“And this is your office, Miss King.”

Felicia stood in the office she’d been given, which only had a chair and dark wood desk for furniture. On the desk was a phone, lamp, and a computer. The walls were beige and the floors a slightly darker shade of beige. There wasn’t even a plant to give it some color.

“Thanks, Carry.” Felicia said to the woman who’d brought her here. “You can head back now.”

“Are you sure?” Carry asked, a little surprised.

“Yeah, it’s not like I’m going to have much to do today. I’ll give you a call on the phone if I need anything.”

“Alright, Miss King, will do.” With that, Carry promptly left the room.

Felicia walked over to the desk, placed her purse on it and sighed.

She’d graduated a month ago and, as DARS and Darius had suggested, went straight into the company. The family lawyer, Mr. Braum, was currently acting on Darius’ behalf as the 70% shareholder because he was legally under age. Darius told Mr. Braum to support Felicia in King Enterprises, which meant that Felicia was the acting CEO.

Felicia didn’t think the Board would accept her. She had no higher education and no real-world experience. If they told her to go to college first and then come back later, she wouldn’t have been offended. The idea of an 18 year old as a CEO was absolutely laughable.

But who knew what they were smoking that day? They agreed!

They actually agreed! They even tried to give her Mr. King’s office!

That was going too far for Felicia. As someone with no qualifications, she didn’t dare work from his office. That would remind everyone who she wasn’t every time they saw her. Comparison was sometimes more dangerous than ignorance. Better to start with nothing and build a reputation than try to compete with “the King”.

Instead, she insisted on an office on the same floor. Nothing elaborate, just the minimum in office supplies. As for the rest, she’d get that as she needed it. If she couldn’t even set up her own office then she really WAS a hopeless case...

To try and keep herself from being overwhelmed, she decided to act as something like an overseer of the board and company activity. Every day she’d get reports summarizing what was going on in King Enterprises. This was similar to being a CEO, except that no one was expecting her to make decisions. But if by chance she thought something needed to be changed, she would contact the board and have them implement the changes.

Going through the board had been her own idea. They had originally wanted her to sign her name on all the paperwork, just like Mr. King had done. But she thought, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing. What if I make a mistake? What if someone tells me the wrong thing and I give them the ok? If my name is on all the paperwork, won’t I be used as the scapegoat…?’

When she thought that far, she realized what the Board had been “smoking” by accepting her. They planned to put her on a high pedestal and then knock her off. All it took was one big mistake on her part and they could use that as an excuse to quietly sweep her under the rug.

They were willing to risk the company losing who-knew-how-much money, just to quickly get rid of her. Felicia couldn’t help being one part impressed and the other part exasperated. They could have just said they didn’t want her, jeesh…

Well, maybe they felt trapped. Felicia was vaguely aware that how she viewed herself and how others viewed her were drastically different. She never acted any worse than anyone else, but because of her family, she was given a lot of privileges. One of them was people assuming when she asked nicely or suggested something, she was actually giving a command.

Likely when she talked to the Board, they’d assumed she was throwing her weight around and demanding the CEO position. That’s not what she’d said though! She never said she wanted the CEO seat! She just wanted to familiarize herself with how the company worked!

Bah! Whatever! She’d do what she could with the position she had!

She sat down in the chair, which was a high quality swivel chair, and did the only thing a sensible person could do in these kinds of chairs: she spun.

After she’d satisfied her inner child, she looked at her big desk again. There were cabinets to her left and right. Opening each on, she found papers, pencils, paperclips, etc. There was even a cabinet with empty folders in it.

Grabbing her purse, she took out a thin floppy disk. This was Darius’ newest Operating System. It had a simple but functional desktop. This was his graduation gift to her. She bawled like a baby when she saw it work the first time. Finally she could properly use a computer!

Where she came from, the OS was included with the computer. However, this era the OS was portable. The entire thing was on a single floppy disk, a super flat but square disk used for storing data. As long as the OS could detect the computer hardware, all she had to do was put the floppy disk in the drive and boot directly from it.

Probably the only cool thing about this era’s technology was the portability of the OS. She wondered what happened in her world that had caused this particular feature to vanish. She could have asked DARS and he probably would have known but… other than mission related matters, she still wasn’t on friendly talking terms with him...

Her computer had three disk drives readers. One was for the OS, one was for files that needed to be saved, and the third was for copying files. There was already an OS in one of the drives, which she took out immediately to replace with Darius’ OS.

She turned on the computer and monitor and watched as a text-based graphic slowly scrolled down the screen: KingOS v027.beta

Above the KingOS graphic the words LOADING… could be seen.

Because of the technological limitations and the ridiculous amount of things Felicia demanded in an OS, it took quite a while for this special OS to load. Rather than spend the next five minutes waiting for it to finish, she took out the company phone book.

That’s right. King Enterprise was so massive it had its own phone book! It also included the address for each subdivision within the company so a person could send mail to them, using a King company mailman! Flipping through the pages, she eventually came to what she was looking for: Research and Development. Finger gliding down the page, she found the Head Researcher’s number and smiled.

King Enterprise didn’t specialize in computers or anything of that nature. Despite not being directly involved with computers and Mr. King’s humbug attitude towards new technology, the old fellow wasn’t stupid. A company that refused to keep up with “the times” was doomed to collapse. Though he had a great distaste for TVs and computers in his own home, Mr. King wasn’t above using them at work.

To make sure his company was utilizing technology to the fullest, gaining every bit of advantage possible over the competition, he’d created a Research and Development section for King Enterprises. This subdivision's whole job was to keep an eye on emerging technology and see if it could be adapted to work for King Enterprises. They also worked on improving existing products. An essential task within the company.

Humming to herself, Felicia dialed in the number listed on the phone book. She lightly thought to herself what a relief it was that button press phones were now commonly used over rotary phones. The phone rang for almost a solid minute before someone finally picked up.

“R&D, Samarth Dani speaking.”

Felicia blinked, a little surprised. She hadn’t heard an accent that heavy since her original life.

“Ah, hello Mr. Dani. This is Felicia King, from...” She paused, exactly what should she label herself? “...from management. Er, I’m on floor 10, if that helps any.”

There was a pause from the other end of the phone.

“...and how can I help you today… Miss King?”

She could hear the skepticism in his voice and didn’t blame him.

“Right, so, I have some floppy disks I’m going to be sending you. Hopefully you’ll get them before the end of the day. I’d like you to take some time this week and test them out for me.”

“You’re sending me floppy disks?” The skepticism was replaced with confusion. “With what on them?”

Felicia reached into her purse again and pulled out another floppy disk, smiling slightly.

“One is a new OS— operating system. Are you familiar with a GUI? Graphic user interface?”

“Yes. Didn’t Macintosh release a computer last year with a GUI?”

“Yes, that’s what I’m talking about. This OS is based around a custom GUI. I want you to take a look at it and let me know what you think. After that, I have a program for writing, called a word processor. I know there’s something like that already, but please test it anyway. It’s got some unique features. Next is some amusing games. You might want to try those last, they’re addictive. And last is the Local Network System. Ah, that will need some extra hardware. Unfortunately it won’t be in until next week at the earliest. But I figured I could give you the disk for it now. Oh, by the way, once you get that setup, you can play those games I was talking about across the network.”

“What do you mean you can play them across the network?”

“What I mean is that if you have the OS I’m sending you, plus the Local Network System installed, and the games on two computers, you can play against or with that person regardless of where the computers are located… well, that’s not quite true. There’s some limitations right now, so the computers need to be in the building at least. Anyway, a person on the 8th floor can play a game with a person on the 3rd floor.”

“...”

Not getting a response, she added, “As I said there’s some limitations. This is in the developmental phase at the moment. But the hope is with R&D’s feedback and support, a completed version can quickly be finished.”

There was a very very long pause on the other end of the phone.

“Mr. Dani?”

“...you aren’t… this isn’t some kind of practical joke is it?” Came an incredulous voice on the other end.

“Not at all. What would be the point of joking about something like this?” She snorted dismissively, “Oh, before I forget... you’ll need computers built within the last year for any of this to work. I guess anything older and the computer doesn’t have the… erm… computation power to deal with the OS and such. Anyway, I’ll send all the disks to you by the end of the day, sound good?”

“Y… yes……?”

Was it her, or did the person on the other end sound like they were hyperventilating?

“I’ll put my contact information in with the disks I’m sending over. It was good talking to you Mr. Dani, I’ll be hanging up now. Have a nice day.” After that, she promptly hung up.

She leaned back in her chair, twirling the large floppy disk in her hand carefully. Her lips curled up as a faint chuckle left her.

The precursor to the internet, the USENET, had already been invented and was being used by universities all over the country. However, it wasn’t available for commercial use. Meaning that businesses had no access to it.

The same was with the GUI. That had already been invented too. Macintosh, what she knew as Apple, had released a computer with a functional GUI last year. There were computers that had GUIs before that, but Macintosh was the first to make it affordable. Basically, Macs were something the middle class could afford to buy.

‘How strange,’ She thought when she saw an advertisement for the new Macintosh, ‘In my time, Apple never released anything affordable. I wonder why they changed to being high end?’

Darius wasn’t inventing the wheel by creating a local network or making his own GUI. The concepts already existed. Rather, what Darius was doing was pushing ahead existing technology by 10 or more years. USENET, Steve Jobs, even Bill Gates… all those guys were about to get cut off at the knees.

She felt only a little guilty about it. In her world, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were rolling in money. If, in this world, they weren’t as wealthy, would that really be such a crime? The guys who made USENET would still be credited for their work, so they lost nothing. Basically, she didn’t feel like she was hurting anyone.

Even though Darius wasn’t doing anything that hadn’t already done, he was still really impressive. She only told him what kind of features she wanted, what annoyed her, and what would be cool to see, and he somehow made it happen. The games in particular were a product of her talking about something she’d like to play.

If there was a hardware limitation, he simply made his own to get around it. The Local Network System hardware connector was the result of his tinkering. Using his hobbled-together hardware as a base, he’d written up schematics and hired a company to produce a limited run of LNS connectors. Those were what would be sent to R&D later in the week.

Watching Darius make something from scratch and then hire someone else to make a finalized product in the span of a few months made Felicia realize how money made inventing a heck-of-a-lot easier...

Reaching out for her phone, she called Carry.

“Hey Carry, can you come here for a second?”

Carry was her secretary and had a desk just outside Felicia’s office.

Taking the four sleeved disks and a note with the R&D address on it as well as one with her company address and number, she said, “Do me a favor and get these over to the address on this paper before the end of the day, will you?”

Carry nodded. “Are they important? Would you like me to send them personally?”

Felicia’s eyebrows rose. “Is that alright?”

Carry laughed, “Ma’am, I’m your secretary. If you told me to get you coffee from the other side of the city, I’d do it.”

“Hoooooo… well, no need for that. If the breakroom coffee isn’t any good, we’ll just get something better and keep everything in-building, what do you think?”

Smiling, Carry nodded. “Sure!”

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

“Alright,” Felicia threw her hand out dramatically, “Go forth with the King’s message!”

Carry bowed at the waist and said seriously, “As my liege commands!”

As Felicia watched Carry leave with her “message”, she openly chuckled. It was a good thing she’d insisted on picking her own secretary. Considering how deceptive the Board members were being, who knew what kind of person they’d have stuck her with? They probably wouldn’t have had a good sense of humor, at the very least!

A little over a week later she went to her office and saw a scene that made her mouth drop open.

Huddled around the front of her office was a group of…

...exactly how could she describe such individuals?

Usually everyone in King Enterprise dressed very professionally. But these guys had stained shirts and wrinkled pants. Their hair was sticking at odd angles.

Actually, when did these guys sleep last? The circles under their eyes were enormous…

Carry was standing outside the small mob and scolding them fiercely, “I don’t care what great big new invention brought you here, you all look like slobs and smell like them too! Ugh! When did you bathe last!?”

A few had the grace to look embarrassed.

“How can you possibly think I’ll let you meet Miss King dressed like—”

“Eh? So they’re here to meet me?”

“Miss King—” Carry spun around, surprised.

The mob surged forward excitedly, surrounding Felicia before she could open her mouth to say more.

“Miss King, did you make KOS?”

“I’m telling you, the initials said DK, it can’t be her!”

“Miss, Miss, about the games—”

“No, not the games, first about LNS hardware where did you—”

“Hang on, about that word processing—”

Felicia raised her hands and commanded, “Quiet!”

They all immediately stopped talking.

“First of all, I didn’t make anything. I was only part of thinking up the ideas. Darius King was the person who programmed everything—” Several mouths opened to talk but she cut them off. “—yes, I’m talking about the son of Damien King, who recently died. He’s the one who made the LNS hardware as well. Because he’s legally underage, he’s limited in what he can do right now. I’m working as his stand-in until he can officially enter the company.”

There was a moment of silence and then someone asked, “So are you… are you Mr. King’s daughter?”

Felicia put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. “Who else do you know named Felicia King?”

This time there was an “oooooooh” and “that’s true” from several people.

“Second of all,” She raised her voice to get their attention, “you all STINK!”

There was awkward silence and Carry’s voice could be heard muttering, “I warned you guys…”.

Felicia cleared her throat, “Go home, take a shower, get some sleep. I’ll come down to R&D tomorrow and we can have a nice long discussion about what I sent you.” She paused, “Without me feeling the need to hold my nose.”

That night, Felicia went over to her brother’s room and told him what had happened at work. His room, which had previously been neat and tidy, now had a corner devoted solely to computer equipment. Wires were everywhere, green flat boards with bits and bobs Felicia couldn’t recognize were also lying out in the open.

He was sitting at his desk soldering something onto one of the green boards while he listened to her talk.

“You won’t know how to answer most of their questions…” Darius thought for a moment. “I’ll go with you tomorrow.”

“It’s a school day.”

“Pretend to be Kim and tell them I’m not feeling well.”

“You really think they’ll fall for that?!”

“You sound about 99% similar to her now, they won’t know the difference.”

She looked startled, “What? I do?”

“Mmm hmm.”

“...when did that happen…?” Felicia muttered, covering her mouth.

“Last year, August 7th, at 7:32pm.”

“Why would you take note of that?!”

He stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. “It was interesting. If I don’t take note of things that are interesting, what will I have to write in my journal?”

Felicia was left momentarily speechless.

“You’re still keeping a journal? After all these years???”

“You never told me to stop.” He blinked. “Should I stop?”

“It’s up to you whether you want to stop or not.”

He looked down for a moment and then nodded.

“I think I’ll keep writing in my journal.”

“Sure.”

Turning to his table, he went back to soldering. Felicia sat there for several minutes without saying anything.

“Er… what do you usually write about in your journal anyway?” She couldn’t help asking. What a kid and a teenager would find interesting should be different. She was curious what had changed.

Without turning his head, he replied, “Keeping track of things I find interesting.”

She rolled her eyes. “Obviously, what I mean is lately. You kept track of my voice changing right?”

“Mmm hmmm.”

“What else?”

There was a long moment of silence.

“Heather Brenner’s bust size—”

“Oh my God, how many times have I told you not to tell me stuff like that?!” She stomped her feet and left his room, slamming the door loudly.

Though he didn’t stop what he was doing, the corners of Darius’ lips lifted and he let out a single “Heh”.

The next day, Felicia came to the dining table to find Darius already up, sorting through a box. Walking over curiously, she looked inside. There were neatly stacked disks, binders filled with paper, and several large blue sheets tightly wrapped into tube shapes.

“What’s all this?”

“To show the R&D guys.”

“Ah…”

“Are you calling the school now?”

She yawned and scratched her head, “...oh yeah… I gotta do that huh?”

After Kim found out she wasn’t getting any shares in King Enterprises, she would have nothing to do with Felicia or Darius. She never ate at the table for meals and the only time they saw her was as she was leaving or coming in. If Kim saw her daughter, she’d immediately turn away and snort angrily. Felicia suspected Kim would have kicked them both out if she could have gotten away with it. But since that would destroy her reputation, she could only tolerate their existence in “her house”.

They could do just about anything now and there was no adult to stop them. But concerning school, they’d have to give some kind of warning. Darius was one of those students who got awards for never missing a day at school. If he didn’t show up, they’d definitely make a ruckus.

There was a phone in the dining room, so she simply went over and dialed the school office number. After a few rings, the secretary picked up.

Taking a deep breath, Felicia tried to channel what she thought Kim would say, “Hello, this is Kimberly King, calling on behalf of Darius King.”

“Oh, Mrs. King, good morning. What can I do for you?”

Felicia cried a little on the inside. So she really did sound like Kim!

“I’m just calling to inform the school that Darius won’t be attending today.”

“Oh no, is he alright?”

“Haha, you know how that boy is, he stayed up working on those computers one too many nights in a row. This morning I couldn’t get him out of bed...”

The secretary let out a troubled sigh.

“That boy… I thought he was over doing that to himself….”

“Well, you know, with— with Damien’s—” Felicia gave a pretend sob. She was sad about Mr. King’s death but it was Kim who’d milk his passing for attention. “—things at home haven’t been—”

“Oh goodness, Mrs. King I’m sorry for even— never mind. I’ll let the teachers know he won’t be in today.”

Still pretending to be sad, Felicia sniffled loudly before saying, “Thank you. I’ll call you tomorrow if I think he needs to rest more. Otherwise, I think he should be well enough to come in…”

“No, no, Mrs. King, you can keep him an extra day. It’s fine.”

“A—alright, well, I have to go—”

“Of course, of course, have nice—er, I mean—”

Felicia hung up the phone before the secretary could finish. She inhaled deeply, relieved it was over.

“You could be an actress with skills like that.” Darius commented.

Felicia scowled, “Oh shut up.”

As promised, she went to the R&D Department after arriving at King Enterprise office building. Unlike the day before, everyone was properly washed and in clean clothes. The work area also looked suspiciously neat and tidy, as if someone had just cleaned it.

It was clear they’d been waiting for her, as they were all loitering around the open waiting area, instead of in their respective offices. They rushed over when they saw Felicia walk through.

“Good morning gentlemen.” She said with a smile, glad she could breath in clean air and not man-stink. “I’m sure you’ve got questions. Since I didn’t make anything I gave you, I realized I won’t be able to give you the kind of answers you’ll need. That’s why I brought my brother, he’ll be able to answer any questions you have in depth.”

She waved him forward. Darius had been standing behind her, calmly waiting to be introduced.

“Hello,” He introduced himself after stepping forward. “I’m Darius King.”

There was a pause, as if everyone was holding their breath, and then they rushed forward. Question after question was being asked at Darius.

Felicia frowned. Darius didn’t like when people pressed in like this. Even if his face wasn’t showing it, she could see his grip on the box he was holding tighten.

“Hey!” She shouted over their noise, “Back up! What are you, a bunch of fangirls? Don’t crowd around a person like that!”

Getting scolded fiercely, the men—some of who were old enough to be her dad—came to their senses. They all backed up and looked at each other like children who got caught doing something naughty.

Felicia cleared her throat and then pointed at a random man, “You, you ask first.”

With that, Felicia organized the small mob and everything went smoothly. Eventually she wasn’t needed and excused herself.

From that point on, Darius and the R&D Department kept close contact with each other. Ideas flowed like water between them. Things that the R&D employees once thought were far in the future suddenly seemed attainable. Before the end of the year, they had a working computer model that was later installed in the entire building. Word naturally spread that King Enterprise was using a strange new computer that wasn’t on the market and could do things no one had seen before.

Darius gave the kids at school who’d been helping him test his OS, and various other programs, a few computers that were being exclusively used in King Enterprises. He noticed a discrepancy in the feedback he got from the office, student enthusiasts, and his sister. Rather than try and make an OS that could do everything, he split the OS into three different “branches”, code naming them “Advisor” for business, “Knight” for enthusiasts, and “Royal” for his sister.

Later the Royal version would be what regular consumers would use.

Felicia wasn’t any good at running a business, but she was good at finding talented people. In a company the size of King Enterprise, there was bound to people who, for one reason or another, got overlooked for promotion. These people were often discouraged and angry at the people above them. They lived bitterly, feeling trapped in their job and unappreciated.

With Carry by her side, she quietly and methodically began “collecting” the unwanted talent in King Enterprise. Because these people weren’t liked or weren’t outstanding enough to be a threat, the Board didn’t care. They found it amusing as she put together a team of misfits and the unwanted. What could she possibly do with a bunch of nobodies?

Their first mistake was under-estimating her, but their second mistake was thinking she ever planned on running King Enterprises. Rather than being a real CEO, she spent that whole year collecting information: Who was making the most profit? The least? Which managers were negligent or actively destructive? What ideas were doing well and could be further built upon? What ways of doing things needed to be changed or eliminated? What made an employee work harder? What made them work less? What influenced their quality of work? Even the Board members were being carefully watched and examined, their habits and weaknesses carefully noted and chronicled. And down a list she went, ticking them off one by one.

Her team wasn’t there to make her more powerful, it was to help her figure out the problems and solutions for King Enterprises. That way when Darius came in he’d understand what was going on in the company and what needed changing.

When Darius turned 18 there was no grand birthday party. Kim was the one who usually pushed for fancy birthday parties, as it gave her an opportunity to show off. But she was barely at home, spending all her time traveling the world, and even if she had been home, she wouldn’t have bothered. Darius had never been a real son to her to begin with and the longer her husband was dead, the less concerned she was about maintaining a “loving mother” reputation.

Since Darius didn’t like crowds, preferring to be by himself the most, Felicia had the chef make a very nice cake and Darius’ favorite meal for dinner. As a present, she found several math puzzle books written in different languages, with a sweet ‘happy birthday’ note stuck between the pages for him to find later, and wrapped them herself.

There was no use getting him expensive watches or cars or even a nice tie, he wouldn’t care. And she didn’t know enough about computer hardware to get him the right thing… plus there was a chance he already had the best version of whatever was out there already. Rather than go big, she went back to what she knew with 100% certainty that he liked: math.

Even now that he built computers from scratch and was coding up a storm, in his heart, he was still a math geek. Some part of him always found mental and emotional comfort in the consistency of numbers. And so every year she sought out some new math-related book.

It was a very quiet birthday, with only Felicia there to sing happy birthday to him. She felt the creeping tendrils of grief almost over take her during that simple celebration, thinking how empty it felt without Mr. King. But she choked it down in the end. Crying all over her brother’s birthday cake was a terrible way to celebrate.

If Darius felt something similar, he didn’t show it. He ate his cake, opened his presents, and then had dinner. All with a very peaceful expression on his face.

Despite not smiling, Felicia felt that he was— if not happy— than at least content.

He graduated at the top of his grade, valedictorian, as expected. He was asked to make a graduation speech, which was the worst idea Felicia had ever heard. She had no idea why he agreed and was scared when he wouldn’t let her help him with it.

She was right to fear. The speech ended up being this: “I’ve been told to say some words of encouragement to both the faculty and the students. As to the faculty, you did your jobs. Well done. Considering how much people pay to get into this school, if you couldn’t do that I’d be worried. As to the students, some of you showed internal fortitude and did better than expected. Others did exactly as everyone thought they would. And a few unfortunates managed to be an utter disappointment despite having been given the best of everything in life. For the ones who excelled, consider working with King Enterprises in the future. To those who are average, thank God for letting you be born into a wealthy family. As for the disappointments… I can only hope not to see you on a tabloid or obituary anytime soon. And now I’ll take my leave. I have a business to run.”

He then walked off the podium and right out the building, leaving everyone’s mouth gaping.

Felicia sunk into her chair feeling extremely embarrassed. No wonder he said she shouldn’t bother coming. What was the point of accepting the role of speaker if he was just going to say something like that?! There were times she wanted to open his head and see exactly what was going on in there!

It was no surprise to her when she heard that the following year a rule was put into place that at least one teacher had to review and approve the graduation speech. It was amazing they hadn’t needed a rule like that before now…

Darius entered King Enterprises like a hurricane. He wasn’t like Felicia, who cared about other’s approval and had a sense of social preservation. His words were rational and logical, but also cutting and ruthless. Arguing with him was like verbally slapping your own face. It was rumored that the brain aneurysm that took the life of one of the Board members was specifically caused by Darius: He literally frustrated an old man to death.

The meticulous investigation done by Felicia and her team exposed all kinds of ugly secrets being done in the company, as well as shining a light on the best and brightest. With Darius as the spearhead, he cleaned out King Enterprise, firing and promoting people, rearranging and streamlining everything so fast that people’s heads were left spinning. For a solid month, the employee's entire world was flipped upside down. Many people came into work quaking in their boots while others wondered if their offices were going to be moved without any warning.

The chaos leaked out and for several months after King Enterprises went into a slump because their clients lost confidence in them.

But did Darius care?

No!

He didn’t intend on doing what his old man had done from the beginning. It was only because this was his Dad’s company that he didn’t completely gut it and do as he liked. Instead he graciously allowed parts of it to continue as in the past, though naturally better and faster.

Darius was going to turn King Enterprises into a computer company. Not just selling King OS and programs, but also building hardware as well. His eye was on the future.

All those years ago when his sister had said the future was in computers, he’d been so skeptical. But now that he was in it, he understood what she meant. They were on the cusp of a revolution in communication: the entire world would soon be connected through computers. He could see it in his mind’s eye. The thought of it caused a thrilling shiver to run up his spine.

For the first time in his life, he felt really truly alive.