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Luke: Is it affecting the other people in your department? How many are there in your department, by the way?
Sera: It’s a small subsection of TechGuard. There are only seven of us.
Dammit. I was hoping she would say it was more than that.
Luke: Are you still working on your AI project?
Sera: I’ve been tinkering with it. I’m more concerned with intent – if we can call an algorithm that for ease of conversation – rather than it sounding friendly at this stage. I’m training it to recognize empathy without going the whole ‘sacrifice one to save a million’ route. It’s a fascinating series of problems.
I can feel her passion through the phone, my memory going back to when she gave the speech, her enthusiasm imbuing each sentence with excited energy.
Sera: How is the hunt for the saboteur going?
I almost don’t want to tell her, but I can’t lie.
Luke: We’ve narrowed it down to TechGuard, as a matter of fact.
Sera: WHAT!?
Luke: My co-lead just told me. He wanted to go nuclear, but I told him I’d try to get more information. I need to know, Sera, that you had nothing to do with this.
Sera: Are you fucking kidding me?
Luke: You didn’t know me before the conference. You had no reason to be loyal to me.
Sera: Newsflash, Luke. I would never sabotage any product we were working on, not because you rocked my world and shattered my heart, but because I’m a PROFESSIONAL. I care about my work. I care about the future of AI. I care about this department. Graham has worked so hard trying to make it mean something to corporate. It’s his pride and joy.
Luke: I’m sorry, Sera. I had to ask. I had to be sure.
Sera: It’s fine.
She says she’s fine, but I doubt it after what I just told her.
Luke: It’s not. It’s messed up. But thanks.
Sera: I’m going to find out what’s going on.
Luke: What? How?
Sera: I don’t know yet, but if somebody thinks they can ruin everything you and Graham have worked for, they’re about to get a rude awakening. Who the hell do they think they are? I care about you. I care about Graham. I’m not just going to sit here and let them get away with it.
I smile, my pride for her expanding even more, something I wouldn’t have thought conceivable until it slams right into me.
Luke: You don’t have to.
I type out the message, but she sends another message before I click send it.
Sera: Don’t tell me not to do this, Luke, because it isn’t your choice. If somebody has been sneaking around behind our backs, sabotaging not only you, but us too, I’m going to get to the bottom of it. I’m going to help you with this whether you like it or not.
My smile grows wider.
Luke: Be careful, angel. I don’t want you to get in trouble.
Sera: It’s not me you need to worry about.
Luke:
I send a series of flexing emojis, then get back to work. I’d prefer to spend the rest of my day talking with her, preferably not via text, but she was right when she said long distance would be difficult for us. There’s too much work, an endless ocean of it, going on and on and on…