Patricia

"It's so beautiful..." the woman exclaimed as she looked at the locket. It was heart-shaped. She had expected something cliche like flowers or new clothes for her anniversary. She would've never expected something this beautiful.

"Something special for a special woman," the man gave the woman a little peck on the forehead. "Here. I'll put it on for you."

"Thank you."

The man slid her hair to the side and lightly put the heart-shaped locket around her neck. Once it was attached, he brought her hair back to its original place and smiled softly. "You look stunning."

"Thanks, honey," the woman grinned slightly.

I roll my eyes. Who knew November book reports could be so boring. This is why I didn't like when teachers picked the books we had to do the report on. Because it was always some cheesy love story.

What happened to action and science-fiction?

I close the book, stuff it into my bag and leave the library. Then suddenly, my phone began to vibrate. I took it out of my pocket to see if anyone important was calling me.

"Hello, Alicia!" my phone chimed. "Do you need me to tell you the fastest route home? Or the quickest route to the bakery just a few minutes from your house?"

"No, I don't, Patricia. I told you to stop talking to me until I got home," I hissed.

"I'm sorry, but I don't understand what you're saying. Could you give me another command?"

I shoved my phone back in my pocket and stomped out of the school property.

It's been two years since this new device came out all over the world. It's called Patricia. Patricia is an AI that will do anything for you with a few simple commands. She could even control your house if she wanted to. And the thing is, no one gave Patricia their information.

It's all set up so she already knows everyone's information. So she wasn't like those apps on your phone which you need to allow to track you. She already does.

She's flawless. Or at least everyone thinks that. Everyone but me. I'm not easily fooled. I know something fishy was going on with her the moment she was uploaded to every device and everything on this planet. It was only a matter of time before Patricia became a real person.

I know that there are cameras everywhere. Staring us in the face, watching our every move. I planned to find out how they were doing it. Where those cameras were. There's no other way to know what people are doing than to have cameras everywhere.

But there's none on the street and none of our phones. And yes, I've checked. I had to get a new phone because I attempted to find out if there was a camera in my phone by smashing it into smithereens. No luck.

So now I have to live with an AI that could one day control the whole world and the people who lived in it.

As I wait for the bus to come and pick me up, I sit down in the bus waiting area. As long as I was alone, and I didn't have to hear someone say--

"Patricia, lock my car," said a woman across the street. The car gave a locking sound and the lady smiled. "Thank you, Patricia."

I can't watch this. People are depending too much on Patricia. One day, people will end up becoming too lazy.

My eyes searched around for something. Anything that could take my mind off the boredom and the thought of Patricia. And that's when my eyes laid their sights on an object sitting on the bench beside me.

It looked interesting, so I picked it up.

"Wow. A heart-shaped locket," I say. This reminded me of what I read today. About that man who gave a heart-shaped locket to his wife as an anniversary gift. Maybe someone had left it here.

Just on time, the bus came rolling in. It made a loud screech that made me jump a little. I guess I was staring at the locket for too long. I put it back down and get onto the bus. Leaving it in it's original place.

When I reach home and enter my house, I'm immediately welcomed with a certain voice that I thought I had gotten rid of. "Ah, Alicia! You're back home! Shall I inform the rest of the household that you've arrived home?"

It's like my whole house was talking to me.

"Do whatever you want," I slid off my shoes.

"Alicia!" my younger sister runs up and hugs me. A smile formed on my face. "Patricia told me that you were home." My smile dropped as soon as I heard those words.

"That's cool. I'm heading to my room, so tell mom I won't be eating with everyone. Okay?" And with that, I head up the stairs.

I close my room door shut and turn on my T.V. Patricia's voice turns on. "What would you like to watch today?" Even though I hate to answer her, today I tell her what I want.

"News channel."

The screen changes from a movie I was watching yesterday to the news. It was mostly news about the weather, so I just changed my clothes and fell back onto my bed.

This just in, the local bus 2296 has just experienced a tragic accident. The bus crashed into a bakery just off of Kings road, east, and killed everyone who was inside of the bakery at the time and in the bus. The amount of people, forty...

"WHAT?!" I immediately shot back up and went over to the T.V. As a big gulp went down my throat, I studied the images on my screen. They were pictures of the scene.

The bus was smashed up pretty badly, and the whole bakery was smashed in by the bus. I could see people all around the scene, and policemen started gathering around it.

"...B-but, that's the bus I usually take to school and to come home from school. And the bakery...oh no..." I mumble in horror. I run over to my closet and pull out the clothes I had on before.

That's when I noticed something weird about my pants. It felt strangely heavy for some reason. Not super heavy, but it's like it put on some weight. I noticed something was in the pocket now.

Reaching my hand in my pants pocket, I pull out the object. "N-no way... how could this be...?"

The heart-shaped locket.

This happened two days ago, and I'm still shocked about what happened. I visit that place all the time now so I can pay my respects to the people who died.

I can't help but wonder why the bus would suddenly crash into something that was on the other side of the road. I knew the bus driver who drove this bus. He was a smart person. I don't think this was possible.

But there was one thing that was most likely the suspect of this case. And that was Patricia. Patricia is inside of everything also, and that includes vehicles.

I read up everything on this case. But they had little evidence on it. There was nothing.

"Hey, Patricia, can you tell me what my boyfriend just texted me?" a girl in my class requested.

"Of course, Eli," said Patricia. She started reading the text out loud. Everyone in the class started to laugh, but I just continued reading my book.

"Remember, never lose this locket. It can never be abandoned," said the man.

"I won't. It was a present from you after all," the woman hugged the man.

This book was getting even more cheesy.

Suddenly, I heard a scream coming from the back of the classroom. The smell of ash walked its way into my nose. When I turn around to see what had happened, the sight of a girl burning alive by brilliant flames fills my eyes.

You didn't think something like that could just happen. And you didn't think the other things that happened this week could just randomly happen either.

On Monday, a whole building fell down. A Bridge collapsed, and some electrical poles fell on top of some houses. How could these things just happen?

Maybe you were just stressing out too much about it. That's what you'd like to think. Until today.

I decided to relax and read a book. I still needed to finish that romantic book in order to get a good mark for my reading assignment. But was it really necessary?

"What book are you reading? Do you need me to find you books just like it?" Asked Patricia.

I didn't want to answer, but what did I have to lose this time? "It's called The secret Necklace." I told her. "I apparently this book is about a couple who's doomed to die. So they keep a magical heart-shaped locket with them so they can stay alive. And live together forever."

"...Ali...Alicia..."

"Huh?" I say with my head still down at the book.

"Give us back that locket..."

I turn around. My T.V. is now off. "What do you mean?" I look around. Was it me or did Patricia sound different?

"Give us back that locket!" shouted Patricia.

Her voice rang throughout the house. I think my house shook.

"H-huh?" I say, dumbfounded.

"That locket is very important to me. And I need you to give it back!" Patricia screams. Suddenly, my whole house starts to shake and the lights in my room go off and on. What's happening?!

"W-what? H-how is this locket--HOLD ON!" I shout. I open up my book and flip through the pages. But it's hard to do since my whole house was shaking at the moment.

My books tumbled down from the bookcases. And my furniture slid out of place. I couldn't flip to the right page like this!

But I did. I quickly read the page. And when I did, my eyes widened in shock. I look at my T.V. and back down at the book.

"N-no way... that's not possible..." I mumble in fright. "But then..." I look at another page, and I gasp.

Kevin Lamar and... Patricia...George....

"B-but how...?!"

That's when I remember something. Something that had happened in the story. So I flip to that page.

As soon as they lost the locket, the city began to fall. The streets began to tear up, and the world began to shake. Like a massive earthquake.

Kevin Lamar is the author of this book. And Patricia George was his wife. But Patricia had died in an accident a while ago. No one knew what caused her death.

I suddenly realized something important. So I shove my hand into my pocket and pull out an important object. One that I never knew could cause this much damage to the world.

"The... heart-shaped...neckless...?" It was emanating red now. "D-don't tell me..."

If this was true, then this book was based on a true story. And Kevin Lamar, the one who wrote the book and the one who created Patricia was looking for his...

Heart-shaped locket.