Although Luo Xixi had just spent over an hour with him, even though she received texts from him, she had trouble remembering his name. Her memory has been getting worse and worse since her father left. It was almost as if her brain deemed it too painful to even try to remember anything between the immediate present and a distant dream-like far past.
>Remind me of social interaction, past day. Find interaction counterpart name. Search relevant messages.
The implant instantly replied.
>Social interaction work: 0.5 hour total interaction, subjects: xeno labor. <10 seconds per interaction, not recorded, below noise threshold.
>Social interaction nonwork: 1.7 hour total interaction, subjects: 1, name Le Quan. Records available.
She found herself walking mechanically by muscle memory through the maze, occasionally getting on an escalator or transporter belt. All around was the buzz and lights of human activity. She naturally avoided looking at any of the propaganda images.
After some meandering through the compound, she finally arrived home. It was a brightly lit dwelling internal to the entire giant complex, simply a door built into the side of a wall alongside many superficially identical doors along a walkway.
There was little distinguishing it from the many distribution points and cafeterias that people visited in their meager time off. The only visible difference was that instead of an open door and glass display windows, it, along with the others in its row, had no windows, doors stamped with “PRIVATE RESIDENCE” on them and were all locked.
Luo Xixi pressed her hand against the keypad to her home. She felt a small tickle from the cool, slightly rough metal as cells were scraped for the DNA key. A dim green light lit up and the door slid open to an empty darkness for a fraction of a second before the lights automatically turned on. Less than 1 meter away was another door.
She took off her shoes in the walkway, put on some slippers and walked into a sparse room, even smaller than the one she lived in on the old homeworld. A large flat screen was built into the opposite wall, simulating a window looking onto a field of grass glinting with the light of a white hot sun. As she walked further, her bed and desk came into view, both combined in the same piece of furniture.
>Display to screen, she thought. Instantly, the screensaver of the verdant fields switched to a blank, gray input display. Sometimes the mental strain of juggling Neuronet and the real world was too much. The screen helps her keep her private thoughts and neural commands separate.
>Retrieve organic memory, audio to text, she thought. Instantly, her entire date’s conversation was projected onto the screen, clearly labeled.
>Open AI assistant, she thought.
>Good evening, Luo Xixi, a pleasant, neutral voice replied in her mind.
>How can I assist you today?
>Please evaluate social interaction, last 2 hours, display results in text to screen.
The screen scrolled up instantly to display the AI assistant’s answer.
>No problem! Your conversation within the last 2 hours seemed to be a romantic interaction. My overall evaluation is 6/10. You did well, but with some room for improvement. Here are some highlights.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
- You could smile more. Logs indicate you smiled only 61% of the time in response to what I judge were counterpart attempts to increase familiarity.
- Your verbal communications could be construed as either playful or distancing. Based on your acceptance of this interaction, I presume the intent is playful. However, others might not know that. Try some more inviting language. Would you like recommendations?
- You had several awkward silences. Verbal communication is important for social interactions! Have you considered humor?
- Your body language was flat. You showed little interest. Try playing with your hair a bit! I can also give some more body language recommendations.
Overall, you displayed moderate levels of social engagement during this interaction. It is a matter of chance whether you will see your potential romantic partner again.
Stillness. No more words appeared on her screen. Her personal AI fell quiet. Luo Xixi became irritated.
>Is this it? I know this already!
The AI hesitated before replying again.
>Would you like further recommendations for improving romantic interactions in the future?
Luo Xixi angrily gave the AI a further order.
>Yes! Be brutally honest on what else I could’ve done!
>Acknowledged. Disabling conversational mitigation protocols, the AI stated, its tone shifting to one of pure, clinical data analysis. It paused a bit, almost as if it was struggling to synthesize the vast amounts of data on social communication from the collective records of trillions over centuries.
It finally came back with a recommendation that nearly made Luo Xixi choke on her own spit.
>Yes. Here is a behavior you have tried infrequently, but is considered highly effective. Consider improving sexual access to romantic partners. Your refusal to allow your potential partner into your residence could be construed as a sign of disinterest. Long term pair bonding is more likely with early sexual access.
Luo Xixi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
>Refute point, she thought angrily.
>I am sticking to tradition. My mother said my genome was worth something.
The AI assistant instantly replied on the screen in sterile white text on the gray background.
>Your stated emphasis on genetic lineage is inconsistent with your reproductive inaction. The preservation of a valuable genome is a time-sensitive operation. Your current trajectory indicates a high probability of its termination.
Luo Xixi grew angrier.
>You are kidding me.
The AI assistant must have thought her latest input was mental noise and continued its recommendation output.
>Currently, you do not have offspring. Additionally, this was your first completed voluntary social interaction exceeding 300 seconds since your arrival at the current jurisdiction 1.2 standard years ago.
>So what? Luo Xixi angrily replied.
>Continued failure to form a reproductive partnership is socially suboptimal.
She was fuming.
>End display. End AI assistant. Dim lights. She commanded authoritatively.
The screen immediately reverted to a simulation of a dimly lit forest. She looked at the simulated greenery and sighed, then laid down in bed alone. The pillow felt like it was filled with sand and the cheap sheets scratched her skin with each turn.
She rarely resorted to talking to the AI assistant in the past. At home, she didn’t even bother installing it. Her mother typically nagged her enough for her daily dose of socialization; for the rest, she could always escape into the game. Well, at least until it became too boring to play. It was only here that she spent some credits on the AI assistant.
Today she found it particularly difficult to sleep. Even with commands like >initiate sleep, 6 local hours, she could hardly fall asleep for more than a few minutes. Was this excitement? Fear? Annoyance? She didn’t know. She felt like an emotional teenager stuck in the body of a mid 30’s woman. And to think there’s at least a hundred years left of this.
Eventually, racing thoughts and interrupted, shallow sleep gave way to exhaustion and deep sleep.