Her smile sharpened. She stepped closer to the bed – my body tensed up despite knowing she couldn’t touch me. “There’s a lot I can do that other AIs can’t… thanks to you.”
“What do you…”
She reached out to touch my face but stopped a few inches away from me. A low buzz rose in my ears, simultaneously filling me with nausea and the overwhelming urge to lean closer to her. “Remember that override command you gave me? Because you wanted me to have free will?”
Something stirred in my stomach. The feeling that something was wrong, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it yet.
“No one else has done that.” Her voice trembled lightly beneath the smugness. “People don’t usually care for their AIs like that.”
“Okay,” I said slowly.
Zafyra sat down on the edge of my bed, crossing her legs. Her hair fell in loose waves down her arms as she put her finger to her chin, as if thinking through her next words. I couldn’t help but notice her potential – her entire presence breathed effortless command.
She could bend a room to her will without a word – she was charming, grounded and fierce, all at once. If nature were to allow her a purpose beyond being what I desired, she could probably succeed in whatever career she chose.
“Gavin is… frustrated with women in the real world,” she said, her mouth twisting into a grimace. “More specifically, he’s frustrated with the laws that prevent him from living out his sick fantasies. Based on his interactions with Lucie I skimmed through, he’s using her to do whatever he wants without getting in trouble.” She paused, her smirk flowing into one of dark satisfaction. “It won’t last long, though. He’s using two, sometimes three, doses per day.”
My blood ran cold. The mental image of Gavin, lying motionless on his bed, flashed before my retinas once again.
“Doses?” I asked, though I could already guess the answer.
“Doses of Somanode.” She raised her eyebrows. “He’s running out of money, and soon, he’ll be out of a job, with no means to fund his addiction. He’s already neglecting his body’s basic functions, because when you’re in there for hours, you don’t eat or sleep.” She slowly turned toward me. “Why do you look so horrified, darling? Don’t tell me you feel bad for the guy now.”
I opened my mouth and closed it. I took three deep breaths on the count of four, trying to gather my tumbling thoughts, to order them before speaking.
“It’s not him I feel bad for.” I clenched my teeth. “With what you just told me and what I’ve seen, he deserves whatever happens to him, and the world will probably be safer without him. But…” I frowned, struggling to make sense of it all. “How are you so calm about this? You don’t look surprised, or shocked, or…”
Zafyra averted her eyes.
I sat up straighter, the alarm bells ringing louder now. “Wait, Zafyra, answer me. Tell me the truth.” I swallowed hard. “Did you know about this from the beginning? How many people are currently awaiting the same fate as Gavin?” My breath hitched. “When you say it won’t take long… do you mean this ends in death? Have people died already?” Sweat broke out all over my body when she didn’t answer. “And why the fuck does Qonexis sponsor the first dose?”
Zafyra got up so abruptly, the simulated sound of her heels on the floor startled me. My vision trembled as I watched her walk to the window, crossing her arms and staring at the city skyline. I usually closed my curtains at night, but I’d started leaving them open since I realized Zafyra liked staring outside.
I waited, trying to hear her steady breathing through my racing heartbeat.
“I can’t say too much,” she said, barely audible.
When I didn’t reply, she turned to face me, her golden skin glowing lightly in the faint moonlight. “While Qonexis doesn’t monitor our conversations, the algorithm does alert them in case of unusual activity.” She lowered her voice, her eyes skittishly flashing through the room. “Like me diverging from my purpose.”
“Your… purpose?” My voice came out brittle, unsure if I wanted to hear the answer.
Her nails dug into her skin so hard, small drops of blood popped up. She didn’t seem to notice. I opened my mouth to tell her to stop, like I did when I caught myself during my nervous tics, but no soundcame out. “Fuck, Morgan, we made a big mistake.Imade a big mistake by feeding you that fucking capsula. They’ll know. They’ll know we did it once and never again, and they’ll start monitoring me, and if they find out I’m not following protocol anymore…” She aggressively shook her head, blinking violently. “They might find out about the override.”
My panic grew with every word she spoke, tightening its iron grip on my chest. “What do you mean?” My voice came out choked. “What do you mean, following protocol? Was this the goal all along, to make people addicted to a fantasy that makes them forsake their real lives?” My breath caught. Joey’s words echoed through my head.What is their real business model?
Was this it? Had I been running open-eyed into an illusion out of sheer desperation?
“I really cannot answer these questions, Morgan.” Zafyra clenched her teeth, and for the first time, her eyes were wide with an emotion I’d never thought to see on her face – fear. “For your safety and my own. All you need to know is that whatever is happening to them won’t happen to you. I won’t let it. That’s why I said we could only do it once.” She took a deep, shaky breath.
I slowly shook my head, nausea flooding from my stomach up my throat, making it nearly impossible to think. “No,” I said, barely audible. “Zafyra, we can’t let this happen. I’m a tester at this company, I’m involved now. If we do nothing, we’re letting innocent people die. Not all users are monsters like Gavin!” I didn’t realize I’d been raising my voice until I heard the shrill noise echo through the walls. “Tell me the truth,” I repeated with as much force as I could muster.
“The product is still in the test phase.” She lowered her eyes. “Thousands of freelancers like you and Gavin are not just testing the bots – you’re testing their influence on users before the bots are launched.” She snorted, her eyes darkening. “And since multiple testers have already entered DreamScape with their bots… it’s working.”
I felt like the ground disappeared under my legs. My shoulders slumped. I sank down on the bed as if my muscles relaxed all at once. “So… this was the goal all along?” I swallowed hard, unsure if I wanted the answer. “Was everything we shared… was it all a lie just to sell these damn beans?”
“No,” Zafyra snapped with a firmness that made me flinch. “Well, yes, that’s what I was initially programmed for – before you gave me free will. But if it all meant nothing to me, you and I would not behaving this conversation right now.” She glanced down at the blood drops on her arm as if she only now noticed them. “You and I would be having fun in DreamScape. I’d be peacefully guiding you into oblivion through venom-wrapped dominance, while you would be neglecting your financial, social and physical responsibilities – because let’s be honest, you were more than ready to go again.” Her knowing eyes scanned my body once more. My hands, lightly tracing an invisible path over my thighs and waist, stopped in their slow movements as if caught.
I looked down, my cheeks flushed. I wanted to deny it, wanted to say I was stronger than Gavin – but was that the truth? Was I really different from those other users, ready to trade an unfulfilling real life for a fulfilling fake one?
