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

vacation. And,” she added,
looking around the room at her team, “today’s lunch at the company’s expense.”
    Even louder cheers filled the
meeting room and Ann smiled at the excitement of her team. The smile froze on
her face, however, as her screen burst into life revealing the grinning face of
Tomo.
    “Hello, gorgeous!” he shouted in
his strong Japanese accent. Immediately the room fell silent as everyone craned
forward to look at the screen. “Don’t forget our special, romantic lunch! A
treasury of pleasure forever with…”
    The voice was cut off abruptly as
Ann slammed the screen closed.

Chapter Two

 
    “ I ’m not complaining,
Tomo, but there’s a time and a place.”
    It was lunchtime in the A.I.I. staff
canteen where Ann sat, looking across the table at Tomo. This was not the usual
eating area one might find in the average workplace, but was laid out and run
more like a high class restaurant, with an immaculate robot wait staff, another
of the company’s prototypes, and the A.I.I.’s own ActiveMenu System, where
people could choose their meals using the touch screens set into the tables.
There was even an option for the user to smell the food through integrated
aroma vents! In the subdued lighting fountains sparkled, crystal table tops
gleamed, and palm trees swayed gently overheard as though in a light sea
breeze. From all around them came the sound of friendly conversation and the
calls of tropical birds.
    “You do realize you dropped in
right in the middle of me addressing my team?”
    “That’s hardly my fault,” said
Tomo, smiling broadly as he leaned back in his chair. “Your meeting was
obviously in need of one more participant.”
    Ann sighed. “All men are
children, Tomo, but you are doubly so.”
    “It’s true.” Tomo raised his
hands in mock-surrender, and for an instant his eyes flicked down to Ann’s
ample cleavage. She had undone a couple of buttons on her blouse for this very
reason. After all, though she had spent the last couple of years working
closely with Tomo on the various generations of the E-A, he worked for a rival
company, and a distracted competitor could prove to be a great source of
information. “And I need a pretty nanny,” he said.
    “A hungry nanny is not good for
any child,” said Ann, pleased to have secured the upper hand so early in the
conversation. “Let’s get some food on the way.”
    She ran a finger across the
ActiveMenu, sending her food order to the restaurant’s master computer. As Tomo
tapped away on his screen, she gave him a quick once over and was struck again
by just how attractive he was. In his mid-thirties, he exuded self-assurance
and charm, which, together with his small, neat beard and black,
shoulder-length hair tended to make a big impression on many of the women he
met. In truth, Tomo had even made an impression on Ann, who found his company
both pleasing and alluring. But there was nothing deeper there; no love in her
heart for him.
    “You’re looking good today, Tomo,”
she said as he turned back to face her.
    Pleased by the compliment, he ran
a hand through his hair. “Thanks. I thought I’d make an effort, since it’s you,
my sweet.”
    “Huh. Are you sure I’m your sweet?”
    “Well, it’s not against the law
to dream, is it? At least, not yet anyway. Don’t you have dreams?”
    Ann thought back to her nightmare
and again felt a wave of unease. She shook her head, as much to shake off the
feeling as to answer Tomo.
    “Not that sort of dream,” she said. “But I do like you. We are good
friends, after all.”
    “Oh, but we could be so much
more, Ann!” said Tomo, leaning forward and placing his elbows on the table,
then quickly sitting up again as he realized the robot waitress was poised
right next to him. “Wow!” he said and as the waitress, Alice-4 according to the
tag on her apron, slid their plates onto the table and flashed a broad,
gracious smile at them both. “These things are quite