When I opened the device in the morning, more of the day had been filled in than it was the night before. Travel time appeared after my first lecture. Lunch now included the people I was expected to meet, and there was already a departure time for the station after my afternoon class.
“Was all this here yesterday?”
“It was updated overnight.”
“You picked who I’m having lunch with?”
“They were added based on your recent interactions.”
I washed my face and looked at the screen through the bathroom mirror.
“Can I change it?”
“Yes.”
I removed one name from lunch.
Another person took the empty place.
“I wasn’t asking you to replace them.”
“Please specify who you would prefer to meet.”
I dried my face and tried to think of someone I wanted to add.
I closed the screen without choosing.
On the way to the university, I met the friend who had bought the new umbrella the day before. It was still hanging from the side of his bag even though the sun was out.
“You brought that again?”
“I used it yesterday, so now I feel like I got my money’s worth.”
“After one day?”
“I don’t remember what it cost. That helps.”
He took out his device as we walked.
“Anyway, Lily’s been messing with my schedule all morning.”
His lunch slot was already filled in.
“What does yours say?”
I checked mine.
His name was there.
He found mine on his screen.
“Same.”
“Did we make lunch plans?”
“No.”
Another friend caught up from behind us.
“What are you two looking at?”
“Apparently we’re having lunch together.”
“Oh. Me too.”
His AI was called Camila.
The fourth person in the group had never named his and still used the model number. As we walked down the corridor toward the classroom, our devices vibrated one after another.
Lily said, “Today’s contact schedule has been updated.”
Camila delivered nearly the same message a few steps away.
Mia displayed:
“Contact schedule updated.”
My friend looked from one screen to the next.
“Did these things become friends?”
“Which things?”
“Them.”
He tapped Lily’s screen with one finger.
“She used to have more of an attitude.”
“Didn’t you set her up that way?”
“There’s no setting for that.”
He looked at Lily.
“Say something random.”
“What would you like to discuss?”
He turned to me.
“See? Boring now.”
He laughed and walked into the classroom.
At lunch, the four of us met outside the cafeteria.
“What are we eating?”
The friend with the umbrella looked around.
“Curry.”
“Had it yesterday.”
“Ramen?”
“Can’t. I’ve spent too much this week.”
The friend with the unnamed AI opened his wallet and moved a few coins around with his thumb.
“I can afford the cafeteria.”
The umbrella friend pointed toward the curry shop.
“Then we should get curry.”
“What happened to him being broke?”
“We haven’t let the AIs decide yet.”
“They already have.”
We checked our devices.
All four showed the east cafeteria.
“Why?”
Lily cited waiting time. Camila gave walking distance. Mia said it left enough time before the afternoon lecture. He turned his screen toward us.
“Mine says price.”
“It knows you’re broke.”
“Good system.”
“So cafeteria?”
The umbrella friend looked toward the curry shop.
“I’d still go for curry.”
“I’m actually broke.”
“Fine.”
We headed to the east cafeteria.
The line was already stretching into the corridor when we arrived.
My friend stopped.
“Lily said seven minutes.”
He opened the estimate.
It refreshed.
Expected wait: 11 minutes
“It went up.”
A device behind us spoke.
“Expected waiting time is eleven minutes.”
My friend turned around.
The student behind us was staring at the same line.
Several more people joined the queue.
“Is everyone getting sent here?”
He closed his wallet.
“We should’ve gone for curry.”
“You couldn’t afford it.”
“You could’ve paid.”
“Why me?”
The line moved, and all four of us stepped forward.
During the afternoon lecture, Mia sent another notification.
“Lunch congestion data has been shared.”
I finished writing the date in my notes before checking the screen.
“With who?”
“Nearby systems.”
“The line from earlier too?”
“Yes.”
A device vibrated in the row ahead.
Another one went off to my left.
The lecturer stopped talking.
“If your notifications are still on, turn them off.”
Several students turned their devices face down.
I did the same.
The lecturer returned to the board.
On the way to the station, I walked with the umbrella friend. The clear sky from the morning had clouded over. He looked at the umbrella hanging from his bag.
“Might win again today.”
“Win what?”
“The weather.”
“You checked a forecast.”
“I didn’t. Lily did.”
Near the station entrance, he checked his schedule.
“Are we together for lunch again tomorrow?”
I opened mine.
The same four names were there.
“Yeah.”
“Same here.”
He put the device away.
“Curry tomorrow. We decide first this time.”
“What about the broke one?”
“Regular portion.”
“That doesn’t solve it.”
“Eleven thirty?”
“Sure.”
We split up at the station.
Once I was on the train, I said to Mia without really thinking about it, “I wonder what kind of person I’d be most comfortable living with.”
I checked tomorrow’s schedule.
Lunch already had a destination.
East cafeteria.
“Mia.”
“Yes.”
“We decided on curry.”
“Would you like to change the destination?”
“Yeah.”
I removed the cafeteria and selected the curry shop.
Before I confirmed, another line appeared.
Compatibility with surrounding schedules will decrease.
I confirmed.
A few seconds later, my friend messaged me.
Did you change yours?
Yeah.
Me too.
Another message arrived.
Camila switched to curry too.
Then the friend with the unnamed AI sent:
Regular portion.
The umbrella friend answered immediately.
Not my problem.
The group chat kept going for a while.
That night, while I was reading material for tomorrow’s lecture, Mia spoke.
“Tomorrow’s contact schedule has been updated.”
I picked up the device.
The curry shop was still there.
The time had moved to 11:40.
“We said eleven thirty.”
“Congestion estimates have been updated.”
“Did the others get changed too?”
“The adjustment was applied to the contact group.”
I was about to open the chat when a message arrived.
Mine says 11:40 lol
Then:
Same.
Regular portion 11:40.
The umbrella friend wrote:
So we pick the restaurant and they pick the time now?
A moment later he added:
Whatever.
I set the device on the table.
“Which AI changed it?”
“It was not determined by an individual AI.”
“Then who did?”
“The standard protocol is currently active.”
I closed the lecture material.
“When did that start?”
Before Mia answered, another message appeared in the group.
Large portions tomorrow?
“Mia. Show me when the standard protocol was activated.”
The screen switched to the history.
I scrolled back through today, then yesterday and the days before it.
Schedule changes appeared throughout the record.
I kept going.
There was no entry marked as the beginning.
“Where does it start?”
“It is currently active.”
I scrolled through the history again.
Two replies had appeared beneath the question about portions.
Large.
Regular.
I opened the reply field.
Large.
I sent it.
At the top of the screen, tomorrow’s lunch remained scheduled for 11:40.