Aida’s First Job
“Excuse me, excuse me. Excuse me!” Aida repeated in ever-louder tones. Protect and deliver were his instructions, and… as Billy was wont to say… “by God, that’s what I will do!”
Jetting down the hallway, he skated around various people and automated delivery units. Not as efficient as one might expect, but they do the job. Mostly interoffice mail and the like. His job is to protect crucial packages and information from infiltrators, should it come to that.
Aida skidded around a corner, feeling almost like a dog or cat on a freshly waxed floor.
He was carrying a high-priority package. It was interoffice, but it was critical. Well… he knew this package was not… but the point was…
Aida threw himself against the wall, his chain gun blazing against the mock attacker. The red packets of paint deterred the man, but it took the blue sticky clay from his faux stun gun to stop the man’s android friend.
One day you will not be able to tell them apart, but that day is not today, Aida mused as he zipped through the last door and down two flights of stairs. He had practiced in this building at night for months. He knew every grip, every step. Every nook and corner were known to him, and from anywhere they put him, he knew the blind spots and where he could best defend himself.
Slinging himself over the railing, catching each flight as he dropped, he slipped onto the flight for floor 42. Less than three minutes… that might be his best time ever.
As he threw open the door and scanned the interior for deterrents, he reached in and pulled out the package, sliding up to the reception desk and gently placed it on the timer.
Two minutes and fifty-eight seconds.
The roar goes up from his team standing behind the desk.
The CEO held up his hands, and the crowd quieted. Walking over to Aida, the CEO grinned at him. “You are not much to look at, but it seems that you have bested every other option we have ever had by a full minute and a half. Congratulations.”
Aida didn’t move, his every fiber tense and expectant; he hovered as the CEO continued, the words swelling him to the core with pride.
“Keep putting him through scenarios… as difficult as you can think of… but… until then…”
He nods to the gathering. “Congratulations to the R and D, and…”
Turning to Aida, he grins, “and the first android-based AI Delivery Agent.”