by Will Stanton » Mon Aug 21, 2023 11:43 am
Will, in their role as Ashlie's personal assistant, sat at their desk in front of Ashlie's on-campus office. To the uninformed observer, it looked a lot like they were sitting there doing nothing and wasting time. A closer inspection, though, would show that their earpiece was flashing, along with their eyes, as they processed incoming information regarding the ongoing community efforts in Mutant Town.
This had become somewhat normal, with Will taking on several roles of managing Ashlie's personal affairs. Acting half-robotically, Will served as an interface between Ashlie and the campus network -- replacing some of the automatic connection she had had when she was still biological. They had once referred to themselves as a "next-generation Siri", and had then had to sit through Ashlie's lecture on exactly why that comparison did not work. Still, they managed Ashlie's schedule, and dealt with some of the calls and administrative minutia that Ashlie could not be bothered to handle. They reminded her to occasionally eat and drink when they got massively distracted by ongoing projects. And they served as a sounding board, mostly smiling and nodding as Ashlie spoke mostly to herself rather than to Will in particular. At night, they 'powered down', slumping slightly in their desk as they waited to be 're-activated'. Ashlie would know that this was, at least, somewhat performative. And she knew that Will must return to the mirror on occasion, as they would come back with knowledge on what their other selves were doing. She'd be damned if she'd caught them slipping out yet, though...
Today was very much similar, with Will in their blouse and skirt sitting there, awaiting commands. The one potential difference was a pamphlet they had placed on Ashlie's desk, on top of the daily papers that needed to be signed or otherwise required Ashlie's personal attention -- a copy of a leaflet issued by the HMRC entitled "Guidance: Personal Relationships Between Staff and Subordinates"