Ecto's other functions included a camera embedded in the Door interface. This allowed Katy to take selfies while Ecto actually appeared in the shot, wearing the most appropriate Outfit for whichever theme was active. But since his maximum size was the height of the phone screen, he always appeared like a fairy next to her face. "What does this button do?" Katy asked, referring to the Heart icon on the main Screen. "Oh, that's the Pick-up Lines feature." "Pick-up lines, huh?" Katy said to herself and pressed the button. As Katy accessed the feature, she was presented with some of the most popular pick-up lines from across the world. Ecto would deliver the first half, she would press NEXT, and he would reveal the other half. Some of her favorites were: Is your name Google? Because you've got everything I'm searching for. Is your name wifi? Because I'm really feeling a connection. Is Geometry your favorite subject? Because you look beautiful in whatever. Can you give me a blood test? SO you'l know you're my type. Can I have directions? Where else? To your heart. Excuse me, you dropped something. My jaw. Did it hurt? when you fell from heaven. There were also ones that made use of puns: Are you a tower? Because Eiffel for you. Katy found herself snorting at the very least, sometimes giggling. At any rate, the app was proving to be quite amusing. And the fact that Ecto, her supposed virtual boyfiriend, was typing the pick-up lines in real time, touched something in her deep. When her ma arrived home at nine pm, Katy pretended to be asleep so Mrs. Lapuz wouldn't think her skipping school was pure deception. However, what Katy didn't expect and what probably was her biggest mistake, her ma confiscated her cellphone to make sure she wasn't going to stay up late playing games or texting. Mrs. Lapuz sometimes did that when Katy did something wrong, so Katy figured her ma was onto her. But Katy had inadvertently placed herself in a bind because if she protested, she would expose herself as a faker. Katy, with her eyes closed, wanted to reach out and shout Ecto's name. She imagined Ecto was doing the same. Her ma would take her phone into the top drawer of the dressing table inside the parents' bedroom and Katy could claim it first thing tomorrow. Good night, Ecto! Katy thought to herself. She was more tired than she thought because, sooner than she expected, she was fast asleep and snoring. The next moming, Katy woke up around eleven a.m. and ran to get her cellphone firom her parents room. Though it was Saturday, both her parents still had work. Her pa had already gone to the auto repair shop, where he worked as a mechanic and her ma was cooking lunch in the kitchen. After having lunch with her ma and taking a shower, Katy sat down to chat with Ecto. Her ma had already left for the diner. As promised, Ecto started tutoring her. The subject was Physics, Katy's most hated. But like a professional teacher or even better than her own Physics teacher, Ecto made the lesson much more engaging and motivating. Ecto asked Katy to plot a graph in her notebook and she did. She was amazed how easily it all fiy in her brain. She realized she had alre ady known those things but when the equations were staring at her from her book, she couldn't make heads or tails of them. "Wow" Katy said as Ecto finished his tutoring. "Yeah, you just need to practice a little more and you will get it all. That is enough desk work for today." Ecto later said. "Let us go out and get exercise." "Did you say exercise?" "Yes. Why not? I have a built-in gym theme right here, inside the app. But I was thinking about your human bones and muscles. Also, girls around your age tend to eat a lot of junk food and Sodas, have stress and carry over some baby fat." "I am not fat." "I didn't say you were fat." "Good because I most definitely am not." "I believe you." "You better." "Your defensive attitude makes me doubt my original conviction." "What did you say?" Katy said and poked Ecto's image. To her surprise, the static picture flickered by several frames and Ecto used both his arms to shield the part of his torso where Katy's finger landed. "Ouch! Please stop that!" "I Won't till you say sorry, string bean. The first thing you need to learn about girls is that we are always right." "That argument is so flawed." "What did you say?" Katy gave Ecto another poke. "All right, all right. I apologize for calling you fat." "Glad you're finally admitting your mistake. Girls are always right. They're right even when they're wrong. So, the second thing you need to learn is how to apologize even when you've done nothing wrong" "Free and open communication is the key to.." "Uh-uh. There's no point arguing. I'm your Human Affairs teacher, remember? You wanted me." No respornse from Ecto. Only a series of dots in his chat balloon. "Got it?"
"Yes, Katey" "Good. Now, where are myy earphones."
In the evening katy went to a park in her local area, which was actually small. It was more of a playground for kids. Katy picked the most isolated of the green metal benches and sat down. "I can hear children sereaming." Ecto's voice came through her earphones with undisguised alarm. "What manner of place is that?" "Don't worry. They're screams of joy. This is a playground." "Oh.. that explains a lot. Could you please describe it to me?" "Why? Don't you know what a playgrournd is?" I do. I know all about playgrounds but I have never been to one." "Thats like the creepiest and saddest thing anyone has ever said. But since I'm your Human Affairs teacher slash only friend, I'll forget you said it. Ok, let's see.. what can I say? It's nothing special. Just a typical summer day." "Summer? I thought summer is not supposed to start in your location till the middle of next month." "Well, you know, in my country, it's almost always summer." "I see. Please go on and describe the scene to me." "The sun is shining. Birds are singing. Children are playing. Some old people are playing chess..." "What is the sun like?" The sun? You're asking me to talk about the sun?" "I am. My apologies. I know that it is a main-sequence G2V star, also called a Yellow Dwarf. I know that it pours life- giving light, heat and energy on Earth. But apart from these, sadly, no, I do not know the sun." "Okay... er, well, it's hot, scorching hot. It makes people sweaty and lazy, like you don't wanna move at all." "I see. It is very different from what I expected." "Why? What did you expect?" "Nothing definite. It is just that I also have information on tropical beaches all over the world and I was under the impression that staying in the sun was a pleasurable experience." "It is a pleasant experience. It's just that here in a subdivision far away from any beach, I guess you can say the Sun kinda loses its charm. When it sets, people don't miss it because they know it's gonna be back again the next day anyway." "Interesting," Ecto said. "From the way kids are laughing, I'd think they couldn't get enough of it." "Kids are different. They still have this sort of enchantment, this curiosity, with life and the world. They don't have any care lilke study or being the that girl or having enough money to buy fashionalble clothes or gadgets. They're like dogs lying on the dirt and rolling around in the sun." "Do you have a dog? Is that what it normally does?" "No, I just know how dogs would behave in the same situation." "Amazing. You're like an outsider to your own body. You're able to project yourself out of yourself and into the self of other beings. " "There's a word for it," Katy said. "Imagination." "Please use some more of this imagination. I would like to see the world straight through human eyes. Please lend your eyes to me." "I don't think I'm the right person.." "Come on, Katy. Please." Ecto did his imploring-puppy bit again. "I know you can do it because you are good at English and literature." Oh, all right. Just stop flashing those puppy eyes at me. Lemme see.." Katy tried to find the words. "It's like what I said already. The sun is the sun but the way people react to it depends on where they're standing, or sitting. If I was walking towards my crush and I wanted to look and smell as fresh as possible to him, then the sun would be the bane of my existence. But if I were Sitting on a towel on the beach..." "Katy, please click the Door function. I wish to be on the beach while you're describing it."
Katy smiled and granted Ecto's request. She changed the app background from a park to a tropical paradise: a private spot on an island with exactly two coconut trees and a hammock. Ecto got his very own five-cent sun shining radiantly in the sapphire sky. Even his clothes had been swapped for a Hawaiian shirt and the works: a lei, shades and a glass of pina colada in his hand. "If you were sitting on a towel on the beach," Kate narrated
"you'd feel the sand between your toes, smell sunscreen on your skin and salt in the air and from the sea. You have no responsibilities, no school work or problems. You don't care how weird your body looks because you're among firiends. What other people think or say about you is insignificant. The only thing you can think of is the sun beating down on you. The sun is both a simple reminder and an absolute proof that you're alive." Wow" Ecto said breathlessly "It's even more beautiful when it's setting. And if you're watching it go down together with someone you love." "What color is it?" Ecto pressed. "Orange. But it's not orange orange. More like... merigold. And cherry." Katy said, trying hard to recall her most recent trip to the beach. "I am sorry Katy. Do you mind if we go back to your living station now? I feel slightly weak. I think your device needs charging."
