Please see part one for the disclaimer.
Like it? Don't? Drop me a line-
"Are you alright, Mr. Oliver?"
Thomas Oliver blinked several times and looked around. He was standing
in a lift. Acrosss from him was George Watson, who waiting for a reply
before giving a voice command.
"Um, yes," Oliver said at last. "Where were we going?"
"To the picnic, sir," George replied hesistantly. "Are you
alright, sir?"
Oliver remembered now. "Yes, of course." He motioned to the VRS.
"Please."
Watson slowly turned to face the box and said, "First floor aft, please."
There was slight feeling of weightlessness as the lift shot downward.
Oliver cleared his mind and thought. Of course, the picnic. George Watson
had come and told him it was time. They had left his office and come to
the lift. Had he said anything to Jen?
"Should be a good picnic," Oliver said about halfway down.
Watson's spirits seemed to perk. "Yes, it sure should! I love a good
picnic."
As the lift continued downward, Oliver couldn't remember for the life of
him what, exactly, George did.
The six sloshed their way through the sewer. The leader checked his watch.
One minute, then BOOM!
"Yes, I'm here to see Mr. Oliver."
"Just one moment, please," the holo replied. She touched a small
lit panel on the desk and looked blankly forward.
"Name, please?" she asked after a moment.
"Ellis. Roland Ellis."
After a few more moments of staring blankly forward, the holo removed her
hand from the panel and her face regained expression.
"Yep. Just allow me a moment to call ahead and ensure he's ready,"
she said before touching another panel and the blank face returned.
Roland had to admit this was getting irratating. He had nothing against
holos, but he simply didn't like dealing with them. Perhaps because there
weren't many where he came from.
A large vidwindow appeared before Jen.
"Mr. Oliver's desk, how can I help you?" she asked politely.
In the vidwindow appeared another holo, almost as attractive as Jen. "This
is Annie on main. I have a Mr. Ellis to see Mr. Oliver. He has an appoitment."
"Hmm. Just a moment." Jen checked Oliver's scheduel and then
his office. "This is strange. Mr. Ellis does have a ten thirty, but
Mr. Oliver has apparently...left the building. Mr. Ellis will have to wait
until I can locate him."
She came back. "You'll have to wait a moment, sir. It seems Mr. Oliver
is not in the building at the moment."
Roland's heart sank. "Not...in the building?"
"I'm afraid so, sir. If you'll kindly take a seat, I will contact
you when we locate him."
Roland Ellis slowly turned and walked across the lobby to take a seat,
a truely sad look on his face.
Jen searched her memory, but could not remember Mr. Oliver leaving. Perhaps
she needed that technician more badly than she thought.
"Are you sure the picnic is this way?" asked Oliver as he and
Mr. Watson walked along the subpath.
"Yes sir," answered Watson. He then stopped and turned to face
Oliver. "Sir, are you _sure_ you're feeling alright? Perhaps you should..."
"Nonsense. Now let's get going. I can't be late."
"Of course sir. Please." He motioned for Mr. Oliver to continue.
They had to take the subpath because it was difficult for Oliver to walk
out in public. The subpaths had been built at the turn of the century,
but had recently been put back to use by Oliver. He had only discovered
a small section of the underground tunnels, which allowed him to walk to
various locations around the city. Usually he would take a vehicle, but
because they were'nt going far, he opted for foot this time.
"Hi, Clyde," Jen said as the vidwindow blinked open.
"Well, hello, Jennie. What can I do for you?" Clyde was leaning
back in his chair. A few odd devices lay on the desk.
"We seem to have lost Mr. Oliver."
"_Lost_ him?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. Perhaps you have seen him recently?"
"Not since this morning. Has he left for the picnic?"
"I don't imagine. The picnic isn't until three this after noon."
TBC . . . .
