The Geologist class practices have really improved over the last few weeks. Marc orchestrates my sibs in building a small village complete with a couple of wells and a solar field just outside the campus walls as Andrea and I run our daily laps around them and the campus. I’m still not as fast as Andrea, but even on these long runs, she can’t lap me anymore.
The tiny houses are popping up in neat rows, each one with a small kitchen and bathroom on the first floor and a small bedroom loft accessible by ladder on the second floor. They’re perfect for a single person or a couple that doesn’t mind close proximity. They’re also stackable like blocks, with plumbing and electricity interconnects so you can turn them into apartment buildings just by building more. When we get around to it, they’ll be a key part of the plan to solve the problem of affordable housing. They’re not hooking up the plumbing today, so they won’t be livable, just good practice for coordinating their builds along a layout pattern. Marc has mastered putting down layout lines, which finally gets his skills up to where Chad was when we went to Africa. Maybe he’ll get proficient enough to upgrade out of the training wheels interface one day. I’ll talk to Louise and Evan about it.
Andrea turns into the dorms, which is weird. We can’t be done yet. I’m not pushing past the end of total exhaustion. Is she cutting it short today? No, it’s the same number of laps as we’ve been doing all week. Look Mom, I’m tougher and faster than before. I give it one more lap, then head in, too. Even with that one last time around the campus, I’m not totally winded as I hit the shower.
Clean and dressed, I head back out. Practice is over and the Geologists have leveled all the structures they put up. I see Evan disappear into the cafeteria and hurry after him. I grab waffles and bacon and join him at the table with Louise.
To Evan: Had enough time to decide on the licensing stuff?
He gives me a nod and turns to our sister. “Hey, Louise?”
“Yeah?” she says between bites of omelette.
“We’ve got something we want to run by you,” he says. I can tell he’s still not thrilled, but at least he’s come to terms with this being our best option. “It’s a solution to the Dorothy problem that the legal team came up with. I didn’t like it at first, but I’ve thought it through and I think it’s the only good choice.”
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“I’m listening,” she says with hesitance in her voice.
He and I lay out the licensing proposal. I pull from my index and explain the risks, the benefits, the potential to keep some control, and the lack of better alternatives.
“So it’s just the bots, right?” she asks. “Not the implants?”
“Right,” I confirm. “At least that’s all we’ve talked about. They’ll probably want implants at some point, but for this license we were just planning to hook up our software to their existing VR control rigs.”
“OK, good,” she says, taking a moment to chew another bite of her eggs. “The implant side is the most dangerous part, and I don’t want the liability of being responsible for that on anyone outside of the family.”
“Fair enough,” I agree. “You on board for the rest of it?”
She looks thoughtful as she chews a bite of her toast.
“Yeah,” she says. “I can’t think of anything better, and if you and the legal guys don’t think there’s any other way to curtail the tech spreading, I think we should jump on this. You want me to make sure that Andrea is on board? I’m pretty sure she won’t take issue with it. She’s told me before that she eventually wants to let other people have access to our bots anyway.”
“Wait, she told you that?” I ask.
“It was in an interpretive dance, but I got the message.”
Evan and I both laugh.
“Well, that’s enough for a majority,” I say, “but we should still see if we can get Marc and Chad on board too.”
“Not sure why you would even bother with Chad. You know he’s going to say no,” Louise says. “It’s way off of Father’s original plan.”
“Yeah, I know, but we’ve got to at least try,” I tell her. “Making big decisions like this without at least consulting everyone sets a bad precedent.”
“Sure, fine, whatever,” she says. I can tell she’s sick of trying to accommodate Chad. I can’t blame her.
“That’s the spirit,” I say with a smile. “Now who wants to talk to Marc? We’ll get him first, so we can face Chad as a united front.”
“I’ll do it,” says Evan.
“Great, let us know how it goes.”
“Sure thing.”
I pop the last bite of my waffle into my mouth and savor the sweet maple syrup for a moment before washing it down with the last of my milk. With a wave to Evan and Louise, I get up and head to the office. I have a ton of work to do, just like every day, but first thing first. I can’t wait to read my morning Lin letter.