Coded ambition

Fragment 10: Intricacies, Part 2

It was pouring outside of Volare Corporation's headquarters on Monday morning. The general mood in the office building was tired and cozy. With the recent achievements of incorporating the first one hundred Meteors into the rail network, work life has eventually become less hectic for most of the engineers.

A lot of people met in the small cafeteria to start their day with one or several cups of coffee. Jonathan Anderson had a great social network and frequently participated in gatherings with colleagues. He was one person in a group of four sitting at one of the tables by the window. Most of the time, Jonathan focused on keeping the conversation mainly superficial when he talked to many people. This time, however, a colleague had a lot on his mind and directed the discussion topics in a more political direction.

"Did you hear? Grace of Humanity was reported to have destroyed over 200 androids by now. Those guys really know how to stand out," the colleague said. Jonathan assessed this as a suboptimal topic for Monday morning, when everyone was still tired but might still be high-spirited due to the weekend's discussions with family members about the current political situation. Nevertheless, this man loved to talk about this topic.

"I don't wanna hear about it, Mike." John, the third man at the table, moaned back at him. "You're talking about it all the time. Why do you sound so hyped about that? They destroy expensive technology. We have a shortage of rare-earth elements, if you forgot. It's as bad as it is."

"But Youngman has become far too mighty!" Mike protested. "There are rumors about important leaks about android programming going around all over the internet. With Youngman's market value, it's clear that people want to limit it. They've grown at an alarming speed."

Staying uninvolved did not help extinguish the urge in Mike to talk about it, and Jonathan had grown annoyed with staying diplomatic in these discussions. So he decided to contradict Mike more.

"And so did we," Jonathan remarked, trying to brush off the topic. "That's how it works with global companies."

"We just give people faster transportation," Mike countered. "Youngman has been shaping the whole of society for decades!"

John exchanged glances with Jonathan. Both of them were tired of Mike ranting about this topic. Conversations of that type took place very frequently when Mike was involved.

"This is called progress, Mike," Igor, who was the fourth and generally most quiet person at the table, mentioned. "You may or may not like androids, but this is how the world has evolved. You can't just turn off and burn every new technology. It's part of the world we live in."

Mike sighed. "Why are you all so against it? Would it be better for you if they just disassembled them? Is this form of protest okay for you?"

Igor shrugged his shoulders.

John shook his head.

Jonathan smiled provocatively. "No. Honestly, I wouldn't want to miss my cooking companion at home. Whether she's burned or disassembled. She's really useful, you know, and she's part of the reason I'm not married yet."

John laughed. "Seriously? That's kind of lame."

"People just love their androids and they don't want to miss them in their lives anymore. That's a fact. Also, some androids that the Grace of Humanity has destroyed were operating androids in families and facilities. Some were nurses, caregivers, and security personnel. I wouldn't want to miss those people in the world," Jonathan argued. "The people of Grace of Humanity are not ready to take these positions either."

"They don't destroy everything." Mike defended them. "It's just a statement."

"If you destroy my pretty android cook, I will answer with another statement," Jonathan bickered with him.