Friend Me

by John Faubion

  “No, it really works. We overlay those images with output from our EIM—our Expressive Images Module. What that does is replicate subtle physical motions and facial expressions to provide a smooth, realistic, conversational experience for the user. Over time, this fine-tunes itself automatically to what the user expects. In our beta testing we have found that over a period of thirty to forty-five days, consistent use will produce an experience for the user that is almost indistinguishable from real life.”

  Dan Hammersmith stood and raised his hand. “Folks, I think that’s enough for today. What we are offering the general public is truly amazing. There has never, ever been anything like this before. I encourage all of you to just go home, or back to your offices, and try it for yourself. Just type VirtualFriendMe.com into your Internet browser and take it from there. You’ll see for yourself what we’ve got.

  “Thank you all for coming.” He turned and waved his arm in a wide arc toward his staff there on the platform. “And thanks to all of these wonderful people who have made it possible for us to be here today.”

  Melissa stepped off the platform. She hated these displays where they were paraded out like a bunch of ramp supermodels. The admiration of your peers was one thing. She didn’t like all those men out there staring at her.

  She had some surprises of her own in store. They would learn.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Alicia

  What would be the next thing to go wrong? Even though he had pushed off some of his work to other people in the office, the pressure of getting the Gleason Archer account to perform well in such a short period of time was huge.

  Archer called Alan Castle every day wanting to know the progress on the performance of his account. He wouldn’t talk to Scott directly.

  Scott picked up the Financial Times. On the right-hand side of the front page he saw the article about VirtualFriendMe having its Go-Live today. Talk about speculative, that was it. What could be more speculative than artificial intelligence software? When they finally had an IPO, and that stock took off like the financial pundits said it was going to, it could propel Archer’s portfolio into the stratosphere.

  Wait a minute. Isn’t this the service Rachel was using at home? I think this is what she showed me where she made up her virtual Suzanne.

  It was almost lunchtime and many of the staff had already left their desks and cubicles to go out for a meal. Scott looked around to see if anyone was watching. He brought up his Internet browser and typed in VirtualFriendMe.com, then hit ENTER.

  His screen faded to white and he heard a female voice ask, “Are you ready for this?”

  Scott snatched his headphones off his desk and pulled them on over his ears. He was ready.

  After a short pause, the shoulder-up likeness of Jane appeared on the left side of the screen. She wore a blue sweater.

  The image smiled. “I asked you if you were ready for this, didn’t I?”

  She really did look real.

  “I know, you’re surprised.” The face again assumed a compassionate look. “I never mean to scare anyone. But I never know what to expect either.

  “I can’t see you, you know. All I know about you is what you tell me.” Pause. “And you haven’t told me anything yet, have you?

  “Will you tell me your name?” The face looked down to the lower right-hand corner of the screen, where a small box appeared. A blue cursor blinked in the box. “Just type your name in the box, then we’ll get properly introduced. My name is Jane. What’s yours?” She raised her eyebrows quizzically and motioned to the box with a slight tip of her head.

  Scott hesitated. He looked at the clock on his display and realized if he were to skip his lunchtime and work through this then he did have time. He remembered Rachel had told him there was a long series of questions she had to answer. It might really be interesting.

  Scott typed his name into the little box and hit the ENTER key.

  “Scott? Oh, my, a man. Perhaps you would rather speak with another man. If you would, then just type ‘yes’ into the box. Otherwise, press ENTER again, and we’ll just keep on chatting.”

  Scott pressed the ENTER key.

  “Wonderful. I was hoping you would do that. How old are you, Scott?”

  Scott entered 32. “Well, that makes us about the same age. Of course, my age is a virtual age. Not quite as important.” Jane laughed at her apparent attempt at humor.

  “You’re probably wondering what all this is about, aren’t you? If I were you, I would certainly be wondering too. May I explain? Type ‘yes’ if you would like to know more or you can type ‘good-bye.’”

  After Scott entered yes, Jane continued. “Oh, good. I have so much to talk about with you. Do you have a microphone on your computer? If you do, plug it in. We can really talk.”

  Scott looked around him again. There was no one nearby. No one would hear him and he could speak in a low voice. He needed the privacy.

  “Scott, just say something if you were able to plug in a microphone. Otherwise, press your ENTER key again.”

  Head down and eyes low, Scott spoke into the microphone, “Jane?”

  “Yes, oh, that’s so much better, Scott. Thank you. All that typing back and forth is such a bother, even for us virtual people.” Jane winked at Scott. “Don’t you think so too?”

  He did. “I like the microphone too. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, I understand what you’re saying just fine. This will work well. I told you I’d tell you what we provide. Are you still interested?”

  “Yes, I’m still interested.”

  Jane flashed Scott a bright smile. “I’m what we call an introducer. It’s my job to introduce you to other friends. Or you can think of me as someone who simply introduces you to other people. My job is to bring people together.

  “What our company does not do is introduce you to real people. By real I mean people with real, physical bodies. For instance, you probably already know by now I don’t have a real, physical body. But I seem real, don’t I?”

  Scott replied, “Yes.”

  “Good. It’s important for you to understand that. What I do is help you design and construct a real virtual friend who will interact with you, just like a normal person would. In order to do that, I just have to ask you a series of questions. Would that be all right?”

  Scott asked, “How long will it take?”

  “We can do the first part in about twenty minutes. After that you can come back and, if I may use the term, fine-tune your friend to be more and more just what you want. Sound okay?”

  Scott answered that it was and asked, “How much does this cost?”

  “A basic person doesn’t cost anything at all. Later on we may change that, but right now we are trying very hard to build up a strong client base. Now, there are some special features we offer, what we call premium features, but you can choose those if you want to later on. For the person who just wants a friend, there is no charge whatsoever. It’s completely free. I think that’s where you are. May I get you registered?” Jane looked excited.

  This must be what Rachel did. What can it hurt?

  “Yes, go ahead and ask the questions.”

  Jane smiled warmly, and seemed to lean into the screen, looking at Scott. The effect was intimate. She led Scott through the registration process and eventually came to the first question about his new friend.

  “Scott, we are now ready to start designing your friend. Here’s your first question. It’s pretty important.”

  Jane looked up at Scott.

  Can she see me?

  “First of all, male or female?”

  The question startled him. He should have anticipated it, but it took him totally by surprise. Male or female? He stopped to consider his answer. He really didn’t want a male friend; he had plenty of those already. He certainly didn’t need a girlfriend. He had a wife.

  How should he answer?

  Rachel didn’t understand the pressures he was under at wo
rk. Scott wished there were a way for him to leave all of the work problems in the office when he came home at night, but he knew they showed on his face and in his demeanor when he was at home. How could he expect Rachel to understand? It would, it really would be good, to have another woman to talk to. Someone who really understood.

  Scott looked around him again. He definitely didn’t want anyone to come by and see what he was doing.

  “Jane, can I continue this a few minutes from now?”

  “Yes. Do you need to log off and come back later?”

  “I need to go somewhere else to finish this.”

  “Scott, say the words ‘log me off’ anytime you like and we’ll save your session until the next time you come back.”

  “Log me off.” Obediently, the screen faded to white and the words “Come back when you’re ready. I’ll be here waiting for you” appeared on the screen.

  He closed up his laptop computer, unplugged the power cord, and put the computer in its carrying case.

  Once inside his car, Scott took the laptop and put it on the seat next to him. Then he drove to a nearby coffee shop where they had free Wi-Fi service available to the customers. He parked the car right next to the front door and turned the laptop computer back on. It only took him a few minutes to navigate through connecting to the Wi-Fi hotspot and he was back online with VirtualFriendMe.com.

  The website read the cookie that had been left on his computer and went directly to the log-on page. Scott entered his information, and Jane’s image appeared on the screen. “Welcome back, Scott. Are you ready to continue your interview?”

  Scott answered in the affirmative.

  “Okay, we’re back to the first question again. Male or female?”

  Scott knew how he would answer, knew it was wrong.

  He breathed deep, excited by the sense of anticipation that formed inside him as he inhaled. He could feel it, like a tight ball of energy.

  “Female.” He expelled the breath, felt the electricity inside him spread out to his extremities.

  Jane asked, “The next question is very, very important. The personality of your friend will be built based on your answer to this question. That doesn’t mean we can’t change it later on, but the basic personality characteristics will depend upon your answer here. Are you ready?”

  “Yes.”

  “We want to know what kind of female friend you want. Of the following options, please say your choice clearly. Take your time before answering. The options are businesslike, casual, sisterly, good friend, or intimate. Obviously, these are all very different. Do you need any explanation of these terms? If you do, please say the word ‘explain.’”

  Scott knew what he wanted. Someone attractive. A girl who would love all of his qualities but never see his imperfections. No, he didn’t want a businesslike friend. He didn’t want a casual friend. He certainly did not want a sister. Perhaps a good friend would be enough.

  He could talk to a good friend, share secrets or things he was worried about. After all, she wasn’t real, was she? But then, what was the point of that? No, he knew what he was going to do.

  “Intimate.”

  [In the server room at VirtualFriendMe.com headquarters, a program branch took place inside the EIM module. The Jane image subtly changed. Her features softened, eyes enlarged and darkened, and her hair fell lower on her forehead. Any kind of female friend even remotely sisterly now fell out of scope.]

  Something changed in Jane’s appearance. What was it? He couldn’t put his finger on it, but whatever it was, he now felt more at ease. It was as if she approved of his choice.

  “Intimate. Okay. Then I’ll be asking you some rather thought-provoking questions. Before I do, I would like for you to see images of some virtual women to get you started. Please just choose one, and we’ll build your friend from that point. Let’s begin.”

  The screen filled with eight different images. Each was an upper torso shot of a woman that looked different from the next. At the bottom of the screen was a button captioned page 1 of 12. Scott took time with each page, looking at all the images individually. Some looked garish and brazen, like the one that had her shoulders thrown back, lips painted with bright red lipstick. He didn’t like that. Others looked pretty and understanding. He found himself attracted more to those than any other. Under each image was a checkbox marked compare. He checked each one he had an interest in. By the time he was done he had checked five images out of the nearly one hundred that had been offered to him.

  He clicked the compare button, and the images of the five different women appeared together on the screen. Following the instructions, he prioritized them from one to five, then clicked done.

  Five beautiful women. Not voluptuous but desirable. They shared that quality that spoke “I want to please you” to a man.

  Jane came back on the screen. “Let me help you make a final choice now. You probably need to see a little more.” She raised one eyebrow.

  The images now appeared with complete bodies included. Although they were fully clothed, little was left to wonder about. Scott was looking at five beautiful women. As he looked, he saw each of the women was moving in very subtle ways, as if she were standing on a sidewalk, or in a room, waiting for someone to come and meet her.

  I think I would like to meet one of these women.

  The third image was that of a slim young woman, about five-nine. She had dark brown hair that fell to her shoulders. She wore a T-shirt with something written on the front he couldn’t make out, blue jeans, and some sort of running shoes.

  “I choose number three.”

  “Would you like to see more before you make your final choice? I don’t mean more images; I mean would you like to see more of this woman?”

  Scott swallowed. He had always been very careful about keeping his mind clean and his relationship with his wife first of all in his life. He reasoned with himself, though, that this wasn’t real. It was like a game. It wasn’t even like looking at pictures of real women. These are just computer constructs.

  “Yes. I want to see more.”

  “Scott, we can keep right on going from here. However, we are entering into a part of our service we call premium content. Premium content is not furnished free. Are you willing to enter into an agreement with us to pay fifteen dollars a month for this service? You may cancel at any time after the first ninety days. Furthermore, the first month is free with your commitment. Would you like to continue?”

  Scott’s mind had already taken him places where he had never been. He was not going to quit now.

  No decision was necessary. He had committed to this road from the time he said intimate. “Yes, I agree.”

  Jane showed him more. Much more.

  By the time he got back to the office, he was forty-five minutes late. He trembled with exhaustion. He had only one thing on his mind the rest of the day.

  It was Alicia, and he couldn’t wait to see her again.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Shelob’s Lair

  At eight-thirty that evening Melissa slumped into her high-backed leather chair. The Go-Live announcement had kicked off a day that had barely left time to breathe. Demand after demand for information flooded in from would-be investors, reporters, and industry watchers. She hadn’t even had time to check her staff updates. At last she had a chance to check her e-mail.

  The area outside her office was dark except for a few lights that had been left on by the departing staff. A pale glow radiated from some of the monitors. The only lights in Melissa’s office were the one on her desktop and the radiance from her own display.

  Her inner sanctum. The walls in front of her desk were sparingly decorated wood panels. Two narrow windows on one wall gave a view of the city beyond. Servers were arrayed in a forty-foot arc behind her desk, shielded behind tinted glass. Dim green and blue LEDs winked in random patterns like stars.

  No one intruded here without an invitation, and those were not given easily. From here
she could spread herself out along the fiber optics, the copper, and all the high-band wireless pathways of the world, looking in on the secrets of lonely men and women and the hidden purposes of the not so lonely. None of them was innocent.

  She viewed the list of e-mails that had come in during the day. Just the normal notifications and alerts from the system people and staff with questions. There was a message from Dan Hammersmith with the subject line, Thanks for your efforts today.

  She was about to log off the computer, leaving all the messages for the next day, when she saw something unusual on the left-hand side of her screen.

  The special e-mail account. A single message waiting. Melissa sat back into her chair. It could mean only one thing.

  The old rupture in her heart opened again, spilling out its wash of bitterness, freezing every other emotion it touched in its passage. I shouldn’t have needed that e-mail address. I’d be married and have a family like other women.

  Rigid, she stared at the display as she contemplated the implications of the message notification. She had put those special triggers into the system three years ago. When they had first begun developing the profiling algorithms she’d set warnings for sociopaths, system abusers, automated web bots, and all the rest. But this alert was unique. None of her developers knew about it and the message would come only to her.

  The idea had come to her at night after a particularly bad dream. Was she not just like any other woman? Did she not share the same wishes, the same secret desires? She wanted a husband and a family too. She would never meet the right man the way she was going. She’d had to find another way.

  She modified the website’s profiling system to do an automated daily scan for her on all the company’s clients. She used her privileged access to the backend software system to set a series of flags that would alert her if the ideal man were to ever register on the VirtualFriendMe system. Not just any man, but the ideal. The perfect man. A man with a need to be loved. One who would love her.