Faster

by Alex Schuler

  “So, you see car ownership going away and being replaced by fleets owned by Where2 and Zipcar?” Ralph asked.

  “It’s a definite possibility,” Sam said. “This technology we built will be a disrupter—a major one. Who can really predict how it will end?”

  Ted looked out at the parking lot. A second Tesla Model S passed by, this one white. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine an empty parking lot, replaced by a drop-off/pick-up area, and a line of driverless Teslas queued up to shuttle people away.

  “I think it’s going to be a difficult transition,” Ted said. “Think of all the issues we’ve run into during these challenges. We’ve got hundreds of thousands of miles under our belt, and we still aren’t there yet.”

  “But we’re close,” Sam said. “Look at how far we’ve come these past three years. Remember the first time a squirrel ran out in front of Leapfrog? The software didn’t know what to do. Turn left? Turn right? Stop?”

  “I still say squirrels should just be run over,” Ted interjected, laughing out loud. His smile faded as he realized no one else appreciated his attempt at humor. “Look, the issue is the human driver in the non-autonomous car. If you look back at most of our failures, it’s people getting in the way and not following the rules. I can see a clash between autonomous vehicles behaving perfectly, and humans behaving badly.”

  “Maybe we dedicate lanes just for the autonomous cars,” Sam said. “The current HOV lanes could be used for them.”

  “Maybe,” Ted said. He glanced back at the table with the champagne bottles. “We’ll never know what the future holds until we conquer the final test. Let’s get back to work. I want to complete this last challenge well before Christmas.”

  ***

  Rush hour on the 405 was an oxymoron. Traffic was at a complete standstill. Ted and Sam were waiting to exit onto I-10 East, having just completed over 370 miles of their trip from San Francisco. They had all four of Leapfrog-3’s windows lowered a few inches, allowing a cool breeze to drift into the car. The date was December 14, and they were on their fiftieth test run of the final challenge.

  “How are we doing?” Ted asked, lowering his window a few more inches. The temperature outside was fifty-three degrees. He would have been able to enjoy it a bit more were it not for the clattering of a diesel pickup truck idling next to them. “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

  “Seven miles to go,” Sam said. “We’ve reached this point five times before. The I-10 always seems to kill us.”

  “I would just like to make it to Fairfax. That’s the exit off the 10, right?”

  “Yes. After that, it’s two miles to the museum.”

  The diesel engine beside Ted rattled to life as the vehicles began to crawl ahead. Once they got to the ramp to get onto I-10, the traffic cleared, and Leapfrog-3 accelerated. They passed beneath an overpass before stumbling upon more stopped cars. The engine on the Prius shut off as the hybrid used its battery to coast to a stop. Suddenly a motorcycle roared past them, clipping the driver’s side mirror.

  “Damn L.A. drivers.” Ted gave the mirror a quick inspection, noting the dent on the outer edge. He glanced over at Sam. “That hit wasn’t our fault. Don’t tell the quality team about it. And don’t even think of hitting the kill switch.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you think we’ll always need a kill switch?” He stared at the shiny red button attached to a black metal box popping out of the center console. “Even when we have full autonomy. I know the goal is to eliminate the human driver, but we never really talked about a failsafe option long term.”

  “No.” Her response was immediate, without hesitation. She kept her eyes fixated on the map on her laptop. “Our testing has proven that human reaction times are too slow to re-engage when the system shuts down. I’ve looked at the data, Ted. Yours is the worst.”

  “Mine?” He was taken aback. “What, are you spying on me?”

  “No.” She laughed as she gave him a smirk. “I’ve documented all of our test drivers. Ralph. Lori. The entire team. If you look at how fast Leapfrog responds to an event and then compare that to a human response, it’s no contest. The robot wins. But when you look at the AI system giving up midway through an event, the human response to take over is horrible.”

  “It’s amazing you fit so much brainpower in that pretty little head of yours.” He leaned over and kissed her on her cheek. “It’s one of your many sexy qualities.”

  “Don’t change the subject.” Her cheeks became beat red. “Remember the deer we hit in Yosemite?”

  “How can I forget? We both screamed our heads off. That thing came out of nowhere.”

  “It blindsided us. We came around that corner, and it just jumped right out. Leapfrog had no clue what to do and shut down. You were too busy screaming to take control, and we hit it.”

  “That stupid animal cracked the windshield. Set us back weeks with repairs.”

  “That’s not the point, Ted. You weren’t paying attention. Neither was I. We were both too busy looking at the scenery.”

  “Well, it’s a gorgeous park.”

  “We were complacent, thinking we didn’t have to pay attention. We got lazy. You got lazy behind the wheel.”

  “You’re just mad that we hit a deer and got blood all over the hood. I told you, Sam—”

  “Don’t give me your spilled blood speech, Ted.”

  “It was just an animal, Sam. That was the only real accident we’ve had on this project, other than some minor fender benders and curb strikes. Nobody’s died in over half a million miles. That’s impressive.”

  “That deer could have been a person—a child.” She paused as she collected her thoughts. “You’re a brilliant man, Ted. I truly believe Project Courier wouldn’t have been a success without you. I just wish you wouldn’t dismiss these close calls. Imagine if the next Einstein or Beethoven is in one of these car accidents. We can reduce that chance by eighty or ninety percent with autonomy.”

  “Did you just equate me to Einstein?” He smiled. He glanced over at Sam and quickly sobered when he saw she was not smiling. “I get it, Sam. I do.”

  The traffic began to move, as did Leapfrog-3. Sam frowned and focused her attention on her laptop. He reached over and gently took her by her chin, tilting her face back toward his.

  “I do, Sam. And you’re right. I wasn’t paying attention when we hit that deer. I should have been ready to take control.” He pointed to the steering wheel. “Maybe the vehicle of the future won’t even need this thing.”

  She glanced at the dashboard and then looked back over her shoulder, darting her eyes everywhere. A smile spread across her face, and her eyes lit up.

  “The entire concept of interior design will change,” she said. “A car without a steering wheel. I never thought about that. We’re going to have to add that to the list of research items once we finish this challenge.”

  “Then let’s finish it. How are we looking?”

  “We’re almost at the exit for Fairfax. If we can make it there, I think we’ll be fine. We’ve run that road before to map it out. Fairfax is a mix of residential and small businesses. Narrow. Only a couple of lights if I’m not mistaken.”

  “You sound so confident,” he said.

  “I have a good feeling about this one.”

  The Prius reached the end of the Fairfax exit and waited at the light to take a left-hand turn. Traffic was still busy, but Ted was relieved to be off the 10 finally. Fairfax Avenue’s lane count varied sporadically, depending on the location. Once off the exit, there were five lanes—two on each side as well as a center turn lane. Once past Venice Boulevard, the northbound lane dropped down to one. Traffic lightened up, and Leapfrog-3 hummed along at the posted thirty-five miles per hour speed limit.

  “This is going too smoothly.” He craned his neck to look out all sides of the vehicle. The
road was now lined with beautiful trees and homes with manicured lawns, set back behind concrete sidewalks. “Nice neighborhood, though.”

  As they passed Pickford Street, the single-family homes gave way to small apartment buildings. Ted felt his chest tighten as the light stayed green, and they passed through the intersection. He glanced over at the map on Sam’s laptop. He was afraid to ask how much farther they had to go, but he knew it had to be less than a mile. He started to believe Sam was right. They were finally going to complete this test.

  The intersection with Saturn Street had a sign for drivers to yield to pedestrians. There was no crosswalk, just a series of white arrows painted across the street. A tall, overgrown evergreen shrub blocked the view around the corner. Without warning, a small gray-colored pug appeared on the corner, his bright blue leash leading up to a young woman in her early twenties. The woman’s left hand had a tight grip on the short leash, and a mobile phone was locked in her other hand. She was lost in her screen, oblivious to her surroundings. The dog did not bother to stop at the curb and continued to trot out into the street, with the owner mindlessly following along.

  “Shit!” Sam screamed, lunging for the kill switch.

  “No!” Ted grabbed her wrist and yanked her arm back.

  Leapfrog-3 detected the dog and immediately slammed on the brakes. Ted and Sam both lurched forward against their seat belts.

  “What the hell, Ted?”

  He checked the laptop’s screen to confirm the program was still running, relieved to see that Leapfrog-3 had not relinquished control. Then he felt a set of eyes piercing him. He looked out the windshield to see the woman standing a foot from the front bumper.

  “Asshole!” The woman picked up her dog and shook it at him. “You almost ran us over! Pay attention to the signs!”

  “Why don’t you watch where you’re going!” he yelled back through his open window. “Asshole!”

  The woman presented him with her middle finger before continuing across the street.

  “Are you crazy?” Sam asked. “Why did you stop me?”

  “We’re too close, Sam. Leapfrog did as programmed. I wasn’t going to have you ruin it when we’re almost there.”

  She was about to say something when the Prius began to accelerate. She furrowed her brow as she studied her screen. The map indicated they were on track to reach their destination in two more minutes.

  “What were you saying about the self-driving car needing to be faster and better than the human?” he asked. “If you’d hit that kill switch, Leapfrog may have stopped braking, and I wouldn’t have had time to regain control. We probably would have hit the dog—or the woman—or both.”

  “Good point, Ted. I’m sorry, I guess my nerves are just completely on edge. We’re almost there. My heart’s been racing since we got on Fairfax.”

  “Mine, too.” He took her hand and gave her engagement ring a gentle kiss. “We’re going to make it, Sam. I promise.”

  Traffic slowed once more as they passed Pico Boulevard. Small businesses began to spring up around them. Sam checked her laptop, counting the number of remaining intersections. She squeezed his fingers as she counted each one off.

  “San Vicente is the last big cross street,” she said. “After that, it’s two blocks until we reach the museum.”

  “Have you ever been to the Petersen?” Ted asked.

  “No. You?”

  “No. My dad talked about it often. It’s only been there for twenty years or so. The guy who opened it published lots of car magazines, like MotorTrend. I always read that as a kid. The museum has a lot of classic cars. I think the exhibits change often.” He looked over at her to see she was lost in her computer screen. “You do know we’re going inside when we’re done.”

  “In the museum?” Sam pulled herself out of her laptop. “I’m starving. Can we at least eat first? We’ve got a long drive home, you know.”

  “Sure. I think they have a restaurant and bar inside. I wonder if they serve Chivas Regal?”

  “What, you didn’t bring a bottle?”

  Ted laughed as they cruised through the intersection of Fairfax and San Vicente. The next cross street was Eighth Street. As they got closer, he noticed the museum ahead on the right. The building covered the entire block between Wilshire Boulevard and Eighth Street. The stoplight turned red as they reached the corner. He looked at her laptop.

  “Are we done?” he asked, pointing at the corner of the museum. “It’s right there.”

  “The program takes us to the front entrance on Wilshire.”

  “Dammit, Sam, if we fail in the next block, I don’t care what the computer says. We made it. Game over. Success.”

  “We’ll make it, Ted.”

  He took her hand once more. The light soon changed green, and the Prius lumbered forward, the small battery barely getting them into the intersection before the engine fired to life. They cruised along in light traffic until they reached Wilshire Boulevard. Ted held his breath and squeezed Sam’s hand as they turned right. Sam’s laptop soon beeped, flashing “Course Complete.”

  “Oh my God,” she said.

  “I can’t believe it. The final test.”

  “Holy shit, Ted! We’re done! All ten!”

  He hit the kill switch and took over control, taking them around the side of the building to loop back toward the parking garage entrance. He found an empty space on the side of the street, pulled over, and turned off the engine.

  “That leaves only one more unanswered question, Sam,” he said.

  “What?”

  “Can we please set our wedding date now?”

  ***

  The Project Courier room was packed beyond capacity. The core team was seated in the Convene area with all eyes on the main stage. Executives from other divisions and departments stood along the sides of the room and wherever they could find space. The table holding the eleven bottles was in the center of the stage, looking exactly as it had for many months. The Magnum was empty, and nine of the ten champagne bottles were upside down in their hammered pewter buckets. Matthew was holding the tenth bottle, with Vin standing by his side.

  Each champagne bottle had been hand-picked by Matthew and came from a different part of Italy. The last bottle to be opened was a particularly dry variety from the Conegliano-Valdobbiadene region. Matthew and Vin were engaged in small talk as they prepared to pop the cork.

  “This is the start of a new day . . .” Ted said to Sam. He, Sam, Lori, and Ralph were seated in the front row, only a few feet from the stage. “And, a new bank account.”

  “You and your money,” Sam said as she rolled her eyes. “I’d tell you there’s more to life, but why bother?”

  “You know that’s not true.” He leaned closer to her, pressing his lips against her ear. He ran his nose across the top edge of her earlobe, pushing her hair back. “I’m still waiting for the wedding date.”

  “My mother’s working on it.” She glanced over at him and winked. “We completed the challenge three days ago. We’ll figure the date out this week.”

  “Is that a promise?”

  “Yes. Now, hush. It’s starting.”

  Matthew raised his free arm and waved his hand, motioning for everyone in the room to quiet down. He waited politely for several seconds before realizing there was too much excitement to get everyone’s full attention. He moved forward to the edge of the stage.

  “I want to welcome everyone here this morning,” Matthew said, his voice echoing down from the overhead speakers. “We started this journey in June three-and-a-half years ago. During that time, we achieved what many thought to be impossible.”

  The lights dimmed, and the screen behind the stage flashed to life. The first slide displayed Project Courier, causing the crowd to explode in cheers and applause. Next came a montage of information, listing the ten main chall
enges and the overall goal of reaching 100,000 miles. Pictures and videos taken throughout the project’s life showed team members working together, as well as some epic failures along the way. Laughs and even some tears sprinkled throughout the room. It was a short video, lasting less than five minutes. The last thirty seconds were a rapid-fire succession, showing the table of champagne bottles flip from unopened to empty until there was one upright bottle remaining. The lights came back up as the crowd applauded.

  “I think I speak for everyone when I say no matter how this champagne tastes, it is without a doubt the finest bottle up here.” Matthew nodded toward Vin, presenting him with the bottle. Vin twisted the cork a few times before it finally released, sending white foam exploding everywhere. “Congratulations everyone!”

  The applause grew louder, with many people stamping their feet on the floor or pounding their hands against their chairs. The noise and thrum became rhythmic and tribal. Matthew and Vin held the bottle high in the space between them. Soon Matthew motioned the crowd to calm down and retake their seats.

  “I wish I could personally thank each and every single one of you,” Vin said. “In fact, I intend to do that once these formalities are over. Speaking of which, I’m sure many of you are wondering what happens next, now that the challenges are done. Matthew?”

  Matthew smiled and said, “We’re taking our technology to Detroit!”

  The room erupted in applause, with many people, including Ralph and Lori, jumping to their feet. Ted and Sam remained seated.

  “What?” he said to Sam, his smile erased from his face. “Did you know this was coming?”

  “No,” she replied. She stared at Vin, hoping to make eye contact with him, but he was too busy waving and pointing to various people in the audience. “The plan was always to build the core technologies. I thought phase two was to make it something we can easily implement. I guess they want to do that through a partnership with Detroit.”