All Roads Lead to R.O.M.
Written by Thomas P. Walton
Part 1 (Chase’s Promotion at iThink)
((Loading…))
…….File not found!
What?! Chase, couldn’t believe it. Another file ghosted! Just when he needed the next file—as if the system anticipated his thoughts—the file would vanish. It wasn’t every file that disappeared, but just the ones that he needed to review before his boss. She’d be plenty happy to see him fall before the bigger bosses. Christ! I have a family to feed. It occurred to Chase that maybe it was the fact that his boss didn’t have a family her own. In fact, it seemed to him like the family was something outdated in a world dominated by AI.
His boss was thirty-two, and she had bigger plans for herself than raising a family. She kept a list of male employees with their pictures and phone numbers pinned to a corkboard on her office wall. Chase’s picture was on the wall, too, but he had long since ditched his mobile phone. Chase was lucky, though. His friend, Gene Haas, was the VP at iThink. Despite all his hard work, however, Chase felt that deep down his promotion wouldn’t have happened without Gene. The thought made Chase feel gloomy.
A week had passed since he received his promotion to Project Manager, and that’s when everything just went wrong. The department had relocated, and iThink’s systems engineer had mysteriously disappeared shortly thereafter.
It can’t be this bad. Chase reckoned that a simple relocation to the old control compound shouldn’t require this much reconciliation with the older AI system.
He randomly picked a file. ROM. (…Not found). Can’t be, Chase thought. I’m imagining this, right? ROM was the old system. If anything else failed, you could always follow the path back to the old ROM. The fact that Chase couldn’t find ROM AI files, but could still speak with the ROM AI puzzled him. Fine! I give up. So be it.
“Expertise a backup team,” he told the computer.
“Sure, I’ll get right on that. First, please tell me what the problem is. Maybe I can help.” Chase ignored ROM’s prompt. The AI would assess the problem before he answered anyway. “I can help you with simple trouble-shooting. Please, select the type of problem you’d like assistance with—Such as,”
Chase interrupted, “Select from ‘systems engineering’, please.” He turned to the monitor, and flipped the kill switch to toggle off the AI.
((Stand-by…))
The computer began making its selection from the most appropriate personnel. In moments, the screen displayed: James Dean, Harry Potter, and Vivian Westwood.
Chase chocked on his coffee. Excuse me? What happened next royally ticked him off. Chase heard the toggle switch flick back on. This just didn’t ordinarily happen. The switch could not have turned itself on. He put the coffee down at the far end of his desk.
The AI started yapping again, but this time the voice was different. “Did you miss me darling? Oh, you didn’t go and forget about us did you? Tonight is our night,” The AI voice droned. When did they give ROM a woman’s voice.
Curses! Chase had a panic attack, having forgotten the holographic sound used in the old ROM system. The design was intended to simulate someone speaking from an actual physical body in the same room as the listener. The sound was three dimensional, and moved around him as if someone were circling around his chair. “We’re going to have a bit of fun tonight… you and me, dear.”
The sound of the simulated voice came right up close to his left ear, and was so real that for a moment Chase thought a woman’s breath was hot against his neck.
Written by Thomas P. Walton
Part 1 (Chase’s Promotion at iThink)
((Loading…))
…….File not found!
What?! Chase, couldn’t believe it. Another file ghosted! Just when he needed the next file—as if the system anticipated his thoughts—the file would vanish. It wasn’t every file that disappeared, but just the ones that he needed to review before his boss. She’d be plenty happy to see him fall before the bigger bosses. Christ! I have a family to feed. It occurred to Chase that maybe it was the fact that his boss didn’t have a family her own. In fact, it seemed to him like the family was something outdated in a world dominated by AI.
His boss was thirty-two, and she had bigger plans for herself than raising a family. She kept a list of male employees with their pictures and phone numbers pinned to a corkboard on her office wall. Chase’s picture was on the wall, too, but he had long since ditched his mobile phone. Chase was lucky, though. His friend, Gene Haas, was the VP at iThink. Despite all his hard work, however, Chase felt that deep down his promotion wouldn’t have happened without Gene. The thought made Chase feel gloomy.
A week had passed since he received his promotion to Project Manager, and that’s when everything just went wrong. The department had relocated, and iThink’s systems engineer had mysteriously disappeared shortly thereafter.
It can’t be this bad. Chase reckoned that a simple relocation to the old control compound shouldn’t require this much reconciliation with the older AI system.
He randomly picked a file. ROM. (…Not found). Can’t be, Chase thought. I’m imagining this, right? ROM was the old system. If anything else failed, you could always follow the path back to the old ROM. The fact that Chase couldn’t find ROM AI files, but could still speak with the ROM AI puzzled him. Fine! I give up. So be it.
“Expertise a backup team,” he told the computer.
“Sure, I’ll get right on that. First, please tell me what the problem is. Maybe I can help.” Chase ignored ROM’s prompt. The AI would assess the problem before he answered anyway. “I can help you with simple trouble-shooting. Please, select the type of problem you’d like assistance with—Such as,”
Chase interrupted, “Select from ‘systems engineering’, please.” He turned to the monitor, and flipped the kill switch to toggle off the AI.
((Stand-by…))
The computer began making its selection from the most appropriate personnel. In moments, the screen displayed: James Dean, Harry Potter, and Vivian Westwood.
Chase chocked on his coffee. Excuse me? What happened next royally ticked him off. Chase heard the toggle switch flick back on. This just didn’t ordinarily happen. The switch could not have turned itself on. He put the coffee down at the far end of his desk.
The AI started yapping again, but this time the voice was different. “Did you miss me darling? Oh, you didn’t go and forget about us did you? Tonight is our night,” The AI voice droned. When did they give ROM a woman’s voice.
Curses! Chase had a panic attack, having forgotten the holographic sound used in the old ROM system. The design was intended to simulate someone speaking from an actual physical body in the same room as the listener. The sound was three dimensional, and moved around him as if someone were circling around his chair. “We’re going to have a bit of fun tonight… you and me, dear.”
The sound of the simulated voice came right up close to his left ear, and was so real that for a moment Chase thought a woman’s breath was hot against his neck.
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