FourTHE OFFICES OUTSIDE had become quiet. The few staff present earlier were now gone. For lunch or gone for the day. Even the receptionist had left her empty desk in front silent elevators. The big mahogany and glass doors were closed, shutting off the lobby noise from the elevators. Sealed windows and buffered AC soundproofed the room from outside street noise stories far below.
The ticking clock on the wall seemed louder now in the quiet. Tess’ keyboarding had stopped.
“Oh, sorry.” Tess spoke at last.”Didn’t mean to drop you out of the loop. There are subscriptions to what looks like all the digital versions of newspapers and magazines in New York. Judy had to keep up on these, and it looks like this data is sent directly to the AI boys for their project.
“I see several folders of te
