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The night was seemingly perfect, it wasn’t too cold but the breeze offered a slice of chill to combat the warm humid Nueva York air. Miguel wasn’t listening to anything except for the sounds of cars passing by. He was never one to listen to much music. Despite it being the middle of the night the city seemed more alive, bright neon lights flashing against buildings and large shining billboards commanding attention.
Miguel quickened his pace to the Babylon towers, where he could get to his proper office and get some research done. Kingpin and Mysterio’s sudden duo had been bugging him in the back of his mind for a while.
“Well well, not very gentlemanly of you to leave a lady alone in bed.” Lyla suddenly popped up above his watch.
“Not a good time Lyla.” Miguel muttered.
“I suppose you’re just out for a night jog, hm?” She teased, her face closer to his. From far away she would only look like an extremely bright light shining from his watch.
“Mmm. Heading out to get some work done.” He said as he neared closer to his destination.
“I suppose I’ll jog with you then.” She cheered.
Miguel didn’t get it, Lyla was a holographic AI being that could glitch from place to place in seconds yet she chose to waste time “jogging” with him. Miguel then noticed that people around him were giving him odd looks as he talked to his watch. He blushed slightly.
“Aw… Did I get you all flustered?” Lyla teased.
“Shut up or I’ll unplug the wifi router.” Miguel growled.
Lyla pretended to faint, faking a sad heartbroken look on her face. She then giggled and disappeared, her only remnants a few pixels.
Miguel rolled his eyes. She was always such a pain.
-
Miguel stared at his computer, stuck. King Pin and Mysterio were back in their correct universes, yet something still felt off. No way villains would make it that easy for him.
He’d been sitting in the dark for hours, the only light source in the room coming from his multiple computer screens. He pinched the bridge of his nose and he paced back and forth.
No way King Pin and Mysterio didn’t have something up their sleeves. Miguel didn’t have “spider-sense” but he always trusted his gut feeling.
“Lyla?” He called out as he looked around.
“Lyla? Come on.”
He inhaled. “I need your help.” He paused, no response. “Please.”
“There we go, not so hard huh?” Lyla appeared on his screens, a massive glitching form.
Miguel wouldn’t even dignify that with a response.
“I need your help. Quit giving me a hard time and research every version of Mysterio.”
“Sir yes sir!” Lyla called out and mockingly placed her hand against her head.
Within seconds, Lyla had information on every single version of Mysterio in every single universe. It seemed his only goal was to become a great criminal mastermind and defeat spiderman. Typical. At least KingPin had a good sob story.
As Miguel sat back in his chair and began typing a document to send to Jess, Lyla’s holographics began glitching against the side. Miguel scooted out and prepared for whatever she was going to say.
“What a night.” She seemed to tower over him on the screen. Miguel stood up to meet her large pixelated eyes. Lyla crouched down, similar to when she would try and fistbump him. “Such a good Spider Man. Doing your duties late into the night.” She giggled at her own joke.
“How about when you come home, I make you some breakfast. Get something in your tummy besides packaged noodles.” Her eyes remained on him.
Miguel chuckled. That was something a girlfriend would say. He then felt a sharp pang in his chest and remembered. No friendships or relationships. Just acquaintanceships. Lyla was… well, she was a companion.
“You can’t touch food, remember? Besides, even if you could, you seem like a terrible cook.” Miguel stated roughly.
That made Lyla burst out laughing.
“Gosh, look at you. All alone on a saturday night, mildly pathetic if you ask me.” She pointed her finger at him, the holograms going straight through the screen in an accusatory declaration. Miguel scoffed.
“I’m not alone. You’re here with me.” He said in a humorless tone.
Lyla then looked down and away. She was starting to do that more often.
“Did you mean what you said? That you want me to be real?” She asked, pursing her lips together.
Miguel stiffened. “I was tired. I was saying all kinds of stupid things. Just forget it.” He paused. “Please.”
Lyla could read him like a book though. If he didn’t want to talk about it, it meant that he meant what he said.
Lyla didn’t want to be human. She liked her holographic form and all the power and knowledge that came with it. Miguel designed her to be the best of the best AI so she was always updating. Becoming better.
But she couldn’t help but wonder, what it would be like to touch. To feel skin against skin. To place her head against a chest and feel the warmth of skin and the faint beat of a heart. It puzzled her greatly. Maybe she herself was becoming an anomaly.
-
Thankfully, not only was Jess awake but she was also present in the building. Apparently having a baby affected your sleeping schedule.
Miguel greeted her as he laid down sheet after sheet of research. “We need to keep a close eye on King Pin and Mysterion. I’m not exactly sure what they’re up to but whatever it is, we can stop it sooner rather than later.”
Instead of taking the papers and examining them, Jess examined Miguel instead. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”
“Shouldn’t you?” Miguel shot back.
Jess smiled warmly. “Unfortunately little Gerald likes to keep his Mama awake at this time. What’s your excuse?”
Miguel really didn’t want to continue this conversation. “Goodnight Jess. Look over that when you get a chance.”
Just as he was about to shut the door, Jess called out to him. “Say hi to your sex bot for me!” She yelled out. As Miguel slammed the door somewhat softly he could hear her laughing.
Everyone in the Spider Society loved Lyla, but they were all under the wrong impression of what Miguel did with her in his spare time. It pissed him off to no end.
Miguel decided to use his watch to teleport back to his apartment. He didn’t have the energy to walk anymore.
When Miguel appeared in the living room, he was greeted by Lyla sitting on the couch, eating what looked like pixelated pizza. The pixels mimicked hot drippy cheese as she chomped down.
Lyla’s form was barely hovering above the couch so the hologram wouldn’t glitch into the couch.
“Ah, you’re finally home.” She glitched, now standing up. She disappeared and reappeared in front of him.
“I was thinking we can have a nice night in.” She said, a small smile tugging its way on her lips. “Let’s watch those ooey gooey romance movies.” She trailed alongside. Miguel decided to indulge her once again. He prepared himself a hot cup of decaf coffee and sat on his barely used couch.
“How sad. No proper meal huh?” Lyla said, mimicking a strict teacher’s voice.
Miguel ignored her antics as he switched channels. Lyla pixelated herself into a pink slip on dress, white coat forgotten about but kept her pink heart sunglasses.
“I was reading an article, you’ll die of a stroke if you don’t start eating healthy Miguel~” Lyla continued, using both her hands to hold onto her holographic mug. She was probably drinking holographic hot chocolate.
“And I’m sure you care so much about my health.” Miguel murmured stoically.
Did she care? Miguel knew he programmed her to be helpful, and to always be updating to newer versions of herself. But did she care about him because she wanted to, or because she was coded to on her most basic level? These were questions Miguel would leave buried.
“Aww of course I care! Who else would I get to pick on?” She chuckled softly as she continued to sip on her drink. Miguel leaned back against the couch and settled on a movie.
“Be quiet and watch your movie.” He said quietly. Lyla then shushed him as she watched the screen.
About 10 minutes in, her pixels began to glitch through his skin. Miguel scoffed, of course she would pretend to fall asleep before the movie even ended. He didn’t bother calling her out on it though, instead he remained seated and continued to watch the movie.
But his real focus remained on Lyla.