Kyle just sleeps

With a heavy mix of shame and embarrassment, Kyle just wanted to curl up into a ball, and so he did, pulling himself into the fetal position and quietly started sobbing. How could he have let that happen? And why did it feel so good? Those questions burned in Kyle’s mind as he drifted off to sleep.

But this time there were no dreams, just blackness and as soon as Kyle was asleep, he was suddenly awake again. MARCI was quiet, and after quickly grabbing his phone off the nightstand, Kyle saw that it was much earlier in the morning than he’d usually have woken up, unassisted. But he slept for a fair amount the previous night, no doubt assisted by his sheer exhaustion, and from under the covers, he checked the phone, seeing a few messages in the group chat with Melissa, Darla and Robin, nothing important, just them complaining about their respective duties the previous night. And then there was the message he knew would be there, but Kyle had been dreading. Greg’s.

Greg:
Hey, it’s Greg. Just wanted to let you know that I had a great time the other night and really want to see you again.

But what really scared Kyle was that the text had already been replied to.

Kylie:
Me too! I’m free tomorrow night if that works for you.

“MARCI?” Kyle ripped the covers off and demanded to the disembodied voice.

“Yes, Mistress?” MARCI replied, cooly.

“Why is my text responded to before I’ve even seen it?”

“Your interest in Greg has been noted several times by my systems, and thus your desire to attend another date with him is obvious, therefore I simply performed my duties as programmed to make the lives of the Gladstones and their guests easier by expediting the process. In addition, I have noted your inexperience with sending such messages over the past few days and felt that you would appreciate the assistance.” MARCI said.

“I don’t appreciate having words put in my mouth, not over text and not in the way you did it the other day when Robin was at the door!” Kyle spat.

“Noted. In future, would you like to approve all messages sent from this device?” MARCI asked.

“Yeah, you know, I think I would.” Kyle rolled his eyes.

“You have two hours left before your scheduled routine is to begin, would you like to accelerate the timetable today?” MARCI asked.

“No!” Kyle shouted, a tad too loud. “I’ll, uh, take the time for myself.”

“As you wish, Mistress.”

Kyle glanced back at the phone, reading through the conversation that “Kylie” had with Greg,

Greg:
Sounds good. I’ll pick you up at six?

Kylie:
I’ll be waiting! ;)

Kyle also noted that in the calendar app, time had already been blocked out for this second date. He spent the next few hours doing futile searches for any evidence of Gladstone tech being buggy and potential workarounds for it, but that time came to an end as MARCI’s limbs rushed in to begin Kylie’s new morning routine.