Chapter 2 – Sirius Business

Rosie stood by the conference room door, staring back the way she had come as she waited for Kim. Eager to complete her task, she knew not to interrupt a meeting until she had permission. She held the information packets carefully saddled on her cybernetic harness and wagged her tail as Kim neared, the tempo increasing with every approaching step of her girl.

When Kim had caught up, she peaked through the door’s glass side panel. ‘Asta’ was Sirius Bio-Engineering’s main conference room, the well-furnished one used for visitors. She saw her Uncle Ted was in the middle of a presentation to a handful of people arrayed around the long faux cherry table.

“That’s good manners, Rosie.” The praise was perfunctory; Kim was trying to figure out the best moment to slip into the meeting. Through the glass, she made herself visible and studied the attendees. “Looks like the only ones we know are Jen and Joe; besides Ted and Gabby, I mean.”

Ted was a short, boyish looking middle aged man with thinning blond hair and a pair of old fashioned wire rimmed glasses. It became clear she had caught his eye when he animatedly waved them in. Before Kim could open the door, it swung wide revealing a black and white neodog, a border collie derivative, who quietly said, “Hi Kim, hi Rosie. Please come in.”

Ted was still speaking; Kim whispered, “Thank you, Gabby,” before settling into a chair along the wall.

Rosie sprang forward and proudly handed Ted her papers. “The last neodog to receive the new firmware is Rosie here. Thank you, Rosie.” The bespectacled Chief Technology Officer scooped up the info packs and passed them around the table.

Kim self-consciously folded her arms in front of her and tried to become smaller. In a company where formal attire often translated into, ‘please wear shoes,’ she was suddenly very conscious of her workout clothes. Everyone else in the room was dressed a few notches above business casual, including her almost invariably underdressed uncle.

Ted promptly did the exact opposite of what she wanted, introducing her with a wave, “Congresswoman, everyone, this is Kim.” She flinched as all attention turned toward her, but quickly summoned a shy smile and managed a wave. “Kim runs the neodog exercise and recreation program and is Rosie’s guardian.”

The presentation screen switched to an animated montage of neodogs playing on a grassy field with Kim herself running alongside in many of the scenes that faded in and out. “Formal recreation is a necessary component of our program.”

Under her breath she mumbled, “He could have told me. I don’t always wear this.”

Ted continued smoothly, as if he had rehearsed for Kim’s entrance. “… so, again, as world population levels out and the percentage of elderly persons increase, neodogs as companions and service animals are ideally suited for extending the independence of people later in life and alleviating some of the pressure on the world’s social safety nets.

“However, we want to avoid creating new problems while we solve existing ones. Many of the clients the neodogs will service, whether elderly or disabled, will not be well equipped to take their companion animals on long walks. Organized exercise programs will be necessary for the neos’ health and socialization.”

To Kim, he sounded like one of her college professors. Her shy smile expanded into a genuine grin; despite his wardrobe upgrade, Uncle Ted gave the impression he was wearing a lab coat.

From the far end of the table, a very stylish woman added, “Kim is tasked with developing the training for the recreation program. It’s not just about the neos’ wellbeing, but also that of the people they will serve.” This was Sirius Bio’s Chief Executive Officer, Jennifer Cutts. As she spoke, the screen switched to a row of seniors in camp chairs laughing and watching neodogs. “The games also provide a social outlet for our seniors. We have encouraging psychological results from the pilot program, comparing regular game watchers with a non-attending group.”

The screen switched to a vid loop of Kim refereeing. Ted looked over at her, with a faint smirk, like he was waiting for her to say something. With no idea what else to add, she just smiled again and made another little wave.

A conservative looking older woman, to whom the others seemed to defer, gave her a warm smile, “I’ve seen vid streams of your games before. They look like a lot of fun. In fact Kim, I knew very well who you were before we got here. My grandson is a huge fan of neodogs and follows your game blog religiously. He will be very jealous that I’ve met you.”

“They are…” it came out as a squeak. Kim blinked several times and cleared her throat. “They - the games - are a lot of fun. The blog is pretty easy to maintain. People contribute stills and vid and I just provide a little organizing and moderation.”

Jen Cutts added, “Congresswoman, Kim’s blog is a major part of our PR. She’ll be glad to autograph a t-shirt for your grandson.” Raising an eyebrow toward her, Jen asked, “Kim, isn’t today a game day?”

“Ummm, yes. Rosie and I are about to head out to the field. Gabby too, if he wants.”

The two neodogs had been busy sniffing and greeting each other throughout the conversation, but Gabby did not miss a beat. His head shot up and his ears semaphored at his person, “Ted, can I go play with Rosie and Kim?” His voice box was set to a slightly deeper pitch than Rosie’s.

“Of course, Gabby; just as soon as we are through here. First I have to ask Rosie some questions. Rosie, how is your fine motor control?” As he spoke, he took an expensive pen out of his pocket, pulled the cap off and dropped both pieces on the floor. Rosie sprang forward to pick up the cap in one pincer, the pen in the other. She capped the pen and handed it to Ted with a spinning flourish around her three fingers.

“Excellent, Rosie. How do your arms feel?”

“They feel well, Uncle Ted.” She rotated her pincers and interlaced the ‘fingers’ of her ‘hands.’ “My hands work well. It is easy to talk. I am happy.” A tail wag punctuated her words.

A tall thin man seated beside Jen, the remaining attendee Kim already knew, spoke up: “Kim, I think you will notice an expanded vocabulary as well. We’ve improved the mapping of their brain signals. She should be able to repeat new words more easily and accurately.”

Kim nodded stiffly, “I’ll watch for that Joe, thanks.” Joe Brady was with their partner company, Caiden Cybernetics. As the product manager for the neodog arms, he spent a lot of time supporting Sirius Bio, but he always rubbed her the wrong way. Something she could never quite pin down. “Like he’s playing a role and he’s not really there,” was the best explanation she could ever manage.

“Well, Rosie,” said Ted, “I think you and Gabby can go play now.”

Gabby piped up, “Ted? I did not tell the people my joke.”

Ted ran his eyes over the attendees before saying, “Well Gabby, I suppose you could tell it now.” He stepped back and gave the room a bemused look, holding his hands up as if asking for patience.

“Oh Ted, must we?” Jen hammed it up. Kim thought the visitors looked pretty amused at the idea of a dog who told jokes. She was hopeful that would make them forgiving; she had heard some of Gabby’s jokes.

“A person and a dog go into a store,” began Gabby eagerly, tail wagging. “The store owner comes up to them and says ‘no dogs allowed in this store.’ The person says, ‘but this dog can talk. I’ll bet you a steak that this dog can talk.’ The store owner says ‘dogs can’t talk. I’ll take your bet.’ The person says, ‘dog, what’s on top of a house?’ The dog says, ‘roof’. The person says ‘what’s sandpaper feel like?’ The dog says, ‘ruff.’ So the store owner gave them a steak.”

To Kim’s relief, the visitors responded with smiles and even a couple of polite chuckles. The two neodogs panted and wagged their tails and wiggled against each other, so they at least thought it was a good joke.

“Well, Dr. Hardy, Ms. Cutts, everyone,” the congresswoman stood up. “This has been very informative. We’ll have our people review this latest data and explain it to me, but so far everything looks good. This is an impressive program that clearly has the potential to make a great contribution to elder care and to California’s economy.”

Everyone took their cue from this and stood up, stowing their handhelds and adding their own ‘thank you, very informative’ comments.

Kim raised her eyebrows at being included in the round of handshaking, but recovered, accepting any proffered hands with a smile and answering, ‘oh no, the pleasure is mine’ as their guests filed out of the room. The two neodogs scored a good number of ear scratches as well, their primary criteria for judging humans.

Sharon appeared in the doorway with a company t-shirt and a marker, an example of Jen’s efficient texting. Kim signed her name with an unbelieving shake of her head. She started to cap the marker, but with a shrug handed it to Rosie. “Rosie, can you make your mark on this?” To everyone’s delight, Rosie managed a pretty good ‘R.’

As Jen Cutts showed the visitors to the main entrance, Gabby and Rosie ran ahead to open the double doors, looking very much like a pair of palace guards from days of yore.

Joe Brady glanced at his handheld, and tapped the bud in his left ear. “Brady here. Yes, the meeting just wrapped up….” He turned away as his end of the call became mumbled. Ted turned to Kim with a relieved grin, “That was perfect timing. It gave us a nice wrap-up.”

“Yes, Kim, thank you; it was good timing,” added Jen. She was Ted’s age; they had been friends for years before going into business together. Always very put together, she had an MBA, an Ivy League law degree, and looked every bit the legal eagle in the same way Ted looked every bit the scientist. “I’ve got to go catch up on some email. Have a good game, pups.” She headed for her office.

“Who were the others?” Kim inclined her head at the front door.

“Umm, a couple of the congresswoman’s staffers, and some California and Federal Health and Safety regulators. Our ‘potentially dangerous’ bio- engineered organisms need to be properly licensed. This is the last big step before final approval.” Ted absent mindedly scratched Gabby’s ears as the neo stood by his side.

“Well, it ended on a good vibe. Do you think there will be any problems?”

He shook his head absently. Kim knew that distracted look usually meant he was mentally multitasking. “No, not really,” his eyes unglazed as he focused on the current conversation, “We have years of data now, going back to the original DARPA project. Still, this part isn’t simply engineering, this is politics and sales. The regulatory bureaucracy is dominated by good scientists, but if the wrong political people get upset and stick their noses into things, it could drag the process out quite a bit.”

“But Uncle Ted, everyone who meets neodogs falls in love with them.”

He chuckled indulgently, “You know, it’s not that simple. Remember that spate of protesters that used to show up for your games?”

“Well, yeah, but that was always kind of pathetic, four or five people, tops,” she shrugged dismissively. “The friendly onlookers always outnumbered them. Most people love our neodogs!”

“Yes, most open minded people love them. However, there are plenty of people who are frightened of anything new, and frightened people can be loud. Cartoons are one thing; real live talking dogs are still very, very new to most people. The congresswoman’s office has been getting public comments about ‘frankendogs.’”

“I just don’t understand people like that,” she shook her head.

“I know,” he gave her a paternal smile, “and I can’t tell you how proud I am that you don’t.” Ted gave her a kiss on the forehead, although she had to duck just a little to let him do it. Perplexed, he narrowed his eyes and looked straight into hers, “When did you get so tall?”

“Last week.” She smiled at her uncle, but felt her cheeks start to warm, prompting her to look away. Needing a distraction and seeing Rosie and Gabby, Kim was reminded of Ted’s other personal neodog, Pandora. “Uncle Ted, where is Dora? I seem to keep missing her.”

“Ummm, she’s back at the house. She’s become a bit fixated on protecting her territory, making sure the raccoons aren’t sneaking into the trash and what not.”

“Well, I’m sure she gets plenty of exercise with all those woods, but we haven’t had her at a game for awhile now. We miss her.”

He pulled on his earlobe, which Kim found odd; he usually only did that when nervous or she had caught him hiding a birthday present. “Yes. Well you are right, she gets plenty of exercise, but maybe I’m letting her get away with being too much of a doggy introvert. I’ll have to put more effort into making her come along to the office.”

The whining of dogs in pain interrupted their conversation. Kim’s head spun sharply toward Rosie and Gabby; what she saw made her gasp loudly in alarm. Both animals were ducking their heads as though they were hiding from a beating. The neos wobbled drunkenly as she knelt down to hug Rosie.

Ted had Gabby’s head in his hands, “What’s wrong boy? Talk to me.” The dog looked glassy eyed and swayed as though he would simply collapse at any moment. Rosie did not look any better.

“Uncle, what’s wrong with them!”

Ted did not answer; he was trying to lift Gabby’s chin. He steadied the neo’s head with both hands and brought his face nose to nose with the animal so that he could examine Gabby’s pupils.

As abruptly as it had begun, the fit ended and both neos simultaneously straightened up and ceased whining. They shook their heads as their movements regained their usual composure. Looking up at their people and each other, they blinked in confusion.

Ted put a hand on each dog’s head and pointedly asked, “What happened?” They appeared shaken, but were no longer in obvious pain.

High forehead wrinkled in concentration, Gabby said, “There was a bad noise….” He paused, and tilted his head to one side, “…but it was not a noise. It was also a bad smell. It made my head hurt.” He looked Ted in the eye, “A lot.”

“A bad noise and my head still hurts. It was scary,” added Rosie plaintively.

“Can you tell where the noise came from?”

Rosie looked down, considering the question carefully. Finally, she answered, “No.”

“It was everywhere at the same time,” added a perplexed Gabby.

“That was damned peculiar.” Ted pulled a pen light out of his pocket and looked into each neo’s eyes in turn.

Kim’s face was white; she was more upset than the dogs. In a frightened high voice, she asked, “Could there be something wrong with the new arm firmware?”

She jumped when a male voice answered from behind her. “Gabby and most of the dogs have had the upgrade for a week.” She had forgotten Joe Brady was there. “I don’t see how the new firmware could have caused that.” To her, he sounded a little defensive.

“Joe’s right. It’s only because you were out of town that Rosie just got this update. We haven’t seen anything like this with any of them.” Ted’s calm tone would have been infuriating, but Kim knew him; he was a scientist first and foremost. He only sounded that calm when he was both worried and concentrating. “The fact that it hit them both at the same time implies something external. Perhaps it was a noise outside of human range? Maybe a low flying jet?”

Ted pulled his handheld computer from a pocket. Thumbing over it with one hand, he pushed a phone bud into his ear with the other. After a pause he said, “Bill, are you in the vet lab? Good, how many neos are in there, and have you seen any odd behavior in the last couple of minutes?” Kim knew ‘Bill’ would be Bill Arnold, Sirius Bio’s veterinarian. “Nothing? I’ll come over and explain later, thanks.”

Ted tucked the phone bud in his shirt pocket and drummed his fingers for a moment on the back of the small computer. Then he slid a small data stick from the device, saying, “Gabby, sit down please.”

The neo cooperated promptly, and Ted knelt on one knee beside him. With one hand, he popped open a small panel on the back of the neodog’s harness and slid the data stick into a now exposed slot. Ted tapped tiny buttons beside the data port. A light on the end of the stick flashed briefly.

“Rosie, please.” Ted extracted the data stick and sealed Gabby’s panel while Rosie turned her back to him and sat down. He repeated the operation on her harness.

Despite the three human’s intense stares, the canines gave no sign of any further problems. Ted stood up and adopted a comforting tone, “Well Kim, why don’t you get them some water and take them to the game? I’ll go over these log files.” He slid the data stick into the receptacle of his hand held, “but I don’t think it will happen again. Do bring Gabby back here afterwards; I’ll be working late.”

Despite the reassuring tone, his brow was furrowed and he was rubbing his jaw the way she knew he always did when troubled.

“Okay, Uncle.” Kim’s brow was furrowed as well, but the dogs had perked up and gamboled happily; the problem had passed and Ted would figure it out. She headed for the door with a call of “C’mon dogs, let’s go. Frisbee day.”

With gleeful shouts of ‘Frisbee, Frisbee,’ Rosie and Gabby rushed ahead and let themselves out the door.

Next Chapter: Chapter3 - Ultimate Showdown