Katelyn was sweating. Byrd was going on and on showing off his company and walking down the corridor to the elevators leading to the higher they climbed the more nervous Katelyn got.
Byrd's explained that the company's main location was Germany, specifically in Berlin. After the war, all the American ICT powerhouses were taken over by their European competitors with all the resources and talent they could manipulate. China was not spared the equalizing that occurred in the years after the downfall. Like a victim at gunpoint, China was persuaded to surrender a percentage of their industry to even the playing field and to avoid being utterly destroyed by the rest of the world the the US was.
The world economy shifted as Europe, South America, and parts of the Middle East and Africa used the opportunity to grow their economies, strengthen their entrepreneurial culture, and literally stole the knowledge, strategizing, and people who made the American and Chinese companies so strong.
Thus companies like Falcon Technology Institute (Das Falcon Institut fur Technologie) or D-FIT sprang out of the ashes and grew like weeds. D-FIT experienced its biggest growth over the last two years when a younger Dieter Byrd inherited the company from his failing mother. Dieter was a family name on his mother's side, though he was educated in the United States before the war. On his father's side he was Irish and he preferred Byrd to Dieter.
He finally stopped his mildly interesting monologue when he noticed Katelyn clenching her hands.
"What in the name of all the saints is wrong?"He exclaimed
"Nothing." She lied.
"You're as greed as a red-eyed tree frog and sweating like you've run a marathon. Are you sick?"
"It is nothing to be concerned about. I'm fine." She insisted.
Byrd shrugged. Katelyn hated that she was so scared at that moment. She was from the stuff of super heroes and comic book quality hackers but here she was, utterly cowed by heights. All of that training and knowledge but here she was, deathly afraid. The higher they rose the less able she was to contain that fear. She swallowed through the tightness in her throat and waited for this nightmare to either kill her or end some other horrible way.
Ding! They finally stopped and Katelyn was wringing her hands and focusing on keeping one foot in front of the other. Byrd stopped abruptly and she almost ran into him. She looked up and saw the most beautiful sight, a mac book Pro was sitting pristine with a small sign, "Welcome Miriam". She slid into the comfortable rolley chair and turned it on. It had everything! Access to air play, enough ram, data storage for years. She turned her gleaming eyes back to Byrd.
"You seem to have gotten a little more color back in your face." He commented, "I didn't know if this would do, I also have a room solely devoted to building your own computer if you'd prefer a more stream lined approach to what I need you to do. "
Katelyn actually cracked a grin. To her, this was heaven and she gleefully said, "both, of course!"
Byrd grinned back, his snub nose more protuberant and obnoxious than ever she had seen. He beckoned her to follow as he led her past a series of other cubical so and down a well lit hall and into a fancy executive suite. They came to a door with " Dieter Byrd CEO" on the door. He unlocked it with a series of passcodes, fingerprint ID, and physical locks. When the door finally opened she witnessed a nerds dream. Comic books galore, fan paraphernalia, action figures, you name it, he had it. The collection was nondiscriminatory there were anime, Star Wars, Dr. Who, Star Trek, Super Heros and so much more. She had very little idea of what she was looking at. Her memory drain and isolation and specific training had not included pop culture references.
Frankly, she thought that it resembled a little boys room filled with colors and lots of toys. She was somewhat bewildered by it.
Byrd crossed the room and pulled up a hidden keyboard and typed in yet another key code and a hidden door opened. Beyond this door was a computer geek's dream. It was chocked full of computer parts and wires and a few half finished computers on a work bench. Her eyes were filled with wonder. The Scion house had been well supplied with these sorts of parts, but she never had access to this variety. She went from shelf to shelf examining the contents and murmuring to herself. Then without permission she grabbed parts off the shelf and began to build her own computer.
Silently, Byrd watched with interest. Her choices surprised him every once in a while he made a suggestion or tried to steer her towards a certain part but she blithely ignored him and kept up her work. Eventually he just left her to her own devises. Only appearing to bring her food or water every few hours.
At 8:00 pm local time, he was ready to go home and he still hadn't shown "Miriam" her new housing. He braved the parts room and ventured to interrupt her with, "You can come back tomorrow you know, 'Miriam'. I suppose I need to start calling you that. Anyways, I want to show you your living quarters and let you get some rest. We've got a busy week ahead of us."
Katelyn blinked at him as if coming out of a trance. When his words penetrated her consciousness she shook her head as if to clear it and actually responded. "What time is it?"
"Eight in the evening."
"Oh!" She exclaimed, rather sheepish,"I am sorry. I know we had other things to discuss today. It's just..." She faded off in dreamy contemplation.
"I completely understand." Byrd grinned," it was fun to watch you work."
Katelyn returned the grin and stood up indicating that she had indeed finished. "Very good," he said, "follow me."
They made their way back through the maze of offices and cubicals, all dark and empty. It was eerily silent but Katelyn didn't mind the darkness. It helped her not feel so paralyzed when she passed Windows looking outside. Down the elevator they went and out into the night.
"I think I am going to like it here." Katelyn thought to herself as the elevator doors shut on her first day of almost freedom.
YOU ARE READING
Saffron's Fire
Science FictionThe world has changed. The United States of America has fallen and been torn apart by war. Its brightest sons and daughters taken and trained and sold as slaves, at least those who weren't killed or whored out. This is the Shirron/Shiree system and...
