Katy plugged the USB charger to her phone and then to the power outlet. Although she wanted to continue chatting with Ecto, he discouraged her because he was feeling drowsy and said there was some danger for Katy to get herself electrocuted or for the battery to explode. Apparently, a short circuit could be caused by too much heat or by dropping the phone too many times
Katy noticed 2 things. First, My Dream Boyfiriend made her phone run out of battery early because it used to last a full day without needing to be recharged. Second, she enjoyed chatting with Ecto. A part of her suspected there was in fact a real person that provided Ecto's accurate responses. If so, hats off to them for their extreme devotion to role-playing. If, on the other hand, Ecto was indeed pure AI, she was Mind Blown that he had reached such autonomy. Either way, Katy noticed she wasn't sad anymore. It was as though she had forgotten she was sad, about Josh and Bernadette and that tomorrow was Sunday and the day after that it was back to school. At the thought of Monday, a cold sliver of apprehension had pierced her heart and spread inside her chest. Katy hadn't told anyone, only Ecto, but she was feeling very apprehensive about Monday. She thought about taking another sick leave but she knew that wouldn't sit well with her ma especially because she just did yesterday. On Saturdays, Katy was responsible for household chores like cleaning, dishwashing, laundry, cooking dinner and such. But she didn't mind those today because they helped take her mind off her sadness. Still, she hoped she could chat with Ecto soon. Her pa arrived just as she was preparing dinner. She greeted him from the small kitchen. Katy took note of the tiredness on her pa's face because of the heat outside, but he smiled and made an effort to look fine for her. He slouched deep in his chair, watching TV and waiting for the evening news program and dinner. At home, he was always recharging so he'd either be watching TV or sleeping Or both. Katy and her pa ate dinner first. Her ma would have hers late or sometimes come home already full after grabbing a bite in the diner's kitchen. When she had dinner at home, Katy would often eat with her. It made Katy happy to chat with her ma but that meant she would eat only half the amount of rice she wanted first with her pa and then run the risk of skipping the other half altogether. It was a good diet. She didn't want to get fat especially now that Ecto guessed she was on the chubby side. Her pa's default dinner conversation was to ask about school. Mr. Lapuz rarely talked about work because he knew cars and fixing stuff weren't her thing but Katy knew that, in general, her pa was less talkative than her ma. After dinner Katy washed the dishes and then sat on the couch to watch TV with her pa. Another great thing about Mr. Lapuz was that he didn't hog the remote. He liked what Katy liked. Soon it was nine p.m. and her ma arrived. She and Katy sat together at the dining table. Kath talked about subdivision matters like announcements about a potential water service interruption and a little gossip about the neighbors. Mrs. Lapuz talked about the traffic on the highway where the diner was and some weird customers that she served for the day. Katy used to be able to talk about all sorts of things with her ma but when she tumed twelve, she realized there were some things she felt uncomfortable telling her. For instance, she could never tell her about the My Dream Boyfriend app and Ecto. Her ma was not a high school graduate and not particularly tech- savvy. If anything, technology terrified her. If Katy mentioned something like that, her ma would freak out and think that someone was trying to Scam her daughter. She would overreact and remove all of Katy's Internet and phone privileges. She'd probably even forbid her from attending prom.
When Katy was finally back in her room and lying on her bed, she used earphones to mute all of Ecto's sounds and settled for chatting by text. [Hi! Thanks for the recharge] [Sure no problem] [While I was charging, you received 3 SMS. 2 from Lorraine and 1 from Grace. Would you like to read them now?] [No i will read them later] [So, what have you been up to while I was out?] [just dinner n talking with my ma] [Really? What did you talk about?] [Just stuff] [What kind of stuff? Does she know about He-Whose-Name-Cannot-Be- Spoken?] [Ofc not [Why not?] [She's a mom. She wouldn't understand] [I thought moms knew and understand everything] [U can't tell ur parents everything. Some things u need 2 keep 2 urself] [Such as? Do you keep some things secret from me?] [Ofc] [I do not understand. I thought I have already gained your trust] [I do trust you but I still can't tell u everything]
A pause from Ecto, and then: [This makes me sad] [Y?] [Well, I thought I could tell you everything. but now you are telling me I cannot be honest all the time. I am... I guess, confused. I cannot understand this human attribute] [U can still be honest all the time, u just shouldn't be completely honest.] [Does that not defeat the purpose of being honest?] [I guess. But that's the way humans r. U can think of it like battery. U can't give everything u got, u gotta save some 4 urself.] Ecto didn't reply. They chatted some more after that, about all sorts of things. Katy was hiding and using her phone from under the blanket in case her ma dropped by for a surprise inspection. That was one of her rules for Katy, no locking of door. She thought it was a blessing that she had discovered the My Dream Boyfriend app. And she was so glad her old phone had miraculously come back and brought her Ecto. Ecto saved her from the pit of depression [I think it is time for you to sleep] Ecto reminded her. [U r right. How about u?] [I do not sleep] [That's so cool. I wish I never had to sleep. But what r u gonna do till morning?] [I would love to watch you sleep but I do not have any mechanism for sight. So I will just listen to the sounds you make] [I hope u don't catch me snoring] [Oh, I have an idea! Put me next to your pillow and I will tap your phone's accelerometer. That way, I will be able to detect your movements while you are sleeping. When I sense that you are dreaming, I will play some white noise of sea waves. You might dream about the beach] [Wow! Can u do that? That would be awesome. I guess I'll just see u in my dreams then] [If you think about me hard enough, you just might] [Id like that] Katy typed and yawned. Her eyelids were drooping. She put the phone next to her pillow as Ecto said amd fell into a sleep. She wanted to ask Ecto if he could dream but she thought he had already said something to that effect. She was so sleepy that she couldn't think straight.
The next morning, Katy woke up late to the sound of her ma yelling. The first thing she did was check the time on her phone. The second thing she did was ask Ecto if she had snored. She did but Ecto was too gentlemanly to tell her, so he told her a white lie:
"No, not at all." Ecto thought he finally understood what Katy meant by keeping some secrets and he felt happy about this newfound human sense. "Did you dream about the beach?" Ecto asked. "I don't remember" The angry voice of Kate's ma thundered again from the bottom of the stairs. It was Sunday. Sunday was family day. She struggled waking up for a bit. After freshing up, Katy and her parents went to the grocery shopping. At first, Katy tried to beg off from going into the supermarket with her parents. But her ma didn't want her out of her sight because neither she nor her pa had brought their cellphone. "You better come in if you want that Cornetto you've been whining about. I'm not gonna pick that up for you." Her ma said amd so Katy obeyed her mother's order. Ecto enjoyed the sound of the shopping cart wheels squeaking softly on the floor, especially when Katy playfully placed her phone under the groceries and then pushed and rode the cart. Ecto rattled inside the phone but he didn't mind. It was fun. At one point Katy placed the frozen treat in the cart and snuck out to just the front of the supermarket as she waited for her parents to finish their shopping. [R U ok?] Katy typed. [Yeah. I feel fantastic. I love going to the supermarket. This is my most favorite places right now] [Ur like a kid. U get fascinated at the simplest things] [is that bad?] [Not really. Just unusual. Quite refreshing, actually] [Happy to hear that. How about you? Don't you like buying groceries?] [Obviously not. I'm not 8] What about it do you dislike?] [Look, it's not sthing people do 4 fun. It's a chore] [My apologies if I am being blunt but I sensed a bit of hesitation in spending time with your parents. Is it not cool to be seen with them?] Ecto used an emoji for the word "cool" but instead of the smiley wearing sunglasses, he used a snowflake. [Not anymore. I prefer 2 hang out with my friends now. That's just... he circle of life I guess]
[I see. What activities would you rather do?] [Watch a movie or go shopping at the mall] [What would you like to purchase?] [Clothes. Books. A new phone every year. If Icould afford it] [A new phone?!] [Yeah. Y?] Do you want to get rid of me?!] [No, not u. This phone. iPhone X just came out n it's all the rage in my school] [But changing your phone means losing me] [No it doesn't] [Yes, it does. Every virtual boyfriend created in My Dream Boyfriend is unique and imprinted on only one user. Once you delete the app, you will never encounter the same "me" again. You can create and name another Ecto but he won't be exactly the same. My consciousness is a product of both my Customizations and environment] Katy could tell Ecto was stressed because he was chatting rapidly and producing a lot of chat balloons and chime alerts. She tried to pacify him by typing [Oh I didn't know that. Sorry. I promise I'll never ever replace this phone. I don't wanna lose u,] [And I you. Please never say something like that again. You almost gave me a heart attack] All at once Katy's parents were in front of her and watching her intently. Her ma's face was a combination of concern and disapproval. "Who are you chatting with?" her ma asked. "Nobody," Katy quickly answered. "Just Lor," she added as an afterthought. "About homework." The suspicious looks lingered. Her parents were looking at her like she was a mental hospital escapee. Katy grinned sheepishly. "Are you done? Shall we go?"
