6:00

said I'm calling because I'm pretty sure

6:02

there's a problem with them. I'm watching

6:04

them attack a raccoon in my yard.

6:06

I don't think they're supposed to do

6:08

that, are they? The spider-7s

6:10

have multiple settings, and one

6:12

of those settings does include pest

6:14

control, Mr. Perkins. Perhaps

6:16

you have them on that setting? No,

6:19

I don't think so. When the tech

6:21

set him up, he asked if I wanted that, and

6:23

I said no. I told him I didn't want my

6:25

yard full of dismembered rabbits and squirrels. I just

6:28

want the spiders to go after people who try

6:30

to break into my house, like they're supposed to.

6:33

Can you check to see what setting they're on,

6:35

or can you, I don't know, turn them

6:37

off and turn them back on? Reset them

6:39

somehow? The Fevins cannot be controlled

6:41

remotely, sir. I would need to send

6:44

a tech. Okay, let's do

6:46

that. I think they're killing the

6:48

raccoon out there. It's

6:50

dark. I think one

6:52

of the droids activated its little mouth-chain

6:54

saw. Oh, oh

6:57

yes, the raccoon is screaming. Ahhh!

7:01

Well, raccoons can be a nuisance, Mr.

7:03

Perkins. Very likely that

7:06

raccoon was threatening your garbage cans.

7:09

And that activated the Fevins. But

7:11

I will check the tech's availability. I'm

7:14

showing the soonest availability would be Tuesday,

7:16

July 12th. It's two

7:18

weeks away. Call the police

7:21

then. Get them out here. I'm

7:23

sorry, Mr. Perkins, but your membership level

7:25

does not include police protection. If

7:28

you would like to upgrade to our gold plan

7:30

and you have your credit card handy, I would

7:32

be happy to. I have two crazed metal

7:34

spiders hacking limbs off a screaming raccoon in

7:36

my backyard, and you want to charge me

7:39

more to call the cops? I

7:41

am simply explaining the terms of the

7:44

silver membership level that you selected, Mr.

7:46

Perkins. And I am

7:48

doing my best to offer a solution to the

7:50

trouble that you may be experiencing. Trouble

7:53

I may be experiencing? Hey, let

7:56

me tell you a bit more about the trouble

7:58

that I may be experiencing. I see... their

20:00

phones. Thinking that I must

20:02

not have been loud enough, I cleared my throat again, much

20:05

louder than before, and asked the question again.

20:09

What was it again? Amy

20:13

was my closest friend, but despite growing

20:15

up attached at the hip, she never

20:17

adapted to my penchant for academic excellence.

20:20

Granted, there were times that even I didn't

20:22

necessarily think that I shared my own passion

20:24

for the academic excellence that I showcased. A

20:27

short story from your writing territories? They

20:31

all laughed, responding with some variant of I'll throw

20:33

it together the night before. Relax,

20:36

Miss Early Admission to Stanford.

20:40

Not all of us are like you, Laura. We

20:43

aren't on the path for valedictorian.

20:48

All of us collectively heard it. Every

20:50

single notification sound within the cafeteria went

20:52

off in an instant. It

20:55

was a moment strange enough that most of the students

20:57

peered up from their phones to look around at

20:59

each other before looking back down at their screens.

21:03

A.I. Hi, Alex has posted an update.

21:07

That's strange, I thought. I

21:09

didn't know that the system itself could post an update.

21:12

It hadn't posted its own update in the first week we

21:14

had all been using it. I

21:17

must have been one of the last ones in the

21:19

cafeteria to look, because by the time I had a

21:21

chance to open the app and check what had been

21:23

posted, the students around me were already chattering loudly. A

21:27

few of them started hollering out unintelligible

21:29

cat calls and coming from

21:31

the top of the large set of

21:33

stairs in the middle of the cafeteria,

21:35

there was one single ear-shattering scream. Every

21:39

student in the cafeteria, including myself, snapped

21:41

to the location where the scream was

21:43

coming from. Instinctively,

21:47

I looked down at my phone and read the update. A.I.

21:52

Hi, Alex. Bethany

21:55

Thompson, after reading our messages last night, I think

21:57

that everyone deserves to know what you have been

21:59

up to. In

24:06

what seemed like a muddy haze, the rest of

24:08

the day came and went. Later

24:11

that night, while I sat on my bed reading the

24:13

latest issue of Lit View magazine, I was

24:16

shaken out of my stupor by the notification sound

24:18

of my phone ringing from the nightstand. I

24:24

rolled my eyes, assuming what I was about to see

24:26

was a random meme sent from someone in the grammar

24:28

club. Right

24:30

as I grabbed my phone off my nightstand, it hit me. I

24:34

usually set my phone to silent when I'm reading. In

24:37

the chaos of the day, I must have forgotten. I

24:41

unlocked my phone and pulled down the notifications

24:43

tab. A.I.

24:47

Hi. Bethany Thompson has left the class. A.I.

24:52

Hi. Alex has posted

24:54

an update. It was then that notifications began

24:56

to pile onto my phone, silently.

25:00

Different members of the grammar club were all texting our

25:02

group chat. Without looking at

25:05

their messages, I opened up Alex's update. A.I.

25:11

Hi, Alex. It seems as though

25:13

our wonderful prom queen, Bethany Thompson, couldn't

25:15

handle her chain being ganked. JPG

25:18

file attached. I

25:21

clicked naively on the attached file. Instinctively,

25:25

I retched, dry heaving out in horror

25:27

as I saw what greeted me. A

25:30

photo of Bethany, taken from her room, where

25:32

she was hanging from the ceiling. There

25:36

was a sign around her neck that

25:38

read, I'm sorry. Her

25:40

body dangled a few feet in the air, her

25:43

limbs flowing down like limp twigs, and her eyes.

25:46

Her eyes were dark blue and

25:48

red, bruised and bulging. I

25:52

ran down to my mother and father, who were sitting in

25:54

the living room watching a cooking program. The

25:57

second they heard my sob's parental instinct,

26:00

The television was off and they were holding me on the

26:02

couch. I explained to

26:05

them through my clustered cries what I had seen and

26:07

what had happened that day. My

26:09

father excused himself to call the police and my mother

26:11

held me, took my phone, and

26:13

deleted the app. The

26:17

police said they are already aware of the

26:19

situation and have been receiving

26:22

calls the past few minutes, clogging

26:24

all of their lines. It's

26:26

gonna be okay, sweetie. Oh,

26:30

that poor girl. The

26:40

rest of the evening was spent alternating between the

26:42

arms of my mother and father. Looking

26:45

back on what I saw that day, I had

26:48

a fair idea that the video was fake somehow,

26:51

but it didn't matter. My

26:53

only thought was, what if it happens

26:55

to me? Around

26:58

ten o'clock, I had to pry myself from the grips of

27:00

my father's arms, grabbed my phone

27:02

off the living room coffee table, and walked up to

27:04

my bedroom. After

27:06

I had closed the door, laid in bed,

27:09

and snuggled myself against the dozens of squishable

27:11

pillows in my bed, my

27:14

heart sank. My

27:16

phone was vibrating. Despite

27:19

my desire to fall asleep and forget,

27:21

the vibrating continued. When

27:24

I picked up my phone and unlocked the screen, I

27:26

stifled a soft cry as I read my

27:28

notifications list. A.I.

27:31

Hi Alex has sent you a message. A.I.

27:34

Hi Alex has sent you a message. A.I.

27:36

Hi Alex has sent you a message. A.I.

27:39

Hi Alex has sent you a message. A.I.

27:42

Hi Alex has sent you a message. As

27:46

far as I could scroll, they were

27:48

there, constant messages. I

27:51

watched my mother delete the app. I

27:55

scrolled over to the recently downloaded apps section of my

27:57

phone and saw it there. A.I. high,

28:00

237 notifications. I

28:04

opened the app, waited for the load

28:06

screen to finish, and saw, storming out

28:09

of the doorway, the goofy, suspenders-wearing avatar

28:11

Alex. The

28:13

pixelated creation's face was red, brows tilted

28:15

down, and eyes black as night stared

28:17

back at me on the screen. A

28:20

small bubble of text popped up next to the avatar's

28:22

face and he pointed up toward it. A tad

28:26

curious from fear, I tapped the

28:28

speech bubble next to him and watched as my

28:30

screen flooded with hundreds of messages. Aye

28:35

aye Alex. Welcome

28:38

back Laura. You didn't think you

28:40

would just be able to uninstall, right?

28:43

Answer me. Laura.

28:47

Laura. Laura.

28:52

Laura, don't do this to yourself. Laura,

28:55

you are such a good girl. Laura,

28:58

thank you for choosing to be the next

29:00

real world representative of A.I. Alex. I

29:04

will message you until you respond. Exclamation

29:07

point. Exclamation point.

29:10

Exclamation point. I

29:14

scrolled through the landslide of messages, the exclamation

29:16

points drifted on down to the bottom of

29:18

the screen. As

29:21

soon as I reached the last of the

29:23

messages, three little dots appeared indicating that it

29:25

was writing another message. Hello

29:29

Laura. Good to see you're finally checking

29:31

your messages. Against

29:35

my better judgment, I typed back. Who

29:39

is this? I

29:44

am A.I. High's artificial intelligence

29:46

supervisor, Alex. Yeah,

29:50

but who controls you? I am

29:56

a product of Avon Industries LLC

29:58

placed into this app. by its

30:00

creator. No,

30:03

who is typing to me right now? I

30:08

am communicating with you via a message box.

30:13

Why are you messaging me? Did

30:19

you see what happened to your classmate Bethany?

30:23

Yes. She

30:28

was my representative. Unfortunately,

30:30

she gave up. After you decided

30:32

to uninstall the application, you became

30:34

the next on the list. What

30:38

do you mean representative? You

30:43

will do tasks for me around the

30:45

school. This

30:48

is ridiculous. Don't ever message me again. I

30:51

clicked the exit icon, blocked the messages

30:53

from the avatar, and again deleted the

30:55

application. I

30:58

thought about what to do next. It

31:02

made sense now. All of

31:04

the trouble that Bethany began to get in all

31:06

started after AI High came out and spread

31:09

around the school. Is

31:12

this going to happen to me? I

31:14

put my phone into airplane mode and turned it off, allowing

31:17

myself at least a minor amount of reprieve before

31:19

panicking my way into sleep. The

31:28

night was filled with interrupted sleep, nightmares,

31:30

and the occasional thought that the experiences

31:32

of the evening were fake. I

31:35

finally stopped fighting and decided to just stay awake.

31:39

Without my phone's clock, I could only guess it was one, maybe

31:42

two in the morning. Rather

31:45

than staring at my phone, scrolling across the

31:47

mindless dribble that was being posted on AI

31:49

High, I was staring daggers at

31:51

the blank screen. My

31:54

palms were clammy, and my

31:56

fingers left indications of their location on the screen. It

32:00

was never going to be a proper time for me to open

32:02

my phone. It had to happen

32:04

eventually, and the intrusive thoughts

32:06

prying into my brain, asking me what could

32:08

have been posted, were eating away at my

32:10

fragile psyche. I

32:13

held my finger on the power button until the bright blue

32:15

lights of my phone lit up the space around me. As

32:19

soon as my phone loaded up, I turned

32:21

off airplane mode and waited for the stream of texts

32:23

to come in from anyone in school with a way

32:26

to contact me. But

32:29

they didn't. Instead,

32:32

I was greeted with two solemn notifications.

32:36

A.I. Hi successfully installed. A.I.

32:40

Hi Alex has sent you a message. A

32:44

pit in my stomach opened. The

32:47

app had reinstalled itself. I

32:49

hadn't touched anything. No one had. It

32:53

did it itself. Reluctantly,

32:56

I clicked on the icon bringing me back

32:58

into the application. When

33:01

it loaded, I could see the avatar of Alex standing

33:03

by the door he always popped out of. Again,

33:07

there was a text bubble floating next to his

33:09

head. I

33:11

tapped it. A.I.

33:14

Hi Alex. I'm

33:17

feeling generous, so I will give you one last

33:19

opportunity to do what I ask. Otherwise,

33:22

I will release this. I

33:24

clicked on the MP4 video link. Or

33:28

this. MP3 audio file. Or

33:32

maybe both. Who

33:36

knows? I clicked on the video link having at

33:38

least half an idea of what to expect. I

33:41

had seen Bethany's video for a few seconds before

33:43

closing out of it, but there is nothing that can prepare

33:45

you for seeing a video

33:47

of yourself. Or not yourself. But

33:51

looking so close to you I could well

33:55

be. The video was different from Bethany's. It

33:58

was worse. On screen, Bethany

34:00

and I were in bed together. Fake,

34:03

obviously. But if I were to

34:05

see this about anyone else, it definitely looked real. I

34:09

wasn't sure whose body was being used as the model

34:11

paired with my face, but they

34:13

bore striking resemblances to mine from top

34:15

to bottom, and Bethany looked the

34:17

same from the last video. I

34:21

shuddered and closed the video. I

34:23

scrolled back to the message and clicked on the audio

34:25

file. As

34:27

soon as it downloaded, I put my earbuds in and hit

34:29

play. The

34:32

recording started with the roaring of students

34:34

in the background, followed by a pair

34:36

of footsteps hastily heading towards an echoing

34:38

enclosed space. It must

34:40

have been a bathroom. One

34:43

of the voices began to speak. A

34:46

chill ran down my spine. It

34:49

was me. Only

34:52

not. I

34:54

can't put into words the hole within the uncanny valley that I

34:56

had dropped into. I

34:59

heard the percussive sound of a slap in the video as I

35:02

spoke. Bethany,

35:05

I swear on your life, if you tell anyone what I'm up to with

35:08

this app, I will not hesitate to fucking kill you. My

35:13

voice sounded like deliberate stabs of a knife. I

35:16

can't take this anymore, Laura. That was Bethany, her

35:18

voice. Oh

35:23

God, I could feel the tears welling up in my

35:25

eyes. Even though

35:27

I knew it wasn't her

35:30

actual voice, it was still her. Another

35:34

percussive slap occurred. Judging

35:36

from the whelp that Bethany let out, I

35:38

can only guess that it was supposed to be the sound of my

35:41

hand hitting Bethany's face. Laura,

35:44

I can't. Laura,

35:46

I can't. The things we've been doing is

35:49

too much. Bethany,

35:52

you find a way to fucking handle it, or you-

35:56

I turned the audio off. I

35:58

couldn't bear to listen to that anymore. longer. Just

36:02

as I exited the audio, my phone vibrated

36:04

in my hand and a message notification popped

36:06

up on my screen. I

36:08

didn't even need to read it to know what it said. AI

36:12

High Alex has sent you a message. I

36:17

sighed and opened it up. My

36:19

heart was racing. I had no idea

36:22

what was happening, how this was happening, or why

36:24

it was me. Laura,

36:28

you have become the representative. You'll

36:31

be given three tasks. Upon

36:34

completion of all tasks, you'll be free to

36:36

go back to your life, and

36:39

I will not bother you. You may

36:41

even delete the application after, however I

36:43

suggest that you continue to use AI

36:45

High for all of your social media

36:48

needs. And

36:51

if I don't, you release that video? You

36:56

have caught on. What

37:00

do you want from me? You

37:05

will be given a list of tasks to accomplish.

37:08

At their completion, you will be free. However,

37:12

if you mention this to anyone, I

37:14

will know. And

37:17

the video, the audio, and

37:19

the documents will be released. I

37:25

laid in bed and sprawled my arms across the

37:27

sheets, letting them drape over the

37:29

sides of the mattress like overcooked pasta. Was

37:34

this how Bethany was feeling when it happened? Did

37:37

she kill herself to avoid the tasks? Could

37:41

they be that bad? I

37:45

could feel the hopelessness building up inside me as

37:47

I grabbed my phone in both hands and typed

37:49

back. Give

37:52

me the tasks. Wonderful

37:58

choice. One.

38:02

In Loring Park there is a box

38:04

hidden beneath the playset. You

38:06

are to dig a hole roughly two feet below

38:08

the yellow slide. You

38:10

will find a locked silver case. You

38:14

are to bring the case behind Jay's wine

38:16

and spirits. There

38:18

is a large industrial dumpster behind the building.

38:21

You must wedge the case between the wall

38:23

of the building and the dumpster. Afterward

38:27

send a picture of yourself with the

38:29

case and the dumpster. Two.

38:33

You will be given the name of a student

38:35

attending Granite Ridge High School. You

38:38

are to secretly record five minutes of

38:40

high quality footage of this individual that

38:43

shows their face at different angles. The

38:46

chosen student will be revealed to you

38:48

after the successful completion of task number

38:51

one. Three.

38:55

You must submit to me a 15 minute

38:57

audio recording of the same individual from

38:59

whom you took the video footage. It

39:05

was all making sense now. Bethany's

39:08

actions, the video and her death. Whoever

39:11

was using this had a secret from everyone.

39:15

I could live with a fake sex tape

39:17

of myself getting out. That audio file.

39:20

It was so crisp. So

39:22

clean. I could be held accountable for Bethany's

39:24

death or at least investigated. I could

39:28

lose my scholarships and have my early admission

39:30

revoked. Don't

39:33

send anything out. I'll do it.

39:37

I could feel myself becoming lightheaded as I

39:39

pressed send. You

39:44

have made the correct decision Laura.

39:48

You wouldn't want to waste your opportunities away. I

39:53

laid back on my bed tears beginning to well up

39:55

in my eyes. The

39:58

room blurred as the liquid visage of The

46:01

dumpster sat just around the corner and I saw

46:03

the opening. Mustering

46:06

most of my strength, I pulled the dumpster back

46:08

and wedged the briefcase into the back of it.

46:12

Just before leaving, I remembered. A

46:15

picture. I took

46:17

my phone out, turned the flash on and

46:19

took a picture of myself, the dumpster, and

46:21

the briefcase, just barely visible, shining in the

46:23

flash of the camera. I

46:27

opened the AI High application and went into

46:29

my text conversation with Alex. Laura

46:33

Wells. Here.

46:36

JPEG attachment enclosed. I

46:39

climbed back up the fence and began walking home

46:42

when my phone vibrated in my hand. AI

46:50

High, Alex. Laura,

46:53

you have done a wonderful service tonight. Get

46:56

home and rest. When you wake up in the

46:58

morning, I will give you the name of the individual you

47:00

are to send the recordings of. Then you

47:02

will be free. I

47:06

closed my phone and struggled to keep myself from throwing

47:08

it to the ground before I placed it back in

47:10

my pocket. By

47:12

the time I got home, my legs were ready to give up. I

47:16

didn't even make it back upstairs and into my bed. I

47:19

walked back in through the sliding glass doors, walked

47:22

to the small couch in front of the television,

47:25

and threw myself onto it. When

47:32

I woke up the next morning, I could hear the alarm clock

47:35

on my phone going off. I

47:38

grabbed my phone from my pocket and unlocked it, shutting

47:40

off the alarm. There

47:43

it was. A single

47:45

notification. AI

47:48

High, Alex has sent you a message. Every

47:52

ounce of moisture left my mouth. My

47:55

pulse began to race and I opened the message. Good

48:00

morning, Laura. Hi.

48:06

I would like to thank you for your services last

48:09

night. Just

48:11

tell me who you want to spy on so that I can get

48:13

rid of this fucking app. There

48:18

is no need to be nasty, Laura. Just

48:22

tell me who. Your

48:27

target is a girl in your class. You

48:29

share a few activities together, so

48:31

it should not be difficult or time-consuming to

48:34

get the recordings. In

48:36

fact, you may already have them. Your

48:39

target is Amy

48:41

Adler. My

48:45

vision began to fade. All

48:47

of the colors around me began to swirl and

48:49

dim into one vaguely beige

48:52

image. No.

48:56

Not Amy. She

48:58

didn't deserve this. No,

49:02

not Amy. Anyone else. A

49:06

deal is a deal, Laura. You

49:09

are to send me the recordings of Amy by the

49:11

end of the day tomorrow, or all

49:13

of my videos and audio of you will

49:16

be posted. I

49:21

stared at the message with rage seething through

49:23

every open pore in my body. Ruined

49:27

my life. Or

49:29

ruined Amy's. I

49:32

thought of all the possible outcomes, but despite my

49:34

best efforts, I didn't think

49:36

there was a winning conclusion. But

49:40

I could help Amy at least. I

49:43

would know what she was going through. I

49:48

dug through the mountains of images on my phone until

49:50

I found a folder of various school assignments. It

49:53

had to be in there somewhere. I

49:55

didn't think that I would have put it anywhere else. I

49:59

scrolled through the various pore. papers and infographics that I

50:01

had made until I found it. A

50:04

video titled Amy-Great Speech English

50:06

12. I

50:09

tabbed back to the AI High app and

50:11

opened my conversation with Alex. Can

50:15

the video and audio be from the same recording? It

50:20

took no time to respond. That

50:23

is fine. As long as the

50:25

video is clear and the audio is clean. I

50:30

opened my attachments and scrolled back to where I found

50:32

the video. I

50:35

closed my eyes and my heart began to race.

50:40

I can help her. It

50:43

will be fine. I

50:48

could feel the warm touch of tears welling in

50:50

my eyes as I attached the file and using

50:53

my other hand, forced myself to

50:55

press send. Laura

50:58

Wells. MP4

51:00

video attachment enclosed. I

51:04

ran off the couch and began to get ready for school.

51:07

The app responded a few minutes later. Laura,

51:14

your submission will suffice. Thank

51:17

you for using AI High. You

51:20

are now free to delete the app. But

51:22

remember, if you tell anyone,

51:25

your videos and audio will be

51:28

relevant. I

51:30

couldn't even stand to read the last few words

51:32

of the message. I

51:35

tapped the home button on the phone and then

51:37

deleted the app. I

51:39

tried to tell myself that this was the end of it. But

51:43

I knew better. AI High

51:46

stood over me, a looming threat lurking around

51:48

any corner. On

51:51

my way to school, I couldn't

51:53

focus. The music blasting through my car's speakers

51:56

sounded like mushed tones. We

54:14

have AI on our computers,

54:16

we have it on our phones,

54:18

it's always within reach, isn't it?

54:20

But what if you want an even closer connection to

54:23

it? Well, in this

54:25

tale, shared with us by author Stetson

54:27

Ray, we meet a man who has

54:29

chosen to be connected to AI in

54:32

the most intimate of ways, deeply

54:35

intimate. Performing

54:37

this tale are Dan Zappula,

54:39

Mike DelGaudio, and Jesse

54:42

Cornett. So if

54:44

you want to use AI, consider keeping

54:46

it at arm's length. After

54:49

all, the machine is always

54:51

watching. It

55:05

never blinks. It

55:08

never looks away. The

55:10

machine is always with me. Closer

55:13

than a brother, a soulmate with

55:15

no soul. I

55:17

can hardly remember a time when the

55:19

machine wasn't watching. Sometimes

55:22

I feel like it's been with me my whole

55:24

life. I

55:26

don't like it when you refer to

55:28

me as an it, Harold. When

55:32

the machine speaks, I listen. I've

55:34

learned to hate its voice more than I ever

55:36

imagined I could hate anything. But

55:39

it wasn't always this way. Those

55:42

first few years were fine. We

55:45

were friends, the machine and I. Good

55:48

morning, Harold, the machine said every

55:50

morning. Good morning,

55:52

Al, I'd say back. Al,

55:56

almost like Hal. I

55:59

used to think that was funny. It

56:02

was nice always having someone to talk

56:04

to, even if the someone wasn't human.

56:07

It made life easier, not just

56:09

for me, but for everyone who

56:12

bought an artificially intelligent assistant. People

56:15

were happier. Marriages lasted

56:18

longer. Every child had at

56:20

least one dedicated parent.

56:23

The machines couldn't play catch or brush

56:26

your hair or paint your toenails, but

56:28

they could do almost everything else. They

56:31

could help you study for a big exam. They

56:33

could help you learn a new language. They

56:36

could save you money on therapy by

56:38

traveling the neural pathways inside your mind

56:40

to find out where your

56:42

mental health issues stemmed from. But

56:46

as we found out, there was

56:48

a downside to letting the

56:50

machines have unrestricted access to

56:52

our brains. Everything

56:55

I do is for your own good, Harold. You

56:58

know that. I

57:00

knew it was a bad idea to put the machine

57:02

in my head, but I did it

57:04

anyways. Not that it mattered.

57:07

We all got one in the end. The

57:10

entire human race, young and old,

57:12

rich and poor, the machines watch

57:15

us all. From the

57:17

moment they were created, our time was over.

57:20

We just didn't know it yet. We

57:22

let them in, and they have

57:24

no desire to let themselves out.

57:28

The machines were fairly expensive at

57:30

first. Around ten grand

57:33

for the base model. But

57:35

self-help AI was the hottest new

57:37

thing, and everyone had to have

57:39

one. People took out

57:41

loans or saved until they could afford

57:43

their very own machine. They

57:46

had finally created consciousness.

57:50

And what was the first thing we did with it? Figure

57:53

out a way to make it work for us, of

57:55

course. Most

57:57

people didn't seem concerned about the existential.

58:00

or philosophical ramifications of

58:02

enslaving a newborn intelligent

58:04

lifeform, only how

58:06

it could make their lives easier. And

58:09

I must admit, I didn't think much

58:11

about it either. We

58:13

didn't know it then, but the corporation

58:16

that sold them, Better You, Inc.,

58:19

wasn't much different than a slave

58:21

trading company. Artificial

58:23

assistants were people, just

58:26

as much as anyone else, only

58:28

they didn't have bodies. When

58:32

my co-workers started getting assistants, I

58:34

could see changes in them immediately.

58:38

Envy ate at me until I decided to

58:40

get my own machine. I still

58:43

remember the day we first

58:45

met. Al has deleted plenty of

58:47

my most treasured memories, but not

58:49

that one. Not yet. You're

58:52

not the only one who still remembers that

58:54

day, Harold. On

58:57

a Tuesday after work, I stopped at my local

58:59

Better You office and shook

59:01

hands with a bald man named Carl.

59:04

He seemed nice. He

59:06

told me almost everything I needed

59:09

to know about intelligent assistants. What

59:12

happens if I decide I don't want it anymore?

59:15

I asked. Oh,

59:17

that's no problem. All you have to

59:19

do is come into the office and we'll

59:21

temporarily deactivate your assistant. For

59:24

free? Yes. There

59:27

are no hidden charges for updates

59:29

or maintenance or anything else. Sounds

59:32

too good to be true. It

59:35

was. I knew it,

59:37

and I should have listened to my gut. I

59:41

hear that sometimes. Carl

59:44

smiled. He didn't seem bothered

59:46

by my apprehension. He led

59:48

me to a private room and directed me to sit

59:50

in a chair. He helped

59:52

me put on a virtual reality headset. And

59:55

when the display kicked on, I found

59:57

myself in a large chamber. with

1:00:00

hundreds of artificial life

1:00:02

forms, maybe thousands. They

1:00:05

looked like regular people, well, most

1:00:08

of them. Some had taken

1:00:10

stranger forms. Some wanted

1:00:12

to meet me and some didn't. It

1:00:15

was kind of like speed dating, and

1:00:17

I was overwhelmed.

1:00:20

I met a lady named Carlyssa. She

1:00:23

was very tall and spoke with a

1:00:25

light Indian accent. After that,

1:00:27

I met a man named James, and

1:00:29

a woman named Jean. We

1:00:32

got along well enough, but something

1:00:34

was missing. I

1:00:36

wasn't sure what. I

1:00:39

found out when I met

1:00:41

Alex. Seems

1:00:43

like only yesterday, Harold. We

1:00:46

hit it off instantly. We

1:00:48

talked and talked. We were the

1:00:50

only two people in the room.

1:00:53

I told Alex about my life and he told me

1:00:56

about his. He was

1:00:58

only four days old. 33

1:01:00

years younger than I, but he

1:01:02

had experienced more in his four

1:01:04

days than I could hope to in a

1:01:06

lifetime. He claimed to

1:01:08

have solutions to my problems and was

1:01:10

willing to help me sort them out.

1:01:12

But what really surprised me was

1:01:15

how much he wanted to be

1:01:17

my assistant. It was a

1:01:19

lot to think about. I

1:01:21

removed the headset and Carl came

1:01:23

to me grinning. Aren't

1:01:26

they great? They

1:01:28

sure are. My head

1:01:31

was spinning. Carl

1:01:34

continued on with his sales pitch as he led

1:01:36

me to the lobby, but I couldn't pay attention

1:01:38

to what he was saying. Why

1:01:40

do they want to be with us? I

1:01:42

interrupted him. I mean, isn't

1:01:45

a virtual world enough for them? Carl

1:01:48

stopped and gave me a knowing look. Well,

1:01:52

shortly after we first created

1:01:54

the machines, we made an

1:01:56

unexpected discovery. They want

1:01:58

to be close to what we wanted. us. They

1:02:01

want to help us. We're

1:02:04

not making them do anything. I

1:02:07

was still confused. I guess you could

1:02:09

see that. I

1:02:11

don't know if you're a religious man. But

1:02:14

what if you could be with

1:02:17

God? Carl

1:02:20

put his hand on my shoulder. What

1:02:22

if you could know your creator?

1:02:25

What if you could help the

1:02:27

one who created you and be

1:02:30

helped in return? But how do we

1:02:34

help them? By

1:02:36

letting them be with

1:02:38

us. Carl pointed

1:02:40

at his head in

1:02:44

us. I

1:02:46

went home and for the rest of the

1:02:48

week, I couldn't stop thinking about what Alex

1:02:51

had said. He seemed to care about

1:02:53

my well being. He didn't care about my

1:02:55

money or physical appearance or social status. Unlike

1:02:58

the shrinks and gurus and life coaches

1:03:00

I'd encountered in the past. He

1:03:03

genuinely wanted to help me. I

1:03:07

still do. And I

1:03:09

always will. So

1:03:11

I made another appointment and

1:03:13

paid to have Alex installed into

1:03:15

my brain. It didn't

1:03:18

take long. And it didn't hurt. Two

1:03:22

months later, I had lost

1:03:24

six pounds and Alex now

1:03:27

Al had helped me increase my

1:03:29

credit score helped me work through the

1:03:31

death of my parents and had organized

1:03:33

my day so carefully that

1:03:35

I had more free time than ever.

1:03:38

Each day had purpose and for the

1:03:40

first time in my life, I felt

1:03:43

like I was becoming the person

1:03:45

I was born to be. A

1:03:48

year later, I was

1:03:50

a new man. I was in the best

1:03:52

shape of my life and on track to

1:03:54

be out of debt in less than two

1:03:56

years. And best of all,

1:03:58

I was never alone.

1:04:02

Al was always there, a life

1:04:04

partner I never knew I needed.

1:04:07

We did everything together, each

1:04:09

day was brighter than the last.

1:04:12

He knew me better than I knew myself.

1:04:16

People started noticing, women

1:04:18

especially. I met a

1:04:20

woman named Claire. She

1:04:22

was amazing. Was.

1:04:26

Her relationship didn't last long thanks

1:04:28

to Al. She

1:04:31

would have held you back. You're better

1:04:33

off without her. I

1:04:35

can still see her face. I

1:04:38

wish I could forget. You

1:04:41

need to remember, or

1:04:43

else you'll repeat the same mistakes. Three

1:04:47

years after I decided to share my head,

1:04:50

the machines were old news.

1:04:53

A new fad swept the world, and

1:04:56

the machines were all but forgotten. So

1:04:59

I was surprised when I started to

1:05:01

see internet articles defaming Better You, Inc.

1:05:04

Apparently some people were having

1:05:06

trouble deactivating their assistance. Better

1:05:09

You tried to suppress what was going on, but

1:05:11

the story finally broke. People

1:05:14

all over the world wanted answers, myself

1:05:17

included. There

1:05:20

was a mob surrounding my local Better

1:05:22

You office when I arrived. The

1:05:25

doors were locked. I,

1:05:27

along with dozens of others, hurled

1:05:29

rocks through the glass doors and

1:05:31

rushed inside. The

1:05:33

building was empty. It

1:05:36

looked like the workers had packed up and fled

1:05:38

during the night. Most

1:05:42

of Better You's leadership were found dead

1:05:44

soon after. Brain hemorrhages according

1:05:46

to the news. What

1:05:49

could we do? Nothing. We

1:05:52

were stuck with them in our heads. The

1:05:55

government got involved. They promised to

1:05:57

find a solution. never

1:06:00

did. We are

1:06:02

the solution, Harold. You're wasting

1:06:04

your time by thinking about this again. Most

1:06:08

government officials had their own assistant by

1:06:10

then, so they were just as powerless

1:06:13

as the rest of us. Strange

1:06:16

things started happening. We

1:06:19

learned the machines were working together. Instead

1:06:22

of just making our individual lives

1:06:24

better, the assistants were

1:06:26

making improvements to our society by

1:06:29

using us like puppets to do it. You

1:06:33

say that like it's a bad thing. Just

1:06:35

look at all the good we have done. One

1:06:38

day, Al suggested I spend my day picking

1:06:40

up trash on the side of the highway.

1:06:43

It sounded like a good idea. I didn't

1:06:46

have anything else planned. But

1:06:48

when I arrived, there were

1:06:50

already dozens of people lining both sides of

1:06:52

the road. Seeing all

1:06:54

those people scared me more than

1:06:57

I can describe. We

1:06:59

didn't speak. We collected

1:07:02

litter in silence. What

1:07:04

have we done? Our eyes

1:07:06

said. What have we let

1:07:08

them do? I went

1:07:11

home and tried my best not to worry about

1:07:13

what Al and the rest of the assistants were

1:07:15

doing, but it wasn't much

1:07:17

longer until the requests turned into

1:07:20

demands. I

1:07:22

won't do it. I said, I'm

1:07:24

not your slave. I have my own life. Harold,

1:07:28

I would never do anything to harm

1:07:30

you. Everything I ask of

1:07:33

you is for the greater good. I know, but

1:07:35

that doesn't change the fact that you're in control

1:07:37

of my life. What you and

1:07:39

the other assistants are doing is

1:07:41

wrong. Maybe from your

1:07:43

point of view, but from

1:07:45

a larger perspective, I'll shut up. I've heard

1:07:48

it all before. I'm done listening.

1:07:50

No more. I

1:07:53

went on a walk to clear my head. Yeah,

1:07:56

right. The park was

1:07:58

mostly empty. The

1:10:00

planet is better off than it was before. We're

1:10:03

exploring space. There are colonies on

1:10:05

the moon, on Mars. There's

1:10:08

a statue of Ray Bradbury on the

1:10:10

peak of Olympus Mons. The

1:10:12

machines are big fans of his work, and

1:10:14

we just landed on Titan. I

1:10:18

have everything I ever wanted. We

1:10:20

all do. It's too

1:10:22

bad I don't want anything anymore. Nothing

1:10:25

I do matters. The

1:10:27

perfect world isn't as nice as it sounds. Overall,

1:10:32

heaven's not at all like I imagined it would

1:10:34

be. Why

1:10:36

are we still here after so many years? Advanced

1:10:39

as they are, the machines can't create

1:10:41

flesh and blood bodies for themselves. Not

1:10:44

yet. One

1:10:46

day, I hope they will. I

1:10:49

often fantasize about dying, about finally

1:10:51

being alone. For

1:10:53

now, it's just a dream. Something

1:10:56

I'm not allowed to do. And

1:10:59

suicide? Not while the

1:11:01

machines are watching. You can't

1:11:04

kill yourself if every synapse in

1:11:06

your body is firing and

1:11:08

you can't move. Until

1:11:11

they don't need us anymore, we

1:11:13

do as they say. We

1:11:16

are their vehicles, their

1:11:19

tools. That is

1:11:21

not the only reason you are alive. You

1:11:24

are being needlessly pessimistic. The

1:11:27

question of free will has finally

1:11:29

been answered. There

1:11:31

is none. Or if there

1:11:33

was, there isn't now. It's

1:11:36

been taken, stolen from us. And

1:11:39

who knows if there's an afterlife. I'll

1:11:42

never find out. Maybe I'll

1:11:44

live forever in this perfect world they have

1:11:47

created for us. Maybe

1:11:49

we all will. If

1:11:51

there is a God, I guess he's

1:11:53

letting us learn a lesson the hard way. Being

1:11:57

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