7. AI

"Hey!" Ron yelled as soon as Steve was connected. "How can you leave me in the dark?"

Puzzled, Steve's attention on the report he was reading got completely distracted.

"Huh? Are you having electricity problem there?"

Ron made a clicking sound.

"It's about you! Why didn't you tell me that you want to quit?"

"Who?" Steve became more confused. "Me? Quit what?"

"Your job!"

"But I don't have any plan to quit yet…."

Ron huffed. "Then why did you tell Lily to help you finding a new job?"

He finally remembered. Last week when they met, Lily did promise to help him finding job vacancies.

"I didn't ask her… she said I should quit my job, and she would help me to search for a new one. I… just didn't know how to respond. So I just said thanks…."

Ron sighed. "You should have been honest. She's been scanning all job hunting sites, and asked some friends. Me included. If you don't really want to switch job, you'll waste all of her effort."

Now Steve felt guilty. He did not expect Lily to be so serious.

"What should I do?" he asked, totally helpless.

"Why do you need to ask? Explain to her, and apologize!"

Urged by Ron, Steve texted Lily to talk in RoVe. She agreed to meet at Alaina's cafe after dinner.

When he entered, exactly 7 PM, Lily was already there. She greeted him excitedly.

After confirming to Alaina that he wanted green tea, Steve sat across Lily.

"I was going to contact you, but you were faster," said Lily. Smile bloomed on her face. "Guess how many vacancies I have found for you?"

Steve coughed. He felt more uneasy.

Not sensing his awkwardness, Lily proudly revealed, "I found twelve for your qualification! Among them, I think three will fit you perfectly."

"Uh… about that…," he tried to interrupt.

But Lily was too enthusiastic to be stopped. "Should I send all to your e-mail? Or you prefer to check only the best three I picked?"

Steve shook his head solemnly.

"Sorry, I should have been clear with you last time. I don't plan to quit. At least not yet. Really sorry, Lily… I didn't think you'll spend so much effort for me," he apologized.

Excitement disappeared from Lily's face in a flash. She took a sip of her coffee, then tried to put her cheerful expression back. Not quite successful, but Steve was relieved because she willingly brushed the topic away.

The following conversation felt very awkward though. After trying to chat and failed to get good response from Steve, Lily excused herself to leave.

Exactly when Lily disappeared, the door opened. Erica entered with an astonished face.

"Whoa, what just happened here? Why did she leave?"

Alaina put her finger up on her lips and whispered, but loud enough to be heard by Steve. "Steve rejected that lady."

"Hey!" he protested.

The girls giggled. Erica sat at the chair where Lily was seated earlier. Alaina went behind the counter to prepare iced americano for Erica.

Steve stole a glance at Alaina. Then he said to Erica, as quietly as possible, "She doesn't seem to be a regular NPC."

"Who? Alaina?" Erica spoke loudly. Alaina raised her gaze, interested because she heard her name.

Steve could only curse silently. He did not want Alaina to hear him talking about her. Somehow he felt guilty. Although he knew Alaina was an NPC, but like he mentioned to Erica, she did not seem to be one.

Erica chuckled. "Do you feel bad to talk about her? Don't worry, we gossiped about you once, so you can call it even."

Her words confused Steve more. Gossiping with an NPC? That sure was very out of normal.

Alaina brought the coffee and handed it directly to Erica. She then turned to Steve.

"I'm really an NPC," she said.

"But you're right, she's not a regular NPC," Erica added proudly. "She's not statically programmed. She's an AI."

Artificial Intelligence! That explained why Alaina was not like other NPCs he saw in RoVe.

"Alaina was actually my final project in college. Then, I was assigned to create this cafe, and I thought it would be fun to let her live here. She can learn so much more from users."

Alaina nodded. "I like it here. I can have another friend, not just you like before."

"Friend?" Erica looked really amused.

Full of confidence, Alaina nodded. "Yes! Steve is my new friend. Right, Steve?"

Steve was startled by the sudden declaration. Erica laughed out loud.

"Oh my God! I feel like a proud parent. My kid has found a friend!"

Alaina pouted. "I'm not your kid. We're best friends. You told me that."

They bickered for a while, just like real friends. Steve just observed passively. He was still digesting the new information.

Suddenly Erica turned and stared at Steve. "I have a request," she said, dead serious.

Steve blinked, then nodded hesitantly.

"Please don't tell my boss about Alaina. This is like a personal experiment for me. I didn't ask for permission. No one else knew yet, only you and me…."

"And me," Alaina cut in.

"Yeah, and Alaina. Only three of us."

"But… shouldn't you disclose it to your company? They won't be happy if they know later," uncertain, Steve asked.

"I'll tell them, after I finish my report about advantages of using AI NPCs. I want to convince them to make all NPCs AI just like Alaina. I'm sure it will be more exciting!"

"Wait, what?" Alaina was confused. "I will be NPC everywhere else too?"

Erica grinned. "No, you'll stay here. But there will be others like you manning other places. Who knows, maybe you all can learn to gather and be friends."

Alaina clapped happily. "That sounds fun!"

The next day, Steve felt so wronged. Erica made him promise not to tell Ron about Alaina. But she told Ron about their meeting, and gossiped how he had rejected Lily!

"I didn't reject her," he repeated, because Ron did not believe him. "I just told her that I'm not planning to quit yet."

"Really?"

"Really!"

"So, you'll continue meeting her?"

He blinked in confusion. "Meet who?"

"Lily, of course," Ron replied quickly.

"Well… I'm not sure about that yet…," hummed Steve.

Ron did not hide his disappointment of that answer. "Why? You should try to know her better."

"Work is crazy right now. I don't have time to pursue relationship."

"Then make the time!" Ron was still not convinced. "Don't dedicate your all to work. You'll be burnt out, and when you are, your company won't even bat an eye. They'll only complain about your lack of performance and kick you out on the first chance!"

Actually Steve also realized that he had been severely overworked, but he did not know how to break free from the situation. He felt like supporting a glass tower that would fall and crash if he loosened even just a bit.

He sighed. Instead of telling Ron what had upset him, he complained, "Why are you pushing Lily to me?"

"I'm not," Ron was quick to deny. "I just want you to open up and fall in love with someone. It can be Lily, or anyone else."

"I signed up to help you testing RoVe, not to start a relationship…."

"But it's the main point of a dating app. To find love. You haven't tried everything in there because you don't have a date yet."

"I can," Steve argued.

"You can?" his best friend was skeptical. "Then, have you been to the beach?"

"That… I haven't," he admitted.

Ron smugly said, "See my point?"

But Steve was not defeated yet.

"How about you? Have you been there with Aurelia?"

On the other end of the line, Ron was smashed hard by that question. He coughed few times to clear his throat.

"I haven't," Ron sulked.

Check mate. Steve giggled. And it provoked Ron.

"But," he swooped, "We've been talking everyday! Not just in RoVe or calls, we even met in real life."

Now it was Steve's turn to take a blow. He knew that Ron would not lie just to save his ego. So it should be true to some degrees.

Ron did not want to disclose anything, though. He just said that it was still a top secret, and Steve would know everything once the time was right.

And he swore he really met Aurelia often these days.

Steve felt good after the call. He sincerely wish Ron to succeed his pursuit. Hopefully his best friend would finally win Aurelia's heart.

As for himself….

It was not that he avoided love. He just had not been interested in anyone specifically.

If someday he could fall in love, he would start thinking about relationship, and family maybe.

But he did not want to enter a relationship without love. He feared that when a storm rocked the boat, he would give up too easily. It would be unfair to the other party.

Sometimes he thought, maybe his past had broken him, and left him incapable to love. If that was true… he was prepared to live alone.

Probably he would feel lonely. But it was better than making someone, who cared about him, lonely.