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minutes, sir,” his
secretary said. “Additionally, I’ve been informed that the
speechwriting team is finalizing the schedule for State of the
Province speech. I’ve taken the liberty of uploading the latest
State speech to your tablet as well, in case you need to edit.”
    “Thank you, Mina.” He was glad that his
request for pushing the State Speech out a few days had been
accepted…everyone had agreed there clearly was not enough proven
information to present to the public. For now, he felt confident
about this news conference. All he needed to do was let Bridgetown
know that it was under control. Tired but satisfied, he retreated
to his office.
    He’d only just taken a few steps when his
assistant cleared her throat. “Sir...” Mina said, her voice
cracking slightly. “I’ve just gotten a ping from Tower
Central.”
    He paused, frowning at her. “Central?” he
said unevenly. “I just spoke with them. What do they need now?”
    “Shirai would like a moment of your time,”
she said quietly, avoiding eye contact. “She's…eh, she’s already
waiting in your office.”
    Shirai...? What did the Tower AI want with
him? She rarely came over to his part of the building, only
entering the government offices when requested. She considered
herself an integral part of the business world, especially for the
major firms with home offices here in the Tower, but she was only
an observer when it came to politics. For her to show up in his
office this morning, unasked, meant there was more… much more
to this ritual, than anyone had expected.
    “Uh...thank you, Mina,” he said with all the
calm he could muster. “That will be all.” He slipped through his
inner office door and locked it behind him, something he rarely
did. He noticed a slight tremor in his hands as he approached his
desk, and balled them into fists. As promised, he found his
hardback vidmat placed dead center on his desk with the speech
document open. He was too nervous to pick it up right now, and
moved it aside. He delayed the moment by scanning the rest of his
office for anything out of place, or a visual presence of the AI,
physical or otherwise.
    “Shirai?” he said into the air, his voice
pitifully small.
    “I am Shirai, sir,” she said, her voice
unexpectedly centralized to the area right in front of him. “Thank
you for taking the time to talk, Governor.”
    He cleared his throat and started again. “I
wasn't sure if you were still here. I don't think I've ever had the
pleasure of meeting you.”
    “I am Shirai,” she repeated, and slipped
into the brief preprogrammed introduction she shared with all her
interactive users; her voice was mature and conversational.
“Artificial intelligence unit and protocol security system for the
Mirades Tower. Reimos Mirades of EdenTree’s Biotech Division
created me twenty-five years ago. My original programming
assignment was to monitor server overflow, but I have expanded my
knowledge and reach to include net security and intelligence
trafficking. I am often called for economic and political
mediation.
    “I have limited emulated conscience to
maintain impartiality.”
    Anton exhaled, unaware he’d held his breath.
Genuinely impressed, he lowered himself into his chair and looked
up into the air to pinpoint the voice's origin. “I assume you have
a holo identity on this side of the Tower?”
    “Of course.”
    Shirai blinked into existence in front of
him, casually leaning over the back of a guest chair. She appeared
to be in her early twenties, slightly younger than he’d expected.
She had long, shoulder-length black hair that responded correctly
to any head movement she made, and wore business casual, a sky blue
button-down blouse with a black skirt and leggings. He noticed
belatedly that she was wearing a necklace with a small pendant
shaped like two intersecting circles.
    “I...I'm impressed,” he stuttered. “By the
level of detail, I mean. Forgive me for staring.”
    Shirai's smile