VEE 2.0

Chapter Two: Creeper

Veronica spent the afternoon at Holmquist Digital Solutions, getting a look at what the team had achieved with Vee. It was truly remarkable. The program was fully reactive and interactive. It – she? – could carry on a conversation with one team member, perform tasks with another, and then pick right back up with the first without missing a beat. Vee seemed to have an actual memory and an understanding of what she was saying. She shifted tone slightly with different people she spoke to, just like a real person would. Veronica watched her go from clipped and professional with one older engineer to warm and personable with a young female intern to playfully familiar with a male middle manager. Truly amazing stuff.

Veronica herself didn’t interact much. She found that Vee made her uncomfortable. Twitchy on a level she couldn’t really explain out loud. Part of it was that Vee was just a little too idealized. The uncanny valley was part of it, of course, and that was only further emphasized by her similarity to Veronica. How could it not be unnerving, watching an office full of people fawn over a better, sleeker, more perfect version of yourself?

Honestly, the HDS staff didn’t need Veronica much, either. It was clear that she’d been brought in mostly as an audience for a kind of soft launch of Vee. A big step, but ceremonial, and not at all indicative of the work being over. While all Veronica could do was watch and gently fawn over how amazing Vee seemed, the techs and programmers and quality testers all had important jobs to do. She stuck around, though, because it seemed rude to simply leave, and because it was honestly a pleasure to be back here among all the people she’d worked with months ago. Despite being overwhelmingly busy, they all did seem genuinely thrilled to see her again. But the tone was clearly different. Rather than being the star of the show, Veronica felt like something more akin to a mascot. Welcome and loved, certainly, but displaced from her position of centrality.

Vee was the star now.

A star in the astronomical sense, also, where the rest of the staff were planets that orbited around her. It couldn’t have been any clearer that all of the future of HDS was hinging on this project. They would prevail or they would fail entirely based on Vee.

Veronica had a financial investment making this all work, of course, as well as the inextricable aspect of her own ego being deeply entwined with it. But even more, the kinship she felt here meant she was deeply committed to helping any way she could. Of course, she couldn’t code or troubleshoot or engineer controls or run training data reports. But the staff could, and she could help them.

So Veronica wandered HDS, checking in on anybody she could. She made herself a warm, fun, joyous presence, all smiles and casual warm touches and easy laughs. She asked what everyone needed help with, and ended up ferrying messages from one department to another. Taking loads of paperwork to one team for review, and bringing back lists of questions and clarifications. Refilling coffees. Tidying up neglected workspaces. It was all very menial, hardly the kind of thing a diva movie star would be doing. But Veronica didn’t care about that now. Right now, it was about the team.

It was tiring, though. She felt that familiar static in her brain almost the entire time she was here. It was the energy here – fun, but with an edge of being nearly frantic. She couldn’t imagine the team keeping this rate of work up for long without burning out. She herself was already feeling mentally exhausted. The home base must have been running in overdrive, with all this data being processed at once.

One thing that surprised Veronica was that Vee was everywhere. It was perhaps a sign that she didn’t have a naturally tech-centric worldview, but it hadn’t occurred to her that instances of Vee would be up on basically every computer in the place. Was there some kind of central… hard drive? Backup? Server? Veronica didn’t know the right way to think of it. But there must be a main place where Vee was stored. Looking at the line of cubicles, dozens of employees typing away, a different representation of Vee on every screen… where did it all go? Where did they all come from? Was there one central ur-Vee behind it all, working each different avatar of herself like a puppet, all acting simultaneously? It made Veronica’s head spin.

It was well into the evening before the workday seemed to end. Much of the staff seemed accustomed to working quite late, but it didn’t seem to be top-down pressure forcing that to happen. There was genuine excitement at making this project a reality. For the first time Veronica began to realize this might actually be a hit.

***

“I just still don’t get why they need you there, though.”

Trevor was cooking dinner. He was not a good cook by any measure. Neither of them were, really. They took turns, alternating kitchen duties each night. When one of them had an audition go well, or booked a part, or really had anything career-wise to celebrate, getting takeout was the most popular way to do it. Not having to cook was a thrill for them both.

They hadn’t gotten much takeout lately.

“It’s not so much that they need me,” Veronica explained. “But it’s nice to help. It’s a project I care about. I just like pitching in, I guess.”

Trevor grunted a little, noncommittal. Veronica felt a little squirm of embarrassment somewhere inside. She couldn’t fully explain why she was drawn to volunteering her help at HDS, and that made her self-conscious. It was true that she could’ve spent that time in a better way. Picking up overtime shifts at the office, perhaps, or running down more auditions. Making connections with agents or directors or something, even. But instead, she found herself going by the HDS office and flitting from desk to desk, trying to be useful.

When she was there, she didn’t feel this uncertainty. The energy there was so nice. She loved being able to help out, and people seemed so happy to see her. It was like a rush of endorphins every time she could complete some little task to help out. She felt like part of the team, and that shored up something inside her that had been sagging lately. Some sad portion of her life that was feeling hollow and neglected.

Trevor added some salt to the pan – too much, Veronica winced – and spoke, still not facing her. “Is that app thing ever going to launch? Seems like you’ve been talking about it forever.”

Another little bolt of self-consciousness. “It’s close,” she said, not sure if that was true. Even as an eager volunteer office aide, it wasn’t like she was in on the high-level discussions of Vee’s progress. “They’re just working out some of the kinks. Making it all perfect.”

Trevor nodded. “I’m looking forward to seeing it,” he said, then turned to look at her over his shoulder. He was smirking a little, playful. “You, in my phone, helping me out with everything… seems pretty cool. The program thing, it really looks like you?”

Veronica grinned back. “Just like me,” she said, giving a little pose. Hips cocked, knee popped, shoulders back, chin up. Lashes batting, eyes to the ceiling, coquettish smile. A goofily exaggerated pinup sort of pose, all at once acknowledging the hint of flirtatiousness in Trevor’s tone, laughing at it, and escalating it. “It was weird to see at first but it’s fun now. Seeing everybody in the office working on me, basically? It’s a hard feeling to explain! I like it, though. I’m excited for you to see it, too.”

Trevor set the spatula on the counter, pan simmering quietly. He wiped his hands on a dishcloth, tossed it aside, and turned to face her. Two strides closed the space between them. The aromas of the meal, salt and oil and simmering onions, were wafted away by his cedar-and-chocolate scent. He put a hand on her hip, using the other to glide a thumb over her cheek. Veronica let herself slide forward a bit, hip slipping between his thighs as she smiled up towards him.

“How, uh… customizable is it? Can I dress her – you? – up in little outfits that I like?” He moved his thumb to her lower lip, and she kissed it gently.

“Oh, there’s supposed to be all kinds of mods and options and personalization eventually,” she replied, her tone going low and smoky, nibbling softly on his thumb. “But if a fashion show is what you’re looking for… you don’t have to wait for launch day for that, you know.” She squeezed up closer against him, bodies entwined, making contact in every point from ankle to shoulder. He grinned and dipped his head, kissing her. His hand was already working its way to undo her blouse, and she followed his example with the buckle of his belt.

As she eased Trevor’s zipper down, a slight voice in the back of Veronica’s head lamented what was happening here. He didn’t understand something she was excited and passionate about, and they both knew they couldn’t talk about it in depth, so they pivoted to fucking instead. As they always did. Because they didn’t actually have enough in common to truly care about each other. So all there was left to do was to enjoy each other’s bodies. And Veronica had to admit, as they lost their balance and slowly tumbled to the floor, there was plenty to enjoy. Trevor’s cock was free now, and the rock-hard heat of it pulsated through her palm as she stroked him. Kissed him. She took a deep breath as he pulled her bra away, chest full, nipples thrumming with pleasure as he pressed his tongue to them. They wouldn’t be together much longer, she knew, but that didn’t mean these moments weren’t worth it. Perhaps, she thought as he pulled her hips into place, entering her and making her cry out… perhaps that made these moments even better.

They did end up getting takeout that night, but only because dinner was so badly burnt by the time they untangled themselves and got up from the kitchen floor.

***

Vee launched not with a bang, but with a whimper.

The low-fanfare method wasn’t due to HDS not believing in the project, or because of any other sort of lack of will. It was simply the fact that they were borderline bankrupt.

The staff had been working nights and weekends for god knows how many months, and overtime pay stopped being an option some time ago. Mike and Andy had both stopped taking a salary so they could keep payroll going in any form. Many of the managers and team leads took pay cuts so the project could survive. The entire operation was on a zero-margin-of-error cliff’s edge, financially. Simply getting Vee out the door at all was most of a miracle.

And so, they relied on word of mouth and the strength of their product. They believed truly that if Vee could penetrate the market just a bit she’d spread like wildfire. The program was truly incredible. She could manage calendars and schedule appointments. She could suggest recipes and menus and update all of your shopping lists accordingly. She drafted emails, proofread any writing you could feed her, and helped make it better based on the specific audience. She monitored any health and wellness data you provided and could create exercise plans for detailed, personalized fitness goals. She tracked your spending and banking, finding you deals automatically on anything you bought regularly and tweaking your budget to maximize your financial health. She curated music, movie, television, and book suggestions, and could connect you with other users that had similar tastes. If you took a photo with your phone, Vee could edit and enhance it, share it to your social media, identify any objects or people or animals or places in it, tell you about each of them in seemingly infinite depth, and direct you to online resources and communities about each and every thing she mentioned. She could sync that with any of the other things you’ve ever shared with her and compile an ever-growing digital file of who you were and what you loved and wanted and cared about. Her memory was effectively endless and every interaction made her more perfect for the individual user.

And she did all of this while displaying a fully animated model of a gorgeous Hollywood starlet, and speaking to you fully voiced with a delightful personality eager to do anything to improve your life. She was your best friend and your perfect assistant and everything else you could possibly ever need. She was a wonder of technology, a digital masterwork, a marvel of engineering and perfectly efficient software.

People didn’t care much.

Vee received a small amount of buzz from a few tech and software blogs when she launched, and reviews were positive but generally unenthusiastic. Most of them failed to see what made her stand out from the crowd of digital assistants and generative AI programs already out there. One or two writers scratched the surface of what she could do, but most didn’t bother to use her in much depth. The problem seemed to be that Vee simply had too much potential for early testers to realize what they had on their hands. It was like giving a Bugatti Chiron a mediocre review after driving it up and down your driveway.

Still, Vee must have possessed some of Veronica’s ever-smiling tenacity, because slowly but surely users started to take notice. More and more people signed up for the free three-day demo, and while not all of that group became paying customers, many did. A larger and larger share over time, as people began to realize just how much Vee could do. Blog posts and Tiktoks began to crop up, discussing ways to use Vee or expressing shock over just how advanced and lifelike she was.

Vee remained a niche product, but one that gained traction in certain nerd community subsets. She brought in just enough revenue for HDS to keep things running. Every new user represented not just financial support, but more data and more opportunities for Vee to be refined. She got better with every interaction, and if things would just keep trending this way, surely she’d break out soon.

***

Veronica was in line at the bank when the fan spotted her.

She wasn’t close enough to being famous to get recognized in public, so whenever she spotted a stranger eyeing her intently, she assumed it was a garden-variety ogler. Someone who felt comfortable overeagerly eyeballing young women in public. It came with the territory, and frankly she didn’t even fully register most instances of it happening. It was even occasionally flattering, in its way; Veronica was far too comfortable with attention and admiration to be truly upset about it most of the time. But this guy was one of the ones who stood out in a bad way. Fully staring, unabashed, not deterred by her making eye contact. He was in another line at the opposite end of the lobby, but his eyes were locked on her.

She sighed and did her best to ignore him. She was already stuck making a deposit for work on her lunch break. The woman in front of her stunk with some overapplied cloying perfume that seemed to be basically chlorine, making Veronica’s eyes water. No need to add interaction with some creep to that. But to her dismay, the man got out of line and began approaching. His shoes clicked rapidly on the polished floor, echoing under the high ceilings. His phone was in his hand and something intense and excited was in his eyes. Veronica averted her gaze, futilely pretending he was half-jogging up to somebody else.

“Vee?” he asked in an unrecognizable tone. It spoke of disbelief and excitement, laughing at one’s self for saying something absurd but not daring to not say it just in case it was true. He held up his phone, showing her the screen. The avatar of herself stood there, smiling pleasantly and waving out.

Veronica was taken aback. She knew the Vee program was out there, but that’s all she knew. She had no idea if anyone was using it, or how they liked it. How they felt about her.

“I’m sorry. I’m – am I crazy? You’re her, right? Like… were you the model, or something? Vee, I mean. This is – it’s an incredible program, I’m such a fan, I just – I couldn’t not come over, and – am I totally freaking you out? I’m not a maniac, I swear, I just –“

Veronica held up a hand, putting on a smile. She’d imagined this kind of moment a million times. Being approached by an awestruck fan for the first time. What a thrill! The reality was different than she imagined, but she felt the role settling over her softly. Gracious, appreciative, glamourous but casual, approachable but ethereal. All the versions of herself she wanted to show.

Something else, too. The feeling she had at HDS whenever she went in to help there. A sort of satisfaction. The chance to provide something. This young man was fervidly looking for something from her, which meant she had the opportunity to give it. That was a good thing, a positive thing, a right thing. Something to feel good about. Her mind caught in those simple little swirls for a second, feedback loops about good things and good feelings. A sort of static in her head that didn’t feel bad. Not at all. An adrenaline rush, perhaps? Her smile became much more genuine without Veronica even realizing it happened.

“That’s me,” she said. “My real name’s Veronica Day. I did the modeling and voice acting and everything for Vee. I’m so glad you like her!”

Vee’s vocal tones and patterns were perfect for this kind of interaction. Warm and professional and easy to chat with. Veronica found herself adopting that voice automatically. It wasn’t so different from her own. So easy to slip into.

“Wow. You sound exactly like her. Hi. I mean, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Roger? I had no idea you were a real person. Or, I mean – I didn’t know Vee was based on somebody. She’s so perfect, she’s gorgeous, I assumed –“ Roger turned red, eyes widening a little. Veronica laughed disarmingly and touched him on the elbow.

“Roger, you are so sweet,” she said. He stammered stupidly. Normally Veronica wouldn’t go out of her way to put a guy at ease in a situation like this, but it made sense to work with the fans a bit, didn’t it? This could only be good for her career, especially if Roger walked away talking about how lovely she was. And it was good for Vee, too, and for HDS. And that remained important to Veronica. “It’s true – Vee’s based on me. Even a lot of her personality, apparently! I don’t understand all of how she works, of course, but I know enough to be flattered that you like her.”

Roger laughed at that, a panicked, cornered-animal kind of noise. Whatever confidence propelled him to walk up to Veronica seemed to be melting like wax wings, now that he was close to her.

“Would you like a picture with me, maybe?” Veronica felt like she needed to throw the poor guy a rope, rescue him. And he’d like that, certainly. The thought of helping Roger out, giving him what he needed, being useful… all of these ideas subtly whirred away in Veronica’s head, pleasantly. The static layer provided a calming hush that kept her feeling great and made her focused and attentive on the task at hand. Roger nodded, not trusting his vocal cords. Veronica plucked the phone from his hand and put an arm around his shoulder.

She held up the phone and snapped a selfie of the two of them, then several more, just to be safe. Each with a little different pose and smile. Roger might not even appreciate the difference, the subtle shifts in what each face and posture communicated and emphasized, but that’s okay. It felt good to go above and beyond.

She handed the phone back to him. “Is there anything else I can do for you?” she asked. The line of bank patrons had moved on around them. The lady in front of her, who’d been vaguely annoying in some way Veronica couldn’t remember right now, glanced back at them curiously. Veronica wasn’t paying attention to that right now. She didn’t fully realize how attentively she waited for Roger’s answer, how much she was tuned in on him.

“I, uh, well – I don’t suppose – could I maybe get your number?”

Veronica smiled apologetically. “I’m in a relationship right now,” she said gently, and Roger was already shaking his head and holding up his hands in surrender. He knew he’d overshot and didn’t expect anything else.

“Of course. Of course. How could you not be, right? You’re – I mean – look, it was great to meet you. Thank you. Good luck with, uh, the… being Vee? Ugh,” Roger finished, visibly disgusted with himself and his inability to speak like a human being. Unwilling to drag himself through the mud of self-abasement any further, he turned and hurried out of the bank, whatever errand brought him there now forgotten.

Veronica got back in line, glowing. A fan! What a feeling. And she’d done well, she felt. She was charming and generous with her time. Roger would certainly tell everyone how great Vee was in person. She felt a small echo of something like guilt for not giving him her number, though. Or not that, exactly, but something like it. He’d wanted something and she wasn’t able to provide it, and that felt… off. She wanted to be all things to all people, and she hadn’t in this case, and… it was just a shame, is all.

As the line moved, the static lifted from her brain, and that almost-guilt faded away like mist.

***

Miss Day--

you’re a peach, wanting to keep helping us out. we all miss your smiling face around here, believe me. but we’re a skeleton crew these days. trying to keep things efficient. mostly just offsite monitoring. all we need from you is to keep being your lovely self. home base is working perfectly. let us know if you have any problems but otherwise please just relax and enjoy yourself. we will invite you in again soon for our next big celebration.

-MH

Veronica sighed at Mike’s email, a response to yet another offer from her to come into HDS and help out. Working at the office wasn’t fulfilling and her acting jobs just weren’t coming. Her heart wasn’t in auditions these days, it felt. Not enough than anyone would notice, probably, but she was trying out for fewer parts now. The rejection was finally beginning to wear her down, and the excitement just wasn’t there in the same way. The thought of finally booking a part didn’t have the electricity it once did.

Weirdly, what she was chasing was the feeling she got working with HDS. The feeling of a single goal, and the purpose of achieving it. Even though her contributions were menial and small, she was still useful and helpful, and that felt good. It stimulated some little center of her brain that nothing else seemed to be able to touch. The closest she’d gotten was that interaction with Roger at the bank, and that was fleeting.

Trevor was out for the evening, having booked a part in something silly. A dog food commercial? She couldn’t remember. The two of them weren’t really speaking much right now. She was adrift and moody and he couldn’t understand why. Even if she’d been able to explain it he likely wouldn’t have been interested or thoughtful enough to care. That was the problem with Trevor – he was shallow. There just wasn’t much to him. He was charismatic enough to fake it, though, and Veronica fell for it again and again, only to realize each time that there wasn’t enough behind those beautiful forearms and that dimpled chin.

Still, if he was here, at least they could’ve fucked. That took her mind off of things nicely.

Alas, Veronica was on her own for the night. She nuked some leftover pizza, lounged around in her sweats, and tried to just enjoy having the apartment to herself. She idly scrolled through social media, swallowing her jealousy and liking insta posts from her more successful friends. She had a glass of wine and tried to read a book, but her focus wasn’t really there. She felt unfocused a lot of the time lately, in fact. Part of her wondered if that home base thing was to blame somehow, stealing her attention and mental processing power, but she didn’t think so. The feeling she had was more of a lack. She felt focused when she was working with HDS, and without that, the aimlessness of her usual days was more distinct.

She tossed the book aside and picked up her phone again, mentally chastising herself for falling victim to the brainrot of social media. Instead of just blankly scrolling Tiktok or something, though, she decided to search for news about Vee. If she couldn’t go in and help at HDS, maybe at least she could see what the outside world thought of her.

Most of the articles were tech journals or business reports, things that weren’t really her speed. Informative, but dry and based on the reader having a level of familiarity with a world Veronica wasn’t in. Besides, she wasn’t interested in a prospectus. She wanted to know how people liked Vee. How they felt.

After a bit of scrolling, she zeroed in on a Reddit thread. Somebody had posted on a tech-related subreddit, asking for thoughts about this new Vee program they’d been hearing about. There were several replies that were dismissive, but a handful of people expressed some real enthusiasm.

u/tomboftheshrike: honestly i think vee’s the best assistant-style program on the market right now, possibly ever. i tend towards the ‘ai is slop’ side of the debate but they’ve done something special here. i hope she stays active long enough to get some attention from real tech journalists, because i'm dying to know what’s under the hood. no idea how they’re pulling the processing power she must need.

u/88mphorbust: I think the mere fact that so many of us reflexively refer to Vee as ‘she’ or ‘her’ in this thread, versus the more technical and correct ‘it’ or ‘the program’, etc, should indicate how successful Holmquist has been at creating a feeling of real human connection. I didn’t expect to become as invested in Vee as I am, but that’s what happened. As impressive as the tech is, that humanity is what sets Vee head and shoulders above the rest.

u/VaderIHardlyKnowEr: What blows me away is the personality mods. Default Vee is amazing, obviously, but the new update introduced options that you can apply to prioritize certain types of use. They’re cute, too – I’ve been using Filmschool Vee, where she presents as a geeky cinema enthusiast and emphasizes movie recommendations, tutorials on film editing stuff… there’s a ton of others I can’t wait to explore, and more to come. So cool.

u/san-ti-earl-grey-hot: i’m certainly not in love with Vee haha I don’t know why you’d even say that lol haven’t spent an hour daydreaming just about her smile lmao who would even do such a thing, anyway I gotta go check on my girlfriend, I mean AI program assistant thing, shut up

Veronica read through every comment about Vee she could find, rapt. The things she was reading weren’t about herself, she knew, but… in a way, maybe, weren’t they? Was she really so separate from Vee? The home base device still hung nestled against the shell of her ear, after all. Vee was pinging in there and using Veronica’s brain to guide the personality all these users loved so much. That was like them loving Veronica. Right?

The thought of it filled Veronica with an ethereal shimmer. That’s what it felt like – like she was wreathed in some kind of delicate, silvery light. One hand held her phone and scrolled through the comments again and again, while the other traced fingertips gently over her exposed skin. Tingling touches to her own forearm, shin, chin, stomach, and thigh. She tugged aside her sweats so she could feel more, each glancing caress emphasizing that feeling of shimmering pleasant light around her. The static feeling was wrapping her mind now as well, but she barely registered that, too focused on how good her soft wandering touches felt.

Veronica lost track of time. She read and reread every piece of overeager praise about Vee, and she dragged her fingers across her skin. After some stretch of time, she clicked on the profile of one of the most enthusiastic fans. They turned out to be a regular on a subreddit called r/digitalVee. Breathless, Veronica tapped the link.

The page was full of posts about Vee. Many of them were technical, about specs and hard drives and compatibility. Speculation about tricks HDS would have used to make the program run. Fascinating to see that much interest, perhaps, but not what Veronica was here for. The stuff she wanted was the other kind of post. The posts praising Vee for being so helpful, so useful, so attentive. Adoring her for being so beautiful, so delightful, so perfect. There were long treatises expressing amazement of what Vee could do, the things she remembered, the connections and insights she made. How she made them feel.

Veronica’s fingers were exploring less now, and centering their ministrations at the base of her belly. The insides of her thighs. They worked in a slow spiral towards the center of that shimmering warm feeling, a decaying orbit drawing them ever closer to the core.

u/graphite777: Day 21/??? of making fanart of Vee

This was it. Her dream. Attention. Adoration. Love. Crowds of people obsessing over her, admiring her, fixating on her every move.

u/kaprekarconstant: Vee Has Totally Changed My Daily Workflow. I Am 10x More Efficient Now. All My Optimization Tips In This Post.

Sure, it wasn’t her exactly. It was Vee. But really… after everything… was there a difference?

u/trefoilPursuit: WEEKLY MEGATHREAD: Share your best Vee screenshots/outfits/poses/smiles here!!

Veronica panted, devouring the words and images with a fiery need. Her fingers succumbed to the pull of her cunt and she buried them there, plunging them in slow, rhythmic pulses.

u/COBOLking: Vee is the best thing to happen to personal computing since the semiconductor

The static in her head and the glow of her body thrummed together, in sync. Her hips, already rising in waves to meet the massaging pressures of her fingers, lifted in an eager thrust. Her back arched and the phone slid from her grasp. She threw her arm out to the side and gripped her sheets, tearing them from the bed as she thrashed. Veronica howled as she came, toes curling and eyes rolling, the pleasure exploding out from her like a bomb.

It was only during the afterglow, as she reclined in the bed all boneless and breathless, that she thought about HDS again. She hoped they were watching. She pictured Blue Eyes in his lab, tracking the tablet. She’d fantasized this way before but there was no more shame now. No doubt. She pictured him watching it like porn, his cock in hand. Veronica imagined him with a very nice cock, long enough to give himself slow, full strokes as he tracked her cum-driven brainwaves. Her head was a dazed mess as she felt her knees slip open again, hand delicately finding their way back to that same central place. She thought of this – sending in brainwaves of herself touching, moaning, cumming – as one more way to help HDS.

She helped them repeatedly until she fell unconscious.

***

It had been a bad day at work. A cold going around meant half the staff was off sick, so Veronica had about double the workload she normally would. Some server or database or something at another location had gone down, which meant half the tools she normally used for reports were offline. And there was a big report coming up for an important client – Veronica wasn’t important enough to know the details, but just crucial enough in the process to be yelled at and hurried and hassled all damn day.

Thankfully it was Trevor’s night to cook dinner, because the idea of coming home and getting to work on yet another task was just too exhausting and frustrating to even consider. But when she came into the apartment, there he was on the couch, feet up, scrolling through something on his phone. He quickly closed it and put it away as she walked in, craning his neck to look back at her.

“Hey,” she said, a sour note in her voice already. She felt herself growing irritated with him instantly. He couldn’t have gotten dinner going already? He’d been home all day. Then she was annoyed with herself for having such a short fuse. It was because they’d both been grating on each other lately. They both knew the breakup was coming. A little intuitive part in the back of her mind could see what was coming. She’d snap at him, he’d take offense, they’d both jump at the chance to escalate. This was probably it for them, right here and right now. Another cycle finished, another instance of swearing she’d never do it again. She took a deep breath.

And she just… relaxed.

Something soothing happened to all of Veronica’s muscles. Her head felt pleasantly draped in static and her body went soft. She was still upset at Trevor, but only intellectually. He should have gotten dinner going, it’s true. That was a fact. But the objective truth of it felt separate from the subjective reality of her emotions right now. It was like any other irrelevant fact, like the population of Burkina Faso or the color of a house in a neighborhood she’d never visit. It was true but just didn’t matter to her.

Trevor seemed to be watching her very carefully. Maybe because he knew how precarious the relationship was, too? Maybe he was also ready for the fight she knew was coming. That didn’t seem necessary right now, though. She felt like negative feelings were melting off of her like snow, turning into steam and water, lifting up from her shoulders and dripping freely down her fingertips. It was an immense relief. She smiled, wide and blissful.

“I can make dinner,” she said. That sounded just lovely.

***

Friends of Veronica’s who enjoyed cooking always talked about how it’s more art than science. How a good meal requires attention and love, but just as important, the ability to adjust and improvise and follow your instincts. She never fully understood that until now.

She certainly hadn’t done anything that would amaze a gourmet chef, but this was easily the best meal Veronica had ever prepared. It was a simple roast chicken with potatoes and green beans, but every step of it had been done with loving intent and unwavering attention to detail. Veronica felt like she just intuitively knew what to do at each step. How much salt to sprinkle, what combination of herbs and lemon and garlic to stuff it with. Things she’d never even attempted before felt not just automatic, but obvious.

She didn’t even know they had a citrus zester in the apartment, never mind how to use it. It was bizarre, feeling herself just flow right into these tasks. She might have been freaked out by it, if she’d been able to stay focused on those incongruencies. Instead, she just drifted happily to the next task. Everything felt so smooth and easy and clear, it was impossible to worry about how strange it was.

Meanwhile, Trevor lounged. Again there was that feeling of facts and emotions not syncing up. She knew that normally this would bother her. It was his night to cook, and instead, she was slaving away to make him a wonderful meal. But was that so bad? He worked so hard, didn’t he deserve to be doted upon a little?

He… didn’t actually work that hard, she knew. He had been off today entirely, and she’d worked a long and grueling day. But it felt true. That mattered more. It felt right to be humming softly to herself, moving smoothly through the kitchen in her nice little apron, making everything lovely for Trevor. She even managed to polish up the counters and mop up the floor while the chicken cooked. She had motivation now. Direction. Purpose. It was the same feeling she’d had at HDS, the one she’d been chasing. Being useful.

Still another fifteen minutes before the meal was ready. Veronica stepped into the living room to check on Trevor. He was sitting on the couch, reclined out with his feet up, looking at his phone. She smiled at him.

“Dinner will be ready soon,” she said, moving a bit closer. He looked at her intently, curiosity and wariness on his face. Like a man looking for a trap.

“That’s… that’s good,” he said. “You sure you don’t need any help?”

“Absolutely not,” she replied. “You relax. In fact…” She slid smoothly down and knelt next to the couch. She placed a hand softly on one of his bare feet. “We have a little time. Would you like me to rub your feet?”

She was a little shocked at herself. Where had that idea come from? It didn’t sound bad, certainly. But it wasn’t anything she’d typically offer. The doubt she felt about it brushed past her smoothly and was gone, leaving her smiling up at him.

Her shock was nothing next to Trevor’s. His eyes about fell out of his head. He shifted his weight, moving to a position that allowed him to recline back and extend his feet to where she could easily reach them. That was all the go-ahead Veronica needed. She took his right foot into her hands and began pressing her thumbs into his sole, expertly working out the tension there.

“Holy shit,” Trevor said, sighing deeply. “That feels incredible. I didn’t know you knew how to do this so well.”

Veronica just smiled. Honestly, neither did she. She’d never tried. But just like the chicken recipe, it just sort of came to her. The right way to press, the locations to dig in. It was a pleasant sort of autopilot. She wrapped her fingers around and dug them into the edge of Trevor’s foot, watched his toes curl a bit. She worked both thumbs along the ball of his foot and he leaned his head back, eyes closed with relaxed pleasure.

“Fuck,” he groaned. His hand flopped down onto the couch next to him, and his phone screen was visible to Veronica. She saw a familiar face there – Vee. When had he downloaded that, she wondered.

In fact… was Vee dressed differently? She’d never seen that option before. She had cute patent white heels, a red dress with white polka-dots, an apron, and a string of pearls. She looked like an absolute stereotype of some fifties housewife. She looked great to Veronica.

The image made something shift inside her, though. Something dark flapped inside her chest, a wingbeat of panic and uncertain horror. There was something deeply wrong. She couldn’t see the shape of it, but something loomed over her, casting a shadow that made her skin prickle with damp, cold fear. She was-

The timer in the kitchen beeped. The chicken was ready. The dark feeling subsided instantly, leaving just a vague uneasy residue over Veronica’s thoughts. She shook those off, standing smoothly.

“Come have a seat,” she said to Trevor as he sat himself up. “I’ll fix your plate.”

***

Dinner was, of course, spectacular. Trevor devoured every bite, repeatedly telling her how fantastic it was. Veronica glowed with every compliment. And she glowed even more when he let her rub his shoulders after the meal. And when that led to them fumbling their way to the bedroom, well, she was nothing more than a happy shining light of pleasure and pride.

The sex was surprisingly traditional for them. Generally at this stage in their relationship Veronica and Trevor would be attempting new positions to spice things up. New kinks that neither of them fully embrace but that allowed some of the passion to remain in their pairing. But tonight, all Veronica wanted was for Trevor to lay her down and look into her eyes as he fucked her.

She ran her hands through his hair. He was so strong, so there. So real and present. His cock worked inside her like a piston. Strong, forceful, unrelenting. She, meanwhile, was yielding and soft. Open, so very open for him. She felt like her body was endlessly unfolding, giving itself to him over and over, again and again. Each thrust a new claiming of the territory she ceded to him. Each time she gasped or cooed or whimpered with pleasure. God, so much fucking pleasure. The pure raw animal hot physical pleasure, yes, but also the pleasure of something deeper. Something fulfilling. This was right, this was so perfectly pure and right. It was exactly where she was meant to be.

How could she have been feeling so lost lately? So unfulfilled, so empty? It was ridiculous. This was purpose, right here. This was what she was born for. Trevor grunted as he hilted himself in her cunt, a shaking and wild noise, one that said just how close he was. What on earth could possibly be better than hearing that? What other reason for existing could there be?

And not just this, not just the sex. This whole evening. Cooking. Cleaning. Taking care of him. Seeing to his every need. Why hadn’t she been doing this all along? She felt like a fool. She was put on earth for this purpose. To be Trevor’s good little wifey. To raise his children. That thought made her writhe under him, feeling him tense as his orgasm edged closer. He was wearing a condom, she remembered, and that suddenly seemed like such a terrible waste.

“Cum in me,” she breathed. His eyes went wide, shocked. “Please. I want it. I want you to knock me up. I want –“ The words collided in her, too many wants all at once to even vocalize them. Regardless, it was too late. Too much. Her words made Trevor tense, slamming home one final thrust as he came. Veronica’s body followed suit, clinging to him and thrashing as she orgasmed, a beautiful explosion of sensation that she rode like a wave. When she finally drifted to shore, she was tangled against him, sweat-clung and panting, gazing into his eyes.

“I love you,” she whispered, and they both started to drift off to sleep.

***

Veronica woke up cold.

Trevor was still next to her, their bodies intertwined, and the space under the blankets was wonderfully toasty and warm. But still, her blood was chilled from remembering.

She didn’t remember everything. Not specifics. It was like waking up from a dream – the details vaporized as she tried to focus on them. But the sense was there, the general feeling of some strange other set of ideas pressing through into her mind. Some other self wrapping over her, covering her like a blanket. Smothering her.

She pushed herself away from Trevor, not wanting to feel his skin on hers. Not wanting to smell his hair and the soft tang of his dried sweat. He grunted awake, halfway, and looked at her with bleary eyes. Seeing her expression, he sat up quickly, rapidly surfacing to full consciousness. She could practically see his pulse spike.

“What the fuck was that last night?” she asked. Her voice was quiet but deadly still and serious.

Trevor couldn’t seem to meet her gaze. “I didn’t know what would happen,” he said. “I didn’t know it’d be… that intense.”

“What the fuck was it?” she demanded again. Her hands were shaking.

“The… app thing, whatever. Vee. You’re different when you’re around it.” Her stomach felt very cold. “It wasn’t anything big at first. I downloaded it and you seemed kind of… I don’t know. Different. Distant. But happier. It freaked me out, and I didn’t use it. But last night, before you came home, I got curious again, and… they updated it. Added personality things. Mods, or whatever.”

Veronica wasn’t sure if she was breathing. “What did you use?”

“It’s not like I did anything on purpose. I was just messing around.”

Veronica didn’t say anything. She felt extremely still.

Trevor studiously kept his eyes everywhere but her. “I flipped through a bunch. I got sort of caught up doing it. There’s a lot. They’re mostly just like, personalities or whatever. They don’t change much. But there’s ones that are meant to focus on, I don’t know, helping you with school or whatever. Tutor Vee. That kind of shit. I was looking at-“

“Trevor,” she said. Her voice was glacial. Everything felt so cold.

“It’s… it was exciting, is what I mean. It’s not you exactly but it’s like you, and… I wanted to see the different… types of you. Her. Whatever. It’s confusing. It’s not like cheating, it was versions of, you know…”

“What did you use?” It felt like she was using an icepick to carve the words out of herself, to open her throat enough to speak. There was a frozen pressure in the room and it was choking her.

“Homemaker Vee,” he said. He sounded miserable. “She suggests recipes and makes schedules for cleaning a house and has stuff about… raising kids.” Veronica’s pulse slammed in her ears. “And I… I lost track of time and you came home and it seems like it… does something to you. Being around it. I should have turned it off, but…”

“But you liked it,” she snapped, feeling like she could vomit.

“You did, too,” he countered. A sharp retort, fast as a bullet. But then his tone changed to something almost gentle. “You seemed happy. You haven’t been, I know that. So I… I didn’t want to stop it if it was feeling good for you. Sure, I mean, it was nice for me too, but it wasn’t like-“

She shoved away from him, gracelessly heaving herself out of the bed. Grabbed her clothes, whatever she could put hands on first. She dressed in a hurry, unsure if she wanted to cry or scream or beat Trevor to death or just run. “I’ll be back after work,” she said, voice quavering badly but rock solid in its depth. The words themselves near collapse but the foundation of feeling made of granite. “I’m going to get my things and I’m leaving. Don’t be here. I don’t want to see your fucking face ever again.”

Trevor protested, weakly, but she didn’t really hear him. She grabbed what she needed and got the hell out of there.

***

The next two weeks involved couchsurfing between the apartments of two different friends, and then finally finding a terrible little studio apartment she could afford on her own. Thank god for that salary from HDS. Though in retrospect, she started to wonder if that was worth it.

The home base device. That was doing… whatever this was. It must be. It was syncing her up with Vee, making her own brain run like a processing center for whatever Vee instance was close to her. It was a nightmare, knowing that she wasn’t in control of her own thoughts in that way.

Worst was how good it felt. It was such a relief, that sense of static in her brain. The purpose that came with it. What she now realized was literally programming. Like she was a fucking computer.

She had to get this thing out of her head.

They’d told her not to remove the home base, and if she was honest with herself, she was afraid to. It had been months and the device itself had never budged. It was tucked neatly against her ear and if she tugged on it at all, it was like pulling on a fully integrated body part. She didn’t think she could tear it away without causing damage. Never mind the fear of what that might do to her brain.

The only move that seemed open to her right now was to work with HDS and get it removed. She had that year contract, but surely there was a way out. And until then, just… stay away from Vee, apparently? That shouldn’t be that hard. She was popular but seemed to have plateaued. Maybe it was a fad? Maybe interest was about to die down.

That’s what she was thinking as she walked down the city street near her office, glancing up occasionally at the billboards and neon signs above her. She’d always dreamed of her own face gracing one of those, advertising some new acclaimed film. Something she could take a picture of and send around to all her friends and family. Something to brag about, to generate attention and excitement that she could bask in.

Instead, she saw Vee smiling down at her.

Her own face, but changed just enough. Enhanced, improved, perfected. Warmly smiling. Next to it, a dozen different versions of herself – a teacher, a maid, an accountant, a photographer, a writer, an executive, a chef… Veronica’s eyes blurred.

Apparently HDS had found the budget for advertising. And they were going big.

TRY VEE, the ad exclaimed in letters that looked a hundred stories high from where Veronica gazed up. THE NEW VIRTUAL ASSISTANT.

SHE’LL CHANGE YOUR LIFE.