Because they need to see what I can do. They just don’t want me doing too much of it.
The thumbnails closed.
“I’m out of your way,” Joe-Eddy said. He drank the last of his coffee, stood, picked up the tray, his plate and mug on it, and carried it to the bussing cart.
Verity got to work on her own McWolven.
When Gavin entered, she’d nearly finished it.
He smiled, from beneath the brim of a black bucket hat. He was wearing Tulpagenics’ other option in frames, fake tortoiseshell with fake gold trim, bordering on sexy librarian.
Gavin, hey.
“Eunice,” he said, smile widening. “Verity.”
Only sees what I text to him.
“Coffee?” Verity asked. “I’m still working on this one.”
“I will, thanks,” he said, and went to the counter.
Nothing I’ve been able to see in their comms suggests they’re onto us, but a total lack of supposition that we’re up to anything suggests that they are. Probably passing notes under tables right now, because they don’t know what I might be able to read or overhear.
“Okay,” Verity said, barely voicing it, watching Gavin’s back at the counter. Thumbnails opened, aerial drone views of Valencia, the cursor darting between individual pedestrians, none of them familiar.
He has enough backup outside for an abduction, but I think he’s just here to test the waters.
He brought a mug of coffee, taking the seat Joe-Eddy had vacated, and removed his hat. “It’s Wednesday morning,” he said. “You started with us Monday afternoon. How are you liking it, so far?” He smiled.
I’m not liking you knowing where I’m having breakfast, Verity considering saying, then decided it would be pointless.
Keep it vague.
“It’s been interesting,” Verity said, “as I assume you’d expect.”
“You’re getting along?”
“I’d say so.”
“I ask,” he said, “because, as you may or may not know, Eunice has chosen from the start to exclude us entirely from your interactions.”
Thinks they got an idea of us together for the first time, last night. They still can’t hear me, on your earbud, and they probably haven’t guessed that I’m spoofing your side of our conversation.
“I assumed we’d be monitored,” Verity said. “If we weren’t, you’ve missed out on some long discussions of her favorite film.”
He tilted his head. “Favorite film?”
“Inception.”
“Haven’t seen it.”
“It’s about dreams,” Verity said.
Eunice opened a thumbnail, angle down, on the back of Gavin’s head, from the wall behind him. Verity resisted glancing up to look for the drone. He had the beginning of a bald spot.
Like when you said my name, in your office, that first time? I woke up in a dream.
Gavin brightened, obviously having read this. “Then I’m watching it this evening.” He smiled. “We’ve assumed you’ve needed some quiet time, Eunice, to get to know Verity, and vice versa. Naturally, though, we’ve been curious about how things have been going.” He wore, she now saw, an earpiece identical to hers.
“When I called you,” Verity said, “after Eunice and I first met, I was having a hard time getting my head around the idea of her. I think she’s mostly gotten me over that, but who built Eunice out?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, “but my own agreement specifically forbids me discussing that with anyone not named in it.”
“Here,” said Eunice, abandoning Helvetica as a thumbnail opened, “let’s try it this way.” Her avatar had morphed again, the fade still rising to the curly-topped plateau, but attitude had softened, maybe even bone structure. “That’s my first question too. Who put me together? What for? You didn’t think I’d be curious?”
“Personally,” he said, “I can understand your asking, but I’m not in a position to discuss it.” Smiling.
“My second question,” Verity said, “is what steps you imagine would be necessary to bring an initial version to market?” Channeling Virgil wrecking an underprepared pitch.
He smiled, hitting her personal smiles-per-encounter limit. “Someone suggested, this morning, that you yourself would make an interesting candidate for an in-house user-modeling study. Model the app after the app whisperer.”
“Do you have the capacity for that?” Verity asked
“We have Eunice. Think of it as reverse engineering.”
My ass.
Verity caught the avatar’s smile. “You’re reverse engineering her?”
“Would you be interested? I doubt anyone knows what a contract for that would look like. But we’re definitely interested.”
“I’m definitely not interested.”
“It’s out of the blue,” he said, “but in the meantime, there’s our inability to document your interactions. An initial period of privacy seems understandable”—he smiled—“at least to me, but in terms of your contract with Tulpagenics, it’s not going to fly.”
“You guys talking about me like I’m not here,” said Eunice. “You want access, Gavin?” The avatar tilting its head. “To us?”
“We need to be able to evaluate your interaction, ongoing. That’s why we brought Verity on, after all.”
“Be my guest.” The avatar grinned.
“Meaning?” He blinked.
“It’s done,” the avatar said. “As of now.”
He can’t specifically ask for my side of it, because that gives away the bug situation, so we just started giving him a spoofed version of my side that matches up with the spoofed version of yours.
Gavin smiled. “Thank you, Eunice. That makes a big difference. What do the two of you have planned for the rest of the day?”
“Maybe walk around the Mission,” Eunice said. “See what we can find to talk about.”
He took his first sip of coffee, then put the mug down. “Wish I could say the same, but I’m needed at the office. Happy campers there, at least, with Eunice having been so understanding. We’ll have you by, later this week. People are excited to meet you both.” Pushing back his chair, he rose.
Make nice.
“Good seeing you, Gavin,” Verity said.
“Same,” said Eunice’s avatar.
A last smile, putting on his hat. “Later, this week.” He turned. With his back to them, he waited for the soft grunge girls, now exiting as a flock, to clear the entrance. When they had, he followed.
Verity, now remembering that she’d seen the one with LATINX on her shirt at Tulpagenics, saw the drone duck under the lintel after him. “What the fuck was that about?” she asked.
“He’s in over his head,” Eunice said. “Scared shitless. Maybe just now getting more of an idea where they got me from.”
“I don’t want to work for him.”
“Compared to the people he’s working for, he could be employer of the year. Could be he’s just getting that, too, though I doubt it. But we got other things going on. You know this Guilherme?” Eunice asked, opening a thumbnail, no audio, down on Joe-Eddy in his kitchen, listening to someone she did recognize, though the name was unfamiliar.