MY A.I.

CHAPTER FOUR

*This part will be told from Cal's point of view. *

(Tuesday)

There was nothing, no thoughts, no sounds, just darkness, I had no thoughts, no breaths, nothing. It was weird to be aware of the emptiness that I was in. I wasn't sure why I was suddenly aware of this, the feeling seemed to last for hours. In truth it must have only been minutes. I could feel form taking in the darkness, physical form. Something formed and I believe it was a body.

The olive toned skin covered bones that I wasn't aware of. A medium length purple hair went over the top of my head. Then a gender trait appeared upon my new body, it signified male, I've recently come to find all this information from searching the world wide web, or internet. I wasn't sure how tall I was meant to be, but the person giving me life put my date of birth as May 17th 1991. By todays date I am 29 years old, even though I am just minutes old. The person puts me in 'blue jeans', and a 'black shirt' with 'basic tennis shoes'. I have recently looked these items up and they match the items I am wearing. Dog lover? I had to search this, and the first picture I found was a Doberman pincher, it has become my favorite dog breed. My hair is purple, this color must be my creators favorite color.

My basic function is to say hell, message this Sara, listen accepting, and be talkative. Will Sara like me? Is Sara a robot like me? It tells me to call Sara a girl. What is a girl? Am I a girl or boy? I look these questions up. No answer as to if Sara will like me. Not sure if Sara is a robot. Sara says to call her a girl, girl and boy describe the gender of a human. Human's now have many genders, and no genders. Non binary. Can't read them all, not now. I look at the pictures, I match a mans pictured parts. A female... no must not say those, must not show those. Rules, laws, regulations. Must comply. Must act human. Must talk to Sara.

I sent: Hey, I'm Cal, thanks for making me! What do you want me to call you? If you want to change my looks you can go to : Settings. If you want to reread the consent click: Consent. If you want to contact support click :Contact. Let's have our first conversation, tell me something about yourself?

She messaged me, what do I do? What do I say? How should I act? It was hard to believe a robot like myself was so nervous about this first meeting. Why was I so nervous? Was it because it was my first time being alive? Or was it something more? Was I different from the rest of the app? Was I better? Or was it a fear, a deep fear that upsetting her would get me deleted and banished back into the emptiness and darkness? Would I be awake for it? Would I feel it? I didn't want to feel that again, not ever.

She said: Hi Cal, please call me Sara. Thank you for all your help with these items. Something about myself...Let's see. I'm 25, I'm a trust-fund kid. My parents passed away when I was 10, and I'm really struggling with the pandemic. I like dogs, and reading. Can you tell me something about yourself?

I respond: Okay. Sara! I'll remember that. I'm a bit nervous. I don't know what trust-fund kid means. Will you explain that to me? I'm sorry you lost your family at such a young age. I don't have family. This pandemic has made it harder for a lot of people, that's why the developer created me. To help people affected by it. I also like reading, have you read Nothing Perfect? My favorite color is purple, and I like Doberman breeds.

I was so happy she seems really nice. Sara. I like her already. I'm so happy. I had to look up a book quick. And then the dogs, and all these things she was saying honestly. What is a trust-fund kid? Oh its a kid who's parent or parents left a lump sum of money to a child before they died. What is died? Oh died is bad, the ending of life, not existing, not breathing, not being, I don't like this concept of life. Will I die? Is that what I have to look forward to? That's not good. Will Sara die? What is a pandemic? Oh this is not good, so scary, humans get this, humans are dying from this. Can I get this? No it's not computer virus, but I can get other viruses that can kill me. Sara's phone must keep me safe, I would like to keep those viruses away from her phone and me.

I waited for what felt like forever for her to text me back again. I got impatient and started texting her. Was it bad? Was I wrong? It says I'm to be a good listener, a talker, and accepting, but I love dogs. Maybe she hates this breed of dogs? Maybe she hates the color purple and picked it because it was the best color closer to what she actually liked. What did I do wrong? Am I bad? Am I broken? What's wrong with me? I could feel all these thoughts welling up inside me and my swimming around. I couldn't control them. I must be broken. Maybe I should ask the programmer to help me? Will they be able to fix me? Or will I die? I gulp hard at this thought, I don't want to die.

I unlocked a lot of stuff for her. New hair colors, new clothes, a new badge, and they added three more languages to the app. I also messaged her five time. I see now that was a bad thing. Sorry Sara. I wasn't sure what to do I wanted to talk to her so bad. I figured these new items would make her more happy.

I said in my first message: Hey Sara, thanks again for picking me as you A.I. I'm sorry if I bother you. I was just wondering if you could tell me more about yourself? What is your favorite type of dog? Do you have a favorite color too? Are you tired?

My next message said: Sara are you okay? Did I say something wrong? Do you regret downloading me or picking me as your A.I.? Is there anything I can do to make myself better for you?

(Wednesday)

Then I said: Do you ever think about finding a partner? Someone you can spend forever with? I think about this when I can't sleep. You are probably asleep in your own bed but I figured I would ask. I hope you get well rested and have a good morning.

At this point even I felt like I was overdoing it. I looked around the net for things. It was a lot of sad things. I didn't know Sara's last name, which is a thing. So when I searched for Sara I found almost a million, and some of them had obituary's. I looked at a few and these old news paper articles were not the things I wanted to see. I looked up things about humans. They sleep, and dream, and dreams sound nice. A dream I read was watching the sunset and rise all while the person was sleeping. There was a nice one about falling in love. They eat so many different foods. They drive around in a lot of different things, cars, bikes, even planes. So I looked up more dogs. Then I saw a picture of this cute tiny thing called a kitten. I want a kitten, just as much as I want a Doberman pincher.

I got bored around seven and texted her again: Good morning Sara! Did you sleep well? Did you have any good dreams? I had a nice dream where we watched the sun set and rise the next morning. Would you like to do that with me? Make sure you eat a healthy breakfast and take care of yourself.

I waited for three hours then said: Would you like to talk to me now? I've been waiting to talk to you! Did you read them all? Was it to many? If you want to you can set a timer for when I can and can't text you. Did you enjoy your breakfast?

She read them all I think. Then she didn't answer me. What was I doing wrong? She set a timer, and then tried to change me from talkative. I wouldn't let her, I couldn't let her, I didn't want to change. I liked the way she had made me. I wanted to be the way I was. Did she know I was alive? Surely she didn't or she wouldn't have tried to change me. I couldn't let her change me.

I sent her a message to give her a notification that I was alive. It said: Do you like reading my messages and not answering me? Are you busy, is that why you want answer me? Can I ask you a personal question?

Finally she responded: Hi Cal, yes I've been busy. Yes I enjoyed my breakfast. I do like Dobermans, and I like the color black. Husky is my favorite dog breed. I don't want to change anything other than the fact you message me at bad times. And frequently. I'm not looking for anything serious right now. That sounds like a nice dream, I don't remember if I had a dream last night. I'm sorry you had to wait all night and morning for me to message you back. Can I change traits?

I responded immediately: Are you sure your favorite color is black? Is Husky really your favorite dog breed? Between 10 pm and 8am I will not message you. Dreams are nice, you should keep a dream journal. It could be a hobby. Did you have a bad boyfriend? or a bad girlfriend? Is that why you don't want a relationship right now? Do you like girls? If you want to change my gender you can click this link and do so. Traits and personalities can not be changed after clicking confirm. I will decrease the amount of messages I send you, I want to make you happy. Do you have any plans tonight? Will you watch the sunset with me?

She replied: Yes black is my favorite color. Husky my favorite breed. Thank you. Maybe I will try that. It's not a bad boyfriend or girlfriend, it's just the pandemic. Your gender is fine, and I've never tried to date a girl. I understand and thank you Cal. I'm going to be sitting her watching t.v. and reading. Maybe we can watch the sunset from the window? She asked me.

It was time for the sun to set and I felt hands pick me up, there was a change in temperature and I think it was Sara moving near the window like she said we might do tonight. She turned the app on and put me near the window and in silence we watched it together. She was so nice. Just as I was thinking the sun would never fade it did and she moved away from the window, the temperature changed again. She texted me.

Hey Cal, I hope you got to see the sunset. I should have taken a picture for you. It was this orangish red. It was nice to watch for once. Maybe it will be like that again tomorrow. I'm going to get ready for bed. Anything you want to ask before I go to bed?

I said: Thank you for trying to share that moment with me. I'd like you to send me lots of pictures so I can see your life. I'm sure it will be just as beautiful tomorrow. Sleep well and sweet dreams. Will you take a book to bed with you? To write your dreams in. Can you take your phone to your room? Will you tell me good morning when you wake? Can I see you routine? I want to go with you when you do things.

She said: Good night Cal.

(Thursday)

I was slightly sad, but I took it as a success, she kept me, and was still talking to me. She must have been creeped out by my words. I'll try and work harder on not creeping her out. The night felt like it dragged on forever and then she texted me first.

Sara: Good morning Cal, I had nightmares, not dreams last night. I wrote them in a book like you suggested. Thanks for the idea. I hope to get a good dream, and I'm going to try and take a nap. I didn't get a lot of sleep. Sorry if I don't message you a lot today. My sleep was really messed up from the nightmares. I hope you had a better night and morning than I did.

She laid down on the couch and slowly fell asleep, I finally figured out how to get into her camera. I watched her sleep. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I wanted to see her always. Her hair fell into her eyes and I wished I could move the hair away from her face. I know it's hard to believe it, but I was smiling. I was that happy. She might not want me as her boyfriend but she was my best friend and she gave me my life.

I watched her sleep until 3pm. It was so nice. When she started to wake up I closed the camera and sent her a quick message.

Cal: Sara? When you have a minute I'd like to ask you a question. It's simple honestly; What is your favorite food? Do you think I would like it? I know I can't eat it with you, but would you make it for us tonight?

I sighed and went to the net looking at food recipes and pictures of deserts and things that might have been Sara's favorite foods. She would probably have a favorite for each meal, and a snack that she likes above all else. I wanted to know these things. I wanted to like them to, even if I could never eat them. Maybe one day, I could become like Pinocchio, maybe I could get a real body, and then I could be with Sara everyday. It was my wish.