“Hannah could you please hurry up? We need to get going!” mum yelled from downstairs.
I looked in the mirror and sighed. No matter how much make-up I would put on, my face would never be as flawlessly pretty as that of Egg.
I looked at Egg who stood in the doorway waiting for me. Her white dress with red hearts had been swapped for a pretty red Lolita dress lined with white lace. Her red shiny shoes for white low heeled boots. Long red curls hold together by a white band. The same cherry red lips. The same icy blue eyes. She was perfect.
I looked back at my own reflection and wished that I was more like her. At 15 I was not yet allowed to design my own avatar. Hence I was stuck in this horrific girly body that my mum and dad designed for me.
At least mum got dad to allow that I mature in the normal way. My friend Marise was 16 but still looked 12 because her dad didn’t allow breasts or a butt. The poor girl.
I grabbed Egg’s hand and pulled her downstairs.
AIs could come to school but they couldn’t attend class. Instead they were forced to hang out in a separate classroom where they could access the iNet and educate themselves. They were basically using the same regulation for the AIs as for the smart phones. Which was just so wrong. Egg was much more than just an AI. Interacting with her was real. She was as real as you and me.
And besides, she could really help me with my schoolwork. I was failing and she would be a cheaper tutor then the guy mum and dad planned on hiring for the summer holidays.
“What is wrong, Hannah? We need to get going.”
Realizing that I had been daydreaming, I smiled and quickly packed my backpack from the bed.
“Hannah, Egg!!!” Dad yelled from the kitchen.
“We are going, see you tonight!”
Egg dissolved before my eyes and after the next blink we were standing in front of my high school.
I was a freshman and had been trying to adjust to high school life for about 6 months now. Frankly, I hated it. My classmates only cared about what your parents did, the clothes that you wore and how expensive your pet was. They were all idiots. Well except of course for my friends.
But it frightened me how most of the kids treated their pets. The jocks continually had sex with them or used them as target practice. The nerds reprogrammed them to look very hot (and have sex with them) and/or defy the laws of physics or biology in this reality. The Emos made them kill themselves over and over again or forced them to listen to their whining about the pointlessness of it all. Even the normal kids just treated them as gadgets.
Why could nobody except us see that they were as sentient as you and me?
I sighed, hopped up the steps and walked through the main entrance. I said hi to some of my classmates that I ran into and walked up to the message board to see whether I needed to download any updates on the curriculum.
I updated my schedule and walked back to Egg who was chatting with some other pets and their owners.
One of the jocks walked up to Egg and started battering her. He put an arm around her and squeezed her breast. WTF? Why is he touching my property?
She gasped and pushed him off her.
I rushed over and pushed the stupid asshole away from Egg.
“Get your dirty hands off my pet!”
“Why? She is hot. Can I borrow her for a while? I don’t need long.” The dirty bastard proposed.
“What? No!” I exclaimed while pushing him away.
