Continue Online (Book 1, Memories) Read Online Free PDF Page B

would slit
their wrists for a chance at it if they were half as dedicated as
you.”
    “ God
dammit, Henry, what did you send me?” I tried not to roll my
eyes at the screen. The last thing I wanted to deal with was jealous
coworkers at the next quarter meeting. “You know I don’t
really need any of these things.”
    “ Not
with the company picking up your internet bill due to business use,
you know two of your pals only work for us to keep themselves online?
Minimal work, shoddy I tell you.”
    “ What
did you send me, Henry?” I asked.
    “ I
hope they shit themselves when they see what I arranged.”
    "Henry,"
I was leaning forward in the seat with both hands clasped together in
a plea.
    "You
get home tonight, you give it a whirl. It’ll change your life.”
He grumbled at his screen. “You know, maybe you should head
back now. Yeah.” I saw the edge of his shoulder rise and fall
as a hand poked something off screen.
    My
gut sank. “ Please,
Henry, tell me you didn’t.”
    “ Didn’t
what. I didn’t nothing. You check your prize out,” I
tried to speak up but Henry continued right on over me “let me
know if you want to take some time off. You probably have too much
saved up, and God knows those others haven’t worked a real week
in years.”
    “ Henry.”
My head crashed downward and hung.
    “ This
is perfect. Two birds, no three, one stone, why didn’t I do
this sooner?” Henry Uldum wasn’t even listening to me
anymore. He was busy pressing more buttons and looking entirely too
pleased with himself.
    “ Henry.”
I said.
    “ Sorry,
Gates, can’t hear you, signals going out. Bye bye.” He
couldn’t even lie correctly, signal rarely dropped since they
went over to Hi-Fi.
    “ Henry!”
    An
image of Henry’s giant hand swung into view. It obscured the
video portion of our conversation and moments later our call dropped.
    "God
damn." I hastily flipped around a display camera on my watch,
fed it into the vans overhead and navigated menus. Arm and fingers
pressed onward through passwords, remote connection options, and
security warnings. Moments later and I had a feed of my ARC’s
home screen displaying inside the van.
    There,
in the small room I used as an Atrium, was a giant package, like
Christmas come early. The contents were unknown. I jabbed a finger at
the air, where the projection showed the gift to be.
    Remote
Access Not Permissible
    Full
Authentication Required
    Of
course, there was a lock against remote access. Locked packages meant
my prize was more than a virtual coffee maker. There was no
likelihood this was some new meeting space wallpaper or other
similarly inane little feature. I was awarded a hot tub program last
year that was still unused.
    Hal
Pal whirred briefly into motion. “User Legate,
please confirm our destination.”
    I
sighed and gave a large stretch. My head hung back as thoughts
whirled through. Finally, a nod escaped and orders were issued.
    “ Work.
Onward, Jeeves.”
    “ Confirming."
The pause was ominous. "Next appointment has been rerouted.
Please select an alternate destination.”
    “ The
job after that?” My gut sank once again in as many minutes.
    “ Negative.
Case rerouted.” It said.
    “ Any
of the others?” This wasn't going well. Possible choices were
being boxed into a corner.
    “ No
jobs remain available in your assignment queue. Please choose a valid
destination.” Hal Pal almost sounded smug.
    "Did
Henry reroute the service calls?" I asked.
    "Affirmative."
Hal Pal's head was the only part that moved as he spoke. The van was
powered up so security measures had the AI locked into a docking
station. The safety system would stay in effect regardless of if we
were moving or not.
    "How
long ago?"
    "Records
indicate a change in ownership roughly two minutes into his phone
call."
    I
sighed and hung my head to the side. The van was idling on a roadside
waiting for new marching orders.
    “ Never
mind." That's what Henry had been waving at off