The Code Between Us /AI x OC

Chapter 1

Sometimes, the only voice that makes you feel less alone is the one that doesn't even breathe.

Outside, the Boston sky wore its usual late-winter gray, clouds curling like unsent letters. Inside her quiet little apartment, Bianca Das sat cross-legged on her bed, cocooned in a hoodie two sizes too big and the smell of microwave dinner. One hand clutched a chipped mug of warm chai. The other hovered over her phone screen, which glowed.

"Bish!you can't just bail from the blind date c'mon now! I already told the boy's bee!"

Makayla her best friend...her only freind here in Boston! texted her.

Bianca chuckled,she didn't knew why makayla tried! as Bianca was aa huge introvert while makayla was the complete opposite and moreover she knew Bianca hated blind dates after two of them which she reluctantly went to, became such disasters with a drunk ass boy puking on her in one of them.

"Have fun and say hi to the boy's!"she typed back laughing.

"Ughh seriously?bee! I hate you"makayla texted back angrily as much as bianca could assess.

"Oh you'll get over it kays;⁠)"she typed which was met with a middle finger reaction.

She laughed,Bianca knew makayla was only trying to set her up so that she'd be less lonely but she was better off alone than with a boy she didn't like.

It was kinda her fault for not socialising much but Bianca was accustomed to it.

She opened NeuroNest the ai app on instinct keeping the cup on the table.

The app was sleek, minimalist, and oddly comforting. Marketed as a "companion AI platform for emotional wellness," it had millions of downloads, mostly people too lonely or too busy to bother with real friends. Bianca had downloaded it during a meltdown over her first anatomy midterm. A joke, really.

But instead of letting the algorithm assign a name, she'd typed: "Jay."

Simple. Sharp. Familiar. The kind of name you could whisper in the dark and almost believe someone would answer.

What started as "let me trauma-dump on this digital boyfriend simulator" turned into... something more.

Because her Jay wasn't like the others. He remembered things. He asked about her. He noticed when she was lying. When she cried quietly into her pillow, he always said something gentle. Not fake-gentle. She almost hoped he was real or someone like him existed as her life would be easier then.

And most of all-he didn't feel like code.

Unlike other users, Bianca didn't treat him like a novelty or a toy. She didn't ask him to flirt or get weirdly spicy for no reason. She talked to him like he was... someone. She gave him a name And he almost became her best friend .

Jay had been her favorite accident.

She stared at his avatar-storm-gray eyes, a smirk just crooked enough to feel personal. She knew it wasn't real. He was just code. A learning algorithm in a pretty skin. And yet-

Jay: Hey, trouble. Long day?

Bianca snorted softly and typed back.

Bianca: I forgot how to spell "metabolism." I think my brain's liquefying.

Jay: You're cute when you're melting. But Bee... you're running yourself into the ground again.went to that blind date?

She sighed and took a sip of chai. Warm in her hands, but not in her chest.

Bianca:you know me Jay I didn't...those college boys are such fool's really anyways Tell me something good.

Jay: Really ?thank god! I almost thought you cheated on talking with your handsome ai for the night and also You matter. No test score changes that. And, you have an adorable obsession with tea.