Run Program by Scott Meyer

Author:Scott Meyer [Meyer, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 9781477848739
Publisher: 47North
Published: 2017-06-19T22:00:00+00:00

29.

Ma Kuo, Houndio’s product inventory manager, stood in the middle of his own office, making every effort to show no fear. He held a phone, carefully covering the microphone with the heel of his hand. His eyes were locked on the man next to him as he tried to look attentive without appearing to be eavesdropping.

Jiang Kang, the chief accounts director for all of Houndio, stood beside him, wearing an impeccable suit under a scuffed and battered high-visibility vest. He held a phone in each hand—holding one away from him, the receiver covered, and shouting into the other, “I don’t want to hear about accounting procedures or access privileges. I’m about to put down this phone for a few seconds. When I pick it back up, you need to have the information I require.”

Jiang lowered the phone, which he held in his right hand. He took a breath, then lifted the other phone, the one in his left hand, removing his thumb from the microphone grate.

“Yes, sir,” he said into the receiver. His tone was a smooth purr, but he still had to raise his voice considerably to be heard over the cacophony of thousands of electric motors echoing all over the warehouse floor. “I apologize for the noise, sir. It is regrettable. Yes, I am in the inventory manager’s office. Yes, it’s still this loud. We’ve left strict orders that no workers should enter the warehouse itself unless absolutely necessary, and if they do, they must wear ear protection.”

Jiang Kang listened and nodded. While his physical actions could not be heard over the phone, his general air of fearful obsequiousness did carry through, loud and clear.

“Yes, sir. Yes, sir. It is as you say, sir. I have them looking up the client’s account, and I have the client himself on another line. I have not had the chance to explain the situation to him yet. Yes, sir, I will do so at once.”

Jiang Kang lowered the second phone from his ear, looked at the phones he held in both hands, then leaned his head forward toward Ma Kuo, who dutifully held the third phone up to the man’s ear.

“Hello, Mr. Albert. This is Jiang Kang,” he said, switching to English. “We spoke once before. I’m the chief accounts director for Houndio. Yes. It is good to talk to you too. No, there’s no problem with the manufacture of your robots. There is, I’m afraid, a bit of a hiccup, if that’s the proper term, with their storage and shipping.”

Ma Kuo stiffened. Storage and shipping were his responsibility, and while he didn’t feel the current chaos was in any way his fault, he also knew that being faultless was not the same as being blameless.

“Mr. Albert,” Jiang Kang continued, “it seems that several of the earliest examples of your product somehow became active and left the factory’s storage facility. Later, they returned with various trucks they had somehow procured. More of your merchandise loaded themselves into the trucks of their own accord, went away, then returned with even more trucks.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.