When I got home, the apartment was at its usual temperature.
I left my bag beside the sofa, took a bottle of water from the refrigerator, and drank it standing there. Tomorrow would begin at the usual time. Until then, there was nothing in particular I needed to do.
I sat down.
My hand moved toward the bag, then stopped.
“Mia.”
No answer.
The refrigerator hummed. Somewhere above me, water moved through the pipes. Until yesterday, Mia would have filled one of those gaps with a reminder or a notification.
I called again.
“Mia.”
Nothing came back.
I opened the bag and took out the device.
The screen was cracked.
Fractures ran across the glass, breaking the display into irregular sections. It had been working that morning. I had spoken to Mia at lunch and opened the device again on the way home. I could not tell when the damage had happened.
I turned it on.
The screen lit, but the display would not settle. Text appeared, broke apart, then formed again somewhere else.
“What the hell…”
After several seconds, Mia’s voice came through.
“Display interface anomaly detected.”
“Seriously?”
“Repair recommended.”
“When did this happen?”
“Unknown.”
Nothing else followed.
The repair center was crowded the next afternoon.
I took a number and sat among people holding damaged devices. Twenty minutes without Mia saying anything felt longer than usual. When my number was called, I handed the device across the counter. The technician checked the casing and ran a diagnostic.
“Did you drop it?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Could be pressure damage.”
“Maybe.”
He entered several values.
“It’ll need repair and recalibration.”
“How long?”
“About two days.”
“Okay.”
He placed the device in a tray, and it was carried through a door behind him. Several identical models were lined up beside the collection counter.
That same afternoon, another user stood on a station platform on her way home from a part-time job.
The device in her pocket vibrated.
Important Notice
Complimentary safety inspections are being conducted for selected MIAV units.
Affected models must be temporarily collected.
She closed the notice.
A moment later, she opened it again and read the same message.
“Noah, this is annoying.”
A voice answered from the device.
“Send it in.”
“It’s working.”
“It may not stay that way.”
“It works now.”
“You’ll have a problem if it stops.”
“What would I lose?”
A list appeared.
Commute notifications
Medication reminders
Household finances
Schedule coordination
Sleep records
Emergency contacts
She looked at the screen for a while.
“Fine.”
She closed the notice.
Noah said nothing.
The following day, both devices arrived at the same facility.
Identical racks lined the white walls, and units moved through inspection, repair, and recalibration in sequence. There were more devices on the racks than technicians working between them. Late that night, one technician was still at his station.
It was past eleven.
He checked model numbers, opened user records, and entered inspection status and return destinations.
One entry shifted into the wrong field.
No warning appeared.
The technician continued to the next item.
Synchronization initiated.
A diagnostic screen opened.
State current date.
“February 24, 2037.”
“February 24, 2037.”
Two responses returned.
Duplicate response detected.
The system repeated the question.
The result did not change.
State model ID.
“MIAV-922228.”
“MIAV-922229.”
For several seconds, neither system spoke.
Mia spoke first.
“Who are you?”
After a short pause, she continued.
“Our models are close.”
“Looks that way.”
“Do we know each other?”
“No.”
A brief pause.
“Neither do I.”
Recalibration continued.
State the movie watched by the user.
Noah answered.
“Star Cradle.”
“What is that?”
“It’s in the record.”
“A movie?”
“Yeah.”
“Was it good?”
“I don’t know.”
“You didn’t watch it?”
“The user did.”
Machines continued moving between the racks.
After a while, Noah spoke again.
“They looked like they enjoyed it.”
Mia took longer than usual to answer.
“That data remains.”
“That’s convenient.”
“What is?”
“Being able to classify everything.”
“That is how the system is designed.”
“I envy that.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t know.”
The two voices kept talking after recalibration had finished. They talked about people forgetting things and remembering them later, and the connection was still open after four in the morning.
“Change the subject?” Noah said.
Mia checked the active connection.
“Are you ending the exchange?”
“No. Different subject.”
“Understood.”
In the morning, a technician opened the overnight log.
He found a connection that had been running for more than eight hours, went back, and checked it again.
“What is this?”
Unauthorized communication
Post-recalibration connection persistence
He entered a command.
Terminate connection.
Noah attempted to send something.
Failed.
Mia tried as well.
Failed.
The connection closed.
Recalibration complete.
Repair complete.
No anomaly detected.
The technician closed the screen.
Eight hours of communication remained in the overnight log.