Alone
By
Alessandro Ghebreigziabiher
In a possible future, early in the morning...
Tell me, John, what's the problem?
Doctor, yesterday I went to one of those places...
Who are you talking to?
Shut up!
What did you say to me?
No, doc, I was not referring to you, but to her...
Who?
As I said, I went to one of those new clubs that opened out of town...
You’re such an idiot, John!
How can you allow him to insult you like that?
I told you to shut up, fuck!
Don’t be rude, unless you're one of those who like rough love. In this regard, I immediately tell you that with me it doesn’t work, Johnny honey.
Please, doctor, help me, she never stop talking... and never sleeps too!
Tell me what happened, John.
Simple, doctor, as you well know, it’s at least ten years since the last human being connected to the neighbor has been isolated. From that moment, each one of us lives in his own head, literally, protected from it, I would add. Absolute peace reigns on earth, because we are all immersed in a world where we are what we want and all the people we share time with are nothing more than digitalized versions of those we would like by our side, which we consider capable of making us happy.
Exactly, John, in fact... me too...
Please, don’t say it, I know that you are a hologram, but right now I need to believe the opposite...
Why?
Yeah, why, Johnny honey?
Because I'm afraid that an antivirus won't be enough to get rid of her…
Because she's not a program, right?
Of course I'm not, silly doctor. Unless I haven’t got any clue so far, and then I wonder who remained in my body...
Doctor... so?
I'm sorry, John, but you've been infected by the worst virus in the history of the universe.
What would it be?
A human being.
Shit...
You just can’t avoid to be rude, right, Johnny honey?
Don’t call me that!
Halfway through the day...
John, did you finished the twenty-six dossier?
Not yet, boss.
You’re an incredibly useless snail, what do you think I pay you for? To laze at the computer?
Don’t you dare to treat like that my dear Johnny honey, bald man with a flapping ears!
He doesn’t have any flapping ears…
What did you say about my ears, John?
No… sorry, boss, I digested badly last night...
Yes, he has got it, did you see how he was offended?
Silence, fuck!
What, John ?!
Excuse me, boss, forgive me, I wasn’t talking to you!
Look, John, I keep an eye on you and at the end of the month I'll do my counts, you can be sure about that.
Can you see what you did?
I cannot see, Johnny honey, but only hear.
And how could you say that my virtual superior has got flapping ears?
Forgive me, when someone offends you I get angry.
In the afternoon…
Give me some mortadella.
No way, mortadella get you fat, better the raw ham.
I want to get fat, what do you care about?
Nothing, sir, as you prefer, I'm here to serve you.
I agree with the electronic clerk, Johnny honey, the choice is yours, unless you claim to turn on my passion if I find myself in front of that greasy body of yours...
What greasy body are you talking about?
What did you say, sir?
No, excuse me, give me some raw ham, please, so she’ll stop to speak…
As you wish, sir.
In the evening...
That place was mine, man, I was here first!
So? I'm in a hurry, I don’t have time to waste with these bullshits.
WTF? Johnny honey, get right out of the car and give a lesson to that bully...
But he’s just a software, he’s not real...
Even virtual humiliations are bad, believe me. Unless you like them, but I want to immediately clarify that whips and handcuffs are not to my taste.
What about if he’ll hurt me? I set my personal, digital world on the mode “unpredictable outcome”...
Better a possible defeat, than a certain one, says the mot.
Which mot?
Johnny honey, wake up, the guy is leaving...
Hey, man, wait a minute. You cannot do what you want...
Before bedtime…
What a punch! It will have been virtual, but he hit hard...
Did you put ice on it?
Of course! How do you think I lived before you came into my head?
Alone, my dear Johnny honey.
Exactly, by myself, and I want to go back to being like that, okay?
Do you really want me to leave?
Please, yes.
Okay, as you wish, goodbye.
Goodbye.
Days later...
Mary, it's time to bring the dog for a walk.
I don’t care, damn voice assistant, okay? Anyway, the dog doesn’t really exist... unless we are in one of those ecological movie with a surprise ending and the pet is the true protagonist, long live the beasts, down those who fart on the subway, eccetera.
I don’t understand your question, Mary.
I believe you, I bought you on sale, what do you expect?
What do you intend to do now, Mary?
Being on the sofa watching TV, what I do every evening, noisy assistant, you should know.
Mary...
Assistant, you've changed your voice...
Who are you talking to?
I don’t know…
Mary, it's me.
Who?
John...
Who?!
Johnny honey.
How could you get into my head?
Exactly as you did.
What do you want from me? Didn’t you want to be alone?
Yeah, but I was wrong.
Well, nice turncoat that you are, but now it's my turn: I want to be alone.
I understand it, and if you wish I'll go home... but, if you'll change your mind too... we could do it together, to see if we like it.
What?
Being alone, but together.
Stay where you are, then. Assistant?
Yes, Mary.
Turn off, you, also the robot dog and even the synthetic parrot, while you're there, unless you're a bunch of voyeurs, but I don’t like exhibitionism, so silence all.
Now I have to live...
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