Richie Boss: Private Investigator Manager - Finding Source Code on the Web for Remix and Reuse - page 319

Chapter 17
Richie Boss: Private Investigator Manager*
Micah Joel
Abstract In this short story, set six decades in the future, a data investigator named
Richie Boss takes a job from a woman who is writing a biography of her great-
grandmother. His investigations trigger a series of events that creates a new world
for sentient computer programs.
Dedicated to Brian Wilson Kernighan and Dennis MacAlistair Ritchie
Although I never met them, they taught me how to code
I didn't get into this business on account of my interpersonal skills. I'm not what
you would call a people person. That doesn't mean I'm lonely, though: I know more
indys than I can keep track of—and I don't mean that as a figure of speech—my
personal assistant indy Hurd.39845 lives on my local network node in exchange
for services rendered. He's the best non-biological resource manager I've ever run
across.
Every aspect of my office has been smoothed down for solo operation. Years ago
I splurged and got a full 10 m 2 in SoMa, with most of that taken up by my primary
desk, the rest just enough for my comfortable chair where I plant my butt every day.
It's as close as I get to religion.
Questions come in, answers go out. I don't advertise. I've got enough work to
keep me busy on a good day, and looking hungry can attract the wrong sort of
attention. I never get visitors, that is to say, persons, and that's the way I like it.
Then one day, Pandora Rubens came to my door. She knocked twice then let
herself in. I glared at her, waiting for her to realize she had the wrong office, but
no, she stood there digging through her purse. Even standing in the open doorway,
her legs nearly brushed against my chair. She fished out a slip of metal smaller than
acigar.
∗ This work has been released under a Creative Commons Share Alike-Attribution 3.0 license
(CC-BY-SA 3.0).
M. Joel ( )
Twitter: @micahpedia
e-mail: [e-mail]