perfume, looking like an advertisement for clean living. Seth wondered if he'd ever actually seen Gloria with a hair out of place. It just wasn't natural.
"What a pleasure to have such a fine-looking group visit our insignificantly little shop," she purred as she oozed up to the colonel and allowed him to take her hand. Seth sighed with relief and began edging out of the room. Gloria was having none of that. She snaked a shapely arm around him and gracefully shoved him over for introductions.
The colonel was thoroughly charmed by Gloria. He introduced himself as Colonel Roger Bucksmith and explained that the group in the lobby represented DARPA, the agency responsible for providing new technology to the military. Gloria graciously invited them to breakfast.
"Had breakfast hours ago," the colonel said brusquely.
"We have gotten an unusually late start today," Gloria replied. "All Omerta employees were at a social function last night honoring Bigfoot Wallace, a local hero." Then she allowed a hint of coldness to creep into her voice. "Had we known you would be gracing us with your presence this morning, we would have explained that we cannot allow you access to our facility. As a security firm, Omerta is not in the habit of giving tours. We can't exactly throw open the doors to anyone who drops by for a chat. I'm sure you understand."
There was one man there dressed in a cheap business suit instead of a uniform. He stepped forward now and flashed Gloria a broad smile. "Naturally, we appreciate your security concerns. In fact, concerns over security brought us out today," he said easily. "I'm Bill Baker. We would love to join you for breakfast."
Seth hoped that the move to the dining area would give him a chance to escape back to his room, but Gloria kept her iron grip upon him. With her other hand, she tapped away at her handheld, calling other Omerta workers to get breakfast together.
Max eventually made an appearance, a much cleaner and more coherent appearance. Gloria was always threatening to deliver electric shocks to them via handheld if they failed to do her bidding. Seth wondered if she'd actually done it this time. Max was rubbing his hand and wincing.
Gloria gave a quick tour and explained that the satellite office was to find a more reliable energy source for their equipment than Omerta's island, as well as increase the dispersal of their data.
"There are only about a dozen of us here during the construction phase. But even when we are fully functional, there won't be more than twenty people in residence at any given time," she told them.
While the colonel loudly delivered an unwelcome monologue to everyone in the room on the joys of sacrificing for America, Bill told them why DARPA was here.
"DARPA has been interested in working with your company for a long time," he began. "We have approached your company in the past about helping us further our research into encryption methods." He then droned on about DARPA's efforts to win wars through technology.
A couple years ago, Max and Seth had created a program for their handhelds that allowed them to silently enter text and send it to others unobserved. They both also made a habit out of wearing a microbud in one ear to receive messages like this. The microbud transmitted sound directly into the wearer's auditory nerve. Silent to everyone else, it was very popular with teenagers who wanted to tune out their parents and bliss out to their favorite song. Seth's was barely distinguishably from his ear, while Max's microbud was a sparkly jewel.
Max and Seth did this primarily so they could trade snarky comments in meetings. Omerta Board of Director meetings were deadly dull. They placed their handhelds on one knee under the table and began the series of taps and gestures that made up their sign language.
Max sent, "A couple years ago, DARPA asked us to give them our encryption algorithms. Just give them the basic component of our success. For free! And we both
"What a pleasure to have such a fine-looking group visit our insignificantly little shop," she purred as she oozed up to the colonel and allowed him to take her hand. Seth sighed with relief and began edging out of the room. Gloria was having none of that. She snaked a shapely arm around him and gracefully shoved him over for introductions.
The colonel was thoroughly charmed by Gloria. He introduced himself as Colonel Roger Bucksmith and explained that the group in the lobby represented DARPA, the agency responsible for providing new technology to the military. Gloria graciously invited them to breakfast.
"Had breakfast hours ago," the colonel said brusquely.
"We have gotten an unusually late start today," Gloria replied. "All Omerta employees were at a social function last night honoring Bigfoot Wallace, a local hero." Then she allowed a hint of coldness to creep into her voice. "Had we known you would be gracing us with your presence this morning, we would have explained that we cannot allow you access to our facility. As a security firm, Omerta is not in the habit of giving tours. We can't exactly throw open the doors to anyone who drops by for a chat. I'm sure you understand."
There was one man there dressed in a cheap business suit instead of a uniform. He stepped forward now and flashed Gloria a broad smile. "Naturally, we appreciate your security concerns. In fact, concerns over security brought us out today," he said easily. "I'm Bill Baker. We would love to join you for breakfast."
Seth hoped that the move to the dining area would give him a chance to escape back to his room, but Gloria kept her iron grip upon him. With her other hand, she tapped away at her handheld, calling other Omerta workers to get breakfast together.
Max eventually made an appearance, a much cleaner and more coherent appearance. Gloria was always threatening to deliver electric shocks to them via handheld if they failed to do her bidding. Seth wondered if she'd actually done it this time. Max was rubbing his hand and wincing.
Gloria gave a quick tour and explained that the satellite office was to find a more reliable energy source for their equipment than Omerta's island, as well as increase the dispersal of their data.
"There are only about a dozen of us here during the construction phase. But even when we are fully functional, there won't be more than twenty people in residence at any given time," she told them.
While the colonel loudly delivered an unwelcome monologue to everyone in the room on the joys of sacrificing for America, Bill told them why DARPA was here.
"DARPA has been interested in working with your company for a long time," he began. "We have approached your company in the past about helping us further our research into encryption methods." He then droned on about DARPA's efforts to win wars through technology.
A couple years ago, Max and Seth had created a program for their handhelds that allowed them to silently enter text and send it to others unobserved. They both also made a habit out of wearing a microbud in one ear to receive messages like this. The microbud transmitted sound directly into the wearer's auditory nerve. Silent to everyone else, it was very popular with teenagers who wanted to tune out their parents and bliss out to their favorite song. Seth's was barely distinguishably from his ear, while Max's microbud was a sparkly jewel.
Max and Seth did this primarily so they could trade snarky comments in meetings. Omerta Board of Director meetings were deadly dull. They placed their handhelds on one knee under the table and began the series of taps and gestures that made up their sign language.
Max sent, "A couple years ago, DARPA asked us to give them our encryption algorithms. Just give them the basic component of our success. For free! And we both
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