below him, a picture of his second in charge, Dr. Nina Kramer, who had straight blonde hair and fair skin—like she had some Viking blood running through her. She looked about ten years younger than Sebastian and was clearly in good shape. Ted had mentioned that she was a runner. She was standing next to their chimpanzee, Rachael. Kramer would be showing up later in the afternoon with the chimp. Their presentation, the one everyone was psyched about, would take place at four.
We proceeded to the escalators and rode up to the open third-floor atrium where everyone had gathered. The ceilings were multiple stories high. There would have been lots of light coming in through the giant walls of glass had the sun been shining, but of course it wasn’t, so artificial light lit the mood.
As we reached the top, swarms of people moved toward Dr. Sebastian, like paparazzi after a movie star. Sebastian turned to Ted. “I will need my freedom. I don’t want this to be a big deal. These are my colleagues and fans.”
Ted nodded and the three of us dissolved into the crowd. The doctor immediately jumped into a lively conversation with a group of pocket protector types. It would have to be one crafty assassin to fit in with these yahoos.
I walked over to Francesca. With my eyes working the crowd, I said, “Good workout?”
She mumbled something in Italian I didn’t understand.
In my best Italian restaurateur voice and with wonderfully exaggerated hand movements, I replied, “Okay, bella ! Fettuccine! Lasagna! Parmigiana!”
She shook her head. The people near us who heard my rant looked at me like I was crazy. If only they knew. I guess I’d dug my own hole with Francesca. She’d started it and I couldn’t let it go. But now I was getting on my own nerves. Can’t you keep your mouth shut? My mother would have smacked me in the head if she heard that.
That didn’t stay on my mind long, though. I had a job to do, and any of these people could have been the person we were looking out for. I hadn’t worked in a while and my tools had dulled. I could usually pick an enemy out of the crowd with ease, but it wasn’t so anymore. I’d lost some of my precision and confidence.
There was no excuse. I couldn’t screw up.
***
As the day progressed, conference attendees, Dr. Sebastian among them, followed their schedules and chose which speakers or panels they wanted to participate in. While protecting the doctor’s life, I couldn’t help but soak in the theories and beliefs coming out of the mouths of some of the great minds of our day. CEOs, inventors, doctors, scientists.
Not that my opinion mattered, but I was sold on what could be happening in the coming years. A period of time really could be coming soon, where the technological achievements would surpass anything we could imagine. One of the most interesting talks I heard was from Ray Kurzweil himself. Ted had mentioned him back on the vineyard. Kurzweil began his work decades ago by creating a computer that could compose music on its own. His belief was that this period of time, this event horizon, could happen as early as 2045, and that specific year was based on his thoughts regarding exponential technological growth similar to what Ted had already described to me. It was actually so simple that even I could understand it.
Yeah, I didn’t doubt the Singularity, and oddly enough, I didn’t dread it, either. Nor did the people who I heard talk that day.
CHAPTER 10
The last meeting before lunch was on the sixth floor, and it had collected quite the crowd. Many people had been forced to stand in the back and along the sides. Were they about to show the new Star Wars ?
The media section in the back right was overflowing with reps from local and national outlets. The room comfortably held about two hundred people, but at least fifty more were squeezed in there. Each row was elevated above the one before and looked down at the table centered on the small stage.
We proceeded to the escalators and rode up to the open third-floor atrium where everyone had gathered. The ceilings were multiple stories high. There would have been lots of light coming in through the giant walls of glass had the sun been shining, but of course it wasn’t, so artificial light lit the mood.
As we reached the top, swarms of people moved toward Dr. Sebastian, like paparazzi after a movie star. Sebastian turned to Ted. “I will need my freedom. I don’t want this to be a big deal. These are my colleagues and fans.”
Ted nodded and the three of us dissolved into the crowd. The doctor immediately jumped into a lively conversation with a group of pocket protector types. It would have to be one crafty assassin to fit in with these yahoos.
I walked over to Francesca. With my eyes working the crowd, I said, “Good workout?”
She mumbled something in Italian I didn’t understand.
In my best Italian restaurateur voice and with wonderfully exaggerated hand movements, I replied, “Okay, bella ! Fettuccine! Lasagna! Parmigiana!”
She shook her head. The people near us who heard my rant looked at me like I was crazy. If only they knew. I guess I’d dug my own hole with Francesca. She’d started it and I couldn’t let it go. But now I was getting on my own nerves. Can’t you keep your mouth shut? My mother would have smacked me in the head if she heard that.
That didn’t stay on my mind long, though. I had a job to do, and any of these people could have been the person we were looking out for. I hadn’t worked in a while and my tools had dulled. I could usually pick an enemy out of the crowd with ease, but it wasn’t so anymore. I’d lost some of my precision and confidence.
There was no excuse. I couldn’t screw up.
***
As the day progressed, conference attendees, Dr. Sebastian among them, followed their schedules and chose which speakers or panels they wanted to participate in. While protecting the doctor’s life, I couldn’t help but soak in the theories and beliefs coming out of the mouths of some of the great minds of our day. CEOs, inventors, doctors, scientists.
Not that my opinion mattered, but I was sold on what could be happening in the coming years. A period of time really could be coming soon, where the technological achievements would surpass anything we could imagine. One of the most interesting talks I heard was from Ray Kurzweil himself. Ted had mentioned him back on the vineyard. Kurzweil began his work decades ago by creating a computer that could compose music on its own. His belief was that this period of time, this event horizon, could happen as early as 2045, and that specific year was based on his thoughts regarding exponential technological growth similar to what Ted had already described to me. It was actually so simple that even I could understand it.
Yeah, I didn’t doubt the Singularity, and oddly enough, I didn’t dread it, either. Nor did the people who I heard talk that day.
CHAPTER 10
The last meeting before lunch was on the sixth floor, and it had collected quite the crowd. Many people had been forced to stand in the back and along the sides. Were they about to show the new Star Wars ?
The media section in the back right was overflowing with reps from local and national outlets. The room comfortably held about two hundred people, but at least fifty more were squeezed in there. Each row was elevated above the one before and looked down at the table centered on the small stage.
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