by Alex Schuler
“There’s never a guarantee with a tip. Besides, who wants to sit in a car stuck in traffic for an hour or two to deliver a stupid pizza? Nobody I know.”
“Nobody.” Rusty smiled as the line inched ahead. “I see your point, kid. No human would want to do that. Would they?”
24
Ted eased his Camaro into his parent’s driveway and coasted to a halt close to the main road. A car he had never seen, a new bright white Ford Fusion wearing Michigan plates, was parked directly in the middle of the double-wide driveway, blocking his way to the back of the house. Ted was exhausted after another long work week at the assembly plant. He worried his mother might have invited guests over for dinner. The thought of having to spend a Friday evening being social with strangers felt very depressing. All he wanted was to be alone.
“Great,” he said aloud as he slammed his transmission into park. He killed the ignition and got out. “If this is another one of her surprise dinner parties, I’m outta here.”
Halloween was two weeks away. Mrs. Wolff had a reputation in the neighborhood for getting a bit excessive when it came to seasonal decorations for the house. This year was no exception. The towering red maple tree in the front yard, barren of leaves, had a dozen ghosts and skeletons hanging from its branches. Fake spider webs, along with orange outdoor lights, were strung across the evergreen shrubs beneath the front windows. Plastic gourds of all shapes and colors were scattered across the porch steps, capped off with an expertly carved jack-o-lantern. The pumpkin’s triangular eyes and jagged tooth smile greeted Ted as he made his way past, toward the back porch.
Ted’s mother was alone in the kitchen when he walked inside. He looked around and cocked his head to try and hear voices coming from another room. All was silent, other than the clicking of an overly loud kitchen timer resting on the counter. The room was filled with the scent of garlic and butter-basted chicken simmering in the oven.
“Teddy!” Barbara wiped her hands along her apron, leaving streaks of herbs in their wake. Tonight’s apron featured stenciled drawings of bread next to the words, come loaf with me. She walked over to the sink to rinse a large fork and spoon and asked, “How was work?”
“Whose car is in the driveway?” he asked.
“You have an old friend visiting.” Barbara could not contain her excitement, her face radiating joy. “I so love surprises like these!”
“Who? Where?”
“Downstairs. Go see for yourself.”
Ted looked at the sparkle in his mother’s eyes. Whenever his mother had exciting news to tell, she would bristle with delight. She had that look about her now—more so than usual. Ted wondered who could be here that would make his mother so excited. He had been living at home for almost a year. During that time, he’d gotten much closer to his mom. He’d confided much to her, including the loss he felt when Sam had returned to California. His eyes widened at the thought of Sam waiting for him downstairs.
The basement door was open. He ran down the stairs, gripping the faded wooden railing for support. His feet pounded as they slammed against each tread, pausing at the bottom of the steps. He was suddenly overwhelmed with happiness, laced with worry. He couldn’t recall the last time he felt this way. Then he remembered his excitement at seeing Sam at the Detroit airport. That’s what he felt coming over him. His mind was immediately flooded with questions to ask her. He wondered why she’d stayed silent, and what brought her across the country to see him without warning.
The light in the laundry area was on, but the room was empty. There was also a dim light coming from the bedroom. Ted poked his head inside, but saw no one. Confused, he checked the darkened storage room, but, again, no one. He was about to head upstairs when he heard the office chair in the bedroom squeak.
He walked into the bedroom, farther this time, and turned to face the alcove recessed behind the door. He swung the door away to get a full view of the area. Someone wearing a baseball cap was sitting in his chair with their back to him, hunched over his desk. The small desk lamp lit the person from behind, masking their features. Ted flipped the wall switch for the overhead fluorescent lights. The chair squeaked loudly against its worn hinges as it spun around.
“Rusty?” Ted asked. He didn’t even attempt to hide his disappointment at the sight of his old mentor. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Nice to see you, too.” Rusty pointed at the lidar array on the desk in front of him. “I see you’ve been busy.”
Ted’s shock and disappointment at not finding Sam waiting for him were almost immediately replaced by anger and resentment. Rusty was the last person he wanted to see. He was the polar opposite of Sam. After DARPA ended last year, Ted had traveled with the team cross-country back to DSU. The following week, Rusty had assembled everyone to tell them how DSU planned to use the prize money to upgrade the robotics lab. He also wanted Ted to stay on to assist with the expansion. Ted knew already he would pursue Detroit, despite Rusty’s objections. The last words the two had exchanged were far from complimentary.
“I work on it when I have time.” An unlaundered shirt lay draped over the back of the desk chair, pinned against Rusty’s back. Ted turned off the desk lamp, yanked the shirt free, and tossed it over the lidar. “So, why are you here?”
“What’s with the tone, Ted? Are you still angry? It’s been a year.” Rusty held up a bottle wrapped in a brown paper bag. “I come bearing gifts.”
“I wasn’t expecting to see you again. Ever.” He folded his arms and leaned against the edge of the alcove. Rusty seemed uncharacteristically calm. “How did you even find me?”
“I have my connections.” Rusty stood up, emitting a mild groan as he stretched his lower back. He glanced around the bedroom and shook his head. “You’ve been gone a year, Ted. Why are you still living in your parent’s basement? I thought you hated them.”
“I never said that. We just . . . just wanted different things for me. Look, I had no idea what to expect when I moved back here. The first few months working at the plant were miserable. One of the first things I did was start looking for apartments. But then I realized I could save a lot of money living here.”
“For?”
“For?” Ted immediately felt like he was back at DSU again, on the defensive.
“What’s your future, Ted?” Rusty held out his arms, motioning toward the small TV across the room and the unmade bed tucked in the corner. “All of this?”
“I just told you, I’m saving up. I plan to move out by the end of the year.”
“And do what?” Rusty did not wait for a reply. “Spend the rest of your life working for GM? In a factory? Look me in the eye and tell me you’re happy.”
Ted glared into Rusty’s dull, lifeless eyes. He’d never noticed how much their color resembled the hazy gray of naval ships. The staring contest lasted less than ten seconds before Ted lowered his head and focused on his feet.
“It’s a job,” he finally said, his enthusiasm non-existent.
“But are you happy?”
“How can I be? With the bankruptcy and constant shakeups, closings, layoffs—it’s all a big crapshoot. If I left GM, where would I go? The economy is faltering, jobs are drying up. There’s nothing else out there for me. This . . . this is all I have.”
“All you have? What happened to the cocky guy who almost dismantled a Segway to show me how to tame the beast that would become Cyclops?” Rusty yanked the shirt off the lidar system. “This, Ted, this is your future. Why are you throwing it away?”
“Why?” Ted felt his blood pressure rise. He wasn’t sure if his anger was just at seeing Rusty or if it was his invasive line of questioning. “Because I failed, okay? I tried. Sam and I tried to win Detroit over. It was a disaster. Happy?”
“Happy? No. And I know all the details from Detroit.”
“You do?”
“I told you, I have my connections.
” Rusty set onto the desk the brown paper bag he’d been holding. He walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, patting the space next to him.
Ted stared at the lidar sensor, as a flood of memories of Sam arose. Her at DARPA, baseball cap and green sparking eyes, the calls they’d shared putting together their presentation for Detroit, the wretched meetings, and that awful last morning in the hotel. He had thought the Detroit execs would be wowed by the spinning lidar, his secret weapon for the advancement of autonomous vehicles. In the end, of course, the execs completely dismissed his ideas and their data and projections. A wave of hurt filled his chest. He just wanted to hear Sam’s voice. See her. Touch her.
He shook off the thoughts and turned his attention back to Rusty. “Okay, I’m listening,” he said as he slumped down on the bed where Rusty had patted.
“I was in San Francisco a couple of months ago at a convention. Vin was there, too. He says hello, by the way. Long story short, there was this radio show based on Treasure Island. They complained that nobody would deliver to them because of how far their studio is from downtown San Francisco. I called them up and told them I could do it with a robot car. They had me live on the air. I told them the future was robots, AI, and self-driving cars. I got loud and preachy.”
“Not you,” Ted said with a smirk.
“I was fresh out of the robotics seminar and pumped on everything I had experienced. I went on and on about how artificial intelligence would result in huge innovations and life-changing approaches. I mentioned that in the future food delivery would not be dependent upon whether a delivery person felt like waiting in traffic or not. They accepted my challenge.”
“Do you really believe that?”
“What? About pizza delivery being replaced by robots?”
“I mean, in general. About AI.” Ted paused, and with a wry grin said, “Rise of the machines?”
“I do, Ted. I was skeptical before, but the sessions I attended at IGRA in San Francisco really opened my eyes. It’s not a question of if but when AI truly explodes across the world.”
“Wow.” Ted glanced over at the boxes stacked beside his desk. His mind drifted back to his college paper on artificial intelligence. “Maybe Vinge was right. So, this pizza challenge thing. Is there a prize?”
“A prize?” Rusty shifted sideways so that he could face Ted directly, the inner-spring mattress squeaking in protest. “Have you not learned anything these past few years? That was your attitude when I rescued you from that shit job in Nixon working for Kyle Fisher.”
“Shit job? You didn’t rescue me. Leaving Fisher Tuner was my decision. I was a fool to believe in you.”
“And if I hadn’t shown up at Fisher Tuner, where would you be today?”
Ted looked around the damp drafty bedroom. Even with the harsh overhead fluorescent, the dark walnut paneling sucked the light from the room. He’d asked himself the same question, wondering if he’d still be living in Wadsworth, or perhaps running the shop, or having a more senior position working for Kyle. In the end, it was all a guessing game. He couldn’t change the past.
“While I was on the radio call, I mentioned a local pizza shop by name,” Rusty continued. “There was this slacker of a delivery guy who had given me the idea to call the radio station with my challenge. The owner of the restaurant called in and said if I could pull it off, I’d get free pizza for life.”
“Free pizza?” Ted started to laugh. “You’re doing this for pizza? From San Francisco? I hate to break it to you, Rusty, but the pizza’s going to be cold by the time they ship it to Pittsburgh.”
“I offered to do it to make a point, Ted. To prove the technology worked. I could care less about winning the free pizza. This is about the challenge. That, and the one million bucks.”
“What?” Ted was suddenly fixated on Rusty, studying every line on his face. “You’re serious.”
“Just as I was about to end the call, the guy, Chris, tells me they just had someone call in to sweeten the deal.”
“Guy, Chris?”
“The radio show is hosted by this annoying couple. Anyway, some mystery caller said, and I’m paraphrasing here, but something like, ‘If that’s the same Rusty Abrams from DSU that won the DARPA FAST Challenge, I want to see that technology work in the real world.’ Then she offers the million dollars.”
“Who do you think it is? You must have recognized her voice.”
“I didn’t. It was a very brief on-air call. But I later confirmed with the radio station that the offer is legit and the person asked to stay anonymous.”
“Holy shit.” Ted looked around his room again. The space suddenly felt confining. “What, um, what will you do with the million if you win?”
“It goes to the school, of course. I’ve spent the last few weeks coming up with a plan of attack. Which brings me to you.”
“Me?”
“You need this, Ted. You don’t belong here. Deep down, you know it.”
“I have a life now. A steady income.”
“But are you happy? Is this the life you dreamed of?”
Ted stood and walked over to the alcove behind the bedroom door. He turned on the desk lamp, casting a shadow across his dream project. He ran his hand across the cool, polished black metal surface of the spinning lidar unit.
“I’ve almost got this working,” he said softly. “I’m so close. But—”
“But what?”
“Why should I follow you again? I gave up my life once to do the FAST Challenge and look where it got me.” He gestured around his room.
“Don’t blame me for your poor choices, Ted.”
“There he is.” Ted sat on the edge of the desk, folded his arms, and glared across the room at Rusty. “There’s the prick that smashed our equipment in the dead of winter along the banks of the Allegheny River.”
“Don’t lecture me about my methods. They get results. I doubt we would have won the challenge had I not pushed everyone beyond their limits.” Rusty struggled to pull himself up from the mattress. He groaned as he stood up and limped across the room, stopping a foot from Ted. He softened his baritone voice when he spoke again. “Look, Ted, I’m here to give you a second chance.”
Ted studied Rusty’s weathered face. Aside from looking a bit older, there was something else different about his old mentor’s demeanor. He seemed less threatening to Ted. Was it that he was just tired? Had Ted simply moved on with his life, and now Rusty’s opinion didn’t matter? He also noticed something in Rusty’s eyes he’d never seen before—desperation.
“Bullshit. You’re here because you need me to win. Just like last time.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yes. That’s it, isn’t it?” He stepped forward, as Rusty took a couple of steps backward. “When you came to see me in Nevada, it was my magnetic suspension system that caught your eye. Now you want my spinning lidar. You need me, Rusty. Admit it.”
“Now who’s talking bullshit? Look, Ted, I can do this with or without you. This is your decision to make. You can stay here in this shithole or come to California with me to win this challenge.”
Ted kept his gaze directly on Rusty’s dull gray eyes. A sense of confidence wrapped itself around him despite Rusty remaining stone-faced and unflinching. He knew Rusty would never admit he was right. But he didn’t need him to. Ted backed away from Rusty and leaned back on the edge of his desk.
“So, if I agree to do this with you, Rusty, what’s in it for me?”
“And there you are. The selfish, greedy prick hungry for money.” Rusty joined Ted at his desk and sat beside him. “I’ll make this easy for you. Come with me and help me win this thing. If we do, I’ll give you fifty thousand. That will tide you over until you can get a real job.”
“Make it a hundred,” Ted said with a broad smile.
“If I say yes, does that mean you’re on boa
rd? Or are you going to get greedy?”
Ted stood up and started pacing back and forth, scuffing his shoes across the worn shag carpeting. His eyes went from Rusty to his spinning lidar unit as he considered what this would mean. A calendar tacked above his computer monitor briefly brought him back to his days in the watch tower, with the endless project plans plastered to the walls.
“You mentioned you spent a few weeks working on this already,” Ted said. “Did you commit to a date?”
“We have until the end of February.”
“That’s only four months. How will you get Cyclops prepped by then? We had almost two years for the DARPA Challenge.”
“This isn’t DARPA, Ted.” Rusty approached him and gently took him by his shoulders, stopping him from pacing. “This is a very short five-mile preset course, from Uncle Dipshit’s pizza parlor to Treasure Island. Half of that is on the Bay Bridge. There is no mystery challenge awaiting us. We can easily map this out ahead of time. We just need to do some practice runs and get clearance.”
“Clearance?”
“I’ve already begun that process and have been assured by city officials that we’ll have it in plenty of time, provided we can prove there’s no real liability to them. That will be easy to do with some documentation of what we did with Cyclops and laying out specifics of what we’ll do when. And, the radio show plans to make this into a big event.”
“I see.” He pulled away from Rusty and walked over to his desk. His spinning lidar unit was almost half the size of the rotating one they’d mounted atop the Humvee last year. He flipped open his notepad and scanned through the formulas scattered across the pages. “How are you going to get Cyclops out to the West Coast? Have you started lining up sponsors? Are you getting the entire team back together?”
“We won’t be using Cyclops. We’re going to use Athena.”
“Athena?” Ted’s concentration was shattered. “As in Ashton’s Prius?”
“I called Vin as soon as I hung up from talking to the radio show. He’s on the fence about doing this. He doesn’t like the idea of running Athena on public streets. But I have him ninety percent convinced. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a done deal.”