The two of them stared at Barnes. Then they stood up, almost in unison. Barnes just watched them, his expression suggesting he’d anticipated this reaction.
“Well?” he said.
“Back to the park?” Daniel asked. “Last time, at the café, you offered us jobs. You didn’t mention anything about the park.”
“You’re here, so you’ve got the jobs. Paperwork’s just a formality. I don’t care about contracts.”
“Wait, wait,” Jasper said, raising his hands. “I’ve got another job right now. I can’t afford a whole week in the park.”
“How about a whole lifetime?”
Jasper went silent. Daniel stepped in.
“What do you mean, a lifetime?”
“Boys, are we really having this talk again? Do I look like I’m joking? You want papers proving you work for me? Fine, I’ll call my accountant this afternoon. But that stuff doesn’t matter to me. Need money? Tell me how much. I’ve got cash and nothing to spend it on. I’ll give you whatever you want. Daniel,” Barnes turned to him, “you don’t have a job. No girlfriend either, from what I gather. What’s stopping you from jumping in? And Jasper? Those two properties you’re brokering—they’re being bought as we speak. My people are handling it. Those viewings weren’t random. We’re really going to populate the place with robots. I want to see how they handle a civilian setting. Any other problems we need to sort out?”
Both of them stood there, staring at him.
“Well…” Jasper’s tone softened. “You want us to work for you, but you’re sending us to the park?”
“Yes, yes. Your job, Jas, is to sell the apartments or houses there. You’ll go back to where you were. But this time, no one’s just settling the houses from the outside like before.”
“We didn’t even realize that last time,” Daniel said.
“Yeah, that was a mistake. Everyone will live in the bar this time. There are enough rooms. Anyone who wants a house can buy one.”
“With what money?”
“Local currency. Naturally, it’ll be exchangeable for real money. And you can earn it there too. We’ve set up plenty of ways for that to happen.”
“Okay, Barnes, that actually sounds interesting,” Jasper said, looking intrigued. He never called Hugo Barnes “sir” or anything formal—always just by name. “Can I buy properties too?”
“If you’ve got enough money? You’re not homeless here, are you?”
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
“And I’d have to travel around all the parks?”
“That’s the toughest part, actually. There’s a month until the park opens.”
“A month? Wasn’t it a week?”
“It was, but we pushed it back a bit. Some projects didn’t come together, and it worked out better this way.” Barnes took off his jacket, leaving just his shirt. “So, I’ve got five robots ready for you. Smart ones—not like this guy.” He gave Hotol a light shove. “They know they’ll be brokers, and they roughly understand what that means. The idea is for you to finish training them. The ones you get ready, we’ll send to the other parks. And ‘broker’ isn’t even a term in most eras. You’ll just be the property owners. If an owner decides to sell, you step in as the middleman and find the next buyer.”
“So me and the robots get the same pay?”
“No, Jasper. You get sixty percent of every property you sell. And fifty percent of every sale one of your trained robots makes.”
“And if an owner sells to someone else later?”
“Ten percent goes to the state—which, in this case, is the company. So we get ten percent of the total. Five of that’s yours. Fair, I think. Of course, owners can come to you for resales. Then you negotiate your cut with them, and ten percent of what you earn goes to us.”
Jasper stared at the floor, like he was calculating. But his eyes betrayed him—he was burning for this idea. Daniel knew him well enough to see he wouldn’t show excitement even if he loved it. Daniel, though, still didn’t get why he was there. The offer to Jasper was beyond perfect—Daniel would’ve taken it in his shoes. But now he waited for his own.
“Daniel,” Barnes turned to him right on cue, “you’re going into the park with Jasper too.”
“Which I don’t see as a great idea, Mr. Barnes. From what I understood, my job’s about the machines’ intelligence.”
“First off, call me just Barnes or Hugo—like Jasper does. I like it better. Makes me feel younger.”
Barnes paused to make sure Daniel was okay with that, then went on.
“First, I want you both in there to finish your stories. Trust me, the park’s got more surprises for you. Last time, you got pretty far. Jasper can start selling if anyone wants to buy. And you, Daniel, will stick with Jasper for now and help him out.”
“That feels a little degrading,” Daniel said, genuinely stung. “You got me fired from my job just so I could help Jasper in the park? Jasper’s my friend, but…”
“Trust me, Daniel, there’s a reason I’m sending you in. And about the other stuff… remember what we talked about? Just keep an eye on the robots’ intelligence—track what they’re missing. Look for bugs, situations they can’t handle, that sort of thing. It’s like being a programmer, except your code isn’t spread across files and thousands of lines. Your code’s compiled right in front of you, and your job is to keep the program—or in this case, the robot—from crashing. I could stash some tech for you in the park, but I think modern gadgets would ruin the place’s charm.”
Daniel didn’t know what to say. The offer didn’t sound as good as Jasper’s, but at least he’d get to spend time in the park again. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t miss it—he did, a lot. He wanted to escape reality again. And what reality was it anyway? Robots were starting to swarm around them, all thanks to Barnes—the guy they were about to work for.
***
That evening, Daniel was at home. As far as he knew, Jasper was too. Daniel was lying on his bed, trying to be alone with his thoughts. It was dark. Only the window was open, and the rustling of leaves could be heard from outside. There was a slight breeze. His phone screen lit up and distracted him. He had received a notification.
He opened it and froze.
And then he called Jasper.
“Jas? You asleep?”
“Nah, bro. I got it too.”