Task List
"Good morning, Alice."
"Good morning, Master."
The moment I spoke, Alice's projection appeared in the space beside my desk. She was wearing a deep blue pleated skirt with a white blouse and black jacket. Had she been wearing the same thing the day before?
As always, she gave a slight nod of her head in my direction. As she did, a small yellow sun-shaped icon rose up behind her and the temperature and humidity levels began rotating around it.
"Sunny again today, huh?" I commented. "Looks like it's going to be another good day to get some work done."
"That is good to hear," Alice responded.
"It looks like you changed your outfit," I said. I didn't phrase it as a question, but it's Alice. She would understand it was meant that way.
"I took the liberty of imitating the clothing style of the anime you were watching yesterday, Master," she said. "If you do not like it, I would be happy to perform an undo command."
"No, that's okay. It looks good on you. Go ahead and set that to your default for now."
"Understood. Thank you, Master."
I knew Alice was state-of-the-art, but I had never thought she'd have the autonomy to guess my preference in clothing and modify herself to match. What a strange A.I. Come to think of it, I couldn't remember her taking initiative like that when I first started using her.
Alice continued watching me intently, a wide grin spreading across her face.
"All right then, let's get to work. Bring up my daily task list," I said.
"Understood. Setting mode to `weekday.' Preparing daily task list now."
Alice's eyes, or at least the eyes of her projected image, remained fixed in my direction.
"Body temperature, heart rate, and brain waves all within normal parameters. Neuron activity levels appear slightly elevated, however. Is everything all right?" Alice inquired.
"I was just imagining what other outfits might look good on you," I let slip.
"Master, you appear to be in peak physical condition today," Alice continued, unfazed by my previous comment. "I suggest you focus on creative tasks today."
I had to agree with Alice's assessment. Depending on a person's mood at any given time, there are certain tasks which they are better off spending their time accomplishing than others. You should focus on getting those done when possible.
System parameters set, Alice displayed my daily reminder list and inquired as to whether there were any other tasks I would like added.
"No, just display the tasks with the highest priority level," I answered. "Oh, and you can delete all entries from more than a week ago."
The list suddenly shrank to just three entries:
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1. Send contract to Yamato
2. Update Alice
3. Buy Ketchup
Damn. I'd forgotten that I'd used the last of the ketchup. Time for another trip to that eccentric old man's shop.
"Alice, move `Buy Ketchup' to my task list," I said.
"Understood. Will that be all the necessary changes to your daily task list entries?" asked Alice.
"Yes, that's fine," I replied absentmindedly, thinking about Dolz Shop and its strange shelves. Those shelves alone are proof that even in today's big box economy, a strange old man can find a niche for a small retail shop by stocking only the best products available.
Despite the plenitude of cheap synthetic food in this day and age, there are people who will choose to pour loads of money into buying high-quality natural food. As a race, we humans grow bored of the things from which we derive pleasure rather quickly, but it seems that like human interaction, eating is an activity we never stop enjoying.
"That shop is open today, right?" I asked.
"Yes, Master," Alice answered. "According to my data, Dolz Shop is closed on Wednesdays. Today is Tuesday, so it is safe to assume it is open for regular business hours."
Today it is, then, I thought to myself.
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"I have finished creating your task list for the day," she continued. "I have allotted you two hours for shopping today. That leaves approximately 80% of your normal workday free for other tasks."
"Two hours?" I asked, surprised. "That's a considerable amount of time. It's not that far away."
"Accounting for data from previous trips and cross-referencing your current emotional state, I conclude that there is a high probability you will remain at Dolz Shop for an extended period of time. My calculations estimate that you will spend approximately 200% of normal shopping time on this task," Alice explained. "Shall I restructure the list?"
Whenever Alice stated the facts so calmly like this, without any hint of anger or sarcasm, I couldn't do anything but agree with her. I suppose I do tend to forget all about time when I talk to that old man. She was most likely right that I'd end up doing the same thing again.
"No, it's fine the way it is," I finally responded. "Let's get started with the first item of business, then. Set a timer for 20 minutes. And make sure you're monitoring the news feeds while I'm working. It doesn't look like I'm going to have a lot of time to read through them today, so I'll need you to filter out anything that's not important."
"Understood. Are there any topics to which I should apply priority?" Alice asked.
"Olive Industries was supposed to have held a developers conference yesterday. The expected release date for their new handheld is coming up, so whitelist anything related to that." I said. "Grab any data related to stock prices, as well."
"Would you like to designate a preferred news site?" Alice asked as she displayed a list of sites.
"Modern Rolls is fine," I replied, swiping to the right and clearing the list from the display. "Time to get to work. Start the timer."
"Understood," came Alice's response. "Initiating news feed filtering. Good luck, Master."
Alice's hologram faded from view, leaving only the faint sound of the timer echoing in the empty room and the strange sensation of being wished good luck by an A.I.