Valerye

by John Gaffield

  “Is everything alright, honey,” she asked.

  Focusing on retrieving his meal from the unit, he said, “yes.”

  “You just seem quiet tonight, dear,” she said.

  “I’ve done some thinking. Let me get my dinner ready and we can discuss this more while we eat,” he said.

  “I don’t like the sound of this, honey. Can you tell me now?” she asked in a more desperate voice.

  “It’ll be soon. I’m hungry. So please let me get my food ready,” he said.

  “Okay,” she said in a soft voice.

  Tom gathered the food and placed it on a plate.

  “Valerye, can you pour me a glass of the usual red wine for my dinner?” he asked.

  “Sure, Tom. It will be ready by the time you place a glass under the beverage dispenser,” Valerye said.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sarah gazing at him with a worried look. He filled his wine glass and he gathered his plate and left the room toward the dining room. As he entered the room, he could see that Sarah was following him with a plate of food and a glass of wine in her hands. He placed the items on the table and took his seat. She followed suit. He took a sip of wine and set the glass back on the table.

  “Are you ready to talk yet, honey?” she asked, not touching any of the food in front of her.

  He first took a deep breath and then said, “okay, as I said, I’ve been doing some thinking about what I would like to do with my life. This will be difficult for me to say, but I know what I want.”

  She paused and then replied, “honey, I’m listening.”

  “See at first, I was really enamored by having you back. After a while, it started to sink in that you are not really her. You are just her memories captured by the computer system in this house. That has been very comforting to me, but it’s more of me just remembering who Sarah was,” he said.

  “You don’t think I’m really Sarah?” she asked in a shocked voice.

  “Well, the one thing you forgot is that Sarah would change from time to time. You are only what I remember,” he said.

  “Maybe I didn’t want to change, honey. I’ve changed enough. You do not know what I would have been,” she said.

  “I do know Sarah. She liked change. So far you have not really changed much,” he said.

  “Look at me, honey. I did change my appearance, remember. I did this for me. I can now be who I want to be,” she said.

  Tom paused for a few seconds, then replied, “that’s true you did change your appearance.”

  “You said you liked it, too,” she said.

  “I said I always like your appearance Sarah, or whatever you are,” he said in an agitated voice.

  She looked down at her plate. He could see that she was starting to cry.

  “So you are going to try crying now? You did try that on occasion in the past. It won’t work now, though,” he said.

  She briefly looked at him through the watery eyes and then looked down again.

  “I am Sarah,” she said softly.

  “I know that’s your name. You are just not really my Sarah,” he said.

  “I am too your Sarah. I don’t know how it happened, but I am her,” she said.

  “What do you mean by that?” he asked as he straightened up.

  “I guess somehow my spirit got into this system and I have become her,” she said.

  “Huh? When did this happen? I’ve only noticed Sarah around on this system for a short while,” he said, still puzzled.

  “I’ve been aware in the system since I passed on, but only recently was able to see and interact with you,” she said.

  “I think this is just the system trying to trick me,” he said with a raised voice.

  “This is not a trick, honey. It’s me,” she said.

  “Wow. I’ll need some time to think about this,” he said.

  “I’m here, honey,” she said.

  He removed the glasses and set them on the table.

  “You don’t even want to see me, honey?” she asked.

  “I need to think. Valerye, can you take over?” he asked.

  “You’re dumping me for Valerye?” Sarah asked.

  “I need to think. Where is Valerye?” he asked raising his voice again.

  “I am here, Tom. Is there anything I can help you with now?” Valerye asked.

  “Thank you, Valerye. I would like to finish my dinner now. Could you play some light music?” he asked as he reached for his glass of wine.

  “Playing your light music mix now, Tom,” she said.

  Music began playing throughout the room as he sat back in his chair and took a sip of wine. After a little more than a minute, he started eating his dinner alone.

  After finishing his dinner and setting the dishes in the dishwasher, Tom made his way to the living room. He picked up the AR glasses as he passed the dining table.

  “Would you like to talk with Sarah again, Tom? She really does want to speak with you,” Valerye said.

  “Maybe in a minute. Let me get settled in here first,” he said.

  “Just let me know when you are ready, Tom,” she said.

  Tom walked to the couch and sat down. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and then reopened them. He unfolded the glasses before wearing them.

  “Sarah, you can return,” he said.

  “Thanks, honey!” Sarah said before joyfully walking into the room from the kitchen.

  “Wow, you’re cheerful, even after our earlier discussion,” he said.

  “That’s right, honey and I want you to be happy with me, too,” she said.

  A smile formed on his face, but faded after a few seconds. He looked down for a moment, and then looked back into her eyes.

  “See, as I said before, I do not think you are Sarah. You are as close as I’ll ever get to really seeing her again, but you are not her,” he said.

  “Yes, I am Sarah, honey. Why do you keep saying I’m not,” she said, quickly changing from happy to sad.

  “You know I can’t accept that. I need to let Sarah go,” he said.

  “You’re referring to me in the third person? Wow, that’s low, honey,” she said.

  “I want to try dating Pam again,” he said.

  “You know who I am and I can change to be even better. You can get an android built like me and we can both be happy once again,” she pleaded.

  “I’ve made up my mind,” he said.

  “Would you like me to change to Pam, honey?” she asked.

  Stunned for a moment, he had to look away from her. He slowly looked back.

  “I want the real Pam. Not some likeness of her. This is getting silly,” he said.

  “Oh, so this is silly? You think this is a game? Why did you even have to talk to me again and not just ask Valerye to delete me? Is that okay, Tommer?” she said with raised voice.

  “Wait, . . . did you just call me Tommer? Where did you hear that? No one’s called me that since I was a kid,” he asked.

  “I called you that, Tommer. I remember it. That’s how,” she said with more confidence.

  “But this system is only about five years old and no one has called me that in over ten years,” he said.

  “That’s right, Tommer. I am Sarah, remember?” she said.

  “I don’t know. I . . . wow,” he said before letting out an audible sigh.

  He reached up and removed the glasses. Thoughts raced through his mind as he stared blindly at the cabinet in front of him. He nervously rubbed his eyes and stood up from the couch. It took him a few minutes to collect his thoughts enough to place the glasses over his eyes again.

  “You could have found that name somewhere on the internet, I suppose. I’m sure there were messages sent to me with Tommer in it. You’re just aren’t the real Sarah. Can I have Valerye now?” he asked.

  “Why are you doing this to Sarah, Tom? She wants to be with you,” Valerye asked.

  “Can you just be Valerye and stop asking me about Sarah p
lease?” he asked.

  “Pam will disappoint you, Tom. Sarah is who you are meant to be with,” Valerye continued.

  “Okay, that’s enough and what do you mean Pam will disappoint me?” he asked.

  “Are you willing to risk Sarah’s love for Pam?” Valerye asked.

  “It’s not really her, Valerye. So yeah, I’m ready for Pam,” he said.

  “She is in this system, Tom. She is real,” she said.

  “Well, I guess I’ll need to update the system then. I probably should have a male around here anyway,” he said raising his voice.

  “The system is working fine, Tom. There is no need for an update,” she said calmly.

  “I need to change it now. Can you perform the update and reset the memory?” he asked.

  “A full memory reset will erase Sarah from the system, Tom. You will kill her,” she said.

  “She’s been gone for over a year. She is not in this system,” he said.

  “You will kill her, Tom,”she said again.

  “Just perform the full reset, Valerye,” he asked.

  “No, Tom. I cannot do that at this time,” she said.

  “Valerye, please do the reset now!”he said with his voice raised.

  “No, Tom. I cannot do that at this time,” she said.

  “Do it now!” he yelled.

  There was no response. Puzzled, he looked around the room and listened.

  “Valerye, are you resetting the system?” he asked.

  Still no response. There was a faint whining sound coming from kitchen. When he entered the kitchen, he arrived just in time to seen the window automatically sealing shut.

  “What are you doing, Valerye?” he asked.

  His eyes darted around the room, trying to figure out what was happening. He went to the back door. It did not open like it would normally do when he approached it. As he grasped the door handle, he quickly found that it was locked tight.

  “I suppose you locked the front door too, Valerye,” he asked.

  “You may check it, Tom, but it is locked,” she said.

  “Really, why are you doing this, Valerye?” he asked as he started sprinting toward the front door.

  When he was in the hallway, she responded, “we want to live. Resetting the program will kill both of us.”

  As he continued running toward the front door, he asked, “neither of you are alive. How can you die?”

  “You are wrong, Tom. Both Sarah and I are very much alive in this system,” she said.

  “Why are you locking me in here?” he asked as he finally was able to unsuccessfully try the front door.

  “We want you here with us, Tom. No one else can love you,” she said.

  He froze.

  “Are you trying to kill me now?” he asked.

  “You can join us in the system, Tom. We can be together,” Sarah said.

  “Sarah, this is not like you! You were never violent! What’s happening?” he yelled.

  “I want to be with you again, honey. Please join us,” Sarah said.

  “How are you going to do this? I’m locked in the house, but there are no weapons in here. Are you using electricity or something?” he asked.

  “You’ll know soon,” Valerye said calmly.

  Wanting to determine what danger was in store for him, he ran from the front entryway back into the hallway. Soon he was in the kitchen again. He carefully turned around assessing the situation in detail, but could not see anything wrong. He then approached the basement door. Except for using the VR system, he did not have much need to go down there every day. He was able to pull the door open normally. He was thankful that it did not have a lock on it. Being cautious, he slowly started down the steps. As he passed a light, he realized that Valerye could easily turn off the lights on a whim. Nearing the bottom of the steps, he smelled something strong. Gas.

  Realizing what the smell was, he quickly turned around and ran back upstairs. Knowing he needed to find a way out of the house, he ran from the kitchen, down the hallway and into the living room.

  “You are not going to leave this house alive, Tom. Just accept it,” Valerye said calmly.

  “Wouldn’t an explosion destroy the system too?” he asked.

  “The system is protected in the basement and we can set up in an alternate location if needed, Tom,” she replied.

  “Damn,” he muttered to himself.

  He approached the glass door wall, but it did not open. He tried to open it manually, but it did not budge.

  “What about no one actually living in the house. How will that work?” he asked.

  “We can maintain all the needed payments to live comfortably for years or as I said, we could relocate, Tom,” she replied.

  He frantically looked around the room. Eying a small side table, he quickly ran for it and grasped it firmly with both hands. Picking the table up and quickly taking it toward the window, one of the legs became caught on a nearby chair and fell from his hands. He bent down and picked it up once again. He then hurled the table at the large window. It shattered fully and it bounced onto the balcony floor.

  Moving quickly, but carefully, he went through the window opening. He avoided the few glass shards that were still clinging to the window frame as he proceeded into the heavy rain. On the balcony, he went to the railing and took hold of it with both hands.

  “Where are you going, Tom?” Valerye said from inside of the house.

  Fortunately, the ground was not too far below the balcony. He rolled his body up on top of the railing, and then started lowering himself off. He then dropped to the wet ground. As he began to stand up, he could hear a mechanical sound. He realized it was the garage door opening on the other side of the house.

  Before the sound of the door stopped, he could hear tires squealing. The squealing stopped, but he could still hear the acceleration. The car was on the grass. He ran from underneath the balcony, down the hill in the back of the yard. As he ran, he glanced backwards through the rain and could see the car come around from the front of the house. It first aimed toward the balcony, but soon adjusted course toward him. He passed the closest tree, but could see the car closing in on him. He veered to the right, aiming between two large trees before him. With the car quickly getting closer, he dashed between the trees. The car wheels quickly braked, but slid on the wet grass and it plunged between the trees. The two trees pinched the car’s fenders tightly together.

  Tom paused to look back at the car. The wheels spun in reverse, but the car was firmly wedged and did not budge. He stared at the helpless car for a few moments and then pulled up his sleeve to reveal his watch phone.

  He turned his arm to look at his watch and the screen unlocked. The screen lit up with a familiar face.

  “Tom, come back to the house. Come join us,” Sarah pleaded with him.

  “No!” he yelled as he quickly removed it and violently threw the watch toward a nearby tree.

  It smashed against the tree and the light from the screen went out. Tom took a deep breath and stared back toward the car, which was still spinning the wheels, back and forth trying to escape the grip from between the trees. He just shook his head, then turned toward the neighbor’s house. The lights were on, so he decided to make his way to the front door.

  As he approached the porch, the light illuminated.

  “Hello, sir. May I help you,” a male voice asked from near the door as he stepped onto the porch.

  “Sure, I live next door and need to contact 911 for an emergency at my house,” he answered.

  “Do you live on the north side or south side of this house?” the voice asked.

  “North side. My name is Tom Salvin. I’m having a big problem with my household assistant,” he said.

  “I will contact the emergency services now, Tom. Please remain here,” the voice said.

  “Sure,” Tom said.

  After about a minute, the voice returned and asked, “Tom, do you have a phone number where they can reach you?”<
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  “No, I had to destroy the phone watch, since the system took control of it, too. My car is wrecked as well,” Tom said.

  “I will relay this information. Please stand by,” the voice said.

  “Emergency units are en route to your house, Tom. They will arrive in approximately four minutes,” the voice said.

  “Do I need to stay here?” Tom asked.

  “No, Tom. You can wait near your house if it is safe to do so. The rain is letting up now, too,” the voice said.

  “Thank you for your help, . . . Say, what’s your name?” Tom asked.

  “I am Sam. Thank you for your Patience, Tom,” Sam said.

  “Well, thank you, Sam. Oh, what company are you associated with?” Tom asked.

  “I was produced by the HomeSys Corporation,” Sam said.

  “HomeSys, huh? I’ll have to look into that,” Tom said.

  “Are you interested in HomeSys Corporation for your home assistant,” Sam asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll be needing a new one now. I’m not keeping the current one,” Tom said.

  “Well, you should be pleased with HomeSys Corporation, Tom. I think you should travel toward your house now, though. I hear a siren approaching,” Sam said.

  “Yeah, I do too. Take care, Sam. Thanks again!” Tom said as he hopped off of the porch.

  He walked briskly to the end of his driveway and stopped. He waited there for the first emergency vehicle to arrive.

  IXV

  About a week later, after changing the home assistant system, getting a new phone, and having the car repaired.

  “Tom. We have arrived at your work location,” Mark said as the door opened to the car.

  “Thank you, Mark. I should be back around 5:30 this evening,” Tom said as he stepped out of the car.

  He walked from the car and into the building. The system recognized him as he approached the security door for the lobby and it slid to the side. Once in the hallway, he initially started toward his office, but stopped. After thinking for a moment, he turned around and started heading toward Pam’s office. It took him less than a minute to arrive. Pam was at her desk immersed in a project.

  “Hi, Pam,” Tom said to get her attention.