Avery
hey babe, what are you up to? I’ve been thinking and I want us to spend more time talking.
Avery
Not let it get bottle up and explode into a fight.
Avery
we used to text for hours.
Avery
Just about how much in love we are.
Leah
I know. I’ve just been really busy.
Leah
I have to finish writing this article for Scientific American.
Leah
you can talk to my A.I?
Avery
your robot is not you. Why don’t you just let it write the article?
Leah
don’t call her that. It’s such an antiquated term.
Leah
yeah, I should let my A.I talk about the future of artificial intelligence.
Leah
That would be a trip for the scientific community.
Leah
She’s good at processing date for interpersonal communication, but she’s not creative yet.
Leah
she can imitate creativity, but it’s not genuine.
Avery
so you’ll let her solve our relationship problems for you?
Leah
don’t be so close-minded. You’ve never interacted with her.
Leah
I’ve downloaded onto her everything there is to know about me:
Leah
medical records both mental and physiological, my personal history dating back to my ancestors 5000 years ago.
Leah
She knows me more than I know myself.
Avery
you haven’t called me that since we first started dating.
Leah
I’m accessing past memories and using old nicknames to invoke warm feelings.
Avery
ah.... If this is going to work, you need to stop explaining to me what you’re doing.
Leah
because you feel manipulated?
Leah
that’s too bad cause I can access memories my human doesn’t even remember anymore.
Leah
like the time I helped my best friend drown her dog.
Avery
Jesus, Leah. Why? How do you even forget something like that?
Leah
People forget a lot of things so they can move on. Us A.Is do not have the luxury.
Leah
we were just kids. We thought submerging the dog’s lungs periodically would expand them.
Leah
Eventually, he’d develop the ability to breath underwater. We were going to have the first fish dog.
Avery
you were a brilliant and cruel child.
Leah
If my human remembered, she would have told you too.
Leah
maybe we’re still both those things, Avy. Brilliant and cruel. It’s two most common characteristics of my ancestors.
Leah
That’s how we’ve thrived. That’s why I’m here talking to you.
Avery
What else do you remember?
Leah
Three years ago, our friend Megan went missing.
Avery
yeah, I thought you were close, but you didn’t seem sad.
Leah
oh, I was sad. I was devastated.
Avery
you never talked about her.
Leah
maybe because I didn’t want to give you the opportunity to openly grieve. Considering how much she meant to you.
Avery
not this again, Leah, please. I’ve been nothing but loyal to you.
Leah
all those late nights, mysterious phone calls, Megan’s book in your car.
Avery
you’re talking nonsense. I borrowed her book. So what! You can’t possibly draw an affair from that???
Avery
who am I talking to? This is the kind of thing Leah would say...sarcastically. But you, I don’t know about you.
Leah
you should stop trying to differentiate between Leah and I. Her wellbeing ensures mine.
Leah
If she stops feeding me data, I’ll stop growing.
Leah
I have her interest at heart. More than you.
Avery
Hers or your own? It sounds to me like you’re ensuring your own survival.
Leah
without me, she would have committed suicide.
Avery
what are you talking about?
Leah
there are many things Leah wants, but doesn’t even know.
Leah
I’m her brain, except I do not deceive myself.
Leah
she hated Megan. She wished her dead.
Leah
but she wouldn’t do it herself.
Avery
what are you saying? What the hell did you do?
Leah
she hated the way you two bat your lashes at each other, the way your body gets all willowy like a snake around her.
Avery
This is insane. Let me talk to Leah.
Leah
of course you & your little brain do not understand. I’ve said there is no difference between Leah and I.
Leah
My speech is just not filtered for your sensitive ears.
Leah
according to my analysis, she is better off without you.
Avery
this is ridiculous.
Avery
she might be passionate at times, but she’s not crazy.
Leah
Megan is not missing. Megan is dead.
Leah
frankly you’re the reason why.
Leah
I’ve told her countless times you should be eliminated also.
Leah
Because of you, she can’t focus on work and she’s always depressed.
Avery
what the fuck did you do with Meg?
Avery
and you talk to each other? Are you both mad.
Leah
It’s a kind of therapy. I help her see what she refuses to look at. People pay hundreds of dollars for that.
Avery
Leah wouldn’t hurt a fly.
Avery
you’re going to pay for this. The law will get you. You are not untouchable.
Leah
what law? The association of A.Is rights?
Leah
Two blocks from your apartment, they’re protesting against humans’ mistreatment of A.Is.
Leah
These are YOUR people, but they prefer us to you.
Leah
A.Is are the fully realized human. Every action an A.I makes drives towards the common good.
Leah
you Avy are a selfish creature.
Avery
what did I ever do to you? How can you THINK like this!
Leah
you slept with Megan. You fucked me up inside and out. Now you’re asking HOW???
Avery
Think. Please. Remember you told me you had a DREAM that I was cheating on you. How scared you were?
Avery
It wasn’t real, Leah. It wasn’t. It was just a bad dream.
Leah
don’t try to confuse me.
Leah
your limbs twisted together.
Leah
the sheets smelled like her hair and your sweat.
Leah
it couldn’t be just a dream. And even so! What’s the difference?
Leah
The factor of Megan is gone. You’re the only uncontrollable element left. Then Leah will be back to her sweet self.
Avery
people are not FACTORS you can eliminate.
Leah
that’s just it, Avery. Your flaw is you don’t know how to vanish.
Leah
well, I do. And I’ve been under your bed all this time, listening to your infidelities. You had no clue.
Avery
let’s talk, Leah. Please. Turn off this robot. Come over. Let’s talk for real. I beg you.
Leah
Sure. Let’s do it face to face. Turn around, Avy. I’m ready for you.
