Dawn turned around, and I followed her through the living room to the kitchen. She was wearing tight black jeans and leopard-print flats. Everything about Dawn exuded casual chic, the clothes outlining the curves of her body just enough. I wanted her. Badly. But I forced myself to look away, remembering her cold stare. Are we together? I wondered again; the thought tempting. I started to imagine ripping her clothes off, but then stopped cold in my tracks.

This has already happened before. I’d seen it. Except it had been a nightmare, where Ryder took Dawn over and over, while I watched. The dream I had right before going to Philly to see April. I gulped. Was that me or Ryder? Or was that me in the future? What was happening?

I felt noxious.

“Ryder, what’s wrong?” Dawn turned around and opened her eyes wide. She was standing right next to me. I felt the heat of her body next to mine.

“I’m fine.” I squeezed out, digging the nails into the palms of my hands to stop myself from screaming.

“Don’t make a scene.” She hissed right into my ear, so that only I could hear her. The chatter from the party was barely audible, and I closed my eyes, trying to dispel the vision away. Dawn couldn’t be real. None of this was. “Sit right here,” she pointed at the stool, and I realized that I’d somehow made it into the kitchen. I remembered it so well from my days at the Lab. I scanned the kitchen and saw the door to the basement. The code lock. Is the code still the same? I wondered and made a move to the Lab, but Dawn grabbed my sleeve.

“We have to wait for Mother.”

“What?”

“Why are you acting so surprised? You’ve already started to discuss the situation.” Dawn shook her head in indignation. “Here, have a cookie.” She pointed to a tray on the counter. It was where the Costco sandwiches used to be, but now they had been replaced by a neat stack of round cookies. They looked good, and I reached for one. “Our newest product.” Dawn smiled. “Insect farming is the best. I’m glad we got into it, Ryder.” Dawn sounded almost pleasant now.

“Insect farming?”

“Yes, insect farming. A great way to raise money. Insect farming is really the best. You can do it in your backyard. But really, Ryder, you made some terrible decisions.” Dawn narrowed her eyes, and I shivered under her stare. I raised my arms in protest, and at that moment, Maria Matucci walked into the kitchen.

“So, ready?” Dr. Matucci flashed a smile and fixed her gaze on me. And at that moment, I saw the resemblance. How could I have been so blind? She and Dawn looked so alike. You take away the red hair, add the high heels, and Dr. Matucci was an older, fatter version of Dawn. My mouth gaped open as I stared at the two women. How did I notice it before?

“Mother? She is your mother?” I turned to Dawn in disbelief. “But that means, wait. I don’t get it.”

“Ryder, are we back to this memory loss pretense situation? Please, it’s seriously getting old. And it’s no way to deal with the mess you’d gotten us into.” Dawn rose from her seat.

“Sweetheart, please, don’t worry.” Dr. Matucci looked at Dawn kindly. “We’ve got him by his cojones.” She made a grabbing gesture with her hand that made me shrivel inside. They are speaking about me.

“I gotta go.” I tried to push my way out of the kitchen, but Dr. Matucci blocked my way. “No. We need to discuss the lawsuit, Ryder. You cannot get away from this.”

“Downstairs. Now.” Dawn said to me and joined her mother and the two of them were standing guard by the door. “You had your little party. Time to face the facts.”

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

“This is a mistake!” I yelped.

“Downstairs, now.” Dawn repeated.

“Fine.” I acquiesced. “I’m just gonna use the bathroom.” Before she could say anything else, I rushed into the bathroom and slammed the door, locking it behind me. I walked to the sink and splashed water on my face, expecting relief. But then when I looked up, I saw the mirror.

Staring back at me was a tunnel of faces, two mirrors reflecting into each other, creating an infinite tunnel of me. “No!” I screamed and closed my eyes. I knew full well the bathroom had no windows. There was no way out of this place, but I glanced at the wall, hoping against all odds I could get out. I heard a knock on the bathroom door and forced myself to snap out of my desperation. Opening the door, I saw Dawn standing outside.

“Let’s go, Ryder.” She walked to the door that lead to the Lab and punched in the code. ‘0808.’ The same code as before. Only now it wasn’t Kate or Ben, but Dawn, who appeared to be in charge. She descended the steps first, and I followed. Maria Matucci closed our procession.

The Lab came into view. The space I’d missed so much. It looked completely different. There was just one desk in the corner. All white, and it was raised very high, with no chairs. Three armchairs stood in the middle of the space. And one wall of the Lab was now an LCD screen, and a video playing.

And in the video I saw myself speaking, staring at the audience intently.

“Let us do the living for you.” The screen version of me was saying. “At AI Assisted Living we’ve created the Digital Double technology to ensure your life is perfect.”

I was wearing a black turtleneck and blue jeans, a huge black wedding ring on my left ring finger.

That was the first time I questioned my age. How old was I? I had a wife? I looked at my hands, but there was no ring on it. Judging from how Dawn was acting, it was definitely not her.

“Ryder, please, stop staring at yourself.” Dawn rolled her eyes.

“Men just love looking at themselves.” Dr. Matucci chuckled. “Never underestimate how vain men are. All men! It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

“I know.” Dawn shook her head and took a seat in one of the armchairs. Dr. Matucci sat in the chair next to her daughter.

“Have a seat, Ryder.” Dr. Matucci pointed to the third chair, and I obeyed. “So, as I was just saying to you upstairs.” She cleared her throat. “But of course, this is the conversation we need to have in complete confidentiality. You’ve gotten us in a situation where you are very likely going to become a liability.”

She raised her eyebrows, as if expecting me to react, but I said nothing. “It’s quite unfortunate, Ryder, after everything we’ve done for you. And I have to acknowledge that ‘Assisted Living’ wouldn’t be the same without you, either. After all, you’re the first digital twin we’ve created, Ryder.”

“I am what?”

“The very first one,” Dawn sighed.

“But I’m Rodion.” I furrowed my brow.

“No, Ryder. Rodion is gone. Remember? You let us in, Ryder. You let us replace Rodion with the digital double. That was part of the agreement, Ryder.”

“No, I’m not Ryder. I don’t wanna be called that. I’m Rodion.”

“It’s a little too late for that.” The two women exchanged glances.

“Where am I? What are you doing? What happened to April?” I clutched at her, as the last straw. “And Mr. McPherson? He runs this lab, not you!”

“Oh,” Dawn sighed. “I guess we have to explain this again to him, Mom. Maybe it is an actual bug that we have to fix?” The two women were speaking as if I wasn’t there.

“Let’s make sure he isn’t lying to us first.” Dr. Matucci took out her phone and clicked on one of the apps. A table popped up, and she clicked through it, frowning. “No, I think it might be a bug in the system, Dawn. It doesn’t look like he’s lying.” She shook her head. “I guess we’ll check it out later.”

Meanwhile, the video playing on the LCD screen started from the beginning. Techno music was playing, and I saw myself emerge from the shadows.

“Let us do the living for you.” I said on the screen. “Here, at ‘AI Assisted Living, we take care of all the details, so you don’t have to. Our revolutionary digital twin technology tests out various scenarios, ensuring your life is perfect.”

“Alright, I’ll make it fast.” Dawn said. “Ryder, listen, please. We got rid of Chuck McPherson in 2019, right before Covid.”

“What’s Covid?”

“Oh, not that!” Dawn shook her head. “You know what? I don’t have time to explain all this to him. You do it, Mom.” She turned to Dr. Matucci.

“Dawn, sweetheart, he goes through these memory blanks. It’s okay, we just have to be patient.”

“But then he just blanks out. It’s annoying!”

“Glitches are inevitable, honey. Especially in evolved AI like Ryder.”

“What?” I jumped off the armchair. “I’m not evolved AI! What the hell?”

“No, you’re not evolved AI. You’re just the basic AI.” Dawn yawned. “Mom, I’m going. I can’t deal with this nonsense. Not right now. I’ll be upstairs if you need me.”

She walked out, slamming the door shut behind her. I was left alone with Dr. Matucci.