Alan Ross - Effected Intent

by
Alan D. Ross

Copyright 2008 Alan D. Ross
Smashwords Edition

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Introduction

This book was a long time coming, firstconceived in the spring of 2003. A lot of the background on Billwas written in the fall/winter of 2004-2005 and then it sat. Ithought of working on it during National Novel writing month in2007 but wrote Dead Mans Hand instead.

During May of 2008 I was able to work on itand by early June it was almost thirty thousand words. The rest wasfinished during nanowrimo this November and just wrapped up.

Hope you like it!

Alan

Chapter 1
Just another Day atthe Office

Bill was sitting at his desk, half watchingthe clock and half programming the new payroll system interface.His desk was in the middle of the office; luckily he wasnt stuckin some cube farm. The sun was shining behind the trees and the skywas bright and clear, making him daydream about the outdoors.Adjusting the buttons on the payroll screen, his mind wandered. Hewent to the kitchen to make popcorn and stretch his brain.

Don Nelson was in the kitchen. Hey Bill,hows everything?

Using popcorn as bait for conversation.Whats new and exciting?

Kids stuff. Its baseball season, so werealways running to games or practices. Amelia got smacked in theface by a line drive the other day, she is really proud of herblack eye. Joanies flower shop is busy since its wedding and promseason. Shes going to have to hire additional help next year.

Maybe Ill design some software to run thebusiness more efficiently, said Bill. I could develop a web siteso Joanie would be free to focus on arranging flowers.

You know how she feels about computers. Shewas unhappy when we upgraded her cash register to accept credit anddebit cards. Shes still not used to that thing. Bill laughed andnodded his head. Hed heard plenty of stories about Joanie and herdifficulties with the cash register, alarm system, phone system, ettechnical cetera.

Don made more small talk but appeared to bepreoccupied, so Bill let the conversation drop. Don headed back tohis office so Bill did the same--back to work on the payrolltool.

Bill put his headphones on and launched aninternet radio site. He tuned in to the sports talk zone, which wasfilled with basketball playoff and baseball season discussions. Thetwo hosts were pontificating about which NBA team was the greatestof all time; and, of course, they were at odds so they couldgenerate the appropriate level of controversy and irate callers.The hosts were debating between the Lakers dynasties, with onehost picking the Kareem/Magic era and the other selecting theShaq/Kobe era. Callers were joining the show, yelling about theCeltics and Bulls and just about any other team. Bill thought theBulls of the 1990s were the greatest team ever.

Adding a logo and confidentiality statementto the interface, Bill entered test data to see how the program wasworking. He plugged in an imaginary salary of $87,450 annually andthen put in standard state, local and federal deductions. Hechecked the numbers, found the data was accurate, and stared at thescreen. He wondered what it would feel like to make that kind ofmoney, what he would be able to afford. His mind started wanderingto all the things he could buy with that kind of money. He snappedback to the present and opened a spreadsheet that documented all ofthe test cases for the new program. Some time must have elapsed,because the yo-yo sports talk hosts were now arguing about whichNBA player had the biggest afro and the tallest socks back in the1970s. He clicked the radio over to a classical music station andentered the test data.

Bill stretched and checked his e-mail. Hegenerally kept his it closed during the day so he wasnt distractedwhen he was programming. Bill told people around the office that hewould only check mail a few times a day and if there was somethingurgent, they should come over and ask him. His e-mail was mostlyupdates to projects and spam so he spent a few minutes cleaning uphis mailbox, enjoying the classical music in his head. He browsedto CNN and checked on the news, but quickly closed the browser asall of it focused on death and destruction. At least the web wasntas sensational as the local television news, with all of their newsclips of fires, car crashes, and body bags.

Bill was checking his test case document,getting ready to enter the next set of data into the program when avisitor stopped by. Hello, William.

Hi Mom, whats happening?

Kathy Wheeler took a seat and sighed deeply,Been a really long day, starting to get calls from the media and Ithink its only going to get worse. Do you want to trade jobs withme for the next couple of months? she said with a smile.

Sure, let me talk to the press, Id have afield day with them. I wouldnt have a job when I was done, but Idhave a lot of fun in the process.

Oh yeah, youre so tough, youd end upwinning some kind of award for the way you dealt with them.

Bill just smiled back, knowing that the truthwas somewhere in between. Kathy Wheeler wasnt really old enough tobe Bills mom. She was an attractive, 40-something woman who couldstill turn heads. Kathy ran the office, though her official jobtitle was administrative assistant. She had the most inate peoplesense Bill had ever known, with an ability to deal with all typesof personalities and still keep her cool. Bill almost felt cornyfor thinking about her that way, but she meant so much to him overthe past eight years that they had worked together. She alwaystreated him well and had really earned the nickname Mom.

What are you working on, son? Kathyasked.

Fiddling around with the new payrollprogram, working through test cases and trying to figure out a wayto increase my salary by, oh I dont know, eight thousand percent,Bill grinned.

Kathy laughed and said, I think youre worthevery penny youre getting paid. They both laughed and shook theirheads. You know its going to work, why bother testing it?

With the new federal regulations aroundauditing of all computer systems and applications, its best tomake sure everything is tested and documented. In fact, I wouldlike both you and Don to do some testing once Ive made progress soI can include you as references in the regulatory paperwork.

Kathy! Kathy, where are you? Dons voiceboomed down the hallway. I need you in here right away! Bill andKathy both broke out in quiet laughter, knowing that it wasguaranteed to be something minor, and that Don couldnt survive tenminutes without Kathy.

Coming, dear, replied Kathy, trying to holdin the laughter. As she walked away from his desk, Bill said Seeya later, Mom, good luck with Don. She waved and walked to Donsoffice. Bill worked on the next test case, trying some additionalpay periods to make sure the softwares logic comprehended monthswith five Fridays, since Friday was payday around here.

Yes, Mr. Nelson, what can I help you with?Kathy asked.

Don starting ranting and raving about somee-mail that he had just received from his boss, demanding to knowwhere the first budget numbers were for next year. When are wegoing to get started on this? he asked Kathy, a bit frantic.

Ive already sent them over to Amy. Sheprobably hasnt passed them to Mr. Peterson yet. Kathy calmlyinformed Don. Ill go call her and see whats happening. Ill beback in a couple of minutes, try to continue breathing.