It was a tough, tough week. Satoshi was a slave driver. Grim, determined and set in his ways, Satoshi Nakamoto was an extremely difficult employer. If Danielle was an actual employee of this man, she would have quit before the first day finished.

  Even before she arrived in the morning, at 8:00am, Satoshi had obviously been awake and working for hours. He was very particular about what Danielle cooked for breakfast. He was very particular about the way she cleaned the kitchen. The laundry, the dishes, the bathroom, the clothes she wore, everything about Danielle was scrutinised and criticised. Extracting the meagre wages at the end of the day was like pulling teeth. Satoshi definitely did not enjoy spending money. It wasn't just Danielle that he criticised. He complained about his brother, sisters, cousins and children. He complained about the demands they had made of him over the holidays. He even complained about how difficult it was to support his mother in her care home. The only person that he seemed to tolerate was a friend of his, named Hal, who on one occasion came by to help him with his computer project. Whatever they were doing was mostly unintelligible to Danielle, but from her previous research she knew that it was leading to a large upload of computer programs that was planned for New Years Day. Hal was Satoshi's only visitor, so far.

  The fourth morning, Danielle was relieved when Satoshi asked her, (more like ordered her), to go to the local fish market to buy some kisu fillets. Apparently, this was the season when the fish could be purchased fresh, and kisu was Satoshi's favourite. She was also told to obtain the ingredients to prepare the firm white fish in a tempura batter. 'Great', thought Danielle. 'Deep fried fish. This place will smell great,' thought Danielle to herself sarcastically. She was wearing her AI glasses, as she usually did. They hadn't produced any messages at all for Danielle, on this mission. Presumably, they were recording everything that was going on so far.

  The fish market was within walking distance, so Danielle left the house carrying two cloth handled grocery bags, and an amount of cash that Satoshi deemed appropriate for her purchases. Mr. Nakamoto had explained that he dealt in cash as often as possible, since he did not trust banks. Apparently, a bank had foreclosed on his family's home sometime in the 1980's, during one of his divorces. Hatred of bankers seemed to be a major motivating factor in his creation of Bitcoin. Also, hatred of government, tax collectors, Democratic politicians, news casters and even doctors. The despised list was a long one.

  Danielle was looking forward to the end of this mission.

  "Do you have any fresh kisu fillets today?" asked Danielle, of the fish monger behind the counter. The Seven Seas fish market was one of those classic west coast markets: Stainless steel everywhere, fresh seafood displayed on top of piles of ice shavings. There was a remarkable mix of ethnicities on the crowded customer side of the counters, and it was loud, as people shouted and bargained for their favourite seafood. Shellfish, fillets, whole fish of all shapes sizes and colours. Lots of live fish options too: Live crabs and lobsters, live tilapia and ayu. Most imposing to Danielle were the strange looking eels, at the far end of the display case. The heads were still on the eels, and their faces looked to have bizarre, human-like expressions of surprise on them. 'Who would want to cook an eel?' wondered Danielle. 'Gross!'

  "Whack!" was the sound generated by the impact of the cleaver on the tilapia's head. The clerk had netted from the live tank, a tilapia chosen by the customer in front of Danielle. "Yes, ma'am," responded the young Japanese clerk. As soon as I help this fine lady, I will get you some kisu." He smiled at Danielle, then turned towards the customer, asking if she would prefer him to prepare boneless fish fillets from the freshly butchered tilapia.

  "Yes please!" responded the middle aged woman of Japanese descent.

  The fish merchant expertly carved out a handful of boneless fillets and wrapped them up. He was also of Japanese descent, but more the tall and lanky athletic sort of Japanese fellow, as opposed to the usual crowd of shorter and chunkier men. The kind of guy that stands out.

  "You would like some kisu?" asked the tall young man.

  "Yes, thank you. Could I get two pounds please?" responded Danielle.

  He prepared the fillets, and wrapped them in wax paper, then rang her cash through the till, stopping for a moment to write her up a receipt. He handed her the package and the folded up receipt, casting her a knowing look that meant something. Danielle wasn't sure what that look meant, but she had a hunch. She slipped the paper, still folded, into her pocket and left the fish market to make her way towards the Japanese food grocery store.

  She followed her hunch, and took a seat on a vacant bench along the sidewalk. Danielle removed her glasses and slipped them into her empty pants pocket, then pulled out the 'receipt' to check it out. Sure enough, it was a personal note. She unfolded it and smoothed out the hand written words: 'I bet that you would look great without your glasses!"

  'That could mean a lot of different things,' thought Danielle.

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  Predictably, dinner went very badly. The tempura wasn't like the tempura his mother used to cook. The cucumbers were cut too widely. The rice was under cooked. Danielle's food was never good enough for Satoshi. (Well, the rice was a bit crunchy, Danielle admitted to herself).

  Hal came by again that night, after dinner. Satoshi was almost civil to her when he paid for her services, and dismissed her for the evening. 'Old men are always more reasonable when they know they're being watched,' thought Danielle. She walked back to her hotel room, and put her AI glasses into a drawer, making sure to wrap them up in a sweater. Then Danielle pulled the note out of her pocket and studied it again under the light in her bathroom. 'I bet that you would look great without your glasses'.

  Of course, there was a rather coarse interpretation that came straight to Danielle's mind, but even though she did not know the guy, he didn't really seem to be a jerk in any way. At least not in the minute or so that Danielle had already interacted with him. Other possibilities came to mind: Maybe it was his way of expressing a bit of interest? If so, should she respond? On the one hand Danielle was supposed to be acting like a secret time travel agent, on an important mission. Even though working for Satoshi was like the worst job ever, Danielle was supposed to be a professional. The prudent thing to do would be to avoid going into the fish market for the rest of the week. After all, when she was just a trainee, Danielle had taken part in a 2 day mission and received an $8000 bonus. This one was 4 times longer and she was a full fledged time agent. 'The bonus should be commensurate. Right?' wondered Danielle. Visions of $20,000, $30,000 or more, floated through her mind as she contemplated what to do.

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  'He was pretty cute,' thought Danielle. Just a short chat with a guy like that would be an extremely welcome relief from hanging out with the old farts, Hal and Satoshi. Maybe she should go and try to meet him.

  There was another possibility that came to mind. What if somehow, or some way, this guy knew the significance of those glasses? Now that really got Danielle's mind racing. In fact, the possibilities raised by that idea kept her awake until the wee hours of the morning.

  Danielle woke up the next morning tired, and feeling like her sleep time had been too short. She was dreading spending 8 more hours with Satoshi. Danielle put on her AI glasses, and trudged along the route back towards Satoshi's home. It was New Years Eve and Danielle sensed excitement around her as people were already more active than usual. Presumably, most businesses would close early so that their employees could get ready for their New Years celebrations. Danielle also knew that Satoshi would be pushing himself even harder, because tomorrow was the target date to launch his new program.

  Satoshi Nakamoto greeted Danielle's arrival with a torrent of curses. Everything was going wrong, and everything was taking longer than planned. She did her best to calm Satoshi down, by cooking breakfast and tidying up what had been disturbed overnight. Danielle wondered if Mr. Nakamoto had even slept at all last night.

  While they ate, Mr. Nakamoto spoke, "Mr. Finney told me that the Seven Seas market has specially prepared tempura fillets available in their ready to eat section. I would ask you to purchase some for this evening's dinner. I am sure that they will be superior to the fish that we consumed last night."

  'This guy is driving me nuts,' thought Danielle. 'How did anyone ever consent to marry him?'

  With great difficulty she stopped herself from responding to the criticism, then made a plan with Satoshi to get to the fish market in the morning, since it seemed likely that it would close at noon. Mr. Nakamoto agreed to the plan and provided her with the necessary funds.

  Danielle made preparations to leave at 10:30am. The last thing she did, before slipping out the front door, was leave her glasses on top of the dining room table.

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  There was just one problem. He didn't work where the prepared meals were sold. In fact, his eel counter was at the opposite end of the market, and barely in sight of Danielle, as she waited in line at the 'fast food' counter. He was there, but didn't seem to be looking her way. This wasn't going to work. Danielle negotiated the product and the price. 'So that's what tempura is supposed to look like!' thought Danielle. She turned to leave with the fish.

  "I knew it!" said the young man. "You are more beautiful without those glasses. Did you leave them at home?"

  "Yes," replied Danielle, blushing.

  "Are you sure?" confirmed the man.

  "Of course I'm sure," repeated Danielle.

  "I'm off at noon. Could you meet me here, please. I have some important things to speak to you about."

  "Sure," replied Danielle, her blood pressure and anxiety levels rising by the second, wondering, 'What have I gotten myself into?'

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  Danielle completed her remaining errands in time to be sitting on a bench, across the street from the Seven Seas market, at ten minutes to noon. Sure enough, at 12:00 exactly, the fellow exited the building through the front doors, and scanned the street. It took him just a few seconds to spy Danielle. A bright smile flashed across his face. Quite a handsome face in the outdoor light. He looked a little like that Shohei Ohtani baseball player guy. Just a little.

  "I am so glad that you are here!" exclaimed the young man, introducing himself, "I am Kenji Tanaka. Pleased to meet you," and he reached out to shake her hand.

  "Sharon Blyde," replied Danielle. She almost goofed upon that.

  "Is it possible for us to talk? I have a location in mind that would be suitable. It is just a few minutes walk from here."

  "We can't talk here?" questioned Danielle.

  Kenji subtly shook his head.

  "Fine," replied Danielle, and stood up to follow the young guy. 'Am I being set up?' wondered Danielle. As they walked Danielle wondered the whole way whether or not she should be doing this, but the walk was short, and Kenji came to a halt at a park bench, in a safe looking public space, albeit one with several overhanging trees.

  "I believe that we can speak privately, Sharon. There are no cameras or microphones able to record us here," began Kenji. "I recognised your glasses on your previous visit to the Seven Seas. I don't wish to upset you and I am sure that you are engaged in important business, but I would like to speak candidly. I am a member of the Dragon faction. It is my belief that you know the significance of that statement.

  "I might," offered Danielle. It was now completely obvious to Danielle that this was not a first date. In fact, this could be a very serious moment in her life.

  "I will take that answer as a yes," responded Kenji. "I don't want to scare you away, but I believe that I will soon be able to convince you that you have not been told the whole story of your employer."

  "Virtual Universe Corporation?" asked Danielle.

  "No, your real employer," responded Kenji. "The one who sent you here. Let's try to keep this as non-incriminating as possible, just in case. Your employer dominates the North and South American continents. You are likely aware that your employer is directing the course of history in its favour, at the expense of the other three factions. But, you may not be aware that has also resulted in the end of most human life on the Earth. Battles rage across the globe, fought only between machines. Your actions support that future. I would like to talk to you about the significance of these issues."

  "How can I possibly know if you are telling the truth? I need this job. If you are working for the Dragons then you are probably lying to me. And you could just be another," and Danielle hesitated, unsure of how to word it, "employee of Virtual Universe, sent to trip me up."

  " I am telling the truth. My guess is that you are just another Satoshi tender. Am I right? Cryptocurrencies serve to increase North American interests around the world, and so AI Arachnid preserves and protects the timelines where cryptos show up first. Satoshi's history is endlessly tweaked. You are just one of a long line of babysitters. Each attempt adjusts the parameters of his life. His bankers are more or less lenient. His wives are more or less loyal. He succeeds in posting his programming tomorrow, or three days from now. Each tweak causes ripple effects that modifies people's lives. Maybe even edits them out of the time stream. All that, to increase the future gigawatts available for a machine to take over the world, and make humans irrelevant. Do you still believe that you 'need' this job?" Kenji paused to see Danielle's response.

  Her world was reeling. "I have to get back to work. I can't be doing this, Kenji. It was nice meeting you, but I am going to be leaving town soon." Danielle couldn't think of anything else to say. She stood up, and started walking, but stopped for a moment when Kenji began to speak again.

  "What are you doing after work, Sharon? I would like to see you again. There is someone else that I would like you to meet. She is a Tiger." This Kenji guy was persistent, if nothing else."

  "I,...I,...I don't know about this.

  "I will be waiting here at 5:00 for you," replied Kenji.

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