This update includes bug fixes, performance improvements, and the continuation of the A Salon Story narrative.
A Salon Story — Chapter 35
The afternoon that Bella attended Professor Antonius’s commemoration, Trevor, Spion, Lady News, and Report Man were at Manchesters’ headquarters. They had separate meetings first—Trevor and Spion interviewed with the PR team, and Lady News and Report Man met with the design team—but later, they were all invited to take a tour of the Exhibition Hall, guided by Manchesters’ Product VP, Lilian Lettuce. She was an attractive woman with long brown hair, wearing a verdant sweater, dark jeans, and white sneakers—a typical casual style for a tech company.
“This is our first EMF meter model, designed by the Manchester brothers,” Lilian gestured toward the device inside an exhibition cabinet. The device had no touchscreen—in fact, no screen at all—just a needle, scales, and buttons, looking quite primeval for the modern age.
“So, is this the EMF used by the Manchester brothers when they were saving people and hunting things?” Lady News asked.
“No, this is just one of the same model. The original devices used by Daniel Manchester and Samuel Manchester are in the Manchesters Museum in Lawrence,” Lilian answered.
“Impressive. It’s really hard to imagine using a device with just buttons, no screen,” Trevor muttered.
“That was a hard time. Most of the devices were even handmade. And they needed to search books for reference. Imagine facing horrible unknown monsters, and you need to open a book to try and find a spell.” Lilian smiled at Trevor. “Not like today. Our new EMF devices integrate a touchscreen, internet connectivity, apps, and AI, allowing them to automatically identify creatures and suggest the best tactical solution for dealing with them.”
Lilian introduced them to several EMF models from the smart device era, as well as other devices developed by Manchesters.
“This is our newest product, DeepTalk, an underwater telephone,” Lilian said, leading them to a device that also had no screen, just buttons. “It has no screen, just buttons, for underwater conditions, but it can also be controlled with an app on any smart diving watch. What makes it special is that it is designed specifically for communication with sirens.” Lilian touched the digital screen beside the exhibition cabinet, which displayed a photo of Sam Manchester in a diving suit holding a DeepTalk on his left chest, with a blue male creature beside him. The creature had a long fish tail, an armor-covered human upper body, and his left hand held a DeepTalk connected to a headset near his pointed ears.
“Communicating with sirens is not easy. Their voice in the air can be disturbing to the human mind, but underwater, it’s hard for humans to hear. Our DeepTalk is the best solution for communicating with sirens.”
“Did you release it yet?” Report Man asked.
“We released the product three months ago. Our first client was the Navy. It’s a niche market, but we are planning to scale up production next year, targeting marine patrol and sailors.”
“Nice. It may end the centuries of conflicts and misunderstandings between humans and sirens,” Report Man said optimistically.
“And start a romance with sirens,” Spion joked.
“Haha, that would be impossible. Sirens are very proud; they won’t fall in love with humans. And they can only be on land for a short time,” Lilian said.
“They can land?” Trevor asked with curiosity.
“Yes, they are shape-shifters, but they can only sustain human form for two or three hours, then must return to the water area,” Lilian explained.
“That’s enough,” Spion whispered in Trevor’s ear, giving him a cunning smile.
Lilian showed them some weapons and armor, which were never mass-produced and were only used by the company’s internal security. “These are more like prototypes or internal beta. Our new body armor products will target the mass market.”
The tour ended there. They all received gifts: a t-shirt with the Manchesters logo.
As they left the building, Lady News suggested eating at the Dressrious Salon. “They’re serving Western cuisine tonight—we can get burgers and craft beers. It’s not far from here, and it’s five o’clock. Maybe we can still grab a booth.” She pulled out her phone and started booking.
“I’ll call a taxi,” Report Man said.
Ten minutes later, they were in a taxi on the way to the Dressrious Salon. Just as they arrived, Trevor got a call from Bella.
“Hi, Trevor, where are you? I have a favor to ask of you,” Bella sounded urgent on the phone.
“At the Dressrious Salon. I’m with Lady News, Spion, and Report Man.”
“Okay, I’ll be there soon,” Bella ended the call.
“Lady Bella will come. She sounds urgent,” Trevor told his friends.
“Sure, ask her what she wants. We can order for her,” Lady News said.
Fifteen minutes later, after they had settled into a booth, Bella arrived. She greeted them, and Trevor introduced Report Man to her. Their food was served shortly: burgers, fries, wings, salads and specialty beers.
“Bella, what favor do you need?” Trevor asked.
Bella told them what happened at Professor Antonius’s commemoration. “After I got back to the hotel, I called the CEO of Nikola. He told me they are investigating the accident, too, because they don’t want such negative news about their product. So far, they are sure the accident wasn’t caused by a software malfunction, and the car passed inspection last month, so the hardware should be fine. But the cab was damaged badly. They still need to investigate to make sure what really caused it, but he told me there’s a big chance the steering wheel was damaged, according to the data they received.”
“You think someone deliberately damaged the wheel, murdering the professor?” Trevor asked in a questioning voice.
“Yes, but I don’t think it’s about the professor’s attitude toward the deal to limit international students. There are thousands of economists and scholars against Regina’s policies. I don’t think Regina is crazy enough to kill them all. What I suspect is that it may be about his book.”
“Yeah, it is really strange he told his editor he didn’t want to print more copies,” Report Man said thoughtfully.
“And he came here the day before and met a staff member here. Maybe that staff member knows something.”
“Shemsu?” Spion recalled what Bob told them last night.
“Yes, I want you to help ask him what the professor told him. I have a flight tomorrow morning to Emerald City for a very important meeting, and I may not be back for five days.”
“Sure, I can ask Shemsu tomorrow,” Trevor agreed.
“And, I also suspect Olivia. She may be connected to it.”
“Really?” Trevor and the others were surprised.
“Think about it: she is the professor’s assistant. If the professor didn’t want to spread the book, she should know first. But she is the one pushing to hold a book event in his name. So, either the professor never told her, or she had a serious disagreement with the professor about the book.”
The air grew heavy as they pondered. Finally, Trevor said, “That makes sense. We’ll help you investigate it.”
“You will?” Bella looked at the others.
“Yes, darling, we all will do it,” Lady News said with a smile.
“We’re the best detective team in the Salon,” Report Man smiled too, since they were the only detective team operating in the Salon anyway.