The Unknown Object

The soft sounds of music filled the house and lulled Rich awake. Rich sat on the edge of his bed and willed himself to begin his morning routine. He did not sleep well. His annoyance grew as he showered and shaved. Pop ups for sleep aids and energy drinks flashed across the tiles of his shower. As he tried to focus on shaving ads for anxiety medications and local therapists began to appear. Stopping Rich grabbed the sink. With a wave of his hand he dismissed the popups and minimized the smart features. Rich took a deep relaxing breath and finished shaving. Normally this act would be illegal and would immediately be reported. His job as a A.I. auditor though afforded him this degree of personal freedom. Finishing in the bathroom Rich walked to his dresser and removed his smart watch placing it next to his phone. The watch began to make its high pitch alert warning the user that they were not biometrically engaged. His bedroom mirror and phone echoed the alert. Within seconds the bathroom appliances joined in the intrusive symphony.

Ignoring all this Rich entered his closet shutting the door behind him. Walking to the back of the closet he pulled a small shoe box from beneath his coats and sat down beneath them. Inside was a small heart shaped locket. He turned it over in his hand and opened it. The alarms silenced, and had Rich not been an auditor, the authorities would already have been dispatched to his residence. But he was lucky and could take moments like this so he could disconnect and remember. Rich stared at the pictures in the locket and smiled. Inside was a small picture of his departed wife and another of his grandparents. Rich held the locket to his chest and sighed. He let his mind wander freely remembering his wife without the aid of technology. These few fleeting moments alone with the locket and his memories were all Rich looked forward to now. Satisfied Rich stuffed the locket into his pants pocket. On bad days he could reach into his pocket and feel some relief.

Rich’s workday began uneventful. He processed error reports and graded AI predictions. After lunch Rich sat back at his terminal and had begun to work again when a loud notification alert began to sound. The sound was unmistakable to anyone. It was the dating A.I and it had a match for Rich. Throughout the office the other staff craned their necks as word spread. Hushed voices filled the normally quiet office. Rich wanted to crawl under his desk, but he nervously clicked on the link. Behind him his boss came darting into the cubicle.

“Rich I just heard, Congratulations! Who is she!?” Tim exclaimed.

“I don’t know I….” Rich replied.

Rich was embarrassed and nervous. He had promised his wife he would move on before she died. She had helped him create a profile before she passed. Tim had crossed over to Rich’s terminal and had begun to look at his match.

“Rich the A.I. picked good for sure! Wow, you are going to accept right?” Tim asked looking at Rich.

Rich’s hand gripped the locket in his pocket tight and he could hear his wife’s voice.

“Promise me Rich.”

Mustering courage Rich spoke up.

“Tim please accept the date for me I want it to be a surprise.” He was sure Tim could hear the disappointment in his voice.

“Don’t worry Rich, I am sure you will have a good time!” With that Tim hit the confirmation and patted Rich on the back as he left the cubicle.

Rich finalized his date thru the app. The algorithm needed inputs on the locations it thought were best and the time. Making his choices, Rich got confirmation of the agreed of choices from his date. All of this was uploaded to all his devices with reminders and recommended advertisements based on their shared interests. This wasn’t Rich’s first date since his wife’s death. She wanted Rich to be happy, and he begrudgingly went through the motions.

Later that evening Rich arrived at the fancy restaurant dressed slightly conservative as all his apps had suggested. His date, Jill, immediately recognized him. She was beautiful and well-dressed. They were immediately led to a table and even Rich was surprised at how well the algorithm had matched them. Jill was a connection therapist and specialized in technology avoidance disorders. She was intrigued by Rich and he couldn’t shake the feeling that her interest in him was partially professionally motivated. She was extremely interested in Rich’s refusal to use ocular connection devices. Normally refusal to connect completely would have flagged Rich and he probably would have been mandated to be one of Jills patients. But a combination of a severe allergy to contacts and an implant rejection disorder limited Rich to the use of connection glasses. He promptly stopped using those when he began his job as an auditor.

Rich and Jills conversation went on for hours as they discussed their professional and personal lives. He could feel a connection build and found himself smiling and laughing for the first time in years. They immediately had agreed to more dates. Rich found himself giddy and excited before each one. He had not felt this happy in years, and yet a part of him still felt guilt. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being unfaithful and at times he would still climb into the back of his closet just to hold the locket with his wife’s picture. Wishing perhaps he could hear her voice telling him this was ok.

Months flew by. Rich and Jills relationship sped along at an ever-increasing pace. Dates turned into entire weekend affairs. They began to spend all their free time together. By eight months Jill had basically moved out of her apartment and was now staying with Rich. Everything wasn’t perfect. They did have disagreements. Jill still tried to get Rich to become more connected. She also kept trying to get Rich to open up more about his wife. When Rich would shut down and refuse to talk about his departed wife Jill would pry and try using counseling techniques till he would give up something. There were things he would hide though. These were moments special to him and he wanted those memories unspoiled. He did spend less time with the locket now.

The anniversary of his wife’s passing neared. This was a hard time for Rich. Being with Jill helped, but she also noticed the change. She pried and dug trying to understand Rich and his grief. A week before the anniversary she caught him disconnected in the closet and threatened to turn him into the authorities. Jill had not been back to Rich’s apartment that entire week. He spent hours each morning disconnected and despondent with the locket. The night before the anniversary Jill came by. She apologized and they talked late into the night. Jill told Rich she understood his grief. She admitted to being selfish and knew they could work together to help him heal. Rich woke up the next morning holding Jill and went to work happy.

His workday flew by, and he couldn’t wait to get home to her. He still had some moments of sadness, and he still couldn’t shake the idea of what had occurred this day many years prior. Still, he tried to will the memories away. Rich arrived home and walked up to his door smiling. But as approached he began to hear a cacophony of alarms and tones. Rich grabbed the doorknob, but it refused to budge. The touchpad for the door also did not respond. Digging through the potted plants Rich found the spare key and manually opened the door.

He entered and was immediately overwhelmed as everything electronic screamed. All the small displays were flashing blue or red. He entered the living room heading towards the stairs and saw the telescreen and its message.

“ERROR DISCONECT…… UNKNOWN VARIABLE…. CODE 43…. TERMINATE NETWORK CONECTION…”

Rich’s heart nearly stopped. He froze until he heard another noise from upstairs, Jill screaming. He bounded up the stairs skipping steps and found her on the floor on the bedroom. She was clawing at her face and screaming.

“Oh God why!!! ….oh no.. NO!!!” She was wailing and frantic.

Rich approached her. He asked what was wrong screaming so he could be heard over the alarms. She batted at his hand as he reached for her.

“YOU!! YOU DID THIS!!! DAMN YOU!!! DAMN YOU!!!!!” She spat and slapped at his every attempt to hold her.

Rich stood up as she batted him away and then he saw the closet door open. All his items were strown about and the shoe box was opened. He rushed to it and lying beside the open box was the locket. Rich understood now what happened. Jill had dug through his things hoping to learn something. She looked at the locket. The gift from his grandparents. An heirloom passed from one generation to the next for over a century. It had become a secret. A special gift to hold memories. A hidden object that was rare and unfortunately illegal. Jill, like everything else connected in the house, were paying the price for her intrusion. This locket had never been cataloged. It had never been scanned or itemized. It was unknown and a danger to every prediction algorithm. Jill’s ocular implants had scanned the locket. She must have tried to identify it. In response the network severed all connection with her and his home network. He felt shame knowing the pain she must be in.

Rich grabbed the locket and sat down. A mix of emotions poured over him. He was angry at Jill. He was angry at himself. He felt a wave of sadness and fear envelope him. He knew what was next. Rich was an auditor, and he was part of the machine. He pushed himself into the corner. He opened the locket and looked into his wife’s face. Tears ran down his face and he tried to remember her voice. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine her over the noise. He could hear a new instrument in the dissonant symphony now, police sirens. It wouldn’t be long. He closed his eyes and held the locket to his chest as he heard his front door get kicked in. Rich then brought the locket to his mouth and kissed his wife goodbye.