Augmented Reality by Mr. Senior Consultant (story)

Foreword

I began to publish the cycle of stories “Mr. Senior Consultant” long ago, and earlier only friends and colleagues could read it. This is the first publication of one of the stories of the cycle on a public resource, and in general my first publication on Habré (do not judge strictly).

Prologue

The second half of the 10s was marked by the rapid development of virtual and augmented reality technologies. Many companies have simultaneously released VR glasses, VR helmets, and augmented reality glasses (which allow you to see not only what is in the real world, but also what is in the virtual world in relation to the real world).

Nanosoft

The sun, breaking through the morning smog, crawled lazily into the sky. Dan has finished uploading the latest batch of video files to the system. The total amount of video and photo materials with baby Sue on his drive reached 5 terabytes. He buried Sue 2 years ago in a country cemetery, after which they somehow quietly parted ways with his wife, and he remained to live alone, among beer, computers and old posters on the walls.

The latest development of Nanosoft, where Dan worked, made it possible to assemble a virtual image from real materials. The software package was new, it has not yet entered the market, but the company's engineers could already test it under their personal responsibility. Dan launched the task of calculating the new image and fell on the sofa. It was necessary to sleep a little, my eyes were watering, my thoughts were confused. At four in the morning, after two days of continuous work, he felt completely overwhelmed.

Sue

- Dad?
Dan opened his eyes. A voice, it seemed to him, sounded right above the ear. Dan looked back. The clock on the wall showed the evening, he slept for more than twelve hours. Sue often dreamed of him, but this time the voice was heard clearly.
- Dad?
It seemed that the voice came from the side of NanoLinz - points of augmented reality, which were developed by Dan's company. Dan put on his glasses, and looked around. Sue sat in her favorite chair, legs tucked up and holding a coffee mug.
- Dad, here you are!

Feature

By the end of the month, Dan realized that he was going crazy. Every morning on weekdays, he escorted his daughter to school. He tried several times to talk to her teachers. There was no time left to work - Dan was dedicating all the time to the child. Neighbors shied away from him - he spent the evening on the playground, talking to non-existent interlocutors. And all the time on his head were augmented reality glasses.

“Let's fly to the ocean?” He asked Sue once.
- Of course, daddy, well, her, this school, I so long dreamed about the beach and palm trees!
On the plane, Dan was sitting next to an empty place, but he constantly talked, and even spilled coffee once, trying to pass it on to his daughter. Of course, he bought 2 tickets.

Ocean

Two weeks near the ocean flew by. Dan did not take off his glasses and spent all his time with his daughter. They swam, sunbathed, ran along the beach. On the last day, in the evening, they went to the beach, and as usual, floated far behind the buoys, where the waves are higher and the wind is stronger. Dan floated farther and farther, the forces began to leave him. Sue's strength did not end, she breathed smoothly, and the wave of her arms did not become slower. However, all this was not important. Dan was not going to go back.

Epilogue

The sun slowly, but stubbornly sank in the ocean. On a perfectly flat beach of white sand, over which hung delightful palm trees from the foam of tropical waves, a girl came out. Looking back, she saw Mr. Senior Counsel sitting on the shore and sat on the sand beside him.

“Dad won't be back,” she said after a pause. - Now I have no one to play with. Play with me?

Mr. Senior Consultant for some time looked at her as looking at a work of art. After that, he took off his head augmented reality glasses and with the words “Oh, hey,” he swung and threw them into the water with all his might.

On the dirty surface of the water, covered with oil film, circles began to diverge. The edge of the beach was littered with cigarette butts and cans. Palm was not. Sunset too.