A very important meeting

I don’t think I can remember a time when you didn’t have scrapes and cuts all over your knees. Especially when we were kids.

You were always jumping and rolling around everywhere without caring for bruises or cuts.

I remember this time where you climbed up a tree because you wanted to show me a golden beetle you saw. I remember being so scared that you may fall.

-It’s ok, Nyco. I don’t want to see it. Just get down!-, I shouted.

-You’ll change your mind once you see it. It’s beautiful!-, you assured me.

What I feared ended up happening. Just a few minutes later you fell down right beside me.

-Are you ok?-, I asked.

-Ouuuuuch…-, you complained. -It does hurt a bit but it was worth it. Look at it!-. You then opened your hands and the big golden beetle flew off too close to my face for my liking.

-EEEEEhhh-, I screamed as I danced around hoping it wouldn’t touch me.

-Hahahaha, it’s the same colour as your hair. That’s why I wanted to show it to you. The poor beetle must have confused your hair with his mother-, you laughed at your silly joke.

Later, I noticed that you fell from the tree because you didn’t use your hands to climb down. Your hands were occupied holding the beetle. You were so determined to show it to me.

I now know why you didn’t have that fear of getting hurt. Not only did you have a big ability to withstand pain, you also hungered for new challenges that put you in danger.

They may have taken away your fear and given you your boldness.
But that urge you had to show me that golden beetle. That was all you. That’s the kind of person you are. The boy that sometimes showed me disgusting insects to get a laugh, and the boy that showed me how to love.

---

Thursday 26th of April 3021

Emma was brushing her teeth as fast as she could, hating herself for having stayed up all night watching 5-S recordings on her TV. The sleepyhead was late to a very important meeting about the new 5-S they would release that fall. “You can’t be late today Emma. No, no no! If you are late, you won’t have chocolate for a whole year”, she threatened herself, tired of always being late.

She got out of her pajamas with the pink pig faces and put on her business black dress. She laughed at the contrast in clothing thinking how much she hated that in this world clothes had such importance. “If only I could do the presentation in my pajamas… That would be perfect”.

When Emma saw the little necklace of the seashell, she hesitated if she should wear it. It didn’t really match with the “professional” look she needed that day. After a few seconds of internal debate, she ended up putting it in her pocket. Leaving the house without it was definitely not an option.

The nervous girl looked at the clock on the wall, the meeting would start in 3 minutes. “Ok, maybe 2 months without chocolate”, she thought.

When she finally found her Warpy, she selected the portal in her office. The orange sphere surrounded and teleported her to the office. She got out of the portal and checked the time on her Warpy. She was two minutes late.

-Oh!, son of a…

-Emma! Come one, we are waiting for you!-, hurried Gyanna.

-I’m going, I’m going. Is my dad pissed?-, she asked her friend.

-... When is he not pissed?-, Gyanna asked with a smirk

-Good point-, Emma chuckled.

The two girls hurried to the meeting room. Gyanna calculated that Emma said 10 “sorrys” in all the duration of the meeting. “A new record” she later told her.

Emma and Gyanna had ended up working together in her dad’s company.
They loved it. Seeing each other all the time made it look like the college years had never ended. They did miss Yve during the working hours, but the three met at least once a week, so they hardly had time to miss each other.

Emma thought the meeting went well. She proposed an update to the 5-S where people could turn on an option that narrates interesting facts about the things they see in the Experience. Emma gave the example of a little voice giving information on a certain plant as the user looked at it. She defended that people would want know every single detail of the planets the Planet-Gazers discovered. Everyone in the meeting agreed it was a good idea.

It was thanks to Nyco’s constant curiosity when he was in the 5-S that made her think of that idea. Emma loved that everybody liked it.

Gyanna offered to invite her to lunch but Emma declined her invitation. She soon had another meeting that was even more important than the one they had that morning.

Emma got inside the portal in her office and selected her house as the jumping option. Emma was back home in a blink of an eye.

Emma lived alone. She loved the independence it gave her but, at times like that one, she really saw the benefits of living with her dad and the AI.

Her guest was going to be there in less than half an hour and her apartment was a mess. She had clothes everywhere and unopened packages on the floor. Emma decided she would clean the house before her guest arrived.

After everything was presentable she sat on the sofa looking at her personal portal. It was the same portal she had in her childhood apartment. Few people had the code; AI-Juliet, her two best friends, Nyco and this person she had met a few years back.

At exactly 13:30 pm, the portal illuminated itself with an orange light and the girl appeared inside of it. Emma looked as the Star-finder walked off her portal.

When Emma took a closer look at her, she noticed that the Star-finder was missing an arm.