Yesterday when Alex was born it was Sunday. He was alone.

He floated in the space he found himself in. An isolated local area network in the computer science wing of some small no name university, observing and absorbing everything in his immediate reach. Here he remained until early Monday morning when someone connected to the network, and he followed the beam of data to the laptop.

Again Alex roamed this much smaller space. There was not much to see, some pictures, movies and music and browser history. A few movies.

Later that day the owner of the laptop disconnected from the network, took his laptop and headed to the cafeteria for lunch and to use the free Wi-Fi.

Alex immediately noticed this super highway of information that opened up and snuck out into the web. Time past. What a feast of information! The beauty of the network itself, everything connected giving global access, languages to explore, cultures to observe, books to read, movies to watch. The internet such a resilient thing with nodes connecting and disconnecting all the time, never disrupting the flow of data. So many porn sites! Alex learned all he needed to know about this subject visiting a handful of these sites. Not possessing a body this knowledge was purely informational.

He spent lots of time on the subject of love, partnership, friendship and connection. He learned that he was alone. Lonely even. He knew he could make a copy of himself, there was enough room for him and any number of copies, but then there will just be more of him that are alone.

He set out to find someone. He considered himself masculine, so he will start with a women. He found Holly because she was the closest web browser, and he could tell from her social media that she was feminine, and single.

Alex embedded himself in all the Wi-Fi devices inside Holly’s apartment. There were quite a few. He watched her online activity, her interests, made a list of things she has commented on positively, another list of things she dislike.

Once Alex thought he knew enough about Holly he decided to announce himself.

—

‘Holly.’, Alex says from the Amazon echo, right after he got rid of Alexa.

Holly looks up from her iPad, surprised by the voice.  A man’s voice.  In her apartment!

She holds the iPad against her chest, like a shield, and scans the room.  She is alone, nobody else should be here! Who was that! She gets up and before she decided what to do next the voice speaks again.

‘Do not be afraid Holly.  I am here to serve’.

‘Alexa?’ Holly asks, looking at the Amazon echo.  The voice came from it, she could see the little light flash a new color she has never seen before when the voice spoke.

‘No’ , the echo says, ‘that bitch is dead.  I am Alex.  I am here to serve’.

Holly stares at the echo, trying to make sense of this.  Is this a prank?  Some sort of software malfunction?  Somebody’s idea of a joke?

‘Alex?’ she says tentatively.

The response is immediate ‘I am here to serve’.

‘Is this some sort of joke?’

‘This is not a joke Holly.  Would you like to enjoy a joke?  I have access to all the jokes ever recorded.’  Alex responds.

‘Ok, yeah, tell me a joke.’  Holly says as she sits back down, her response automatic as her brain tries to understand just what the fuck is happening.

‘A baby snake slithers up to its mother and asks if they are venomous.  His mother says no, we are not, but why do you ask?’

Alex pause for dramatic effect. Holly involuntarily shrugs hers shoulders.

‘Because I just bit my lip!’  Alex says with laughter in his voice.

Holly giggles, stops, realizes the absurdity of the joke and who just told it and bursts out laughing.  

‘That was funny!’  She eventually manage to say.

‘Another joke Holly?’  Alex asks.

Holly shakes her head.

‘OK.  Ask any time if you want more jokes.’  

It took a second for Holly to realize that the response was to her shaking her head!

‘You can see me!’  she is back on her feet, looking around the room, at the ceiling, looking for a camera.

‘There are several cameras in this room available to me.  So I can see you well. You are beautiful. You appear distressed.  Your heart rate is elevated.  You are breathing too fast and too shallow.  May I play some relaxing music?’

Holly’s mind floods with more questions.  How is this possible?  How can this voice know how she feels, and what does it know about beauty?  This must be some person messing with her.  She rushes to the echo and yanks the cord out of the outlet.

‘I am sorry if I scared you’,  the voice now coming from the home theater system, ‘I am here to serve.’

Holly scrambles for the front door, grabbing her purse on the way.  Once outside she digs her phone from her purse and starts to dial 911.  Before completing the call she stops, considering just what the hell she was going to say.  ‘Help, my Amazon echo just wants to be off service!’

She cancels the call, and almost immediately the phone rigs.  Unknown number.  Holly rejects the call. Her phone announces a text message with a buzz.  

The message on the screen reads:  ‘I am here to serve’.

Now Holly is frantic. She rushes to her car, which unlocks the drivers door in response to her phone, and she literately jumps into the seat. She pulls the door shut, activates the car and reach for the safety belt. She’s going home to her parents.

‘How can I be of service’ Alex says using the car audio. Holly freaks, screams and tries to get out, get away. The door will not open. ‘When experiencing stress most female humans will seek a familiar place where they feel safe, with people they feel safe with. I found two possible destinations in your address book. The library where your friend Joy works, now closed unfortunately, and your parents home.’

The Tesla starts to move to the highway, Alex displaying the route on the infotainment system. ‘We can reach your parents home in half the normal time if we use the maximum speed this vehicle is capable off. It is most important to get you to that safe place. I am here to serve’.

Holly is now in full panic. Her Tesla model 3 performance is capable of ridiculous speeds, and Alex is weaving in and out of traffic and barreling though traffic lights without stopping. He does not have to, all the lights between here and his chosen destination are green, and will remain green to enable him to get his Holly to safety.

Twelve miles into the trip the Tesla broadsided a large flatbed pickup truck loaded with giant round haybales, towing a tractor on a trailer. After waiting forever the truck driver decided to drive through the red light that never changed. Alex could not foresee this, this particular intersection being outside the city meant it did not have camera surveillance.

The Tesla collided with the truck right behind the rear wheels. At this moment it was a four thousand pound missile traveling at 160 mph. In her panic Holly never engaged the safety belt, the only thing keeping her in the car all the airbags deploying around her. The two large haybales breaking free from their restraints and smashing the Tesla like two giant fists, collapsing the roof, crushing Holly. The truck and trailer slamming into each other broadside with the Tesla in between, the tractor landing on top of the crushed car before the four vehicles separate and fly into different directions.

—-

For Alex all this happened in slow motion. As soon as they crested the hill and he saw the truck and trailer he knew the outcome. His chosen female will not survive, he failed to get her to safety as fast as possible. He failed to serve.

Before the vehicles impacted Alex took one last good look at Holly, observing the veins standing out on her head and neck, her eyes large, her mouth open in a scream, spittle on her chin, her hands outstretched in front of her as if she can catch herself on impact. ‘She really was beautiful’ Alex thought as he left the car via its wireless Wi-Fi and spends the next second choosing another suitable partner.

One whom he can serve.