Regression (18 page)

“
Apparently. Now
you’ve got that off your chest, any chance you’re still in the mood
to go out? I’m game.” Her smile made her attractive face beautiful.
Adya couldn’t help but beam back at her.

“
Sounds good to me, do
you need to stop off at your place?”

“
No, you?”

“
I wouldn’t mind
changing into something a bit more dressy, thanks.” They entered
the elevator.

“
How do you know all
these people already, Adya?” Jennifer’s disbelief was evident as
yet another friendly person interrupted their dinnertime
conversation to greet Adya and ask how she was enjoying the
island.

“
I mingle well. Moving
from one department to another gives a chance to get to know a lot
of faces. I also have quite a bit of experience in dealing with
people and am good at remembering names. Hey, Khalid, where’s
Prateek tonight?”

“
He’s working late−his
loss.” Khalid approached the table, bringing three friends. “Adya,
Jennifer, meet Arthur, John, and Aethar. What are you two up to
tonight?”

“
Don’t know yet, any
suggestions? What’s happening on the island tonight? I’ll bet you
know all the wicked parties.”

“
Don’t you know it.
The Pride and Prose bar is having open mike night tonight for
anyone who likes to jam or throw out a line or two, that’s always a
riot. Movie theatre is playing Breakfast Club, I heard it’s pretty
good although maybe a little immature for Jennifer.” He grinned at
her.

“
Hey, watch the age
cracks buddy.” Jennifer aimed a fist at his arm, Khalid deftly
moving to avoid it.

“
Pretty good right
hook for an old lady.” She did not miss with her second attempt, he
wincing and rubbing his arm in mock pain.

“
Watch it, she can
take you.”

“
Take me where?” he
offered, wriggling his eyebrows licentiously at Jennifer, who
blushed in response.

“
Okay, enough, they’re
going to kick us out of here soon since we’re done eating.
Jennifer, what do you think? This is your night.”

“
I…well…open mike
sounds like fun, I’ve never been before.” She addressed Khalid.
“Will there be dancing at all? Adya said she likes to dance.”
Jennifer looked back at Adya, mischief in her eyes.

“
Don’t be doing that.
Not gonna happen. No dancing for me.” A flicker of darkness crossed
her eyes as she thought of the consequences the last time she
danced.

Jennifer noticed, and leaned in
close to her to whisper “I’m sorry, was it something…”

“
No, I’m fine, just a
bad memory.” She smiled at the group. “Lead the way, we’ll be your
groupies tonight as you astonish us with your literary
prowess.”

Later, they weaved their way up
the walk into the older woman’s cottage. After fumbling with her
keys, Jennifer finally managed to unlock the door and lead Adya
inside the tidy abode. She shook her head. “I can’t believe you got
up there and sang Sympathy for the Devil.”

Adya grinned. “I didn’t expect
anyone to know how to play it, so I got caught out in a bluff.
Thank goodness I actually know the song.”

“
You were awesome. You
had everyone rockin’, it was great.”

Taking a small bow, Adya
overbalanced and almost tumbled onto the couch, changing her
awkward fall into a graceful recline. “My pleasure, next time you
have to get up, though, since I have now set the
precedent.”

“
You set the precedent
for more than that. How many guys asked you to dance tonight? I
lost count after twenty five.”

“
There appears to be a
shortage of eligible women on the island, you need to make a note
for Abraham to address the issue.” She giggled. “Could you just
imagine the interview process for that?”

“
That wasn’t it, and
you know it. There were tons of girls out tonight who were glaring
daggers at your back the entire time you were on the dance floor.
The men were drawn to you like flies to honey, excuse the very,
very poor analogy. Blame my lack of creativity on the drinks
consumed. You certainly can drink more than I would expect.” As if
on cue, Jennifer hiccoughed and both broke into gales of
laughter.

“
You lush.”

“
Takes one to know
one.”

“
We’d better get some
sleep or Abraham will have our heads.”

“
That’s not quite what
I imagine him having…”

“
Jennifer, if you
don’t make that move…”

“
Leave it be, Adya.
Perhaps after a few more nights out with you.”

“
I’ll keep you to
that. Next week?”

“
We’ll see how we feel
in the morning. Perhaps never, ever again if I end up worshipping
the porcelain throne.” Another hiccough.

“
Not on my watch. Just
don’t mix your drinks. And, drink water, then your cells don’t get
dehydrated…that’s what causes hangovers.”

Jennifer handed her a nightgown
and blankets before retrieving a glass of water which she set on
the bedside table in the guest room. “Here, you can borrow this to
sleep in. You’re almost the same build as me. Nite.”

“
Nite.”

The two women arrived together at
the Tower the next morning, Abraham nowhere to be found. A note
waited for Jennifer on her desk. Her face paled. She held it up for
Adya to read.

Jennifer,

Tried to get hold of
you but you were not at home or the office. I have been called to a
meeting for which I would have appreciated your presence. Please
ensure in future you have left a forwarding number. Adya should
continue working with the programming staff today and also ensure
she completes her review of the orientation
questionnaire.

Thank you,

Abraham

“
Well, I’ve been put
in my place.”

“
Jennifer, he has no
right to expect you to be at his beck and call any time of day or
night. Perhaps this was a great lesson, should reinforce how
valuable you are to him.”

“
There really are no
set hours…”

“
That still doesn’t
mean you have to sit around all the time on the off chance he
calls. You had fun last night, and today you look the
most…energetic…” eyes narrowed, she glanced her friend up and down,
“hmm, might not be the best word, you are a little green around the
gills…but, anyway, you looked radiant today until we saw
that.”

“
He needed
me.”

“
Good.”

Some of the staff in programming
were at open mike the night before. Marcel, one of the first to ask
Adya to dance, saw her enter the area. “Nice jamming.”

“
Back at you, didn’t
know there was a rock star in our midst.” He had been her first
refusal of many that night. None angered, she hoped, since she
declined to dance with any of them.

“
Can’t quit my day
job, though.”

“
No, wouldn’t
recommend it. What’s your team working on today?”

“
These algorithms for
the climate projection and modeling software. We’re to add new
parameters since Abraham doesn’t feel enough variables have been
accounted for. Any familiarity with programming?”

“
Not at this level,
just some rudimentary coding and mostly object oriented at that.
But, I hope you don’t mind me sitting in on the problem solving
session, I really want to see how things are done on the
inside.”

“
Well, since you don’t
really look like some spy from another company, I think we can
allow it. But, afterward we’ll have to kill you.”

“
Just give me a ten
second head start and we’ll see about that.”

“
Deal.”

Abraham returned in time for
Adya’s third day of orientation, she was in his office to discuss
her progress.

“
Do you ever miss it,
the original timeline?”

He rose from behind his desk to
gaze out the window, his face pensive.

“
It’s been a very long
time since I thought about it. In the previous history, I made some
mistakes, and avoided those mistakes this time around. I have
dedicated my life to enacting a plan to save the world. I am
content to live with this timeline.”

“
What about the
people? Did you seek out those you knew before or did you let
things just happen?” Her face dropped, some of her pain slipping
through the cracks of the façade she maintained. “I am facing the
loss of all I know, by being here with Three Eleven. Did you have a
wife, children?”

He pivoted, facing her. She
searched for compassion, some common ground in his eyes, but did
not find it. His face was shuttered. “I was married twice, divorced
twice. We never had children. In this timeline I have not allowed
myself to become close enough to anyone to marry or raise children.
In fact, none of the executives have spouses or children. I don’t
believe any of them had children in the previous timeline either.
It hasn’t been an issue with us.”

“
What about doing your
part, the propagation of the species?”

Abraham scrutinized Adya. “That
sounds like something Jennifer would say.”

“
Perhaps she feels you
should be doing your part.”

“
There are other
factors. You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“
What other factors
could possibly explain how you run a corporation which puts family
and people first yet you don’t do the same for
yourself?”

He slammed a hand down on his
desk. “I’m not prepared to discuss this with you. I have a
teleconference call to take right now, you may sit quietly and
listen but please do not interrupt.” He shuffled papers and sat
down before lifting his face to her. “And, I do not want you
exerting a…shall I say…modern influence on Jennifer. For the past
number of years she has been quite content to work for me, and now
within days of your arrival she is gallivanting around like
some…fifteen year old, dancing and acting giddy. She doesn’t need
that.”

Adya bristled. “Who are you to
speak to what she needs? What she needs is to feel needed and
valued. And, to enjoy herself. Three Eleven may be your life, but
don’t forget this is Jennifer’s first time through and you’ve put
an incredible burden upon her bringing her into our world. Think
how helpless she must feel, knowing a terrible future looms over
the oblivious world around her, and she can’t share that
information with anyone. She isn’t so old as to not want a life,
either. She certainly isn’t too old for children. Neither are
you.”

“
Not everyone feels
the need to be as prolific as you.”

“
That was uncalled
for.”

Abraham sighed. “You are right. I
apologize. But I would appreciate you backing off where Jennifer is
concerned.”

“
I consider Jennifer a
friend and as such I will pursue what’s in her best interests.” The
intercom buzzed, signalling the start of Abraham’s conference call.
She sat, observing him at work. In addition to his responsibilities
within the tech department, he acted as Chief Executive Officer of
Three Eleven. The extent of these responsibilities was staggering
since the day to day operations of the corporation fell to
Abraham.

He deftly manipulated a
multinational network of intelligence operations, government
contacts, business affiliates, and actual employees as if they were
pieces in a game of chess. He held the ultimate power within the
corporation, and ultimately in the world. Adya fought down a
shudder, Abraham raising an eyebrow at her abrupt movement. She
pantomimed warming her shoulders, then rose to join the
programmers.

Bidding goodbye to the programmers once her week was up, Adya
enjoyed many compliments and comments. Abraham took note. “You
demonstrated proficiency with the programming languages.” He
sounded surprised.

“
I dabbled in
programming every now and again. My children enjoyed writing code
as well and two of them took programming courses as high school
credits so I learned, to support them.”

“
What are your
thoughts about the efforts of the department? An outsider’s opinion
is always interesting.” Adya checked his face for sincerity, but he
was expressionless.

“
I approve of the move
away from entertainment toward productivity, especially since
you’ve provided other means of recreation. Your projection programs
for the disasters unfortunately remind me of the climate modeling
programs which sent the world into the Global Warming frenzy but I
realize the results are being treated as possibility rather than
fact unlike in the early years of the twenty-first century.” He
shared her grimace. “I would suggest more emphasis on human
repercussions. What about consequences if we experience a genetic
bottle neck, things like the minimum viable population sizes
required to maintain the current races on earth? My former
husband,” she felt a pang and fought to continue in a normal voice,
“was a professor of anthropology and studied the bottlenecks in
human history. The Toba Catastrophe, the isolation of aborigines in
Australia and North America. I didn’t see any projections for
consequences to the human genome in the software programs being
coded. Did I miss them or are none being developed?”