Touched Personnel

Written 2/27/2007


Al Budain was busying himself with unimportant things so he didn’t have to dwell on having nothing worth doing. While he was typing a response belly-bump to some woman (hopefully) who he’d never met before another woman he’d previously not been close enough to touch said, “you shouldn’t be using the company’s computer for something so, personal”. Al wasn’t given a jitter because he’d been caught in a wrongful act. If you’re deeply involved in reading this relation don’t you think you’d be surprised to hear a voice centimeters off your shoulder? The company had no assignment for Al. He was coming to put some extra work in on pet projects. After a while of that his passion had left him. So at work he stayed. Maybe he’d regain his fervor for one of those pet-projects. It wasn’t as if there was something he could do at home which he couldn’t do at work.

“Ignoring me won’t make me go away”.

Having shaken-off her initial bother, Al was broke from busying himself again. The Reality Director he answered to knew of Al’s personal work and encouraged it. Al told this intrusive woman as much.

“Jayit isn’t a concern. I’m making it my business to see you keep your work to the business of this company”.

Al told her as I’ve told you: that he had no assignment to carry out.

“Then I’ll give you one.” Amused eyes flinching sadistically searched the personalized work-stations.

“Go help Caggoy finish his project”.

Al told this unnamed woman to leave him alone and report him if she thought he did wrong. He didn’t want to deal with her and knew he’d be in no trouble. Caggoy was kept on Jayit (the Reality Director)’s team out of mercy. He had been one of the finest alterer’s in the entire sector. People wanted him to work on educational, military, or persuasive generateds but his only interest was entertainment. One of his private projects was a generated of an ideal woman. When Jayit found out about the idea he encouraged it –sure it’d artistically impress and financially reward. After three years of labor (mostly nit-picky detail addition 20 months in) Caggoy was finished. Although it greatly disappointed the RD (and Jayit pressed the issue) Caggoy had no intention of selling his design. It was creator-owned like all personal work. “She” was made to be his. Caggoy had all types of plans for what to do with “Cetella”.

His own handiwork was against him. Many of the traits he had put in Cetella were opposed to him so she had no interest in being with him. Caggoy did not want to change her. He did not redesign her or make a replacement. His ideal woman, the best he could have, distanced herself from him. Al couldn’t tell what Caggoy felt when he saw him walk in Jayit’s lounge. He was quiet, shoulderblades hung, corners of lips stretched to the sides, eyes narrowed, jaw tense, brow bulging between his eyebrows, steps hurried. It was easy for Al to later deduce he’d seen Caggoy walking with the intent of selling his latest design. Caggoy took his time off, as is allotted after each project*, while Cetella went into production. After his time off from selling Cetella was through Caggoy used days-off he had saved up.

They all roll over. Some geezers have effectively retired a year early from saved off-time. Or sooner. There were days left from Caggoy’s off-time when he came back. Directors don’t hassle their men about having beards (they do encourage the woman to shave their mustaches) but seeing Caggoy with one changed his face. Before, he had always been clean shaven. In a relatively short time he had a scratchy-as-fiberglass looking beard to his collar bone. He was red-eyed working at his computer. Jayit said he could have his leave extended. Maybe it was out of sympathy or a kindness bought by Cetella’s profits. No, Caggoy wanted an assignment. He worked longer hours than before, debugging more than anyone else. His coding became…twitchy. Simple mis,tuh tuh-takes were made throughhh eh-out it ah-tih-tih-tih at! irregular intervals. Al had eavesdropped on the gossip of his female peers (and that un-faggable Tayce). Word was Caggoy spent his time at home trying to persuade his source generated of Cetella to return his affection. He failed. And that first day’s red-eyed work was the deletion of Cetella’s source code1.

Instead of lending any respect to her, giving atleast a possibility of chance she had some authority to begin commanding him like someone with a role other than teammate, and saying he would not work with Caggoy, Al asked this pestersome nosy person her name. On top of his bean-bag chair, even as she answered, Caggoy was quietly exclaiming slang too mild for me to count as cursing.

Making the hand motions for an in-generated billboard she answered, “Call me Ra’ash’kohlle! Owner of Al’s ass.”

Ra’ash’kohlle was kidding. Had to be. With slight irritation Al spun to face his monitor. She bent to line her head up next to it.

Al would have been surprised by the context, that she knew the language of his parent’s precinct, if he wasn’t shocked by the content of her words “gha ze naw junewitza quet cheg krenattana pulk eschedi ze nuln porras kreangtas”. (Leaving historical references aside) those sounds translate to have the meaning “the proper response to your previous work is your suicide”.

Without thinking Al swung. The back of his left hand flung through Ra’ash’kohlle’s face and sounded painful against his rig. Al sucked in air through teeth biting his lower lip. A conflict had just begun between a sense he should regret having tried to hit a woman and a sense that he was made a fool of by some generated when he spun on Pilaulgi’s laughter.

“Spunky ain’t she? I even drafted some language making tools for her package so people could mod her to talk different.” Caggoy had started to walk over. Al asked what she was.

“Cetella doesn’t suit every man’s taste so I decided to work with a trouble-maker woman gen. I just need Fex to make my tools-package easier to use for the generators who love modification. Then anyone can tailor her hey Caggoy”. Something on that man’s face provoked Al to tell him not to do it. Despite that, Caggoy dropped a magnet on Pilaulgi’s external back-up drive. A second went on his rig’s case, right by the motherboard.

Pilaulgi was yelling stuff about being psychotic and questions about where those magnets came from. Soon after, Caggoy was fired. I don’t know if Al still works there, we’ve been out of touch for a while. Me and Pilaulgi were never close.


*yes, Al could be using his break instead of saving it.

1 Joyit never pressed charges. As far as I know, none of the other Director’s found out Cettella’s source code had been deleted.