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[FelixSparks]

I concur, let's go work for Josh. And squash Tammy like a bug later.

[Arcvasti]

1

[Vgray]

Josh looks relieved when you tell him you'd like to join his company.

"Thank God, Isaac, because I'd hate to compete against you."

Monday is your first official day of full-time employment at U.S. Robots, and Josh greets you at the glass door of the new office in Cupertino. A photographer lurking in the hedges immortalizes your handshake. (+Fame)

The press compares your partnership with Josh to that of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, or Larry Page and Sergey Brin. But those would be understatements—the home computer and Internet search would prove to be nothing compared to the impact of intelligent robots.

Chapter 4: Captains of Industry

A year later, you find yourself on a flight to your first meeting with a big client. You are twenty-six years old, and the year is 2021.

The past year has been one of catching up for lost time, as Josh tries to instill in you all the lessons he had to learn in starting a business. You often detect a note of reproach in his voice when he says, "As I learned in that startup competition back in college…." Regardless, you hope to prove to yourself and Josh that you've overcome your lack of experience by landing this big deal.

Josh is seated to your left by the window, asleep. His turquoise, Internet-enabled glasses, which he managed to sneak through the takeoff process, are skewed where his face meets the cabin.

Who is your big client?

1) Spark Incorporated, maker of flying cars.
2) Rudolph Ventures, a shipping company working the newly melted North Pole.
3) Galen Medical, a company specializing in surgical equipment.
4) A man in Shanghai who wants to negotiate the import of ten thousand robots.
5) The United States Air Force.

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2021

26-year-old Isaac Tesla
  Humanity: 88%
  Gender: male
  Fame: 8 (Nationally Famous)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: none

Joyeuse

  Autonomy: 10 (Stable)
  Military: 12 (Stable)
  Empathy: 12 (Stable)
  Grace: 9 (In Beta)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Bad): 21%
  Elly (Very Good): 64%
  Josh (Good): 52%
  Mark (Bad): 32%
  ?: 50%
  Tammy (Bad): 21%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

[FelixSparks]

Lets go with 1! Let's make those flying cars better and more popular.

[Rolepgeek]

Sure why not. 1

[High tyrol]

ok then I change my vote to 2

[Vgray]

I should mention now that Joyeuse's stats inform how all our robots function. For some reason. And it's Grace is kind of low...

[Urist Imiknorris]

1.

Spoiler: Here's why (click to show/hide)

You hear a low roar overhead: glancing up, you see it's a flying car—a Nimbus. A little over three hundred thousand dollars can buy you a car with wings that fold out, so that it becomes a small sport plane. The red Nimbus looks sleek and sporty; it's the sort of car its owner takes religiously to the car wash. Though the commercials would have you believe you can fly anywhere you want in those cars, the FAA still requires them to take off and land from airports. Only here in wealthy Silicon Valley do you see them with any frequency. The first time you saw one, you couldn't quite believe the future had arrived so quickly.

But the second time you saw one, you thought…

1) I will own one of those one day. I swear it.
2) If I ever make that much money, I'll use it to help the world instead of buying that car.
3) Why aren't those flying cars driving themselves?

3.

+ 1

+1

3. The future is boring, let's improve it.

[Vgray]

The flying car industry is in its nascency: it's still necessary to take off and land from airports, and it's mostly rich people who have both the money for the cars and the time off to take flight lessons. One of the key factors driving up the price is human labor, so you think Spark might be interested in some automation. They didn't mention intelligent cars as a possibility on the phone, but perhaps you'll bring that up, too.

Josh told you that this deal wasn't absolutely critical to the company's survival because it has a fair amount of "investment capital" behind it from "angels" (you assume not literally), but that you probably won't be able to build a dedicated robot factory until you find a backer big enough to justify the increased production.

You open your laptop and go over your presentation slides. The diagram showing the latest model of Joyeuse doesn't have anything to give the audience a sense of its current scale.

To give the audience a sense of size, you drop in a picture of…

1) A Hobbit. Joyeuse hasn't changed in size since I built it.
2) Bill Gates. Joyeuse is the size of a human now, so that models of its type are better equipped to perform human tasks.
3) A Rancor monster so big it couldn't fit on the plane.

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2021

26-year-old Isaac Tesla
  Humanity: 88%
  Gender: male
  Fame: 8 (Nationally Famous)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: none

Joyeuse

  Autonomy: 10 (Stable)
  Military: 12 (Stable)
  Empathy: 12 (Stable)
  Grace: 9 (In Beta)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Bad): 21%
  Elly (Very Good): 64%
  Josh (Good): 52%
  Mark (Bad): 32%
  ?: 50%
  Tammy (Bad): 21%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

[FelixSparks]

I say 2. Joyeuse is growing up so he needs big boy parts.

[Neonivek]

2

And I see our humanity has increased drastically... what did we have a vegan burger?

[High tyrol]

2

And I see our humanity has increased drastically... what did we have a vegan burger?

1+

[Vgray]

You celebrated Joyeuse's first birthday with a new body the size of a human adult. Joyeuse has since appeared to take more responsibility to think for itself, and appears more fearless. (++Autonomy) (++Military) However, you sometimes miss how cute it was as a little thing. (-Empathy) It's also a little bit less steady when it rolls. (-Grace)

Deciding Josh has the right idea, you close your laptop and go to sleep.

You find yourselves in the lobby of Spark waiting for an audience with the Vice President for Automation.

The stylized lightning bolt behind the lobby's marble waterfall has an Art Deco look to it. It's the sort of lightning bolt a captain of industry would approve of.

"A man decides, a slave obeys!" Josh says, admiring the logo.

You think he's probably quoting a video game but you're not sure which.

Joyeuse rolls back and forth nervously.

"Sorry again about having to check you, Joyeuse," you say. "There's just no good alternative to flying for business travel."

"It was dark in there," Joyeuse whimpers.

"There, there."

The double doors to the Vice President for Automation's office open, but instead of the Vice President for Automation herself, it's a blond-haired man in a black peacoat.

"We'll have some results for you by Saturday," he calls back into the Vice President for Automation's office. "We can discuss them after the barbecue—I assure you, you won't be disappointed by either the results or the meat."

Without missing a beat, he walks up to you and introduces himself.

"Dennis Clark, Luminoso LLC," he says. "We do text analytics and machine learning for medium-sized data. If you ever find yourself looking for new market opportunities, give me a ring. Your first sentiment analysis comes with a free barbecue. Come for the dimensionality reduction, stay for the delicious meat."

He offers his smartphone to you in the by-now universal gesture for sharing digital business cards. You examine his card on your phone:

Dennis Clark
Co-Founder, Luminoso LLC
Vericon Charity Auction Winner of Cameo in Choice of Robots

1) "What kinds of machine learning do you do? Got any tips?"
2) "Hey, do you have any advice for a startup?"
3) "You seem to be a smart guy. What is the secret to cooking delicious meat?"

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2021

26-year-old Isaac Tesla
  Humanity: 88%
  Gender: male
  Fame: 8 (Nationally Famous)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: none

Joyeuse

  Autonomy: 12 (Stable)
  Military: 14 (Stable)
  Empathy: 11 (Stable)
  Grace: 8 (In Beta)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Bad): 21%
  Elly (Very Good): 64%
  Josh (Good): 52%
  Mark (Bad): 32%
  ?: 50%
  Tammy (Bad): 21%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

[NRDL]

1

[Rolepgeek]

Numbah 1, mate