Karissa

You have lunch alone at your desk, which gives you some time to get some work done. Almost before you know it, you get a message in Teams from Jayne asking if you are available in 10 minutes. You know what that has to be in regards to so you simply say yes, then stand up to go turn the SGI back on.

===WELCOME Zachary!===

1) SHOW Summary
2) EDIT PoI's
3) ADMIN PORTAL
4) SHOW Tutorial

5)EXIT
==CHANGES DETECTED! SHOW UPDATED SUMMARY? [Y/N]===

Were you hoping that TAM would not realize Jayne wasn’t in the room? Well, no matter, because it seems like it is somehow aware. You hear voices coming down the hallway, and just as you turn your head you swear the screen flickers. It feels almost like a wink.

Karissa enters the room first, a hesitant but polite smile on her face as she chirps, “Hi Zach!”

“Hey Karissa, come on in,” you say. As Karissa walks up to you, briefly glancing at the monitor before dismissing it, Jayne closes the door behind her and walks around to stand on your right side. Karissa is clearly uncertain about what’s going on but she trusts and likes you both so she’s just content to go along with the goofiness. God, you can’t believe you have to explain computer magic or whatever to a kid this nice and guileless.

Well, that reminds you that you don’t have to explain anything. Hopefully Jayne is better at it than you were.

As soon as Jayne is next to you and you look at the screen your heart stops. For a half a second, the blue window goes blank.

===WELCOME Jayne and Zach!===

1) SHOW Summary
2) EDIT PoI's
3) ADMIN PORTAL
4) SHOW Tutorial

5)EXIT
==CHANGES DETECTED! SHOW UPDATED SUMMARY? [Y/N]===

“Holy shit,” you mumble to yourself. You start to turn to your right to see if Jayne noticed but clearly she did. Not only that, you’re certain TAM waited until she was looking to make sure you both saw it.

Even though you had both considered the fact TAM must be aware of your presence in some fashion, you are still quite alarmed at what you’re looking at. The only reason you don’t turn the program off immediately is the cheerful but confused voice to your left.

“Uh, what are you guys staring at? Why does this tiny square monitor look so old? Is this some sort of weird IT thing? Then why is Jayne’s name on it too?” Well, at least Karissa is curious about it. With a shrug you look at Jayne as she tears her eyes away from the screen to look past you to the young blond clerk.

“Sorry Karissa it’s hard to explain. Like I told you at your desk, Zach and I wanted to show you something. This program, in fact. Zach found this old computer and turned it on, and this very old program is on it. Now, this is the hard part, but this program seems to be able to do amazing things. Impossible things. And we wanted to show you because your name is in it too.” Jayne pauses for a moment to let it all sink in, and you look at the pretty 19 year old as she nods slowly, her eyes darting around the screen, then to the purple tower of the server itself, then back to the screen.

“Oh. Uh, ok?” Karissa sounds dubious, which is understandable.

Jayne waits until Karissa looks back at her before continuing, “I mean it, actually impossible things. Not like ‘Wow that’s so cool’ but more like ‘This can’t be happening’, and maybe a bit creepy because of that.”

Slowly, Karissa looks at you and then back at your girlfriend. Her expression is somewhat blank, and she’s probably looking at you to see if you’re taking this as seriously as Jayne clearly is. Hopefully your serious face is working too.

“How can an old computer be creepy or impossible?” Karissa says. She’s not arguing so much as simply confused, and she continues, “I mean I’ve read stories about haunted websites and stuff like that, you know someone sends you a link to a hidden Internet site that has scary shit on it and then spooky things happen. But it’s all just modern versions of old ghost stories, do you mean something like that?”

“Not like that, this isn’t deliberately scary like a horror movie or anything. It’s mostly that it seems like this old computer can do things, can know things, that no computer should. And that feels creepy. But it’s not threatening or anything like that. But Zach found it, and showed me, and we think we should show you too. But I don’t want you to be as... freaked out as I was when I saw it yesterday.”

A long pause from both women. You have wanted to interrupt a few times, to add a few comments, but you decided to just let Karissa hear it from one person at a time instead.

With a short gasp, Karissa’s eyes snap back on to yours as she says, “Yesterday? Is this thing why the nurses heard you guys having an argument?”

You can’t help but reply, “Yeah it is. I showed it to Jayne but didn’t really prepare her for it very well.”

Nodding thoughtfully, Karissa says, “Well that makes a bit of sense, I just couldn’t stop thinking about what you could have said that would have made Jayne raise her voice like they said she did. And then for it to all blow over, it was very uncharacteristic of Jayne. And didn’t seem like the sort of thing you’d do either.”

You’re just thinking, again, about how Karissa is more perceptive than you’ve perhaps given her credit for when Jayne replies, “Well, thanks Karissa. I didn’t explode or anything but I do feel bad that other people heard me raising my voice and assumed Zach did something bad somehow.” She looks at you and smiles in apology, but at that exact moment you’re remembering what she looked like naked underneath you and you’re definitely not holding a grudge.

Turning back to Karissa she says, “So I just want to make sure you’re ready to see what we show you. It’s weird but like I told you at your desk I 100% promise we are not messing around or playing a prank. We want to show you something strange and let you make a decision about it, because it involves you.”

Up until now Karissa has been very patient, more patient than you would have been in her situation for sure, but she nods quickly and says, “Ok got it, show me the impossible but maybe eerie thing already.”

Jayne nods at you and you try a reassuring smile as you say, “This old server is probably from the 90’s but it was sitting in the asset disposal cage for who knows how long. I found it and it looked cool, so I turned it on and it had one even older program on it. It just said ‘TAM’ but when I started it it said it was The Affection Multiplier. I ran an installation wizard for it and it said I was the administrator, by name. It also said the nearest person was Jayne.”

“Wait, so you didn’t tell it your name?” Karissa asks.

“No, it just seemed to know. Which was weird, but there are ways a program could in theory know the name of the person in this office maybe. Still, very strange because it seemed very old.”

You take a deep breath then just get on with it, “The program said it was a way to track how much people like you, and encourage them to like you more. It didn’t say anything about how it would be able to do that, but when I looked up Jayne it gave me some scores for her, well, feelings for me.”

“Just made up scores? Like numbers? What’s so weird about that?”

“Maybe nothing, but it somehow felt like it might be somewhat real. The numbers showed Jayne had some feelings for me, which honestly I was suspecting and hoping was the case. But then I helped her grab a box in her office and when I came back a few seconds later, the program said her scores had gone up. And I couldn’t think of how that could be, how this computer knew I had spoken to her and we had joked around.”

"Huh, yeah that would be a coincidence I'm sure," Karissa replied, "so why do you guys want to show me?"

"It added Jayne and I automatically. Then I looked at the program and it said it was to increase and track how much affection for you other people had. A big part of it is assigning others to be what the program calls a 'Person of Interest', which basically means someone who knows you and you want to track. It was all so outlandish and crazy but to test it I added, well, you as a Person of Interest."

Karissa has a complex expression, equal parts acknowledgment and unease. "I sort of guessed that. So your impossible computer thing has me in it now. What does that mean?"

So far, so good. You glance at Jayne, who nods slightly. Karissa seems more prepared to see TAM in action at least. Hopefully, her seriousness is a sign she will both believe what you show her and also not freak out.

"I started it when Jayne was gone and it said 'Welcome' to me, then when Jayne got here it changed to say her as well. Jayne is now an admin, like I am, but we'll explain all that some other time. For now, you are the only Person of Interest, and since we started the program it's telling us that it has detected changing scores for you." You hold your breath for a moment, then reach out and hit Y.

===UPDATED SUMMARY===

PERSON OF INTEREST:
Martin, Karissa (AGE 19, SEX F)
AFFECTION SCORE: 55/49 (was: 53/48)
LOVE SCORE: 49/20 (was: 47/20)
LUST SCORE: 46/52 (was: 45/49)
**Note: PoI gains apply to multiple admins! Valid A/L/L scores for multiple admins!**

Karissa looks at the scores for several seconds. You all do, but you keep glancing back at her as she studies the screen.

“I don’t understand,” Karissa finally says with an annoyed exhalation, “so this computer is saying I like Zach 55 out of 49?”

You’re pleased to explain this mundane issue, and that Karissa hasn’t said anything about the Love or Lust scores. “Initially when I did it I was the only administrator, so there was only one score, out of 100 we assume. But when we added Jayne as an admin too it added the second score…”

Now Karissa blushes and looks away, “So, uh, the first number is you and the second is… Jayne?” You glance to your right but your co-admin is carefully staring straight ahead, not meeting anyone’s gaze.

“It makes the most sense. There’s obviously so much we don’t know and we’re guessing, but there is a tutorial that gives us some info if you’d like to check it out.”

“No.” Karissa crosses her arm and shakes her head, “I don’t think so. I just want to say one thing. Well, maybe a couple of things.”

Now you shift around and notice Jayne is looking at Karissa too. The young woman is still a bit red faced but her posture is erect and she give you both a stern look as she says, “I just want to make sure you guys know this. You both said you aren’t joking and you’re being serious. But if this is some kind of prank or stupid joke you have to tell me right now. I like you guys both and-” her voice cracks and for a split second you see past the composed woman to an uncertain teenager, but she catches herself and continues, “and I wouldn’t be mad if you say just kidding. But you have to tell me now. If you are just fucking with me and you don’t say it now I’ll never forgive you. And I promise you I’ll never speak to either of you again.”

Before you can reply, Jayne says, “We both like you too Karissa. We would never do a prank like this to anyone, and I promise you we have both been completely honest with you about all of it.” You nod hurriedly as Karissa looks at you and you agree wholeheartedly.

Letting out a nervous breath, Karissa says, “I believe you then. I trust you guys. So my next question is, if you say this thing is real then what do you think it is? I know you say you don’t know and I’m sure that’s true, but what do you think it could be? Magic? Aliens? Super advanced old technology that just looks like magic to us because we don’t understand it?”

You’re taken aback by the question, and you can tell Jayne is too. You scratch the side of your head and say, “That’s a great question, and we haven’t discussed it. Any of that seems crazy and impossible but this whole thing is impossible in some ways. I guess, if you made me guess, I’d pick some really esoteric old tech that we just don’t understand but it works. There are hints that it was a corporate or government test of some kind. Maybe some mad scientist genius invented it and it got out of control?” You look at Jayne for help.

“I hadn’t really thought about the how of it Karissa, but you’re right we should have,” your girlfriend says, “and if I had to guess I’d just say magic. Like, I don’t believe in quote-unquote magic really, but I do believe there are things in the world we don’t understand and this is one of them. So as far as I’m concerned, it’s magical until we learn more.”

Karissa is pondering this when Jayne continues, “But we should talk about you. We can remove you from this program, make it not affect you anymore. It says it makes you, er, like us more quickly than you normally would. That feels inappropriate to us, so we can apparently make it stop doing that. And we can remove you entirely as well, but we don’t know how it would affect you. So we wanted to show you it and give you the chance to decide.”

“This is a lot to think about. I’m honestly a little embarrassed about the other numbers here for me, that feels like a personal thing I would rather have been private.” Karissa shakes her head and looks proudly at you both and says, “But I know you didn’t do it on purpose and I appreciate you telling me. It’s just so weird and confusing I need to think about it before I can decide anything. Do you think this is doing anything bad to me? To us?”

Your eyes widen, “I hadn’t really thought of it that way but no, nothing about it seems malicious. Except for the fact it says it will make people like you more, and the inherent shittiness of it somehow knowing what people think about you and telling you I guess.”

“Good. Thank you Zach. And thank you Jayne, for telling me. I need some time, sorry this is kind of upsetting but mostly just shocking. I’ll talk to you guys later, or tomorrow, about what I want to do, after I think about things.” Karissa frowns, and then surprises you yet again.

Leaning towards the monitor, Karissa speaks directly at the screen and says, loudly and slowly, “I don’t know what you are or what you’re doing, but I control my feelings and desires. I decide who I do and do not like and what manner of affection I feel towards them. Not some creepy old computer. Me. Got it?”

Without another word, Karissa spins on her heel and leaves your office, her head held high.