SYSTEM: WELCOME TO USA ONLINE! YOU ARE IN A CHAT AREA.
SYSTEM: TREKKIE IS LOGGED ON
TREKKIE: hello, is anyone here? I’m new here, how does this work?
BOBSTER: Welcome to USA Online, Trekkie. What kind of modem do you have?
TREKKIE: Cortech 2400-baud, just got it today, this is my first time trying out one of these dial-up services.
BOBSTER: Well, if you’ve found your way to the Conference Room here, you probably pretty much know what you’re doing.
SYSTEM: MISS BROOKS IS LOGGED ON
TREKKIE: what else can you do here
BOBSTER: Oh, you name it. There’s a lot of neat software you can download to your computer, there’s stock quotes and weather reports, all kinds of stuff. At midnight there’s a trivia contest here in the Conference Rm.
TREKKIE: This is neat. so everything I type appears on evryone elses screens?
BOBSTER: That’s right. And vice-versa. Like a CB radio for computers.
TREKKIE: except it costs 5 $$ an hour right?
BOBSTER: Right. But you’ll have a lot of fun here. It’s just like being at a party, except you don’t have to dress up.
MISS BROOKS: LOL
BOBSTER: Hey, a lady online! I didn’t even see you lurking there, Miss Brooks.
TREKKIE: what’s that?
BOBSTER: What’s what?
TREKKIE: what is LOL?
BOBSTER: Stands for “laughing out loud,” Trekkie. Saves typing. People here also use BRB (be right back), IMHO (in my humble opinion), and ROTFL (rolling on the floor laughing).
TREKKIE: Oh, I’m new using these things, sorry
BOBSTER: Don’t worry. We’ll teach you everything you need to know.
MISS BROOKS: And also you can meet people from all over the world without even leaving your desk.
TREKKIE: hey its “our miss Brooks,” get it
MISS BROOKS: Yes indeed, Trekkie. I’ve had to endure that particular joke all my life.
BOBSTER: My God you type fast!!!!
MISS BROOKS: I used to be a secretary. For a long time.
TREKKIE: so is you’re name really miss Brooks?
MISS BROOKS: That’s really and truly my name, Trekkie. I take it “Trekkie” isn’t yours?
TREKKIE: haha! I mean, LOL!
BOBSTER: Why sure it is, Miss B! Yes, his name is Sebastian T. Trekkie from Enterprise, Calif. (kidding)
SYSTEM: DANNY THE C IS LOGGED ON
DANNY THE C: Hey, gang. Wha’ts shakin’?
BOBSTER: Hi Danny. How’ve you been? Haven’t seen you up here in awhile.
DANNY THE C: Guess where I’m calling from?
BOBSTER: Last I heard, you were a New Yorker.
DANNY THE C: Aha, you see? I’ve swapped coasts. I’m calling from Santa Clara! I moved!
MISS BROOKS: Welcome to the West Coast!
DANNY THE C: Thanks, Miss Brooks.
BOBSTER: Us Midwesterners just sit happily where we are, while all you coast people fly back & forth over our heads trying to decide where you want to settle.
DANNY THE C: LOL, Bobster. So what’s going on tonight?
BOBSTER: Nothing much. This is Trekkie’s first time online.
DANNY THE C: Get psyched, Trekkie. You’re going to get addicted to this system.
TREKKIE: I already am
MISS BROOKS: <--heavily addicted
BOBSTER: <--me 2
DANNY THE C: How old are you, Trek?
TREKKIE: 25
DANNY THE C: Me too. Believe it or not, this is a great place to meet women. I’ve seen some very hot relationships start right here.
TREKKIE: no way
BOBSTER: For sure, Trek.
MISS BROOKS: It is true that surface characteristics such as appearance, ethnicity, and social stratum don’t enter into the way social contacts are made here.
DANNY THE C: Man oh man, Brooks, you type fast!!!!!!
BOBSTER: She used to be a secretary.
TREKKIE: she used to be a sec’y
DANNY THE C: Oh. Where’s everyone calling from?
BOBSTER: Okiboji, Iowa. You, Trek?
TREKKIE: Bishop, Vermont, way north
MISS BROOKS: Livermore, CA
DANNY THE C: Hey, we’re neighbors practically. I’m in Santa Clara.
MISS BROOKS: So you said. Nice to meet you. May I call you Danny?
DANNY THE C: You got any other options? :)
MISS BROOKS: I have to go. Boss caught me. Bye.
SYSTEM: MISS BROOKS HAS LEFT THE CHAT AREA
BOBSTER: Man, that’s what I call beating a hasty retreat.
DANNY THE C: I gotta go too. I have a hot date tonight!
BOBSTER: Danny, you devil!
DANNY THE C: Everybody, say hi to Michelle.
TREKKIE: hi michelle!
BOBSTER: Treat him right, Michelle--he’s our buddy!
“That’s neat,” Michelle said, reading the screen over his shoulder. “I’ve been on InfoServe, but I’ve never tried this USA Online thing before.”
She leaned back in the desk chair Danny had pulled up for her and took the last swallow from her Heineken. “But here I was, having a great time at dinner, complimenting you for not being a computer geek after all…and what do you do? You open doors for me. You invite me up to your apartment—I’m thinkin’, hey, this guy is way smooth—and then you show me stuff on the computer?!”
Danny grinned. “Pretty romantic, huh?” He logged off the system and shut the Macintosh off. “It’s all part of the grand plan; don’t be deceived.”
She looked at him with sleepy eyes. Tonight was the first time he’d seen her hair down—long and silken, it curled easily at her shoulders, strikingly gold against her black linen jacket.
“And what grand plan would that be, you beast?”
“To get you off your guard, so you’ll believe me when I tell you you’re the most interesting person I’ve met on the West Coast.”
“Compliment accepted.”
Danny laughed. There was something strong and independent about her—and yet she thrived on chivalrous treatment.
“Woops,” Danny said. “I think I just violated the terms of our date, didn’t I?”
She looked puzzled.
“I promised to talk nothing but business. To say nothing personal.”
She considered this. “Oh, that’s right! Better say something about work, then, to compensate.”
“OK, how about this: why on earth is Arnie so terrified of Gam Lampert?”
Michelle’s playful mood evaporated. “What do you mean?”
Danny’s eyes widened. “Oh, come on! The guy’s a complete, arrogant jerk! Arnie absolutely cringes every time Gam opens his mouth! Or the way Gam shows up at work when half the work day is over already, you know?”
She was looking away, suddenly tense. Uh-oh, he thought.
“Danny, I think there’s a lot you don’t know about Gam.” She crossed her legs. “And I don’t think you should pass judgment before you know the whole story.”
Danny hadn’t expected her to rush to Gam’s defense. Too late, he remembered Gam’s ladies’ man mode, and the couple of times he’d seen Gam and Michelle laughing together at the office.
“Look,” she said. “Do you know where Gam worked before this?”
Danny shook his head.
“Huntington Systems. They discovered him, really…he’d been working there for two years before Bob Stroman came up and bought him out. I saw some of the figures—you can’t believe how much they’re paying Gam. Enough to make him jump ship.
“It’s all much stickier, of course, because Stroman founded Huntington Systems.” She noted his look of surprise. “You didn’t know that?! Oh, yeah—Stroman started it with his old Stanford buddy, the guy who runs it now—the ‘Huntington’ in Huntington Systems. And then one day Stroman left to start Artelligence. So he and Lars Huntington haven’t exactly been best buddies since that event.
“Anyway, the point is: hiring Gam away probably made Lars really ticked off. So at this point, Stroman’s hands are sort of tied: Gam’s the only one who could pull off Master Voice, and Stroman basically told him he could run the show if he came over to our side. And so that’s the deal. They’re doing what they can to keep him happy and working, that’s all. And Gam happens to be a very, very brilliant person.”
“I don’t know, Michelle. I don’t doubt that he’s brilliant—I just don’t trust him.” Suddenly he felt as though he was on thin ice. “I mean, like— When you ask him about specifics of the program—what he’s calling some variable, or the name of a subroutine—he answers you incredibly clearly. But if you ask about the program’s overall structure—the flow, the big picture—he just gets cranky and says that the helm is in good hands.”
“And it is, Danny. Believe me, the guy’s got his name on this project in ninety-point type—he’ll do everything in his power to make it great. Don’t forget he’s staking his reputation, too.”
Danny considered this. “Well, all I know is that he’s a very screwed-up, controlling, unpleasant person.”
Michelle looked self-consciously away for just an instant. “Could we change the subject?”
“Sure. Sure we can. I mean—Michelle, is it…did you…have feelings for Gam?”
“Let’s not talk about it, OK?”
She looked at her watch abruptly. “Actually, you know what? I’ve got to be up kind of early.” She picked up her purse.
“Michelle, listen: I’m really sorry if I said something. I’m just trying to understand things better, you know?”
She looked at him and nodded. Finally, a forgiving smile broke on her face, and she stepped up close to him. She smelled amazing.
“I know, Danny. I like that in you.” She stood on tiptoe and kissed him, gently, briefly. “Thanks for a great evening.”
He hugged her warmly, then showed her to the door. “And thank you. Please give my apologies to Myrtle for not choosing a restaurant with a more liberal reptile policy.”
She laughed and stepped out the door. He savored her farewell smile, but knew that he’d unearthed some emotions he hadn’t expected. And he knew he had much more to learn about Gam.
 
 
will continue. Check out next month’s MacAddict CD for Installment 3 (of 12)!
