by John Zakour
“I’m Tina!”
“I’m Ms. Money, Mr. Wise’s personal assistant. I am here to greet you and to walk you to the elevator.”
Pointing at a big door down the hall, Tina said. “Pretty sure that’s the elevator right there!”
“Oh, it is,” Ms. Money said. “But I get paid to walk people.”
“Why?” I asked.
“I’m also a security expert. I’ve been trained to detect subtle ticks in faces and voice tones to make sure people are not a threat to Mr. Wise,” she said, leading us down the hallway.
“I can assure you, we are not threats,” I replied. “I just want to talk to Cousin Earl because I’m now living in my grandpa’s house. I understand they were close.”
Ms. Money listened to me talk. “Well, you do appear to be harmless. And no threat whatsoever to anybody.”
“Extra thanks,” I said.
Ms. Money turned to Tina. “Why are you here?”
“I’m her BFF. Where she goes, I go. I like to think of myself as a younger version of you. I can also detect when people are lying or when they are just plain jerks,” Tina answered with a grin. “Am I a threat?”
Ms. Money returned Tina’s grin. “You are, but not to Mr. Wise. Not unless he tries to cheat you, which I am pretty certain he won’t.”
“What makes you so certain?” Tina asked Ms. Money.
“I wouldn’t work for somebody who cheated nice young people!” Ms. Money replied.
We reached the elevator. Ms. Money put her hand on a security pad. The elevator door opened, revealing a gold-plated elevator.
“Oh wow, this elevator is even bigger and nicer than my bedroom,” Tina remarked.
“Mine too,” Ms. Money said. “Have a pleasant interaction with the boss. He is on the thirteenth floor.”
She motioned to the elevator. Tina and I walked in. The door closed. The elevator buttons were in binary. I smiled.
Maya Fact in Binary: 0001 = 1, 0010 = 2, 0011 = 3, 0100 =4, 0101 = 5, 0110 = 6, 0111 = 7, 1000 = 8, 1001 = 9, 1010 = 10, 1011 = 11, 1010 = 12, 1101 = 13…
“What the heck?” Tina said, looking at the keys. “This is your geek talk, right?”
“It’s binary!” I said. “Pretty darn cool!”
“Which one is thirteen?” she asked.
“The top one, the one that says 1101,” I said. “The first one equals eight; the second one equals four, the third one equals one. Eight plus four plus one equals thirteen. It’s math, just base two math!” I kept myself from giggling.
Maya pushed the top button. The elevator shot upwards – fast. I staggered back. Tina took a step back to steady herself, and that was it. The girl had balance. The door opened up. We were greeted by another woman dressed very much like Ms. Money. Except that she was a little older and maybe a little prettier. She held out a hand. “Hello, I am Venus Jones. I’ve heard a lot about you two from both my boss and my daughter.”
“Oh my gosh, you’re Ivy’s mom?” I gulped.
“Well here, I am Mr. Wise’s lawyer, but yes, I am Ivy’s mother, for better or for worse. I know Ivy can be a bit overly truthful sometimes. I raised her to be competitive, but honest. Hopefully, it wasn’t a mistake. Raising a daughter on my own was the greatest challenge of my life.” She smiled. “But I loved it. Mostly. As I am sure you girls know, Ivy is a handful. But very aptly named.”
“Yes,” I replied.
“Oh, yes indeed,” Tina said. “But she leaves me alone. She’s a lot harder on Maya here.”
Venus nodded. “Yes, that’s because she senses Maya can compete with her. Nothing personal Tina, dear, but I don’t think she sees you as a threat.”
Tina nodded. “Yep, that’s because I don’t want to compete with her over Dex. I think Dex is annoying and I wouldn't want to date him, even if my BFF didn’t want to date him.”
Venus smiled. “I like you, Tina. You’re a straight talker. And in my line of work, I find that very refreshing.”
We started walking towards Cousin Earl’s overly large desk. Venus and Tina kept talking.
“I like you, too, Ms. Jones. If you don’t mind me saying so, I can see where Ivy gets her good looks.”
Venus winked at Tina. “Heavens, yes. It certainly was NOT from her father. He was a poor choice for me to marry. But I now have my Ivy, so I can’t complain.”
I didn’t point out that she kind of just had complained. Instead, I asked her, “How long have you worked for my cousin, Earl?”
“I like you too, Maya, right to the point. So much like your grandfather and his business partner, Al,” Venus said. We kept walking.
“You didn’t answer my question. But I like you too!” I added.
“Pretty sure I did,” she told me. She smiled. “And I like you too!”
“I’d like you even better if you answered my question,” I prompted.
“Why do you want to know?” Venus Jones asked me.
“I just do…. it will give me some insight on you and Ivy,” I told her. “And please don’t answer my question with another question. That really grates my cheese!” I added.
“Is that a bad thing?” Tina asked. “Why would it be a bad thing?”
“I’m with Tina on that. Grated cheese is great!” Venus said.
“Please just answer!” I demanded this time.
By now we had reached Cousin Earl’s super large desk. He looked up from his computer and told Venus, “You may answer her, Venus.”
“I’ve worked for Mr. Wise for a dozen years. A dozen marvelous years!” she said.
“Thank you!” I nodded, finally satisfied.
Cousin Earl stood up from his desk. He walked around the desk. It took him a while. He walked over to me and hugged me. “I’m so sorry about Jack. He was a great man.”
“Thanks,” I said, fighting back a tear.
“Now, how’s that amazing lab that he left you?” Cousin Earl asked.
“It’s amazing!” I said. I stopped when Tina elbowed me. “Say what now?” I asked. “Ah, what lab?” I questioned. I tossed in a “duh…”
Earl laughed. “The one thing you are not good at is playing dumb.”
Pointing to two big comfy chairs in front of his desk, Cousin Earl said. “Please, come and sit. Let’s talk!”
Chapter VIII
“Excuse me?” I said to cousin Earl. I laughed nervously. “What lab?”
“Yeah there’s no secret lab under Maya’s house,” Tina added.
“Smooth,” I told her.
Tina nodded. “Yeah, I’m usually cool under pressure. Not sure what’s happening right now…”
“This is mental pressure,” Cousin Earl said. “It’s different from physical pressure. Look, girls…I’m not a moron. Yes, I’m not a super-uber genius like Cousin Jack, but I know stuff. I turned his inventions into profit for all of us. Plus, come on…AL? He loves saying, ‘you can call me Al.’ I knew your grandpa loved that song. Plus, Al just seems like a young version of Jack.”
“Well, I’m not saying there is a secret lab…” I replied.
“Me neither,” Tina said.
“If there wasn’t a secret lab then why would you be here? Your parents barely know me. We talk a little at family events, but that’s it. I’m guessing the lab is under attack…”
“I’m not saying it is. I’m not saying it isn’t,” I told him.
“We’re not even saying that the lab exists,” Tina added.
“But if the lab did exist, how do we know that you’re not giving the lab’s super-uber computer system a virus or millions of viruses?” I asked him.
“Why would I want to do that?” Cousin Earl scoffed. “Your grandpa made me millions. If he did leave this lab, which may or may not exist, to you, then I trust things will keep carrying on. I trust you will keep inventing things that make us all a lot of money.”
“I’m more interested in helping the world than in making money,” I told him.
“We’re interested in both,” Tina said. S
he turned to me. “Girl, I want to be best friends with a billionaire…” She smiled. Turning back to Cousin Earl, she added, “If any of this were real, of course, which it isn’t, we’re just kids playing along…”
“What about Tammy Payne?” Cousin Earl asked. “What does she think is going on? Is she just a kid playing along?”
Maya Message: It caught me by surprise that Cousin Earl knew about Tammy being more than a babysitter. I guess it shouldn’t have. Cousin Earl is rich and rich people have ways of getting information.
“Tammy is just my little bro’s babysitter,” I insisted.
“Yeah, she’s NOT a government agent or a spy or a bodyguard,” Tina added.
“Not helping,” I told Tina.
“You don’t know that for sure,” Tina told me.
Cousin Earl laughed and pointed to me. “She’s right!” he told Tina.
“Sorry, I’m more used to reacting than really thinking,” Tina said to me.
Cousin Earl looked at each of us. “I take it from your hypothetical conversation that the lab has been experiencing computer problems.”
“That’s an understatement,” Tina replied. “That would be like saying the Titanic experienced a little crash.”
“Still not helping!” I told Tina.
“I know; I just don’t know why I can’t stop talking! Maybe because I’ve been using Lemon Computer products all my life, and here we are sitting across from the man who leads Lemon Computers and Science Stuff!” She paused to catch her breath. “They say, never meet your idols… I never thought I’d get to meet him. Plus, now he might be a bad dude. Man, I can talk a lot when I’m nervous!” Tina rambled on. “Man, usually you’re the one who will nerd out, Maya. Not me!”
“Breathe!” Cousin Earl told Tina.
“I think I’ve forgotten how to stop and breathe!” she said. She stopped. She took a deep breath and then smiled. “Okay, got it. Oxygen to the brain really helps.” She curled her hands into fists. “You’d better not be messing with us, Earl!” she ordered.
Cousin Earl sat back in his fancy chair. “Trust me; I am not. I have more cash and wealth than I could ever spend. I am perfectly happy with how things are going. Why would I rock the boat? I’m not a boat rocker, that’s bad for business. And you’d get all wet.”
I took in his words. I thought about what he’d said. Cousin Earl had a really good thing going with Grandpa Jack. It had made him super rich. Maybe he wanted more? But why would he risk everything by giving the computer a virus that could shut down the lab that had made him wealthy? Maybe he wanted control? But he seemed very happy and content where he was now.
“Look, I’m a marketing guy. I know how to sell things, not how to make things. I really am happy with our current arrangement,” Cousin Earl said.
“Maybe you don’t trust Maya to run the company. She is just a teen, after all,” Tina countered.
Cousin Earl laughed. “I remember when Maya was three. She beat me at chess in ten moves, and she also beat me at backgammon, risk and Mario Kart.” He paused. “I knew she was special then!”
“Wait, how could you lose to this girl in Mario Kart? She’s not that good at it…” Tina said, shocked.
“I’m pretty good!” I insisted.
Tina shook her head. “No, no you’re not.”
“Well, she’s better than I am. BUT I did beat her in Monopoly!” Cousin Earl said proudly.
“I always found that game boring,” I told him.
“Plus, dude, you are talking about beating a three-year-old at an old farts’ boring board game. I would not tweet about that if I were you,” Tina said.
“No, no, I wouldn’t. I only mentioned it because it shows that right at that moment, I knew Maya was special!”
“Thanks, Cousin Earl!” I smiled.
“Plus, it also showed that I know business!” Cousin Earl added.
“Dude, once again, winning a boring board game against a three-year-old isn’t something to brag about!” Tina reminded him.
“I liked you better when you were in awe,” Cousin Earl said.
“This is more the real me,” Tina replied.
“It so is!” I confirmed.
“Just because you beat a three-year-old at monopoly, why should we trust you to run a business?” Tina asked.
Cousin Earl smiled. He pointed around his office. “Look at the office we are in right now.”
“Good point,” I said.
“The man does make a solid argument,” Tina told me.
“Therefore, who do you think might be behind the trouble in the lab?” I asked him.
“If there is a lab…” Tina corrected.
“Well, our main competition has been Mega Max, the business run by Tony Rose. Your grandpa and Tony Rose go way, way back. They were friends, friendly rivals and then friendly enemies…” Cousin Earl explained. “They never really hated each other but they drove each other to outdo each other. What better way for Tony to outdo Jack now than to take his lab?”
“Grandpa did take his woman,” I said.
Earl smiled. “Actually, they switched women. Your grandpa thought he’d be better off with your grandma, and Tony thought he and Diana were made for each other. That relationship didn’t end so well.”
“I think we need to talk to Dex about his grandpa…” Tina said.
“What about Chad Silver’s father, Chad senior?” I asked. “Could he have any interest in us?”’
Cousin Earl laughed. “Nah, that man never had to work a day in his life. He wouldn’t want to put in the work or the time needed to run a business. He just collects his checks from the sale of his grandpa’s oil. Oil that his grandpa found by accident, after shooting a possum and missing it. Best miss of his life. He literally shot oil…”
“You sure of that?” Tina asked.
“Young lady, I’ve been on this earth long enough to know that the only things you can be sure of are death and taxes. But I am pretty darn sure,” Cousin Earl told Tina.
Tina jumped to her feet and turned to me excitedly. “I believe him. Nerds can’t lie to me. Even rich nerds.” She grinned. “It’s my gift in life. My superpower.”
Cousin Earl nodded his head. “I gotta admit, now that she’s back to her real self, I’m kind of scared of her…”
Tina looked at me and smiled. “See!”
“Don’t worry, I’ve known of your intimidation factor for a long time!” I replied.
“I liked her better when she was in awe of my wealth,” Cousin Earl said.
“Trust me; Tina never stays in awe long!” I told him.
“Look, when you have Maya as a BFF, you learn to accept amazing things every day!” Tina declared.
I patted her on the back. “Thanks, BFF!”
“No, thank you!” Tina replied.
Cousin Earl teared up a bit. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket. He wiped his eyes. “That is so sweet…” He collected himself. Straightening his back, he spoke, “Now if you girls don’t mind, I’d like you to leave before I cry.”
“No problem, Cus,” I told him. “I’m convinced you only want to help us!” I added.
“Of course, because by helping you, I help the family and myself!” He paused then whispered to me. “Plus I am a little freaked out by Tina!”
Tina and I left the building fairly satisfied that Cousin Earl was not behind our troubles in the lab. For one thing, he was family. For another, he profited by us profiting.
“I think he’s innocent,” I told Tina as we walked our bikes through the grounds.
“I mean, he’s a big rich businessman, so he’s not totally innocent, that’s part of what I like about him!” Tina said. “But I agree, he is not the one behind our troubles.”
I noticed the security drones were following us very closely. If they could breathe, they would have been breathing down our necks. Turning to the drones, I told them, “Back off bots!”
The drones stopped. They spun towards each other. They b
eeped at each other…beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, BEEP!
I didn’t like the sound of that.
“They sound angry,” Tina said.
“Yeah ah, drones can’t be angry,” I said. “They are drones; they’re built to do specific tasks.”
“Maybe these drones are built to be angry?” Tina offered.
“Why would Cousin Earl build drones to be angry?” I asked.
“He’s a weird rich guy. You’ve met your grandpa. Right? These guys think different…” Tina said.
“Yes, different but not angry!” I replied.
“Stop, intruders!” the drones ordered.
Tina and I stopped. “We aren’t intruders. We are leaving…” I said.
“Therefore, you admit you did intrude!” the drones said.
Tina nudged me. “I’ll let you handle this…”
“We were invited in. Therefore, we were NOT intruding…” I said slowly.
“You said in, and intruding starts with in. Therefore, we compute just because you were invited in, does not mean you are not intruding!” the drones stated. “According to mythology, vampires must be invited into a house to enter, and they are still intruders…”
“Yes, but that is mythology. We are real,” I replied.
“Since you are real, we detect you are a real threat!” the drones said.
I nudged Tina. I gave her my getting ready to move look. By move, I meant spring into action.
“Look, drones, I don't want to drone on and on about this, but we are no threats…” I said calmly.
“If you were threats, would you admit to being threats?” the drones asked.
“No, I guess not,” I replied.
“Therefore, by your own logic, you are threats!” the drones said.
The drones’ red beams started to pulsate. I didn’t like the look or sound of them at all.
“Dive!” I shouted.
Tina and I hit the ground just as the drones blasted us with red-hot laser beams. The beams passed over us, just missing us, though we could still feel the heat.
“Keep moving!” I shouted to Tina.
“Yeah, you don’t have to be a super brain to know a moving target is harder to hit!” she said, rolling away.