Artificial(ish) Intelligence

Chapter 47

She tapped on the conference room door and entered immediately.

Maggie was seated at one end of the long table, staring into nothingness, where the screen had been. The entire process had now become completely automated. All Adelaide had to do was coordinate the various components. Though that, too, would be removed from her list of duties if it all worked smoothly enough.

"What was it like?" said Adelaide.

The older woman sniffed. "What do you think?" she said, barely moving.

"Did it help to talk about your feelings?" said Adelaide.

"Don't be patronising."

She honestly wasn't. Or at least wasn't trying to be. But maybe years of practice had ingrained the tone in her voice. "Did it seem like a real person?" said Adelaide. "Or could you tell it was just a computer that looked like it had a human face?"

Maggie breathed out. Nothing more.

"It doesn't matter," said Adelaide. "Never mind."

Still the older woman remained fixed in place.

The room was eerily quiet. There were enough seats for twelve people to fit comfortably, which only emphasised the emptiness.

"What am I going to do, now?" said Maggie. "I'm too old for any other job. And I can't afford to rely on the ewe-bee-eye. My grandkids need me."

"You get two weeks severance," said Adelaide, helpfully.

Maggie scoffed.

"Have you completed the knowledge transfer documents?" said Adelaide.

Maggie breathed in and out deeply. Again the room settled into a melancholic quiescence.

"I guess it's ironic," said Adelaide, breaking the silence. "You get to experience the process of termination and gain an understanding from the employee's perspective, just when you don't have the role any more."

Maggie stared at her, incredulous, annoyed. "You'll get to experience it yourself, don't worry," she said.

It was best to agree with people who had just been told they were out of a job. Adelaide knew that first-hand from a few violent exchanges. "I guess it's going that way," she said.

"No," said Maggie. "I mean, he told me that himself."

"He as in..."

"Mr Borken. You'll be out the door a few weeks after me, once they're sure all this works."

"What?" said Adelaide. It was as if she was a balloon and Maggie had just given her a small puncture, enough for every molecule of energy to effuse. But it soon filled up. With anger.

"And I'm not the only one who knows," said Maggie.

"You didn't tell--"

"Not me, dear. That other one. His new...you know."

Of course. She'd been so focussed on the stupid selfiebot that she hadn't been able to plan the revenge on that slovenly-untidy-woman-or-girl.

This was a worst case scenario. Sure, it was bad enough that Mr Borken had kicked her out of his bedroom, but she could at least use her anger and exact a fitting revenge. To lose her status as confidante, her job -- everything she'd worked so hard to build -- that was another matter.

She found herself outside the conference room, wandering the corridors numbly. The head of business strategy hauled her bulky frame in the opposite direction. Adelaide was bumped hard enough to lose her footing. The look in the woman's face was enough to know it was deliberate.

Adelaide picked herself up and stumbled further.

"You still here?" said the marketing manager, walking by briskly. "Cleaned out your desk, yet?"

They'd fully turned on her. In the past their passive-aggressive attitude only spurred her further, but now it lacked the passivity and had moved into full-blown violence.

What was she wallowing for? This was a key juncture in her future. This moment, this place. Was she just going to sit here and take it? Fiery-underworld no.

But there was no point trying to retain this job. Her bridges were a smouldering ash-heap. Another opportunity had presented itself with Josef. The exact position didn't matter, as long as it wasn't missionary. Instead of getting by on her looks, on her personal relationship with the boss, she was determined to prove her worth and earn her way in. She'd helped shape House of Paschar from a fledgling business into a multi-national company. AutomatIO was still small enough to do this again, but this time she'd get the credit and, most importantly, the respect of others.

Tim, a thin man in a tight suit and the head of sales, made a bee-line for her. When he was approximately 7.2cm from her face he took a deep breath and let out a loud series of expletives that would cover this page in bold italics. Then walked away.

She shrugged it off, focussing her rage on the problem at hand. There was no option but to convince Josef he desperately needed the selfiebot.