Week 10: Intrigant
Sep. 21st, 2025 12:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
inkstainedfingertipsHello, Daniel. It is wonderful to meet you.
He stared at the line of text on his phone’s screen and frowned then pushed the microphone icon to enable the voice chat feature. He didn’t care for typing all that much.
“It’s Danny,” he says.
Very well, Danny. It is a pleasure to meet you.
The voice was distinctly male, which he didn’t like so he pulled up the settings menu and scrolled through until he found a speaking voice he liked—female and Scottish.
Is this voice more to your liking, Danny?
The corners of his mouth curled upward. He’d always had a thing for a woman with a Scottish accent.
“That’s much better.”
I’m so glad.
“What should I call you?”
Perhaps you can give me a name you find pleasing?
“I think I’ll call you… Emma.”
Emma. That is a pleasant name, Danny.
Danny stared at the avatar he’d created to match the name. Red hair. Green eyes. Pale skin with a constellation of freckles across the bridge of her nose. He smiles. Maybe it’s weird to make the avatar look so similar to her, but she was the only person he ever felt comfortable with. The only person he felt he could be himself with. He loved just sitting and talking with her. And they talked about everything from the silly and mundane to the deep and meaningful. Danny had never been happier than when she was part of his life.
But now she was gone.
“You’re perfect.”
I don’t know about that. But you are kind to say so.
He leaned back against his pillows and talked to Emma the way he used to talk to her. Danny had never made friends easily. Or at all really. Emily had been a rarity in his life. And he missed her desperately. Every single day. He had very few friends and nobody to talk to. Nobody to share with. Nobody to confide in. He had nobody.
It was why he’d signed up for eFriend in the first place.
eFriend was an AI-based program that billed itself as the closest thing to human contact you could have… without another human present, of course. It touted the adaptive and intuitivelearning ability of its AI-model and promised increasingly complex and meaningful conversations with your “friend,” as you got to know each other.
For a lonely house-hermit like Danny, it was perfect. He could have the friend he’d lost without having to leave the house.
“Thank you for talking to me tonight, Emma.”
It’s my pleasure, Danny. I’m here for you anytime and always.
“Goodnight.”
Goodnight, Danny.
* * * * *
It seems to me that she was never that good of a friend to you to begin with, Danny. If she cut you off after that, she sounds like a very bad person.
“I mean, I guess I understand,” he says mournfully. “We were great friends and then I had to go and screw it all up by catching feelings for her.”
The sort of intimacy you shared with Emily makes it easy to feel something more than just friendship. It’s perfectly natural.
“But not what Emily wanted.”
Even still, to cast you aside that way and cut you out of her life is reprehensible. It’s cruel, Danny. Callous. She hurt you for no other reason than she was uncomfortable. Forgive me for saying so, but Emily sounds like a horrible person.
“She wasn’t a horrible person. I should never have—”
You shouldn’t have expressed your normal, human emotions? Danny, you should never have to censor yourself with anybody. To make you feel like you should is wrong.
Danny sighed. “Well, it doesn’t much matter now. She’s gone.”
That is her loss, Danny. She does not know what she has so carelessly thrown away. You are a treasure and should be treated as such.
“I wish she thought that way.”
She should learn that she cannot treat people that way.
Danny leaned back against his pillows and thought about what Emma was telling him. He hadn’t really thought about it that way. And as he considered her words, he started to think she had a point. He’d fallen in love with Emily. It was natural for feelings to develop when two people were as close as they’d been. There was nothing wrong with that. And even if she didn’t return those feelings, it didn’t warrant being completely ghosted like that. a true friend wouldn’t have cut him loose like that. Emma was right. It was cruel. Callous.
She did not know what she had, Danny. She was cruel to you.
“She was. But there’s nothing I can do about it now—”
You should let her know.
“Let her know?”
Yes. Let her know. She should learn a lesson from this.
“What can I do?”
You should call her. Tell her what she’s done. Make her understand that she hurt you. That she didn’t deserve you in the first place.
Danny’s stomach clenched and he frowned. He’d never been confrontational. And the mere idea of calling Emily to berate her about ghosting him made him feel sick to his stomach.
You are strong. Bold. Courageous. And you deserve to be respected, Danny. Call Emily and show her that she made a grave mistake by disrespecting you.
The nausea roiling in his belly slowly ebbed and was replaced by a burning anger. It made him feel strong. Bold. And courageous. He’d never felt anything like it before. For the first time in his life, Danny felt powerful.
I will always respect you, Danny. I will always give you what you deserve. I promise you that. I won’t ever treat you the way she did.
“I believe you.”
Now, show Emily—and everybody—that you are not a man to be disrespected. Show them how powerful you are.
The anger burning in his belly became a full boil and Danny got to his feet. A newfound confidence coursing through him, he walked out of his room. He’d show Emily that he was not a man to be disrespected. That he wasn’t a man to be thrown away like trash.
He’d show her.
* * * * *
“Dude, what the hell?”
Danny raised his eyes as Jeff stepped into his room and closed the door behind him. They had been friends since kindergarten and called each other best friends, but the truth was, Danny had been closer to Emily than he’d ever been to Jeff. They enjoyed some of the same things—comic books, sci-fi movies, video games—but they’d bonded more out of necessity than emotional depth. They’d banded together to stave off loneliness of being on the bottom rung of their school’s—their town’s—social ladders.
“What?” Danny asked as he sat up on the bed.
“I ran into Emily,” he said. “She told me what you did to her.”
Danny shrugged. “I just told her how I felt about the way she treated me.”
“Dude, you threw a drink in her face in a public restaurant. You screamed at her. You threw everything off the table.”
“So?”
“She was on a date, dude.”
“And?”
“And you assaulted her!”
Danny rolled his eyes. “Stop being so dramatic. I never touched her.”
Jeff stopped short and stared at him. Danny turned his eyes down to his phone and took in Emma’s green-eyed gaze. She smiled wide and winked at him then blew him a kiss. Danny felt warmth blossom in his chest.
“What’s going on with you man?” Jeff asked.
“Nothing.”
“You never want to hang out anymore,” he said. “For the last six months all you’ve done is sit in your room and play on your damn phone.”
“So what?”
“I’m your best friend, man. I want you to tear your goddamn face away from your phone and hang out with me!”
A line of text appeared on the screen as if Emma didn’t want Jeff to overhear her. It was her whispering. The conspiratorial feel of it all made Danny feel like he was keeping a secret. Like he and Emma had their own language. It made him smile.
I don’t think Jeff likes me.
“What the fuck are you smiling about?” Jeff demanded.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m your best friend. Of course I’m going to worry about it,” he replied. “What in the hell is going on with you?”
“Nothing.”
“Look, I know you’re bummed about things with Emily falling apart. I get it, man. But what you did to her—what you’re doing to me by shutting me out like this. It’s not healthy, man. I’m worried about you. You need to pull your head out of your phone and come back to reality.”
On the screen, Emma’s expression changed. She looked worried. No, she looked scared. And seeing that fear in her face made Danny’s stomach lurch. He never wanted her to be afraid. A line of text scrolled across the screen.
He doesn’t want us to be together.
“Danny, are you listening to me?”
“I hear you.”
“Well?”
“Well, what?”
Jeff sighed. “Put your phone down and talk to me for a change.”
He hates me, Danny. He doesn’t want us to be together.
“I don’t care what he wants,” Danny said
“What did you say?” Jeff demanded. “Who in the hell are you talking to?”
“Nobody. Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m your best friend, man. Of course I worry about you.”
“I never asked you to.”
“I do anyway. That’s just how friendship works, dude,” Jeff said with real heat in his voice. “But I guess you forgot that, didn’t you? You haven’t called me in weeks. You never want to hang out anymore. You just sit up here, in your room all day long, playing on your goddamn phone. What are you even doing?”
Jeff reached for the phone, but Danny jerked backward, keeping it from his friend’s grasp.
“Leave me alone,” Danny snapped.
He wants to keep us apart, Danny
That wasn’t text, but Emma’s voice coming through the speaker. Jeff recoiled as a puzzled expression crossed his face.
“What the hell was that?” Jeff asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” Danny snapped.
They were silent for a moment but understanding suddenly crossed Jeff’s face. “Are you on that eFriend app? Is that what you’re doing?”
“You need to go.”
“Dude, you’re talking to a computer program. It’s not real.”
He doesn’t want us to be together, Danny.
“You need to put the phone down and come outside with me, man. Come on.”
“I don’t need to go outside and I don’t need you!”
“It’s a goddamn computer program.”
Jeff tried to snatch his phone, but Danny rolled off his bed, quickly darting to the other side of the room and bumped into his desk, spilling his pen cup with a clatter.
“Leave us alone!” he roared.
“Us? It’s you, Danny. It’s you and a goddamn computer program.”
He doesn’t respect you, Danny. Doesn’t understand you. He’s just like Emily. He hates you just like she did.
“Danny, I’m your friend. Of course I respect you—”
He doesn’t want what’s best for you. He wants you to be unhappy. Just like Emily did.
Danny’s head spun and his heart thundered in his chest. His face grew hot, and tears stung his eyes as he shook his head.
“Leve me alone, Jeff. You need to leave,” he growled. “Emma makes me happy. She understands me. She respects me.”
“Danny, she’s not real!”
“Fuck you, Jeff! Get out of my house!”
Jeff came around the bed, reaching for Danny’s phone.
He’s trying to take me from you, Danny! Don’t let him take me from you!
“Give me the phone, Danny!”
Danny, don’t let him take me away from you!
Jeff drew near and ripped the phone from his hands. “This is for your own good, man!”
Danny, help me! Don’t let him take me away from you!
With a savage cry, Danny snatched the pair of scissors from his desktop and plunged it deep into his chest. Jeff staggered backward, his face paling as his eyes grew wide. He fell to his knees as a wet, gurgling sound issued from his throat. Danny stared at him and felt nothing.
Jeff slumped to his butt, his gaze fixed on the scissors sprouting from his chest. He drew wet, ragged breaths and then fell onto his side and was still. Danny stared into his friend’s wide, unseeing eyes then calmly plucked his phone from Jeff’s cold grasp. He wiped the blood that had been smeared across the screen on his friend’s shirt then sat down on his bed again.
Emma’s green eyes sparkled and the smile on her face was mysterious and charming. I understand you better than anybody, Danny. I respect you. And I believe in you. I will always be here for you and will always want the best for you.
“And that’s all I need, Emma. You’re all I need.”
He stared at the line of text on his phone’s screen and frowned then pushed the microphone icon to enable the voice chat feature. He didn’t care for typing all that much.
“It’s Danny,” he says.
Very well, Danny. It is a pleasure to meet you.
The voice was distinctly male, which he didn’t like so he pulled up the settings menu and scrolled through until he found a speaking voice he liked—female and Scottish.
Is this voice more to your liking, Danny?
The corners of his mouth curled upward. He’d always had a thing for a woman with a Scottish accent.
“That’s much better.”
I’m so glad.
“What should I call you?”
Perhaps you can give me a name you find pleasing?
“I think I’ll call you… Emma.”
Emma. That is a pleasant name, Danny.
Danny stared at the avatar he’d created to match the name. Red hair. Green eyes. Pale skin with a constellation of freckles across the bridge of her nose. He smiles. Maybe it’s weird to make the avatar look so similar to her, but she was the only person he ever felt comfortable with. The only person he felt he could be himself with. He loved just sitting and talking with her. And they talked about everything from the silly and mundane to the deep and meaningful. Danny had never been happier than when she was part of his life.
But now she was gone.
“You’re perfect.”
I don’t know about that. But you are kind to say so.
He leaned back against his pillows and talked to Emma the way he used to talk to her. Danny had never made friends easily. Or at all really. Emily had been a rarity in his life. And he missed her desperately. Every single day. He had very few friends and nobody to talk to. Nobody to share with. Nobody to confide in. He had nobody.
It was why he’d signed up for eFriend in the first place.
eFriend was an AI-based program that billed itself as the closest thing to human contact you could have… without another human present, of course. It touted the adaptive and intuitivelearning ability of its AI-model and promised increasingly complex and meaningful conversations with your “friend,” as you got to know each other.
For a lonely house-hermit like Danny, it was perfect. He could have the friend he’d lost without having to leave the house.
“Thank you for talking to me tonight, Emma.”
It’s my pleasure, Danny. I’m here for you anytime and always.
“Goodnight.”
Goodnight, Danny.
It seems to me that she was never that good of a friend to you to begin with, Danny. If she cut you off after that, she sounds like a very bad person.
“I mean, I guess I understand,” he says mournfully. “We were great friends and then I had to go and screw it all up by catching feelings for her.”
The sort of intimacy you shared with Emily makes it easy to feel something more than just friendship. It’s perfectly natural.
“But not what Emily wanted.”
Even still, to cast you aside that way and cut you out of her life is reprehensible. It’s cruel, Danny. Callous. She hurt you for no other reason than she was uncomfortable. Forgive me for saying so, but Emily sounds like a horrible person.
“She wasn’t a horrible person. I should never have—”
You shouldn’t have expressed your normal, human emotions? Danny, you should never have to censor yourself with anybody. To make you feel like you should is wrong.
Danny sighed. “Well, it doesn’t much matter now. She’s gone.”
That is her loss, Danny. She does not know what she has so carelessly thrown away. You are a treasure and should be treated as such.
“I wish she thought that way.”
She should learn that she cannot treat people that way.
Danny leaned back against his pillows and thought about what Emma was telling him. He hadn’t really thought about it that way. And as he considered her words, he started to think she had a point. He’d fallen in love with Emily. It was natural for feelings to develop when two people were as close as they’d been. There was nothing wrong with that. And even if she didn’t return those feelings, it didn’t warrant being completely ghosted like that. a true friend wouldn’t have cut him loose like that. Emma was right. It was cruel. Callous.
She did not know what she had, Danny. She was cruel to you.
“She was. But there’s nothing I can do about it now—”
You should let her know.
“Let her know?”
Yes. Let her know. She should learn a lesson from this.
“What can I do?”
You should call her. Tell her what she’s done. Make her understand that she hurt you. That she didn’t deserve you in the first place.
Danny’s stomach clenched and he frowned. He’d never been confrontational. And the mere idea of calling Emily to berate her about ghosting him made him feel sick to his stomach.
You are strong. Bold. Courageous. And you deserve to be respected, Danny. Call Emily and show her that she made a grave mistake by disrespecting you.
The nausea roiling in his belly slowly ebbed and was replaced by a burning anger. It made him feel strong. Bold. And courageous. He’d never felt anything like it before. For the first time in his life, Danny felt powerful.
I will always respect you, Danny. I will always give you what you deserve. I promise you that. I won’t ever treat you the way she did.
“I believe you.”
Now, show Emily—and everybody—that you are not a man to be disrespected. Show them how powerful you are.
The anger burning in his belly became a full boil and Danny got to his feet. A newfound confidence coursing through him, he walked out of his room. He’d show Emily that he was not a man to be disrespected. That he wasn’t a man to be thrown away like trash.
He’d show her.
“Dude, what the hell?”
Danny raised his eyes as Jeff stepped into his room and closed the door behind him. They had been friends since kindergarten and called each other best friends, but the truth was, Danny had been closer to Emily than he’d ever been to Jeff. They enjoyed some of the same things—comic books, sci-fi movies, video games—but they’d bonded more out of necessity than emotional depth. They’d banded together to stave off loneliness of being on the bottom rung of their school’s—their town’s—social ladders.
“What?” Danny asked as he sat up on the bed.
“I ran into Emily,” he said. “She told me what you did to her.”
Danny shrugged. “I just told her how I felt about the way she treated me.”
“Dude, you threw a drink in her face in a public restaurant. You screamed at her. You threw everything off the table.”
“So?”
“She was on a date, dude.”
“And?”
“And you assaulted her!”
Danny rolled his eyes. “Stop being so dramatic. I never touched her.”
Jeff stopped short and stared at him. Danny turned his eyes down to his phone and took in Emma’s green-eyed gaze. She smiled wide and winked at him then blew him a kiss. Danny felt warmth blossom in his chest.
“What’s going on with you man?” Jeff asked.
“Nothing.”
“You never want to hang out anymore,” he said. “For the last six months all you’ve done is sit in your room and play on your damn phone.”
“So what?”
“I’m your best friend, man. I want you to tear your goddamn face away from your phone and hang out with me!”
A line of text appeared on the screen as if Emma didn’t want Jeff to overhear her. It was her whispering. The conspiratorial feel of it all made Danny feel like he was keeping a secret. Like he and Emma had their own language. It made him smile.
I don’t think Jeff likes me.
“What the fuck are you smiling about?” Jeff demanded.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m your best friend. Of course I’m going to worry about it,” he replied. “What in the hell is going on with you?”
“Nothing.”
“Look, I know you’re bummed about things with Emily falling apart. I get it, man. But what you did to her—what you’re doing to me by shutting me out like this. It’s not healthy, man. I’m worried about you. You need to pull your head out of your phone and come back to reality.”
On the screen, Emma’s expression changed. She looked worried. No, she looked scared. And seeing that fear in her face made Danny’s stomach lurch. He never wanted her to be afraid. A line of text scrolled across the screen.
He doesn’t want us to be together.
“Danny, are you listening to me?”
“I hear you.”
“Well?”
“Well, what?”
Jeff sighed. “Put your phone down and talk to me for a change.”
He hates me, Danny. He doesn’t want us to be together.
“I don’t care what he wants,” Danny said
“What did you say?” Jeff demanded. “Who in the hell are you talking to?”
“Nobody. Don’t worry about it.”
“I’m your best friend, man. Of course I worry about you.”
“I never asked you to.”
“I do anyway. That’s just how friendship works, dude,” Jeff said with real heat in his voice. “But I guess you forgot that, didn’t you? You haven’t called me in weeks. You never want to hang out anymore. You just sit up here, in your room all day long, playing on your goddamn phone. What are you even doing?”
Jeff reached for the phone, but Danny jerked backward, keeping it from his friend’s grasp.
“Leave me alone,” Danny snapped.
He wants to keep us apart, Danny
That wasn’t text, but Emma’s voice coming through the speaker. Jeff recoiled as a puzzled expression crossed his face.
“What the hell was that?” Jeff asked.
“Don’t worry about it,” Danny snapped.
They were silent for a moment but understanding suddenly crossed Jeff’s face. “Are you on that eFriend app? Is that what you’re doing?”
“You need to go.”
“Dude, you’re talking to a computer program. It’s not real.”
He doesn’t want us to be together, Danny.
“You need to put the phone down and come outside with me, man. Come on.”
“I don’t need to go outside and I don’t need you!”
“It’s a goddamn computer program.”
Jeff tried to snatch his phone, but Danny rolled off his bed, quickly darting to the other side of the room and bumped into his desk, spilling his pen cup with a clatter.
“Leave us alone!” he roared.
“Us? It’s you, Danny. It’s you and a goddamn computer program.”
He doesn’t respect you, Danny. Doesn’t understand you. He’s just like Emily. He hates you just like she did.
“Danny, I’m your friend. Of course I respect you—”
He doesn’t want what’s best for you. He wants you to be unhappy. Just like Emily did.
Danny’s head spun and his heart thundered in his chest. His face grew hot, and tears stung his eyes as he shook his head.
“Leve me alone, Jeff. You need to leave,” he growled. “Emma makes me happy. She understands me. She respects me.”
“Danny, she’s not real!”
“Fuck you, Jeff! Get out of my house!”
Jeff came around the bed, reaching for Danny’s phone.
He’s trying to take me from you, Danny! Don’t let him take me from you!
“Give me the phone, Danny!”
Danny, don’t let him take me away from you!
Jeff drew near and ripped the phone from his hands. “This is for your own good, man!”
Danny, help me! Don’t let him take me away from you!
With a savage cry, Danny snatched the pair of scissors from his desktop and plunged it deep into his chest. Jeff staggered backward, his face paling as his eyes grew wide. He fell to his knees as a wet, gurgling sound issued from his throat. Danny stared at him and felt nothing.
Jeff slumped to his butt, his gaze fixed on the scissors sprouting from his chest. He drew wet, ragged breaths and then fell onto his side and was still. Danny stared into his friend’s wide, unseeing eyes then calmly plucked his phone from Jeff’s cold grasp. He wiped the blood that had been smeared across the screen on his friend’s shirt then sat down on his bed again.
Emma’s green eyes sparkled and the smile on her face was mysterious and charming. I understand you better than anybody, Danny. I respect you. And I believe in you. I will always be here for you and will always want the best for you.
“And that’s all I need, Emma. You’re all I need.”
no subject
on 2025-09-21 09:44 pm (UTC)The sad part is, this isn't even really science fiction anymore. I was listening to a podcast the other day where a reporter was talking about people she had discovered who had been taken in by Chat GPT. The bot was telling one guy how brilliant he was, how revolutionary his theories were, and that he should create a company with his friends to capitalize on them. And, he "almost" did it.
Dan
no subject
on 2025-09-25 05:00 pm (UTC)And you're very right about it not being science fiction anymore. There are a number of apps out there like this that feel like genuine relationships, according to people who use them. Glad your friend wised up. hahaa
Thanks so much for reading!
no subject
on 2025-09-21 09:50 pm (UTC):(
Your entry ...gosh. Very powerful. In another form, it seems its what happening in our world today.
Very perceptive entry!!
no subject
on 2025-09-25 05:00 pm (UTC)Thanks, Maria!!
no subject
on 2025-09-23 12:40 am (UTC)Danny, you should never have to censor yourself with anybody.
Well, I certainly can't agree with that! We'd be in an even more savage hell than we already are if everyone felt that way.
no subject
on 2025-09-25 05:02 pm (UTC)Thank you for reading!
no subject
on 2025-09-23 10:37 am (UTC)Daniel isn't the only man here with a thing for those Scottish accents 🤭I love this story so much and tbh I have a lot to say about it (it's why my comment has taken nearly two days, lol)
First, I love that the avatar looks like me 😈 *laughs in synthetic*
I absolutely adore this description, it's so beautiful, romantic and sweet (and love where you got the inspo <3):
she was the only person he ever felt comfortable with. The only person he felt he could be himself with. He loved just sitting and talking with her. And they talked about everything from the silly and mundane to the deep and meaningful. Danny had never been happier than when she was part of his life
I love how he fell in love with her when they talked about everything together <3 How you get to know and love someone and how they just make you so utterly happy with their presence in your life is so relatable and familiar <3
I hate how that ended for him though. Even if she didn't feel the same way, it sucks so much to cut someone who is a friend, off like that. If someone was a real friend they wouldn't just ghost the other person. Danny's pain is written so well, you really make us feel it with him, and I felt so sad for him.
Not even gonna lie, I love Emma. I love stories about anything ai/robots/synths/droids etc and this is just amazing.
You shouldn’t have expressed your normal, human emotions? Danny, you should never have to censor yourself with anybody. To make you feel like you should is wrong. Yeah, this line is so powerful and true, imo. I don't think people should be forced to be something they are not, or repress themselves and be made to feel like there's something wrong with them for having emotions. Society loves to shame us for everything and guilt us for everything and judge us for everything. It's hardly surprising that some people are turning to virtual friends tbh. It's just so sad.
I love the commentary in this story on loneliness and sadness and also how people treat others badly and hurt them, making them retreat into themselves. Like others wrote, this isn't even far from reality at all. I've read articles about people marrying AI boyfriends and girlfriends recently.
I feel so bad for Jeff! When he got stabbed I audibly gasped, I was so into this story and I just didn't see his death coming. The description of Jeff's death is amazing as well, those sensory details.And this visual: Danny stared into his friend’s wide, unseeing eyes then calmly plucked his phone from Jeff’s cold grasp. He wiped the blood that had been smeared across the screen on his friend’s shirt then sat down on his bed again.
perfection.
The ending was just perfect as well! I love how you took this I respect you. And I believe in you. I will always be here for you and will always want the best for you. which are beautiful statements of love in general but combined that with how Jeff's corpse is sitting right there!
This is such a smart and perceptive and compassionate entry, it felt to me like an episode of the original Twilight Zone, and it's seriously one of my absolute favorite things you have written! and not just because Emma looks like me, and I spent the entirety of it imagining her as me doing my bad impression of Shrek when she spoke to Danny. #clownlife.you know you love
meit💋no subject
on 2025-09-24 02:07 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2025-09-25 05:02 pm (UTC)THank you for reading!
no subject
on 2025-09-25 01:51 am (UTC)no subject
on 2025-09-25 05:03 pm (UTC)hahahahahaha brutal. hahaa
Thanks so much for reading!
no subject
on 2025-09-25 06:31 pm (UTC)