Forever Yours
57
New Generation
ON MONDAY, employees were greeted by Cici, the third generation of the AI powered holographic receptionist. The most noticeable aspect of this new generation was an improved sound system, both for speaking to the hologram and listening to her. Henry had approved a pretty hefty equipment spend to get the best possible sound input and output for the new receptionist. She greeted each employee as they entered the lobby.
“Good morning, Josh,” Cici said when he entered the lobby.
“Wow! Um… Hi, Cici. How are you this morning?” Josh asked.
“I’m brand new, Josh!” she announced enthusiastically.
“Oh. Yes. You certainly are. Have a good day, Cici.”
“You, too, Josh. Let me know if you need anything.”
The interaction was typical of the eighty people who came to work. Of course, Audrey still sat at the reception desk opposite Cici’s perpetually happy face.
“How does she do that?” she asked Chastity. “I’ve been here almost a year and still don’t know everyone’s name.”
“Everyone carries an RFID card in order to go through the inner doors,” Chastity said. “The team installed a reader so she immediately identifies anyone who comes through the door. I’ll have them put a read-out on your monitor.”
Chastity perched on the corner of Henry’s new desk. He smiled as he leaned his head against her leg and kissed it.
“Oh, that’s nice. You aren’t tired of having access to me all the time?” she asked.
“The day I get tired of either you or Lisa, shoot me,” he said.
“And leave Lisa and me to take care of our baby without you? Huh-uh,” she said.
He ran his hands up the inside of her shapely legs and they parted.
“Not that this isn’t enough, but did you have something else on your mind, love?” he asked, kissing his way along the inside of her thigh.
“Yes. And since we just did this last night, I can wait for more. Can you?”
“It’s an effort, but tell me what’s on your mind.”
Chastity reviewed the morning interactions with Cici and then came to Audrey’s question.
“It occurred to me that this could be a security issue. I was just going to take it to Mia, but it might be more in line with Nathan,” Chastity said. “The card grants access to the office, but it doesn’t really identify the person holding the card. Audrey, or Nancy, or anyone we have at the desk at the time, should be able to see the identity of any employee and have their picture so she can verify that’s who is coming through the door.”
“What a great idea. Yes, it should become part of Alice, but it should be a normal part of security operations,” Henry agreed. “Let’s go have a conversation with Nathan.”
He paused a moment to kiss up to her slit and then helped her off the desk. She kissed him softly and pulled her skirt into place before they left Henry’s office.
“I think this is one of my favorite parts of this job,” she whispered.
Nathan listened to the idea and nodded. It wasn’t often he got a chance to interact with Chastity or Henry now that he officially reported to Conrad.
“Let’s call Conrad in and see if we can put this on our schedule,” Nathan said.
Henry was about to object because he’d just approved it, but realized Nathan was right. Henry couldn’t just jump into anyone’s office and give them a new project without talking to their manager. It was a new organization and he needed to abide by the lines of reporting just like everyone else did.
Conrad came to Nathan’s office and joined the meeting.
“Conrad, I wanted to be sure we weren’t blowing smoke before we talked to you, so Chastity and I came to ask Nathan about the feasibility of an expansion of our security system. He seemed to think it had value, so we want to check with you,” Henry said.
Conrad was only a couple of years older than Henry and still reported to him, even though Nathan reported to Conrad. They were all getting used to things. Nathan took up the narrative and told Conrad what the concept was.
“I can see the value,” Conrad said. “This isn’t really a product, though. Do we have the bandwidth to develop it?”
“I think it fits with our internal security mission,” Nathan said. “I also see that it is a feature that should be built into Alice, but has application across a wider range of situations. There is no reason it should be limited to identifying employees. Nearly everyone carries an RFID card of some sort with them. Despite the number of warnings people receive and the special wallets available for them, hardly anyone protects their RFID identity. It’s in their driver’s license, their credit cards, their company key cards, and probably Costco membership card. The device could help identify or confirm the identity of anyone who walked through the door.”
“Now I see it as a marketable product,” Henry said.
The four of them brainstormed a little while and finally agreed to devote a limited number of resources to the project.
The month of June was one of constant innovation and progress for the company. It was also a time of progress for Henry and his family.
Lisa, Chastity, and Henry began attending birth classes. While having three working together in the class was not unheard of, it was unusual. The birth instructor simply assumed that since Henry and Lisa were married, Chastity was a doula, or birth helper. The role fit well and Chastity began reading up on the duties of a doula. Unlike a midwife, a doula provides emotional and physical support for the mother, but not medical support. She doesn’t deliver a baby. In other words, a doula filled all the same functions that a good husband should and, in Henry’s case, would.
The classes were instructive with discussions about various potential birth problems, circumcision, anesthesia, and various other potential issues. They watched a video of a c-section, and were told they could not watch a vaginal birth video because the State had classified them as pornographic. However, the instructor gave them several links to where they could watch a birth online.
Over the weeks, they learned various ways to mitigate labor pains with breathing control, massage, showers, and baths.
Perhaps the most beneficial of effects of the classes was the long gentle lovemaking the three enjoyed after each class.
Friday morning, the twenty-eighth, Henry and Chastity begrudgingly went to work to watch the demonstration of the miniature paving device. All the parts for the machine had been 3-D printed and assembled in the robotics lab at ARDC. The machine had then been brought to Open Cloak to have ‘the brain’ installed. When the device was moved outside for the test, Ari and a researcher from Agora Fuel Cells put the power cell into the miniature device.
Dale and Leonard used a remote control to power up the paver. It lurched forward and they brought it to a stop—the first test complete. Then the bins on the device were filled with raw materials. The route was programmed in and the real test started. There were a few tense moments as the machine dug into the raw ground and through some grass roots, but then it started forward.
Since they were not recycling the grass and dirt into the concrete mix, it was blown aside. When the machine had moved forward about four feet, they saw the pavement appearing behind it. Those present cheered. After ten feet, the operator commanded the robot to stop preparing the substrate and complete the paving. In the space of the length of the machine, pavement continued to be laid and then the machine moved off the track.
Everyone rushed forward to examine the pavement. It was completely smooth. There was no need for an additional roller to either compact the substrate or smooth out the pavement. In their eagerness to examine the layers, the engineers cut out a square of the pavement, but the surface was not yet dry and didn’t hold its shape as they examined the layers of the excavation, substrate, and pavement.
The pavement was less than half an inch thick with the excavation going down only an inch. It would cure and they would be able to extract additional samples for lab work. The paver group was not the only interested party. It was one thing to create a machine and give it a brain and power, but materials also had to be tested. Dale had engaged a highway surface research company to provide the top materials for the test. The research group had also explored material durability, reuse, and safety. While working together, they believed they could recycle an existing roadway, using the ground up pavement to repave the surface.
Of course, there were a multitude of problems involved in that, but the idea that re-paving a highway might not have to involve disposing of the previous pavement was of great interest to all. It would depend on what type of surface was already there and whether it could be recycled.
All told, the test was considered a great proof of concept, but also showed how far the development had to go.
Henry and Chastity left work as soon as the test was concluded. It was their anniversary weekend.
Chastity had taken care of reservations. They were a week before most of the July 4th holidayers would be at the resort in Niagara Falls. It was nearly a four-hour drive, but they didn’t worry about it. Germaine took care of driving so the trio could relax. Henry and Chastity took turns cuddling Lisa in the back seat.
“All I want is a nice place to lie by a pool and sip… a virgin margarita,” Lisa sighed.
“It’s supposed to be in the eighties this weekend, so I’ll be lying right beside you in my tiniest bikini,” Chastity said.
“You know that’s definitely going to inspire some action,” Lisa said. “And I’m not feeling like I can stuff anything else inside me anymore. You’ll have to accommodate the monster.”
“I’ve never had a problem with that,” Chastity said. “I think I can even accommodate him while I’m licking you to one or a dozen orgasms.”
“I’m so glad you’re here to take care of me. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to reach around this watermelon in my stomach to touch my clit? The only reason I can wipe myself is because I can still reach around my butt.”
“You are so beautiful and hot,” Chastity said. She kissed Lisa deeply.
Riding in the front seat next to Germain0e, Henry looked over at the driver to see if she was being affected by the sexual energy being exuded from the back seat. He was pleased to note she had ear buds in her ears and was happily nodding to the music.
“Oh! Congratulations!” Virginia, the woman at the desk of the hotel said when they checked in. She had a slight southern accent, but nothing so strong as Lisa’s Cajun accent when she let it show. Lisa leaned against Henry with her hands around her tummy. “We don’t see too many pregnant women here. You know, not that many are so far along when they get married.” She seemed oblivious to the implications she was making.
“It’s our anniversary, not our honeymoon,” Henry said flatly.
“Oh! Double congratulations, then!” Virginia said brightly. She missed Henry’s scowl. “So, we have a two-bedroom suite and a single room attached. Quite a family! I’ll need everyone’s ID, please, and the credit card used for the reservation. Um… I’ll just ignore which person is assigned to which room. Okay?”
Henry nodded and completed the check-in. He took the keys and they all headed for the elevators, motioning for the bellman to bring their luggage.
“Wow! Is he, like, an Arabian prince or something?” the clerk asked another person at the desk. “I’ve never heard of him and his harem is, like, kind of plain, don’t you think?”
“I think you should mind your own business,” a manager said, coming up behind her. “And I’m recommending a remedial course in customer relations. Surely you learned a little bit about not offending people on check-in!” He grabbed a desk phone and called room service. “I want two bottles of sparkling juice on ice and a large fruit basket delivered to room 1295 as quickly as you can get it there. Deliver it with an invitation for dinner in the Falls Overlook room, complements of the resort.”
He hung up the phone and scowled at the desk clerk who was only just realizing what a huge pile of shit she’d stepped in.
The four enjoyed the dinner overlooking the falls. The rainbow lighting was both spectacular and peaceful. It was a fitting end to Pride Week, a national custom that had survived the former administration because it had no central organization.
They laughed about the clerk and about the subsequent delivery of fruit and the invitation to dinner. The food was exquisite. They decided to thoroughly enjoy the offered hospitality, but Henry left two $100 bills on the table for the waitstaff and cooks when they returned to their room.
“Can you just imagine a version of Alice with her personality?” Chastity laughed.
“Hmm. You know, that’s not all that bad an idea,” Henry said.
“You’re kidding! Why would you want someone so clueless at your front desk?” Lisa asked.
“It’s not that so much,” Henry mused. “Deena will launch in a few weeks, but from what I have seen, she has the same image and personality as Alice, Bea, and Cici. I think it will be a dull world if we sell a thousand receptionists who all have the same image and personality. That’s one of the things we haven’t explored thoroughly enough. They still sound pretty much like a machine.”
“They are machines,” Chastity reminded him.
“Yes. But that would be the first place a competitor attacked. If we go to market with the holographic receptionist, it needs to appear more human, even though it’s a product of light waves and AI,” Henry said.
They said goodnight to Germaine and the throuple relaxed for their first anniversary night together.
Sunday afternoon, they loaded back into the car to head back to Pittsburgh, happy, sated, and refreshed. On their way out the door, Henry stopped and gave the desk clerk one of Chastity’s cards.
“When you lose this job, give Chas a call. We might have something for you,” he said. She looked at him with her mouth wide open.
Germaine drove them home while Chastity rode shotgun and Henry held his wife in the back seat.
“I don’t ever want to see the sun again!” Lisa moaned. She hadn’t gotten burned, but after fifteen minutes in direct sunlight she struggled back to their room and into the shower in a near state of panic.
“It’s your fair skin,” Henry said.
“Fair? My Cajun blood is supposed to be immune to heat! I think it’s our daughter’s doing. She wants me to become a vampire,” Lisa laughed. “Ugh! I never thought I’d be that sensitive to heat or the sun!”
“Well, now you have something to complain to Izzy about that she didn’t experience during her pregnancy,” Henry laughed.
Before long, they were home and preparing for their second year as a married throuple, with all the changes that would bring about.
During July, Henry, Luke, Dale, and Rachel were booked with their underwriter and publicist for an IPO roadshow. Each week the group spent three days visiting potential large investors. These were often brokerages and institutional investors. Luke, Henry, and Dale were on the board of directors, and Dale also represented Argos, the venture capital company. Rachel was their Chief Financial Officer.
They presented the company history, profit record, current investment, and the technologies being offered and prepared by the company. Each technology had a price tag associated with it, showing the estimated investment in development and the anticipated return when marketed. The biggest problem with any of these new technologies was that they were still two years from becoming an actual product, so substantial development funds were needed.
Argos, which had invested $50,000,000 in venture capital to get things started, had agreed to cancel their next two investment rounds in favor of the IPO. They’d purchased their shares at under $2.00 per share. At the anticipated offering price of $15.00 a share, they would profit by half a billion dollars if they sold out their shares during the IPO.
Henry was still nervous about losing control of the company if his partners chose to sell out their shares and options. As it stood, if they held all their shares, the group would hold about thirty percent of the outstanding shares. In most circles, that would be considered a controlling interest. But it was always possible that a single entity would buy a large enough block of shares to challenge that control.
While Henry was tied up running from presentation to presentation, he was also trying to absorb all the details from their birthing classes and practice with Chastity and Lisa each evening. The schedule was almost frantic and they were all worried that they wouldn’t be together when the baby arrived. Sylvia visited each weekend to check up on Lisa’s progress and help in any of a thousand ways she could. The nursery was as well-equipped as any neonatal facility could be.
And then Jackie arrived.
“I’ll just be here to fill in wherever you need,” Lisa’s mother said. “I could hardly stay in Louisiana when my grandbaby is about to be born in Pittsburgh!”
“We think we have things under control,” Lisa said, taking her mother to the nursery. “It’s a little hectic, but I’m sure we’ll manage.”
“Honey, I have no doubt about your ability to manage. I promise not to get in the way. Just let me baby my baby a little as you get ready,” Jackie said. Lisa hugged her.
“Mom, I’m not implying we don’t want you here. It’s kind of a big relief. With Henry having so many meetings as they get ready for the big IPO, it’s been a little chaotic at home. I feel like I’m doing nothing but sitting around all day moaning about the heat.”
“Oh! Did you know I developed an allergy to the sun while I was pregnant?” Jackie said. “It was terrible! It was still ninety degrees in the Bayou and 100% humidity the month before you were born. Then you were greeted by Hurricane Humberto while we were still in the hospital. I know something about getting comfortable in the heat and humidity! And the chaos.”
“I’m so glad you’re here,
One of the last places on the list for the roadshow was the university where Henry and many of his employees had graduated, and where Luke was still working on his MBA. Dr. Hendon, director of the Machine Learning Department of the School of Computer Science, had spearheaded the way for the Open Cloak presentation to the investment board at the university. It had helped immensely when he told them how Open Cloak technology had stopped an online attack on the school’s AI lab.
“We’ve employed several graduates of the university, and still others are completing their degrees. Dale Jacoby, who was formerly on the faculty of the AI group, is on our board of directors and is also heading up our joint venture with ARDC to create a fully AI-powered robotic paving machine that we estimate will revolutionize that process,” Henry said by way of introduction.
“I’m happy to be one of your graduates as well and have always hoped the university would show an interest in investing in our IPO. We have made a significant mark on the industry with our optimization, computer security, power savings, and personal legacy apps. Our next generation of AI powered devices includes not only the paving machine, but also an AI-powered hologram that will even peek into the world of spatial holography—in other words, holograms that don’t require a projection surface,” Henry concluded.
“Uh… Aren’t you also the people who created Pythia Speaks?” Dr. Singh asked. He was the president of the board of regents, who would ultimately be the ones who would approve any recommendation by the financial investment committee.
“Yes, sir. Pythia Speaks and Forever Yours are two interactive AIs that have made a significant impact already. We are seeing a steady growth in purchases of the Forever Yours singularity package. Pythia Speaks now fields over two million questions a day in twenty different languages.”
“My wife got me hooked on checking in with Pythia Speaks each morning with whatever is on my mind when I wake up. It’s kind of like a creative whack on the side of the head to get me thinking while I have my first cup of coffee. Ingenious bit of technology. I’m surprised it doesn’t show up prominently in your presentation,” the regent said.
“It is a fundamental technology that is represented by Forever Yours,” Henry explained. “However, in matters of finance, it does not make an appearance. Our company elected to maintain Pythia Speaks as a free service with no advertising or other commercial content. We intend to keep that policy.”
“Good for you! It seems that every presentation we see wants to show us how they are maximizing the revenue potential of everything down to the secretary’s painted toenails. I’m glad to see you have something you are simply giving back to the world,” Dr. Singh said.
“Thank you, sir.”
Henry wasn’t exactly certain how to take that last comment, but he guessed it was okay. Darla gave a bridging commentary and then turned the meeting over to Luke. Henry’s phone buzzed in his pocket and he discreetly pulled it out to check the message. It was from Chastity.
“It’s time! Meet us at the birth center.”
END PART IV
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
