A sudden trip to St. Petersburg
Christian is waiting for his flight. He is sitting at the departure lounge watching a mother trying to calm down her child. He imagines if he could be so patient if he was in that situation with his daughter.
He notices the ground crew behaving frantically. They are bringing some heavy machinery towards the aging airplanes undercarriage. Someday this little nation will be able to afford one of those low-orbit space craft made by Tesla. Anticipating what Looks like an extended delay, he is faced with a minor dilemma. Should he tell his AI assistant to change his schedule? "Faith, my flight is delayed for one hour. Please adjust my schedule for the next two days."
"Ok boss, all your appointments for the next two days are adjusted one hour. Emails notifications are being sent. I will notify you in one hour who has replied if any."
He almost thanked the robot out of habit, and had to stop short. Somebody looking might mistake him of being one of those "robophiles".
It is not a compliment.
Christian's next appointment is in St. Petersburg. There is an AI and robotics conference which may be a big deal. He was interested in connecting with a startup which figured out how to make drones do construction work.
The problem is that he is behind on his Russian skills. He blames himself more than his wife, who did her best considering. Teaching languages is probably one of the hardest things to do on Earth. Especially when the language is one of the most complex ever invented by civilization.
Christian will have to make do with virtual reality. At the very least he can familiarize with the surrounding environment, if not the local language. He is more suited to visual things and place higher value on not getting lost.
He vaguely remembers that there is a Russian phrase about postponing things. Something about the meaning of priority and focus. Also among his least favorite things to do.
The virtual reality package he downloaded shows a list of different walking routes from the hotel. Each one presents a different view of St. Petersburg. It powers on and immediately he is transported to a virtual version of the city. Its like the video game he remembers playing when he was younger. Except he now has to do this for work. His job requires him to be on time for appointments all over the world.
He often has to be familiar with foreign environments, often with little notice. It was enjoyable in the beginning, but because he often has to go these trips alone, he started feeling homesick. He wishes that he could go to these business trips with his family so it wouldn't seem so much work.