results and, in fact, the tenth link on the first page of results was a list of polling places in the greater Pittsburgh metropolitan area.”
“Okay, so you got the result?”
“Yes, but why did I have to be so specific and still not get the result as the number one link? Now keep in mind, I conducted this search on November first. Election day was the second. Why didn’t I get the ‘where to vote’ results with the first two words? Open Cloak Search, your personal assistant, knows the date on my computer, knows my location, and knows I’ve been politically active through donations I made to my preferred candidates. When I entered a search for ‘Where to,’ I received an immediate page of ten results and the first—the very first—result on the page was the list of polling places in the greater Pittsburgh area.”
“What if you wanted to know where to go on vacation?” Gene asked.
“Well, the AI wasn’t finished. It gave me a page of ten results based on what it knew about me instantly, but then it kept building search results. Another page of results displayed more voter information, including the county voter pamphlet with the full list of what was on the ballot and statements by each candidate, qualifications to vote, and voter assistance numbers. The next batch of results starting about halfway down page three, was ‘where to take my date.’ That’s something I’ve looked up frequently. The results, once again were specific to my location and the time of year. Ultimately, I had a total of a little over 17,000 results that covered a plethora of ‘where to’ information.”
“So, how far did you have to look before you found where to go on vacation?” Gene asked.
“I didn’t. Who in his right mind ever looks past the fifth page of results without modifying his search?” Henry laughed.
The interview went on for a while and Henry got a chance to plug Pythia Speaks, warning people that they were testing the concept and currently it was only a public beta version.
As soon as Henry disconnected from his session with Gene, he stripped out of his business clothes and got into jeans and a T-shirt so he could help move into their new office.
“Welcome, everyone!” Luke said, Monday morning.
The office felt cavernous with only nine people in it. In fact, they’d dragged their own office chairs to the open and unoccupied area in the middle of the office to have this opening meeting.
“Most of you have met each other, but we have one new employee today, so we’ll make introductions all the way around,” Luke said. “Chastity, would you do the honors?”
“Certainly. I’d like to introduce you all to Nancy Donovan. Nancy will be our front desk presence and is charged with answering calls and greeting guests. We don’t expect that much traffic on either the phone or through the front doors immediately, so Nancy will also be filling an administrative assistant role. If I listed everything, you’d all be amazed that one person could handle it all, but I have faith in Nancy,” Chastity said. “I’d like to have each of you introduce yourself to Nancy with your name and position in the company. Isobel?”
“I am Isobel Riordan,” Izzy said proudly, standing up. “I’m the company financial manager and one of the original four partners.”
They continued around the room introducing everyone in the circle.
“I’m Henry Pascal,” Henry said. “I’m the CTO and one of the original four partners, as Isobel termed it.”
Lisa and Josh were the last to introduce themselves.
“Well, it isn’t every company that launches a new office on the day before a holiday and wishes its employees a nice day off,” Luke said when introductions had been concluded. “We don’t expect anyone to even put in a full day today with Independence Day tomorrow. Most of you spent at least some time this weekend helping move and set things up. We’d like you to use this morning to get familiar with the office, make sure your space is functional, including work stations and your security information. If you’ve brought things to decorate your space with, this is a good time to do that. If you need to run out to get things for your space, just let Nancy know when you are leaving and returning to the office so she can answer people who might be looking for you. Boxes from the other office have been moved to your spaces. There is coffee and pop in the break room. Let’s get to work!”
When it came down to it, Luke’s office was the one that needed the most setup. He and Izzy had just returned from their honeymoon the previous night and hadn’t participated at all in the move-in. Chastity’s search of used office furniture uncovered an old power desk for Luke’s office. It also had room for comfortable chairs and a table for small meetings, like for the four partners.
Everyone had taken a turn trying the keycode on the pad outside the office. The door would be unlocked during business hours, which was why Nancy had a desk next to the door.
“Mr. Pascal,” Nancy said from the door to his office. Henry looked up.
“Nancy, I don’t think you need to use my father’s name when addressing me,” he chuckled. They’d last met at Christmas dinner at his parents’ house. “I don’t think either of our parents would approve.”
“Mrs. Riordan said that I needed to use proper titles when referring to the partners,” Nancy breathed.
“Mrs… Oh! Isobel. She sure is milking that marriage for all it’s worth. Well, in my office and when we’re at least in semi-private, always call me Henry. I’m not going to fight with Isobel over office protocol. What was it you wanted?”
“Oh. Um… I just want to say I’m not stalking you. I didn’t know Open Cloak was your company. I responded to an ad and Ms. Pappa hired me. I was so thankful to find a job that required no experience, I didn’t even ask who worked here.”
“That didn’t even occur to me. Most of the people in the company were known to some of us before they were hired. I think Darrel is the only exception to that,” Henry said. “Welcome to Open Cloak.”
“Thank you. I just didn’t want you to think I was stalking you. Have a good day, Mr… Henry.”
Nancy skipped out of the office and returned to her desk at the door.
Henry went back to testing his workspace and changing the position of the desk so his back wasn’t to the window.
Even though Henry wanted to dig into projects in the new office, he took the Fourth off and took Lisa to his parents’ house for the afternoon.
“You have to come over and visit the office,” Lisa said as they chatted.
“Made some changes to the fourth floor?” Ryan asked.
“Oh. Uh… I guess I didn’t tell you about a few things,” Henry said. “Um… Open Cloak got a big investment and we’ve moved into an actual office building. It isn’t huge, but it’s a nice space. We opened there yesterday.”
“You moved the office out of your row house? Are you still living there?” Sylvia asked.
“Oh, yeah. Lisa and I are still living there. The place does seem kind of empty without people running upstairs,” Henry said.
“Son, I understand that you are an adult and don’t report to us, but you might keep us up to date on what is happening. We try not to get into your affairs too much, but we’re here for you and we want to be part of your life,” Ryan said.
“I… It’s been hard,” Henry sighed. Lisa reached over for his hand. “The business has grown so fast, we’ve… I’ve sometimes lost track of what’s important. And Lisa and I are discovering how much we care for each other. We went to Louisiana after classes let out to meet her parents and grandparents. Then there was Luke and Isobel getting married. I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch more often. Geez, we only live a couple of miles away. You’d think I could manage that.”
“Maybe in our desire to give you room to grow on your own, we’ve been too distant,” Sylvia said. “We assumed when we didn’t hear from you for a week or two that it was because you were taking such a heavy load in school.”
“That was certainly one thing,” Henry said. “I… guess I should say that I’ll be cutting back on that in the fall. I need to be full-time in the company.”
“You’re quitting school?” Ryan barked.
“I hope not,” Henry said. “I just might not graduate in three years like I planned. Dad, we’re actually a computer software development company with products in the market, investors, and employees to take care of. Did you know Nancy Donovan up the street came to work for us yesterday? I didn’t know about that until I saw her at the office. She applied and our director of human resources hired her to operate the front desk and do general office administrative assistance.”
“How many people in your office?” Ryan asked calmly.
“Nine of us this summer. Two, including Lisa, are contractors who will cut back hours when school starts. I’m guessing we’ll have to hire additional help by then. We really need to start a testing department. We’ve been using a group of testers under non-disclosure, but with some of the new projects, it really needs to be in-house. The office is big enough to accommodate twenty people, but we expected that to get us through five years of the lease.”
“It sounds like instead of an office administrative assistant, you need a personal assistant,” Sylvia said.
“Funny you should mention that,” Lisa said. “Henry did another interview with Gene Grey of Grey’s Analysis podcast Friday. He referred to our new search engine as a personal assistant.”
“Is that released already?” Henry asked, alarmed.
“No. We all watched upstairs while you did it Friday.”
“I thought you were all working on packing the office!”
“Mostly, but we really enjoyed getting the skinny on how you really thought about the AI,” Lisa said. “When you get into the philosophy and ethics of AI discussions, we all walk away more enthused about what we’re doing. We couldn’t wait to get to work Monday.”
“Sounds like I need to slate some time for those discussions in the office,” Henry said. “Everybody should have a part in them.”
“Including us,” Ryan said. “Let us help you any way you can.”
“You’ve helped so much and worked so hard that as soon as we have a steady stream of revenue and I can afford it, I’m going to buy you a cruise around the world,” Henry laughed. “But yeah. I haven’t been very good at keeping you up to date with what’s going on in my life. I’m sorry.”
It seemed to Henry that in some ways, he’d been more open with Bill and Beau in Baton Rouge than he’d been with his own father. He and Lisa spent the entire afternoon catching Ryan and Sylvia up on the extent of the investment, the events at college, and Henry’s intent to cut back to ten hours in the fall—just enough to stay full-time.
They talked about Pythia Speaks and the Ask Dad project. Ryan said he thought he’d captured a lot and suggested Henry could start training the AI on it whenever he wanted. Henry took the drive with him to install the AI program, promising to give the drive back to him the next day. So far, the original drive Henry had given his father had storage capacity, but it didn’t have the application. In order to become truly functional, he had to install the AI, which was much the same as the Pythia AI, and point it at the data on the disk for training. The AI was also given access to files on the host computer for training. Finally, there was an activation and consent form his father would need to fill out, giving the AI permission to access files related to his father.
As a last thought, Henry asked if his parents had any historical material regarding his grandparents, whom he had never met. Both agreed to look through their old photo collections and maybe even the attic to see what they had. He was welcome to all of it.
“Henry, love,” Lisa said as they drove home that night.
“Yes?” It thrilled him in unreasonable ways to hear her refer to him as ‘love.’
“Let’s make sure to keep in better touch with our parents, okay?” she said. “I… I mean… If we have a real future together—I mean long-term—and I’m not suggesting right now that we do, but if we end up with one, I’d like to know that our parents are a part of it. They’re important people to us and I know I’ve neglected mine a lot. I’ll bet my father knows more about you and what you’ve been through the past two years than he knows about me. We need to change that.”
“Maybe we need to start our own Ask Dad program only it’s ask your kids.”
“And our kids—I mean, if we ever got that far—should have access to our whole lives and know that we love them forever.”
“Forever,” Henry whispered. “I like that. They’d know we are theirs forever.”
“The name,” Lisa responded. “Forever Yours.”
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
