C1 A Beautiful Summer

The weekend had come, with schools ending last week for the summer. The city of Banfield, CA already had been thriving with various technological endeavors, following the strong rise of strong artificial intelligence, robots, self-driving cars, solar-powered buildings, automated flying drones, and many more intriguing endeavors; in the 2030s. Banfield was located about fifteen miles east of Palo Alto, CA and three miles west of Teraville, CA.

Zane Galnac was a local software developer and tech consultant, for Perkins Software and Tech Systems who was at his apartment finishing up his work for the day, so he can enjoy his three-day weekend. Having been born in Teraville in August 2010, Zane already received a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from UCLA with a 4.0 GPA, at the age of twentyand completed grad school also at UCLA,three years later; earning a master’s degree in artificial intelligence.For two years now, Zane had been working at Perkins Software and Tech Systemsas their lead programmer and tech consultant, while also coding and writing apps on his own time. His workweek consisted of four nine-hour days, and he mainly telecommuted and rarely worked on-site.

His smartphone began to buzz, followed by a melodious ringtone and he checked to see who was calling and saw it was Kristen, his younger sister on video call. He then answered the call. “What up?” said Zane. “Hey, bro!” said Kristen. “Are you coming home tonight for dinner?” “Yeah, as soon as I complete my work by 3:00 PM.” Zane said. “Wow, you’re getting off earlier today?” said Kristen. “You know every week from Monday to Thursday, I work from home between 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM and take an hour break, when half my shift is over.” He then smiled at her. “However, since I’ve been working so hard on this project and typing in all these hundreds of thousands of lines of Python code!” said Zane. “I’ll actually be done by 3! Then I’ll shower and come on over to y’all!” “Right on!” said Kristen. “See you then!” “By the way, Kristen.” Zane said. “Happy Sixteen!” “Aaawww, thanks!” said Kristen. With that, Zane hung up and worked until he finished his project. “Alright, Z.E.R.O!” said Zane. “The project is complete! Can you please have it sent to Dallas?” “Sending now!” said Z.E.R.O! “Standing by!”

Z.E.R.O or ‘Zettabyte Equivalent Ritzy OS’ was a strong general artificial intelligence app, created by Zane for his personal use, inspired by C.O.R.A (Cloud Operated Romantic Assistant); created five years ago in Miami, FL albeit more improved. Zane, being inspired by Kevin’s work travelled to Miami in 2029 and studied under him, as part of a mentorship program, to build and enhance his skills, following the end of his junior year for his senior. Kevin, despite being one year younger than Zane had absolutely no reservations in helping Zane and training him. Zane then eventually created Z.E.R.O for himself, in 2031 and decided that even if he wanted to sell the app, it would have to wait another two year, as he believed the world was not ready, for the higher levels of sophistication that an AI such as Z.E.R.O featured. Z.E.R.O performed virtually all of C.O.R.A’s tasks, but also did more than that. For one, if Z.E.R.O was implemented, configured and installed in vehicles, even including flying vehicles such aircrafts, airplanes, helicopters and hypersonic jets, it eliminated the need to even have a human driver or pilot be present in the vehicle. It also could remove the possibility of even placing a steering wheel, in the vehicle itself.

Zane left the apartment around 3:15 PM and fixed to leave towards his parents’ house. As he got out of the apartment, he saw three robots putting out the trash and recycle items as tomorrow was Garbage Day for Banfield residents. In the last ten years, the North American, European and Australian workforce had completely changed. With huge advances to robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as the rising acceptance of the Internet of Things or IoT (also with the introduction of the Internet of Everything or IoE in 2025); many blue-collar workers, along with some white-collar and most gray-collar and pink-collar workers no longer existed in the developed nations, worldwide. Androids and robots had taken their toll in those areas, while other industries such as oil and gasoline had declined in demand. Professional jobs such as red-collar and gold-collar workers still existed even in 2033, with predictions by technology analysts those jobs will remain existent for the next eighty years. Before he entered his car, he noticed the local teen Jamal enjoying his time on a skateboard. Jamal jumped off his skateboard. “What up, Mr. Galnac?” said Jamal as he waved at Zane. “How you been?” “Same old, same old Jamal!” said Zane. “How you been? Heard you graduated high school?” “Yeah, I’m only sixteen but already ahead of my game!” said Jamal. “Going over to family?” “Ha, yeah! Just got invited for dinner.” Zane said. “See you later, Jamal!” Zane then got into his car and began to journey to his parent’s house.

On his drive to his family’s house, he got a call from Amanda Montgomery-Sanders. “Hey, Zane! How are you?” said Amanda. “I wanted to congratulate you, heard you completed your master’s degree?” “Thanks, Amanda!” said Zane. “I actually am having a party, at my parent’s mansion tonight for that matter, and for Kristen’s birthday.”“Yeah, I know we also will be there!” said Amanda. “Kristen invited us after all, she and Cassandra are best friends. And Peter also got off work.” “Amazing! That’s good!” said Zane. “I’ll see you tonight then.” Zane leaned back and put his car in auto-drive, as he closed his eyes and put on some relaxing music. He decided to put all his fears to rest, as he was done with all work for the week.

After eight minutes, he arrived at his parent’s house. He also brought a gift for Kristen, a brand-new pair of wireless, Bluetooth headphones. He rang the doorbell and Angela Galnac opened the door. Angela, Zane and Kristen’s mother, was excited to see her son back at home. Born in 1990, she married in 2009 and had Zane when she was twenty years of age. She was an accountant at one time, but since Zane graduated from UCLA, she opted to be a stay at home Mom, and look after Kristen. Angela hugged Zane, welcomed him inside while Steve Galnac, Zane and Kristen’s father also welcomed him inside, being happy to see him. “Zane, you made it!” said Steve. “Congratulations, son! And really proud of you!” Steve, who majored in Business Administration, was a certified public accountant who had his own firm. He also was the owner of two hotels in Banfield. Peter and Amanda also arrived, with Cassandra and Kevin. Peter eventually found a better job opportunity, and moved from Houston to Banfield in 2029, since then Amanda and Peter had adapted to Banfield. “Amanda!” said Angela. “What a pleasant surprise!”“Hey, Angela!” said Amanda. “Good to see y’all!” “Kristen!” said Cassandra in joy. “Cassandra!” replied Kristen, also cheerful. They shared a hug and joined others at the dinner table.

After dinner and cutting the cake, everyone wished Kristen a happy birthday. Then after that, Zane called out, “Can I get everyone’s attention please? I just have a few words to say!” Then everyone turned towards him. “For the last two years, I’ve been working at Perkins Software and Tech Systems, and it’s been swell!” said Zane. “But, completing grad school wasn’t easy! If it hadn’t been for my family, particularly Dad; I’d never have made it this far in life! Thank you, Dad!” Everyone clapped as Steve and Amanda hugged Zane. Kristen also joined them. “Son, you work forty hours a week?” asked Steve. “Dad, who even works that much in today’s day and age?” said Zane. Of course, Zane asked as a joke; but the reality was, most employees worked only about thirty-six hours a week, with very few working forty hours a week. As most business operations in the corporate world were automated, average workweeks were also shorter compared to the workforce twenty years ago.