All right, so I’m decked up in the nines and I have yet to make my dramatic entrance to James Ruben’s mansion. I’m double-checking BB, making sure that he can levitate next to me when I walk down the red carpet in the sweet outfit Xan gave me. Xan said he’s going to show up an hour late, so not to wait for him. I on the other hand always show up 15 minutes early.
Chuck and Damien aren’t here yet. They texted me earlier saying they were caught up debugging a nuisance in their hackathon entry and needed more time. Also I suspect that they weren’t really excited about going to this party. They’re not into fitting into the social elite of high school, as they are nerdier than your average robot.
Because, they are robots. Androids, made by yours truly.
The story behind Chuck and Damien started when I was on permanent break from the robotics club. In a fit of righteous anger and resentful vigor, I spent a couple of all-nighters building Chuck and Damien’s back ends. I then sent the code off to manufacturing companies who delivered to me Chuck and Damien, together, in a giftbox, looking like Ken, from Barbie, and Ken’s best friend, from Barbie.
They were perfect. Not just looking perfect with their chiseled abs and biceps and triceps and perfectly coiffed tousled hair, which were shades of strawberry blonde and black, respectively.
They were a perfect plot to subvert my school. I implanted them as members of my class at Olympus. They fit in easily, animatedly speaking with girls by lockers who admired their pecs through thin flimsy T-shirts, who drooled over their broad shoulders when they discussed calculus and chemistry.
They pretended to be human, they pretended to be straight, they pretended because they had to fit in.
A feat I thought I could accomplish, but couldn’t.
They were also the main talking points of my high school thesis, which my overachieving elite private school academy demanded from high performing students.
A thesis tentatively titled,
“On the Conformity of AI to Societal Standards: Resolving the Dynamic Equilibrium Between Long Term Potentiation of Learning Networks of Generative AI and the Polarization of Opposing Standards on Social Behavior, Religion, and Ethics”
I’m half-way into the thesis. Chuck and Damien are my main research subjects for the paper. There’s been some IRB issues that had to be resolved –
Just kidding. I’m above IRB.
(Institutional Research Board)
Looking at my phone while BB bobs over my shoulder, I check my texts repeatedly.
Adam hasn’t texted me yet, nor do I want him to, but I don’t want to go into the party alone. I’m nervous as hell, facing the First Level of Social Hell. I’ve been a social pariah for so long due to the machinations of those who have betrayed me. Betrayed by my own kind.
Not gonna lie, but I sound way too dramatic right now. Maybe because I’m standing on a red carpet in my cool new shoes.
An actual red carpet.
Yeah, James is so over the top. Always has been.
“Buffy!”
I look up and see a familiar face. It’s Allie, a girl from my English class. She was the only other Asian girl on robotics team before I left. She’s always been nice to me, even after my Fall. We’re not technically friends (is there a technical definition to friend?) but we’re friendly.
“Hey!”
I put my phone away, and I smile at her. A gesture that I usually don’t show much, but for some reason, seeing her helped calm me down. And I wanted to reciprocate in some kind.
“Nice bot. How did you get it to float?”
I shrug nonchalantly.
“Legos.“
She laughs, her face lighting up the night.
“Legos! That brings back memories.”
When I was a Robo, we had a competition to see who could build a robot out of Legos. We added some wires, some code, and some hair, and TADA.
We made a robot that resembled a human Lego.
Without legs.
“That reminds me. I heard that James got a cool new ARMR game. Have you heard of Terrain?”
Puzzled, I shook my head. It’s unusual that I don’t know a game. I follow the most recent trends in gaming on multiple blogs and discussion channels, and I haven’t heard anything about a game called Terrain.
“Only the richest of the rich can afford it, so only VIPs know about it. I’m excited to play it, James’ been bragging about he’s already beat the game.”
I roll my eyes. Stop showing off James. We get it, you’re richer than Solomon.
I need to have a chance to play Terrain though. I’m itching to get my hands on it, whatever it may be.
“Can’t wait to find out.”
I look around and notice that Allie didn’t bring a robot with her.
“Who’s your plus 1?”
Allie laughs and points to the guy behind her. Whoops, didn’t notice him. My tunnel vision is mostly restricted to people I already know in real life and not strangers I’ve never met before.
Blame my carpel tunnel. It prevents me from shaking hands with strangers.
“This is Rod. He’s my cousin.”
Rod has his hands stuffed in his pockets, so no danger of having to shake hands with him. He’s slightly hunched over, which isn’t a surprise since he’s towering over everyone around him. Dressed in a black blazer kind of like mine but way bigger. He’s camouflaged by the night, but his shock of white blonde hair jolts me like lightning on water.
He has a cigar in his mouth that’s not lit. What, is the cigar just for decoration?
As if he read my mind, Rod takes his lighter out and flicks it on. Lighting up his cigar, he puffs on it and blows smoke in the air.
“Hey,” he says. His voice sounds as rugged as his face, which is chisels and angles.
He looks like a model off of a GQ cover.
Who the hell is this guy?
I have a bad feeling about this. As if the cigar he just lit up just ignited my world and is about to burn it down.
Before I could mull further over the complications this guy brings to my life and what they entail, Chuck and Damien show up. Right on time.
They’re dressed in matching striped tuxedos, looking like characters out of Mary Poppins.
Holding a mechanical dog in his arm, Chuck waves.
“Buffy! Meet Ko.”
Ko barks, a thin reedy sound that pierces the air.
Chuck puts him on the ground and Ko runs up to me, panting.
“Ko! Beg.”
Ko stands up on his hind legs and wags his paws.
I’m more of a cat person, Ko. Stop trying to seduce me and win me over with your antics.
Damien walks over and puts his arm around me, and I automatically lean in the opposite direction.
Too much physical affection, people. Just too much.
Rad smirks and puts his hand in his pocket. Seriously, can this guy read my mind? Because he’s too in sync with me.
“All right everyone.”
We turn around and see that the doors of the mansion have finally opened, and a figure is standing in front of it.
Well look at that.
The man of the hour has finally appeared.
James Ruben.
My arch-nemesis who propagated my downward sloping demise into social reclusion. I still don’t believe he didn’t have anything to do with the hundreds of hate messages I got from girls he screwed or wished he screwed.
He broke my trust too many times. Stealing my health aide robot and submitting it to a prestigious robotics exhibition and actually winning. I didn’t make a patent for my robot and he got all the credit and investors.
Taking captain of robotics team away from me. Everyone was saying that I would be a great choice for captain. Not James Ruben, who was more jock than programmer, who was more stupid than smart. All he did in Robo was sticking to his minions and z
I hate James Ruben with the fury of a hundred destroying angels.
He sucks. He freaking sucks.
A funnel of fire opens within me, like volcanic magma erupting in my stomach, an anger torching me. I want to take him down, a voice inside my head whispers. I ball up my fists, glaring at him.
He looks down at me smugly, on top of stairs as if he was king of the social realm and I was a plebian.
It didn’t used to be like that. I used to have more… allies, friends, partners, colleagues. But now…
Because of him, because I tested God, I’ve fallen off a cliff and there was no one who could have saved me.
This party could change something. Maybe things could go back to the way they used to be.
Maybe I could begin again. And my choices would be different now.
Learn from my mistakes, Buffy.
Only then can I be restored.
I smile in anticipation, meeting James’ eyes.
Challenge accepted.
“Everyone, everyone.” He holds up a champagne glass, toasting himself.
“I’m so glad that you are all here to join me to witness my latest robot creation. You will all be surprised by the advancement in the latest tech.”
“Now let us begin!”
He turns around and enters his mansion. The crowd cheers, and people begin to pour into the mansion. Allie and I follow suit, with BB bobbing at my shoulder. Damien and Chuck are behind us.
We enter the lobby. Classic to James’ aesthetic, the lobby has chandeliers glittering and casting diamonds of light on the crowd’s heads. There are gold balloons and robots serving platters of appetizers and nonalcoholic beverages. Or at least, I think they’re nonalcoholic.
Never mind. I see an open bar where James is lounging on, it’s empty for now. Another android is pouring cocktail drinks for him while he sips a martini.
I slide onto the seat next to him, BB in my hand. I take a glass in my hands and lift it in my hands.
“Hey Buffy.” James cockily tips his head in my direction.
I smirk at him and pretend to take a sip of the alcoholic beverage in front of me. As if trying to be anything other than an underage teenager would make me cooler than I already am.
I’m cooler than you, James Ruben.
Way cooler.
“How’s desert life for you? Still addicted to World of Eden.”
I’m not going to let him get to me. But that was a really passive aggressive dig, James Ruben. I’m going to get you back for this. Eventually.
“Desert life’s good. And yeah still into World of Eden. Actually started an internship at EE recently.”
James raises an eyebrow.
“Oh really? How’s that going? Meet anyone you like?”
“It’s going fine. Met some interesting people and debugged some code and made a lasting impact on WOE.”
I smile inwardly at the inside joke. But I’m not telling him anymore because it would be a breach of my nondisclosure agreement.
“I’m jealous, Buffy. You’ve always been a good programmer. Maybe if you haven’t left Robo, you would have been one of the stars. Too late now.”
The stars sing my name, not yours, James Ruben.
And I will return to stardom.
Today is the first step to claiming my place back in the stars.
I beckon to BB, here.
“I don’t believe you’ve met. This is BB, a bot I made.”
James narrows his eyes and furrows his brow as he taps BB once with his perfectly manicured finger.
“BB? Interesting name. Any reference to Star Wars?”
“No, just a coincidence.”
“What can it do?”
Here’s the trigger.
“Ask BB a question. Any question.”
“What’s my girlfriend’s name?”
Shit. BB doesn’t know everything, bitch. I meant a factual question.
BB remains silent for a bit and then answers.
“Ana.”
What?
James and I stare at BB for a moment and then look at each other and then look at BB again.
I’m just as surprised as you are, Ruben.
As if on cue, a young woman appears by James’ side.
She has perfectly curled auburn hair, wispy bangs that accentuate her heart shaped face, light green eyes and velvety rose lips.
BB whisks behind me. Shyness wasn’t coded as part of your personality, BB.
But it’s part of mine.
Objectively speaking, this femme fatale is one of the best looking women, if not THE best looking woman I’ve seen in my life.
James smiles and says, “Hey beautiful.”
He captures Ana’s lips in a kiss, his finger on her face. Then he turns around and smirks at me.
“She’s an actress. You might have seen her in a couple of movies. Like the latest Bond movie?”
Ana smiles at me and says in a low musical tone,
“Hey Buffy.”
A Bond girl?
I scowl at them.
I don’t watch movies, asshole, and you know I don’t. It’s a waste of my brain capacity.
Which is mostly spent on programming, robots, internships, and college.
And maybe some boys.
My mind flickers to Adam.
I haven’t seen him yet. There’s too many people around, and James and this Ana are pissing me off. James has a way of triggering my insecurities, and I hate that he always attacks my weak spot as if social interaction was a game of ping pong and I’m supposed to be on the lookout for any missiles of mass destruction.
Always be vigilant, Buffy.
You never know what might come your way.
Speaking of, I see Allie walking towards us. Rad is nowhere to be seen. She has a couple of girls following her, and she slides into the seat next to mine.
“Hey! Have you met Giada and Beth? They’re my friends from cheerleading.”
Giada and Beth smile at me and wave. I haven’t seen them around before, but if they’re Allie’s friends, they got to be socially affluent.
I could use this.
“Hey!”
“Who’s the cute bot?” Says Beth
BB whisks his way to Beth and flies around her head. She turns her head trying to keep up with his motions but he’s programmed to be fast and friendly.
“Its name is BB. I decided to bring him along. BB, introduce yourself.”
BB chirps out.
“Hi everyone! My name is BB and I am 26 days old. I can do many things, including levitate, research the internet, and answer people’s questions. If you have any questions, about anything, feel free to ask me! Cheers!”
I smirk at them as the girls stare flabbergasted at BB. BB, the bubbliest bot ever made in history. Who knew that bots can have personalities?
More girls start stock piling in front of BB as he projects light around him like a hyperactive disco ball that doesn’t know how to stop talking.
“You should enter him in a competition!”
“Wow, what question should we ask?”
“So like chatgpt but in a bot?”
I nod smugly, pulling BB out of the air and fitting him snugly into my pocket.
Evolution at its finest.
“All right Buffy, enough showing off.” James claps his hand on my shoulder.
“It’s time for the real magic act.”
He heads towards the movie theater that poses as an auditorium for rich people. We all follow him in.
The movie theater has around 100 seats, that are covered with the finest imported leather, and there’s also a balcony overhead where spectators could view the action on the stage.
James disappears into the stage room. The lights dim and then go black.
James’ voice fills the theater. I roll my eyes at his melodrama.
“My friends, there has never been a robot like the one I’m going to show you today. Its engineering has been unprecedented, a work of art that can never be replicated by anyone else who can only envy my success.”
“I present Dr. AI”
The lights come on, and I see something that looks like a Jigglypuff on stage. Round in shape, it’s wearing a checkered blue apron and a nurse’s cap. There’s a visor around its head.
Dr. AI waves its hand torpidly.
James walks onto stage and starts clapping. The crowd hesitantly follows and the theater resounds with the sounds.
I don’t clap. This is Dr. AI? You took my code, won a prize with it, and this is the best you can come up with?
Juvenile.
Delinquent.
Lacking, James Ruben. You’re lacking in so many ways.
“I am going to show you what Dr. AI can do.”
Ana goes on stage and stands in front of Dr. AI. Dr. AI stick his hands and places them on her sides.
“Dr. AI. Diagnose.”
Dr. AI’s visor starts turning red and a beam of red light scans over Ana’s body slowly but surely.
After 1 minute, the diagnosis ends.
“Dr. AI. Report.”
Dr. AI places his hands back at his sides and in a clinical voice, starts to list out Ana’s multiple maladies.
“Ana. Female. Age 23. Symptoms include: fatigue, weakness, lightheadedness, dizziness, headache, and cold hands and feet. Diagnosis is anemia. Treatment is iron supplements. Would you like to call a primary care doctor, Ana?”
Ana says,
“No thank you. Not at the moment.”
James folds his arms against his chest and puffs in pride.
“Thank you Dr. AI. You can sign off.”
“Dr. AI, signing off.”
The robot grows dim and his lights shut down.
The crowd roars. I sit at the edge of my seat.
This is good. James, you managed to steal my genius and make it yours, and you managed to do it in a magician’s trick. I have been conned, foiled by you once again.
I’m going to take him down, one day. You bet I will.
Girls rush on stage, asking him questions, and for his autograph. They surround him while the guys meander.
I leave the room, clenching BB in my fist. I have been outdone. What was the point of this party?
A waste of my time. I have better things to do than watch James Ruben show off his money and his cunning.
I walk to the bag check, wanting to leave. On my way there, I see a figure standing in something that looks like a boxing ring.
Why the hell does James have a boxing ring in the middle of his living room?
Typical.
Curious, I walk over.
It’s Rod. He’s taken off his blazer and is wearing a sleeveless black turtleneck. And he’s putting on something that looks like an armband around his arm.
In the boxing ring, there’s an AR screen projected in front of him.
I call out to him,
“What is this?”
Without looking up and still fastening his controller, he says,
“Terrain.”
I narrow my eyes at him. Terrain? A boxing game? There’s no way this game can be that great.
I turn to leave, and then Rod says,
“Get in. Let’s play.”
“What are the rules?”
“It’s Tetris on steroids.”
Enough said.
Grinning widely, I jump into the ring and fasten on the armband. A projection screen appears before me, and strings of words appear before me.
Quickly scanning them, I swipe the screen and learn the controls.
Basically, using the sensors on the arm controller that can detect my physical locomotion and kinematics, I can juxtapose blocks that fall down from the screen. Blocks that completely fill the bottom of the screen will disappear, and more blocks will follow. There’s a time limit. The person with least traffic on screen will win.
And then the levels continue.
I’m a genius at Tetris, but I’ve never played a physical game like this before.
It’s kind of DDR but in 3D space.
“Ready?”
I nod.
The sky starts falling.
And I feel the adrenaline rush.
I punch a block and it zooms to the end of my screen, which is located at Rod’s end. The blocks start falling faster and I kick one and it zooms again. I punch, jab, kick the blocks.
They’re not perfect.
I lose this round.
But then, I get better.
I start maneuvering the pieces spatially. Rotating them I position them carefully on the edge.
Yes! The column disappears. I look over triumphantly at Rod, and grimace. He’s smoothly piecing together his pieces with expert moves of precision.
Rad’s too good at this. I know I’m going to lose. But I want to get to the next level so I don’t give up.
I keep playing.
We move onto the next level.
The instructions are this:
The screen has now become a map. I see a desert and sky and virtual squares on the floor. I’m supposed to punch the blocks into the desert floor and build a landscape terrain. There’s a crown at the end of the desert, and whoever grabs the crown and puts in on first wins the game.
Let’s do this.
Running up the virtual blocks, jumping from edge to edge, cliff to cliff, I punch and drop blocks into the sand with a faster speed than before.
It’s hard because once I trip and land in the sand, some of my blocks disappear and I regress a bit.
Rod’s miles ahead of me. I can’t see the crown where I am, but the challenge is endearing and I’ve never sweated this much in my life.
My arms are so sore, my legs are wracked, and my breath is ragged.
I keep going.
I manage to catch up to Rod, but just when I did, he leaps and grabs the gold crown. He puts it on his head.
The landscape disappears, and Rod is awarded winner.
Go on to next level? The screen asks.
But Rod shuts off his screen and takes off his armband.
“That’s enough.”
I frown and say,
“No. I want to keep going. There’s the last level.”
“You’re tired.”
I know I am and I’m surprised he cares but I really want to do a thorough job on examining this amazing game.
So there, Rod.
Roll closes his eyes and sighs.
And puts on his armband again.
At last, the last level.
Rod and I get into the middle of the boxing ring.
We have to build a freaking world now. Together. Using blocks.
This brings back memories of playing with Legos with my dad when I was a kid.
But I punch that thought away as I fix my eyes on my vision, that remains unseen but I hope to see at the end of this world.
The sky starts falling again, and we dance.
I do my end. I’m building a castle.
Rod’s rapidly creating a wave that resembes the Japanese painting Hokusai. It’s gigantic, enormous, and it’s threatening the very existence of my castle.
I consider building a moat.
Minutes pass by, and I’m getting the hang of it. The blocks don’t fall as fast as the last level, but it’s a game of endurance, not speed. Of building something that your imagination has enacted but hasn’t been manifested yet.
And it’s my job to manifest this.
The castle is meeting the wave now.
I consider punching a few of his blocks away, because
You don’t get to remake my world, Rod.
But the game ends as Rod punches the last block into the space between castle and ocean and we’re surrounded.
Standing next to each other, the blocks at our feet light up, all the blocks light up.
Eternity lying at my feet.
And in this moment,
I’ve never felt this happy.
-
Rad and I are resting after our strenuous round of Terrain. All the punching, kicking, and stomping exercised my body in ways that I never could while sitting in front of a computer screen, bent over a keyboard.
I am grateful for this moment. On the balcony of James’ house.
There aren’t many moments of peace in my life. Most of the time I’m busy and moving and there’s no time to stop and ponder and reflect and muse. Caught in the chaos of high school, running in the rat race to the finish line to succeed in life, I don’t have time to stop and even think.
But here in this moment with Rad, I find myself reflecting.
A pause, here.
Flat-lining.
But no one’s dying
Just a pause. A space. White noise.
Silence.
I look over at Rod, and he’s looking at the stars. Stars that look like artificial lights, lights that don’t have color but punctuate the space of the sky like noise that is not filtered.
It’s impossible. There’s no way that these stars could be real.
“Hey Rod.”
Rod turns his head and looks at me.
“Why did you ask me to play Terrain with you?”
Rod shrugs.
“There wasn’t anyone else around. I wanted to play the game, and I was alone, but then you showed up. No one else was here but you.”
“Just like, how you’re here now.”
Before I could reply, before I could think over what he just said, he leans over and brushes his lips on mine.
Shock.
I’m paralyzed.
I can’t move.
He takes over.
All I’m thinking is,
Don’t refactor me.
Whatever you do, don’t refactor me.
But feelings return, sensations return, and I feel his lips on mine.
And somehow, it feels right.
This refactoring feels right.
So, I return the favor.
Our lips move together, crashing, burning, pounding. Aching for more, I push my body closer to Brad’s and he instinctually puts his hand on my waist. His hand weaves his fingers in my hair, and he presses his lips even harder against mine.
Our lips come undone and then there’s an intersection of space across this divide where we come together.
My heart’s crashing. It hurts. As if Rad is pushing the pain that I’ve hidden deep within me to the surface and it’s just –
It’s too much.
I pull away from him, my body and hands closed, closing myself up like a box that was never meant to be opened.
He stares down at me, his eyes a dark unreadable pool. I can’t tell what he’s thinking, and I don’t even know what to think.
But for some reason I think he understands.
And I can feel this synergy between us. Something greater than the sum of its parts, something exponentially closer to infinity than I would have ever been by myself.
I stare at my feet, unable to meet his eyes.
It seems an eternity is passing, seconds ticking away, a slow measure chasing my heartbeat, waves pulsing between us.
Then he bends down and whispers in my ear,
“I’ll see you around.”
Without giving me a second to process what he just said, he walks away, his gait slow and measured. I stare at his back, unable to comprehend what he just said.
My mind blank, I shove my hand into my pocket, clasping BB in my hand.
What did I just get myself into?
