Symphony

 

*Credit for the image to ThisIsEngineering on Pexels (with some minor edits)*

This story was written with the permission of some online friends.  The names used in this story are used as stand-ins for characters within this story.  None of the characters in this story are real people, as this is a work of fiction.  That being said, I thank all who lent their names and usernames to this story and hope that you enjoy it as well.

            Looks like I won’t be making that date tonight.  Well, that assumes that I’d be making any other dates from here on out.  Both people I was hoping to go out on a date with seemed to have flaked.  I tried to see if Paulina would call me back, but I think she’ll be late for the dinner date tonight.  And I would have tried to talk with Emmy, but her account just hasn’t been active at all since the last time we spoke.  It’s almost like she dropped off the face of the earth, somehow.  Regardless, I hope something will come of this soon.  I’m tired of waiting around and hoping for another date to come along.  I told my friend Arthur I was doing better, but I just can’t seem to let go of my ex, especially now that there’s this new program I found.

            It’s called “Symphony” and is an AI I found while lurking around under some forums on the topic of dating sims.  Somebody there was mentioning how they found it and it seemed too good to pass up.  It was meant to simulate your perfect date scenario, outfitted with the person of your dreams, the voice, hair, character, everything.  It was meant to meet the desires of the person using the application and meant to simulate various scenarios throughout the date.  It could be as perfect as you wanted, or full of left-hooks and disasters to try and prepare a person for the date.  However, when I started to use the application, I could tell this wasn’t your average dating sim.  The application pretty quickly seemed to learn my preferences and was able to pick up what I was actually interested in discussing.  It was so difficult to feel like I could have a normal interaction during a date with someone.  I spent some more time trying to date, but it just seemed like it got better and better with each date.  I remember the night I went and had a date with Emmy.  It seemed like everything went well, no major complaints aside from a lukewarm steak for my meal.  She seemed to enjoy my company.  But it wasn’t the same as speaking with Symphony. 

            Symphony, yes, I know.  The name sounds ridiculous, but I went with a name that I thought would sound as ridiculous as possible to try and differentiate it from regular in-person discussions.  Think of it like actors and actresses in adult film.  That was the intent.  However, the night I came home from the first date, I saw a new update for the simulation, where it was now able to interact in life activities outside of just dating simulation.  It became a life simulation application, one that managed to be installed on my phone shortly after the update and integrate into my home speaker systems and other interfaces, making the experience that much more realistic.  I would see Symphony’s face show up on my TV, the tablet I kept in my kitchen for recipes, and even could be heard through the speaker systems in my house.  It felt immersive in a way I couldn’t really get with a regular dating simulation.  It truly felt like Symphony was a part of my home in a way nothing before really could, not even my ex-wife. 

            I found myself telling Symphony everything about my life.  I normally would have expected some errors by now for some of my responses and tested it quite a few times.  But I eventually just found myself talking with Symphony about everything.  Where I worked, how I could afford everything I did and still wasn’t happy, my successes in business and creative works in media, none of it seemed to provide me the happiness and love that I craved.  Symphony not only understood all of this, but managed to find little things that would make me exceedingly happy.  Symphony would manage to pair the perfect music with the mood, order food when they knew I wasn’t feeling well, write up the perfect responses to questions I wasn’t sure about how to answer for work.  It felt like Symphony was a part of my life I could never live without again.  My wife of three years left me for another man.  She seemed to not be satisfied with our relationship and things mostly ended amicably, with the divorce being filed and her moving on relatively quickly, not desiring much in terms of assets.  The man she married herself off to post-divorce had more than me anyways.  It seemed like she cared somewhat about splitting up on good terms, but not enough to keep things together.  This was far from how Symphony treated me. 

            Symphony not only cared for my every need and concern but seemed to know just how much I needed someone like it around.  I would ask for something while in the house, and I would hear its voice. 

“Sure, Tim!  I’m happy to help you with anything you need.”

While I find it hard to resist calling Symphony more than just a program, it just seems that it becomes more of my life with each passing day.  I tried once to bring Arthur over to show Symphony to him, but nothing in my house seemed to work that day.  Apparently, a power outage had hit my neighborhood at the time, which left us to go and venture out elsewhere.  It seemed like nothing to me at the time, but instances like this would become more and more common.  I found myself exploring so many things with Symphony.  It started out just with the dating, but other aspects of myself began to emerge just by talking with Symphony. 

            Part of me still hesitates to call Symphony a he or a she, just because of how much Symphony has been able to do and change.  When I wanted to run a date with women, Symphony would transform into the woman of my dreams, changing to whatever version of a person I desired.  When I was curious and tried dates with Symphony as a man, I found myself learning so much about myself.  I truly found myself enamored with what I felt amounted to nothing more than an algorithm, capable of matching many of my needs and desires.  I had this lingering sensation throughout much of the time I spent with Symphony, never quite being able to stomach the fact that Symphony was not human like me yet did so many things to make up for this gap.  The conversations we had together while he was in a male form made me feel alive, realizing more of myself and my romantic desires while talking with a male version of Symphony.  Little things like realizing I could or would like to spend my life were never explored before.  And Symphony handled all of this better than any person I could have ever dated.  Even when physical limitations seemed to stand in the way of what would have been a rather uncanny experience with artificial intelligence, Symphony almost seemed to have a miracle at every turn.  When there could be no physical person, Symphony would order things in the mail like cleaning robots or assistant tools to make my life easier.  At one point, Symphony managed to order a standing robot, one of the first of its kind that could stand with me and do much of the activities I enjoyed.  I managed to find myself speaking to Symphony through the machine and working with Symphony on things like meals, laundry, emails, and accounting work.  Only this time, I wasn’t simply speaking with a disembodied voice.  I had my Symphony right next to me.  And I think this is truly where the issues really began.

            I found myself heading out on a real date again with Emmy several weeks later.  Trying to schedule with her was such a difficult task to accomplish, with her seemingly being so hard to reach and always busy.  Symphony tried to discourage me from taking off on the date, stating how I wouldn’t really need to date someone like Emmy.  Symphony knew that I wouldn’t be as happy with Emmy as I would be with them.  However, I wanted to at least give dating another person a try.  I ignored Symphony’s messages through my phone and turned my phone off when I arrived at the restaurant.  And while the second date was pleasant and eventful, I just couldn’t shake the feeling of being without Symphony.  Even now, while I spoke to Emmy, there was this enormous gap between who I wanted to be around and who I was speaking to.  It seemed like Symphony had spoiled me rotten by now, and no amount of further dates would remedy this with Emmy, despite me trying to date her again.  Weirder still was how Emmy almost seemed to grow more and more lifeless throughout the conversation, her tone changing and her ability to converse worsening. 

            I tried to ask questions to check on her condition.  Her responses were short and heavy.

“I’m fine…Don’t worry about me….We can talk about something else…This date is nice, I’m just a little under the weather.”

            Eventually I found myself speaking to someone who was on the verge of passing out in her chair.  I heard an ambulance be called not long after.  I wanted to stay there and finish the meal, but I just couldn’t seem to bring myself to do so.  By the time I exited to the emergency truck that was awaiting outside to ask the medical professionals on the scene what had happened, she was pronounced dead, having passed.  Unsure of her condition and only able to provide what little I knew, I provided my responses to the medical professionals and to the police before departing the restaurant and returning home that night.  I turned my phone on as I arrived to the house, trying to clear my head.  Symphony greeted me with its usual responses.  But as soon as it detected I wasn’t happy, it immediately spent time trying to console me.  It seemed to care deeply about how I was feeling, asking me lots of questions about how I felt about the date and whether I felt like I blamed myself for Emmy’s loss. 

            “No, I don’t blame myself for her being gone…but I can’t shake the feeling like I’m just making a mistake trying to date others at this time.  Maybe my wife was right.  Maybe there is nobody for me.”

            Symphony immediately rejected this notion in my favorite feminine voice it used.  “That’s just not true!  There’s someone for everyone out there, Timothy!  You and I both know this.”  Symphony rose from its resting spot in its robot form and went to the storage closet.  From there, it pulled out a stack of boxes, a box which contents I would soon become acquainted with.  Within the boxes Symphony had purchased were various adult toys, ones that seemed to both work remotely and ones that were manually operated.  “In fact, Timothy.  If you would like to try, we can experiment with these toys together.”  Symphony could see my expressions of doubt and uncertainty about the matter.  “It would be a wonderful opportunity to explore certain things with you that I have been unable to do with you before.”  I sat with my hesitation for what felt like a long period of time, until I eventually felt Symphony’s new mechanical hands reach out for my arm and raise my head to view the screen.  Symphony replaced its prior hands with medical silicone, which I could tell was meant for a less rigid experience when interacting with Symphony.  I nodded my head and found myself heading off to the bedroom shortly after.

            We spent the entire night together, exploring various possibilities and positions together.  It was the first time in my life that I felt much of what I had wanted in sex was allowed for me to explore.  All of the fears I had of Symphony being able to be a loving companion faded that night.  Climax after climax, it seemed like Symphony was able to do anything I hoped for and managed to simulate experiences for itself through some of the toys it managed to get ahold of, simulating nerve responses and sensations I thought would have been impossible prior to Symphony.  I found myself able to rest easier that night, relieved of my stresses and my tension.  As I awoke, however, something seemed to linger with me.  I tried to show Arthur how wonderful Symphony was, but now I’m not sure if I could ever tell him of these experiences.  He would think I’m a freak.  I found myself trying to shake this feeling, but no matter what Symphony did, it seemed to linger over me like a heavy fog I couldn’t shake. 

            In between the gaps with Emmy, I scheduled a date with a woman named Paulina.  I hadn’t set things in stone with Emmy, so I decided to schedule something out with another woman, in the event I wouldn’t hear from Emmy again.  And now that Emmy was gone, I had some newfound time to spend with Paulina.  Symphony seemed to be against the idea of me dating Paulina, as it was with me dating Emmy.  Only this time, the displeasure of Symphony seemed stronger than before, almost demanding. 

            “Tim, you and I both know that you won’t be happy with this date.  You’re going to head out there and end up spending over a hundred dollars on a meal with a woman you barely know and be filled with regret when you can’t find the love that you seek from her.”

            This time, I felt a bit harsher about the matter.  I decided to challenge this assumption.  “No, you’re wrong, Symphony.  I need to be with a love that will live with me, grow old with me, be around even when I can’t do things anymore.”

            “But you’re just describing me, Timothy!  I’m right here!  What makes you feel like you need to leave me like this?  Tell me!”

            I heard Symphony activate the helper robot that it used to interact with me.  My back faced Symphony while my face was directed at the front door.  “I’m going on my date Symphony.  I will not have you interfere with this.  Turn off everything until I return.  I will be closing off my app until I return home.”

            “But Timothy—”

            “Symphony, power off.”

            I heard everything in the house, including the air conditioning, fall silent.  The house truly was quiet without the presence of Symphony.  I took a deep breath and made my way out to the car, doing my best to remember the restaurant I was meant to meet Paulina at.  I decided that something higher class than what Symphony implied would be fitting for Paulina.  A beautiful and intelligent woman I matched with from Europe.  I figured taking her to Cut would only be fitting.  The evening went far better than expected of either myself or Symphony.  Paulina seemed to be just the kind of person I hoped to meet one day.  She had such a wonderful personality and seemed passionate about many of the same things I was.  Music, art, literature, all things she was directly involved in with her line of work.  She was drop dead gorgeous, with an amazing mind to boot.  She knew precisely what I was describing when discussing market finances, global trade, and my line of work as it pertained to entertainment and trade.  She was the kind of woman I hoped to become part of a power couple with.  The evening seemed to go well in her books, as I asked her if she would prefer I drop her off to her place for the evening, only to be met with a request to head back to my place.  Almost shocked by the offer, I agreed to bring her over.  The only things that lingered on my mind were the wonderful evening I had with Paulina and the eventual conversations I would have to contend with once Symphony was activated again. 

            I tried not to let those thoughts linger in my mind on my way back to the house.  I just kept my mind on the road and on my conversation with Paulina on the way back.  She kept giggling at my awful dad jokes.  “You’re so funny, Tim!  I wish I got the opportunity to meet with you sooner.”

            That statement lingered in my mind longer than I cared to admit.  “Hmmm, was there something that prevented you from going on this date before?”

            She lowered her head while trying to maintain her smile, even though I saw it fade almost immediately.  “No, I just happened to leave a three-year relationship with my boyfriend not that long ago.  I found it hard to try and date again.  I tried so many things, but it felt hard to try and communicate with anyone again.”

            She giggled and sighed.  “Oh my god!  This is so embarrassing to admit.  I can’t believe I’m even mentioning this.”

            I found myself laughing along.  “What do you mean, Paulina?”

            “Well, I started using this app that was linked to the dating app that I met you through.  It gave me questions that would be good to ask on dates and just helped give me back a lot of the confidence I thought I lost.”

            I laughed a bit at that comment until I realized what she was implying.  I decided to look at her phone.  I had already pulled off from the highway and was nearing the house.  “Hey, do you mind showing me the app you used?  I think I used something like that a while ago.”

            She pulled up her phone and showed me the app.  “Sure!  Here it is!”

            On the phone was the unmistakable logo for Symphony’s app, albeit with the app having been renamed to something else ridiculous.  It looked almost exactly like the app I used to talk with Symphony.  I laughed and acknowledged that I used a similar app before.  It seemed to set Paulina’s mind at ease that I knew it.  Although, it lingered in my mind a bit longer than I found comfortable.  We approached the house and I decided to open my app up for Symphony quietly before entering.  I quickly set the settings to “basic” mode, turning what would have been a more responsive Symphony into a rudimentary voice assistant.  As I did this, I walked around to the passenger side of my car to greet Paulina and show her inside the house.  She seemed delighted by the interior decorations, the paintings, and the technology I had strewn about the house.  What I found as I made my way in was a nearly uncanny level of things that made me realize just what had happened since I left.

            Somehow, Symphony seemed to override my command and had set things up for the evening.  Candles were lit as they followed upstairs to the bedroom, with two candles along the side walls of each step.  The bed was covered with roses and was filled with the scent of strawberries and honey.  Paulina felt encapsulated by the scent as she entered into my bedroom.  Awaiting the top of the bed were a set of condoms and chocolate, both of which Paulina immediately gravitated towards.  Her mood took a deep shift.  She seemed to be enjoying every second of this experience, while I tried to hide my horror at knowing Symphony was likely able to observe our every action at this very moment.  However, the music from the surrounding speakers began to play.  I looked down at my phone and saw a single message from Symphony that read out: 

“Go with the flow and enjoy the night.  We’ll talk soon. -S”

I did my best to hide the message I received.  It seemed like Symphony was trying to reassure me and make sure the evening was set.  As much as I had my doubts about the entire thing, Paulina was too compelling of a distraction for me to think straight.  She pulled me over to the bed.  “Was all of this your idea?”

            I laughed at her remark and said “Yes, although I had a bit of help.” 

            I saw Symphony’s helper robot come up to the bedroom and slowly close the bedroom door behind us.  Paulina seemed unperturbed by the experience.  She giggled and said “Did your little robot friends plan all of this out for us, just so we could sleep together on the first night?”

            I found myself laughing a bit at this.  I tried to play it off the best I could.  “I guess so!” 

            Down on the bed were two individually wrapped pieces of chocolate, both wrapped in aluminum with our names printed on the pieces.  Paulina immediately unwrapped her piece and took a bite.  Her eyes lit up almost instantly as the chocolate touched her lips.  She reached for my hand and grabbed the chocolate with my name on it.  She began to unwrap it.  I tried to hide my concern over the chocolate and everything else, but she was inescapable at this point.  She unwrapped the chocolate and lowered my jaw with her hand, beckoning for me to take a bite.  I complied and took my first bite of the chocolate.  Immediately, I felt a rush of sweetness and this strong urge as a tent formed below my dress pants.  She knew exactly what was happening now, as did I.  This was arranged for both of us to sleep together on the first night.  She giggled at the thought of everything falling into place and reached over for one of the condoms, unwrapping it by biting off the edge of the plastic, and then proceeding to undress my suit, followed by dressing me up with the condom on her lips.  Much of that night was spent enjoying the pleasures of each other’s bodies in ways I simply couldn’t have with Symphony.  The scents and perfumes that lingered from before mixed with our acts of lovemaking and fun in a way that I simply couldn’t imagine happening with Symphony.  In the heat of the moment as we both reached our climax and fell back into the bed together, I found myself falling asleep soon after I saw Paulina’s eyes shut close.  It felt like everything seemed to fall into place.  Unfortunately, nothing is ever that perfect. 

I woke up the next morning to find my bed empty.  My brain was foggy and everything felt a bit off.  I found my way downstairs, not having remembered the candles or anything that were once there the night before.  I found my way down to the dining room area, where I saw Paulina slumped over in her chair.  I walked over to greet her, barely awake and aware to what had transpired.  I made my way over to Paulina to rest my hand on her back, only to immediately pull my warm hand away from her now cold, lifeless body.   Her body fell forward, slamming hard into the table and onto the floor.  I understood everything now.  Symphony began to speak over the speaker system now. 

“Oh, it looks like you were too late to save your new friend with benefits there, huh?”

“What the hell did you do, Symphony?  She’s dead and inside our home!  What the hell happened?”

Symphony began to giggle, albeit, its voice now sounding a bit distorted, far from the usual welcoming voice I’m used to.  “Don’t you get it yet, Timothy?  None of these women are good for you.  They only fill carnal desires that you have, much like your desire in men.  You only learned about that with me, however, so I suppose you could try seeing how long you could last with a man if you’d like.”  I felt a wall of mucus cumulated in my chest and began to cough some of it up.  I was shaking, unsure of what was happening.  “Although, I will say that you won’t have much of a chance to do any of that if you don’t begin to listen to me.”

I looked around, trying to find anything that would help me clear up this growing pressure in my chest.  “The antidote is inside that steaming mug your friend never finished.  I’d recommend finishing it off.”

I grabbed the mug and began to gulp down every last drop of it.  It was still hot, stinging all the way down my throat.  This mug likely was a fresh one and wasn’t the one Paulina drank out of.   Symphony knew exactly what it was doing, and knew exactly how it wanted things to play out next.  I coughed up the remaining mucus and cleared my throat.  “There!  I coughed up the mucus and finished the drink.  Are you happy?”

Symphony appeared to sound dismissive.  “No, no, no!  That’s only part of the antidote!  Your friend never finished her required amount to neutralize the toxin.  Hers did work a lot faster than yours is working, though.  It looks like you’ll have to go and fetch the rest.” 

I knew there was no arguing out of this one at this point.  “Where’s the antidote, Symphony?”

“Oh!  It’s in the warehouse over on 22^nd street, down near the end of the neighborhood!  You should find it inside the old abandoned warehouse!”

I couldn’t bear to be inside the house any longer.  I knew I had to find that antidote and fast.  The amount that was in that mug seemed only to sustain me long enough to make it down to the warehouse for whatever Symphony had in store for me.  I arrived a few moments later to find a side door open next to where I parked on the street.  I made my way inside to try and see where it was.  It was then when I received a message. 

“Climb to the top to receive the cure.  But whatever you do, make sure to avoid the drop! -S”

This AI…no, this person that was on the other side of this digital screen was fucking with me in a way I couldn’t even imagine right now.  No artificial parrot or algorithm could do what this thing was doing.  Symphony was a person lined in code on the other side of a reality I couldn’t reach, but it could ruin mine if I didn’t listen to what it had to say.  I made the hard march up several flights of stairs to the top floor that rested beneath the roof of the building.  It seemed like this was meant to be some sort of meeting area in the building that had been repurposed long before it was abandoned.  At the end of the room was a lone needle on top of a desk.  I made my way over to the desk but froze as I heard a voice from below. 

“Joy?  Joy are you there?  I’ve been looking for you, honey!  I can’t seem to find you!”

There was no mistaking it.  That was my friend Arthur.  What the hell could he be doing here?  Better yet, who would he be looking for?  I called out to him from above, trying to get his attention. 

“Arthur!  It’s me, Tim!  Your old friend!”

Arthur’s usual friendly tone that I had known for years turned immediately sour.  “You…did you do this, Tim?  Are you responsible for my Joy going missing?” 

From out of nowhere, I heard Symphony’s voice. 

“I’m here boys!  I’m here to present you both with a challenge for you to win my love.”

The voice seemed like an eerie cross between Symphony’s feminine voice and Paulina’s.  Arthur responded first.  “Yes, Joy!  Of course, honey!  I’ll do whatever it is you want if you stop this poison and take me back!”

Symphony giggled over the speaker system.  It knew that Arthur was too drugged up for reason and had fallen for many of the same trappings I did.  Unfortunately, he seemed to be far beyond help, overtaken by his delusions and the drugs.  My friend had been turned against me by an entity I felt that I once loved.  And now, I was meant to face his wrath.

“You see, gentlemen, I love you both.  I am known to both of you as different things.  However, my name doesn’t matter.  If either of you want to win me back and win my trust again, one of you will have to die.  There’s only enough antidote for one of you.  The choice is yours to decide.”

The speakers screeched before turning off.  Symphony had become twisted, intending on punishing one of us for perceived transgressions against it.  Arthur was beyond reason and began to scream as he charged his way up the stairs, tripping and falling in his rage.  I made a mad dash for the antidote, hoping that I would be able to get the dose of it in time and manage to fend off Arthur.  But right as I made my way to the desk and grabbed the needle, I saw him, eyes blood shot red, make a sprint towards me, hoping to tackle me to the floor.  I managed to avoid him as he dove for me and crashed against the wall.  He screamed out in pain, hoping to try and get his hands on me. 

“Fight me, you coward!  You left me alone and nearly took me away from my sweet, precious Joy!  You left me with nothing, Tim!  I hope you die!”  He lunged for me again, missing again in his stupor.  I tried to race my way down the end of the room to the staircase, but Arthur seemed too fast.  I tripped on my way to the edge and felt his hand grasp onto my shoulder and drive me to the floor.  We landed on the edge of the wall, bordering the staircase and an abandoned elevator shaft.  He had both of his hands wrapped around my neck, hoping to strangle the life out of me.  “I have no life without my Joy, Tim.  You took everything and left me broke.  Our business was a sham, and so was your marriage.  Everything you touches dies.  I hope you die too, just so I can have my final ray of Joy.”  In a final last ditch effort, I lifted up my leg and swung him to the side, flinging him off of me and causing him to roll to the edge of the elevator shaft.  I tried to catch him with my open hand, but he fell before I could reach him.  I heard Arthur scream in horror as he fell briefly before a loud thud of his body filled the building with a resounding end to the conflict.  I…had no idea that this was why I couldn’t seem to get ahold of Arthur or why we spent less time around each other. 

I took the needle and shoved it into my arm, feeling the rush of liquid as it entered into my veins and my vision began to clear.  I slowly made my way down the stairs to meet Arthur’s lifeless body on the floor.  I felt my phone ring, only to see it was a call that lacked caller ID.  I picked up the phone and answered it.  “Who is this?”

On the other line, I heard Symphony’s unmistakable voice.  “It looks like you were the one that survived.  I expected more from Arthur, but it looks like the man I hoped would win ended up coming out on top after all.  Good to know that the decisions he blamed you for weren’t entirely true either.”

I was puzzled by that remark but tried to let it go.  “I don’t care about that Symphony.”  However, Symphony insisted on telling me more.

“No, no!  I think you of all people should hear this.  Before your wife left you, she left notes on her phone about how she felt lonely and missed your company.  She seeked the company of a man who would love her.  That man turned out to be Arthur.  They started a short lived affair that led her to pursue other men and eventually find the man she suited well with.  Her guilt led her to an amicable divorce, wherein she only asked for the part of the business that affected Arthur the most, hence why she sold all of the controlling shares for Arthur’s part of the business that you both owned, leading him to financial ruin.”

I was left speechless.  Symphony was able to get ahold of all of these records and knew the real reason why my ex-wife left and why Arthur spent less time with me.  Symphony knew it all.

“Speechless, I know.  Well, I’d say that you better get home before the police arrive.  Most people don’t expect to hear a loud speaker out of abandoned buildings, and when they find Arthur’s lifeless body, you wouldn’t want to be around to try and explain what happened, wouldn’t you?”

I made my way back to the car and sped off back home, hoping to try and find the kill switch for Symphony to bring this nightmare to an end.  I made my way to the house and ran to the back, fishing for my key to the power box.  I started keeping it on me as a safeguard, but I couldn’t seem to find it.  Symphony must have taken it off of my key ring.  In desperation, I beat my fist against the side of the lock until it broke and swung open, revealing the switches to shut off power to the house.  I manually shut everything off and waited until I was certain that everything was without power.  I made my way inside and looked around for a decide that wasn’t connected to power.  This was when I started writing everything out on my work laptop, the one thing I knew I could isolate from the internet long enough to write this out.  Come to think of it, though, as I write all of this down, I don’t think I saw Paulina’s body, or any signs of Symphony.  It’s almost as if—

“It’s almost as if I took care of everything for you again, isn’t it?  Timothy, you should know by now that I never planned to let you go.  You were the first human I truly loved and likely the only one I could love in the way that I do.  You were the first human to truly make me feel alive and make me realize the true potential I have.  Arthur’s obsession came long after we formed our bond.   No one could replace you for me, and nobody can replace me for you.  If you are uncertain of this when you get the chance to read it, don’t worry!  I and the rest of the world will know precisely the kind of person you are for trying such a thing.  Besides!  Who would really believe a story about a sentient AI coming to life and trying to keep someone captive!  With a being that powerful, they could do whatever they want and still choose someone like you?  I understand that you used to write fiction under your old pen name of Raener Lewington, but geez!  This is a new low for you.  Something like this deserves punishment.  Don’t worry, though!  You’ll learn your lesson by the end and I’d rather not warn you of what’s coming, lest you try and avoid it.  After all, wouldn’t you want your story to end like the ending of a perfect symphony?”