The Novel Business

Chapter 1-The Set Up

I just thought it would be a nice day, leaning back in my hover chair and staring at the ceiling. Got my work done for the day and was looking forward to finishing up. From the passageway beside my cubicle came a "Hey Dess." I slid down to look level before turning, suspecting it was Viktor. His dark smiling face replied to me as I smiled back.

"Hey Vik," I replied, putting my hands on my thighs. He had been rather interested in me for the past few weeks; though seeming a tad official, but I was figuring he was just shy. He didn't blush though or display the normal human methods of shyness; us Valeens never were shy. At least shy in a human manner.

He asked me a question that however was perhaps more an answer for me than a question for him, "Would you like to start a business with me?" He gave a soft half-smile.

I let my webbed hand slide to my knees, gripping them as my blue face went pale in shock. Finally I let myself blink and breathe, the words coming to my lips in a slow fashion at first, "So... so... that's what this has all been about? Business? Well..." I shook my head, thinking more seriously. That's something I definitely had more than the average Valeen, brains. "How are you going to make market penetration possible? Neither of us has enough capital..." I trailed off as Vik smirked. He had a crazy idea, I could just see it in his face.

Finally he spoke after a few moments of silence, "We'll make our own market with Variant Algorithm Computers. Sure... Mechnoids and Korshins are sentient machines, but can it be duplicated to make our own race? Yes, now it can. Just I need someone else..." He laughed finally, offering me a hand to help me up. "I need you mostly, you have the skills I lack. I'm a good programmer, but I suck at Marketing."

I shook my head as I took his hand to pull myself up. IT was more than that, Vik almost never lied and when he did, well, he failed hard. But if he was lying to me, well, I could not be sure why but it had to be serious. Undoubtly to keep the real reasons under wraps as much as possible. "All right, well, I'd like to see an example before I take out a loan to start our manufacture." He nods, releasing my hand. Viktor, you are so nice yet... you miss every sign. I shrugged finally as I followed him out of the building.

It didn't take long to find his house, a bit out of the way. The Bubble shuttle evaporated as soon as we got in range. A hand-built, fine built wooden house. Before pre-fabbing energy building wood was rare, but now it was little more than a weed. There was no reason to collect it now. I'd never been here before though, so I walked across the trimmed but a little weedy lawn with a curious glance at everything before turning to look out towards the sea. Probably a good distance out still, could just see the rim.

Viktor finally turned back to me. "Dessera, I'm an idealist, but you are practical," He says, almost painfully, trying to admit something to both of us he struggles with. He probably had tried this on his own, only to end up drenched in a pool of papers and sweat. I'd let him struggle for a bit though, simply giving him a nod and pointing towards the house. He took a deep breath to visibly calm himself before heading towards the house and opening the front door.

He walked in first so I shut the door behind us, him taking me into a room to my right. letting myself focus, I didn't take a glance elsewhere. Instead I saw about a half-meter cube, black, just sitting on the table. It's screen played over scenes of an old movie; Terran, I didn't recognize it. It responded to our presence though by shutting off the monitor and bringing up a smiley face, "Viktor, I see you brought the Dessera." It seemed to think I was a "Thing" more than a person; eh, whatever, it would learn if it could.

I could be hardly be convinced of its validity, though, with one sentence; Viktor moving to talk to it, "It's Just Dessera. She's a person. No need to call everyone 'The'." It then turned to me, displaying an average picture of a Valeen on its screen. Blue skin, webbed hands and feet, long seaweed green hair, and sleek sharp bodies with hermaphrodite organs. I was "Female" Focus, but I really had never been into the whole school of thought on that or any of the rest of pure Valeen schools of thoughts. Philosophy doesn't make money after all.

"Icarus Opium," I stated plainly, leaving the Cube with a question mark on its face.

Finally it responded, "I do not see the logic in that statement, Dess. I think you'd have a better chance by just talking with me normally to prove that I am indeed, Sentient. Inhibited by anything but my personality, which is very straight forwards. Vik wasn't very daring on my programming, one might say." Vik gave the cube a cold look, much to my amusement.
"So, cube man, what do you call yourself?" I asked my voice dripping with venomous sarcasm.

It merely produced a strange sound Laughing? before speaking with a laughing face on its screen, "Oh, I am VAC. After VA, first computer with it, so I am VAC. Now ask me something that doesn't involve my computer shape being involved..."

I stared before tilting my head and giving it a smile. "It seems legitimate to me, but I'm not say... an auditor. Or a Psychologist. Specialist on machine Personalities? We should have one of them clear this guy... but first, he needs a hover propulsion." VAC made that strange noise again before having a nodding head show up on his screen.

"Yeah, was going to use one from the chairs, but it's too little for the weight of VAC." I gave him a soft glare. I then turned VAC over, who seemed to be equally at home on any surfaces of the cube, except the obvious bottom. There was the panels, myself opening it up to look at the space inside.

"You got a second one of those hovers?" I said to Vik, glancing over to him as my hands seemed to tickle VAC as my hands ran over its cords.

Viktor nods before leaving and coming back with the needed piece. I stuck a second one in, balancing it with the second one to prevent wierdness. I then took the cord from the second piece and... there's where I realized why Vik didn't do this, VAC didn't have enough internal slots to control this corded. No problem though, I slipped a wireless receptor from my pocket. I then changed it out with the cord, putting the panel back on VAC. "You got this working?" I asked the Computer as I patted it.

"Could you stop patting my bottom and flip me over so I can TEST it!" it finally lashed out, getting quite pissed for sitting on its head. Well face, thing... Viktor just laughed at my reprisal. I closed my eyes before flipping it over on the Panel, letting it float lazily in the air. "Shaky, but it'll do," It stated before floating past me. It was slow, barely walking speed, but it was better than carrying it. Probably the heaviest damn computer I've come near, it probably weighed more than me. At least I kept my body toned by swimming and Aquatic Gymnastics to even FLIP that damn thing over.

"Robot Quack?" Came Vik.

"Robot Quack," I returned. It was out to a pod now.