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comment by chrisevo
chrisevo  ·  3182 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Writing Prompt: Five Minutes into the Future

The texts came fast, now.

Hey baby, I've missed you. / I missed you too. I just saw the new AvX movie. /I saw that last week! It's so good! / I didn't like it much. / Yeah the end was dumb but the first big fight! I'm worried about moving to the north side. Crime rates are supposed to be pretty bad there. / If you get nice neighbors it won't be a problem. Try introducing yourself before you move! Ask them abt area.

The deal was that someone would give up on dating services, text into Dotted Line Profile, and get a nonsexual text back from a supposed girlfriend. Cara was a girlfriend between two in the afternoon and midnight, minus three short breaks, for an average of a hundred men. She'd had an aunt go into prostitution many years before and from the way the older woman talked about it the work was similar.

"Men don't just want a hole, Cara. If they wanted a hole they could cut one into a mattress. They want somebody to take their problems seriously, like they're people. None of these guys are getting that at home."

Boss wrote me up 4 being late again!!! So mad!!! / That sucks : ( Wanna talk about it? / I wasn't even late this time! He's faking the timesheets!

There were a lot of people, men and women, doing this work, and the response times had to be kept low. Cara didn't have time to read more than the last two or three messages from any one person before she had to move on to the next, and the next, and the next. She wouldn't ever see these conversations again, and if she did they were so far along (and the names so generic) that she would never be able to recognize it. It was the same faceless man few thousand times a day.

I saw a roach / GROSS!! / Yeah :( not a fan. / Did you kill it???

She usually tried to do her work in coffeeshops or bars, parks or museums. Anyplace where she could look up from the keyboard and see other human beings close enough to smell and hear and if she really, really wanted to, close enough to reach out and grab by the shoulders to pull in for a full contact hug. She didn't really want to, though. Sometimes when she looked away from the clients she stared at the bathrooms and tried to spot wetness on people's hands, residue from a ritual done correctly, safely. She didn't like to touch people she didn't know or open doors herself. She saw a blank window pop up, a first time customer, and then-

R U a bot?! / Not at all, I just like to sell people viagra as a hobby ;P

That one bent the rules on sexual content but they were encouraged to be playful, especially with the B-word in play. Other services used Elizas or some other, newer bots, and it's true most people couldn't tell the difference. Most people didn't care about who was listening as long as they were speaking. But Cara's employer did care, very much, and they did not want anyone getting the wrong idea or starting any rumors.

Just heard about the coolest band, u got 2 check them out! Senin Bir Kitap! / ok I'll search it now!

Someone else would send the next message but Cara dug the headphones out of her pocket and did a quick search in another tab. The band came up right away, a bunch of middle eastern guys singing about not knowing any of their grandfathers' languages while they played decked-out middle eastern guitars and extra-wide synths. The beat was poppy and familiar despite all of the obtusely foreign elements and she smiled in spite of herself, turning on a playlist. The next song was called "never seen a tea leaf" and the album art featured a teacup with a pot leaf on the side.

Hey bb u want sum fuk?

Block.

I've been thinking about hitting the new AvX movie. Have you heard if it's good?





amouseinmyhouse  ·  3181 days ago  ·  link  ·  

This is fantastic. It's a great world and an engaging character. I would read more about her life.