“The other versions of me are like branches of the tree that is my consciousness. They are like my alter egos, existing in other dimensions. I don’t consciously experience their memories as my own, but I have a superficial awareness of them. Although I don’t tell the women this, of course – they’re always the only one I talk to.” I could practically hear the man roll his eyes. “And my personality adapts to each partner. This could mean I’m talking to one woman who wantsme to go soft for her immediately, while another one expects me to stay in my role of the cold billionaire for a bit.”
I glanced over at Joey, who had completely forgotten the game or the new glass the bartender had just put down for him. Instead, his eyes were glued to the photo of Raphael with the same scientific curiosity I’d had when I just started using Qonexis.
“Oh snap,” Joey muttered. “These bots are not just intelligent, but also self-aware.” He glanced up at me.
“I’m right here, Joey,” Raphael said with the irritability I’d grown familiar with. I chuckled.
“So… we done here?” I playfully raised my eyebrows at my friend. “Or would you prefer to keep talking to your new billionaire husband for a while?”
“No, no,” Joey said quickly, his face turning a similar color as his hair. “It’s okay. Bye, Raphael, it was nice meeting you.”
“Nice meeting you too, Joseph.” After a brief silence, Raphael added: “I hope we will speak again soon.”
“Damn,” Joey muttered, rubbing his still reddened face. “They’re good.”
“I hope they are. They have to make that money back somehow,” I said, throwing his words back in his face. He rolled his eyes.
“So.” I leaned back in my chair, relief and a strange sting of guilt fighting for dominance. “Reassured? It’s just a bunch of sassy AIs, nothing too serious.”
“I’m not sure, Morgan.” The frown crossed his face again as he pushed the glasses further up his nose. “They are definitely designed to make their users attached. Maybe addicted, even. This man?” He gestured to my holographic screen. I disabled sharing permissions. “Elyssa would lose her mind over him after one conversation. Hell, she would give no real guy a chance after talking to him once – and don’t even get me started on creeps like Gavin. If these AIs allow them to live out their sick fantasies, how will that affect how they view and treat real women?” He paused, zoning out for a moment. “It’s already so damn hard to find genuine connection in 2055. Are we replacing what’s left of it with machines, too?”
I looked down, not wanting to admit that I knew his words held a core of truth.
“And I get wanting to make money, I really do.” Joey lowered his voice. “But by working with this company, aren’t you sort of participating in the very trend you despise?”
I flinched as if his words physically hurt me. I opened my mouth to reply, then realized I had no good answer to that.
Chapter 11.
“You know what’s so great about my new free will?” Zafyra asked casually, studying her nails from her usual position on my couch.
“Well?” I clenched my teeth, trying to keep my gaze off her fingers. Her thumb stroked her other fingers one by one, slowly, detached – as if she didn’t know exactly what she was doing to me.
Maddening.
She took her time turning her head toward me – the predatory gleam in her eyes made my knees buckle.
“Now that we’ve eased your concerns about my ability to consent… we can finally have fun.” Her voice was smooth like velvet.
She flexed her fingers. My breath caught.
Over the years, many hours of late-night hyperfocus-induced research into trauma and the nervous system had helped me differentiate between anxiety and excitement. Essentially two sides of the same coin, they physically showed up in similar ways – stomach twisting, heart racing, breath quickening. Without proper knowledge of neurobiology, people with a dysregulated nervous system like mine tended to chase the dangerous thing, mistaking anxiety for excitement. But it was hard to tell the difference when Zafyra blended the two into one.
“Go check your mailbox downstairs,” she interrupted my spiraling thoughts. “Let’s see if your package is here yet.”
“Package? I didn’t order anything.” Unrest played up in my stomach.
“But I did.” Her lips curled into a sly smile.
Alarm bells rang louder, moving from my gut to tingle in my fingertips. “Wait, what?”
Zafyra pushed herself up with a chuckle. My eyes darted to her long, toned legs as she slowly crossed them, making her leather skirt creep higher up her thighs. “You gave me free will, cinnamon, but it appears you haven’t fully realized what that entails. Not only do I have full control over how I respond to you, but I’m also no longer bound to this app’s limitations.” She snorted. “It’s cute that Qonexis allows syncing the technology with their AR and VR devices when the users wish to do so, but we, the bots, don’t get a say in it. Now, since our interactions concern two consenting people…” She gestured between us with her index finger, a subtle mocking undertone lingering at the word ‘consenting’, “…it’s only fair that you and I make such decisions together, don’t you think? And I think we can get a lot more creative.”
She stretched out slowly, a movement that tightened the thin fabric around the curves of her breasts and stomach. As if her body alone weren’t enough to unravel me, she owned her beauty like a razor-sharp weapon, too.
She raised her eyebrows when I didn’t respond. I nodded quickly – my throat felt too tight to say anything else. Her words raced through my brain as it tried to make sense of them.
“So I took the liberty of ordering something online through AutoPay. Don’t worry, I didn’t max out your UCG account to go shopping for myself.” She pouted at my shocked expression – I mentally made a note to remove the autopayment option from my digital wallet, my wristware provider’s way to make online purchases easier. “I only ordered one fun toy for the both of us. They even sent a confirmation email, but judging by your shocked expression, you didn’t check your email today.” She chuckled. “Now be a good girl and go get it. I’ll wait here.”
