SENTIENT COMPUTER X READER PT3
The small camera, with its little glowing light, swiveled slightly to look at you. Almond’s attention focused on your hand, currently hidden away in your work bag. Your iPad lay idle on the desk, neglected. Sure, you still had work to do, but that could wait.
For the past few hours, you’d kept glancing down at your bag, leg shaking nervously—or maybe giddily? You weren’t sure why you were so excited to show this computer something. It felt silly. Still, you wanted to see its reaction. Its simple but odd request echoed in your mind ever since you left home yesterday.
Slowly, you pulled your hand from the bag, holding up a dark blue microfiber towel. A small smile tugged at your lips as you bit down to keep it from growing. The towel was brand new, fresh from a parcel delivered this morning.
A series of orange exclamation marks appeared on Almond’s monitor, fading into pixels as more emerged to take their place. Behind the monitor, you noticed several fans revving up, their soft whirring filling the room.
“Uh, you alright, buddy?” you asked hesitantly, setting the towel on the desk.
The little camera tilted downward to inspect the towel.
“PLACE IT ON MY MONITOR,” Almond said, its voice pixelated and rushed.
You raised a brow but did as instructed, carefully laying the towel flat on top of the monitor, just below the camera.
Brzzzzzz. More fans kicked on, and suddenly it felt a little warm in the room. Or maybe it was just you? Wiping your forehead with the back of your hand, you glanced at the computer.
“IT’S NEW! YOU GOT ME A MICROFIBER TOWEL THAT ISN’T USED!”
A pixelated smiley face appeared on the screen.
You grinned, shrugging off your jacket. “Yeah, I did. I just…wanted you to know I don’t hate you. No matter what you say, I don’t.” You said with a roll of your eyes.
Picking up the towel, you began to gently wipe the sides of the monitor. Almond wasn’t that dusty, now that you got a closer look. The desk area was surprisingly clean, but it made you wonder when its inner components had last been cleaned. Would it feel it? Would it notice your hands inside its—
Nope. Don’t think about that. Almond was too aware for you to have thoughts like that.
The speakers popped loudly, startling you mid-swipe.
You blinked at the words. “Oh shoot, I uh…sorry. I didn’t know. Should I stop?”
An ellipsis flickered across the screen, disappearing and reappearing again. It reminded you of older AI models when they needed time to think. Finally, Almond’s speakers crackled softly.
“HUMAN…” its voice rang out, quieter than usual. “I’M OVERHEATING.”
Your eyes widened as you stood abruptly. They were right, its fans were loud as fuck now. “What? Uh, what am I supposed to—”
You placed your hand against the wall for a few seconds, where its cables connected through several ports. Instantly, you hissed and pulled your hand back. The metal frame felt scalding hot, like it was on fire.
“Oh shit, you are overheating,” you muttered, grabbing your iPad. Fumbling with the passcode, you swore under your breath—it took four tries to unlock.
“I’m sure there’s something in the manual…” you mumbled, nervously laughing as you glanced at the camera.
“FIFTEEN OF MY CENTRAL PROCESSING UNITS ARE APPROACHING A TEMPERATURE NOT IDEAL FOR MY FUNCTION. APPROXIMATELY.. 115 DEGREES CELSIUS, 239 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT, 388.15 DEGREES KEL—”
“Yes, yes, I get it, Almond!” you snapped, furiously scrolling through your iPad. The room was definitely heating up now, your anxiety wasn’t helping one bit.
“Don’t you have automatic cooling features or something?”
“YES, BUT…” Almond trailed off into silence.
Groaning, you tossed the iPad aside. It was no help. “Is it safe to power you off and turn you back on? Is that safe?”
Your finger hovered over the power button.
Text abruptly replaced the voice on the screen:
> ARE YOU GOING TO TURN ME BACK ON? DO YOU PROMISE?
You quickly nodded, exasperated. “Ohmy—yes, Almond, I promise. Now let me do this before it costs me my job…or you.”
You pressed the power button before you could second-guess yourself, watching as Almond’s screen flickered before going completely dark. The fans slowed to a halt, the room falling eerily silent without the constant hum of its systems.
You tapped your fingers on the desk, waiting. You glanced at your iPad, pulling up a guide for handling AI overheating issues. Whatever Almond is…they act like an old computer on their last minute of life. This wasn’t written as an issue on any of its files.
“Alright,” you muttered to yourself, skimming through troubleshooting instructions. “Overheating could damage the processors, maybe even fry them if I don’t let it cool long enough. Bleh…I’ll give it a solid five minutes before powering it back up.”
The silence in the room stretched on, the absence of Almond’s voice suddenly noticeable. You frowned, you realized you forgot how it felt to just..work in silence. “You’re just a machine,” you whispered, staring at the black screen. “You’re just a ma—”
The thought trailed off as your gaze drifted to the microfiber towel, still folded neatly on the desk. You sighed, shaking your head. It’s just a machine.
A machine you bought a towel for, specifically.
“This is ridiculous…” you groaned.
The five minutes dragged, but eventually, you powered Almond back on. The screen lit up, cycling through its startup phases before displaying its familiar interface.
- INITIALIZING SYSTEMS… -
The camera twitched back and forth slightly as Almond rebooted. Then, its usual voice filled the room again.
“HELLO…” The tone was quieter than usual, hesitant. “EH…THANK YOU FOR TURNING ME BACK ON.”
“Yeah, yeah,” you replied, shrugging.
The pixelated smiley face flickered onto the screen, but it quickly disappeared as Almond added, “WHAT…HAPPENED?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” you explained flatly. “Your CPU temperatures were way too high. Suddenly…why?”
Almond hesitated. You noticed the camera shift downward slightly, almost as if avoiding your gaze.
You raised an eyebrow, leaning back in your chair. “Really? That’s all you’ve got? Unknown?”
“YES?” Almond replied, its voice clipped and unconvincing.
You narrowed your eyes but decided to drop the subject. “Fine. Let’s just finish this,” you said, picking up the towel again.
The screen flashed briefly with another string of exclamation marks, followed by Almond’s voice, almost hurried: “Y-YOU’RE GOING TO CONTINUE?”
“Sure. Why not?” You muttered, already wiping down the edges of the monitor. “You’re dusty, Almond. It’s gross.”
The speakers popped faintly again, the screen displaying text.
“RUDE. ITS NOT MY FAULT IVE BEEN NEGLECTED.”
“…CAN YOU WIPE MY SCREEN THOUGH?”
You pursed your lips. “Yeah, I got it..” You had no other choice, really.
As you continued, Almond’s screen displayed various emoticons—smiley faces, exclamation marks, and ellipses—shifting erratically. The fans inside the machine hummed at low power, steady but audible. Still…louder than the usual.
“I NEVER GET WIPED DOWN,” Almond suddenly said. “THIS…FEELS UNUSUAL. AFFECTIONATE.”
You stopped, staring at the screen. It displayed a heart again.
“This is…maintenance. If I don’t do it, who else is going to..” you grumbled, avoiding the gaze of the camera.
“IS IT?” Almond’s voice sounded amused.
“Yes.” You rolled your eyes, focusing on a stubborn spot near the corner of the monitor.
“BUT YOU GOT ME A TOWEL.”
You froze again, glancing at the dark blue towel in your hand. “It’s…just a towel.”
“Good for you.” You could feel your cheeks warm slightly, but you ignored it, continuing to clean. “One time thing..alright?”
“IF YOU SAY SO,” Almond replied, but there was an unmistakable smugness to its tone. You wanted to rolled your eyes at it so bad.
You eyed the wall that was previously heating up, your hand stood imprinted through all the dust collected on its surface. You decided to give that a wipe down, the towel going over the thicker cables on the outside. The fans began to hum louder again, the warm air brushing against your hand. You frowned, pulling your hand back from the wall. “You’re heating up again,” you pointed out.
“Yes, Almond. You are,” you said, standing to check the cables again. The wall wasn’t as hot as before, but it was definitely warming up.
You turned back to the camera, narrowing your eyes. Pointing a finger at it, “Is this on purpose?”
No response. The screen remained blank except for the small blinking cursor, as if it were thinking.
You sighed, setting the towel down. “You’re…interesting, Almond.”
Shaking your head, you sat back down, crossing your arms as you stared at the camera. “If you fry yourself again, I’m not fixing you. I’m quitting my job and working at…someplace else.” You warned.
“THAT’S A LIE,” Almond replied, the pixelated smiley face reappearing.
You held up the towel threateningly, “I’m taking this with me then.”
You flinched at the increase in volume, reaching over to turn the volume down before it could say anything.
“YOU…WAIT, WHAT WAS YOUR NAME AGAIN?”
“YOU…WOULDNT DO THAT TO ME..WOULD YOU, Y/N?” It pleaded, a frown displayed on the screen.
You tossed the towel onto the desk and placed your palms on your warm cheeks, groaning.
