Uncommon Stock: Version 1.0 (The Uncommon Series) by Eliot Peper

Author:Eliot Peper [Peper, Eliot]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781941018071
Publisher: FG Press
Published: 2014-03-02T05:00:00+00:00

34

Mara looked up at the clock at the top right corner of her screen. Three seventeen a.m. Her last Five Hour Energy had contributed to her nerves without adding anything to her energy level. Neurons buzzed with frenetic but unfocused charge.

The aluminum tea infuser sat on a small plate in the middle of the table, drippings from the damp leaves staining the white ceramic. James reached down for his Japanese style handle-less mug, eyes staying focused on the screen in front of him. Maybe she should have gone with tea instead.

“We’re thirteen minutes out from the full diagnostic result,” he said. He took a sip and put his mug down.

The streets outside the window next to them were quiet. Their light was the only one on the block. Sleepless in a sleepy Boulder.

She looked back at the admin dashboard on her screen. The counter listed another twelve minutes and twenty-four seconds. Twelve times two was twenty-four. Shit. She needed to get her head in the game. She stretched her back, torquing her torso back and forth a few times.

James looked up at her, black eyes intense.

“I don’t know where the hole is going to be,” he said. “I’ve been living this code for a year now and I just can’t imagine what could have caused the kind of slowdown that happened this afternoon. There are obviously instances where we could reduce inefficiencies, but a crash that big…”

Mara shrugged. “I know when I’m drafting a document sometimes I’ll edit it five times and skim over glaring errors. Maybe it’s just one of those things.”

“Then why hasn’t it come up before?” he said.

“How the hell should I know?” she said.

There was a beat where they just stared at each other. Neurons were test-driving race cars through her cerebral cortex.

Her counter read eight minutes, thirty-three seconds.

“Well, I guess that’s what this diagnostic is for,” she said. “Hopefully it’s fixable without a complete overhaul because I leave for TechPitch on Friday.”

“Maybe if you raised us some money I’d be able to hire another developer to help resolve these problems before they explode,” he said, taking another sip of tea.

“Maybe if you wrote software that didn’t explode I’d be able to raise us some money.” Mara clenched her jaw. “I’ll bet you a hundred bucks we don’t hear from Monica again.”

“I told you we shouldn’t have run a live demo.”

“That’s what people want to see! Scripted bullshit doesn’t cut it anymore. If we can’t perform for a demo then how the hell will people trust us to perform on mission critical financial data?”

“Well, that’s what you get when I’m the only one coding.”

“Well, maybe what I’m getting isn’t enough.”

Both of their computers chimed in unison.

The screen read, “Test Complete — No errors detected.”

“What the fuck is this?” she said.

James ran his hand through his hair. “There’s no problem with the code.” He tapped a few keys.

“How can there be no problem with the code? We were both there this afternoon. This diagnostic tool is a piece of crap.

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