Page 62 of Boss On Notice
TWO DAYS LATER
Why in the hell hadn’t I thought about Max Grove sooner? I called his office on Monday and surprisingly he took my call right then and there. I wasted no breath beating around the bush. I told him I have artificial intelligence software he might be interested in.
He was silent for a long while.
I said, “Hello?”
“What about LTI?”
“Herc’s not interested. He wouldn’t even look at the demonstration.”
“He never assessed the software?” Max sounded surprised by that.
“Nope.”
He was silent again, but I waited. I realized thinking while silent is his style. He asked if I could give him and his team a complete demonstration on Wednesday. Then he asked an interesting question.
“Hercules doesn’t take you seriously, does he?”
I swallowed hard, hoping the truth wouldn’t make him change his mind. I wasn’t going to lie or beat around the bush. “No, he doesn’t.”
“But he’s got good instincts,” Max quickly followed up.
“That doesn’t make him right about me. The thing about family is it’s hard to rise above what they want you to be, need you to be.”
“Ha,” Max said, and then quickly followed up with, “See you Wednesday.”
And now I’m here. Since I’ve put some space between Lila and myself, I’ve been figuring things out myself and also getting clarity about the strength of my team’s AI software.
Max Grove has pulled out all the stops in anticipation of my arrival. I didn’t come alone. I brought Dan, Hyun, and Vic. We are each pitching separate product ideas for different business sectors. I have mental health. Hyun takes entertainment. Vic is pitching education. Dan takes transportation. One by one my team members kill it. Not once has Max Grove’s attention strayed. I can tell by the energy in the way he’s sitting and that lively look in his eyes that he’s in.
Two hours later Max asks to speak to me alone. I nod sharply and say, “Certainly.”
* * *
Now that we’resettled in a seating area in his office, he says, “Are you fucking kidding me? Your brother turned this down?”
I sit up straighter, feeling proud to say, “Yes, he did.”
“You know what this can do for TRANSPOT? We own the rights to that software too. We can out develop them by the end of the year.” He shakes his finger. “And I like what you said about sentience. It’s a waste of time. I always knew it.”
I know where he’s going with this and I’ve already thought about it. TRANSPOT is tele-image technology which allows users to interact through solidified light projected images of themselves. If, say, five users are interacting in a capsule, each of those five users can interact with those five users in each user’s personal space. Early trials have gone as far as to allow couples to sleep together while apart. I know Heartly and Xan use TRANSPORT often when one or the other is traveling away from home. The software, after clearing the lengthy government approval process, will revolutionize the world. But TRANSPOT can also formulate computer generated human images that appear authentically human and that’s where our AI will reign supreme.
“TRANSPOT and our AI will allow fallible humans to interact with infallible machine,” I say.
“Yes,” Max replies as if what I said has taken his breath away. “Let’s partner.”
I stand up, hand outstretched. Max stands too. It’s the first time I’ve noticed we’re the same height. The guy looks like his mother too. I guess I never really paid much attention to him until I needed him. That’s not good. I’m changing that shit about myself.
I’m going to change a lot about myself, and I know what to do first.
CHAPTER22
Life Is Good
DELILAH O’SHAY
“Look who I ran into,” I say.
