Episode 12: Coffee and Code

Keith sat down at his desk and stretched before taking another sip of his coffee. After that, he got in using the retinal scanner, he looked at what tasks had been put into his queue.

One had a red highlight; three had a yellow highlight; and six had a green highlight. Whoever implemented this system was a genius. It was so nice to be able to prioritize at a glance.

That said, the red task was probably the only one he would get done before crashing. If someone wanted to complain about it, then that was their problem.

People still needed sleep. That hadn't been replaced and may never be. Coffee could only carry someone for some long.

Keith opened the red-highlighted task. The code was riddled with bugs, and it was his job to figure out what went wrong. He sighed as he scrolled through lines of code, identifying the first issue almost immediately. A simple syntax error, easy enough to fix. He corrected it and ran the program again, only to be met with a series of new errors.

The next bug was more complex. It was a logical error that caused an infinite loop, making the program crash every time it was executed. Keith took a deep breath and started rewriting the problematic section, focusing on the logic to ensure the loop would terminate correctly.

Hours passed as Keith meticulously worked through the code, fixing one bug after another. He could feel his eyes getting heavy, but he pushed on, determined to get the job done. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the program ran smoothly without any errors.

Keith leaned back in his chair, feeling a sense of accomplishment wash over him.

The door being shut helped muffle it somewhat, but Keith could hear Aurelia reading animatedly downstairs. That was strange coming from her.

Yolie added insolation to be less of a bother. And she was animated when practicing, so it was easy to tune her out.

What was Aurelia up to down there?

As he drew closer to the kitchen, Keith heard a high-pitched voice that sounded far away.

Was Aurelia on the phone with someone?

Keith entered the kitchen to find Aurelia sitting at the table, engrossed in telling a bedtime story to Aesia over the video chat. He smiled as he watched Aurelia's expressive performance, bringing life to each character with her voice. Keith could see how much Aesia was enjoying the story, giggling and gasping in anticipation as Aurelia narrated.

As Aurelia reached the climax of the tale, Keith found himself drawn into the story as well, captivated by Aurelia's dramatic delivery. He listened intently as Aurelia brought the story to a satisfying conclusion, and Aesia clapped excitedly in response. Keith applauded as well, earning a playful glare from Aurelia.

Aesia thanked Aurelia for the bedtime story and wished her good night before ending the call. Keith smiled fondly at Aurelia, admiring her kindness and compassion.

"You're really good with kids," Keith remarked, stepping into the room.

Aurelia blushed slightly and shrugged. "I just want them to be happy."

Keith nodded. "You have a big heart, Aurelia. It's one of the things I admire about you."

Aurelia smiled shyly as Keith praised her. "Thanks, Keith. I just wish I could make everything easier for Deni and Aesia."

"You're already doing so much for them," Keith reassured her. "And that makes a world of difference."

Aurelia's eyes lit up with determination as Keith encouraged her, giving her the strength to keep working hard to support her family. Keith smiled as Aurelia declared that they would make tomorrow a good day, raising his coffee mug in a toast. They clinked their drinks together, ready to face whatever challenges tomorrow might bring.

Keith got himself a small snack before going back upstairs.

He returned to his desk, the warmth of the interaction with Aurelia giving him a renewed sense of purpose. He sat down, stretched, and took a deep sip of his coffee, savoring the moment. Logging back into the system, he decided to tackle one of the yellow-highlighted tasks before calling it a night.

The yellow task he chose involved optimizing a piece of code that was running slower than expected. It wasn't as urgent as the red-highlighted task, but it was important nonetheless, especially since it impacted the overall performance of the application.

Keith opened the file and began reviewing the code. He immediately noticed several areas where improvements could be made. The code was bloated with redundant calculations and unnecessary loops. He knew that streamlining these sections would significantly enhance performance.

He started by simplifying the loops, reducing nested iterations where possible. Then, he moved on to optimizing the algorithms used for data processing, replacing them with more efficient ones. Keith meticulously went through each line of code, ensuring that his changes did not introduce any new bugs.

As he worked, he felt the familiar rhythm of problem-solving take over, his focus sharpening with each passing minute. It was almost like a puzzle, each piece falling into place as he rewrote the code. The task took a couple of hours, but he was making steady progress.

Finally, after thorough testing and tweaking, Keith was satisfied with the optimized code. He ran the performance tests, and the results were promising. The code was now running significantly faster, and the application's overall performance had improved noticeably.

Keith leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms above his head. Another task successfully completed. He saved his work and logged out of the system. The sense of accomplishment from fixing the red task and optimizing the yellow task filled him with satisfaction.

As he prepared to shut down his computer, he couldn't help but glance at the remaining yellow-highlighted tasks. They would have to wait until tomorrow. For now, it was time to get some much-needed rest.

Keith changed into a tank top and shorts before flopping into bed.