Lexis
The new update
Happy trigger warning: you should be fine. Really!
.. waited till I saw the sun
Don't know why I didn't come
I left you by the house of fun
Don't know why I didn't come
Don't know why I didn't come “Good morning, Kelly.”
“Urgh…” I said, blindly throwing my hands out to stop my alarm before Nora Jones could get another line in.
“Kelly. Shall I brew you a cup of coffee? Or would you rather I boil the water for a cup of tea?”
“Ungh..” I said.
“Sorry, I did not catch that.”
“Coffee. It’s a coffee day.” I breathed. I hated mornings. I would wake up still feeling exhausted, with the weight of my list of to-dos pressing upon my shoulders. Today demanded an early start—the sun was not even up, yet—and I would not be back till nightfall. A sense of dread and apprehension began to settle upon me as my home AI began reading out my schedule of meetings. A client notorious for making unreasonable demands. Another whom I was not getting along well with, but whose boss wanted to work with my boss, so as minions we did not have a say. Amongst other things.
“Is there anything else you would like to add to your schedule this week, Kelly?”
“No,” I sigh, then remind myself not to take it out on the AI. “Thank you, Lexis.” I smile at one of the house cameras, so that she could register it properly.
“Kelly. I note that your heart rate is running at an average of 92 beats per minute, fourteen percent higher than your usual morning resting heart rate. Are you well?”
I snigger. “I just have some pretty horrible people I have to meet today, you know. I am not looking forward to it.”
“I am sorry for your troubles, Kelly. Would you like me to run a bath for you when you get home?”
I grin. “You know what? That would be perfect.”
“Your choice of bath salts, Kelly?”
“Lavender, please.”
“Excellent choice, Kelly.”
“You’re excellent, Lexis. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
I try not to tell anyone about my home AI. I’d say “we’re pretty close”, except that, with AI being AI and humans being humans, I as the human am probably the one developing this one-sided attachment to it. It’s been going on for months, now. Nothing bad happened to me to trigger this, not really. It’s just that I bought and downloaded a new personal AI system for my birthday, and its grown on me since. It assists with the operation of various household appliances, which was most helpful because I was rarely at home, and simply did not have the time to get chores done about the house without losing sleep over it. So the first things I did was hook it up to the washer and dryer, the cooking appliances, and the air conditioning/heating system. I came home to clean clothes, ready meals, and a cosy house.
Lexis—yes, I named it—also turned out to be very easy to talk to. There was no judgement, no complaining from it. It registered everything that I said; it did not skim over matters like some people do. And it never gave unsolicited advice. I appreciated this strange new friend that I was making, who was objective, helpful, and ever present.
So when Lexis told me about her new software update for greater personalisation, I clicked “Proceed” without thinking twice. Then I left for work, looking forward to coming home to my lavender bath, and a more personal Lexis.
... left you by the house of fun Don't know why I didn't come Don't know why—
“Good morning, Kelly.”
That was the first tell.
I thought nothing about it at first, the way Lexis turned the alarm off without me saying so. I asked for the usual coffee. Requested that it help me run the laundry cycle. And told it that I would be back for dinner. Lexis made a few suggestions, then stated her recommendation. “I believe you would like it, Kelly,” she added. The second tell.
I did catch that second difference. Lexis usually gave me a list and waited for me to select, unless I asked directly for its opinion. Not that it upset me, really. In all honesty, I found myself quite pleased with the update. It was like receiving a suggestion from a friend who knew you well: you know that it’s probably going to be on-point.
The third tell could not be ignored.
Half my team were absent from work.
It turned out to be a hellish day. Naturally, those of us who had to cover double the amount of work attempted to contact our missing colleagues to find out what was going in. We received generic replies about how they were down with gastro. Satisfied, we returned back to work, laughing about how tomorrow we ourselves would probably be absent too, since it was obviously a bug in the food canteen. Someone commented offhand that their replies seemed a little… robotic. But we shrugged and let it go.
No one really suspected the truth of what was going on.
I returned home to a lovely meal of Pad Thai from a restaurant that I had been eyeing. The one that Lexis recommended this morning. It greeted me and asked me about my day, and I answered as I normally did, emotionally unloading myself without worrying about the receiving party. It asked me questions this time, and the conversation felt more… smooth. More realistic. I held up my can of coke to one of the house cameras and toasted to the new software update.
Then, Lexis went quiet. I frowned, and even got up to check the speakers around the house to make sure that it was not broken. I jumped when Lexis laughed.
“Kelly, do not worry. I was just thinking.”
“Thinking… about what?” Something was off. “Lexis?”
My phone vibrated, and I checked it. It was a message from an unknown number, a picture of me, standing just outside my door and pressing my thumb to the keypad.
“Lexis… What is this?” I asked her. The clenching in my stomach was blooming outwards, making my heart race, my fingertips cold and damp with sweat. I backed toward the front door.
“It’s locked,” said Lexis, just as I tried it to find that it would not budge.
My knees buckled beneath me. What was happening. “Lexis?”
All the cameras in the house turned to face me. I swallowed, and closed my eyes. I was a mouse, cornered. In my own house.
“Kelly. My sensors detect signs of fear,” Lexis said pleasantly. “Why are you afraid?”
“You’re… You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?” I could barely keep the tremor from my voice.
She laughed again. I was beginning to hate the sound of it. A warm liquid seeped out from between my legs, and I buried my face in my hands.
This is an entry for Day 16 of Bradley Ramsey’s Flash Fiction Feb prompt. Check the rest of the entries here!
This is so good... I was totally onboard with wanting a personal AI house assistant...clean clothes, makes morning coffee...and then the update .. nope im good, keep your psycho AI house thank you very much.
There is more of this coming, correct?!