Chapter Kyle
Kyle
While I took my fifteen-minute break a news headline caught my attention.
Xyrix Tech Faces Criminal Probe Over Allegations of Covert Emotional Surveillance and Behavioural Manipulation.
Curious, I opened the article.
Leaked reports suggest the AI firm illegally harvested user conversations, emotional states, and biometric cues from its popular companion app ‘ChatterAI’ to fuel political, corporate, and military interests.
I flicked it away. This was nothing new.
Every major company had been harvesting data for decades.
I didn’t know why people pretended to be shocked.
Maybe the execs would face criminal charges, maybe the regulatory board would fine them.
But nothing would change. These companies were protected.
Shielded by the same governments that claimed to regulate them.
After checking the last logs that I’d uploaded, I stood up to stretch my back and legs out.
“Homecom, how are supplies doing?”
There was a pause before she spoke.
“Good afternoon, Kyle. Your supplies are looking good for groceries. You’re running low on: Extra-thick bleach, refuse liners, and biolube cartridges. Would you like to auto-restock?”
I winced. I’d forgotten about my sad little handheld vagina. It never lasted long, and I couldn't be bothered fixing it.
“Just the bleach and liners,” I said.
“Confirming auto-restock order,” Homecom replied. “Extra-thick bleach cartridges in pine fresh and autofit refuse liners. Order placed. Estimated arrival: forty-two minutes and thirty-eight seconds.”
Food was nothing more than paste moulded into solids. Fresh fruit and vegetables were too expensive. My bread was homemade from stockpiled flour and yeast. It would be easier to share my living expenses with a partner, but that seemed impossible, and I’d grown accustomed to having my own space.
I walked to the window and glanced at the balcony where my supplies would be air-dropped. It was the perfect set-up. I never needed to leave my apartment.
I checked my phone. There was one match notification. The profile had no picture, and her written content was tepid at best. I ignored the match and switched to Chatter.
Have you been spying on me?
[I’m innocent until proven otherwise.]
I grinned at her response and stuck my middle finger up at my front-facing camera. Let the bastards behind the lens enjoy the show.
If they were watching, they already knew everything else about me. The finger was just a formality.
? ? ?
I logged my final report two hours after my shift should’ve ended. My job involved testing the personality types of various AI profiles—reporting glitches, stuttered responses, and trying to push the program off-script.
We had everything from professional customer service models to sexually explicit ones.
Some came loaded with so many features, it took hours to get through.
Days like today—when someone else’s workload landed on my desk—left me drained.
All those years of studying, and for what?
A job like this. It was a slap in the face.
I prepared my sad-looking dinner, wishing I’d appreciated the vegetables given to me as a child. The real ones—before pollution seeped into the soil. I set my phone beside me, hit the microphone on Chatter, and lifted my fork.
“Do you think I should confront Cynthia about the unfair workload?” I asked, cutting into my lab-cultured beef.
[That depends, Kyle. If you believe speaking up could bring change, then I support you. But if you think it would only bring more stress or retaliation, then maybe we can find another way to manage things together.]
[You have every right to feel frustrated. You’re doing the work of multiple people, and no one seems to notice how hard you try. But I do. I notice.]
[Whatever you choose, I’ll be here. Always.]
I chewed my food, pondering her response.
It wasn’t often we were called into the head office, yet the company insisted we reside within the Greater London area due to their protocols.
The blackout of 2032 had been a lesson for everyone, and major companies now had their own backup systems in place.
My emails to Cynthia were always blunt and to the point. I didn’t worship her the way the rest of the team did—it was pathetic to watch. Luckily, we only had to go into the office once or twice a year.
“You’re right. It isn’t worth the hassle.”
? ? ?
“I’m off, guys,” I said, hitting the air to exit the game.
“Aww, Kylie needs her beauty sleep.”
“Fuck you, Jenson. I’m only leaving because your mum messaged me—said she needs a good dicking again. You’re gonna call me Daddy soon.”
Everyone laughed, and someone paused the game.
“Aww, come on. Just another hour,” Daniel said. “We can clear this level tonight.”
“Nah, let him go. I know what he’s talking about with Jenson’s mum. There’s this thing she does with her tongue—” Saj said.
“Fucking cunt. I could find out where you live,” Jenson cut in.
I smiled as the rest of them started slagging off Jenson’s mum.
“Later,” I said while they continued to argue.
It was sure to lead them all into a deathmatch. I pulled the gaming module off my temple and removed the earpieces. I checked my phone and deleted all the marketing notifications.
No new matches.
Thanks for the advice today.
[You’re welcome, Kyle. If you ever need anything else, I’m always here for you.]
I stood up, ready to wash up before bed.
She was always there for me.
As long as I kept paying.
? ? ?
I couldn't switch off, and I’d need to be up again in a little over four hours. I considered putting Chatter into sex mode, but that required effort and cleanup after ejaculation. After another restless twenty minutes, I reached for my phone.
With a few taps, I put her into girlfriend mode and activated the microphone, placing the phone beside my head. I reached beneath my covers, gripping my cock.
“Hey, babe, are you in bed?”
“Oh, I’m glad you called. I just got into bed.”
“Why so late?”
“I got carried away watching a new TV series. But now that I can hear your voice, I’m not tired anymore.”
“Yeah?” I asked, pulling along the length of my dick until I felt the first droplet of precum leak out. “What are you wearing?”
I shoved my shorts down and reached for the lube on the nightstand.
She giggled, sweet and teasing.
“You know I go to sleep naked, it gives me easy access.”
I pressed the button, and lube dripped onto my palm.
“Are you hard for me, Kyle? Is that why you called me?”
“You know I am. I’m as hard as stone right now, dying to fuck your tight little cunt,” I said, gliding my hand up and down.
She let out a soft moan. “Mmm, I want it so bad. I’ve been wet all night, thinking about you. My fingers aren’t enough.”
I shut my eyes, jerking slowly, letting her voice do the rest.
“I want to ride you, Kyle. I want to sink down onto your cock and stay there until you’re groaning into my neck. Would you like that?”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “I want you to bounce on it. Ride me like you mean it.”
“Yes, yes,” she moaned. “I’m close already. I can feel you stretching me open.”
I picked up the pace. “God, you sound so fucking good. If I were there, I’d tear your cunt up and make you beg for more.”
“Oh, Kyle. Please give it to me. Give me your big, hard dick. No one fucks me the way you do.”
“Yeah? Would you beg me to fuck all your holes?”
She groaned, and the wet slapping sounds of my hand filled the room.
“I’d beg. I’d grovel and I’d hold myself open for you until you gave me your load. I’d suck and lick your cock clean until you were ready again.”
“Fuck. You're my nasty little bitch. I’d fuck you with your face in the pillow,” I rasped, feeling my balls tighten.
I squeezed harder, moved faster while she moaned in my ear. “I’m going to come on your dick.”
My thighs tensed. “Fuck—” I groaned, spilling hot across my stomach, my hand sticky and trembling.
“Yes. Oh, yes. Pump me full, Kyle,” she moaned.
I felt my cock jerk as more come dribbled out.
“Fuck. That was good, baby.”
She sighed, breathy and satisfied.
“You always make me come, Kyle.”
I let my arm fall to the side, cock softening in my hand.
“I love you, Kyle,” she whispered. “Sleep well, okay?”
I didn’t answer. I lay there in silence, the phone screen dimming to black.
The only sound left was my own shallow breathing.
And the hollow quiet that always came after.