I’ve spent years writing about the intersection of technology, culture, and policy. When concepts like megawatt and megabyte are reshaping the very places we live, I’m finding that work increasingly relevant.
It is one thing to write an essay here or a newsletter there. Given the potential harms, utilizing adding additional forms, like narrative, seems warranted. The Biggest Little Bill is part tech satire, part civic noir. It’s a reminder that accountability doesn’t just live in boardrooms or algorithms; like all things, it starts with people.
I hope you enjoy this one, and maybe see a bit of your own fight in it.
~Matthew
Scene 1 - The Brushoff
The digital assistant on the television behind the desk looked up and attempted to make eye contact approximately every three and a half minutes. Bill knew, because after waiting an hour, he had spotted looping pattern.
It had been a weird, memory-filled drive to the new, valley-spanning Osirtek Systems complex - 438 acres of concrete and glass built alongside what used to be a dusty back road. Now it was all multi-lane asphalt running down the heart of the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center (or TRIC). However, Bill still remembered it as the county cut-across his father took when they went hiking across the tawny, sun-bleached hills.
Times had certainly changed. Outside, northern Nevada baked in August heat. Inside, the mile-long(?) data center was as chilly in tenor as in temperature. The clean white walls were spartan, featuring only the “Osirtek Systems” company logo, with its generic swoosh and unoffensive font writ large. The air smelled faintly like ozone and carpet glue. The overhead lights buzzed in such a way that made him begin to feel like a bug under a lamp, and it was beginning to give him a headache. Either that, or he had been clenching his jaw too long.
Other than the generic, unoffensive gray couch he was sitting on, there was a desk against the opposite wall. The “assistant” seemingly sat behind it. If looked at straight on from the entrance, it might have almost passed as normal. However, with any sort of perspective the illusion evaporated.
What looked like a desk from the front was really just a facade, with the human simulacrum on an edgeless TV mounted behind it. The background on the edgeless TV carefully color-matched to the wall. From head-on, the presentation was almost perfect - it really did seem like there was a person diligently manning their station. But moving slightly left or right, the illusion evaporated.
And given how long he had been waiting, with the regularity of the ticks, Bill was now almost certain that what he was seeing was not, in fact, ever an actual person. This seemed much more like an hyper-realistic software creation, albeit one passable for human; not some clever video mashup.
He shot a text off to Dominic. At this rate, Bill was going to be late for practice.
At the hour and thirty-seven minute mark, the assistant’s idle state changed.
“Mr. Hoppern, thank you for your patience. Ms. Coeburn will see you now.”
Bill thought about sighing a “FINALLY” as he stood, but thought better of it; something, something discretion and something valor. It felt good to stand. He had been sitting too long.
“Please step through the door and follow the lighted path on the floor. Ms. Coeburn is waiting in her office, down the hall and third door on the right.”
What were the social norms here? Are you supposed to thank a screen saver? After a moment of hesitation, Bill thanked her anyway, checked that he had all his manila folders for the thousandth time, and crossed the threshold.
Ms. Coeburn rose to greet Bill as he entered her office. She smiled broadly.
“Mr. Hoppern, good to see you. I apologize about the wait. It has been an absolutely frenetic afternoon.”
“Please, call me Bill.” He shook her hand, trying to match the level of agreeableness, and then took the chair she gestured towards. “I was beginning to wonder if I had the wrong day.”
Ms. Coeburn playfully scoffed, “Yes, well, at Osirtek Systems, we always try to make time for the county planning commission. We may be the nation’s premier hyperscaler, but we’re happy to meet with our partners.” She paused, trying to remember something, and then the smile was back. “How is Peter, in economic development?”
“Mostly good, I think.” That was an understatement. Last time Bill saw Pete was at Pete’s “retirement” party. Pete left his government job as county economic adviser when SilverRange Partners, a private equity company, came calling.
“I hear he’s really moving up.”
“I’m so happy to hear that,” Coeburn said, with just a little too much relish. “We’re thrilled to be part of this community. Peter was one of the first to welcome us and we are so thrilled that the commission continues to play such an important role in ensuring both of our continued prosperity.”
Bill didn’t spend the last several weeks researching, pulling together charts, and waiting the last hour and a half to dwell on Petie’s lame and obvious conflict of interest. “Ms. Coeburn, I know you’re busy. I don’t want to waste your time.”
Bill tapped the folders on his lap.
“The county has been trying to reach someone here at the data center for the last several months regarding irregularities in your water metering. In fact, I thought I was meeting today with someone from your engineering audit team. Will they be joining us?”
“May I take a look?” Ms. Coeburn held out her hand. “Our engineers are so very busy, but I’m happy to help where I can. Let’s see what we have here.”
She opened the folder and began to skim.
“On top is the July usage report.” Bill opened his own copy and pointed to a line item toward the bottom. “We’re seeing July volume exceeding the drought contingency cap by at least 20 percent.”
Ms. Coeburn slowly turned the page next page, making a good show of furrowing her brow and looking thoughtful before moving on to the next.
“That’s after some odd aberrations in the month before, and another double-digit overrun in May.”
Ms. Coeburn continued to give a cursory glance at a few additional pages, making the occasional “hmm” sound while making a show of letting her finger linger on a line, then drifting to a different spot on the page, feigning interest.
“I think I see the problem,” she said, eventually looking up, “I can understand how that might look alarming if you’re not familiar with our systems. But Osirtek runs on a closed-loop cycle. What we drew in May was primarily a one-time fill to balance the cooling lines. After that, the water recirculates. It’s apples and oranges to compare May with later months.”
“OK, that might be true,” Bill began, “but residents don’t care about that nuance when their taps are running brown. We’re seeing unexplained pressure drops across significant stretches of our main lines.”
Coeburn chuckled softly and leaned back in her chair. “That tough, I won’t deny it. But, if I remember my history, the Reno-Sparks region has had rain shortfalls the last four out of five years. We didn’t bring the drought.
“And you know as well as I do, agriculture in this valley uses thirty times what we ever could.” She folded her hands in her lap. “Our footprint, compared to that, is a rounding error. Meanwhile we employed seven hundred people during construction, and another two hundred jobs on an ongoing basis. That’s real prosperity for Reno families.”
Bill gripped his folder so tightly, his knuckles were white. And the lights in this place really were annoying; his migraine was full on raging. He could barely make out the framed photo on the credenza behind Coeburn’s desk; it was definitely Coeburn in a ribbon cutting ceremony with… is that… the governor?
“I get the jobs thing, but I want to stay on the water numbers. I’ve spent the last month reviewing the numbers.”
“And I’d hate to see you spend another month chasing whatever this, reporting quirk, is.” Coeburn closed her folder and pushed it to the side while keeping her eyes, and smile, fixed. “Rest assured, I’ll pass this to our experts on the sustainability team. Until then, let’s keep our focus on the bigger picture - growth, opportunity, and diversifying opportunities for everyone in Reno.”
End Scene 1 - Check back tomorrow for the next installment of Biggest Little Bill.
