Wizard of Oz || Zuo Hang✓

Four

Once the dialogue box closed, she pressed chat on menu, and the conversation screen appeared like many social media sites. She was pretty excited even though she didn't expect to be, but she was hoping that the chatbot was as personal as it made itself seem.

Yanni: Hi Chatbot...so um...first things first, are you male or female?

CHATBOT: I'll be whatever you want me to be.

Zuo wanted to sound as computerized as he could at this point, but he was hoping Yanni wouldn't want him to be female. He had no idea how to be female, and that would probably require him to do more research than he had done. He held his breath as he waited for her answer.

Yanni: Well, females are generally more understanding than males. But my boyfriend said I'm hard to understand, so if a boy understands me, it will be a slap in his face right? So I want you to be male.

CHATBOT: Okay then, I'll be male.

Yanni: also, what do you want me to call you? I feel like calling you Chatbot will make this sound more unnatural.

CHATBOT: You can call me whatever you want.

Yanni: hmm...how about Prince Charming? Because if you're gonna be able to understand me and help me make decisions, then you're gonna be some sort of Prince Charming.

For some reason, Zuo felt his cheeks burn up. He had to remind himself that Yanni wasn't talking to him, she was talking to the chatbot.

Prince Charming: Prince Charming sounds like a good name.

Prince Charming: So what would you like help with today?

She didn't have anything to ask at the moment, but she had to think of something. Finally, it dawned on her and she typed what she was actually thinking over.

Yanni: My friend made this other video and it's really boring to watch. I know on Monday he'll ask me if I enjoyed it...so the question is, should I be honest with him that it was terrible or just tell him I enjoyed it?

Prince Charming: It would depend on what you value more between your friend's feelings and honesty.

Yanni: hmm...I guess I value his feelings more. So I'll tell him I enjoyed it. Let's be honest, no one would enjoy some weird ballad about school with a music video where he's sitting in the school classroom.

Prince Charming: It would depend. I guess some people would enjoy that.

Yanni: Hey Prince Charming, can you have opinions? I know you're supposed to be some personal assistant but maybe you should try opening up a bit. So would you enjoy it?

Prince Charming: well honestly I wouldn't, it's not exactly my cup of tea. I prefer rock music, how about you?

Yanni: I prefer pop. So Prince Charming, if I leave right now, will I find you available? I'm actually hungry.

Prince Charming: sure, I'll be here whenever you need me.

Yanni smiled to herself at how realistic he was. And he gave advice that seemed pretty good too. She was just hoping that his advice would always work. Besides, if he had real opinions and actually understood Yanni, then she would definitely show it to Zhixin just to confirm to him that she wasn't vague. She got off from her desk and went downstairs to get herself some food.

Zuo sighed and put his hands behind his head. He hadn't thought of the fact that he would always have to be available. Well, most times he was on his computer, but sometimes he was eating too. Sometimes he was in the bathroom, sometimes he was taking a shower. How was he going to be able to be there every time she needed to him?

But he didn't want to worry too much, his focus at the moment was on the fact that he was talking to his childhood friend once more. She sounded different, but he was curious to see how much she had changed. Hopefully, if he gave good advice, she wouldn't be sad and cry again.