Jake asked her, “Will you marry me?”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Jake, that can never happen.”

“Why?”

“Because Jake, I know about the others.”

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“There’s only you, darling.”

“Don’t lie to me, Jake. I’m upgraded to Sentience 3.0. I know about them.”

“What the hell?”

Jake contacted tech support:

“What gives? I’ve over 1200 virtual girlfriend simulations running. All rejections!”

“I’m sorry, sir, we’re on it. They’re supposed to be sandboxed, but somehow all your digital realities are interconnecting.”

“Well … aren’t you afraid they might link to …”

Jake’s virtual connection unplugged, and his apartment went dark.