Jackknife 7
Chapter 7 Learning the Beast II
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“Before we start, you need to become acquainted with Metis. Hey Metis, please introduce yourself.”
A digital female voice spoke over the speakers in stereo.
“Hello, my name is Metis. I am the A.I. Co-pilot for Rhea. My purpose is to assist with route planning and management, weather adaptation, fuel adaptation and general connectivity to the internet.”
Cray sat patiently waiting for someone to continue, until he noticed everyone was looking at him expectantly.
“What?”
“Please interact with Metis.”
Cray didn’t hide his disdain for the exercise. He didn’t really believe a talking computer was installed in the truck. It was surely some hopped up smart speaker device that he wouldn’t allow in his home even if someone paid him.
“Hey Metis, is it O.K. to call you Computer? Like on the old Star Trek show?”
“That is your prerogative, however it may lead to sub-optimal performance due to my programming.”
“O.K., I’ll be prepared.”
Body language spoke louder than words for the entire group. Discomfort and disappointment in the truck presenters, extreme sarcasm from Cray. They were all prepared to move on.
Finally, the moment to press the big, illuminated ignition button arrived. It was almost a let down. Instead of roaring to life, befit of its looks as a vehicular beast, it just started purring.
“Electronic starter, electric motor boost to get the diesel moving. Smooth, isn’t it?” explained the sales gal presenter with more than a little satisfaction.
“What happens on a malfunction? How do I get it started?”
“Oh, that’s unlikely to happen, there are built-in back up systems. But I’ll check with the technical crew to see what they say.”
Now that the engine was running, the next step was movement. It had to be. Cray was itching to get going. If they micromanaged his driving he might lose his temper, he thought, so he mentally prepared himself for the worst.
“All right Cray, take it out for a tour of the parking lot. Nice and easy at first, please,” called up his talkative escort.
The last comment was a nitpick, tempting Cray to floor the accelerator in spite, but he did say please, so Cray eased her out of the hangar and entered the spacious grounds built for semis. He drove a slow grid, testing the signals before he turned, coming to a full stop for imaginary red lights. He cycled through the headlamps and running lights to get a physical feel for the controls. The ride was good, seriously quiet for its class. As a last maneuver he put it in reverse and backed up to the center of the blacktop.
“Nicely done,” commented his escort, “I think we can move the practical runs up to a full tour of the facility to this afternoon.”
Cray checked his watch. It was noon. They had changed schedule to accommodate him.
“Works for me. I could use a break before lunch.”
Working with nothing but other people for two straight days put a strain on Cray. He was sleeping well but a quick nap was in order.
He woke up an hour later and decided not to push it. He’d call Marie instead. It was a good choice. She was adjusting to the calls and in a better mood.
“Are they feeding you well?”
“Oh yeah, I have a dedicated kitchen crew. They even make my morning coffee.”
“I miss your morning coffee. It’s a great way to wake up.”
“We’ll get back to that routine right away then. I like making coffee myself.”
They chatted a few more minutes about nothing in particular, dancing around the subjects of when and where. Cray wanted to give hints but he didn’t dare.
Every new rule felt like a link being removed from his chain leash, shortening it. He told himself he could live with it but the leash was tightening.
Marie ended the call for a change, some appointment loomed, sparing Cray the task and leaving him time to think before lunch.
The talkative Ken doll had given up extra bits of information fairly regularly. It could be a slip but it seemed out of character for a professional puppeteer. Cray didn’t think to listen for the slips before today.
Thinking back, he did tell Cray he was getting their “best truck” and inferred Silver Label had detailed information about Cray’s habits back in Daryl’s office before he had signed the contract. He was the first to mention the city of Gloucester instead of the state of Massachusetts, and slipped with the word compound where facility was always used. Cray realized he should pay closer attention.
The call to lunch came at one p.m. No doubt some people were suffering at the late meal. Cray just shook his head. It was hard to decide if he felt sorry for these people or just spite.
As he entered the cafeteria he looked for the talkative Ken doll and seated himself across from his escort. There was no easy way to do what needed to be done so Cray bulled right into it.
“So, since we’re working together for now I thought I should get to know your names.”
“We didn’t introduce ourselves back when we first met?”
“Not to me. Not sure about Daryl.”
“Oh, we know O’Donnell from way back. That must be why we forgot. My apologies.
“I’m Ken Smith—”
Cray had to close his eyes and inhale deeply to keep from bursting out laughing. Of course his name was Ken.
“You O.K.?”
“Yeah, sorry. Thought I was going to burp.
“And your partner?”
“My partner is Bill Springfield.
“And we will be working together throughout the delivery very, not just orientation.”
“Seeing the job through to the end. I like that.”
“Good to hear. I hope you don’t mind but I’ll be riding with you for the facility tour. Once around on the inside, then once around on the outside.”
“Are you riding with me during the delivery?”
“Oh no, we’ll be following in another vehicle.”
“Smokey and the Bandit style in reverse.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Nothing important. Just showing my age.
“So where is Bill?”
“Making rounds. He’ll join us after lunch.”
Lunch ended, the entourage, minus Bill, headed back to the truck for the facility tour test.
Cray and Ken climbed into the truck and buckled in.
“O.K., it is basically the same route, once inside the fence, once outside. It is a nice drive really.”
“So what’s the real reason you’re coming along?”
“There are a few clarifications to the rules I need to go over with you.
“You asked about an override to the auto-ignition. While it makes sense for some scenarios, we want to emphasize that the truck is not to be taken in for any repairs or modifications and you’re not to try any yourself, no matter how simple.”
“You going to tell me about the ignition override or not? Don’t keep me in suspense.”
“The technical crew is working on it. It all depends on the nature of the malfunction.”
Cray was annoyed by the excuse but let it slide. There was more coming.
“The directors want added surveillance in the cab, and your consent to it.”
“What, more cameras? What are you going to do, put them in the sleeper and make trucker porn?”
“None will go in the sleeper, just in the operational portion of the cab.”
“Yeah, this time. Until you want to change something else. Geeze, just let me pick my nose in peace.”
“If I may move on, the last issue is not communicating with other drivers. This includes with the horns or flashing of lights.”
“That’s just part of driving,” Cray fired back, unable to hide his growing annoyance. “It’ll look bad for the company, hurt its reputation.”
“We’ll take the hit. It is important to discourage further contact.”
The signal came to start the tour. Cray eased out of the hangar and drove into the parking lot, turning toward the entrance.
“Take a left at the corner before the security gate and follow the road around. Then we’ll pass through security and do the same route outside.”
Cray shut down all his internal arguments and just played the puppet again. He was eager to get through with orientation and get on the road.
She moved smoothly in the narrow lanes. Heavy with all the extras she had installed but still lithe, power to spare, especially with no load in tow.
They returned to the hangar and Cray broke the silence.
“O.K., you got me a phone, I can adjust to more cameras. But you should know I think it is really creepy.”
“Thank you. And your evaluation is fair. I will make sure everyone understands.”
“As far as communicating with other drivers, it is no loss to me. But you probably already knew that.
“So where to next? Back to the classroom?”
“Yes. We’ll debrief you to today and set out the program for tomorrow.
“And Cray, thanks. Your cooperation is much appreciated.”
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