We’d tried to handle things the legal way first, by taking Sybrand’s confession to the police– but unfortunately, no one took it seriously. In a time when realistic deepfakes were too easy to make, audio and video recordings had lost their credibility. Moreover, Somanode turned out to operate under a legitimate neurotech shell company.
Zafyra leaned back in her chair, pursing her lips. “So the biggest challenge is their distribution,” she murmured. “Obviously, Somanode won’t partner with us like they do with those other companies, since our simulation will ultimately guide customers away from their services, not toward them.”
Raphael and Joey exchanged a look.
“Well, Morgan and I are in a lot of underground, encrypted private networks.” Joey sat up straighter. “Distributing our products there would be as easy as it is to lure people into underground chatbot apps, shady dating apps or crypto schemes – especially as we can sell our products for a fraction of the price. We don’t need to make money from them, just need to cover production costs – which are low, since Zafyra stole the beans.” He narrowed his eyes at Zafyra, who smirked in response. “In my opinion… a more pressing question is, will people actually want our products?” His eyebrows knit together. “People pay a shit ton of money to escape our world, not learn the truth about it. Who would be interested in a simulation that shows the truth?”
Much to my surprise, all eyes turned to me.
“There’ll always be people who want to escape reality and people who want to learn the truth,” I heard myself say. “So, yes – some people will still prefer spending a shit ton of money for a few hours with their favorite character, chatbot, or relative. Others will watch our simulation and be so shocked, they never want to engage with modern tech again. Others will watch, shrug, and still go back to the illusions. We can’t make their decisions for them – all we can do is help them make a well-informed choice. People deserve to have that choice in a world built on manipulation.”
The words came out steadier than I expected. Maybe being surrounded by people who saw me without criticizing me was finally helping me work through my anxiety.
For a moment, the room stayed silent. Nodding heads and agreeing expressions. I released the breath I was holding.
It didn’t take long before Raphael, Zafyra and Joey went back to their usual bickering. Lucie rolled her eyes, put in her headphones and sat back down, focusing her attention back on her homework – a sketch of a dress made entirely from renewable waste.
Elyssa turned to me with a soft laugh. “Remind me why we still put up with this?”
I answered her laugh with a small grin. “Because we are dedicated professionals.”
“Right.” She chuckled, following my gaze where it always went – Zafyra. “And I see you’re still captured,” she teased.
I bit my lip, trying to keep a straight face. “It’s hard to lose interest when she keeps me on my toes all the time. Every day, I’m learning something new about her. Almost as if it never worked out with anyone else because my soul was waiting for her.” A smile played around my lips as I watched her smugly explain her views on business ethics to Raphael just to make him mad – and it was working. He clearly got more annoyed with every second. “Although I still wonder…” My smile faded slightly. I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should share these thoughts. “What if I only like her because I can’t form relationships with a real human? I mean, in the end, she was a custom AI built to mirror my desires.” I spoke the last words barely audible.
Elyssa nodded slowly. “I mean, she looks and acts like a human,” she said. “She has a physical body and a will of her own – a strong one, too.” She made a face – like all of us, she was all too acquainted with Zafyra’s quirks. “I don’t think it gets more human than that.” She paused. “In my opinion, the only difference between dating her and dating a human is the setting. Without the mess of dating apps and shorttermships, you had all the time and space to get to know her in a way that allowed you to be yourself.”
“You know what? I had never thought of it like that.”
Elyssa opened her mouth to answer, but her wristware buzzed. A sly smile spread across her face when she glanced at the display – a smile I knew all too well.
“Carl?” I raised my eyebrows. I didn’t really need to ask.
“Yes.” A small blush crept over her cheeks as she wiped a hazel brown curl out of her face. “We’ve only been talking for weeks, but it feels so right. We’re taking it slow, but he’s one of the few guys I’ve met who isn’t into shorttermships – at all.” She grimaced. She didn’t have to explain – I knew how hard it was for her to finally trust men again, but she was trying. In my mind, that was progress.
“He’s calling me, I have to take this.” She turned to walk away, but I stopped her with a small cough.
“Elyssa?”
She turned to look at me. I hesitated, trying to form the words to express my gratitude without having it sound like I was thanking her for being my friend.
“I’m glad we’re friends,” was what I came up with.
Her smile split her face in half. “I am, too.”
Long fingers wrapped around my waist, immediately alerting me to Zafyra’s presence. I closed my eyes for a moment, deeply breathing in her scent.
“Is something wrong?” she murmured, close to my ear. “You have that look on your face when you’re doubting yourself.”
Elyssa mumbled an excuse and quickly walked over to Lucie. Even now, my friends were still a little frightened in Zafyra’s presence – and who could blame them?
“I’m not doubting myself per se.” I sighed. “It’s our safety I’m worried about. You almost lost your life when you stole those beans, and if Somanode finds out about this…”
My hand reached out to pick at the dry skin around my nails, but quickly stopped when noticing Zafyra’s piercing gaze. Instead, I went to fidget with the hair tie around my wrist. Replacing my anxious tics with less damaging ones was still a work in progress, but as annoying as she could be about it, she helped.
“But they won’t, darling,” she said softly. “Our appearances and voices in the simulation are altered, and identities are completely encrypted in these servers. People use these for large-scale scams, drug deals and other criminal activities without getting caught, and the police can’t do anything about it.”
“I know, but still. It’s a large corporation – they won’t take kindly to it. And besides, the police wouldn’t take the confession seriously, so who says the public will?” I sighed. “We are just six people – three humans and three bots. We can’t solve a society-wide problem, can we? AI is here to stay, and so are the problems that come with it.”
