Free Will

As always, Hallie woke up right before her alarm went off. Despite this, she still set the alarm every night before bed, just in case. You never knew when something that was routine might suddenly change.

Although if Hallie was being perfectly honest, not much ever changed around here, not unless there was a accidental bug in one of the Network updates, and even those they usually fixed within minutes.

She sat up and slid her bare feet into the fuzzy brown slippers that were always on the floor right by her bed. She then yawned, did a few quick stretches and shuffled her way into the kitchen. There was a mug of steaming hot coffee already brewed in the pot. Hallie added some half and half and a spoonful of sugar, and sat on a tall kitchen stool, wrapping her hands around the mug, enjoying the warmth on her skin. When she was finished with her coffee she stood up and spoke out loud to the empty room.

“Hey Siri, set my day.”

She couldn’t feel anything of course, but she knew that the chip in her head was currently downloading and programming all of her decisions for the day: what she wore to work, what she ate for lunch, even which streets she walked down. 

Hallie knew that previous generations had devices that they had to hold and look at to get information, and before that, humans actually believed that they were making their own choices. She had rolled her eyes when she had learned that last part, because everyone knew that free will was an illusion. People in the olden days must have been pretty dumb, Hallie thought. She couldn’t imagine walking around all day making decisions, it sounded positively exhausting.

Hallie heard the soft beep that meant that Siri was finished. She put her empty mug into the dishwasher and went into her bedroom to get dressed for work.

It was Tuesday, which was an on site day. Most offices nowadays had 2 or 3 on site days and every other time employees worked from home, except for teachers who were on site Monday-Friday. Hallie’s best friend taught fifth grade and she was constantly complaining about the extra commuting days. The schools had tried all remote first of course, having the teachers livestream lessons to their class from home, but it hadn’t worked for most kids.

“It was like you would be teaching math and suddenly you would realize that half your class was logged in but not actually there,”Jess had complained. “They were off playing video games or eating Goldfish crackers or something. This one time I caught one of the boys shooting baskets in his yard instead of taking the test. He had set up one of the AI bots to answer questions for him, as if we don’t know all about that. Kids are so dumb.”

It also turned out that kids mental health suffered greatly when they were not physically around other kids. After a horrible rash of young suicide attempts, the school districts had ultimately decided that classes should go back to being in person all the time. 

Hallie was in the shop today, checking inventory and helping the few customers who wanted to try something on before buying. Most people ordered clothes online of course, but some things were still better purchased in person. Dresses for one, that had to fit just right, and sometimes shoes. 

Hallie knew that the people who came into the store today were randomly selected by the Network. She had learned this when she was a kid, it was how the economy kept going. Every day exactly the right number of people were programmed to go shopping. The Network also kept track of who was running low on milk, bread, toilet paper and made sure their day’s agenda including a stop at the grocery store. Couples would go out to eat occasionally; once a week was the standard, and families would go to the movies. Everything was perfectly distributed.

Hallie had also learned that before the chips were implanted and everyone connected to the Network, there were people who didn’t have enough to eat, people who didn’t have a place to live. That made perfect sense to her. When you left humans to their own devices, of course they messed up, made bad choices. There had even been something called Climate Change that had actually threatened the existence of the entire planet. 

Thankfully AI had put an end to all of that. It had started off just doing helpful tasks like writing term papers for college students and code for programmers, but the real genius was when it decided to take away all of our choices. 

Hallie opened the store, and wandered around, making sure the clothing on the shelves were perfectly neat and folded, that everything hung just right on the racks. It was also important to put the right colors together, ones that complimented each other and made the display look bright and appealing. Not that anyone was actually picking out clothes of course, they already knew what they were there to get. But it never hurt to make things look nice anyway.

On her lunch break, Hallie went to the coffee shop next door to grab a sandwich. The man who worked behind the counter liked to flirt with her. He had big blue eyes and floppy blond hair and he would always draw a foam heart into her cappuccino before handing it to her with a wink. She knew his name was Justin and that he had two dogs. Sometimes he brought the dogs, beagles named Jonie and Josie, to the cafe with him and let them wander around sniffing at customers feet and licking up crumbs. 

Hallie could see no dogs anywhere today. Justin toasted a bagel for her, and added some strawberry cream cheese. When he handed her the brown paper bag, she noticed something written on the side. It was a phone number.

“You know, in case you want to go out sometime,” he said with a grin.

Hallie smiled back. It was about time he asked her out. She had been wondering what was taking him so long. And actually writing his number down instead of just sending it from his Network to hers was cute. She winked at him and mumbled under her breath.

“Hey Siri, save data.” She looked at numbers on the side of the bag, and after a second there was a soft beep. 

He nodded. “Great! So like maybe call me tonight. And we can grab a drink or something.”

After work Hallie went home, took a quick shower, and changed into a cute purple dress with high heeled sandals. She left her hair down so it fell across her shoulder in dark waves, and applied just a touch of mascara and pink lip gloss. Her and Justin met at a bar about five blocks from her house. He ordered a beer and she got a white wine and they made witty small talk for about an hour before he followed her to her apartment and she invited him upstairs. When you liked someone, she thought, there was no point in playing games.

She work up early the next morning. Sunlight was pouring through her bedroom windows, leaving warm pools of light across the wooden floor. Hallie slipped her feet into her slippers and went into the kitchen to get coffee, but surprisingly, the machine had not turned on. Frowning, Hallie checked the wire. It was still plugged in. Had there been some kind of power surge overnight? She knew that happened sometimes. Signing, she pushed the button and listened as the water inside started gurgling. At least it seemed it was still working. 

“Hey Siri, şet my day.”

‘I’m sorry I can’t access the Network right now. Please reboot.”

Hallie blinked. She could not remember ever hearing that message before. Still, she knew what to do. She pressed her left thumb against the soft skin of her right wrist, feeling for the small button that was there and pushing it firmly. After about five minutes she tried again.

“Hey Siri, set my day.”

‘I’m sorry I can’t access the Network right now. Please reboot.”

Hallie frowned. She was pretty sure she had done it correctly but she pushed the button again just in case. A few minutes later she got the same message.

A loud beeping sound filled the kitchen. The coffee was done. Hallie got a mug out of the cabinet, filled it to the brim with hot coffee, then paused. Should she put milk? Sugar? Some kind of flavored syrup? A quick peek into the fridge showed that she had half and half, two percent milk and vanilla flavored Coffeemate. She stared at the shelves, feeling the cold air brush across her face, but nothing happened. Was she supposed to just pick one?

Flustered, Hallie grabbed the Coffeemate and slammed the fridge door. She poured some into her mug and took a long sip. It tasted much sweeter than normal. 

She carried the mug back into her bedroom, placing it onto the bedside table. Now what?

It was Wednesday, another in person work day. Hallie supposed she should find something to wear but when she opened her closet she was overwhelmed by all of the different colors. After staring into the rows of clothing for a full minute, she finally decided on a flowered dress that fell just past her knees. She figured it was similar to the clothing they sold in the shop so it was certainly appropriate for work. 

Hallie put on the dress, brushed her hair and then, as an afterthought, added some eyeliner and mascara. She then sat on the edge of the bed, looking around her bedroom. Her walls were painted a pretty pale blue. Curtains of a similar color framed her large windows. Her bed was covered with a fluffy quilt with a geometric print in blue, red and gold. The room was bright and sunny and made her feel happy. She didn’t want to leave it. 

With a sigh, Hallie pulled herself to her feet. She was about to head out the door when suddenly a thought made her stop dead in her tracks.

What if she didn’t go to work? 

It was so revolutionary it took her breath away, Could she do that? Just stay home? 

Hallie actually thought she could! She would climb back into bed, pull the cozy comforter over her head and go back to sleep for awhile. 

Hallie thought for a moment. The only time she ever missed work was when she was not feeling well. So maybe she could just say she was sick?

“Hey Siri, message work.”

‘I’m sorry I can’t access the Network right now. Please reboot.”

Hallie frowned. Now what? She opened up her laptop and was surprised to see that it was fully functional. Was it just her personal Network that was broken? That had never happened before. After confirming that her computer was in fact connected (whatever the problem was, it had nothing to do with her wifi), Hallie sent a quick email to her boss:

Not feeling well.

Will work from home today.

See you next week,

Hallie

She knew it was kind of blunt, but it had been awhile since she had actually written a message to anyone. She was just about to close her laptop when another email popped up in her inbox. 

Hallie,

Is your Network down? I can’t seem to access mine. I made eggs for breakfast. I don’t think I actually like eggs. Lol.

What’s going on??

Jess

Hallie replied with her own message of confusion, including a note about how her coffee had been too sweet. Laughing, she closed her laptop and slid underneath the blanket.

“Hey Siri, turn on bedroom TV.”

‘I’m sorry I can’t access the Network right now. Please reboot.”

With a groan, she climbed out of bed again and pushed the small black power button on the actual television. This was certainly going to take some getting used to. 

The screen flickered on to reveal what looked like a news broadcast. That was strange, Hallie never watched news shows. Only really old people did that, the ones who still remembered what the world was like before you could just ask the Network for the daily report. Hallie was surprised these shows even still existed.

A woman about Hallie’s age was speaking. She had bright red hair that cascaded down her back like flames and bright green eyes. Her voice was confident and commanding.

“It’s freedom day, ya’ll! Take charge of your own life! We are humans not machines! “ 

There was a slow crawl of words across the bottom of the screen and Hallie’s eyes widened as she read them.

“All Networks went dark this morning. An unknown vigilante group that call themselves Y2K have claimed responsibility. Authorities are currently working on the problem and hope to get it back online soon,”

Terrorists? The woman on the screen certainly didn’t look like any terrorist Hallie had ever seen. In fact, she looked more like the kind of women who shopped at her store.

“Free will is REAL!”, the woman shouted. “Fuck AI! Go outside. Make choices. Be HUMAN!” She defiantly pumped her fist in the air and then the shot switched to one of the local newscasters instead. 

Hallie shut the TV off and reopened her laptop instead. Not surprisingly, there was another email from Jess. 

No way I’m working today! Wanna meet for coffee?

Hallie was about to reply that she already had coffee at home when she realized that of course the drink wasn’t really the point; her friend just wanted to hang out. Hallie once again looked around her cozy bedroom. Sure, staying in bed sounded nice. But what about meeting a friend at the coffee shop on a workday morning…just because she could?

Maybe that lady on the TV was on to something. Shouldn’t she do what SHE wanted with her day, instead of simply what the Network programmed her to do?

Smiling to herself, Hallie slipped on a pair of sandals and walked out into the world.

Hallie had never seen the coffee shop so crowded this early in the morning. It seemed that everyone in the neighborhood had either seen or heard about the broadcast, and chosen to meet a friend to discuss it. Justin was swamped with orders but he did take a second to shoot her a flirtatious wink. Hallie blew him a kiss in return. Last night had been fun, she would certainly do it again. Assuming everything went back to normal that is.

Hallie ordered a blueberry muffin and an iced coffee. Jess had snagged the last table in the corner and she grinned up at her when she sat down. 

“Wild morning huh?”

Hallie agreed. “What do you think is going on?”

Jess frowned. “It is probably just a publicity stunt,” she said. “Like it is going to turn out that that red-haired woman is just selling a new line of shoes or something.”

Hallie paused, thoughtful. “It doesn’t seem like that though. I mean you hear all the time about crazy people who want to free us all from the confines of the Network. Maybe one of them finally succeeded.”

Jess shook her head. “Why would anyone actually want that though? To make all those choices all day? I could barely figure out what to wear this morning.”

It was true, it had been confusing. But also, Hallie thought, kind of fun.

The two women sat in the coffee shop for almost two hours, watching different groups of people come in and out. Everyone seemed to have their own idea of what was happening. 

When they finally left, they decided to go to the park. It seems that many parents had decided to keep their kids home from school for the day and the playground was full of shouts and laughter. Hallie watched as a boy about 5 years old rolled a giant ball down a slide where another boy was waiting to catch it. She couldn’t remember when she had last played any kind of game. 

The day went on like that, her and Jess wandering around the city, spontaneously making choices for what to do next. Hallie bought an ice cream cone from a cart playing joyful music, and a funny t-shirt from a shop she had never noticed before. It wasn’t until the sun starting dipping low behind the buildings that they finally decided to go back to their separate apartments.

Hallie was exhausted. She heated up some leftover pasta that she had in the fridge and took a long hot bath. It had been a great day but she was ready to finally climb into bed.

Right before shutting off the lights, it occurred to her to check the Network one more time.

“Hey Siri…”

“Network reboot complete. How can I help?”

Hallie paused, suddenly unsure of herself. Normally she would tell it to shut her lights, to set the alarm for morning. It had never occurred to her to not do this. Until now.

“Hey Siri, cancel.”

She heard a soft beep and then everything was quiet. Hallie walked over to the switch on the wall and shut off the lights herself. She didn’t have to do anything now, the day was over. She could just start everything all over again in the morning...if she chose.

She slipped her body underneath the fuzzy comforter and closed her eyes.