Redemption: Supernatural Time-Traveling Romance with Sci-fi and Metaphysics Read Free

transferred it to your screen.”
    “An encrypted message?” said Ann,
raising her eyebrows. “Intriguing. Thank you, John.”
    She touched her screen, which
immediately came to life. Sure enough, she had a notification of the encrypted
message. It wasn’t just from upstairs, though, it was from the top! It could
only mean one of two things; excellent news… or devastating news. As she entered
her decryption key, she thought over the E-A project and couldn’t think of
anything negative whatsoever, let alone devastating. It had to be good news.
    The message flashed up and Ann
read through it quickly. Sensing John’s eyes on her, she allowed no reaction to
show in her face while reading.
    “John,” she said. “Could you
arrange for a meeting later this morning with the whole team? I need to speak
with them about our progress with E-A.”
    “Sure thing, boss,” said John,
already pulling up the relevant screen. “Er… how about ten o’clock in Mike 17?”
    “Perfect. In the meantime, I’ll
see what Steve wants.” She tapped her screen to start a video call with the
Operations Manager. “Maybe one day he’ll learn how to leave me a video message!”
    ~
    “Okay. Settle down, please.”
Gradually, the buzz of conversation died down as the team took their seats in
Mike-17. There were four of these meeting rooms on every office floor, each one
bright and airy and filled by a single large table, the surface of which was embedded
with computer screens. Each room was hosted by its own robot secretary, called
Mike. Though each Mike was slightly different in appearance from its
counterparts, they all had a similar doll-like look with permanent smiles that
were designed to set people at ease. In reality most of the A.I.I. staff found
them slightly creepy. With a low-level form of AI, a never-say-no attitude and
upbeat personality, the Mikes were able to perform a specific set of
secretarial functions, such as taking minutes, recording conversations and
passing around plastic data-folders, distributing e-documents and refreshments.
    “Thank you,” said Ann, accepting
a steaming cup of fragrant coffee from Mike-17, as she waited for the team to
give them her full attention. Looking around the room, she was pleased to see
every face was turned in her direction and she held their gaze for a few
moments before continuing. “You may be wondering why I have gathered you all at
such short notice. I received an important message this morning from upstairs.
Far upstairs. As far, in fact, as you can go.”
    She paused as the team looked at
each other with looks of confusion, nervousness and excitement.
    “They are very happy with our
global sales figures for the last quarter, specifically sales of the Second Generation E-Assistant, though income from sales of the First
Generation is still high. In particular, they are pleased with the market share
situation. We’re pretty much ahead of our competitors, and that is all thanks
to you! In accordance with company policy this means we’re going to get some
fruitful incentives at the end of this fiscal year!”
    There was a brief silence as Ann’s
words sank in. Then, as one, everybody started talking animatedly. Mike-17
joined in the excitement, happily flashing his smile around the room at anyone
who wanted to see it.
    “As I said, guys, this is all
thanks to your hard work,” said Ann, her commanding voice bringing a swift end
to the joyful chatter. “Additionally, the Purchasing Department of Interior and
Design Global alone has put in an order for five hundred thousand SmartHome
servers. Our sales figures are projected to be the highest in A.I.I. history!”
    This was really big news. The
team, who started cheering at this revelation, had spent many weeks putting
together and fine-tuning the business tender for IDG.
    “I want to thank you all for your
effort. So, in recognition of your hard work, besides the coming annual
incentives, I would like to offer you a two-day