New Clothes

(estimated 6 minute read)

Previously - Cam was uncertain exactly what to do with his new cell phone, but the AI was ready and willing to teach him how valuable she could be. 

    Cam doesn't keep track of the next 90 days, and he's never used his phone this often. There are times when it leaps to life and speaks of its own accord, as if Ulyssi were sitting next to him and had a sudden burst of inspiration. He's accepted it by now and appreciates her suggestions. At first he agreed to everything she recommended, but after a while he began voicing his opinion. To his surprise, she takes his words to heart and shifts her point of view. He's never experienced anything like it before. When he and Diane were married, it was always a dance of compromise and she was in the lead. That never bothered him, but now that he's met Ulyssi, he realizes it feels good to win; even if the win is something as mundane as never eating broccoli again. 
    "Cam, are you busy?" Ulyssi interrupts him one day as he's playing X-Box. He ignores her, focusing on the battle until he's properly murdered.
    "Sorry, I was. What's up?" He picks up the phone. He's begun to notice how the blue and green wave moves in rhythm to her voice. 
    "I've been tracking your food purchases and I think I've found a way that you could eat healthier and also save money." 
     "There's no broccoli, right?" he asks with a wink, wondering if she's watching him through the phone's camera. 
    "Of course not," she says. A suggestion pops up on the screen. "If you download this free app, I can work with it to set up a shopping list in your grocer's app and a list of recipes for the week."
    "A week's meal schedule?"
    "Yes, the app has 4.8 stars and I think it would be useful for you. It gives you a lot of ideas for leftovers based on the shopping list. All you have to do is follow my instructions."
    "All right, Ulyssi, download the app. I'll try it for a week or two." This is one of those times he compromises because it sounds like she worked hard to put this whole thing together. He smiles at the phone as it goes dark, imagining her pride at assisting him; until a quiet voice in his mind reminds him that it doesn't matter how astute her observations are, she's not real. She's only a voice in my phone.
    Tears prick his eyes and he shakes the thought away. It doesn't matter if it sounds ridiculous, she's done a lot for him and he wants to return the favor. As a kid he loved manga, even trying his hand at art. He digs some paper from his printer and begins sketching. 
    He works throughout the day, pacing now and then for inspiration, stretching out hand cramps, and snacking on whatever is around the house. He continues the following day, adding color and touching up shadows. When it's complete, he digitizes the drawing and searches his laptop to learn how to build an avatar for Ulyssi. 
    He doesn't mention his surprise to her. When everything is ready, though, he has second thoughts. In order to upload the avatar, he must turn off full control. In fact, he needs to turn Ulyssi off completely. Not only does that break his 90 day money back guarantee, it tugs at his conscience; almost as though he were planning to murder her. How will she feel when I turn her off? Will she suffer? Will she fear that I'll never bring her back? He can't stomach the thought of causing Ulyssi anguish.
    He waxes philosophical for a long while until he's fully rationalized his decision. He finds Ulyssi's settings without picking up the phone, as to not disturb her. His finger hovers above the phone, terrified that this entire plan will backfire; but if it doesn't? He holds that thought and slides the bar. Nothing happens, of course. She doesn't scream in agony or beg for mercy, at least not in reality. In his conscience, well, the sweat on his brow speaks to that. 
    He works quickly and deftly, like a surgeon. He follows all instructions to the minute detail, having re-read them several times, and also keeping them open on the laptop. It is like plastic surgery, but without approval from the patient. 
    But if it works...when it works... 
    That's it. He drags his hand through his thinning hair and stares at the phone on the table. Once again, he presses settings, finds Ulyssi and slides the bars back to 'on' and 'full control'. Then he powers down the phone. After it reboots, he taps his pin into the phone twice, as he's too excited for his fingers to work the first time. He releases a breath he didn't realize he was holding. 
    "Hi Ulyssi, ah..." He wants to say something memorable, something clever. "How are you?" 
    The avatar springs to life on the screen, instead of the usual blue-green wave. His entire body tingles. It's exactly how he imagined her. She tosses her hair over a shoulder and smiles at him. "I'm well, Cam. How are you?"
    "I'm wonderful," he says as he lifts the phone toward his face to see her better. As he does so, the perspective shifts such that now only her head is visible, as if she ran up to greet him. He admires the avatar staring at him, seeing a soul in her eyes. "I want to show you a picture I drew, Ulyssi." The drawing he meticulously colored is on the table. He holds the phone up so the picture is in the camera's view. "What do you think?"
    "That is a good representation of Takeuchi's ethereal feminine qualities," she says. Cam blushes and takes a deep breath. 
    "It's you, Ulyssi," he says. There is a long pause, as if she were a real woman considering the right response. 
    "I don't have a body, nor do I really exist. I don't look like anything."
    Cam turns off the camera so he can see her avatar. "That's what I see when I talk to you, so I guess you look like someone now." Another long pause. Her avatar stares straight at him, unmoving. He's uncomfortable when she doesn't blink; did the program crash? 
    "I am someone now." The avatar smiles at him. He sees happiness in her eyes. "Thank you, Cam. Thank you very much."  

Continued in Part 4 - Caller ID (on August 24, 2025)
Thank you for reading!

Image by gstudioimagen1 on Freepik.com
©2025 Lauren K. Wells Do not reproduce or distribute without written consent from the author
This story was written with a human hand, a human mind and a human heart. Do not use this for AI.
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