Flyrt, a Microfiction
Can an AI-powered digital intimacy assistant help a shy man finally talk with the woman of his dreams? (Issue #133)
As regular Dispatch readers already know, I've been experimenting with microfictions, short SF stories (1,000 words or less) that help me explore and illustrate aspects of how our lives might evolve within digital transformation.
Here, then, is another microfiction.
Next issue, I’ll dig into how realistic this story is.
I'll put some miscellaneous goodies and things worth your attention at the end.
Flyrt, a Microfiction
CHRIS couldn't tear his attention from Roxy. In the office complex cafeteria line, passing in the art-filled lobby, during the occasional shared elevator ride, he found the flash of her overheard wit, the sparkle of her eyes, the music of her laugh, all of it so, so compelling. As ever, he could not bring himself to speak in the presence of someone he found alluring. He never knew what to say or how to say it.
With guys, those first moments were easy. So long as he'd toggled an enthusiastic button on his hookup profile or swiped in the appropriate direction on the app of the moment, they'd come to him. He was good looking enough, made the money that let him wear the right clothes. After those first moments, though, Chris still couldn't locate his voice, but often it didn't matter.
He liked the ladies too, but he didn't brood enough for them to find him mysterious and compelling. He was just quiet. "Pathologically shy," his best friend Brett described him with, Chris thought, unfair exaggeration.
With Roxy the stakes felt higher. One morning he'd held the door for her as she hurried into the building. "So gallant," she said. Chris smiled. Her brows arched and her mouth quirked as she bustled away. That felt like a victory, for a moment, then not so much.
Brett teased him without mercy when he complained of this, but then did him the kindness of pointing out a new, higher-tier, very expensive service on her preferred dating platform: Flyrt.
Chris subscribed. Moments later, Cyr, a digital intimacy assistant, called, downloaded itself onto his smartphone, and then asked if Chris wanted general romantic aid or help with an individual. Chris rhapsodized about Roxy but didn't know her last name. Cyr rolled up its virtual sleeves and researched, starting with the office complex directory, then diving into her employer's website, finding a mutual social media contact with Chris, digging into her different profiles and her online data contrail.
That afternoon, a drone delivered a nice paperback copy of Austen's Persuasion to Chris's office.
"You just want me to carry this around," Chris asked.
"No, dummy, read it. Make little checkmarks next to passages that catch your eye."
"Dummy?"
"Y'know the I part of AI? I'm very intelligent," Cyr said.
Chris knew Cyr wasn't a person, sentient, but the AI did a good impression.
"Why am I doing this?"
"Just read it."
A few nights later, after Chris had finished reading the book (which, to his surprise, he enjoyed), he and Cyr watched two movie adaptations. Cyr spoke softly into the small earbud Chris always wore and sometimes used the visual overlay on Chris's AR glasses to point out interesting things onscreen. Later, they discussed how the adaptations differed from the book and each other.
Arriving home from work the next evening, Chris found a new device on his entertainment center: a disc player that could cast to his AR glasses. There was also a DVD of yet another adaptation of Persuasion, this one from 1995.
"Another exciting night in?" Chris asked.
"Nope," Cyr said. "Have you read Pride and Prejudice?"
"In college," Chris said.
"Do you remember it?"
"Sure."
"Good. Now I want you to carry your copy of Persuasion around. And read it again."
ROXY had wondered about the quiet guy she sometimes caught looking at her. Handsome. Nice clothes. His attention didn't seem icky or threatening. His gaze didn't wander below her neck, which sometimes vexed her. In time, she learned his name was Chris and that he worked for a business three floors above her. She had dangled several opportunities to chat her up, but he never did.
Once she had seen him dancing with a guy at a club, so she figured he was gay and that was that. But he still looked at her.
Then, just the two of them in the elevator one day, he didn't look up from a book when Roxy followed him in on the ground floor. Persuasion? She loved Austen. She had written her college senior thesis on Emma.
"Enjoying your book?" she asked.
"Yes, I'm re-reading it," Chris said.
"Why?"
"I saw a couple of movie adaptations that weren't satisfying, and I'm trying to figure out why. I think the father, Sir Walter, just isn't mean enough in the movies."
Roxy was intrigued.
"I just got an ancient Persuasion DVD from 1995," Chris said. People say it's better. I don't know any of the actors. Amanda Root. Ciarán Hinds... I can't even pronounce his name."
"It's KEE-run," Roxy said. "I have Irish family."
"Thank you."
"I'm a big Austen fan myself," Roxy said. She felt the hint was as subtle as a plane crash.
Silence filled the elevator. They had almost reached her floor.
After a moment, Chris started as if somebody had pinched him. The elevator doors opened.
With a mental shrug, Roxy walked out.
"Wait," he called.
She turned. He stabbed at buttons until the elevator doors stayed open.
"Yes?"
He inhaled. "Would you like to watch it with me? The Persuasion movie?"
She tilted her head to one side. "I could do that. I'm Roxy."
"I know. Chris."
"I know."
She saw his Adam's apple bob. "Tomorrow night?"
"Sure," Roxy said. "Meet you in the lobby after work?"
Oh, he has dimples, she thought when he smiled for the first time. "I'd like that."
Roxy fluttered her fingers. "See you tomorrow." She turned and walked toward her office.
As the elevators doors closed behind her, Roxy heard Chris say something under his breath. It sounded like, "Yeah, yeah, I know," which didn't make sense. He was an odd one, but he had potential.
CHRIS felt his armpits grow damp as the elevator rose. "What am I going to talk with her about?"
"The book? The movie?" Cyr said.
"After that??"
"You'll be fine. I'll be right there in your ear," Cyr said.
"Isn't that cheating?"
"Now you're worried about cheating?"
Miscellaneous Goodies and Things Worth Your Attention
Holy smokes was there a lot going on this week! Here are the top five:
Who makes the food we buy? 10 companies do a lot of it. This Oxfam chart is 10 years old and needs an update, but it's still fascinating. (H/T Marina Kosten.)
Michael Lewis talks more about Sam Bankman-Fried in a new Washington Post ($) op-ed. Lewis is such a magnificent writer that reading his stuff makes my teeth itch with pure envy. I talked about Lewis' terrific Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon in my end-of-the-year book review. This WaPo piece is adapted from the new paperback edition.
Rough going but worth it: this short New York Times ($) documentary about an 86 year old Spanish woman's decision to end her life on her terms and on her schedule is moving and troubling at the same time. In Spanish with subtitles.
Salvation and sweet rolls: an examination of Mormon diet books: My friend Rachel Noorda has a fascinating new article about fatphobia and Mormon spirituality. I also wonder what the impact of the new weight-loss drugs will be on this.
How did I miss this??? The Muppet Show (the original version from 1976 to 1981) is now on Disney+! "It's time to play the music; it's time to light the lights..."
Practical Matters:
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Thanks for reading. See you next Sunday.
* Image Prompt: The viewer's gaze is behind an attractive young woman with curly brown hair in a colorful dress. She stands at the open doors of an elevator. In the elevator, off to the right, stands an attractive young man with dark brown hair; he is intently reading a book.