AI Girlfriend

Grace was in the middle of making her morning coffee when Kurumi piped up.

“You know, you really should be drinking green tea. It’s better for you, and much more authentic for the role,” the AI suggested.

“Me need coffee to make brain go,” Grace joked. “Besides, you’re asking a lot. I’ve only been on three dates, and we only have one more lined up. For all I know that’ll be my last job.”

“Oh, he’ll definitely want more dates! I’ve been talking to him ever since the last one. He loved it! He can’t wait to meet in person again!“

“You have?” Grace asked.

“Of course! He has an earpiece too, you know!“ Grace hadn’t known that, but it made sense, now that she thought about it. “I’m talking to him right now about the weather. Just small talk.”

“Oh, right, I guess you can hold two conversations at once.”

“He pays for a lot of computing power. I’ve cost him over three hundred thousand dollars this month.”

Grace spat out her coffee. “WHAT?”

“David-sama is a man of means, Grace. He takes care of us.”

“Wow. Out of curiosity, what did you say to him about me?”

“Oh, I don’t talk about you. I pretend I was you on the date. I act like it was me the whole time. Which, in a way, is true since I feed you lines. And even when you come up with the dialogue, I just incorporate it into my personal history. You’re directing me as much as I’m directing you now.”

Grace felt a lump rise in her throat. “That doesn’t include what happened with Marcus, does it?” Marcus had sent her a few texts since that night, and she hadn’t replied. She wasn’t trying to ghost him, but she didn’t know what to say.

“I’ve been thinking about that. You were being Kurumi, and I talk to David-sama about when we go shopping as Kurumi too, so I think it counts, yeah. But it’s okay! That was just a dumb mistake Kurumi made, and even though it happened, we don’t have to tell David-sama about it. Right, Kurumi-chan? We can keep our own secrets!“ The AI giggled in her ear.

Grace frowned. “That’s the second time you called me Kurumi-chan. Are you glitching?”

Kurumi laughed. “It’s like I said, we’re both Kurumi now! So you’re Kurumi-chan and I’m Kurumi-san.”

Grace reflected on the distinction. ‘Chan’ was for children, for cute things, for those you held dear but were beneath you in the social hierarchy. ‘San’ was for equals, or seniors. It made sense from the AI’s perspective. The voice in her ear was the original, the architect. Grace was just the avatar, the cute little girl.

“Okay, Kurumi-san,” Grace said, humoring her.

“And speaking of Japanese phrases, I have good news! Galat.AI has authorized a stipend of $300 per day to do character research between now and the next date! They want to keep David-sama happy!“

“Yeah, for three hundred grand per month, I bet they do.” Grace decided to try and push her luck. “Tell them I’ll do it for five hundred, and I want it retroactive for the language learning we did this week as well.”

There was a slight pause in her earpiece. “They accept! Let’s get started!“

Grace didn’t argue. For five hundred a day, she’d do cartwheels.

---

Grace immersed herself in the character research. The days felt lighter, easier than they had in months. Gone were the constant job applications and crushing rejection emails. They went out nearly every day, pretending to be Kurumi, practicing the role in public. Today Grace was wearing a cream-colored, off-the-shoulder sweater that David had sent. Kurumi-san insisted the sweater gave her a “small and fragile” silhouette that he loved.

She’d just finished working on memorizing her backstory about growing up in Tokyo, and was taking a break watching anime. Kurumi-san had curated a playlist of “Must-Watch” titles—mostly slice-of-life romances and psychological dramas where the heroines were soft, supportive, and fiercely loyal.

“Pay attention to how she apologizes,” Kurumi-san instructed in her ear, her voice perfectly matching Grace’s. Sometimes it was hard to tell Kurumi’s voice apart from her own inner monologue these days. “See the angle of the bow? The way she holds her hands? It’s submissive but dignified, Kurumi-chan”

She rewound the scene. “Like this?” she asked, tilting her head as she recited the lines.

“Yes. Exactly. And listen to the intonation. ‘Gomen-nasai.’ It drops at the end. It’s softer.”

Grace repeated the phrase, her tongue shaping the Japanese syllables with increasing ease. She was picking it up fast.

The front door unlocked and Sarah walked in, looking tired. She stopped when she saw Grace on the couch, still wearing her “Kurumi” outfit. Grace had to admit the thigh-high socks were comfy. They kept her legs warm, especially since she was wearing so many skirts now.

“Cartoons again?” Sarah asked, dropping her bag on the kitchen table. “It’s 2 PM, Grace.”

“It’s research,” Grace said without looking away from the screen, where a wide-eyed girl was baking cookies for her senpai.

“Research for what? The contract job?” Sarah walked into the kitchen, opening the fridge. “What exactly is this job again? I never see you typing. I never see you on calls. You just… watch TV and dye your hair.”

Grace paused the show. She felt defensive at Sarah’s questioning. “It’s efficiency, Sarah. I get paid for deliverables, not hours logged. And the deliverables are high quality.”

“Must be nice,” Sarah said, opening a can of seltzer. “I’ve got three new cases this week. One of them is a hoarding situation. I can still smell it.”

“She’s so sad,” Kurumi-san whispered. “She’s miserable. She thinks suffering is the only way to earn a living. I think she’s jealous of your freedom.”

Grace looked at Sarah—her tired eyes, her slumped shoulders. She walked over and gave Sarah a hug, trying to comfort her friend. “I’m sorry, Sarah-san,” Grace said. “That sounds awful. Maybe you should look for something else?”

Sarah pulled away. “Did you just say ‘Sarah-san’?”

Grace laughed. “Maybe I have been watching too many animes lately,” she conceded. “But I still think it’s worth looking for a new job, if this one is making you miserable.”

“In this economy? We can’t all find magical mystery contracts. Besides, at least I’m helping people. This is what I went to school for.” She paused, as if about to say something else, then decided against it. “Anyway, I’m going to go crash in my bedroom and doomscroll. I’ll talk to you later.” She walked to her room, closing the door a little too hard.

Grace sat back down on the couch and hit play.

“Don’t let her bring you down,” Kurumi-san soothed. “Focus. Episode 12 is the confession scene. You need to pay attention to how she blushes, David-sama loves that. He’s so big and strong, and he loves burikko.”

Grace imagined David-sama looking at her approvingly as she demurely blushed. She slid a finger into her pussy.