MOAB

Chapter 5i

Chapter 5i

At least he found himself in a normal room. The woman’s office was simple like the ones before but had all the necessary furniture and a great view of Athens. She sat behind her desk and offered him a seat.

He thought about making a stand, right there. He thought about rebelling against the corporation, about yelling for people’s, no children's, rights. He came up with a dozen comebacks and arguments, even a couple of mottoes for pickets. He thought about threatening them, about going to the media. Hermes Information Technology would never risk having a scandal, would they?

“Is there a problem?” the smartly-dressed woman asked when she noticed he wasn’t sitting down.

“No, sorry, just thinking,” he replied and sat. He had to think about his family. And if he could actually do anything, it would be better to get a good look from the inside first. So he would play along. For now. “Did you like the presentation?” he asked snidely.

The smart woman upturned her lips in a dangerous smile. “Very much. Now, regarding the matter at hand, there are a few things we need to discuss before starting the project.”

“To be honest, I still have a dozen questions,” Yanni said truthfully.

“Of course,” she said and gathered some papers in front of her. “Let me please explain first and then you may ask me whatever you like. It is company policy for the following things to be spoken out loud at this phase so as to make sure they are clear.”

“Fine,” he said. He assumed that they were recording this conversation too, so he didn’t want to get the lady in a tight spot.

“Regardless of what you have discussed with your friend and our esteemed partner, Niko, we need to explain in our words what Project Ellipsis is. Simply put, it is a method of facilitating innovation and scientific discovery via some very specific means. The first is what the name Ellipsis stands for, the removal of all distractions. The second and arguably the most interesting part is the accompanying android, specifically gynoid, assigned to you. The gynoid, referred from now on as Muse, remains of course company property. The Muse’s task is to maintain the Ellipsis environment when facilitating your needs, while you work steadily towards your goal. Specifically your goal is to complete the proof which is currently funded by Demokritos.”

“Yes, I need to stop you right there. I hadn’t thought of that, the university has a say in this. Will that be a problem?” Yanni asked and leaned forward.

“No, we have lawyers on that already,” the smart lady said and clenched her hands together in front of her. “Do not concern yourself with such matters. Ellipsis has begun for you already, Dr. Tsafantakis; we will take care of legal matters, we will take care of financial matters, we will take care of your family and we will take care of equipment failures. All you need to concern yourself with is your apodeixis.”

Yanni leaned back. “So you already know about the laser.”

“Yes,” she said and pulled up some files on her computer. He could see his gen-two specifications on her overlay. “As I understand it, you need these exact modifications?”

“Precisely. And the only working laser I know of with the same ones is the prototype a fellow professor tested them on in New Zealand,” he said and scratched his head.

Without skipping a beat, the smart woman turned her phone towards him with her delicate fingers and said, “Would you mind calling him for a pickup?”