Chapter Eight - Keruac
Hydane arrived at Crow's house at eight o'clock in the morning, a few minutes after Nan left to take Alexander to school for the day. Crow had tried to explain the concept of taking a business trip without a job, but Alexander had not been particularly interested in the trip anyway. The Leroy Academy emphasized a special topic each week to encourage enthusiasm in learning. This was the week for dinosaurs, and Alexander could not be bothered with the mundane details of adults. Crow made a mental note to find a museum in the area with dinosaurs on display, grudgingly admitting that such a trip would be as much fun for him as for Alexander. Geek, noun, one who enjoys trips to museums.
"Nice ride." Crow said, standing on the porch and finishing off a cup of coffee. He smacked his lips. The machine was on its last legs and produced a strange brew now with more texture than taste. He poured the remains behind a bush on the front walk and held out a hand to shake.
Hydane shook Crow's hand and glanced back at the top of the line Mercedes that must have cost a small mortgage. He smiled with his teeth, not his lips. "Da Vinci Law is opposed to thinking machines, my friend. Other types of machines we can fetishize to our heart's content."
They headed over the bay and left the Mercedes in long term parking at the Oakland airport. "Less people." Hydane had said when asked why they were flying out of there instead of the closer San Jose. "It has sort of a homey, small town airport feel. Less concrete, more wood."
"Cheaper tickets?" Crow asked.
"By a hundred dollars." Hydane admitted. "Some things we are tightwads about, so we can be freer with others."
They did fly first class though, Crow noted with approval. He had only flown first class when someone else was paying for it, as was the case in general for business. The stewardesses were real people, not sentis, and were halfway decent to look at, just top of the pleasant surprise. It had been a couple years since he had flown, and had figured that someone would have managed to sell sentis to the airlines by now. He asked Hydane and got a laugh in return.
"The airlines want to buy sentis, but the laws are still in the way for them." Hydane explained. "Flight attendants are required to be CPR certified and a handy bunch of other things. Sentis can't receive CPR certification yet by law, and the airlines are stuck. The flight attendant's union retained Da Vinci Law for its part in that fight."
"So that's it?" Crow asked in good humor. "Sentis will take all the jobs except ones requiring CPR?"
Hydane shrugged. "Baby steps, my friend, baby steps. We draw the line somewhere and start pushing them back. Which brings us to this trip."
Hydane arrived at Crow's house at eight o'clock in the morning, a few minutes after Nan left to take Alexander to school for the day. Crow had tried to explain the concept of taking a business trip without a job, but Alexander had not been particularly interested in the trip anyway. The Leroy Academy emphasized a special topic each week to encourage enthusiasm in learning. This was the week for dinosaurs, and Alexander could not be bothered with the mundane details of adults. Crow made a mental note to find a museum in the area with dinosaurs on display, grudgingly admitting that such a trip would be as much fun for him as for Alexander. Geek, noun, one who enjoys trips to museums.
"Nice ride." Crow said, standing on the porch and finishing off a cup of coffee. He smacked his lips. The machine was on its last legs and produced a strange brew now with more texture than taste. He poured the remains behind a bush on the front walk and held out a hand to shake.
Hydane shook Crow's hand and glanced back at the top of the line Mercedes that must have cost a small mortgage. He smiled with his teeth, not his lips. "Da Vinci Law is opposed to thinking machines, my friend. Other types of machines we can fetishize to our heart's content."
They headed over the bay and left the Mercedes in long term parking at the Oakland airport. "Less people." Hydane had said when asked why they were flying out of there instead of the closer San Jose. "It has sort of a homey, small town airport feel. Less concrete, more wood."
"Cheaper tickets?" Crow asked.
"By a hundred dollars." Hydane admitted. "Some things we are tightwads about, so we can be freer with others."
They did fly first class though, Crow noted with approval. He had only flown first class when someone else was paying for it, as was the case in general for business. The stewardesses were real people, not sentis, and were halfway decent to look at, just top of the pleasant surprise. It had been a couple years since he had flown, and had figured that someone would have managed to sell sentis to the airlines by now. He asked Hydane and got a laugh in return.
"The airlines want to buy sentis, but the laws are still in the way for them." Hydane explained. "Flight attendants are required to be CPR certified and a handy bunch of other things. Sentis can't receive CPR certification yet by law, and the airlines are stuck. The flight attendant's union retained Da Vinci Law for its part in that fight."
"So that's it?" Crow asked in good humor. "Sentis will take all the jobs except ones requiring CPR?"
Hydane shrugged. "Baby steps, my friend, baby steps. We draw the line somewhere and start pushing them back. Which brings us to this trip."
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