The Unseen by Jake Lingwall

wine while sporting a grin.
    “Sorry to wake you,” Joseth said. His voice was cheery and interesting. There was something about his accent that she wasn’t able to place. It had a hint of Spanish, but there was also something comforting, like a southern accent. She liked listening to him.
    “Oh, no worries—I should probably wake up anyway.” Kari rolled over and sat up.In the corner of the room was a miniature version of Valhalla that fit Lars perfectly. He was inside its open doors sleeping soundly next to an empty bowl.
    “I figured as much. Given the report from the auto-auto, I believed you’d be tired and hungry, so I let you sleep, and now I come bearing gifts of food.”Joseth walked to the back wall and stood in place while tall French doors leading outside to a balcony opened automatically. The setting sun lit up the sky like a launch screen for a video game, and outside on the balcony were some comfortable-looking chairs and a round table. Joseth waved her over as he set the tray of food down on the table outside. Kari took the seat on the right and settled in, enjoying the beautiful view.
    “How’d you know?” Kari asked.
    “About what?”
    “That I wanted a burger for dinner.”
    “I’d love to say I just had a hunch, but, honestly, it was the recommendation my algorithm gave me after examining thousands of data points on you.” Joseth shrugged as he took a bite of his burger. Explains the odd pairing.
    “How thoughtful,” Kari said, taking a bite of her juicy burger.
    “It kind of is if you think about it; I mean, the human mind can only process so many data points. I could have gone with a hunch, or offered you something I enjoy. But instead, I did a much more thorough analysis, which resulted in the optimal outcome. To me the extra effort and a successful dinner are far more thoughtful than guessing.”
    “Well, I guess that means you admit to wanting to make it an especially thoughtful dinner.” Kari looked over at him and raised her eyebrows. He just about choked on his bite of food before awkwardly laughing the moment away.
    “I just wanted to make sure you know that you are wanted here.”
    “Right.” Kari eyed her red wine before taking a sip.
    “So, have you made a decision yet?” Joseth said.
    “What do you think?”
    “Well, my algorithms predict with a ninety-four percent level of confidence that you will accept my offer to stay with us at Valhalla, but they’ve been wrong before.”
    “Have they really?”
    “No, I guess they haven’t. But there is that margin of error.”
    “Isn’t that the worst?”
    Joseth laughed deeply and looked Kari in the eyes. He wanted her to be here, she could tell. How crazy is that? The world’s best hacker is interested in having me stay here with him. He was by far the most famous person that she had ever met in person. A movie star had stopped by her class in middle school once; everyone she knew had gone crazy over seeing him, but Kari couldn’t have cared less. She had thought herself immune to fawning over the famous, but now she knew she was just as susceptible to fame as everyone else. It just has to be someone who is actually worth the respect.
    “It really is,” Joseth said. “So you’ll stay?”
    “If you answer a couple of questions for me, I might be able to overcome that urge to side with the six percent.”
    “Ask away.”
    “Why did you name this place Valhalla?”
    Joseth blushed a little and looked out over the rapidly dimming landscape. Kari couldn’t understand why Oedipus would be blushing in front of her. If anything, she should be blushing for asking the question.
    “I’ve always had a thing for mythology. Valhalla is where the Norse gods take the greatest warriors and champions to stay as they await the battle at the end of the world.”
    “The Ragnarock?”
    “That’s right!” Joseth said. “So, I thought it a great name for a place where the world’s greatest hackers could assemble. Slash, I