Announcements
Chapter Five
One month later
Three weeks had indeed passed with surprising speed, and just last week Camden and I had found ourselves surrounded by what seemed like a million boxes of books. Any free moment we had had in the last week was spent unloading the books and trying to organize them on the newly built shelves in our basement.
As promised, Camden had calculated and constructed all of the shelves that we would need to hold our newly acquired twelve thousand books, a true library of our own. I still don’t know how in the world we got everything to fit in our house. Camden had stretched the space in the basement to the maximum. Thankfully, our basement was a pretty substantial size, and allowed for the majority of the books to be housed there. But twelve thousand books quickly adds up in space, and we found that some books had to wander throughout the house to find appropriate storage.
Camden built a few more shelves for our house, two that went into our bedroom, one shelf dedicated for my personal favorite titles, and one for his. There were also new shelves in the living room, a large one spanning one entire wall in our office, a small shelf in the kitchen, two large shelves in the guest bedroom, and countless bookends to stash the last few books on the mantle, bathroom shelves, and tabletops.
Finally, at the close of this weekend, we had found a home for every last one of the new books, and we both had collapsed happy, but exhausted into bed on Sunday night. The daunting and seemingly impossible task had finally come to a close, and had been marked as a success.
Of course, our new addition did not go unnoticed by our painfully small town, and we became the highlight of the week. Curious neighbors and nosey gossips popped in every now and then throughout the course of the week, asking questions, begging to see the progress. A few of our close friends we welcomed in and allowed them to see the amazing work and transformation being done to our house, but mostly we smiled and went back to work for the other folks that stopped by. I couldn’t blame them, of course. We certainly were now an “oddity” of sorts, and definitely attracted a lot of attention, even in a rural area. But I suppose that would happen when five huge trucks deposited over four hundred boxes in our front yard. Plus the growing pile of empty boxes that were stacking what seemed sky high after we would unload a box of books.
Camden hadn’t minded the work, he was positively giddy throughout the entire process. I was excited as well, but it was definitely exhausting work, and the curiosity of naysayer’s and critics was highly annoying. I learned by Tuesday evening just to ignore the doorbell and the telephone at all costs, it was better that way by far.
But, I had to admit, even though our house was now exploding with printed pages and books upon books, our house seemed more homey. And I couldn’t help but be excited about the fact that our children and grandchildren, and generations on could enjoy this as well. We had purchased books of all kinds, children’s books, cooking books, “How-to” books of all kinds, classic literature, modern fiction, and on and on. We had tried to come up with an easy system for categorizing the books, and had been able to fit most of them in a convenient location together.
My portion of the project was still waiting to be fully completed. After Camden had installed the shelves, I went to work on painting them and adding colorful, cheery designs to his woodwork. For the shelves, I had applied a subtly neutral tan color, and then continued to decorate the outsides with fanciful things. A set of three shelves had been painted with the progression of a tree bending in a gentle wind, a few of the vibrantly green leaves floating gently to other shelves, creating a twisting trail throughout our library. Other shelves had decorate swirls, or had been adorned with hanging lanterns that I had found at a local appliance store.
I had yet to furnish the “reading corner” I had set aside, but that was soon to be fixed. This weekend I had gone furniture shopping and found a few cozy armchairs and end tables, and a comfy rug to lay across the floor as well. These items would be arriving during the week, and I would set them up when I had time.
Overall, our basement had a rustic, homey feel, yet was warm and full of adventure and fantasies, which left the imagination swirling with endless possibilities, daring dreams and outrageous ideas. It was a space we had slaved over, and were endlessly proud of. But, all good dreams must come to an end, or at least be put on pause, as I learned painfully this new morning as I walked into my small, sharp SanTech office.
The difference between my office at SanTech and my now book filled home was stark and almost frightful. After being surrounded by thousands of pages of paper all weekend and coming into an office that not a single sheet of paper was to be seen anywhere, it made me ache for home.
While most people, especially here at SanTech were highly keen on the idea of a “clutter free” workspace, also known as a paper free workspace, I found the touch of paper and written words to be comforting, and far from clutter. But, this was my job, and I sighed in resignation to the fact that this would not change. In a society where paper was increasingly looked down upon, and was being replaced at every available opportunity, I was the odd one out, and was viewed to have a more backwards approach to life. But I didn’t mind, and I kept my thoughts to myself as I began to busy myself with my to-do list for the day.
Mindlessly, I tapped my way through the home touch screen of my computer, and opened up my email to check for any important memos, messages, or appointments that had been made over the weekend. Nothing of interest popped out at me, just a few memos from other staff alerting everyone to their upcoming vacation time or upcoming project deadlines. Most didn’t hold any importance to me or my position. I shifted into a file that held all of Gene’s appointments and memos, to see if there was anything I need to remind him of.
After the irate caller incident a month ago, Gene had gone through waves of looking very concerned, and at other times seeming completely normal, and then diving into a pit of frantic, fearful work. He had remained aloof, and I wasn’t able to ask him any questions about the incident or about his strange behavior.
In all of the five years I had worked for SanTech, and under Gene Harper, I had never seen him act so strange. It unnerved me. I couldn’t figure out what was going on, and he wasn’t giving me any clues, either. After two weeks of his odd behavior and his silence on the matter, I deduced that it was better to just leave Gene be, and ignore it. I reasoned that it was probably just some brilliant mind thing, a fluctuation that inevitably came along with having such a powerful mind that was always churning with formulas, ideas and calculations. I mean, just the thought of all that the developers worked on made my own mind spin, and my head hurt, so imagine the people who actually worked on the technology. It was enough to make any normal, sane person go a little hay wire from time to time.
Still, Gene’s behavior was continuing to lean towards the odd side, and I kept it as far to the back of my mind as I could, yet still on the radar.
Focusing my mind back on my work and away from wandering day dreams, I continued to sift through files until I opened up the correct one that would inform me of Gene’s appointments for this upcoming week. I found nothing of interest, and nothing that required immediate reaction, so I set myself back to work on checking tasks off of my to do list.
It was busy work mostly, but I did have a question now and again, so I would swiftly pop my head into Gene’s office to find out the answer. Today he didn’t even look up when I asked him my questions, but continued to pour fervently over his desk monitors, and scanned over numerous Document Tablets that were scattered over his desk around the touch screen monitors. He mumbled vaguely in response to my questions, and I was dismissed to look for my answers else where for the rest of the day.
I couldn’t help but indulge in the curious thoughts that pecked at my brain for the remaining hours of my workday. What was getting Gene in such a rut about? My mind wandered over silly ideas and notions until I suddenly realized it was time to pack up and head home.
After gathering my belongs and tucking them under one arm, I rapped slightly on Gene’s office door. I heard a low reply muttered in response that sounded vaguely like “Come in.” I pushed open the door and was startled at the sight laid before my eyes.
Literal pieces of paper were scattered across the entire room. Some crumpled pieces, some flat and smooth. Most were darkened with frantic scribbles of equations and formulas from what I could tell. Gene was sitting at his desk, his eyes glazed over and glassy, staring numbly forward at a single sheet of paper in front of him. The light from his touch screen monitor embedding into the desk created an eerie backdrop, and made the paper glow in an unearthly way.
Stepping forward towards the desk, trying to hide the shock that was coursing through my veins, I stopped a few feet in front of him, peering slightly at the sheet Gene was intensely, yet numbly fixated on. His hands gripped the side of his head as if it would roll off if he were to ever let go. I could see sweat beading on his forehead and trickling down his face in a slow, salty river of perspiration and clear anxiety.
“Anything I can get you before I leave, Mr. Harper?” I asked slowly, hesitantly. He didn’t even blink. His eyes just glared forward as if they were made of pure glass, never moving, never changing, frozen in a state of heightened fear and stress. I took advantage of his averted eyes and glanced again at the paper, trying to make out the words.
All I could clearly see were two words, and they sent chills running up and down my body. They were written clearly and precisely in red ink, and had been circled at least ten times in black, as if to emphasize the point.
= system destruction.
This was all I could make out from the blur of what looked like equations, some were scribbled over and rewritten, others underlined or circled. But at the bottom, I could clearly see the words Gene had scrawled in slow, deliberate writing in contrast to his franticly scribbled equations.
= system destruction.
“No, thank you, Jenny. Goodnight.” Gene’s voice startled me as I broke my wide eyes away from the paper he had in front of him. Time had frozen in my mind for a second, and I had forgotten I even asked him a question, or why I had come in there. Those two words were sending electric currents through my brain, firing out a panicked sensation to my body. I didn’t know why, those two words could mean anything, and what did I know of the workings of genius people like Gene Harper?
But something about the state of Gene’s normally pristine office, clean cut and completely clutter free, now being over run by a chaotic mess of paper, and the indescribable piece of foreboding paper in front of him, just sent a wave of shock and confusion over me like never before. I was frozen in my place, and forced my eyes to look back at Gene’s face. He had noticed I was gaping over the paper, and he quickly pulled it towards him, folding it in quarters and placing it in his pocket.
His eyes were no longer glassy or glazed over, and he cleared his voice loudly, trying to pull a smile to his face. He again spoke to me, to try and recover me and put me at ease, I supposed.
“Have a good night Jenny. Don’t worry about this mess, it’ll all be gone in the morning.” Gene rose from his chair, signaling my dismissal. I stammered out a response, trying to form more intelligent and cohesive words from my frazzled brain.
“G-goodnight, Mr. Harper. See you… t-tomorrow.” I stuttered like a fool and quickly spun around to hide my reddening face and make a break for my car. I closed my eyes tightly for a second as I walked, but all I could see burned into the back of my eyelids as clearly as if it were in front of me, was the paper and the two daunting words.
= system destruction.
Driving home proved to be an all too boring affair that was fertile breeding ground for wild speculations about what those words meant. I tried to drown out my frustrating thoughts, but no volume on the radio dial could drown out the frantic, screaming thoughts.
I tried to focus my mind on getting sidetracked on one of my random adventures, but nothing would stick. All I could think about was that piece of paper. I couldn’t even pinpoint why I was so shocked by the state of Gene, his office, and that paper. All I knew was that I was unhinged by it, and couldn’t concentrate on anything else no matter how hard I tried.
Half way home I decided to give in and get lost in my thoughts about what I had seen. Venting my feelings to myself helped to calm me a little bit, but mostly it left my mind running in circles as the freeway flew under my speeding car.
The bright May sun was still shining in a mellow glory as I pulled into our long, gravel driveway. Southern Michigan summers meant long days and an energetic sun that loved to stay up for a long time, and not set until late in the evening.
Bringing the car to a halt in front of the house, I killed the ignition and sat, staring numbly forward as the sun cast its golden rays into the west facing side of my car. The shadows were long, dancing from the trunks of trees and splashing its cool color next to the suns warm tones on the seats of my car and across my lap.
I couldn’t bring myself to even blink, afraid to see those two words flash across my eyes again. Finally, I forced myself to close them and was relieved to see that the words had finally disappeared. Taking several deep breaths to try and calm myself, I sat very still, listening to the peaceful silence that had replaced the noisy sound of the freeway inside my car.
After a few minutes, I took one last deep breath and slowly opened my eyes, glancing towards the sun as it began its decent into the western horizon. Now that I was home, it was easier to wash away the worry and fear that I had experienced in the harsh, enclosed environment at SanTech. I threw a glance towards the house, and was surprised to see Camden there at the front door, leaning against the open door, watching me. A puzzled smile spread across his face, and I knew he could instantly tell something was up. Trying to return a smile, I only half succeeded as I collected my purse and car keys and got out of the car. Camden moved away from the front door and bounded down the steps to meet me. He quickly pulled me into a gentle but firm embrace, and kissed the top of my head.
“How was your day?” He asked almost cautiously, knowing that something was up.
“It was fine…” I glanced up at him, and instantly knew better than trying to hide it from him. He looked down at me with a skeptical, knowing look before I continued. “Until the end of the day. I’m really tired though, can we go inside and then I’ll tell you later?” I begged him, pleading with my eyes. It worked, and he put his hand at the small of my back and guided me into the house.
I let an hour pass in silence as Camden and I prepared dinner together, and then headed into the living room to eat, catch up on our days, and watch some news. Camden had left me in silence, his eyes still searching, wondering, yet supportive. He knew that I would explain my day to him when I was ready, and I was grateful that he was letting me take my time.
Camden pulled up two small tray tables to the edge of the couch for us, and I sank down appreciatively into the welcomingly soft couch. I sighed and closed my eyes, feeling Camden’s questioning, curious eyes on me as he sank into his seat next to me. I heard him begin to eat his pasta, and I opened my eyes to begin mine as well. Sooner or later I had to tell him what happened, so I decided now would be a good time. I took a bite and swallowed, and turned to face Camden as I sat, ready to explain.
His bright green eyes looked back into mine and I could tell that he was more than ready to listen. Taking a deep breath, I recounted my frightening tale of finding Gene and his office in a state of chaos, and finally what I had seen on the paper. Camden listened intently, his eyes also slightly troubled, knowing from what I had explained to him before about how meticulously clean Gene was, that this was definitely out of character for the brilliant SanTech developer. I finished explaining my day, and waited for Camden’s response. We both stared off into the room, processing. Finally Camden’s deep voice broke the silence.
“System destruction?” He turned to search my eyes again and continued. “What do you think it means?”
“I have no idea.” I answered honestly, disturbed by my lack of knowledge on the possibilities of what these two words meant. “I mean, it could mean anything, I suppose. He works on hundreds of projects a year, and maybe it just means one of those projects isn’t going to work out. I don’t know.” I tried to explain one of the possible explanations I had come up with on my drive home from work.
“Yeah.” Camden responded, his eyes shifting pensively again. Thinking through the possibilities as well. “You always said he can get a little weird sometimes too, right? I mean, he is one of those developers…they have a lot on their shoulders, maybe he’s just carried away with a project. Like I was with the library.” He said, laughing lightly, trying to bring a smile to my face and ease my heart.
“Could be, I guess. He can get weird…but lately he’s been going up and down in his moods and I can’t pin down what it is.” I told him, speaking out the fear that was welling up in my heart, the one I couldn’t truly explain.
“Well, don’t try to figure it out. You never know with those tech people. Probably just a project that won’t work out. Don’t worry about it, hun.” Camden spoke in a soothing voice, placing his strong hand on my shoulder, willing me to look back at him. He emphasized again. “Don’t worry about it.” He smiled and leaned in to give me a kiss.
I willingly accepted, and had to admit that I did feel a little better now that I had talked it out with him. It was my turn to find out how his day was now, after I had spilled the beans on my crazy day.
“So how was your day?” I pointed the question at him as I turned back to finish my now almost cool pasta. Camden had already finished his plate as I had shared my day, so he turned sideways towards me, leaning his back against the arm rest of the couch, and folding his hands behind his head in relaxation.
“It was good, I got to talk to Alex today.” He offered up, a smile spreading across his face.
“And?” I pressed him for details. “Did you talk to him about you wanting to go with him when he sees his dad?”
“Yup.” A smile drew slowly across his face again, but he remained silent after his one word answer.
“And?” I repeated again. Camden just smiled knowingly, savoring the silence up to his announcement about how his talk turned out, leaving me hanging and impatient.
“He said that he was actually going to ask me if I wanted to go with him.” Camden finally admitted, still continuing to smile triumphantly.
“And what does the case worker say? Is that allowed?” I returned Camden’s smile, knowing what this meant to him.
“Well, he still has to talk with his own case worker, but he looked it up on his phone when I was with him about the rules, trying to find out anything. We think that I can most likely go with him. If I can’t go in with him when he actually sees his dad, that’s fine. But I still want to go with him.” The light in Camden’s eyes was growing again, like when he had first been scheming about the library project. I smiled, letting my previously anxious thoughts about Gene’s office slip out of the back of my mind, and let Camden’s new joy about being able to go with Alex on his visit replace it.
Camden and I spent a few more minutes discussing Alex and his visit, when it would be, how they would get there, and so on. Camden said that the visit would be next weekend in Detroit, and that the case worker would be meeting Alex at the hospital to brief him and take him to see his father.
Since my grandfather lived in the Detroit area, we agreed on making the trip all together, Alex, Cam and I. I would drop the boys off at the hospital to meet with the case worker, and I would continue on to my grandfather’s house and spend some time catching up with him. We would make a little day trip out of the whole affair, as long as Alex’s case worker agreed to the arrangements.
Camden sent a text to Alex, giving him the idea that Cam and I had come up with for his visit. He readily agreed, and said that he would contact his case worker in the morning to go over the details and get a solid answer. While Camden was hashing out details with Alex, I cleaned up dinner and put away our table trays, and settled back down into the couch so Cam and I could catch up on the news.
Since we had been so busy with the preparation and execution of creating our library, we had had little time in the past month to watch the news or settle down and relax. It felt nice to sit still and not have to shelve books for once. I enjoyed the time, and I knew Camden did too.
He had already grabbed the Universal Interface to activate our television, and my dear, Darling Doris appeared. She was as chipper as ever, much to my annoyance, as Camden requested the news station. Richard and Kathy appeared in their pristine newsroom a few inches above our living room floor, also as enthusiastic as ever. It felt like deja vu from a little over a month ago when we had sat to watch the news and heard that the libraries would be converted to a digital database.
I pushed myself back into the pillows, sighing in contentment and shaking my head with a little chuckle at the two news anchors. They droned on for a few minutes about random bits of information, none all that interesting. I had pulled out my phone and was shifting through the screens in boredom when my ears suddenly perked up as Kathy was informing the watchers that the President had a national announcement he would be making live at this moment.
Our holographic image suddenly shifted from the newsroom to a press room located in the white house, and President Olson standing resolutely in front of an eager group of media personnel.
My interest finally piqued, I set my phone down and focused on the image, and noticed that Camden was doing the same. I was curious as to what this announcement could be. Maybe they decided they didn’t want to convert the libraries to a digital database after all. I mused to myself with another silent snicker, knowing that wasn’t the reason, but still finding the idea amusing.
“I have gathered this meeting to make an important and exciting announcement to the American public. Today, we face another monumental and incredible change. The birth of a new technology, and the birth of a brighter, easier future. This day will be recorded in history as a shift of incredible proportions.” President Olson looked out to the American public, no doubt everyone else was as fixed to his words as Camden and I were, curious as to what he was talking about. He paused for dramatic effect, and then continued. “Today, we bring you an idea that will forever mark us as the most advanced country in the world. We will be unequaled, and we will be the fore runners of this new technology. Citizens of the United States of America, I present to you… the future. Our new future is here.”
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