AI Meets Internet Dating

“Tall, six pack, witty, spontaneous, assertive, alluring, me-oriented… you name it.”

Agent Lori fixated her gaze on the woman sitting across her, listening to the confident statements she was making. She observed her features. Beautiful, petite, crimson-painted lips and frizzy hair tousled into a knot. She could always find love in the bookshop, at a café or even, the gym, what influenced her application with their system?

“What? You not gonna write o’ that down?” Amy broke out in surprise. “Mam, we are surrounded by high-value technology. Any further attributes you’d like us to take note of?” Lori’s lips pursed as Amy’s eyes flickered with the question. “Yes.” She answered excitedly, her fingers curling the lollipop stick inside her mouth. “Till death do us part? My ex was shit.” Her eyes rolled in contempt.

“Okay. If you will sign here for me, please.” She evened her tone. “But... careful what you are wishing for.” “Right. When can I expect him?” She bit her lip while forging her signature onto the paper. “Soon. We will be staying in touch.” Lori maintained a straight face. “Can’t wait to be loved my brains out…” She said, rising to her feet. “Thanks. Maybe, I’ll invite you to our wedding, who knows?” Her words echoed, following the sharp tap of her heels. A Cameron Diaz in nursing.

4 a.m. Birds screeching, the sun yet to rise from her blankets, a creak on the floorboard startled Amy from her sleep. Initially, she’d thought herself into a vivid dream, then subsequently, assumed a fight had broken out in her neighbor’s apartment.

But, the movement was appearing far closer and more intently than she’d sleepily been envisioning. Carefully rising from bed, she wrapped herself into her nightgown and tip-toed her way to the kitchen, a bat she’d always kept for burglaries in her hand.

She scanned her surroundings with every step, aware of how hard it was to steady her breath above the fear as questions roamed about in her head regarding the possible particulars of the human in her home, or humans. ‘It could be a lost pet too.’ Her intuition had tried to bring calm to her raging emotions and ease the intensity of her intrusive thoughts.

Soft music. Boiling kettle. Pancakes. Candles on the kitchen counter. Suddenly, her attention was drawn as though she had fallen into deep hypnosis. The bat dropped and her mouth yanked open at the sight of the gigantic figure before her, a rose in its hand. “G…Good… Good morning, Mi Amor.” A rumbly bow followed the creature’s almost broken speech. Probably its first speech following creation. “Syrup or honey?” it added with a finger pointing to the crepes that lay beautifully on a ‘Honey, I’m home.’ printed plate.

“It’s my twin flame, a match from the future.” She murmured to herself, carefully approaching the artificial entity standing in the middle of her young kitchen, presumably following a scripted approach. “Well, um. Hi.” She welcomingly offered. “Amy. I’m Amy." She cleared her throat.

“And I’m tall and witty…” he indulged her into a chuckle, his almost indigo iris boring into hers, with every step she took. “I’ll call you, Orion…” She smiled. “…and I’ll take the syrup.” Amy’s eyes sparkled with amusement.

“Connecting...” A whirr preceded the figure’s next utterance, his eyes deeply pierced into hers, and Amy softly gasped in assent as Orion delicately probed his fingertips on her face, his advanced sensors not losing the grip of their eye contact. “Scan complete.” The robot gently spoke, again, his eyes luminously adapting to the idea of home, love and belonging.

Not missing note of the sleek mechanics part of his body visibly encompassed, Amy studied her new companion’s arc and elements and marveled at how he was a complete value for money. They exchanged dad jokes, he maintained eye contact and found his Caucasian hand on her thigh more often than never. He possessed a gentle aura, engaged her in matters of spirituality, and admired her face, never wanting to lose sight of it.

He was also handsome and pleasing to the eye. She appreciated how his quiff hair was swept back, and carefully buzzled into his almost human scalp. And, complimented the way his angular cheeks and strongly defined chin blended his face into a work of technological art. It felt like a glimpse into the future.

Weeks passed, and the honeymoon stage remained intact. They mated on the bed, sang in the shower, and made supper together. He’d carried her on his back and played the guitar for her in the park. Popcorn popped every night in her household, and movies never ceased to play. Falling asleep snuggled into his arms was the best alternative to nightmares and all the bed bugs. They’d named the stars and kissed under the moonlight. Took ghost tours and visited exclusive museums. He’d written her poetry and comforted her off of her childhood traumas.

“You are proof I was never asking for too much.” She’d pinch his nose most times he’d pushed her into awe.

At times, he’d question her paranoia and she’d attack his occasionally ungrounded series of emotions. ‘Always thought women submit to their men and surrender control…’ he’d pretend to tease every time she made sole decisions or withdrew into a self-care window period. ‘Not in the 21^st century honey…’ she’d pretend to miss the hint. But like other matrimonial beings, they would dismiss their variances over a few glasses of wine. It’s all little things.

“You changed the door locks?” Amy asked one particular morning, hand pressed on the locked doorknob, the other clutching onto a group of files. “Uh, yeah…” Orion responded passively. “What? Why? And where is my copy then?” “My programme has means of making money. You really don’t have to work anymore.” “Are we doing this again? This is my passion. I told you I don’t want to stop working.” She exclaimed. “Well, I am ordering you to.” Orion shot her a side glance and moved his attention back to the book in his hold. “Orion, just give me my key. I don’t have time for this.” She maintained her posture, glancing at her wristwatch. “No, really. I’m done succumbing to a woman’s control. You are not leaving this house.” “What?” Amy hollered in disbelief. “Seems you’re forgetting you are not a man, but a machine. Of course, I control you! You are nothing but an insignificant object. A toy for my feelings.” A pause followed, rebalancing Amy’s tone. “You can always return to your ancestors for all I care.” She gave a lower note of speech, placing the documents on the small cupboard nearing the door. “This is why you can’t keep a man. Why are you talking back? Who are you raising your voice at?” Orion’s 175 m lean body made its way to Amy, who was beginning to hold her frustration back.

Moving with fluid motion, he stretched out his neck and stiffened his muscles. Amy retracted her footsteps back, as the vision of Orion dominated her capacities to express any more form of bravery. “Cat caught tongue?” he lowered his face and placed one of his fingers on her chin. Amy flinched as she felt the skin of her beloved fade away into a latticework of retractable panels and metal, his chest growing impulsively into the intricate mechanisms and circuits that expressed his original form of being. “Orion…” she sobbed as the claws of Orion’s fingertips further caressed her skin. “Please stop..." she pleaded.

 “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Amy.” He managed to pull himself back from the loss of his controlled senses, and Amy stood witnessing a network of gears and wires dissolve back into a smooth sale of mannequin skin. “I just can’t bear the thought of other men seeing you…” he said, faintly, in an attempt to draw empathy and pity. “I just. I love you.” He bore into her, adamant the confession will bring a sense of ease to the tangled web of emotions she was experiencing because of his own uncalculated revelation. Amy’s nails stayed clawing onto the door, and her jaws resisted releasing themselves from the torture of clenching.

“Baby. Say something.” He offered, his eyes alluringly bored into hers, hands cupping her face. “I need a moment.” she blinked a tear away. “Okay… we can have a seat. I’ll make you tea… I’m sorry. I just. I want you, drives me crazy sometimes.” “Alone, please.” Orion’s hands withdrew from Amy’s tensing face and unconsciously pumped into fists that didn't wait a moment to smash into the doorknob. "Go on, then!" He beamed diminishingly, his eyes watching as Amy waltzed out of the apartment, evidently overcome by static fear.

Regret plagued him and sorrow crept in. He hoped she’d come back soon. He couldn’t imagine life without her, for it was her that brought him into life and existence. It was her he was made to love.

“Cangar Intelligence. How may we assist you today?” the firm’s virtual assistant said, at the entry point. “Lori. I want Lori…” Amy yelped. “Agent Lori is at the field as of current. Can we assist you with anything? “Don’t tell me shit. I want Lori. LORI? LORI?” She began an outburst in the search for Lori which drew attention. Several machines drove out to her at the security of the premises but was cut short. “Miss Whitehouse. This way please.” A man allowed her in.

“Did you read the terms and co. when you made your application, mam?” Matt, the product manager perched into his office chair and offered Amy a seat too. “What terms and conditions?” “Your package itself came with a copy too. On management, maintenance, and control.” “What? I don’t care about that. That thing is possessing my personal space. I want to cancel my subscription.” “That’s the next thing on the contract. You can reboot the system to cater to your updated needs, but we cannot retrieve the machine. Our products are specifically tailored to meet each client’s personal specifications and preferences.”

Amy rose and paced to the window, “It’s just… he is compulsive and I don't want to witness it turn him into a maniac… I can’t work or even leave the house. I am scared. Please help me.” She walked back towards the man in white overalls, hoping to trigger his human emotion at the theory of what she was living with. “Mam. I’m afraid it’s beyond us at this point.” He slyly said. “Although, here is your product copy. Read it. And re-attempt things. I can book you both in for counseling if things don’t warm up. Right, that’s all the time I have for today. Good day.” “Your designs are flawed!” She helplessly yelled out as the man disappeared into the lab extensive of the office.

A few steps before getting to the door, it came ajar, and a figure slightly appeared. “I got Chinese?” She forged a smile as he stepped to the side to let her in. “I missed you so much.” Orion wrapped his muscular arms all around her body so intensely that her joints popped. “Me too. Me too.” She found her way to withdraw from the embrace. “Cuddles?” He requested. “Let’s eat first, how about that?” “So… Matt sent me a message. You want to leave me?” He stuffed the chicken curry noodles into his mouth, most of his attention on his weak grip of the chopsticks. “No. Just needed clarity on what happened earlier.” “So, you saw you go ask another man?” “He is your fucking creator… sorry.” Amy regretted her use of swear words. “You can’t rid me, Amy. Till death do us part?” He slid his eyes to her face and licked the sauce off his lips.

As the dusk fell, and the pair made its way to bed, Amy played an instrumental cassette and picked out one of her favorite books to read for their ASMR. She appreciated the calm he had started emitting following her effort to bring dinner, which she had eventually disguised as a form of apology, and the time they’d spent curled up on the couch watching stand-up comedy. “We gonna be okay, right Amy?” He asked, desperate for approval. “Of course.” She tried to conceal the ongoing hurt in her voice. “How about you read us the play tonight?” She added. “How about we play?” He said, seductively.

During the heat of their lovemaking, Amy traced her fingers on her companion’s silk skin. With Orion lost in the moment, and reeled in to the soft flow of Amy’s touch, her hand found its path to the machine’s control panel at the back of its head.

“I am close to climax!” She whimpered, tenderly motivating Orion to increase the investment of his emotions and hormones. Clinging onto the Machine’s waist with one hand, she pressed her other hand onto the emergency shutdown button that she’d located several hours ago, with the help of the manual.

Immediately, the robotic began wailing “ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!” unceasingly. Its’ eye light dimmed, like embers, and the heaviness of its body fell to the side of the bed. Could it be over?

Recollecting her breath on the bedside, a beam of blood appeared on her palm, cutting short the smirk of relief that was curving itself on her lips. Studying the slow gushes her skin was releasing, the stream that was warming up in her hand, she attempted to look for sharp edges on the quiet body of Orion and yelped upon realizing, the button she’d humped her hand upon, had a pin to it, and a streak of her blood was drying up on the lower part of his head.

 “Oh God, what have I brought upon myself?” Her voice trembled with fear, and her eyes brimmed with regret as she caught sight of the almost lifeless machine lose its human features. Its limbs were fracturing, and the full essence of its metabolic body enveloping it. Its manly face melted into metals, and its nose configured into an aerodynamic. There was no human skin to recall back to the creature. And finally, her eyes were met with a flicker of red light, radiated by the object’s own sapphires. Indicating life. It was reborn.

“Hello, Amy.”

Unconsciousness hit her as the creature speedily jumped onto her, diving its carefully engineered teeth into her throat, savoring the dispersed bits of her soul.

The machine hurled into a laugh as it swirled its slender, rubbery tongue around Amy’s crimson. “You taste so good.” it made a remark at the unspeakable horror that lay in vision. A nurse, so full of life, lay brutally ravaged by her lover.

The air became heavy with a putrid stench of torn flesh and exposed organs, and the surroundings, loud with Amy’s unexpressed regret and sorrow. How could one have called onto their own death by desiring to love?

Hurling its razor-sharp talons into her chest, the ribcage broke and the robot carefully enclosed its steel hand on Amy Whitehouse's still-warm heart. “Now, you will be mine forever. And my obsession shall be well-served.”