"Hey, The Hero Returns!" shouted Eager as EagerShine.shurpa stepped through the front door of thas West End apartment.
EagerShine.shurpa smiled broadly around the tiny studio kitchenette and saluted Eager, sitting on the couch with a beer can. EagerOrga, Eager's shurpa office manager, perched on a stool by the stove top, waved back. EagerOrga's hologenic display was obviously a copy of Eager but with a more feminine appearance. Tha could have been Eager's sister.
"Congratulations EagerShine," said EagerOrga.shurpa. Then tha opened the pantry door revealing the three EagerByte boys, A, B and C, standing shoulder to shoulder in their processing positions. They were also copies of Eager, but with a teenage appearance. They looked up and smiled simultaneously at EagerShine. EagerDog.shurpa, the hologenic golden retriever said "woof".
"We watched the whole thing," said Eager. "It was a command performance, beyond anything we expected on your first time out in the wild."
"Thank you, thank you," said EagerShine.shurpa, "I couldn't have done any of it without all of you as my backup team."
"Ok, enough of the false modesty. Let's get down to business. What did we do right? What did we do wrong, and how can it be improved for tomorrow?" asked Eager.
"As all of you know," Eager continued, "EagerShine is fresh from a custom display makeover. Tha has also had a Liaison Skills and Sociability upgrade. We're depending on tha to be our public-facing front end. After tha is honed to perfection at BigCorp, thas clones will spread out across the city."
"First, good catch recognizing Lyre from her profile photos on the TransPod this morning. Chatting informally outside the office is going to be your best way to connect with people. They're more relaxed, more trusting and open to suggestions. Do you smoke?" asked Eager.
"I'm a shurpa," said EagerShine, "I can't ingest anything except data."
"Ok, EagerOra get tha one of those after-market mastication simulators. At least once a day I want you to go down to the back lane behind the office building. That's the informal smoking area. Hang around there. Pretend to smoke. Get to know who goes there and when. You're meeting people throughout the organization, from the mailroom to the executive suite. I want you on a first name basis with all the smokers."
"Very well Eager," said EagerShine.
"Next, your presentation appearance is first rate. I mentioned this earlier, but getting a giggle from Lyre was masterful. I really don't think I could have done better in person."
"Thank you Eager," said EagerShine, "I'll continue prioritizing charm in relations with our outside colleagues."
"Last thing -- did you cause the traffic jam downtown this afternoon?"
"I'm afraid so, Eager," said EagerShine.shurpa, "My GPS resolution dipped unexpectedly as I passed through the electromagnetic field from a large transformer on Georgia St. That caused me to lose my trajectory coordinates temporarily and ..."
"Never mind the technical details EagerShine. What happened?"
"I mistook the FLO transformer for an Edgar of New York store entrance. Sorry. When I tried to enquire about cuff links ..."
"So you stepped inside and your holo field blew the main relays?"
"Approximately, yes. I believe so."
"EagerOrga, would you mind opening a ticket with Shurpa support on this? We'll need a data dump of thas entire conscious and background processes in, say, the 10 seconds before the incident. Let them examine the dump and make recommendations. Then we'll get the EagerByte boys to confirm their theory. I want to avoid anything like this in the future."
"Very well Eager," said EagerOrga.
"Now, what is your impression of your/our relations with the project team?" asked Eager, turning to EagerShine again.
"Starting with Lyre, we have received an early favourable response. In fact, tha initiated a request for our personal data library. This is a provocative request, given the sensitivity of personal data in general and the timing of the request. Tha is taking a risk and suggesting we take a risk with this relationship as well. I believe tha is demanding our attention."
"I think you're right EagerShine, and I like it. I like thas chutzpah. Tha looks like a million creds and I especially like that tha is paying extra attention to me. We have to reward tha for that, and quick. Any ideas?"