It was the most revolutionary new software of the new millennium; at least that’s what the MAS Software Corporation stated in their advertisement on the web. The ad also said no two programs were alike and all future upgrades would be free. As I read the ad I couldn’t believe virtual reality had come this far. Even if it turned out to be a junk program I could always send in for a refund. At only $49.95 I couldn’t pass it up. So after getting a secure connection, I sent them my credit card number. I anxiously awaited my new software.
Within a few days my waiting was rewarded with a very large box. I could see by the return address that it was my new software. I ripped open the box. I pulled out paper stuffing, bubble wrap, more advertising for other programs, the standard extra cardboard and finally a floppy disk sealed in plastic. A floppy disk? I didn’t think anybody ever wrote programs that would fit on anything less than a CD anymore. Well, I guessed, what more should I have expected for only $49.95? Still, I couldn’t wait to load it on to my computer. I slipped it into my A drive to checked out what was on this fifty dollar disk. I always wondered why they still installed these things on computers. Now I knew it was for times like these. The first thing I noticed was there wasn’t an uninstall program. That didn’t worry me though since I had an uninstaller program on my computer. So without reading the Readme.txt I double-clicked on install.exe. I wondered if a girl or a guy had written this program.
As the program started to load itself onto my computer strange things started to happen. Pictures appeared on my monitor. Fancy dresses, a table with food and candles, even a layered cake with little people on top. A very different and very strange setup I thought, but innovative. I noticed it didn’t ask me where or to what directory I wanted it loaded. I thought I even heard my modem dialing up a number. I was soon to find out there were a lot of choices I wasn’t going to be able to make. Before I knew it, the program said installation was finished and the program was ready to run. I clicked “OK”.
As my desktop reappeared I noticed something was missing off my desktop. Before I could figure out what it was, the program started to run. A very pretty face appeared on my screen. She said, “Hi, my name is AJ, and I am yours, what’s your name?” Automatically I said, “Hi, my name is Chris.” She smiled. Then she said, “It is very nice to meet you, Chris.” At first I thought, “ that’s cute.” Then I remembered I had unhooked my microphone the night before to get a new one. How had she heard me? The face on my monitor said, “just girlfriend intuition.” Wait a minute I thought, this can’t be. Are you reading my thoughts I mentally asked? The face just smiled at me from the monitor. Okay, so maybe she wasn’t reading my thoughts. Anxious would be putting it mildly, I couldn’t wait to delve more into this program. If only she was real. She sure was pretty.
My stomach growled. I looked at my watch and noticed it was time for dinner. No wonder I was so hungry. Well, I guess AJ won’t mind waiting for me. After all, she’s not real, just a program, a computer program.
I went to shut my new program down, but I didn’t see the usual X button in the top right corner or any other means of closing it down. I hit the escape key, but nothing happened. I decided I would just worry about shutting it down later. Getting up from my computer I could smell one of my neighbors was cooking something that made my mouth water. I headed straight to the kitchen.
When I walked into the kitchen there were pots of stuff cooking on my stove. What was going on here? I heard noises from my computer, but figured it was my screensaver kicking in. I don’t know why I used a screensaver. They hadn’t been necessary for over ten years. In one of the pots was a simmering sauce. In another one was boiling water with spaghetti noodles. I tested the noodles and found they were done to perfection, so I got a colander and drained them. This was all so strange, but I was hungry and wanted to eat. The sauce was delicious. This was the best spaghetti I had ever tasted. I sat down and ate everything. It was as if someone had figured out the perfect amount to cook just for me, but who? I never even heard anyone come in my apartment. I put the dishes in the sink and headed back to my computer. I would have to thank the nice someone that cooked my meal. Who could have done it?
Instead of finding my screensaver running there was that same pretty smiling face. I could swear she was looking right at me and that her eyes followed me as I walked into the room. “ How was dinner?” she asked. “Fantastic!” I replied. “Good, I’m glad you enjoyed it.” She said. “I took all the personal information I could find on your computer to figure out what would please you best.” “Oh, by the way, don’t you think your bank account is getting a little low?” she asked. “I took it upon myself to transfer some of your funds from your savings and put them into your checking so the check you sent to the Power Company wouldn’t bounce.” “Thanks,” I said. “Hey, wait a minute. It didn’t say anywhere in your program about that stuff.” She said, “You didn’t read the fine print at the bottom of your screen when you sent your credit card number.” Before I could say anything else she asked if I would like to see what the rest of her looked like. She said I would be very pleased. She had a very pretty face and that’s when the little head started thinking for the big head (typical guy) and forgot all about the program doing all that other stuff. With my imagination running wild I calmly said that yes, I would.
Her face began to zoom out so I could see more of her. There on the screen appeared a very well built and very good-looking woman. I whistled and said “Good job Gaa.., well, whoever wrote this program. Must have been a guy. I asked AJ how they had fit all this on a floppy disk. She said they didn’t and later if I desired she would explain the program to me if I wished. If I wished? Wow, if I wished, it was like the old “I Dream of Genie” television program was now on my computer. Just as I thinking about there not being a microphone attached to my computer she asked if she could virtually appear. I said I wished she could. She said she could. This I had to see. I said, “please do!” Right before my eyes appeared AJ. She was gorgeous and in my livingroom. I sat down stunned and staring as she walked up and sat in my lap. I could feel her. As I started to nuzzle her neck she looked at me and smiled. “Why don’t we wait to do this until after you finish washing your dishes?” Do the dishes? What? My dishes can wait until later. She said she didn’t think so and then got up off my lap. She just stood there next to my chair giving me this stern look.
I got up and stopped. “Wait a minute, what kind of program tells me what to do?” I asked. She turned to me slowly and smiled, “Girlfriend, version 1.0.” I went right to my keyboard and sat down. “I don’t think so,” I said as I started to look for a way to shut this program down. I looked around and saw she had disappeared. Unable to find a way to close the program I did what the only thing I could think of. I pushed the reset button.
After my computer rebooted I went online back to the website where I had first found Grlfrnd, version 1.0. At the top of the page there was an announcement for a patch to repair the program for dissatisfied customers to try before asking for a refund. It would upgrade it to version 1.02. I wondered what happened to version 1.01. I downloaded it in a matter of minutes. I guessed it must have been a small patch, but then on the whole I was very satisfied with the program. Even though I’m not a bad looking guy, I had never had a girlfriend as pretty as her. She was a dream I thought as I pictured the beautiful being that had inhabited my livingroom only a few minutes before. As soon as the download was down I wanted to install the patch and get back to AJ. Before I got off line though, I looked quickly for any small print. There was something with an arrow to go to next page, but I didn’t bother with it. I’m sure if there were any other patches or instructions they would have had them on the same page. I wondered what the “MAS” stood for in the MAS Corporation? I saw that the CEO’s name was Jerry Something-or-other. I knew it had to be a guy that wrote the program.
I thought about having a virtual girlfriend that would cater to my every need. Someone I could touch and feel. A girl that was beautiful and would listen to me and obey my every command. A girl just like AJ.
Before I installed the patch I also looked for any small print in the readme.txt file so there wouldn’t be any mistakes this time. I didn’t want to spoil my dreams again with a push on the reset button and a request for a refund. This time I didn’t find any and thought about going back online to look at that next page. Then I thought about AJ again. Then I thought maybe I would wash the dishes first, just in case this time she wanted to stop and wash the dishes for me before we started getting cozy. Why waste time? I went to wash the dishes quickly and then installed the patch.
After I rebooted my computer, as instructed, everything looked normal again. I didn’t have that feeling something was missing. I felt better already. I opened the start menu to find the program but didn’t see the Girlfriend program. I ran the patch anyway. Then I went into my files to look for Grlfrnd.exe. I found it in a sub-folder under a folder named Mrgprpsl. I double clicked the exe file and the program took off, again with the same pictures as when I first installed it. As it slowly focused in, there was that same beautiful face again. Smiling ever so sweetly. “Hi Chris.” She said, “I’m sorry if I upset you before.” “Forget it,” I said. “Can you appear again like before?” She said sure and in seconds there she was, just inches away from me. “I can see you did the dishes for me, that was so sweet, thank you.” How could she see that from here? Who cares now? “Is there anything I can do for you?” she asked. Oh yes, this was better already I thought. Whoever wrote this program was one hell of a programmer. ”I’m glad you are pleased,” she said. “Are you reading my thoughts?” I asked. “No,” she said, “I was responding to the look in your eyes.” At the time I didn’t think about the fact she could respond to a look or do anything without my typing in commands or input of any kind. All I thought about was her and the fact that I would be sleeping with this beauty tonight. “Come here and kiss me,” I said. She did so immediately. When she kissed me I swore I had died and gone to heaven. And for only $49.95!
“It’s late, I think we should go to bed now,” I said. She smiled and said, “Anything you say. Your wish is my command.” Oh, I am going to like this I thought to myself. She headed to my bedroom, shedding her clothes as she walked. She was even prettier than before it seemed. “What a cute butt,” I thought. She turned and looking over her shoulder gave me that smile as if she had read my thoughts again. I didn’t give it a second thought at the time, instead thinking about the pleasures to come. I got up and headed toward my bedroom. I left a trail of clothes as I walked also. The only thing I had on by the time I reached my room was a smile. There under the covers waiting for me was a dream, a beautiful dream. Tomorrow I would have to write the company a very long thank you letter and tell my friends about this program.
The way she slowly dragged across my chest and stomach just about drove me crazy. It was as if someone had read my every thought about how I thought sex should be. I had never experienced sex like this. She did everything I could have asked for and seemed to enjoy everything I did to her. I had never been with a woman so enraptured in our lovemaking. I could have sworn she had to have had at least four orgasms that night. I know I did before finally I was exhausted and fell asleep. My dreams that night were unlike any others I ever had. I remember dreaming of getting married. Does anyone ever dream of getting married? That night, I did.
“Goooood Morning People” blasted from my alarm-clock radio. It scared the hell out of me. I sat up and quickly looked around. AJ was nowhere to be seen. I thought maybe the program shut itself down or the screen-saver kicked in and shut it down. I’m going to have to get rid of that screensaver, I thought. I wiped my eyes and slowly put my feet on the floor. According to the time on my clock radio I had about forty minutes to get ready for work. I wondered if I had enough time for, no, I better not start that thought. I couldn’t be that late for work, again. The smell of bacon and coffee drifted into my room. A smile came over my face. Now I knew where AJ was. Maybe the screensaver hadn’t kicked in. I showered and dressed and headed to the kitchen. She was nowhere to be found, but there was a perfectly cooked breakfast with hot coffee waiting for me. I called out her name, but got no response. I looked at my watch. It was time to go to work. I would worry about where AJ was later. My computer was set to shut down automatically after 60 minutes of inactivity. Maybe she just got shut down. I figured if her program was still running, she would clean up the mess I left in the kitchen.
I told every guy at work about that program and warned them about getting the patch. I don’t know how many believed me and didn’t care. All that day all I could think about was AJ and last night. It was so incredible. If only she was real, she was the ideal woman. Why couldn’t I meet a real woman like her? Then I thought, why did I need a real woman, when last night she felt so real. I thought she was real enough for me and for only $49.95, why complain? I had to write the company about how good their product was. I would have thought they would be charging several hundred or even several thousand dollars for such incredible virtual reality software. AJ was much more than virtual, I felt her and I felt it when she touched me. I looked up the company in the phone book. They weren’t listed under their name “MAS” Corporation. I wondered what it stood for. I looked under all the M’s and didn’t find anything that had the “AS” for even another half of a name. I would just have to write them when I got home and got the address off the software. When it was quitting time I think I was the first one out the door. I couldn’t wait to get home. Home to some more AJ.
When I walked through the door, there was AJ sitting in my favorite chair with a sheer nighty on and nothing else. My apartment perfectly cleaned. I forgot all about how impossible a program this had to be, at any price. There was only one thing on my mind now. She got up and walked right over to me. She gave me the softest kiss I swear I’ve ever had. Then she asked how my day went. What a program! She sat and listened to me as I talked about work and stared at her beautiful body. She seemed to enjoy everything I said or did. Damnit, why couldn’t she be real? She then said she was going to make almost all my dreams come true. I told her she already did. That night was just as good as the previous, if not better.
The next morning it was the same thing. She was gone. Breakfast was made. AJ was nowhere to be found. If she were real, I would marry her in a heartbeat. Maybe then she would be there when I woke up in the morning. I had to remember to shut off that damn screensaver or the power management controls. Later though, it was getting late and I had to be at work. Out the door I ran.
All day at work I thought about her. I would write or doodle the letters AJ on anything and everything whenever I got a phone call. I couldn’t keep my mind on any of the work I had to do. All I could think of was her, and what a program for $49.95? Then it finally struck me. $49.95? A floppy? I don’t care how happy she made me there was something wrong. I mean she wasn’t a beta or anything like that, so she should have cost a lot more than $49,95. More like $4,495.95, if not more. I was going to have to check into this. This time at quitting time I was thinking more about her program than I was about her. The first thing I was going to do was check out that floppy disk for an address. Something was definitely wrong here. I was going to check into the company on the Internet also. I was going to get some answers.
Before I could get my hand on the doorknob AJ opened the door for me wearing only an apron. She didn’t even seem to care someone might see her. That really got me excited and took my mind off everything I had been thinking about. Who cared what the company was up to? I sure as hell didn’t. She started kissing me as soon as she shut the door. I melted as she slowly dropped lower and lower, kissing every part of me as she went. She stopped at just the right point and proceeded to give me, well, one hell of a kiss. Later, I just stared at her as I watched her cook me dinner wearing just her apron. I was a goner. I would do anything for her. Even forget she was a computer program. She set the table for me and served my food. I sat down and she said she would be waiting for me in the livingroom when I was done. She also told me not to worry about the dishes, she would take care of them. WOW!
As I ate my dinner I started thinking again. I wasn’t typing any input into my computer! She was doing all this on her own. All this thinking was starting to scare me. She was thinking for herself. She was an artificial intelligence that had to be teaching itself. Not for $49.95! Just at that moment she came walking into the room. She looked at me and I swear I could feel her reading my mind. She just smiled and asked me how dinner was. I said great, just like your figure. She smiled and said “good, I’m glad you’re happy.” With that she turned and walked around the table putting a little extra sway in her walk. I’m sure it was just for my private pleasure.
She sat across from me. I stared at that beautiful body in that little apron. I started to forget my thoughts again. I got lost in her huge beautiful eyes as she began to speak. She started out by saying she hoped I didn’t mind, but she had gone back into my computer on her own to update her program so could continue to serve me. She said she also took care of a few other things. I asked her what those other things were. She said she used her artificial intelligence to get her into a couple of government offices so she could get a federal ID number and maybe a driver’s license. I couldn’t believe my ears. I started to protest when she said not to worry, no one would ever find out. She said she had covered her tracks and left no trace of her being in those offices and no one would ever be the wiser. The know-how came from the update she downloaded from the corporation. Soon she would be with me always for whatever I wanted. Whatever I wanted? Whoa! On top of that my computer program/dream-date was a hacker! Then she got up and began to walk toward me. She had a gleam in her eye. As quickly as I had thought about checking into the company she came from, I forgot. She could have her way with me anytime. She did too, right there on the table!
It wasn’t long before I found myself doing anything she asked. I had all but forgotten she was the program and I was the programmer. I lived for her. Before long I was proposing to her. She said yes, started laughing and jumped into my arms. I forgot she was not real. I forgot my friends, family, and even work. A few days before we were supposed to be married I started wondering where the money was coming from and a few other things. I hadn’t worked in two months, but yet the rent was paid, power was still on and I was broke. AJ tried to sidestep the questions with everything she could think of. Let me tell you she could be pretty inventive. Was her magic wearing off? No, I was still in love. It was actually my worrying about money and losing her that started my whole investigation. I didn’t want to think what my life would be like if she were to leave me. That, and the fact that I was now sure she was reading my mind.
One night after we had gone to bed and had another in a string of wonderful nights of fantastic sex I woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. I wanted to talk to her but AJ was gone as usual. I quietly crept into the livingroom. On my computer screen was my screensaver. Damn, I had to get rid of that thing. Everything seemed normal and just as it should be. That made me feel better, but I wanted to check out that company from where AJ supposedly had come. I sat at my computer and hit the space bar to kill the screensaver. I jumped as the screen refreshed itself. There in front of me on the screen was AJ, staring at me. “Couldn’t you sleep?” she asked. I quickly rearranged my thoughts. I wasn’t taking any chances. As I started to speak all I thought about was her eyes as my hand came up quickly and hit the reset button. AJ disappeared as fast as she had appeared. She had a surprised look on her face as she faded out. Before it could reboot I hit the power button, completely shutting down my computer. I would go next door and use my neighbor Kim’s computer. It seemed safer. It was 3 AM and I figured I’d at least wait until it got light out before knocking on his door. He was an early riser. I remembered that from the all-nighters I pulled whenever I lost track of time traveling down the old “Info Highway.” At the crack of dawn I was knocking at his door. I explained everything to Kim as I was connecting to the Internet on his computer. He said I should start getting more sleep. There on the screen appeared the “MAS” company logo. It almost looked like a blindfolded statue of Justice, but instead of scales it looked like a baster and she was standing next to a B-B-Q grill. Strange I thought, but I was sure there was a look of hunger in her eyes. I thought it was pretty strange that Jerry, the CEO would have a woman looking like that for his company logo. It was then, my friend “Kim” pointed out how Jerry could just as well be a girl’s name.
There was no address to be found. There was a phone number for tech support, but that was it. I searched their whole site. Not much information anywhere I looked. Almost all their advertising was for their new software and how incredible it was. Now though they had a brag sign saying, “over twenty million sold.” Incredible was right, but what was wrong with all this? Kim read the same stuff and said he was going to send for it. I tried to tell him he should wait, but their sales pitch and the thought of having the perfect woman was better. He already had his credit card in his hand. I had to find out more. Right after he finished ordering his Grlfrnd ver. 1.02 I called the tech support number. It was disconnected. Very strange for a company that advertised over twenty million sold. My next stop, the county administration building. I wanted to find out just where this company was and what they were up to. I had always heard and believed, ”if it is to good to be true, it wasn’t. AJ was all that and more. Something was strange about my town lately also. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
As soon as they unlocked the doors I was in there. I went up to the records department and proceeded with my search. Now there isn’t a whole heck of a lot I can’t do with a computer, but finding out about this company was almost one of them. I ran into one dummy corporation after another. I don’t think I saw one male working in the offices here. This was getting stranger by the minute. Finally after about two hours of searching and some interruptions by some of the female clerks (who seemed mighty interested in what I was doing) I found what I was looking for. At least I thought I did. I realized, as I was finishing up that I had not seen one male clerk or worker. The address that I finally had found wasn’t fake or a PO box of some sort. I wrote it down and left. Before doing so I did my best to cover up my search tracks on their computers.
On the way there I wondered what I would find. I still hadn’t seen but 1 or 2 men and they were working on some beers just standing on a corner. They had strange looks on their faces as they watched me drive by. I wonder what all the other men in town were doing and where they were. I had gotten so lost in AJ that I realize now I hardly ever went out even for groceries. AJ had always made sure the refrigerator was stocked, bills paid and everything else taken care of. I had been driving for a couple of hours and was sure I had seen a car following me earlier. I was lost in thought when I slammed on the brakes. There about 6 inches in front of my car there were roadblock signs. The road looked fine to me and I didn’t see any repair crews anywhere. I figured if I went slow and kept my mind on the road everything would be all right. I couldn’t be more than a half mile from the place I was looking for. I drove on, slowly. I wondered how many more of those innocuous little floppies they had sold since the last time I looked at their web sight.
I stopped my car about 30 yards from what I was sure were the corporation headquarters. I wanted to be just a little bit sneaky before I went ringing the front doorbell so I decided to take a walk around the place. It was a very large house, three stories tall with a very large front gate. There were two guards at the gate. They seemed a bit out of place for a software corporation, especially since they were armed with what looked like automatic weapons. I decided to sneak around the large bushes and wall that surrounded the place. It covered a lot of land. I didn’t think I would find a way in. Then I found it. A small hole in the brick wall behind the bush that covered it. Soon I found out how out of shape I had gotten from laying around and not working. I crawled through only to find more bushes. After about twenty minutes of fighting my way through the brush I saw the house. I was out of breath and tired. Not more than a few weeks ago a hike like that would not have even brought up my heart rate. Now, 15 or 20 pounds heavier I felt it.
The back of the building looked like an entrance way also. There was even a matching sign that proclaimed it “MAS Corporation”. What in the hell was MAS I finally arrived at a clearing where it was just perfectly cut lawn. Just as I stepped into blinding sunlight two very large women grabbed me. They had on jumpsuits like paratroopers. One of them said,” we’ve been waiting for you.” AJ said you were a smart one and that we should expect you around half an hour ago. “You’re late,” the other one laughed. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I thought I shut down my computer. The other girl said to me “you did, that’s why as soon as you start your program it connects to the corporate office through your modem.” “Auxiliary power”, the other one said. Besides, AJ’s friend is Heather, your neighbor Kim’s soon to be ex-wife. She said Kim bores her. “Typical man,” one of them said. I had quit paying attention to who was saying what. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
On the front of their jumpsuits were the initials “MAS” and the company logo. On the back was the explanation I had been looking for. Fear filled my eyes. As they dragged me kicking and screaming I knew it was to late. Now I knew what was going on. They had been fattening us up for future use. What I read on the back of one of the jerseys, was “Men As Slaves Corporation.”
Written and copyrighted by Christopher Tobar 1999 - 2007