My Daughter, the Digital Detective

Field Notes from the Future, Vol. II

Tuesday, August 19th, 2030-Something

Annabelle’s curiosity is turned up to 11.

A Level 3 customer advocate, her watch has tapped her with an offer to help a “Mr. Kaiser” solve a particularly puzzling problem with his espresso machine. The projected difficulty rating (and associated payment) is an “8”; A reasonable investment of her time on an otherwise ordinary Tuesday afternoon.

She accepts.

As an L3, Annabelle tends to see a lot of interesting work routed her way. Her teammates Mark and Taylor, Level 1 and 2 respectively, typically solve a good 90% of customers’ issues, meaning Belle primarily gets her triad’s corner cases. Or, as she likes to call them, “the colorful ones”.

Annabelle gigged with this company because every day brought new people and new puzzles. That and the fact that she could work “wherever and whenever”, which in today’s case meant the sunny deck of her grandmother’s Montana home.

Belle grabs her AR/VR headset from her bag, kissing Gram on the cheek. “I’m taking a work call Gram. Back in a bit.”

“You look like you’re blindfolded with that thing on. Don’t fall over the railing.” Gram jokes.