She knows electric current would either flow downward or upward. Upward was where the horse-drawn carriage was bringing her. Upwards to the cold mountains of Colorado. Good thing the purified air was of better quality, better than in the valley, downward.
“How long to the top?” She said loudly, uneasy with the galloping of the horse as it dragged the carriage. Has the millennium even passed?
“We’re almost there ma’m,” said the college student tour-operator she paid to bring her up the mountain. Oddly enough, the horse-led carriage was the only way up. She thanked her lucky stars for not needing to walk up with all that camera gear – she wasn’t exactly the athletic type.
Gina sighed. This whole bizarre story started just a little over a day ago, of all places, at the high-tech news head-quarters of Silicon Valley, and it was getting worse with each passing minute.
*** 24 hours ago ***
“Gina gin gin! Gina gin gin gin!” Antonio gleefully chanted as his chair zoomed towards her. She found Antonio as an annoying geek. But being a techno-guru, he infused her with the knowledge needed to work Silicon-Valley’s very tech savvy start-up scene. All that science and business stuff was not her world. It was their world.
And in this world she learned of the male pecking order. The first were the beta males. A sea of Antonios surrounded her. Smart, nerdy, but ultimately mediocre. A good percentage of the men in this valley were of their ilk: engineers, scientist, and programmers -- they were the drone workforce.
The leaders were the alpha males. The top 1% were the CEOs; they were leaders, risk-takers, innovators, and oddly enough, overwhelmingly handsome. It was her job to cover them.
“What is it again you annoying toad?” She chuckled. As the only blonde in this nerdy-type dominated field, she had more or less accepted that social-awkwardness was the norm. She missed alpha males.
“From the desk of our command leader,” Antonio said twirling the office chair shooting pretend laser-beams from his hands. Ah the editor, a true alpha male, who started the company, by the name of Mark. He was genuinely nice, wealthy, and as always with the alpha males, equally married. They never stay single. She sighs dejectedly.
“Remember the star of the innovation conference? That Tasla guy? The one you said I can never be in a million years unless the slush of the universe coalesces in a point singularity?” He said fingering his glasses upwards as it slid down his nose. “He needs you to cover his story.”
It’s no secret why I’ve been hired. None of these alpha male geniuses want to talk to the Antonios.
“Tasla? Isn’t he… ” she started.
“Yup he’s the one! Grandson of Mr. Electricity himself.”
“But isn’t he the one… Whose notoriously media shy?”
“Look” Antonio removed his glasses and began twisting the frame, “editor CEO Mark said the previous ten failed attempts doesn’t mean the eleventh will end just as tragic. He’d be damned if another agency gets an interview with him. We best be strategic about it.”
Strategic. What does he mean by that? Does he want me to seduce him…?
“Well you can tell him to forget about it. Strategic my ass.” The traditional news industry was still too competitive for her. She took his glasses from his hand. Tightened the bend and placed it squarely in his eye.
“Thanks! It’s perfect now.” He said grabbing a left-over donut, “Either get the interview or he’ll be out with your job Gina. You have until Saturday.”
“Here’s research.” Antonio beamed an ebook into her tablet. The title read, ‘Millennium Current: Tasla’s Electric Gamble’. On the cover was a man wearing a doppelganger suit standing in front of machine, with what appeared to be braches of electric-arcs shooting from it.
*** Now ***
A bump in the road jarred her.