Lesson Plans - Euge

Lesson-Plans The ACME airfield wasn't much, just one paved but unlit runway bordered on one side by several oversized hangers.  At the far end one stubby control tower was perched atop a 4 story building that housed a few offices and several classrooms. One classroom in particular was occupied by Eugene Grovington, one of ACME's newest instructors, who was busy hauling assorted teaching materials in from the nearest hanger. "That's the last of it, Duncan. Thanks for your help." Eugene addressed the lone controller that had come down and helped him. It was the end of Duncan's shift and he was walking out the door when Eugene came in with a cart precariously loaded with flight gear and textbooks. Duncan had caught a thick tome just before it toppled off, and ended up helping Euge with several more assorted items. As Duncan drove off into the California sunset, Eugene flopped into his chair and rubbed his eyes. Flying directly into the setting sun was something that even his trusty aviator sunglasses couldn't combat entirely, coupled with being up since 0600 local time. "Those all night runs are getting to you, old man," he thought to himself. Leaning forward, he pulled a small laptop from his flight bag, plugged it into a power and an Ethernet jack and typed "run Loki" into the black prompt. He waited until the ‘dumb' AI returned with "online" and typed "connect to IRIS." Establishing a secure link would take some time, so Eugene busied himself with preparing for the start of classes.  Several minutes passed before the built in webcam swung around, surveying the space, while a feminine voice sounded through the room. "Nice digs, Euge." The synthesized voice belonged to Iris, an artificial intelligence Eugene had received as payment for a job two years past moving sensitive computer supplies for the U.S. government. "Are you sure you want to take this on though? You don't exactly have a clean record as far as agencies go. As I seem to recall, you've done a few jobs directly detrimental to ACME and a fair few more where you had to shake their agents." The AI was high spirited, and enjoyed playful banter with her fleshy counterpart. "You're one to talk," Eugene shot back. "As I recall, you're the one who rerouted funds from this and several other agencies to ensure you could never be taken offline," Eugene noted while continuing to shelve books. "Touché. Now, down to business; you should know that there's a hostile entity in ACME's system. VILE's work." "Anything you need to worry about?" "Eugene Michael Grovington, I am offended!" Euge smiled broadly at the middle name treatment. "I thought you had more faith in me and my pets!" Enigma and Loki, two narrow AI's that Iris created as a pair of watchdogs, were small enough to carry on a disk yet smart enough to sidestep almost any counter-intrusion measures. They also served to run errands and do odd jobs when Iris needed to dedicate her cycles to other problems. "Very well, I won't question your abilities again. Are you going to eliminate it?" "No. It is ACME's network, therefore it is ACME's problem, unless they come to me for help." "Right," Eugene snorted. Iris never let something like that just sit. Not having a challenge would drive her insane, and reinforcing DoD firewalls would occupy her for only so long. The intruder would be her logical next target. "Since we're secure, what about the Stockholm job?" "Already received payment and closed the account." Iris replied. "Looks like you'll be able to retire to ACME pretty comfortably." "Ha ha Iris. I'm only here because I wanted a temporary reprieve from being shot at. You remember the Somalia job, right?" Iris delivered her parting shot as she retreated out of ACME systems; "only because you lost seven of my drones." "It was a good cause, unlike the other times;" Eugene thought as he turned out the lights.  Tomorrow he would follow in his mothers footsteps and begin teaching. (Authors Note: Iris is an acronym standing for Integrated Responsive Information System)