Lemuria by Burt Clinchandhill (epub e ink reader TXT) 📕

“A double print, the overnight specifics, should you need them, and the updated list of attendees.”

“Thank you, Amie,” Mulder said, and with his distinctive big steps, he walked toward the exit.

“I’ll join you again at the center,” Amie called out after him. She wasn’t sure he’d heard her, but it didn’t matter.

Amie Coleman, the sporty, good-looking red-head in her late thirties, had been Mulder’s assistant and confidant for over ten years. There were moments she felt she also was his therapist. She sometimes had a hard time following the ever working and demanding Mulder, but she knew he needed her. The man trusted her with his secrets and, that alone, made her loyal, apart from the high six-figure salary he paid her, which she used to maintain her sick mother and unemployed dad.

Outside, Mulder walked toward Lgé One, one of the first Logynous electric autonomous cars, and sat in the back. As soon as he settled in, a female voice sounded through the car’s speakers.

“Good morning, Eldin. Can I take you to the center?” The female’s voice sounded warm. On the center screen in the front of the car, a young woman’s face appeared. Lea, short for Logynous Electronic Assistant, had short blonde hair, full lips, and blue eyes in a round face. She was the avatar for a so-called cognitive Artificial Intelligence solution that Logynous had first developed for its self-driving cars. Over the past few years, she transformed into a personal digital assistant who not only drove your car but also made your calls, played your music, turned on your TV, closed the blinds, locked your house, ordered groceries and played computer games with you. Lea worked through your television, mobile phone, car, watch and computer. If you wanted, she was always with you. Though she only existed of bits and bytes, Lea became so successful that Mulder built a new company, Logynous Workforce, around it. The company now successfully developed and delivered digital employees and robotics based on AI.

“Yes, please, Lea, take me to the center,” Mulder responded, and the car set itself in motion. The Emerald Bay Road was the only road they needed for the thirteen-minute drive through South Lake Tahoe, from the airport to the research center. Mulder always enjoyed the little time he had to take in the scenery. At this time of year, the slopes and paths to the mountains were overrun by mountain bikers and hikers. In the winter, Monument Peak was known for its excellent skiing. After passing the Fallen Leaf campground, Lea turned the car right onto the research center’s private road for the last quarter mile. On the left and right of the wide path, the pine trees were the only things to be seen that marked the scenery. After a minute, the car slowed down as it neared a simple red and white barrier. Alongside the road, a dozen or so cars were parked, and people with cameras took pictures of Mulder hanging outside the car’s window. With his eyes closed, the tech giant appeared to enjoy it or didn’t seem to care. The gate opened as the car came closer. Lea skillfully drove the vehicle onto the grounds.

“We are almost there, sir. I hope you had a pleasant drive,” she said, smiling on the screen.

“Thank you, Lea.” Mulder closed the window and looked through the front window as they drove to the entrance of the Logynous Research Center. He loved coming here.

Three years ago, he created the one-level building that ran 150 feet along the Fallen Leaf lake shoreline. Thirty employees’ only task was to develop new technologies and inventions of their own choice. The only thing Mulder demanded was that he join them every other week and listen to his ideas about the future and technologies. The next time he visited, they gave him feedback about his thoughts and tell him why they did or didn’t do anything with it. No hard feelings. Complete freedom, it seemed. As the ideas grew, so did the building and the number of employees. The building, now over five hundred feet wide, stretching along the shore, housed more than three hundred workers. On the outside, the building was built like a giant wooden log house. On the inside, the building gave a completely different impression. The stretched structure was divided by a hallway in the center with laboratories and technical experimentation rooms on the forest side and offices, conference rooms, a playground and a gym facing the lake.

The white entrance looked almost sterile with paintings on the wall that had only white and gray themes.

Mulder got out of the car. The car drove itself to a parking space far behind the trees. As Mulder entered the building, a round transparent booth in the center of the large entrance lit up. Lea’s avatar, now with a body, displayed on the LG Transparent OLED signage screen. The large, round transparent TV screen made Lea look like a hologram.

“Welcome back, Eldin,” Lea said. “They are waiting for you in conference room one.”

“Is everyone here?”

“Everyone except Amie. However, if I am not mistaken....” Lea paused, and after a short moment, the doors behind them opened, and Amie walked in. “There she is,” Lea finished.

“I see we weren’t able to keep today as big a secret as we would have loved,” Amie said as she removed her red Louboutin pumps.

“You mean the cars at the barrier,” Eldin replied. “If you want to keep a secret, keep it only to yourself. It doesn’t matter. They will know soon enough.” Mulder had sent the invitation to a select group of reporters at respected science magazines and large newspapers all over the globe. As expected, the message Mulder had sent was shrouded in mystery and spoke of a life- and world-changing event. For the past weeks, on social media, the extravagant engineer and entrepreneur had hinted at such through messages on Twitter like:

Two weeks to go and we’ll never be the same again.

~~~

Ever really thought