Benefits of Automation: A Casual Day of Disposing Bodies
Henry tapped his finger on the table, watching his laptop screen.
A couple walking behind him whispered about how weird he was for looking at a pure white screen.
The technique of using a polarized lens wasn’t well known. It hid what the user was looking at without worrying about wandering eyes. Adding to this simple technique was proprietary technology, which encrypted the screen and was decrypted by his glasses.
Though he had headphones on and listened to his favorite playlist, they couldn’t block all the ambient noise.
“Here’s your ice caramel frappuccino, Henry,” Jill placed the cup near him before heading back to the front counter. Due to him coming to the coffee shop often, she knew he likely didn’t hear what she said over the music playing.
Picking up the cup, he enjoyed the taste of the chilled beverage.
Seeing how bright it was outside, he grimaced at the current humidity and was grateful for the cool liquid and air conditioning.
Adjusting his glasses to see the screen better, he watched on his live feed showed two guys approaching the car.
They were carrying a bag that was squirming aggressively.
Looking at another open browser, he was happy that the system detected the approved bag delivered to people utilizing his service. They wouldn’t be pleased if the trunk didn’t open.
Such an incident would only occur if his clients used unapproved bags.
Seeing the two individuals getting ready to initiate contact, his eyes flickered to the dashboard, presenting all green from the drones nearby. They were set to monitor the immediate area — reporting that the hyperspectral scanning sweep had come up clean. A secondary team of drones would observe for any tails.
Henry watched as the guy near the car awkwardly tried to pull out a smartphone.
With a few taps, the guy put the phone close to where the NFC reader was located.
Seeing the guy able to navigate the program one-handed made Henry glad that he dedicated time to the User Interface.
A moment passed before the trunk opened.
Henry was now looking through the camera installed inside the trunk.
The same guy then used the phone, again, and placed it near the secured storage container before putting the phone away.
Like a flower, the storage device revealed the interior. It was designed to allow the storage bag to be slid inside easier.
After the container secured the bag, a small compartment opened and flashed red. The two men casually removed the specially designed gloves and deposited them into the appropriate location, causing it to switch to flashing green upon detecting the gloves.
Both men moved away from the car as the system took over, first closing the secure container, followed by the trunk.
As Henry monitored the process, his eyes flickered to the two men walking away.
Judging by their talking and what the drones picked up, they were planning where to get a late-night dinner.
It still amazed him how he could be someplace where the sun was reaching its zenith while seeing people do their work at night.
Swirling his coffee and feeling the ice hit the sides of the cup, Henry glanced to see the internal pump pulling out the air, the internal sensors detecting the decreased vitals of what was inside the bag. Henry couldn’t help but smile at how orderly the process was.
Henry wondered whether his professors would approve of using the knowledge he gained from the operational management classes to clean up illegal biomaterial.
On the dashboard, the system notified him that the car was proceeding to the car wash stage, where any accidental body contact made would be washed away. The vehicles in the fleet were engineered so all exposed surfaces would allow for easy cleaning, though the wash would ensure any evidence would be removed.
With the critical electrical components and engine being contained, the system was free to spray a cleaning solution with enough force to remove a person’s skin.
Clicking away from the current car, he checked a different vehicle driving into one of the many facilities scattered around the world.
Inside the secure area, which acted as a Faraday cage to block any signals from entering or leaving the small ready garage, making it nearly impossible for an external party to see what was happening inside. Even the video he watched wasn’t live. It only uploaded to the network once the process was completed.
Before any scans were performed, the inside of the garage had all the air removed.
The process took a decent amount of time, making sure to mitigate the risk of a hitchhiker finding their way on the vehicle.
Sensitive microphones would detect any sounds and alert automated security processes to begin eliminating the individual. Once sufficient time had passed, robotic arms emerged from the walls. The dozen of arms are specialized to search out various monitoring devices. Some of the techniques were high-resolution cameras for visual scans. There were also laser and ultrasound scans. Even electromagnetic frequency scans and olfactory scans were performed.
The car soon entered the main facility, where other vehicles were already parked and in the process of removing their security container.
As each container opened, he saw large bags dumped onto a conveyor belt.
Since the cars usually came in small groups, the bags would be organized into batches to be processed together.
Sipping on the coffee, Henry lightly hummed to the sound of one of his favorite songs.
Those sitting near him gave him strange looks as if bothered that he would be enjoying himself.
There was a light tap on his shoulder.
Turning to see who it was, Henry saw that it was Jill.
Henry lowered the volume and removed the headphones.
“How was it? Busy?” he asked, motioning for her to sit in the empty chair next to him.
She was still in her work uniform meant that her shift had just ended, and she came directly to the cafe.
“You have no idea,” Jill sighed, leaning her head back and rolling her shoulder as she stretched. “Do you mind?” She asked as she moved, so her back was towards him.
He placed his hands on her shoulder and began giving her a neck and shoulder massage.
“I still don’t get why you want me to do this, considering I have zero skills at this.”
Henry shook his head in confusion but didn’t stop his hand motions feeling the tight muscles on Jill.
Looking over at his laptop, he saw the batch of bags being dumped into a large nonreactive container. A heavy-looking robotic arm lifted the container and moved it to the next area, where a high alkali solution would be poured into it.
On the dashboard, several indicators monitored the overall process of the business. Each one glowed with a green light.
Sensing his attention, not on her, Jill chastised him. “More hand movement. No being distracted.”
Chuckling, he looked back at Jill’s back. He moved aside her long brunette hair to reveal her pale neck. Leaning close to her, he brushed a kiss on it.
Sighing shyly from the kiss, “Don’t think that lets you off the hook.”
She tried to sound harsh, but her voice betrayed that she was smiling and enjoying the action.
Enjoying Henry starting back up with the massage, Jill asked, “How’s work going? I saw that you were concentrating hard like usual.”
“It’s going well. The company is happy with my results.” Henry answered nonchalantly. “I even received an invite to some formal function at their campus, though I’m having difficulty finding a plus one,” Henry said.
Jill quickly turned around, her mouth open, looking ready to reveal what she thought of his issue. She stopped when she noticed his grin.
Pouting after realizing that Henry was teasing her, she said, “I hate you.”
Placing a hand on her head, he smiled. “I know how much of a fan you are of them. I already told them you’d be my plus one, and they sent over a dress from their Summer Collection.”
A scream of joy was heard from Jill, startling everyone in the cafe.
“I love you, babe!” Jill hugged Henry bouncing up and down on the seat. When she pulled away, she whipped out a phone from her purse. “I need to text Sammy. She’s going to be so jealous!” She giggled, likely imagining the response she was going to get from her friends.
Leaving Jill to her own devices, Henry focused on what was happening on the site.
The container was full of the solution, and the robotic arm was securing the top. The arm then moved the container to something that looked like a locker. Once the object was detected, the locker closed the door before securing it.
The locker then moved on a track to its next destination: an elevator that would take it to the underground storage area.
Tapping on the screen, Henry brought up a menu that let him see how the other storage units were doing underground. Each one had a percentage to let the system know how close it was to be ready.
He saw a unit lifted off of a different elevator on the screen.
When the container was removed from the locker, the inside was filled with a slurry of biological material.
The slurry was poured into a filtering process to confirm that all identifiable biological material was eliminated into a homogenous liquid.
The liquid was dumped into a different container to be moved onto a delivery truck.
There were words on the container, one being soap raw material with a QR code next to it.
The truck would be sent to the distribution center and shipped to the facility dedicated to creating beauty products.
“I should remember to order some more soap for Jill. I remember she loves the brand and could give a few to friends.” Henry pulled out his phone and added it to a list.
Locking his encrypted computer and putting it away, Henry watched as Jill video-called her friends, who were all telling how jealous they were of her.
He smiled, thinking about how enchanting she would look in the dress.
