Benjamin Beckett knew he had more than he could carry, but it was his own fault for not wanting to make two trips. The miscellaneous circuit boards, memory cards, and random hard drives shifted in the overloaded cardboard box that he held tight to his chest.
It didn’t help that the expo building was getting more crowded every day as the opening day of this year’s Science & Technology Convention was fast approaching. Wintermute Co., which Ben worked for, was hoping to use the convention to impress buyers and attract new business, since things had not gone so well for the company in the last couple years. That is, if Ben and his brother could get the booth’s presentation working in time.
Ben had been just recruited out of college, and, while reluctant to admit it, he was nervous about his first convention. There was a lot riding on it, and his boss wasn’t shy about reminding him.
Related thoughts filled his head as he carried the box of parts down the stairs. Distracted, his foot missed the last step, and Ben found himself pitching forward, an inevitable date with gravity.
Instead of the hard ground, though, he fell into a woman who caught him. He sleepishly apologized as the woman took it all in stride.
He guessed she was about twice his age. She had a mess of redish-blonde hair that covered her long face. Small, oval glasses framed her dark eyes. She wore casual work clothes with her sleeves rolled up. Around her neck was a simple necklace with a cross hanging on the end.
“You’re one of the presenters,” Ben said, pointing to her badge.
“Guilty as charged, but don’t hold that against me,” replied the woman. “I’m Elizabeth.”
“Ben.” He shook the proffered hand as best as he could while juggling the box.
“My father wanted to call me Stacey, but I was named after my grandmother instead.” She watched him fumbling with the box. “Do you need help with that?”
“No, I’ve got it. Thanks.” They walked out the stairwell and into the bustling lobby area.
“So, what company are you with?”
“Wintermute.”
A smile spread across her face. “You’re kidding.”
“No, why?”
“No reason. Mind if I tag along for a bit?”
“I guess not,” Ben said as he showed the guard his badge. The actual convention area was a lot quieter than the lobby outside. Ben nodded towards a corner booth where another man was sorting though a pile of computer parts.
“I’ll get this working if it’s the last thing I do,” said Silas, Ben’s brother. While related, Elizabeth found it hard to see a correlation between the two men. Ben was short, with cropped red hair and a hawkish nose. Silas was tall with long, dyed-green hair and a bulbous nose.
“Silas, Elizabeth,” said Ben. “Elizabeth, Silas.”
“Pleasure to meet you,” he said as he shook her hand. “I don’t suppose you know much about operating systems, do you?”
“A little. It’s been awhile since I’ve dabbled in that sort of thing.”
“We been working on a beta version of the new OS, but it now doesn’t want to ‘talk’ with the network.”
“Here, bro, is the stuff from the van. There should be the disc for version 2.4.4 in there. Maybe we can work off that until we can get 2.4.5 up to speed.”
“The thing is it was working fine yesterday. You know what I mean, Liz?”
“I do, and don’t call me Liz.” She looked over at the gutted insides of the chrome computer casing. “Is this what’s been giving you trouble?”
“Yeah,” replied Silas, not looking up from the box of junk.
“How about you put it back together, and I’ll take a swing at it?”
The two brothers looked at each other.
“Well,” started Ben.
“Did you guys get it working yet?” A man came up to the booth. The man wore a shirt and tie with his badge clipped to his breast pocket. The badge identified him as Kyle McManus.
“We’re working on it. Ben here has brought an expert, I guess.”
Elizabeth turned away from the computer and immediately recognized Kyle. They briefly embraced each other.
“Elizabeth, I haven’t seen you since the funeral,” said Kyle. “What have you been up to?”
“As if you didn’t know. Just look at you. You’re the spitting image of your father.”
Kyle grinned at her remark.
Ben and Silas huddled over by the box of parts.
“Say,” started Silas. “Isn’t she the one who spoke in front of Congress a few years ago? The one who protested the Human Augmentation Act?”
Ben glanced back at Elizabeth. “She could be. I didn’t really follow it like you did.”
“A lot of critics say that it would have passed if it wasn’t for her. They say that she singlehandedly halted the course of human evolution.”
“Critics? Don’t you mean pundits? And when have you given credence to what you hear on newscasts?”
Silas just shrugged.
“You’re just unhappy ‘cause you can’t plug your brain into a computer yet,” continued Ben.
“If I could, then I’d know what’s wrong with our prototype.” Silas started putting the computer back together. “They’re getting along like gangbusters.”
“The boss and Elizabeth, you mean?”
“Yeah, they’re like the best of friends, and yet we’ve never even heard of her before.”
“Maybe they haven’t seen each other in a long time,” said Ben.
“Look,” said Kyle. “I know you hate when I say this, but we’ve got an opening, actually plenty of them. Say the word, and you can have any of them.”
“I’m flattered, but you know how I feel about working for you,” replied Elizabeth.
“You’d be working with me.”
“Still, I don’t know.”
“You still don’t know? How long have you had to think about it?”
“It’s been ages. I’ve been travelling for a while with some old friends.”
“You’re a natural, just like your father was.”
“But my rep’s no good anymore.”
“I don’t care,” said Kyle. “I won’t take no for an answer this time.”
Elizabeth smiled. “You’re as stubborn as your father, you know.”
“I know.”
“How about if I fix your little problem, then I’ll consider it very, very hard?”
“Why not just say yes now?”
“It would be good work with my hands again,” admitted Elizabeth.
“As opposed to what?”
“Never mind.” Elizabeth turned to the two boys. “So, have you got this put together again?”
“Just about,” replied Silas. “There.” He replaced the panel on the side of the casing.
“Turn it on,” said Elizabeth.
“But,” started Silas.
“Do it,” said Kyle.
Silas pressed the button, and the computer dinged to life. The screen turned blue, but nothing else happened. The fans hummed unevenly from the back of the machine.
“See?” said Silas.
“Everyone, hold hands,” said Elizabeth. She took Kyle’s and Ben’s hands. Silas reluctantly took his brother’s other hand. Ben thought her hands would be soft, but her fingertips were coarse.
Elizabeth closed her eyes and bowed her head. Her hands’ grip tightened, and Ben thought she trembled slightly. Her rhythmic breathing was steady, but he swore she was going to faint.
Elizabeth Walker was trying to concentrate, but she was finding it difficult. She didn’t think it was possible that a simple thing like his hand in hers would be such a significant distraction. She had to admit that the whole thing was shamelessly theatrical, but she was going for mysterious, not practical.
But the data had a calming effect, washing over her. It was, as always, impersonal and empirical. The complete opposite of a woman’s heart which was full of passion and resolve. And it was Elizabeth’s heart that told her what she needed to do.
Face flushed, her eyes flashed opened, light reflecting on her dark irises. The knot of data unwound, and a loading window popped up on the blue screen. Silas looked uneasily impressed, while Ben was more confused than anything.
Elizabeth looked down to see her hand was still in Kyle’s. He smiled warmly at her, and she returned the smile.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing really,” Kyle replied. “Just not used to seeing you smile.”
“Maybe we should meet on less morbid circumstances.”
“Aren’t we doing that right now?”
“I do believe that we are,” said Elizabeth.
“I’ve been reminiscent lately. I don’t have too many regrets, but one of them was missing Sean’s funeral. The other was not getting you to work for my father’s company.”
“Don’t you mean your company?”
“I still have trouble thinking in those terms,” said Kyle. “Just like you had trouble accepting my offer.”
“You have to understand that back then I had other obligations.”
“That may be true, but it was hard to keep in touch with you when you dropped off the radar.”
“I traveled a lot. Well, I used to.”
“And now?”
“I don’t know what to do. I haven’t been like this in years. I’ve sunk my chances of being a millionaire when I decided to stand up for my beliefs.”
“You mean that whole thing with Congress?”
“That research was all based on experiments done illegally to animals and humans like me. It was the only thing I could do.”
“You acted off your conviction,” said Kyle. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. I know you’ve explained your condition before, but I still have a hard time understanding it.”
“What’s to understand? I am what I am.”
“Words to live by,” said Kyle.
They shook hands, marking the start of something that would last a lifetime.
Written by J M Emmons. The story and all characters are copyrighted by J M Emmons.
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