thefirstmanonjupiter: Tomorrow Today--I2I

I had been complaining all day to Jeff about my colleague at the office. And he had been listening to me..or at least he had appeared to be--his eyes glued to his computer showing graphics of DNA. I just believed him simply because that was the me-time. And that was regardless the fact that he was busy doing other things. SCIENTISTS!!!

"Jhon has been a pain in anybody's ass, I'm tellin' u. Put it this way, if your very ass were there, they would feel painful, too!"
"Uh-uh. Go on."
"Seriously, Jeff. What is wrong by making sure that we exist in our virtual world during work?"
"Mmm,..."
"You do not need to answer that!"
"OK. Go on."
"See? You agree. You agree with me. That's good."
"I mean, what? I am new and suddenly I have to be responsible for things he IS responsible for? He can wait till I get all the knowledge I can. And I will!"
"By being in your so-called virtual world?"
"Well, yeah! No regulations forbid HUOL* during working hours. And has it ever crossed his pitiful smaller-sized brain--if I correctly identified it as one--that I,..I get many things the company need from HOUL? You see,I added almost a hundred database just from being online in HUOL. That's a number, I'm tellin' you. That's a number!"
"OK. that's a number, I got you." Jeff was typing while saying all that.
"And what number has he got so far?"
"Three thousands or so, but hey! He stays longer than I do. You gotta keep that in mind."
"I do keep that in mind. Go on."
"Maaaaaan,... I can go on for years on this one."
Jeff suddenly stopped working and looked me in the eye.
"Don't! Don't go on for years. I gotta work all night for this new gadget for tomorrow. Now,..." He got up and went to his room. Seconds later he got out with a box.

"Try it!" He handed the box to me. It was black all over with maroon letters--TT.
"Tomorrow Today?"
He nodded.
"Again?"
"O c'mon, don't 'again' me!"
"Go home, try it, if it doesn't work, go back here and I will wake up a whole night listening to your pathetic stories."
"But..."
"I promise. Boyscout promise.
"But you have never been a boyscout."
"I will starting tonight for you only if this I2I doesn't work."
"I2I?" He puzzled me. He enjoyed that.

So I went home. I got a feeling that he actually just wanted to kick me out of his place. Well, he succeeded. I opened the box since he reminded me again and again that this one is not to be used on the road.

When I opened it, I saw two thin round metals shining because of the light from the lamp in my bedroom. There was no manuals just like he said. He only told me that I should lay down next to a phone which I found it very strange but I did it anyway.

I took out the thin round metals. I lied down and put them on top of my eyes. Before that I readied my fingers on the maroon box to turn the switch on. And I did. And I thought of my colleague as Jeff instructed earlier. And I was watching a movie with never ending ribbons flying above my eyes.

The scene was something I was familiar with. I was sitting in my cubical with my headsets connecting to HOUL. My online self was checking the contacts I had on my HOULCOM--a gadget in that virtual world that functions as a telephone. Some names and numbers were in red and blinking. I touched the screen on one number and there was Maurie. How beautiful.

"Mornin', morning."
"Hey, there." Maurie replied in texts.
"In texts?"
"What do you suggest?"
I touched the CAM panel on my computer screen and was about to see Maurie LIVE when I heard a knock on the wall beside me.

It was John.
"Hey,..."
"Yeah?"
"I rang you, you didn't pick up. Got lists of things to do from the big boss. Here's your part." He dropped a multimedia card on my table. He literally d-r-o-p-p-e-d it.
"Nice girl,...Maurie." He said that after glancing to my computer screen. Then I looked at her in the eye and see images shown in flashes.

Me
Maurie
John
Big boss
John and big boss in his office
John says "I can depend on him."
Big boss
John
Big boss "The HOUL boy?"
HOUL home page
John--quiet
Big Boss smiled cynical smile
Big Boss
John put his head down
John says "He can."
Big Boss "If he wants to."

I took off the I2I thin round metal and suddenly dialed John number.

*HUOL--Hook Up Online