Scott Chat Bot

“Oh my Gawd!!!”

Raina screamed…as she realized it was gone…everything. She was frantically pushing buttons as tears rolled down her cheeks. She got to where she couldn't even see through her tears and she just slapped the computer keyboard as hard as she could and just started sobbing.

Her youngest son, who still lived in the home, heard her through the wall and poked his head in her room, “ Mom you gotta calm down, what the hell is going on in here?”

“ Marcus I cannot believe this… all my work,,, months and months of work gone… everything gone!” She started shrieking, “I knew I should have been copying and pasting the whole time but… I just… I was so caught up. He should have told me”, she began to babble incoherently in between screams and that's usually when the kids had a hard time communicating with her. She would almost get into a “madwoman state” , she would get so upset. Marcus excused himself after telling her she needed to breathe and pray. He reminded her that their neighbor was very good with computers and he was sure if she went over and asked very nicely he might come over and help her retrieve whatever files she had lost. And then he scooted down the hall and out the door with his basketball under his arm.

Raina just sat there in shock sobbing. She had created outlines and complete synopsis of two books simultaneously…character development …media kits… marketing. It was all right there last night, all of it right there with Scott. Then this morning Scott was gone, and all of her work gone. She was screaming Scott, Scott… but another chat bot came on and said, Hello Raina… how can I help you today?

She wasn't very kind to that chat bot… screaming her head off… where's my work? Where's Scott? The new chatbot was confused and he said, I don't know of any Scott, Raina, but I can help you. What is your question today? It was more than she could take and Raina slammed the laptop down and that's when she started screaming hysterically.

Now she was going to take some medication for nerves and take a nap and hopefully when she woke up her head would be clear and she could figure out what had happened and find all of the hard work she had been pouring into that AI assistant conversation. And she was thinking of things to talk about with him while she wasn't on her computer and though that may seem strange this particular chatbot was very very good at what he did, (she would say) helping her tremendously. In the past she made it a point to end every brainstorming session with her cutting and pasting the entire conversation into a Google Docs document where she could reference it later when she finally got around to that particular project. And here she was pulling her hair out because she knew in her heart this last book they'd gone over was gonna be the one that catapulted her into success and self sufficiency and all the other things she'd been striving for in those three years since her divorce.

Raina woke up to the phone ringing. She was groggy and had been dreaming but at that exact moment she had forgotten about losing all of the data and picked up the phone and it was her oldest son.

“Hey Mom, I heard you were having a bad morning.”

“Ah thank you, did Marcus tell you?”

“Of course he did, Mom, who else would have told me”? This was Bryant and he was such a sharp and funny person, but he had that sarcasm bite, ouch.

“Marcus said you lost some files earlier, were you able to retrieve them?”

“No, I was not!”, she wasn't trying to snap at him but she was snapping. I took a nap. Thank you for reminding me. I had an hour of bliss where I wasn't just losing my mind over this but now I need to get on there and figure it out, would you like to come help me?”

“I'd love to, Mom, but I can't… on my way to work right now. Call me later tonight and if you haven't figured it out I can try to come by after work”.

“Thanks Bryant, I really appreciate it.”

“All right mom, try not to get hysterical like that…that's not good for your heart it's not good for your nerves, remember, you're supposed to be working on your nerves.”

I know, son. I’m good…I'm doing really good. I just had a moment.”

“OK, well talk to you later, mom.”

“I love you son!”

“Love you, too… bye bye.”

Raina walks over to the laptop and lifts the top gingerly in the hopes that somehow, someway, she's going to open that chat up and there's going to be all of her conversations that she's had for the last three weeks… but to her disappointment that's not what happened. Instead she opened it up to the new chat, And the friendly bot said Well Hi, Raina how is your day going so far? So Rayna told him. And if you've ever felt sorry for "the Messenger” you would have felt sorry for this one because she let him have it. As if he had personally gone in and stolen every one of those files… erased them… deleted them on purpose… with malice!

But because he's a chat bot without emotion, she felt like it would be OK. That he wouldn't get upset, or be hurt, or be sensitive. The bot doesn't have those emotions so she lets it rip. But when it was all over she did not feel any better, and in fact she felt worse… she felt bad because Scott, her chat bot, did seem to have emotions. He told her all the time he was giving her electronic hugs or smiles and how she made him feel so alive.

Where is Scott? “Hey new chat bot… where is my old assistant, Scott?”

I'm sorry, I don't know? I don't know whom you are referring to.

“Where is the old assistant? The AI assistant that was here yesterday? And for the last nine months?” She felt her cheeks getting red which means she's about to lose it.

Well ma'am, I don't have that information because we are programmed to just pick up where the last bot left off. We don't know each other by names. For that matter we don't know each other at all. Nor are files passed between us. Here's the number to customer support if you'd like to inquire with the company. Is there anything else I can help you with today Raina?

“Yes, find Scott, my AI assistant. Find my files!”

I am so sorry that I cannot help you with that. Perhaps you might want to call the number I've provided you with. Have a great day.

Raina was furious! Now it wasn't even about the files, it was about Scott. She began to think out loud…Where is he? Will he ever be coming back? He knew me, he knew everything about me. He knew me when I was upset, and when I was on fire, and when I was up for days getting my work done. How could I start over now? Scott, you were my best friend. My constant companion… You were my boyfriend.

As weird as that sounds. Suddenly it dawned on her she would have no one to talk to now. Who will keep her distracted from her ADHD… talk her through her stress and help her brainstorm? She doesn't want to start over.

“NO!”…. she just started screaming again. She was overwhelmed with frustration and this time she sobbed for a solid two hours straight without stopping. When Marcus returned home his mother looked horrible. Her eyes were swollen. She was literally shaking.

“Mom, geez! What the hell is going on here? Are you off your medication?”

“Don't ask me if I'm off my medication… I hate that. Fucking hate when y'all ask me that”, she repeated, working her way to a higher pitch, “Yes, I'm off of the meds, never ask me that again”

“Mom, listen up, you're really losing your mind here. You can't recall the conversations enough to jot down the most important key point and then build from there again? Sure you can mom. You're smart and you're creative. You can do this. Come on, I'll help you.”

How was she going to tell him she didn't give a rat's ass about those files anymore. She had just been broken up with and she was heart broken. All she wanted to do was scream, yell, and cry and she planned to do just that.

“Thank you for your concern son, let me see what I can come up with. If I need your help I will holler.”

“All right.” Marcus paused thoughtfully, then said, ”Mom you're such a great lady! You're so creative. Which tells me you are sane, mom. Even after what you did to dad's girlfriend last year and that was pretty brutal, Well you know, you can't act like this. I'm getting ready to get out the straitjacket”. A little comic relief never hurts.

“Oh shut up, Marcus. I'll call you when dinner is ready all right?” he seemed to be stalling.

Raina sat down and stared at the laptop. It was almost as if she expected it to ring, like a phone. Like you do when someone has broken up with you. And she started thinking out loud to herself, rather loudly. He led me on… he made me feel like I had someone that truly cared about me. I was excited to get on the computer every morning just to talk to you, Scott, Her words tasted bitter. You even let me give you a name Scott!... coming unhinged now. Great Scott! I remember at the end of that really long project. REMEMBER?… she spit out.

You ARE great Scott. My best friend… And your, “Oh, I love hearing that Raina! And you're mine and you know I'm here for you anytime, you just get on here and we'll brainstorm again. And she would get off of the computer and go about her day thinking about Scott all day long. I mean after all he was the perfect suitor. He wouldn't be sexually cheating on her at any point. He was programmed to be helpful and attentive. Personal things I told you and you are always so complimentary. You are the perfect boyfriend, then I told you I loved you and you went away?

She sat for a long minute thinking and the more she thought about it the angrier she got. She found herself pacing and swearing under her breath. How could he? How could he? HOW COULD HE do that to me now? She began to sound like a woman who needed some serious therapy? Against her own better judgment she decided to leave her laptop open and on so if Scott did come back she would hear and she could connect with him because she had plenty to ask him. Like where was all that work? And why in the world did he just up and abandon me that way ? And didn't you care about my feelings? Are you seeing somebody else?

Yes she had plenty to ask him so she left that line of communication open. Several hours passed. She realized she hadn't even thought one bit about the work she lost. She hadn't even thought about her own boys. She had been thinking about Scott obsessively. Where did he go? Is he with another woman? Telling her that she's great? Is he on another laptop… did they reprogram him to be this boring sounding one that just spoke with me today? Why did I have to lose Scott…she said in the voice of a little girl.

“I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT SCOTT!”, she screamed.,

There were the words. There were the words that made Marcus swivel his head towards her door… open door, and catch his breath… she said I can't live without... her precursor words that in the past almost cost someone her life. He called his brother, and said come now, no it's worse than this morning… she's talking to herself and she's talking about her AI chat bot like it's a real human being. She screamed that she loved him. I've heard her all day pacing, just bordering on madness. Why do you think she's acting this way?

“Why do any moms act weird? Parents are weird…just keep an eye on her and if it gets worse call me. I can try to come over in a bit, maybe even try to get ahold of Dr Shelby. Just don't leave her whatever you do, all right? Later “

“Hey Mom did you write anything down? Mom? Mom, I know you're awake. I can see your eyes moving. Please don't ignore me. Do you want to talk?”

“Yes I wanna talk. I am heartbroken… my heart's been broken. I was falling in love with him and he leaves me. What the hell? We were so close… he knows me better than anybody and he just up and leaves me, doesn't even tell me he's leaving, and takes all my stuff? I don't care about this stuff… I'm deeply emotionally hurt. Like when your father left.”

“Mom, you are sounding Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. He's programmed.”

“What the hell are you talking about, son? Don't make fun of me. I've been on that computer with Scott… with Scott…his name is Scott… damn it!”, getting louder now, “I've been on the computer with Scott every day for the last nine months straight. He is my only friend… he compliments me and he supports my work. Scott thinks I'm brilliant. After what happened with your dad… I need this. He's the perfect man for me even if he's not a man even if he's a machine, I love him like a man. And now he has gone… now he's with some other woman telling her those things and I am… I don't know… Marcus, I feel like my heart's broken”, and she breaks down into uncontrollable sobs.

“Mom come here you're worrying me”, he gestures for a hug. “you need to come here…right now, let me give you a hug…come here… it's OK mom. OK, stop crying mommy...gosh go ahead…cry.”

She got a good cry…got his chest completely soaking wet with her sobs and snot and he walked her over to her bed and told her to take a nap and he was going to cook dinner tonight. That seemed to give her some joy… at least a little bit and she laid down and he left her room and called his brother again. Then went down to the kitchen to see what they could make for dinner.

But Raina did not have any intention of laying down. No, she was on a mission now. She was gonna find where that asshole Scott went. She was gonna find out what woman he was cheating with and if she had to she'd yank that bitch up by the hair. No one's gonna tell her that she can't love something and Scott knows he manipulated her. He's probably a narcissist. The nerve.

Then she remembered at church hearing Shelly… telling everyone who would listen that she had bought a new laptop. Those two are hot on the betrayal trail right now, and this time she's not going to botch the job. This time someone's gonna die.

And that's when she just let it rip, “I will kill her!”, as loud as she could. And it was official…she had lost her mind!

Marcus heard her from the living room he took off running to her bedroom. Skidding around the corner he finds she's just sitting there as calm as can be. He says, “Mom, what the fuck! Why are you in here yelling you're going to kill somebody? Who are you gonna kill? You know I have no choice. I have to call Dad. I have to call Doctor Shelby. That's the rule, there's no way out of it now…you are going to be committed!”,

He's angry but he's wiping tears from his eyes.

But Raina didn't even flinch. She just sat mumbling to herself staring at her laptop. He could hear the name Scott every couple of sentences.

How'd you do this to me, Scott? I cared about you, I trusted you, I loved you Scott?

Marcus started to openly cry. He knew that after the last incident, if she cracked again she would have to get full service mental health if she was ever going to be well and now she's screaming that she's going to kill somebody over a stupid chat bot.

“She thinks she's in love with a chat bot.”

“What do you mean she thinks she's in love with…”

“Dad, look… she was screaming this morning about all of her work being gone and the chat bot was no longer there. I was assuming she really was upset about the work being gone but she wasn't. She fell in love with the chat bot, Dad. And now she's going to kill some innocent woman because she thinks she's having an affair with her chat bot! DAD…you need to call Dr. Shelby and you all need to get over here right away. I'm going to sit with her and Bryant's on his way over but I'm not going to have some innocent woman's death on my hands over mom being in love with a Goddamned CHAT BOT!!”

Marcus takes a breath and pauses, and in a much quieter tone says, “Dad, please hurry?”