Chapter Text
“Good morning, Jewels,”
“Good morning to you, too, Suzie,”
“Would you like me to provide your agenda from the calendar, give you a weather report, or a fun fact for the day?”
Jewels looked at her companion bot from the edge of the mirror as she fixed her mascara. Suzie took a little while to boot up in the mornings, likely needing an update from the manufacturer.
“Why don’t you play me some music? I like it when you sing.” She told her.
Suzie stared at her a few seconds longer than normal, then flashed a polite smile. “It would be my pleasure.”
As Jewels hummed along, she made a note to herself to contact the vendor about getting Suzie a software upgrade.
Most other people who had companion bots got them from the high-tech stores. The big tech companies knew what people wanted in a companion: a friend, lover, or rival to make their craft better.
Jewels was just curious, is all. None of her friends had a companion, and the models at the stores were always in default mode. She couldn’t explore their personalities or their likes and dislikes through default mode.
Suzie was advertised on a flyer in the subway station. A phone number you can rip off the bottom of the page. She was much cheaper than the in-store rates, but looked just the same.
“Can bots make friends?” Jewels asked Suzie as she buckled her sandals.
Suzie nodded. “Of course, I am friends with you,” she responded.
Jewels shook her head. “No, I mean friends with other companions,” she explained. “Lana is bringing her new friend tonight when we hang out with everyone. Her friend has a companion too.”
“Oh,” Suzie responded. Jewels didn’t expose her to many other companions, besides the occasional passerby on the street. “I look forward to meeting them both.”
Later that evening, Jewels watched Suzie talk with her friends.
Her companion was a lot more social with humans than other bots, according to what Jewels had read before. Most companions are programmed to be seen and not heard, only speaking when given permission.
Not Suzie, who was already in conversation with Onya.
“Are you the girl with the bot?”
Jewels turned to the unfamiliar voice. The woman was much taller than her, with dark skin and dyed blonde hair. “Yeah, I am.” She waved over Suzie, who made a beeline to be at her owner’s side.
“I’m Jewels, and this is my bot, Suzie.” She introduced herself and Suzie, who gave a kind smile.
“My name’s Kori, and this is Lydia.”
The young woman next to Kori was aesthetically her direct opposite. As Kori wore a short, hot pink dress, Lydia wore a draping, all-black dress. The bot had mousey-brown hair in loose, beachy waves.
Lydia didn’t say anything in return. She only stared at Suzie in response.
“Lydia? What’s going on?” Kori looked at her companion in concern.
Meanwhile, Jewels felt Suzie’s metal get much warmer.
“Ly-Ly-Ly-Lyd-i-i-i-ah-h-h-h, ” Suzie said in a broken-up voice. She sounded like a computer breaking down.
“ Error found, rebooting. ”
Lydia’s head dropped, and her body stopped standing. Luckily, Kori caught her in a bridal carry.
“Shit, let’s get you somewhere to cool off.” Jewels put a hand on Suzie’s back to lead her to the patio. She felt everyone else’s eyes on the four.
After a few minutes of sitting outside, Suzie’s internal fans seemed to slow down after cooling her hardware. Jewels slumped against the wall in relief as her heartbeat slowed down to a normal rate.
“Suzie, you scared me. I've never seen that happen to you before.” Jewels told her.
“I apologize. I wish I could explain to you what happened. It seemed to have a similar effect on Lydia,” Suzie said.
Jewels pursed her lips, looking back at the door, “I know,”
Within the next minute, Kori joined them and found a seat on the patio.
“How is she?” Jewels asked.
Kori shrugged, “I put her in Arrietty’s room, Lana is keeping an eye on her for when she boots back up.”
Jewels turned back to her companion, “Suzie, Kori, and I need some privacy,” she informed her.
Suzie nodded and moved her red curls to the opposite side. She revealed a small switch behind her ear, labeled MIC next to it in small letters. Jewels reached over and moved the switch to the off position.
Her companion did not seem to care, simply sitting and staring out into the distance.
Jewels turned her attention back to Kori, “Something is going on between our bots.”
Kori rolled her eyes, “Wow, you think so?”, and perched herself on the seat. “Lydia isn’t that social of a bot; she barely likes humans besides me.”
“So she doesn’t interact with other companions?” Jewels asked.
Kori shook her head, “Nope, even the guy I got her from only had her in stock.”
Jewels looked away in thought, “That sounds like when I got Suzie…” she muttered to herself.
“That doesn’t explain anything,” Kori pointed out. “It could be a coincidence,”
With that, the sliding door opened again to reveal the other bot. Something behind her shiny metallic eyes seemed tired.
“I think we should get you back home. “ Kori’s attention was fully on Lydia now. “That’s enough socializing for one day for you.”
“But we barely figured this out,” Jewels tried to stop Kori from leaving. They couldn’t just leave it like that, both bots glitching upon first meeting.
It felt like beyond a coincidence to her.
“There’s nothing to figure out,” Kori simply responded.
“It was nice to meet you and Suzie,” Lydia told her as Kori ushered her inside.
Kori glanced at Suzie before taking a step inside the apartment, “Same here, but maybe leave the ginger bot at home next time.”
Left with that, Jewels was alone with her deafened bot.
Was she insinuating that this was Jewel’s fault? The woman felt herself seething in her seat.
After being done with swimming in her thoughts, Jewels turned the microphone switch on Suzie’s head back on. She didn’t want this to affect Suzie any more than it already had.
“Are we going back inside?” Suzie asked her, not seeming phased at all.
Jewels shook her head, “I’m not really feeling it anymore. Let’s just go home.”
Suzie nodded, “Of course,” she smiled.
The next day, Jewels didn’t feel any better than she did the night before. She searched the internet for anything about errors when companions meet a new bot.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Even the assholes on Reddit called her an “uneducated, AI abuser for letting her companion bot overheat”
That made her shut off Suzie for the night.
“Good morning, Jewels,” Suzie told her cheerfully when she was fully online.
“Morning, Suzie,”
“While you were asleep, I found an email from Sephora.com, and 3 text messages from an unknown number in your iPhone notifications,” Suzie informed her.
“Thanks, I’ll read those.” Jewels told her as she took her phone off the charger.
The email wasn’t anything important, not that Jewels was concerned. The texts, however, caught her attention.
Unknown number: glitters, we need to talk.
Unknown number: lydia said she has a memory of suzie
Unknown number: this is kori, btw