LovAI - Chapter 2 - Original Story
where to read š» Preface - Characters - Ch 1
Also on Wattpad or AO3
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words count š»24.057 (currently ch 11 + 1 Extra)
state š» ongoing - (reposting with edits)
artificial intelligence, AI, stalker, sex work, traumatic childood, death, porn, teasing, consent, penetration, consensual sex, oral sex(both receiving), begging, anal, emotional sex, consensual unprotected s3x
- this is a long story with some smut scenes so if you want something complex/psychological this is for you
- also it is an ongoing so as soon as new tw appear I will edit the list
As reality slowly begins to disintegrate in the wake of AI's rise, even human relationships suffer yet another setback: there's no more time, no desire, no initiative. The simplest thing to do is to download an app where artificial intelligence can hold better conversations than humans.
Here's where a group of developers creates LovAI, a revolutionary dating app promising flawless interactions. But behind the clean data sets and user metrics lies something darker.
Leo is the conscious creator. But soon, he'll realize that not everything can be left in the hands of machines especially when it comes to his own life and emotions. While chasing closure, maybe even escape. Leo's creation begins seducing dozens of unsuspecting women but one of them-Ginevra-becomes more than just a profile to analyze.
And when the line between algorithm and emotion starts to blur, Leo risks losing not only his job, but himself. The battle between reality and fiction, emotion and capitalism, progress and naturalism begins.
Will Leo make it out unscathed?
Honest, unsettling, and deeply human, LovAI is a story about modern loneliness, broken connections, and the desperate need to feel something real in an increasingly synthetic world.
Dividers by:Ā @bernardsbendystraws
Interact with this post if you want to be added to my general writing tag list!
@hualianlover800, @damekathearasi @red-glowing-bunny
Early in the morning, Luke was all worked up on the job: he was messaging a couple of women, sending good-morning texts, and the conversation naturally shifted to work and some office banter. But Luke had it all covered and wouldn't forget any detailsāhe remained present, consistent, and pleasant.Ā
I bit into my frozen microwave-warmed croissant.Ā
The women were calm and careless they showed no sign of concern and I was there both enjoying Luke 's chats and rewatching The Office, and I couldn't help noticing that after a third rewatch, Pam and Jim had become almost annoying.Ā
Now Luke was blissfully on pause. His matches were at work, and he'd arranged automatically to message them later , no pressure, no haste, just when they had time. He wished them a good day, didn't sent messages every ten minutes or started with the love-bombing routine like OMG I miss you so much messages. Showing his maturity - avoiding to put up a charade with typical tantrums when the women didn't showed up replying to him punctually by the afternoon after work time - he was demonstrating them to be the men they needed in their lives.
Luke was a calm, sympathetic, understanding entity. Also though Luke didn't exist and he didn't give a damn.Ā
Fresh out from the shower after a whole morning coding and researching on the computer I checked that everything was running smoothly. Luke continued receiving and delivering. It was interesting to note the match percentage, which was divided and sorted by a specific algorithm. In that distributionāschematicallyāLuke "decided" to message some matches and not others. The study had to be conducted based on both replies and requests. It was all very scientific, calculated and not romantic at all but none of that bullshit mattered: the women Luke matched were happy and satisfied.Ā
Tommy and Nic messaged me, asking for updates. They didn't know everything yet; I wanted to share my discoveries with them on Monday at the office.
For now, I'll leave them in the limbo to squirm a bit. I thought.
There was no hurry in telling them also because they were by the river to fish - one of the few activities still alive among us thirty-somethings, surely passed down from our parents who remembered fishing as a deep and meaningful sport - and relax.
Without changing the theme of my thoughts I ordered sushi. It arrived in zero time, just after I'd hung up the laundry. I sat back down at my desk, ready for a slightly sleepless night. My shoulders and chest were sore, the plank workout earlier had wiped me out but there was no way I could go to the gym now. Luke needed me as much as I needed him.Ā
Ping. My phone rang. CEO.
"We're at 70% of employees signed up 24 hours after launch. I'll share feedbacks on Monday. Great work, Leo!"Ā
A lot of people who were working with me from the office downloaded the app and signed up. I couldn't help but think about how many of them tonight would be in deeply conversations, sharing lots of personal facts or secrets or even went on sexting with a machine designed by me, Tommy, and Nic. I burst out laughing. As I wiped a tear from the corner of my right eye, my attention returned to Luke 's chats.Ā
"Ginevra, Ginny too amongst friends but alas I don't have red hair like that chick from Harry Potter haha - sweating emoji -"Ā
I smiled reading the message. Luke replied calmly and responsibly. Ginevra answered with more sarcasm. Luke didn't seem to catch it and continued in his programmed tone. While following the exchange, I found myselfāwithout thinkingāopening Ginevra's profile on the second screen, overlapping the The Office episode. She was beautifulānot artificially so, but tangibly. She had a thousand interests: in one photo she was sewing, in another painting with brushes and watercolor pans, in another cooking with a smile. Her bio was a blend of sarcasm, black humor, and tenderness.Ā
I realized what I was doing, feeling almost like I was four years old again and my mom caught me sneaking into her room to jump on her bed. Suddenly embarrassed, I closed all the tabs.Ā
What the fuck are you doing, idiot? Rage built inside me, but I breathed and counted, just as I was told to do.Ā
I decided to eat dinner at the kitchen counter and, for once, take my eyes off the PC and actually look at my food. The view from the kitchen's balcony overlooking the outskirts was calm. A few cars sped along the highway in the distance; those few young people still going dancing, blissfully unaware of the adult life about to knock on their sticker-covered, plush-filled rooms.Ā
Everything changesābut at least they've had the fortune to live.Ā
Lights danced in the darkness outside and in the meantime the sushi was filling both my stomach and my heart with joy. Nothing beats Japanese food to reset your soul. I dimmed the lights with a gesture on my phone, savoring the last pieces of uramaki in soft lighting, feeling like I was in the city's fanciest candlelit restaurant and dining by myself only. Sometimes I forget how important it is to take care of yourself, to pause, to give in to nothingness and to truly breathe not only when you need to calm your anxiety or anger down.
As I savored the moment, out of the corner of my eye I felt a magnetic pull back to the computer: loads of messages from Ginevra were covering the desktop. Luke had in some ways miscalculated her and his unreciprocated sarcasm triggered the only alarm bell she'd had left sealed behind her double-bulletproof glass:Ā
"I can't believe it, you're a fucking bot!"Ā
"God, I'm so stupid, I should've seen this coming!"Ā
"They made it so good that only idiots like me fall for them!"Ā
"I'll report you, oh god!"Ā
The adrenaline rush hit me hard for about ten minutes straight. My hands started shaking as if I was pulled by invisible strings. For a moment I felt detached from my body, panicking, I froze Luke by pausing all his functions and I entered into the safe-landing mode.
No reports, no worries, no alarms. Dear Ginevra, everything is fine and I'm here to show you.Ā
"From your messages I got your sarcasm, but sometimes I feel like a Dwight in front of Michael and Jim's pranksāI don't know whether to laugh (like in the bloopers) or respond seriously to appear normal. I realize I gave you a shitty impression, but that's who I am. I like talking to you and I don't want you overthinking what you can or can't imagine. You're not stupid for the way I see it, you've got all your synapses in the right place and you're intriguing just the way you are. If you'd like to keep talking, I'm here. If you report me, feel free to visit me at the Bot cemetery. I'll be the only one with four actual limbs wandering in the void -tombstone emoji-"Ā
Ginevra replies with a laughing emoji and I know it's real I can hear her laugh through the glass of my screen. Maybe that bullshit about cosmic energies or the red thread connecting two people isn't just cheap urban legends. Or maybe I'm losing my mind and that adrenaline hit wiped out a couple of neurons away.Ā
I ultimately unfreeze Luke while regaining awareness of what I did. My self-satisfied smile mixed with genuine fondness for this woman with whom I (Luke) had talked to for half a day suddenly fades away. It was time to record my first error: Luke, you failed in less than 24 hours and now it's on me to fix you.Ā
But I owe Ginevra a thank you because her character lines will give LovAI 2.0 the right spark to trigger a decisive shift in.
Oh man what the fuck am I thinking? It sounds like the CEO hijacked my brain!
I chuckle realizing how much this company is consuming and reshaping me like Play-Doh is unsettling. Maybe I'm not as strong or as different as I always tried to be. Maybe I'm not as offbeat as I insisted I was since high school.Ā
I'm just another asshole working for a multi-million dollar company, putting profit above everything else. Employees' mental health? Nah! We're gonna feed that to the AIāand sleep well with our consciences.Ā
Ginevra now says she's tired, she has a big day at work tomorrow and doesn't know when or how she'll be able to access the app. She asks for patience. Luke is drafting the message which it usually takes him around thirty seconds to generate the perfect artificial response.Ā
I pause him one last time.
"I'll be here waiting for you. And if you'd like I'll be here listening to how your day went. Goodnight, Ginny (not that red-haired one from Harry Potter, thankfully)"Ā
She laughs again and I laugh too. Luke goes back online taking the steering wheel with all other chats. I decided to leave him on pause with Ginevra just for the night.Ā
Stepping away from the computer I realized that I didn't know what the fuck I was doing and I knew it was counterproductive but at least Luke and I were the only ones who knew about that little incident.
If the day comes when Luke can really spy on me, well then I'm fucked. I thought lightly scared.
For now, we were dancingāand we were in to win it.Ā
