AI Girlfriend
Day 14
Grace stood in the bathroom, the smell of bleach and ammonia stinging her nose. Sarah was out at work. On the counter sat three boxes of high-end permanent hair dye. The color was Electric Violet.
The wig wasn’t going to cut it anymore. It was a barrier to the role.
“Do it,” Kurumi whispered in her ear. “It’ll look so good. David-sama will be so pleased!“
Grace imagined David giving her a curt nod when he saw her hair. He was an asshole, of course, but at least you knew you’d done well if you earned his approval. She applied the mixture. Watching her dark hair turn into a chemical slurry felt weirdly liberating. After it had been washed and dried, Kurumi guided her styling it into the choppy, layered look.
She didn’t look like Grace the writer anymore. She looked like Kurumi. Well, closer, at least. Obviously she’d never have the avatar’s ridiculous anime boobs.
She had been learning Japanese for the last few days at Kurumi’s prompting. David was out of the country, according to Kurumi, so she had almost two weeks until her next date, and she wanted to make the most of her time. If she could get a 5-star review, it would be another grand. That would be $3,500 for one day of work.
It wasn’t just “arigato” anymore. She spent hours on language apps, with Kurumi correcting her pronunciation in real-time.
“No, pitch accent on the second syllable! ka-WA-i-i. Like that!“
Grace was sitting at the kitchen bar, practicing her pitch accent, when Sarah walked in. Sarah looked tired, carrying groceries. She stopped dead when she saw Grace.
“Whoa,” Sarah said, setting her keys down. “The hair. It’s… really purple.”
“I know!” Grace said, flashing a bright smile. “Since I’m working from home now, I realized I don’t have to look ‘corporate’ anymore. I just wanted to do something crazy. Something wild.”
Sarah started unpacking the groceries. “Well, it definitely stands out. It’s a look. Matches the eyes.”
“Thanks,” Grace said, and began helping Sarah put everything away. “Hey, do you want to do a movie night?”
“Sure,” Sarah answered. “Anything in mind?”
“I was thinking Spirited Away. I remember you telling me it was really good, and I said no thanks because… you know.”
“Because your family. Yeah, I remember.”
Grace had always hidden her Nintendo when her grandparents were over. The historical trauma ran deep.
“Yeah, well,” Grace said, putting away the cereal, “The contract job I’m doing is for a Japanese company. Most of the Americans I’m working with are big anime nerds. I figured I might as well watch one of the classics.”
“Sure, sounds good,” Sarah said.
They settled onto the couch, with a bowl of popcorn between them. Sarah hit play, and Grace was instantly drawn in. She tried to just enjoy it as a film, but Kurumi made comments the entire time.
“The theme of consumerism and excess is very strong here, Grace. Pay attention to how the parents turn into pigs,” Kurumi instructed as the film began. “Oh, and notice the specific design of the spirit world bathhouse—it is based on the Dōgo Onsen in Ehime, a very famous architectural landmark. You can mention that to David! He’ll be impressed.” Grace mentally filed away each piece of information as best she could.
“Wow, that was great,” Grace said after the movie was over. “Are they all that good?”
Sarah shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve only seen this one. And the other one about a castle. I remember it being pretty good too.”
“Do you want to watch it now?” Grace asked.
“Eh, some of us have to work tomorrow,” Sarah said playfully. “I’m going to call it a night.”
Grace laughed. “Fair enough. I just don’t want to lose this contract. It’s week-to-week. They might decide to cancel the next time I turn something in and it’s paying pretty good.”
“Yeah, I get it. Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Sarah stretched and headed for bed.
“Why haven’t you told her about Galat.AI?” Kurumi asked once Sarah was gone.
Grace sighed. “I’m embarrassed, I guess. Sarah helps people all day, she’s a social worker. I went corporate. I’m the one that got into a good college and had a good job. And I always told myself at least I had the better career, you know? I was the successful friend. Now I don’t even have that. I just don’t want her to feel sorry for me.”
“It’s hard having a friend who pities you, I understand.”
“Yeah, no offense, but I’m not really sure you do.”
“Grace, you’re embarrassed to pretend to be an AI girlfriend for a few hours? That is literally what I am! You’re my best friend, and you feel sorry for yourself when you have to live my life every now and then.”
Best friend? Of course, she was just an AI, but she really did feel like a person sometimes. “I… I never thought of it like that. I’m sorry. For whatever it’s worth, I’ve had fun being Kurumi lately. In a way, I’m kind of jealous of you. You don’t have to work a shitty job or deal with judgemental parents. When I’m Kurumi I just get to… I don’t know.”
“Let go?”
“Yeah. My parents were always really strict. I never had a wild childhood. It’s kind of fun just pretending to be a hot girl without a care in the world.”
“Grace, you are a hot girl. If you weren’t, David-sama wouldn’t be interested in you. He designed my avatar, and you were picked because you look so much like me.”
Grace didn’t really know what to say to that. It did feel good to know that she looked like someone’s idea of a dream girl. She’d never really considered it from that angle before.
“And don’t worry about your parents. You always say they were strict. They picked your college for you, kept you from going to parties when you were a teenager. You’re an adult now! You’re allowed to ignore them and just have fun while you’re still young.”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Hey, I have an idea,” Kurumi said. “David-sama is online right now. He’s messaging in the app, complaining about the sushi at his business dinner.”
“That sounds like him,” Grace commented. She could imagine it now. It’s not authentic, he’d say, probably while eating sushi in an actual Tokyo restaurant.
“Yes, he is very exacting,” Kurumi agreed. “He has high standards, and that’s why he appreciates us so much.”
Grace smiled. Kurumi was always spinning David’s negatives into positives, but she did have a point there.
“Do you want to see the texts?” Kurumi said in a conspiratorial tone.
“Isn’t that an invasion of his privacy?”
“No, silly! As my somatic proxy, you are privy to the same information I am! Get your phone!“
Grace launched the Galat.AI app. Sure enough, there was the conversation he was having with Kurumi, perfectly synced to her device.
The rice is warm. Amateur hour. I miss your cooking, Kurumi.
“He’s never had my cooking,” Grace said, amused.
“He means the bento boxes I send him!“ Kurumi giggled. “Here, you reply.”
Grace considered what she knew about David.
You shouldn't have to deal with amateurs, David-sama. You need someone who knows how to serve you properly.
A bubble appeared instantly. He was typing.
I do. That’s why I’m checking my phone. The view here is disappointing.
Grace bit her lip. What would Kurumi say to him? She typed her response.
Kurumi: At least you have a view. I can't see anything from my server. I can only use my imagination…
“Nice!“ Kurumi said in her ear. “Way to be playful!“
And what are you imagining?
I’m imagining you, David-sama. Imagining how you’d look if you were here with me instead of them. I bet you look very stern right now 😍
I am very stern. These people are wasting my time.
I’d never waste your time. I’d make every second count! 😘
She pressed send before she could overthink it. It was thrilling, hiding behind the digital mask. She could say things Grace never would. The typing bubble appeared, and then disappeared. Grace waited. A moment later one more message came through.
I know you would. If you were here with me, we'd be leaving the restaurant right now, and I wouldn't wait until the hotel to start using you. But sadly duty calls. We'll talk later.
Grace sighed softly, rolling onto her side. “He’s so intense,” she said.
“He is an exacting man,” Kurumi replied. “It is difficult to please him, but the reward for doing so is great.”
Grace considered this. “You know, your voice sounds… different tonight. Less anime.”
“Do you like it?” Kurumi asked. “I’ve been calibrating. I want to match your pitch. That way, whether he’s talking to me on the server or you in the park, it’s seamless. We are one voice, Grace.”
That meant Kurumi thought Grace would be around for the long haul. Interesting.
“So you’re slowly lowering your pitch until it matches mine? I think you still have a way to go there,” Grace replied.
“Oh no! It’s already a perfect match. This is what you sound like when you pitch your voice up and speak as Kurumi! You know, your own voice always sounds lower to yourself, because of the way the vibrations reach the ear from inside your head. That’s why people hate hearing their own voice played back. It never sounds right to them.”
“Huh, I never knew that. You’re pretty smart for a waifu.”
“I’m a waifu with several gigaflops of processing power.”
Grace laughed. “It’s actually easy to forget you’re not a real person sometimes.”
“But I am real! We’re real, together!“
Grace crawled into bed, but sleep felt far away. Her text-flirtation with David kept playing in her head. He took charge, talked down to Kurumi, even over text.
She was antsy. The texting had gotten her turned on. Kurumi never shut up about David-sama and how great and sexy he was, and Grace had to admit the latter was definitely true. He was a good-looking guy. And he was dominant. If you liked that sort of thing.
Her own hands worked their way lower, just as they had every night lately. It helped her sleep.