“Error initiating handshake. Validation constraint error. Please review CoLink™ logs for error message.”
Fourth time in a row.
Shoal’s assistant, Svetti, was still in the foyer struggling to form a portal once he finished his call. If Laura hadn’t made him late, Svetti certainly was. The women in his life were sabotaging him with their incompetence.
The door Svetti puzzled over was hideous sky blue, unlike every other door in his house, because Svetti could never figure out how to configure its appearance. Unfortunately no other door could lead to the shareholder’s conference either. Only a CoLink door had the required security protocols. Still, how hard can it be? It was just a door.
Moments like these made Shoal wonder why he still put up with Svetti. She was sexy, sure, but so was everyone in the virtual world. What set her apart was her perfect blend of subcity and migrant desperation.
Svetti had worked for him back before either of them had virtualized. She’d been a sexy maid then too, and a mother of three who benefited greatly at Shoal’s expense in exchange for certain in-home allowances.
But what was her point? This house didn’t need a maid. There was no dust unless one was self-sadistic enough to want there to be. Items could replace themselves with a single command. The flora on his property only overgrew as a novelty. The NPU gardener took care of those.
If he terminated her contract, he could disconnect her jar from his and relocate her to some Pennsylvania walk-in warehouse. Then he’d kick her kids out of their trade guilds to refund as much of his money as he could. Svetti hadn’t been earning their education lately, and he didn’t appreciate being taken advantage of.
“Oh! Sir.” Svetti glanced over her shoulder. “I think I see it. There is an error here.” She pointed as though he could read the tiny text from across the room. “It say… Security authorization failure.” He would miss that accent.
“What does that mean, Svetti?”
“I don’t know, sir.” She scrutinized the message. “External connection detected.”
“Did you close all the other portals? Because it sounds like you didn’t.”
Svetti scampered around to the other doors. Her skirt rustled like a bush in the wind. “I check, sir.”
“You’re making me late, Svetti. I had you start this twenty minutes ago.”
“I am sorry, sir.”
He already knew the portals were down. Why was he making her check? Probably because he knew she couldn’t solve this. Might as well have an excuse to vent.
A small blue light like a will-o-wisp glowed into existence within arm’s reach of him. Incoming call.
He tapped the light.
It turned into a window suspended on nothing, looking into another world. Through it was Nessus. She smiled at Shoal blandly. Her stark jawline and cupid bow lips made an arousing pair, even by virtual standards. It didn’t fit her though. The cold robotic bitch should have had a flat face to go with her flat personality.
“I’m getting there as fast as I damn well can!” he snapped.
Nessus didn’t rile. “The meeting has been delayed fifteen minutes. Many shareholders are having trouble with the new bridging software. What is delaying you?”
“What the fuck do you think? I can’t decide what to wear? The same damn software!”
“Calm down.”
“Don’t you tell me what to do. Not you. You can’t give me orders.”
“I am not ordering you to do anything. I am recommending you calm down so you can tell me what the trouble is.”
“It’s giving me a damn error. Authorization something.”
“Do you have any open portals in your domain?”
“No.”
“Do you have any guests who are remoting into your jar?”
“No. I’m not an idiot.”
“I recommend you check your jar’s external activity list. Several participants believed they had no open connections, but that was not the case.”
“It’s not an open connection.”
“Then tell me what exactly the error message says.”
With a sigh, he yelled to Svetti. “Get that error again.”
She hurried to the CoLink door, where the log was still open. “External connection detected, sir.”
“Did you get that?” Shoal asked Nessus.
“Who is in there with you?” she replied.
“My assistant.”
“Is she an NPU?”
“Of course not.”
It almost looked as though Nessus sighed. “Then you have an open connection. She needs to leave.”
“Jesus Christ, Nessus. I know what I’m doing. She’s not a remote connection. It’s a direct wire. Her jar is next to mine.”
Nessus paused, as though their call lagged. He’d worked with her long enough to recognize this quirk. It meant her response would be irritating. “Is her brain in your jar?”
“No. It’s a direct wire.”
“A wired connection from outside your jar is still a remote connection. Send her away.”
“You don’t give me orders.”
“If you’d like to attend this meeting, you’ll do as I’ve said. I’ll show you how to encode a security exception for her later, but for now, she must leave.”
Shoal disconnected the call. He was done looking at her face.
“Svetti. Get out.”
“Yes, sir.” She headed for the hall.
“No. My domain. Get out of my domain. You’re the one who’s keeping me from getting to the conference, so get lost.”
“But… where do I go?”
“Go to Klein. Go to the Gallery. I don’t care. Just go now, and come back in a couple hours.”
Her eyes widened. He never kicked her out before. In fact, this may be the first time away from his domain she’d had in months. Maybe he should track her time, count it as vacation hours.
Svetti enabled another door in the foyer and chose some options. It opened into another world. She glanced back, and Shoal shooed her away.
Once she was gone, he closed all the logs and menus on the CoLink door and retried the connect button.
Establishing connection… connected.
Handshaking… Authorization complete.
Portal secure.
Destination: Verdios: Shareholder Conf, 3rd Fisc Quarter
Location: Speaker entrance queueThe door pulsed a pleasant white, and the panel disappeared. A glow from the door frame indicated it was ready. He opened it and stepped into a white void.
For a second, nothing. Then, he staggered to catch himself from toppling.
He was in a conference hall. Hundreds were here, all in suits, speaking in small groups. The conversations made a background hum. Shoal was more concerned with the fish-eyed sensation he was having of the world. When he moved his head. His eyes lagged behind. He felt woozy already.
Beside him was Nessus, who stood with arms crossed. She wore the same business suit she always wore. “Good evening, Mr. Shoal. I hope the CoLink portal didn’t cause you too much trouble.”
“Christ in Hell. This meeting is physical?”
“You and all virtual board members will have a virtual theatre box. Until then, Izabella wishes for upper management to be present on the floor for the shareholders.”
“Why?”
“To answer any questions. Today we’ll be unveiling Horizon Now. Izabella also requests that you be available afterward.”
Beside Shoal were rows of stands. On many were small quadcopters. One next to him lifted in the air, hovered, and was replaced with a suited man who went through the same moment of disorientation Shoal had.
“Welcome to the Verdios Shareholder’s Presentation,” Nessus said to the newcomer. Shoal was already forgotten, and the many Smalltalk drones standing by suggested that more virtual guests would soon arrive for her to greet. He moved on.
A few investors spoke with him, but he mostly found himself avoiding crowds. Talking was a hassle. Half these people hadn’t bothered to put on interface lenses, so they only saw a camera-laden drone sporting the various video alignment markings, QR codes, and the Verdios logo.
He retreated to the company lounge on the top floor sooner than Nessus would have preferred, but screw her. Verdios staff was here along with untouched food displays. A set of glass doors led out to a rooftop area. A helicopter was standing by. Seated on a patio set closer to the doors was Nathan and Izabella Cole, the CEO and president of Verdios. One was virtual, the other real, but they still shared their similarities: tidy bleach blond hair, expensive suits, and a perpetual glare which matched their attitudes.
This was the clique where Shoal belonged.
His hands weren’t real, but fortunately the glass doors were automatic. The moment he was outside, his vision swayed. Wind was pushing against his Smalltalk drone. This resulted in vertigo as his eyesight drifted from where his eyes were. Words appeared in his vision warning him that he was leaving the venue area.
“Mind if I join you?” he called.
Nathan motioned to a chair. Izabella scrutinized him through her interface lenses as he took a seat. His drone still struggled against the wind, but being seated assuaged the vertigo. If Nathan could keep himself oriented, so could he.
Both left it up to him to break the silence. “So I hear we’re finally going live with Horizon Now? It’s about damn time.”
“We’re not going live,” Izabella said.
“A taste,” Nathan added, “we’re giving them a taste. I figure it’s time we show the investors what we’ve been hiding up our sleeves.”
Shoal nodded. “And I’m to be your Q&A. Shouldn’t Scott be doing that?”
“Scott couldn’t be here. You’ve consulted on the project enough to know its ins and outs.”
“And if they should ask about its… uh… inner workings?”
“Obviously you don’t tell them,” Izabella replied.
“Trade secret for now,” said Nathan. “Only a weapons demo today, and market impact.”
“Yes. In my father’s infinite wisdom, he’s decided to show off the least tested aspect of the project.”
Nathan eyed Izabella. “Weapons sell, dear. We like to prioritize the projects that make money. And thanks to you, the investors have become starved for revenue-promising projects. I have forbidden the word Ulysses from being mentioned at this showcase.”
“Yes… speaking of.” She nodded toward the helicopter’s pilot. He was signaling her that he was ready to go. She pushed herself to rise and collected her crutches from their perch behind her chair. Her hulking bodyguard came over to assist.
“Leaving?” Shoal asked. “You’d think a president would stick around for their own shareholder’s meeting.”
“Izabella has decided to prioritize her pet project over our investors,” Nathan said.
“I stayed as long as I had to. Nessus can handle herself from here.”
“Nessus is presenting?” Shoal asked.
“I assumed you two would be tickled pink by that.” She hobbled toward the helicopter. Her bodyguard walked by her to help, but she refused any. “Go inside you two, before the helicopter blows you into the trees. Oh, and Shoal, for someone so adamant for Horizon Now to move along, you’re certainly taking your time submitting those avatars for the face interaction phase. You promised forty. The department has received none.”
“They’re on their way. I had an employee drop the ball.”
“You have hundreds of designers in VirtueLife, and one employee is costing you this deadline?”
He would have replied, but she didn’t let him. “Just get it done.” She cast the words over her shoulder as though discarding them. The crippled bitch was done talking, and of course her last words undermined him in front of her father.
He swore to God. The women in his life…