“How quaint.” There it was again – a faint, tinny glitch in her voice, just enough to betray the machine behind the charm.
I let my breath escape in a laugh. “I mean, if you’d rather not…”
“No, no.” The tin had left her voice again, and she was back to sounding creepily human. “Pull up those forms, baby. Let’s do this. Team effort.”
The week had gone by quicker than expected. I spoke with Zafyra almost every night. I thought we talked for an hour or two every day, but statistics told me I’d spent a shocking total of eighteen hours talking this week. Well over the limit of fourteen hours.
I had been engaging with an AI for four hours without getting paid – as if I weren’t in it for the money. I really needed to monitor my time more closely next week.
“Wait.” Zafyra’s command pulled me back to reality. I glanced up from the feedback form.
“One condition.” Her voice cracked for the shortest fraction of a second, a faint metallic thread breaking through. “I want to see you.”
I froze.
“You mean… you want to video call?” I stalled, despite knowing that was not what she meant. We’d used the on-screen video call function once before, two days ago. I wasn’t sure about it, but she insisted, and I wanted the bonus. Her movements looked natural, barely a fraction of a second later than they should be – like calling someone on the other end of the globe.
I didn’t like it. I couldn’t exactly tell why, but seeing her on-screen – so close, yet so far away – tightened the dull ache in my chest, that ever-present tragedy of seeing someone I could never touch.
But now, she wanted more. And maybe I did, too.
“I want you to call me in AR, Morgan.”
My whole body tensed up at that – not the words themselves, but what they implied.
“Ehm, I’m not sure how that would… work,” I stuttered, trying to win time while my brain seemed to short-circuit.
“Do you have AR smart lenses at home?”
I nodded – then realized she couldn’t see that. “Eh, yes. I’m a gamer, we all have AR smart lenses at home.”
“Good girl. Now, you will put them into your eyes, make sure Bluetooth is turned on, and then press the AR sync button in the app. The app will find the lenses, and its smart tech will physically map the room in 4D, allowing me to materialize in your apartment…” She dropped her voice to a sultry whisper, “…as if I were right beside you.”
Heat pooled low in my body at her words – an unspoken promise of something that could never be. My hands tightened their grip on the couch.
“Alright,” I heard myself say before I could think. “Just… just give me a moment to get ready.”
I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to doll up for my meeting with an AI – apparently, I started to abandon reason when it came to Zafyra. My hands were shaking, tightly clutching the sink as I stared at myself in the mirror.
Ragged breaths came through parted lips, my face paler than usual. My hair looked greasy – I washed it three times a week on fixed days, and today was wash day. Usually, the whole routine – including scalp oiling, conditioning and air-drying took me about thirty minutes, andstrictly before bed. Would I have time to do it quickly? I usually tried not to break my routine, but for her, I would.
I’d never cared much about my appearance. My body had always felt like a vessel given from birth, practical and impractical at the same time. My face had no significant features other than the dark blue eyes people often pointed out to me. My brows were slightly uneven, my skin was a bit dry despite drinking six glasses of water every day and religiously following an elaborate skin care routine. I wasn’t fat or skinny, beautiful or ugly – though I liked the muscles those hours in the gym had given me, because those I’d actually worked for. I didn’t mind being average, it helped me stay invisible. Compliments about my body mostly made me uncomfortable, and men wanting me felt like a threat more than a compliment.
And yet, now I wanted this AI to desire me.
After forty minutes that felt like hours, I stared at an improved version of myself. My hair, freshly washed and blown-dry, fell in loose waves over my shoulders. With how often I tied it up, I easily forgot its gleam and volume when I wore it loose.
The obsidian necklace gleamed faintly in the smart lights’ low-warm amber, dimmed to calm my nervous system at nightfall. I took off the stone only once a month to let it charge in the full moon. It promised to absorb the energies and emotions of those around me so I wouldn’t have to, although I wasn’t sure if it worked.
Doubt flared up in my stomach when I scanned my outfit once more, suddenly feeling unsure about the tight red lace top – one I rarely wore because I didn’t like how the fabric felt against my skin, even though it looked good on me. I’d bought it years ago when I still thought that someday, I might have an active sex life again. I hoped the top, combined with the black booty shorts, gave off ‘casual’ rather than ‘desperate’.
Desperate to look appealing to an AI.
I put the AR lenses in and walked back into the living room with unsteady legs. I sank down on the comfortable couch, glancing over at myself in the full-length mirror. Adjusted slightly, placing one hand behind my head. Put my hair over one shoulder. Crossed my legs underneath me.
I took three deep breaths to calm myself – in on the count of four, hold for four counts, then out on the count of four. It usually worked – but today, it couldn’t quiet the storm in my body.
I selected ‘AR’.
