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Chapter 1
Flynn
It’sjustanotherordinaryday at the office. On a metal table in the middle of the room lays a synthetic cadaver. It’s state-of-the-art, complete with skin, organs, and temperature control. My office has been turned into an operating room.
Over the body stands a tester, wearing VR goggles that make her look like a giant housefly. She is holding suture scissors designed by my head engineer and best friend, Colin Banks. On a tray next to the tester is a collection of different tools designed to be used on the fake body.
This test has not been going well at all. My company, Wired Reality, has been developing an augmented reality system that will replace the need for cadavers in med schools which requiressignificantcooperation from our technology. Not to mention money.
“Can we try the suture again?” Colin asks. “What do you think?” he looks at me, his hazel eyes crimped with worry.
I gesture to the middle of the room. “Floor is yours today.”
He grimaces and holds his clipboard tight to his chest as he watches the screen at the far end of the room. “Go ahead, Rickie.”
Rickie, his assistant, and the tester today, reaches for another tool on the table. On the screen, I watch her virtual gloved hand hover over the tools. It starts to glitch. Again.
“Fuck,” Colin spits and makes a note on his clipboard.
“Want me to keep going?” Rickie asks.
“I guess,” he sighs.
“Colin, it’s fine,” I reassure him, leaning on the edge of my desk. It’snotfine when we have investors coming in six weeks to look at how far we’ve come with our progress. But as the CEO of this place, I know that sometimes my team needs encouragement, not a constant kick in the ass.
Colin gives me a look that tells me he doesn’t believe me. That’s what happens when you work with your friends. It’s almost impossible to hide things from each other. Colin and I founded Wired Reality together right out of college, and it has been our brainchild for ten years now. We burst onto the market with reckless abandon, flying high on the ignorance of being amateurs in the cutthroat business world. We tripped our way up the corporate ladder to become a Fortune 500 company.
Now, we have to act like it.
Rickie starts to suture the cadaver. Colin and I watch the screen. “Looks amazing,” I say. “How does it feel?”
“The coolant is definitely working,” Rickie says, feeling the edges of the open “skin”.
Colin smiles and nods, “That’s good, that’s –”
Suddenly, the screen glitches again, and the suture animation begins scrawling across the screen like an angry black worm.
He throws his clipboard down and runs his hands through his hair. “Fuck it! We’re done!”
Rickie pulls her goggles off, her eyes ringed with red imprints like a raccoon.
“Great job, Rick,” I say with a sad smile.
She sighs and rubs her forehead. “Thanks.”
Colin isn’t very good about his temper when things aren’t working in his favor. But he’s gotten better. I can hear him counting down from ten under his breath in an effort to bring himself back down to earth. “Three… two… one…” He blinks his eyes open, scanning the scene. “Goddammit, Flynn. We’re screwed.”
“You know why I like you, Colin?” I say, crossing my arms over my chest. “You’re so fucking optimistic.”
Colin’s face sours, but before he can reply, there is a knock at the door. I’m saved from whatever cloud of negativity he’s about to spew my way. “Come in!”
My assistant, Wendy, an older woman who still wears her hair in a perm of curls and has signature hot pink lipstick, enters breathlessly. “Mr. Madden, there’s a guest here to see you.”
I raise an eyebrow. “I wasn’t expecting any guests today.”
“Normally, I wouldn’t interrupt your, um, very important work, but –” She glances towards the table in bewilderment.
Despite wanting to escape Colin’s feral anger, I know that leaving right now would just make it worse. “I’m afraid I don’t have time for an impromptu guest, Wendy. Feel free to offer them something on my schedule but –”
