First Day

Image by David Mark from Pixabay



“I’ve got to say, this place is not what I expected,” Brinda said,

taking in the solar honeycombs climbing to the atrium ceiling high above.

“How so?” Ms. Salt said. The human resources representative who guided her private tour wore a smile that hadn’t wavered since she introduced herself.

“Well, naturally I’m super excited to start working for the world’s
greatest cybernetics company, but I expected higher security.”

“Our bioscanners may be unobtrusive, but they’re state of the art. I assure you, every living thing in this room and beyond is tracked and identified.”

“But if these are all employees, why is no one wearing the
implants you create?” She looked around again at the open space where people
gathered in small groups, enjoying their leisure time.

“I understand. But Cybercore is trying to move past our
reputation as a cold, faceless corporation. Individuality is encouraged here,
and implants are seen as conformity. This way please.”

The elevator opened onto a darkened bank of monitors, the
images leaping several feet off the screens. Employees hand-manipulated the
images like physical objects.

“Whoa.”

“Indeed. This is how the majority of our programming is
done. A.I. has advanced to the point where it interprets the programmers’
desires, writing optimized code nearly instantaneously. These next-generation
gloves are indistinguishable from human skin. This way.”

As the next door opened, a man in a uniform entered, blocking
their way. “What are you doing here, Ms. Salt? Your 11:00 hasn’t arrived yet.”

“There must be some mistake. This is Brinda. It’s her first
day—”

“Bioscanners never registered Brinda entering.”

Brinda smiled. “Brinda. Binary Replicant, Intrusive Data Acquisition. Trademark BioMimic.” Her lower-arm flipped downward on a hinge and a blade extended, slicing cleanly through the security guard. “And it really is my first day.”

The post First Day appeared first on Ichabod Ebenezer.