After the woman completed her task and left, Frank held his finger to his lips and walked out of the room. He returned momentarily with what looked like a small suitcase in his hand. Frank removed a device that looked like a miniaturized metal detector and did a slow circuit of the room, moving the device back and forth in a careful pattern.
Jinx sat quietly watching Frank walk around their meeting room, waving some sort of device.
What’s he doing? Jinx asked her person.
My guess is he’s scanning for covert surveillance devices—what your James Bond characters would call bugs.
Jinx pondered Anne’s reply as she watched Frank wave his machine over a chair for a second time. By the time Frank motioned to Guardian Connors to put the chair on the table, Jinx was in motion. She got to the chair and put her front feet on it before Guardian Connors could move it.
Can you signal him in some way to wait a minute? Jinx asked her person as the Were looked at Anne for an explanation.
Sure thing, her person replied, and Jinx watched as Anne held up both hands and then one finger. Jinx was surprised to see Guardian Connors tap his left wrist, hold up one finger, and then give a thumbs-up sign.
What was that? Jinx asked.
He’s giving you your minute, so do what you want to do, and I’ll explain while you’re working. Anne replied.
Although her sire had started as a normal canine, he didn’t like to talk about those days. So, if you didn’t count him, Jinx had never met a non-enhanced canine. She did, however, love to hear stories about how her ancestors could be trained to detect all kinds of substances by odor alone. In fact, she was very proud it was her sense of smell that had alerted the humans when her person had been sick. With those feats in mind, Jinx carefully sniffed the entire chair. There! That corner on the bottom—something smelled different.
Can you get him to turn it over? Jinx inquired hopefully. Jinx was pleased and quite proud of her person when with just a few motions, she had Guardian Connors picking up the chair and turning it over, then holding it so just the back was resting on the floor. There were several things in the bottom of the chair that looked like they were holding the fabric in place, and it only took Jinx three seconds to identify the one that had a different odor than the others.
This one is wrong, Jinx sent, touching the offending item with her nose. Anne didn’t even have time to reply before Guardian Connors gave her a pat on the side, pointed to the tack, and gave her a thumbs-up signal. Jinx watched long enough to see the Were pull a multi-tool from a pocket and access a screwdriver blade, then she followed Frank as he swept the rest of the room.
Anne had done some research after Jinx had discovered the cancer no one else knew was slowly killing her. From the research, she knew how incredible a canine’s sense of smell was, and her lips curved into a small smile of pride when Jinx located the device that Frank’s machine had hinted at.
There’s another one here, Jinx’ familiar mental voice informed her. Anne turned to find her companion on her belly, sniffing the bottom of the new vending machine. Anne touched Frank’s arm as he returned to his starting position and pointed at Jinx.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Frank mouthed to Anne.
Anne shook her head and pointed emphatically at Jinx. She watched as Frank took his device and returned to the vending machine, carefully passing it under the machine. While he was doing that, Anne dug her tablet from the backpack she used to carry items like that and wrote a note, which she showed to Frank.
I’m sorry, but I don’t care what your machine says. I trust Jinx!
Frank sighed as he returned his scanner to its case. Anne motioned for Guardian Connors to tip the vending machine over. Once the machine had been tipped a few degrees from vertical, an alarm started shrieking. Anne plugged her ears with her fingers, wishing she could do the same for Jinx as her friend’s tail fluffed in displeasure at the noise. Jinx quickly sniffed the now exposed bottom of the vending machine.
It’s here, covered by some tape that’s been painted the same color as the machine, Jinx informed her, pawing gently at a spot on the skirting around the bottom. Anne grabbed a marker from her pack and drew an arrow to the spot Jinx was indicating.
Let’s get out of here! Anne followed the message with action, heading for the door. As soon as Jinx and the others had cleared the room, Anne shut the door. Speaking out loud for the first time in several minutes, she pointed down the hallway.
“I think this is a good time to use that fancy office. Hopefully, it will be quieter in there with the door closed.”
Chapter Two
Anne and Jinx remained in the office. Frank had only needed one look at Anne’s eyes to suggest he be the one to take the vending machine rep into their new meeting room.
Sitting beside Anne’s chair, Jinx noticed the aura around her person’s hands and used her nose to nudge her bare arm.
Calm down. Chances are the vending machine person didn’t even know it was there. I didn’t smell any sort of nervousness when we showed up.
Anne pulled in a slow deep breath, then blew it out just as slowly while she released the energy she had gathered in her hands. She hugged Jinx tightly for a second, then straightened, keeping one hand in the fur around her friend’s neck.
You’re probably correct, Anne grumbled. I’m not really blaming her.
What’s got you so tense, then? Jinx wondered.
Anne stood and moved her chair so she could flop down beside Jinx. Her friend was so large, Anne could lean all her weight against Jinx and not budge her.
I’m trying to figure if this was targeted or random.
Go on, Jinx encouraged. I’m not making the connection.
If it’s random, someone’s bugging office furniture, hoping they luck out and hear something useful. If it’s targeted, that means someone somewhere suspects we are doing something that’s worth monitoring. Anne sighed again and continued, I’ve got a bad feeling this is going to mean more guards and more restrictions.
Jinx briefly wished her legs worked more like arms so she could give Anne a hug. Since a human hug wasn’t possible, she carefully laid down and put her head in Anne’s lap.
You might be right, she agreed, but I’m guessing this is just moving the schedule up a few months.
What do you mean? Anne queried.
I imagine the moment you and Stevie create something useful, both of you will become higher-value targets. Jinx winced at the emotional spike that came through her connection to Anne.
Fu…dge!
Anne ran her fingers through the soft fur on her friend’s neck and relaxed.
Do you remember telling Jean Dukes that people with pets were less stressed?
Jinx chortled a laugh. It’s true. In some cases, there are up to thirty-some percentage points of improvement in heart disease for people who have dogs as pets.
“Wow.” Anne was shocked into speaking out loud. “That’s really significant.”
A female voice spoke as the door opened. “What’s significant?”
“Hey, Steph. Jinx was just telling me about studies she knows of that claim people with dogs can be up to thirty percent less likely to suffer from heart disease than people without.” Anne looked up at her friend and co-worker.
Stephanie Kasyanov stood in the doorway with her hands clenched, but the automatic “Call me Stevie” response died on her lips. With a mental sigh, she stepped into the office and knelt in front of her two friends.
“How do you get away with it?” she wondered.
“With what?” Anne queried, her expression was wide-eyed and innocent. She let her face relax as she reached out to touch Stevie’s arm. “Sorry, I think of you as Steph in my head, and whenever I’m talking to Jinx or Seshat, I call you Steph. It just slipped out.”
Stevie moved so she could sit beside Anne with her back against the wall. She looked up at the ceiling and blew out a breath. “If I let you call me that when it’s just the four of us
, will you try to remember to call me Stevie when we’re around other people? Otherwise, I’ll soon have everyone calling me Steph.”
Anne considered the request for several seconds. Not because she wanted to fight Steph on the matter but to see if she felt she could follow through once she agreed.
It would be just like calling Bethany Anne “Majesty” or “Empress” in public, Jinx suggested.
Anne gave Jinx an extra-vigorous scratch in thanks. “I can’t promise I won’t make a mistake here or there, but I’ll do my best to call you Stevie when there are other people around. Deal?”
Stevie shifted and shoulder-bumped Anne. “Deal.”
A tap on the door curtailed further conversation as Frank stuck his head into the room. He couldn’t keep his eyes from widening as he saw Anne and Jinx sitting on the floor with a girl he recognized as Stevie Kasyanov.
“I hope giving up chairs is not going to become a trend here.” Even though Frank’s body was now much younger than his actual age (thank you, BA), he admitted to anyone who asked that he retained a lot of social behavior from a time many decades ago.
“Nah,” Anne proclaimed as she rose gracefully to her feet. “I moved so I could sit with Jinx, then Stevie came in and joined us.”
“Well, our conflab is finally device-free and ready for our first meeting.” Frank stepped in to hold the door for girls and motioned down the hall.
“’Conflab.’ I like that term,” Anne acknowledged as she stepped past Frank into the hallway.
Remember, Frank said you’re the boss. You’re going to have to be the alpha here, Jinx said as she walked down the hall.
In what way? Anne wanted to know.
A pack doesn’t work in a vacuum. It needs an alpha. If you don’t lead, eventually it will end up defaulting back to Frank, and we’ll be right where we were a couple hours ago.
But didn’t Bethany Anne send him to help us? Anne was frustrated. She seemed to be missing the point somehow.
Exactly! Jinx’ reply rang in her head. “Help” is the operative word. I think in terms of pack because it’s my nature. You might need a different model. Jinx’ dialogue halted as she tried to think of an example Anne could understand easier.
Seshat joined the conversation. >>Think of it like a ship. There is only one captain. The captain has the crew to do most of the work, but it’s the captain who decides the direction the ship sails. Mr. Kurns can be your executive officer and take care of a lot of issues so you don’t have to. However, if you wish to maintain control of this project, you need to be the one in command.<<
Well, double fudge.
Anne wasn’t happy, but she wasn’t going to dismiss the input her friends had just provided. Entering the conflab room, Anne proceeded to the spot she considered the head of the table and sat in the chair.
Sensing her person’s nervousness, Jinx sat next to Anne and pushed her head into her lap. You aren’t alone in this. You have Seshat and me ready to support you in anything you need.
Anne had to concentrate to keep from tearing up. Thanks, you guys! Being reminded I have that kind of support makes me feel a whole bunch better about this.
Anne waited while Stevie and Frank chose their seats. They ended up sitting on either side of her.
“Seshat… Well, crap!” Anne looked around the room, realizing it lacked the camera and monitor she had in her apartment.
“Frank, doesn’t Meredith use cameras for surveillance?”
Seshat, would Meredith let you access her cameras? Anne asked as she dug her tablet out of her pack. You can access this, right? Anne asked as she set the tablet on the table.
Frank looked a little sheepish. “Yes, normally there’d be cameras in here for Meredith to use. They haven’t been installed yet because this is a new remodel and it wasn’t being used, so it was a low priority for the workers.”
>>Meredith says there are no issues tapping into her surveillance system since the Empress says we’re trusted enough to allow it,<< Seshat informed Anne.
“Certainly.” Seshat’s voice came from the tablet’s speakers as the screen resolved into the image of her avatar.
“Sorry. We need to get a monitor set up in this room for you,” Anne offered.
Stevie looked uncomfortable as she put her hand up by her shoulder and kind of waved it at Anne. “I’ve had an idea. Seshat said she can run the equipment to mine the asteroid, correct?”
“Yes,” Seshat answered. “The equipment we are going to rent is designed for remote operation.”
“That’s what I thought. If you can run an excavator remotely, there shouldn’t be anything stopping us from building some sort of motorized body with cameras and speakers and everything you need to have your own physical presence.” Stevie’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as she outlined her idea to build a remote-control body for Seshat.
“So, she’d be an android?” Anne asked once Stevie had finished her explanation.
“Negative,” Stevie responded. “An android would have the computing hardware in its body.”
“Hey!” Anne looked from Stevie to her tablet, where Seshat’s avatar was displayed. “You could build her a garage full of bodies to pilot. Remember the drone rage on Earth before we left?”
Stevie grabbed her tablet and frantically began to make entries. “I had been thinking along the lines of that cartoon robot from the movie. You know, treads, cameras, manipulator arms? But you’re right. As long as we have the funds, we could build Seshat different bodies that could be optimized for function and/or environment.”
Mindful of her position as leader of the meeting, Anne looked at Jinx and Frank. “Anyone have anything else to add on this subject?”
Jinx barked a negative, but Frank nodded and cleared his throat. “We’re going to need to develop a budget.”
Anne looked like she had bitten into something sour, then schooled her expression and looked at her tablet. “Please put ‘budget’ on the agenda, Seshat. I know it needs to be discussed, but I have something else I wish to bring up first.”
Stevie quit writing on her tablet, and Frank focused on Anne.
“My security team claims this location is going to require Echo Two security. That means all three team members need to be with me. Up until now, I’ve spent most of my time in the interior of the MR. That required less security, so at least one of my team members was off-duty. If we end up spending significant time here, my security is going to be hard-pressed, but I’d prefer not to have to expand my detail if at all possible. Does anyone have ideas as to what we can do?”
Everyone was focused on the problem, so a knock at the meeting room door was unexpected. Guardian Connors stuck his head into the room.
“Sorry to interrupt, but, you know, Were hearing,” Arthur Connors declared, pointing to his ear. “My suggestion would be to hire Guardian Marines to post a two-man guard on the office. Let them deal with scheduling that. Any time you need to be here, we check with HQ to see who’s on guard. That way, we could spot an imposter because we’d know who should be here. With two of our people already here, that would de-escalate us to Echo One.”
Anne wanted to get up and hug her Guardian but refrained for propriety’s sake. “That sounds like a great idea,” Anne almost gushed. “It brings us back to the money issue, though.”
“That shouldn’t be an issue since the Guardian Marine force is financed by the Empire,” Arthur suggested.
Anne frowned. “Well, technically, I work for Bethany Anne, so having her finance a security force makes sense.”
“Have you ever thought about forming your own company?” Frank inquired.
Anne was quiet for a few seconds, then shook her head. “I imagine you can guess by my reaction, the answer is no. However, it’s an interesting idea. Do you think BA would be okay with that?”
It was Frank’s turn to sit quietly while he worked out an answer to that question. “In a way, I think she would support it. She likes to see her people grow. I imagine sh
e would insist on some sort of first refusal of any new products you develop, but I’d also expect her to pay top dollar for any new tech she chose to buy.”
Anne rolled her shoulders to relieve some of the tension that was building. “Can we table this until we have our new facility up and running?”
“Absolutely.” Frank smiled as he nodded his head. “it’s probably something Bethany Anne wouldn’t think about suggesting. Because of that, you should have all the time you need to decide if you’re interested. And if that’s the case, you just have to develop a plan and then a proposal to take to her.”
“Seshat, would you please have us revisit this idea at our first meeting after our facility is operational?” Anne felt mildly guilty about the relief she experienced at being able to defer this particular conversation until later.
From Anne’s tablet, Seshat’s avatar waved a hand in the simulated 3D image that appeared beside her.
Event: Meeting.
Time: First meeting after 3PO is operational.
Agenda: Discuss possibility of creating a company.
“Done,” the avatar said as it turned to face Anne.
Anne squinted at the image in her tablet. “What’s ‘3PO?’”
“ADAM has informed me that Bethany Anne has decided to call our asteroid base ‘3PO.’ According to him, it originates from a series of science fiction movies made on Earth,” Seshat informed Anne.
Anne smiled. “I know the movies.”
“I’ve just reviewed some of the scenes,” the AI offered. “That unit is so faulty, I wonder why someone didn’t wipe it and start fresh.”
Frank managed to swallow the sip of Coke he had just taken as opposed to spewing it all over the table. “Those aren’t…” He quickly cut off what he had been going to say when Anne raised a hand.
“Humans experience a wide range of emotions.” Mindful that her AI friend was still quite young, Anne thought frantically about how to best explain the situation to her. “A lot of our entertainment intentionally evokes human emotion. Fear, anger, anxiety, excitement, and joy are just a few. The problem is that it is exhausting to experience a strong emotion for a long period of time. Knowing that, the people who make entertainment videos will often include spots that provide the audience with emotional relief. The movies you’re talking about create a lot of anxiety and excitement in the people watching them. That particular ‘droid,’” Anne used finger quotes for the word, “works as what’s called ‘comic relief.’ After several minutes of building tension, here comes this robot doing or saying something that’s so silly the audience finds it funny.”
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