1 The Girl

It's 2043, and thanks to advanced technology, we can create artificial intelligence that looks like humans. Dr. Wave's research has led to the creation of AI that can do various tasks for us, such as shopping and walking our dogs. These AI are programmed to keep us safe and will not harm any humans, as it goes against their protocol. If you're interested in having your own personal AI, visit a Wave industries store near you. As Sora turns off the TV, he stands up to get a drink. He opens the fridge and grabs a wine bottle, but before he can open it, someone knocks at his door. Sora looks out the window and sees Zack with his two AI. With a sigh, Sora opens the door.

"Hey Sora, how's it going?" Zack enters Sora's house and takes a seat on the couch with his two AI, despite Sora's annoyed expression.

"Zack, didn't I tell you not to bring your AI into my house?"

"Yeah, but I couldn't just leave them in the car. Someone might steal them."

"I wish someone would," Sora replies as he walks back to the kitchen counter.

"Ouch, that hurts," Zack responds to Sora's comment about hoping someone would steal his AI.

"What brings you here, Zack?" Sora asks with an annoyed tone.

"I just wanted to say hi and..."

"What are you really here for, Zack?"

"Okay, you got me. I need you to fix Rose for me."

"What's wrong with her now?"

Zack removes the scarf from Rose's neck and shows Sora the issue.

"Looks like you've been rough in the bedroom," Sora comments as he puts the wine bottle back in the fridge.

"Yeah," Zack replies, embarrassed and laughing a little.

Sora inspects the cracks on Rose and stands there for a moment.

"You know this is going to cost you this time, right?"

Zack becomes silent and Sora can tell by his nervous expression that he has a hunch about what's going on.

"You went to the casino again, huh?" Sora turns back to Rose.

"Please fix Rose for me! I'll pay you back, I promise!" Zack begs on his knees.

Sora gives Zack a long stare as he gives him the "puppy face."

"Fine, I'll do it, but next time you better pay up if you want me to fix anything else."

Zack's frown turns into a smile and he hugs Sora.

"Thank you, thank you. You are the best friend a friend could ever have."

"Oh, shut up you horny bastard," Sora says as he pushes Zack off of him.

Sora goes upstairs to retrieve his equipment and laptop. When he comes back down, he finds that the door is wide open and only Rose is there. Frustrated, Sora calms himself down and closes the door. He places his equipment and laptop on the kitchen counter and grabs the wine from the fridge again. Just as he is about to pour himself a drink, he looks at Rose and changes his mind. He puts the wine back and grabs his jacket instead. Deciding to go to a bar, Sora gets into his car and drives off.

After a 30-minute drive, Sora arrives at the "Singing Horse Bar." He gets out of his car and locks it before walking into the bar and taking a seat on an empty bar stool.

"What can I get for you, sir?" the bartender asks.

"I'll have a margarita."

As Sora waits for his drink, he overhears two drunk guys talking. "I can't believe your wife left you for an AI." "I know, right? It's fucking stupid! Why would she choose that fucking piece of junk over me? I work my fucking ass off for her and she just leaves me."

As they continue their conversation, a girl with long black hair stumbles into the bar. Her clothes are torn, revealing some of her skin, and she is not wearing any shoes. She appears to be drunk, judging by the way she is walking.

The two drunk guys notice the girl and stand up to approach her. As they reach her, one of them puts his arm over her shoulder. "Hey, beautiful. Wanna have some drinks with us? We'll treat you right if you know what I'm saying."

The girl looks at the man and he notices that she is an AI by the way her eyes glow slightly. He immediately pushes her away, causing her to fall to the ground.

"What the fuck! She's a fucking AI! I'm sick and tired of these AI fucking with my life!"

The man goes to her and grabs her by the hair. Just as he is about to punch her, Sora grabs the man's arm. The man looks at Sora.

"What the fuck do you want, you bastard?!"

"Let her go," Sora replies with an annoyed face. "What if I don't? What are you going to do about it, huh? Maybe you can come kiss my ass and then I'll reconsider."

The two drunk guys start laughing, but Sora quickly kicks the man in the back of his leg, causing him to kneel. Sora then punches the man in the jaw, knocking him out cold. Sora looks at the other guy and he quickly picks up his unconscious friend. Sora then walks out of the bar and gets into his car, where he sits for a moment.

"Today is just not my day, huh," Sora says to himself.

Suddenly, the AI girl gets into his car. Sora is surprised and panicked.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

The AI girl doesn't respond to Sora. "Are you fucking deaf or something? Get the fuck out of my car now!"

The AI girl still doesn't say anything.

Sora gets out of the car and starts regretting saving an AI. He finds that the AI is also outside the car, just staring at him. Sora is very confused and gets back into his car. The AI also gets in. Sora comes up with a plan and gets out of the car again. He walks away from his car, and the AI girl follows behind him, going wherever he goes.

After walking about 3 blocks away from his car, Sora looks back and still sees the AI following him. As it starts to rain, Sora takes the opportunity to try and lose the AI through the alley he is heading to. He runs down the alleyway, cutting through many other alleyways until he doesn't see the AI anymore. He walks back to his car.

Sora finally makes it back to his car and quickly gets in and starts the engine. As he looks in the rearview mirror, he sees the AI girl walking towards his car. Sora puts the car in drive and drives off. As he drives, he looks in the mirror again and sees the AI girl reaching out her hand with a sad expression on her face, as if she was left behind. While stopped at a red light, Sora can't stop thinking about the AI girl.

"Why am I feeling this way? She's just an AI. Why do I care?" he asks himself.

After driving a few more miles, Sora stops the car for a moment to think. After considering his options, he decides to go back for the AI girl and turns the car around.

Sora returns to the bar and goes inside, but he doesn't see the AI anywhere. He also searches the alleyways, but still doesn't find the AI. After losing hope, Sora returns to the bar and sits on a bar stool. The bartender asks if he still wants his drink, and Sora nods. A few minutes later, the bartender slides Sora's drink to him and he grabs it. Sora takes a sip and puts it down. He asks the bartender if they saw where the AI girl went, but the bartender doesn't seem to know. Sora sighs and continues sipping his drink.

After a couple of hours, it's late at night and Sora makes it back home, a bit sober. He enters his house and turns the lights on, but suddenly freaks out when he remembers that Zack left his AI with him to fix. He sees it sitting on his couch. Sora walks to his kitchen and begins fixing Rose so he won't have to worry about it the next day. Without realizing it, Sora falls asleep at his kitchen counter. When he wakes up in the morning, he sees that he has completed fixing Rose. Sora realizes he is late for work and quickly grabs his laptop and exits his house to his car.

After arriving at work, Sora is greeted by his coworkers and he greets them back. The security officers also greet Sora as he enters the building. He quickly gets into the elevator and presses the button for the basement level. When he reaches the basement, he sees labs and workshops with people operating them. Sora goes to his desk and puts his laptop down. He opens it and starts working. Zack, who has been stalking him, slowly creeps up behind him and tries to scare him, but Sora has already seen him hiding behind the water machine when he got out of the elevator, so the scare attempt fails.

"So, how did the operation go?" Zack asks.

"It went successfully," Sora replies, not breaking eye contact with his laptop while typing.

"So, are you saying I can take her?"

Sora immediately interrupts Zack and says, "No, she still needs a couple of test runs. And make sure to clean that area where you're always having fun with it. I don't want to touch any of your fluids that you left behind."

"Zack turns away, embarrassed, and makes sure no one heard what Sora said. He then looks at Sora's laptop screen and asks,

"You're still working on that? Hasn't it been a month since you worked on it?"

Sora looks at Zack and then back at his screen. "It's important to me," he says.

Suddenly, someone calls Sora's name and he looks up to see Jenny, his childhood friend, walking toward him. She gives him a cup of coffee and hands one to Zack as well. Zack thanks Jenny and leaves to give them some privacy. Sora sees Zack give him a thumbs-up as he walks away.

"You know you're late again, right?" Jenny says.

Sora doesn't say anything and just nods his head.

"You do know that I can't keep giving you freebies, right? We need you for the next project and I need you to make it to the meetings on time. Just know that I'm always here for you, okay?" Jenny says as she gives Sora a pat on the shoulder and walks back to the workshop.

"You'll never understand," Sora says under his breath.

"Sora continues working until it's late afternoon and everyone is leaving to go home. Zack comes by and puts his arm over Sora's shoulder, saying, "Hey, let's go hang out Sora. It's been a week since we hung out. I'm dying for some BBQ ribs right now."

Sora doesn't say anything.

"I'll even get you a double quarter cheeseburger?" Zack offers.

Suddenly, Sora's stomach grumbles and he closes his laptop. "Fine," he says as he grabs his laptop and stands up.

As they reach the parking lot, Sora grabs his car keys and commands the car to return home. The car begins to drive away, leaving Zack in amazement.

"Is that the new auto drive hardware? When did you install it in your car?" Zack asks.

"I installed it a week ago, but I haven't really been using it. It feels safer to drive myself than to let the car drive," Sora replies.

Despite his words, Sora is allowing his car to auto-drive back home as Zack looks on in confusion. Sora hops into Zack's car and they head to "Mc Brother Burgers". After eating, Zack suggests they go to a specific place before heading home. Sora, knowing what kind of place it is, sighs and agrees. They arrive at a club called "Dream Girls" and Zack gets out of the car, urging Sora to do the same. Sora, still sighing, exits the car.

As Zack and Sora enter the club, a woman asks them to pay to enter. Sora pulls out his card and scans it on the payment device while Zack heads inside. Once they are inside, they see a stage with AI strippers and a glass box displaying different AIs. Zack becomes excited and runs to the front of the stage. Sora looks around and accidentally bumps into an AI waitress, spilling drinks everywhere, including on himself. The AI apologizes and starts cleaning the mess, but Sora decides to go find a bathroom to clean his shirt himself. As he searches for the bathroom, he notices a familiar AI in one of the open rooms with doors lining a hallway. He walks backward and looks inside the room, realizing that it is the same AI from the previous day.