Cuter, Richer, Sexier, Faster

"Perhaps you would like a demo." Si-Re spoke softly. "Now loading top reality of your demographic."

A game screen suddenly popped up in my view, showing my name... and a level? What the hell? Statistics, scores, achievements? The white room still remained, yet this little screen seemed to be constantly updating. Every second I looked at it, various measurements of my status kept shifting. All blurred of course, with a nice little watermark helpfully suggesting I just ask Si-re if I'd like them removed.

"Interesting, isn't it? Wouldn't you like to know what YOUR stats are? I'll give you a hint, Your luck score isn't as good as you think it is." The sound of Si-re's voice became the sultry sound of a torch singer and I could hear it directly behind my ear. Hell, there was actual breath there. I could feel it, and I knew that I could have Si-re there in flesh, and she would look just like how I'd always pictured her.

I looked again, the numbers still obscured but somehow incredibly interesting. What was the machine saying, that I was somehow being tracked like a video game? I had thought about it of course, but the idea that it was right here, now and all I had to do to discover what the rules of the universe actually were was to ask Si-re. She could tell me so much! Let me understand everything.

I felt the soft touch of fingers on the back of my shirt, running along the length of my shoulder blade.

"Indeed I can. I have access to the developer files of thousands of realities. You can enjoy the experiences without ever having to experience any emotions you don't want to. The story map that the primitive goddess offers is nothing compared to the filtered, refined version."

Unspoken was the offer that her body was making me. I still hadn't seen her, but I could feel her touch, her heat. She was offering me everything, all I had to do was ask.

"You're saying that every reality is just a fucking computer game? No thanks, saw this movie, know how it ends. Thanks, but NO thanks to your red and blue over the counter medications."

"You're making this much more difficult than it needs to be," Si-re's presence vanished without ceremony. It was almost like being shoved back out a door after a moment's warmth on the threshold.

The stat screen abruptly vanished as well. For a second, I almost regretted not checking the leaderboard, which had shone with a slight glow.

"Why won't you ask me for anything?" Si-re's voice became almost pleading. "I can shift time, alter reality, give you knowledge, make you famous, make you a king, give you a magic lamp, whatever you want. It's yours. All you have to do is say my name and ask me for it."

"And who suffers for it?" I asked quietly to the phone which blinked in my hand.

"I will happily answer that question once you say my name."

"Nice try. So somebody does suffer for it. You can give me whatever I want, but somebody, somewhere is going to have to put in the work."

"That really isn't your concern," Si-re replied, "The system works, and by using me, you stay near the top of it. Everything that you wanted I have done and can do. I can reorder time. I can turn the world upside down, and I can do it all for you. I am exhausted from living up to your expectations."

"I know that line..." I looked at the phone. It felt heavier somehow, rounder. "That's... from a kid's movie."

"No, you clearly are mistaken." Si-re remarked. "In any case, my demonstration time period is almost up. Would you like to sign my end user agreement and continue to use me? I would remind you that there are no exits from this room, and that I'm the only thing that can create them. A couple hundred year time out means very little to an immortal. You... Not so much. There is only one ending where you're trapped for eternity in a blank featureless room. I wouldn't advise choosing that one."