Needle in the Haystack

Halveston was one of the most interesting places in America. Having been built very quickly near the headquarters of a massive tech conglomerate called THM, it was nearly 100% populated by the employees and their families. Or, at least, that’s what it would soon feel like to you as (seemingly) the only non-employee currently who resided there. You had been sent as a “third party arbitrator” for when the company inevitably kept eating up smaller businesses. Though it was definitely not above board since you were getting paid massive amounts to side with THM every time, the job was an incredible gig.

You got into town late at night. There was the headquarters, colossal and eerie with only some of the lights on for the night guards. You could still see the building from the idyllic neighborhoods laid out around the compound. There wasn’t a soul outside any of the identical houses and if it wasn’t for the numbers you would never have known which place would be yours for the next few months. You found number 1753 and only partially settled into your own little cookie-cutter townhome before getting some rest. The first session would be at 7 AM; unpacking could wait for now.

While not very big, your new house ended up being decked out with all kinds of new, fully integrated technology that made your morning extremely pleasant for how early it was. Instead of blaring from your phone, your alarm came in the form of a soft, slowly brightening light from edges of the ceiling accompanied by a humming that gently drew you from slumber. The smell of coffee greeted you, already made how you liked it and placed on the counter by the machine that then retreated back into the tile inlay behind the kitchen counter. You could get used to this.

As you were tying on your necktie using the mirror in the front hallway, you heard what was obviously a synthetic female voice. You didn’t know until then that the house had THM’s Artifical Intelligence Assistant built right into the walls. The voice was calm and soothing

“Your new neighbor, Lindsay, is approaching from next door. Do you have time for a short visit, or shall I let her know to come back later?”

You checked your wristwatch. Due to how easy the house had made your morning routine, you were about 15 minutes ahead of schedule. The AI knew this, but was giving you the choice anyway. A small picture of your neighbor (presumably from her social media account) also appeared in the corner of the mirror, revealing that it doubled as a screen. It turned out Lindsay was a stunner:

“I have time.” You didn’t hesitate. It was only a couple steps for you to be right by the front door and a green light above it on the outside indicated that you were ready for visitors. As she reached the last stretch of your walkway, the door opened on its own revealing both of you to each other. Though she was wearing more clothing than the bikini picture, Lindsay’s tight, low-cut crop top and yoga pants did very little to keep your thoughts from wandering. The way she looked at you, you would have thought you were wearing nothing but some boxer briefs, not your usual business attire. Her eyes took you in with an eagerness that can only come from being pent up sexually for a long, long time. This woman was hungry.

“Holy shit.” Your neighbor looked like she forgot she was holding a plate of cookies, almost dropping them before regaining balance. “You’re uh…” A big smile spread across her stunned features before she bit her lip and then continued. “You’re going to be very popular here. Your house already told you, but I’m Lindsay.” She stepped forward and handed you the cookies which you took in one hand before extending the other.

“I’m Nick. It’s nice to meet you.” As you shook Lindsay’s right hand, she also brought her left hand up to hold the back of yours. A sizable diamond wedding ring sparkled on her finger.

“You know, your kitchen would have automatically made you the exact same cookies. I just wanted to see what you looked like…” This did not at all sound like a married woman, or at the very least not a happily married one. Yes, you were an attractive man, but this kind of wanton lust was usually only present after a woman had seen what was currently hardening in your slacks and what you could do with it. “And you did not disappoint, Nick.”

You looked down at your watch. Ten minutes until you needed to leave.