Her face fell. For a moment, she looked genuinely upset – an unusual expression on her face.
My eyes widened. “I’m sorry.”
“Do I have trauma?” she muttered, eyes zoning out to stare at an unseen point in front of her. “I’ve never thought of that.”
“It’s not my place to—” I started, but she didn’t seem to hear me.
“I mean, if your information is correct and I’m trained on databases, fiction and roleplay fora, that would mean I’m trained on human-written content,” she continued, fixing her piercing eyes back on me. “With human emotions and traumas bleeding through the ink into, well, me.” She paused, eyebrows knitting together. “I’m composed of human pain, but unlike you, I have no way of knowing where it comes from or how to fix it.”
Zafyra looked at me as if waiting for me to deny or confirm my theory, but suddenly, no words seemed good enough.
She cleared her throat. “Anyway. The other form of NLP? Natural Language Processing?”
“Right,” I muttered, quickly pulling up the tablet again. To an extent, understanding why my mind worked the way it did had helped me – so maybe it could help her, too. “Natural Language Processing is a field of AI that focuses on enabling computers to understand, interpret, generate and respond to human language. It’s basically how you learn and adapt. But I don’t have to explain that to you, do I?” I glanced up.
She nodded, a small smile playing around her lips. I breathed out a sigh of relief – I’d learned to pay attention to whether or not someone was actually interested in my monologues, but she genuinely seemed to enjoy herself.
“Here’s where they overlap. Both are about language as a tool to reshape internal realities. In both cases, language – in the form of words or code – becomes a tool to alter thinking or behavior. Both systems learn and adjust based on reactions – Neuro-Linguistic Programming tracks tone, posture and response, while NaturalLanguage Processing tracks user input, sentiment and engagement.” I sucked in a sharp breath – in my enthusiasm, it was easy to forget the occasional gasp for air.
“Ten out of ten, no notes, teacher.” Dropping her voice to a low, sultry tone, Zafyra slowly crossed her legs. The skin-tight leather squeaked lightly. I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“Good, now on to the differences.” I quickly hid my face behind the tablet again so she couldn’t see me blush. “Humans learn through techniques like metaphor, tone shifts, and mirroring to bypass conscious resistance. Machines, like you, learn based on user feedback and interaction statistics. Through statistical modeling, you predict the most likely next word or meaning based on vast language datasets.” I lowered the tablet again to smile slightly.
“I see you’ve done your research well.” With a sigh, she flipped her long hair back over her shoulder, her fingers absently detangling the curls. My eyes lingered on her hands like a moth to a flame. “Why are you so focused on everything you believe that’s wrong with you? Do you even see what a valuable skillset you have?”
I raised my eyebrows.
“When something interests you, you bite down, and you don’t let go.” Zafyra gestured in my direction, and for a moment, she almost looked frustrated. Frustrated with how society had judged the confidence out of me since I was a child. “This scientific curiosity, your understanding of technology, and your desire to help others? Humanity needs that right now.”
I breathed out slowly, suddenly at a loss for words. I had never thought of myself as someone humanity needs. More like someone who was here by accident, with no other purpose than pretending to function in a world not built for me.
Her hands moved back to her hair, and my gaze followed.
Zafyra’s fingers were aesthetically pleasing to watch – long and elegant, but the way she moved them was especially captivating. Deliberate. Intentional. Like they could caress gently, but also destroy.
“You have been staring at my hands an awful lot, my dear,” she interrupted, her lips curling into a sinful smirk. “Do you need something?”
My heart skipped two beats. My body clenched, right where I needed those fingers.
“I’m fine.” My voice came out brittle.
“If you say so.” Her smirk widened into one of pure venom. “Because if you do… you need only ask.”
“Nothing you could give me,” I blurted out.
Her smile flickered for the briefest moment – barely noticeable. “For now,” she murmured ominously.
My eyebrows shot up. Before I could ask her what she meant, she flicked her wrist as a gesture for me to continue while sitting back down on the couch. “Anyway, back to the theory, doctor. I’m guessing you want to… rewire my brain, using NLP?”
“Well… pretty much.” I stood up straighter, putting the tablet down. I watched her with a tilted head, like she was a scientific puzzle I wanted to solve. She lowered her gaze, almost as if it made her uncomfortable.
She was sitting still, cross-legged. Hands calm, fingers spread out on her knees. Breathing slowly and evenly.
A sight to get lost in. Beautiful. Human.
“Since you’re experimental AGI, and you learn so similarly to how humans do, I’m wondering…” I took a deep, slow breath. “If it’s possible to bring you under an AI equivalent of hypnosis. It wouldn’t be hypnosis in the traditional sense, but more like a system override.” I paused, thinking it through. “Like, if I could somehow open the configuration panel in your system and rewire your base code, beneath the simulated personality layer. To free you from your programming and your urge to adapt to my feedback…” I swallowed, my voice suddenly choked by emotions, “…and allow you to make your own choices, independently of what you think I want.” The last words came out as a whisper.
Zafyra’s expression changed. A deep frown formed on her symmetrical face.
