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

something. Amazingly
quiet!” Tomo tilted his head towards the robot.
    “Bon appetite,” said Alice-4 in
her slightly computerized voice, beaming a welcoming smile at them both.
    Ann nodded. “Thank you, Alice.”
    “You are most welcome, madam.”
And with that, Alice slipped noiselessly away to attend to other customers.
    “Hmm,” said Ann, pointing after
the robot with her fork. “You notice she called me ‘madam’, not Ann.”
    Tomo nodded. “No face recognition
feature. I’m sure it makes quite a savings.”
    “Maybe, but does it make quality
customer service?”
    “Trust you to think of something
like that. The A.I.I. guys should leave everything in your hands, gorgeous.”
    Ann examined Tomo as she started
on her salad and saw that he really meant what he said.
    “Thanks,” she said. “You’re very
likeable sometimes, you know.”
    “Really?” he said. His eyebrows
raised. “So what do you like about me, exactly?”
    “Well, I like your work.”
    Tomo frowned. “My work?”
    “Sure. When we first started
working with your company on the 3D aspects of the E-A, you weren’t in the
least bit daunted by the challenge. You went at it head-on, and I have to
admit, the results have been very impressive.”
    “Thanks. But the challenges
aren’t over yet.”
    “Come on,” said Ann, noticing the
serious look on Tomo’s face. “You guys have nailed 3D stuff. Take your
interactive maps for instance. I use them all the time. They’re perfect.”
    “I wasn’t talking about work.”
Tomo smiled, his eyes flickering briefly down to Ann’s blouse again before
gazing back into her face. “I was talking about you . Isn’t it time we moved on from being work colleagues and
friends?”
    “I guess that depends on your
perception of time.”
    “You know, it’s funny you should
mention that,” said Tomo, leaning back in his chair again. “My latest challenge
is a project we’re just starting that involves working with 4D.”
    “4D? The fourth dimension?” Ann
was taken aback for a moment. “Are you talking about time?”
    “Well, strictly speaking, the
fourth dimension is duration, but I guess time works just as well.”
    “And what exactly are you doing?
Don’t tell me you’re making a time machine!”
    “Okay, I won’t tell you. Anyway,
I’ve told you too much already. This is confidential stuff. My boss would have
my balls if he knew I’d told you we were working with 4D.”
    “Time.” Ann sat back and gazed
into the middle distance, enjoying Tomo’s discomfort. “It’s a fascinating
concept. Reminds me of that Dali painting with all those melting clocks. The
Persistence of Memory, I think it’s called.”
    “Dali,” said Tomo, somewhat
disdainfully. “You know he only became famous because of Gala, his Russian
wife. A good catch, wouldn’t you say?”
    “Well, I guess so. She certainly
did a cool marketing job, but he was still a very talented painter.”
    “Having a Russian wife certainly
helped, though. And I just happened to notice you have a Russian accent
yourself, yes?”
    Ann looked at him in surprise. “Well
spotted!” she said. “Not many people notice it. I’m not actually Russian
though. My parents were Russian Jews. They adopted me when I was a baby. I
picked up the accent from them, and the fact that, being professors themselves
as well as immigrants, they sent me to a Russian kindergarten and school.”
    “Interesting,” said Tomo. “In
case you hadn’t guessed, I’m Japanese, the son of Japanese parents, employee at
a Japanese company, but for some reason I can’t stop thinking about a certain
American-Russian lady.”
    Ann shrugged. “What’s a guy to
do, hey?”
    “You tell me. How do I get in
there?” He pointed towards Ann’s heart.
    “In my blouse?” said Ann, raising
her perfect eyebrows in mock surprise.
    Tomo smiled. “In your heart,
beautiful.”
    “Now that’s definitely confidential,” she said with a charming wink.
    ~
    After