Cloud to Cloud

Episode 21: First Data Dump

Fred slumped into his chair to stare at the pale walls of his cubicle. He considered Hannah's words and the card as he pulled the headset from his ears. The card meant little─more important to Fred was deciphering how Hannah was still connected.

Fred murmured. "She never lost connection to Cloud Services storage systems."

Fred hadn't thought Hannah a foolish or stupid woman when he walked into her store. A little flighty and harboring more than a few strange beliefs, still she was grounded, business savvy, and personable. She certainly wasn't what Fred considered technical-minded, though. Hannah used technology to maintain her business, make connections, but she lacked the understanding of systems function to bypass blackouts.

Fred pushed free of his chair and stepped from his cubicle. He popped his head in to check on Evan.

His nephew was still on hands and knees in a nest of wires. Desperation curved his back as he fought to read manuals and connect devices.

"There's no easy way to search for anything in paper volumes!" Evan cursed as he caught a glimpse of Fred leaning into the cubicle.

"Did you try the index?" Fred offered.

"Yes." Evan glared. "That only works if you actually know what you're looking for. Basic troubleshooting to probe a help menu with reasonable questions, not so much."

Evan tossed the manual at a box near the edge of the desk. The weight of the book tipped box and contents onto Evan's lap.

"Damn it to hell." Evan cursed. "Fred, this is insane. No one should have to work like this."

Fred stifled a snicker at his nephew's plight. "Well, I may be working on a way to limit the number of wires required. I'm going to be focused in my cubicle for a while though. I wanted to check on your progress, see if you needed anything, before I dive in."

Evan sighed. "How about a solid connection. Bluetooth? Something akin to a miracle."

Fred held his hands up. "Above my paygrade at the moment. I'll be in my office. The do not disturb sign will be up."

Fred backed out of Evan's cube. Evan kicked at the closest pile of cords and snatched the manual again. "I need a disturbed sign," he grumbled.

Fred returned to his chair. As he sat a moment with fingers hovering the keyboard, he took a few more deep breaths. He typed the first few letters of his last query, allowing the automatic search to return a list of possible sites Fred had recently visited. He spied the metaphysical chat site. He clicked the link.

Fred reclined to wait for the connection to load the page. His breathing steadied as he contemplated what to ask this time. He wanted to ignore the growing feeling he had connected to some alternate plane.

The chat box with Coach333's name in the title bar popped up before Fred could scrutinize further. Shocked by the speed of the connection and the instant redirect to the chat he had been looking for, Fred moved the cursor to the input box. He typed a brief greeting as he pondered his first question. His username appeared beside the text as soon as Fred clicked on the send icon.

CLOUD MASTER: Good afternoon. Or morning, depending where you are connecting from.

A breath passed before the chat filled with the username and response from Coach.

COACH333: I'm at the library. Morning, afternoon, either one works.

The vagueness of the reply caused Fred to sigh. He tilted back in his chair before requesting further information.

CLOUD MASTER: What library?

COACH333: THE Library.

Fred pressed his palms to his brow. He grimaced as he entered a more specific request.