Alice's Point of View
"Honey, I brought lunch!" she called out. Their money troubles were at an end, finally. After his appearance on the Aaron Hacker show, Alex's Mr. Math channel gained nearly one million subscribers over a few days. Brand deals were flooding in and e-abacuses were selling faster than they could be made. Their dream house was closer than ever.
"Alex! Alex?"
He hadn't answered her. He should be home. His truck was outside. With a hint of trepidation she walked lightly into the hallway of their small apartment, setting down the bag of WacArnold's and palming the blade in her purse just in case. At a distance of less then ten meters a blade was more deadly than a firearm. Alice knew this from experience.
All manner of wild scenarios ran through her mind as she moved tactically through the hallway, always making sure to check her corners. She ducked into the laundry room to make sure it was clear then continued forward. Coiled like a viper ready to strike, she burst through the threshold to their living room and scanned the area for hostiles.
"Alex, don't scare me like that!" she scolded him. Her boyfriend was hunched over a laptop on their couch, unblinking eyes focused on a pale screen with only the faint tapping of keystrokes to remind the world he still lived.
Letting her shoulders sag in relief, Alice tried and failed to get his attention. Looks like he's in one of those "coding fugues", she thought.
He was working rapidly on something, something engrossing. Alice eased around to get a closer look but her movement finally alerted him to her presence and he closed the file before she could take a peak.
"Come on, I want to see!" she whined.
"It's not ready yet!" he replied petulantly.
Honestly, Alex was so sensitive about his work these days. It was college all over again. Whenever he wasn't confident about something he hid it until it was perfect. There were so many nights she'd hang out in his room while he was sitting just like he was now, working away on a secret project. It was cute, sometimes.
"Can you at least tell me about it?" she probed.
"AI tutor, very heavy duty, could potentially charge a subscription fee once I've got it where it needs to be."
Without warning she plopped down on the couch next to him, making the laptop on his knees bounce dangerously.
Alex almost dropped his computer. "Hey, watch it!"
"There's something you're not telling me, Alex." She could see right through him. He wilted under her gaze. They remained like that for a good long moment.
Alex swallowed heavily and blinked a few times. He was uncomfortable. Something was bothering him. Alice knew all his tells.
"I won't be mad," she promised.
He looked down, unable to meet eyes. "You never told me your dad was Sidney Adelman," he said softly.
Alice recoiled as if struck. She hadn't heard that name in years!
"Where did you hear that?" she demanded viciously.
At times like this she cursed the fact that her boyfriend was a man of action. Her confrontational tone gave him courage. "What does it matter? Isn't this something you should tell your boyfriend? Your dad is a billionaire that damn near funds the Republican party single-handedly. We've been together for four years, Alice! Four years! When were you planning on telling me?"
He sounded so hurt; she had to tell him something. But what? She couldn't tell him everything. She couldn't even tell him half!
"I have no father," she decided to say. "We have no relationship, not anymore."
Not since he sold me.
"But...but...how? What happened?"
Alice sighed. What could she say? That part of her life was sealed up, a scab she dare not scratch. Who knew how much it would bleed? But this was Alex. He deserved the truth, as much she could give.
"My father is twice the age of my mother, his second wife. She killed herself," she spat out the information rapid fire. Alex was about to say something but she silenced him with a gesture. "I look just like her. Sidney's first wife, his real wife, and their children, all hate me. I'm an uncomfortable reminder of his blonde bimbo trophy wife, evidence of his midlife crisis. One day he just...got rid of me and they all pretend I don't exist now. I've been on my own for years."
Alex looked absolutely stunned. He wrapped his arms around her. "I'm so fucking sorry, Alice! I had no idea."
She hugged him back. "It's fine, you didn't know."
And, god-willing, you'll never hear the rest.
They held each other for a while until she remembered the food was getting cold. "Come on babe, I brought home WacArnold's. Let's eat!"
The prospect of eating together seemed to wash away the heavy atmosphere. As soon as they sat down Alex started demolishing his two bacon double cheeseburgers with large fries while Alice sipped her iced coffee and nibbled on a chicken sandwich.
"I'm sorry I put you on the spot like that," he said between bites. "I should've known there was a reason you don't talk much about your past."
"Already forgiven, baby," she said back. She'd forgive Alex for anything. "But seriously, what were you working on? Can't you give me a hint?"
Alex paused to gather his thoughts. "You know how a compiler works?" he asked.
"Uh, vaguely." Alice took one and only one computer science course in college. She remembered something about how the compiler would take their code and translate it into something the computer could actually run.
"Well, I've been thinking about creating a natural language 'compiler'. You know how they make up a language for some movies, like the blue people language in Avatar? There's an artificial language called Ithkuil. It's like, I don't know, the perfect language. I studied it in my linguistics classes at MIT. Ithkuil is super specific. If you could compile a natural language like English into Ithkuil you'd have a much more precise way to model semantics, or 'meaning'. Ithkuil is like the bridge, the way to eliminate ambiguity in AI models. Essentially, the AI will have an easier time understanding what people actually want.
"Imagine an AI that you could just boot up on a tablet, hand to a child, and leave them alone with it. Our AI will be able to evaluate kids, figure out what they know, what they don't know, and try different methods until it finds the best way to teach them. It's really captured my imagination, you know. I haven't been this excited about something in years."
Alice understood maybe a third of that. She was just happy her boyfriend was so passionate about something. "You've been really motivated since you struck out on your own."
He popped the last bite of one of his burgers in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. "You know, I think you're right. Working at Lockhole on what other people wanted really sapped my motivation. Now I decide what I work on and it's like the 'idea viscosity' has gone down. It's all just flowing out of me, you know? One thought begets another. The idea for the Ithkuil Semantic Parser came to me while I was working on our basic phonics app. It's gonna be big, and take a lot of compute, but potentially revolutionary. Terry, the boy, and I have been bouncing ideas off each other like crazy. Don't get your hopes up, but this one is potentially worth billions."
"Alex and Alice Wagner, billionaire couple" sounded real good to her. It was really about time she shed her cursed Adelman name.
Alice's phone vibrated. "Huh, the boss wants me for something. You can finish my chicken sandwich, honey."
***
Dahlia looked at her over tented fingers. "The Powers That Be are pleased, Alice. Your man has done well."
Alice certainly hoped so. "And that's all you want?" she requested clarification, "just eyes on the inside? Alex has Aaron Hacker's ear. Is there anything you want him whispering into it?"
Her boss smiled a knowing smile, sliding a packet across her desk.
Alice brightened considerably. "Does this mean I'm out of the doghouse?"
"Perhaps," Dahlia said noncommittally.
She opened the packet and read eagerly. "Jack Longworth, venture capitalist." It was a middle-aged man with close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair and a smug look on his face. He looked like somebody from the cast of Mad Men.
"He's going to be at the Republican National Convention next month in Milwaukee. We can arrange a meeting without trouble. I assume Alex has something he can pitch the man on?"
He did!
"Absolutely," Alice confirmed.
"The man is a known womanizer, particularly known for going after taken women. Seducing him shouldn't be a problem."
Her expression darkened as she looked back down at the dossier. Jack Longworth. Late forties to early fifties, she guessed, handsome for an older man. Typical horny cheating scumbag, the type to have three ex-wives and a drinking problem. She was already getting wet thinking about making him scream. Men his age were all sexists, many were rapists. She would know. Turning the tables would be gratifying.
"Consider it done, boss," Alice said. I'm gonna get real creative with this asshole, she thought darkly.
Dahlia's professional facade cracked. A wide grin all but split her face.
Alice couldn't help letting out a nervous laugh. "What are you so happy about?"
"I suppose there's no harm in telling you, now that the official business is out of the way. I'm pregnant!"
Alice stood up immediately. They both yelled and cried and hugged.