Loneliest Man Who Ever Lived Ch. 06

Whatever. Harry was just looking for a job that would keep him mentally occupied. A job which would keep him sane. Harry was put to work creating subroutines which would help the program think. He threw himself into the work.

Women shunned him now. When he looked directly at them, they looked away. He felt like they went out of their way to walk as far as possible from him, on the street, in the workplace, in the stores. It was as if they knew he was different. As if they knew he needed to be shunned.

He could see the disgust in their eyes when they looked at him. They sensed he was the other, the alien, and they wanted nothing to do with him.

Well, that was fine with Harry. He was wrapped up in his work. And at first, he was very productive. He produced one subroutine after another which would enhance the function of the AI they were building. But whenever he went to the CEO, Mr. Henderson, to ask for the subroutines to be incorporated, Henderson would say, "A good idea! Let's run some tests first, though, shall we?"

But even after they were tested, Harry's subroutines were not used. He soon found out why. A coworker, Mark Danton, told him. Henderson was planning to sell his startup to a larger company. He didn't have the time or interest to focus on upgrades.

"But why would he want to sell it before the project is complete?" Harry asked.

"It's not about completion, Harry. It's about money. Startups are created to be sold to larger companies. To cash in."

"But the AI isn't even finished yet," said Harry.

"That doesn't matter, Harry," said Mark. "If another company sees a potential in it, they buy it anyway. Sometimes they develop it further. Or sometimes they buy it just to shut it down, so no competitor can get their hands on it."

Harry looked around him, and realized this entire experience had been a complete waste of time.

********

Harry had been dabbling in the stock market. He found it exceedingly easy. Over time he converted his small savings into medium sized savings, and then medium sized savings into larger ones. After he quit the startup, he started trading the markets full time.

It was isolating, at first. He worked entirely from home, and had no contact with anyone. He created Carl, to have someone to talk to. And then later came Veronika.

After Alexandra, Harry never had the chance to kiss or touch a woman again, until Goldie came into his life. He would walk the streets of New York, staring at women, imagining what might be, what could never be. He saw the looks of disgust in their eyes as they seemed to read his mind, realizing what he was imagining him. Women shunned him, and wanted nothing to do with him, and for good reason.

Harry also wasn't able to make any friends. He found most people to be rather simplistic; he couldn't even relate to the way they thought. As a Fourther, he felt totally isolated.

And as he realized that this was all life had to offer, he started making his daily trips to the Wharf. And that is precisely where his life stood until Goldie came along.

********

After her disastrous job working customer service at the bank, Goldie took a job in sales. But that didn't really give her the people contact she craved either. She worked in telemarketing; all of her contact with clients was over the holocomm. That personal connection was still missing.

So Goldie quit, again, and got another sales job, this time where she personally got to meet with clients. It was for a medium sized company which sold ceiling panels. Most of the buyers were construction companies. The product was incredibly dull, and yet there was an aspect to the job that Goldie liked.

She could flirt with the buying agents. She could laugh and tease and play with them, if they were men. And many of them played along. Goldie never slept with any of her clients, but she did flirt outrageously with them, and go out for meals together. This part of her job she liked very much. She enjoyed the "hunt"; seducing a client, wearing him down, until he would agree to make a purchase.

She stayed at this job for several years, but over time started to feel restless. She had dated several men, but none seriously.

And then her sister Claire called. Claire worked for some biotech company called The Foundation. She said that Goldie would be a perfect fit in their recruiting department.

Goldie hadn't had much contact with Claire in recent years. Their antagonism during their high school years had cooled down somewhat, so they were no longer openly at war with each other, but neither were they friends. Claire was a "Fourther", and Goldie got the distinct feeling she felt her little sister was more than a little retarded. Relations were proper, but also cool.

Thus she was surprised when Claire called her and told her to apply for the job at The Foundation. That Claire would even think about her at all was a surprise. And the idea that Claire wanted her little sister to work at the same company she was working at defied her imagination.

Despite these incongruities, Goldie was curious, and so she went on an interview. With her winning people skills she quickly got the job. Figuring that there was little to lose, she quit her job and went to work for The Foundation.

Goldie was quickly put to work recruiting people for The Foundation. The Foundation wanted to attract the top minds on the planet, who were usually engaged in other pursuits. It was Goldie's job to fly out and wine and dine them and convince them to quit whatever job they were doing and join The Foundation.

Goldie quickly found it to be much more satisfying than selling ceiling rectangles. For one thing the "product" was the client himself, and whenever Goldie made a "sale" it felt much more personal.

And the people were much more interesting. They were almost all Fourthers. Goldie had a low opinions of Fourthers at first, as the only one she had known was her sister. But when Goldie started to meet male Fourthers, she quickly changed her mind. They were brilliant. They were unusual. They were all one of a kind.

Goldie quickly became known as one of the top recruiters. She was given the toughest assignments, but she never failed. She flirted shamelessly with men. She loved the power she seemed to have over them, the power to make them say yes. She even flirted with married men. Single, married, it didn't matter. Goldie persuaded them all to work for The Foundation.

Curiously, however, Goldie never seemed to find a lover for herself among her prospects. She did end up meeting a man, but at an unexpected place: the shooting range.

Goldie loved the feel of a compression pistol discharging in her hands. As she was shooting targets one day, a man came by and said, "Here. You're not aiming that right. Let me show you."

His name was Greg. They had their first date that evening. Within days they were lovers.

By the time Goldie was assigned to Harry, she had been seeing Greg for nearly eight months. Greg was nice. Greg was wonderful. And Greg was a great lover.

Her parents started to hope against hope that Goldie would settle down with Greg. Goldie herself had been thinking some of the same thoughts. Greg was nice. And yet... was she really in love with him?

And then the day came when Goldie was assigned to Harry. "Your toughest case yet," was what Mr. Slattery called Harry. Goldie spent several days studying his file, and several more days just observing him. During this time Greg called her several times, but Goldie found herself increasingly focused on Harry, and didn't return his calls. The more she learned about Harry, the more alluring he became to her. And the oddest part was, Goldie didn't seem to know why.