What kind of deal?he asked anyway.
What do you need, human?
Human? Either this thing reallywasAI, or it was someone cosplaying a machine. Could this be a program one of his hacker acquaintances was demoing? Or just a new phishing scam? Either way, Cooper didn’t like that it had managed to pop up on his computer. He had his own background programs running that were supposed to deal with these things.
He frowned at the screen. There was no reason to take it seriously, but…whatdidhe need?
I’m lonely, he ended up replying.
Now he could only hope there wasn’t a real human on the other end of this conversation. If this was any of the hackers in his circle messing with him, he’d just embarrassed himself horribly.
Although, it wasn’t like any of those fuckers could claim they weren’t lonely as hell too.
You wish for a bed servant?the program asked.
Cooper stared at the screen. Well, damn. He shifted in his chair. That was kind of a kinky reply for an AI bot, wasn’t it? Was this about to turn into old-fashioned cybersex? He giggled, a touch of hysteria in the sound.
I don’t think those are exactly legal these days, he typed.
I am not bound by the laws of man.
Okay, then. Cooper cocked his head, considering. He thought of some muscle-bound dude wearing…a jockstrap and a leather harness, maybe? Was that what a modern-day “bed servant” would wear? Anyway, some muscle-bound dude wearing somethingrevealing, kneeling at Cooper’s feet. Following his every order.
Cooper wrinkled his nose. That didn’t really do it for him, did it?
I think I’d rather just have a friend.
He regretted it as soon as he typed it. It was too raw. Too real.
It wasn’t like he wascompletelydisconnected from humanity. He had friends on the internet—other hackers he’d connected with, although never in person. Some of them even lived in New York, he was pretty sure. But Cooper didn’t have anyone in the real world these days. His last real-world friend had been…well, his dad. And he hadn’t exactly been reliable.
Cooper swallowed through a thick throat as he watched the next reply pop up on the screen.
And what would be the ending terms of the deal? How would it be considered complete?
How the fuck was Cooper supposed to know? He considered, then typed,I guess when I don’t need you to be my friend anymore.
Cooper stared at his computer, nibbling on his thumbnail. When he caught himself, he stuffed a licorice twist into his mouth instead, chewing absently. The program was taking a long time to respond now. Had Cooper broken its hard drive with his pathetic request?
But then a message popped up. The weirdest one yet.
I accept. I, Bracchus of the demon realm, will aid this computer human by being his friend, until that friendship is no longer needed, in exchange for a piece of his immortal soul.
Cooper’s eyes widened. Demon realm? Piece of his immortal soul?
Had he stumbled into some underground marketing for a new video game?
He was kind of intrigued, honestly. Although, now he wished he’d thought of contract terms less lame-sounding than “please be my friend.”
Hold your finger to the screen, the program prompted.
Cooper rolled his eyes. How the hell would the program know if he didn’t comply? But he did it anyway. If he’d needed any further evidence that he was bored and lonely, this would have been it.
A shock ran through his body, like a bit of static electricity, and then another drop of red smeared his monitor.
Fuck. Was his nose bleeding again?
But no, Cooper’s hand came away clean. And there was no time to wonder any more about it, because yellow-gold smoke was filling his room.
