The Power Behind this Bird

Wrapped by the winds of time, the artificial intelligence powered personal jet soared over America. In the grandeur of the best technology that one hundred countries combined had to offer in making it, the vessel sailed through the clouds.

Pilot Freemont Hunter, forty, coffee black and standing at six feet even wore a navy blue service shirt and black tie. His Corfams looked like black ice. His blue trousers seemed to be like blue tree trunks with deep creases. The flight was about five hours from Delaware to California.

Three souls remained aboard. The two passengers sat as a CEO and a COO of a cosmetics company worth forty billion dollars. The CEO, Famina Jeffers, twenty-seven, was blond haired. It looked like fresh wheat waving in the wind. Her skin looked like ivory tusks, white and strong. Her eyes glittered like sapphires. She boasted ample bosom and a slim waist. She sported a tidy pantsuit the color of mauve. Platinum bangles wrapped around her wrists and a platinum chain with her given name adorned her neck.

Her companion was slightly heavy, but had soft features. She had brown hair and green eyes that could alter from being dead to pop out whenever she showed enthusiasm. She wore a brown skirt and a beige blouse. As COO, she had spent time with Famina since the time she mixed shampoos and lotions in her basement to come up with her concoctions. Her name was Tabby Vinson.

Hunter sat with her.

“So it’s just you, huh?” she asked.

“It’s me and about eighty million dollars worth of nuclear-powered artificial intelligence,” Hunter replied with a wink.

He seemed to sit tall as well. There was an integrity in his posture. He sat like he was posing for a portrait. Tabby looked at Hunter.

“You’ve heard of Miss Jeffers before, no?”

“Of course. She’s one of the most well-known businesswomen in the world.”

“You know she’s not engaged.”

“I think I read that somewhere,” Hunter responded.

Tabby leaned in. “You like flying?”

“It’s my dream.”

“Even if you’re technically not flying?”

Even if that is so.”

Tabby observed the lights and switches which looked like the cross-section model version of a metropolis.

The sense of the two of them continuing to discuss the plane actually excited both of them. To speak of Famina made a slight smirk curl around Hunter’s face.

“What do you think of taking the CEO out for dinner?”

“Wow! I never thought about that but I would be up for it.”

“You’d pay?”

“If it was my idea.”

Tabby narrowed her eyes. Then, she brightened.

“When we land, we can have a date for both of you,” Tabby said gushing with enthusiasm. Her eyes dazzled.

Hunter sighed. “If we go out, we’re going to need to know more about each other.”

Tabby got busy. She exited the cockpit and spoke to Famina.

“Hey, Fam.’ He likes you.”

‘What?”

The pilot. He wants to go on a date with you.”

“I don’t even––” Hunter appeared like a magician who makes his appearance after a complicated trick.

“Good morning, ladies. We should be landing in about forty-five minutes.”

“Wouldn’t you like to check out the cockpit, Famina?”

The CEO, decisive in her ways, quickly answered. “No.” She had work that she busied herself with that required her full attention.

“It’s really very advanced. You would like the power behind this bird.”

Famina looked up again. She sighed. “Alright, my arm has been sufficiently twisted.”

Hunter ushered the CEO into the cockpit. She looked around and saw the complex computer systems. The colors looked like electronic candy emitting various lights.

“So, you handle all of this?” Famina asked.

“I’m more in the role of taking over just in case there is an emergency or to correct any errors that may arise. The one doing the heavy lifting is Arenas, the artificial intelligence system.”

“Oh, okay. Excuse me,” Famina returned to her chair and reclined with a mimosa.

Tabby looked incredulous. She knocked on the cockpit door.

“What the hell happened?”

“She doesn’t seem interested in me,” Hunter said. His voice seemed cool and low. It was as if he were sipping chilled water. The frosty tone bristled Tabby.

“You’re supposed to put your moves on her,” Tabby whispered loudly.

“That’s not my job. You playing matchmaker is cute, but I’ve got to man these boards and make sure we don’t end up in a wheat field.”

The grim statement shook Tabby.

“I mean when you phrase it as such it’s something that could be considered of greater importance but I think the AI is going to take care of us?”

“Okay, but who takes care of the AI?” Hunter asked.

Tabby looked down and up again. “I get all of that but Famina is so focused on her career, she never had time for a husband.”

“Husband?”

“Yes.”

“We’re moving rather quickly are we not?”

“I just know that that woman back there is in need of love and wants to find it on this flight whether she wants to admit it or not. So, let her come back in here and you work your magic, young man!” Tabby instructed. She stuck her head back out of the cockpit. And signaled Famina.

“Hey, Fam.’ Did you know the first AI written instructions took place in 1951?”

“No….”

“Let this gentleman explain the details of AI and how this jet is governed by the system.”

Famina brought her chair back up and swallowed the rest of her potent potable. Tabby walked by her and smiled. Hunter stood with his arms folded in front of his chest. A slight smile painted his face.

“What your friend is doing is rather stimulating at least,” Hunter admitted.

“She’s always trying to hook me up with someone. I’m busy. You’re obviously busy as we speak. Let’s find a way to have a simple kind of love at least: one that doesn’t drain each other or stamp on our respective careers. We’re just hustlers trying to make it in America.”

“I agree. We can at least ensure that we’re about our work lives. We can enjoy our hectic lives and find some way to develop something that’s going to work for the both of us.”

“I think that should stand.” The two of them walked out of the cockpit hand-in-hand. Tabby grinned broadly and clapped her hands together. Hunter brought up Famina’s hand and kissed it.

“All we have to do now is get you two to sit for a Mercier Hotel brunch in Wilmington.”

The three of them all looked at each other with sincere joy at the budding of a relationship that would birth new ideas, new values, new love.