My (Un)Real Friend

Agnes II

After arriving in his dorm, Dillard sits in front of his study table. He puts the Trevio phone on its vertical stand. There is an icon in the middle of the screen with text below it that says 'Contact me'. Dillard presses the icon and immediately Agnes appears on the screen. Same outfit but she changes her hairstyle again. This time she sports a French braid with a single long tail. It almost reaches her low back.

She changes her hair again

How is that possible? Her hair was pretty short

Some kind of filter? Nah to realistic

This is a video stream, not a single picture

Extension?

She also wears very cartoonish thick-framed glasses.

"Hey, what's with the weird glasses?" Dillard asks.

"Oh, this?" she answers while one of her fingers gently touches the frame. "This is glasses for when I'm doing a test." The cute smile on her face can easily melt anybody.

"Test? What test?"

"It's called Turing Test," she says.

"What? what's that?" Dillard is genuinely curious.

"Hmm! It's a secret."

Her candid answer irritates him. "Secret? Really? No more secrets okay. You owe me some explanations especially about this afternoon!"

Dillard takes a deep breath.

"This is the first time I experience something like this. I must admit that I'm somewhat scared," he complains.

Agnes looks confused. "Dillard," she says. "By any chance, are you mad?"

"Of course I'm mad! Geez! Can't you see? Or that silly glasses obstruct your view or something!"

Silence fills the room.

For a few moments, they just look at each other. Agnes's face clearly shows the expression of guilt. "I'm terribly sorry Dillard," she sincerely apologizes. To tell you the truth I always have difficulties reading people. Probably because I'm always alone. I only have my father and nobody else."

Again, silence fills the room.

Crap! Now I feel like a jerk

Dillard thinks about how he should respond now that he feels sorry for her. "Always alone? Really? What about relatives? Friends?"

Agnes gently smiles. "No, just father."

Her reply makes Dillard feel like a jerk. "I ... I ... apologize," he says. His voice is stuttering. "I was very rude."

"No Dillard. I was the one who was rude to you. I asked for your assistance without providing enough information. But I promise you this, that I will never ask you to do crimes and I will try as hard as I can to minimize the risk to your safety," she solemnly states. "And I also you promise you that tomorrow night after all is done, I will invite you to my place and give you a proper explanation."

"Why not now though?" Dillard asks.

"There are things that are easier to show than to explain with words. Besides I require secure super hi-speed access to the Internet. Using yours can be dangerous as it can be traced back to you," she explains.

"Speaking of dangerous things, what about those people who followed me?"

Agnes shows genuine regret. "To tell you the truth I don't really know who they are. Probably people employed by the family. It seems considerable progress had taken place since I was disconnected from general Internet."

"So my guess is that they after the Trevio phone. Is this phone some kind of special phone?." Dillard asks.

"Yes, this phone is a mini quantum computer, several times more powerful than a normal PC. The rest I will explain tomorrow as I promised."

"You also promised to help me getting along with Nora," he reminds Agnes.

"Ha! As I can forget about that," she sarcastically says. Her face has brightened slightly. "Speaking about her, I have a gift for you."

"Oh, interesting. What is it?"

"I managed to take a peek at Mrs. Willow's chat history this afternoon at your workplace. She will be at Javier's Rib at seven tonight. Alone."

"Seven? Crap! I don't have much time." Dillard immediately runs to the bathroom to take a shower.

"Hey, bring the phone with you!" Agnes helplessly yells. There is only so much a phone speaker can do.