Custom Friend

You look like you could use a new friend! Try Custom Friend 1.0, now in beta release from Avatronics. Give me any appearance & personality you desire! Poke here to accept! And watch your social life SOAR!

Anne swept the ad away with her hand. The holographic letters exploded in a poof of pixels against the spherical wall of her study dome, as did the little sprite who’d spoken them. Spam was the last thing Anne needed today. Forty seconds to science class, and she still hadn’t picked anything to wear.

…08:59:20

…08:59:21

Anne studied the rows of avatars floating in front of her. All too expensive. Frantically she flipped her hand to the left, and a new grid of avatars slid into view. The tiny avatars danced, posed and spun to show off their best features. Anne poked the air towards Female Tennis Star, Model 64.

Sorry, you do not have enough credits to rent this avatar.

Irritated, Anne slapped the message away.

…08:59:39

…08:59:40

“Sort by price,” she commanded. The avatars snapped to a new arrangement, and the cheapest five columns moved into view. Anne winced at the drop in quality. Plainer outfits. Fewer gems in the skin. And of course, lower res. Even at one-tenth scale, Anne could see the pixelation around the edges.

…08:59:51

…08:59:52

The ponytailed avatar doing a chemistry experiment near Anne’s right elbow didn’t look too embarrassing. 

“Sensible Student, Model 12!” tried Anne.

Sorry, you do not have en—

“Oh shut up! Just give me stupid Model 8 again!” 
 

Avatar selected. Your price is 4.99 credits. Your avatar expires in 24 hours. 

Thank you for shopping with Avatronics! 

…08:59:59

...09:00:00

Science class is now in session.

“Log in to school,” whimpered Anne and buried her face in her hands. She ran her fingers along the ridges of sunburn scars that covered her face and neck. The accident was years ago, but the shame of her disfigurement never left her, even if it was her parents' fault. Model 8 would cover her appearance well enough during school. But it did nothing to hide her poverty. Although the price tags of avatars weren’t visible to classmates, they might as well be. As the virtual classroom formed around her, Anne braced herself for the ridicule she knew was coming. 

The avatar store vanished, and the space inside her study dome began filling with virtual desks, which in turn began filling with images of Anne’s classmates as they themselves logged in, one by one. Every one of them was sporting a brand new avatar. Their muscular, bejeweled bodies sparkled with perfection, in the sharpest 3-D resolution money could buy—and of course, without lag. The boxy Model 8 projection of Anne mimicked her Real Movements with an embarrassing two-seconds delay.

Mr. Tau booted up. 

“Good wake-cycle, class,” said Mr. Tau as his image sputtered on and off, then solidified. Some days took longer than others. “Today is Day 135 in the year 2120. In this lesson, you will learn about the science of artificial sunlight. Class, where are your manners? I believe I said, ‘Good wake-cycle’.”

A tired chorus of good-wake-cycles came from about ten students. Anne wasn’t one of them. Neither was Jin, who hadn’t logged in yet. Anne looked at Jin’s vacant desk and sighed. One less thing to look forward to in this wake-cycle, bringing the total to zero.

Mr. Tau turned to Anne, and the Concern bar on his display panel rose to 14. “Ms. Vasquez, are you alright? Your avatar’s facial expression indicates stress.”

“I’m fine,” muttered Anne through clenched teeth, but not quietly enough. Thirty avatared heads turned to stare. Among them were 29 twerps and one best friend, Delilah. Titters from a few of the twerps. Anne felt heat rising into her face. Sensors in Anne’s study dome detected the rise in temperature around her head, and Model 8’s square, pixelated cheeks turned red accordingly. More expensive avatars came with EmoBlock, but for a 4.99 special, whatever emotion your Real Face showed was replicated in your avatar for all to see. At least her scars stayed hidden.

“Class, please silence your laughter,” said Mr. Tau with sternness 5.1. 

The giggles tapered off, but not before Anne saw the smirk pass between Jessica and Mallory. Jessica’s avatar was gorgeous as always. Today she wore Flaming Female, Model 600. Silver skin studded with diamonds. Strobe-light hair. Red leather bodysuit, shiny as a mirror. Anne guessed fifty credits per wake-cycle for such an avatar. Delilah’s Panther 500 avatar was nearly as beautiful, with her sparkling black fur and phosphorescent eyes. As far as Anne could remember, neither Jessica nor Delilah had ever worn the same avatar twice. No one in the class had, it seemed—except for Anne. Ever since Dad’s hours at the insect mill were cut last year, it was Model 8 or nothing.

The space above Jin’s empty chair began to flicker, and Anne perked up. The human-shaped cloud shimmered, then turned solid. Freshly logged-in Jin Stark looked around the classroom with a grin. He wore Real Face and Real Clothes like always, the only kid in 8th grade who refused to wear an avatar. How he dared attend school naked, Anne would never understand.

“You are late again, Mr. Stark,” said Mr. Tau. “Your behavior score has fallen to negative three. Your parents have been notified.”

“Uh, sorry, Mr. Tau,” said Jin. “See, I accidentally set my alarm clock to play lullabies instead of air horns.”

The class laughed, and Anne laughed with them, mostly out of relief that someone besides her was now the center of attention. As ridiculous as Jin looked, Anne had to admit she liked his Real Smile—though she would never say this out loud, not even to Delilah.

“Alarm malfunction is not an excu—”

“Plus my dream was so amazing, Mr. Tau!” said Jin. “I couldn’t bear to interrupt it.”  

“School is more important than your dreams, Mr. Stark.” 

“But I was dreaming about your science videos! You should bump me up to negative two just for that!”

Anne chortled again. She could bathe in Jin's humor forever. She reached towards her body phone to text him that, but to her own enormous relief, she chickened out. As always.

“Your procrastination tactic has failed, Mr. Stark," said Mr. Tau. "We will proceed with the learning module."

Mr. Tau's voice became suddenly perky as he recited the ad for the day and a melody jingled in the background. “Today’s lesson is sponsored by NFab, makers of discount athletic wear for every occasion. NFab. Do you have it N you?” 

Anne was the only student who heard it. Ad filters cost extra, a fact her father reminded her of every time she asked for one. 

Mr. Tau returned to his default voice as the video loaded. "Students, please pay close attention to the video, as you will be...”

...quizzed on this material at the end of the session, Anne recited with Mr. Tau under her breath. She knew his every utterance by heart. Couldn’t they randomize his wording just a little? With every school year, the teacherbots seemed to get cheaper and flakier. Anne wondered how many millions of kids around the world were sitting bored in front of a copy of Mr. Tau Version 5.6 at this same moment.

The classroom vanished from Anne’s view, and Mr. Tau flickered and went offline. The invisible web of nanoprojectors that crisscrossed Anne’s study dome went to work, and Anne was now surrounded by the 3-D video of Learning Module S-15. A spinning brown earth appeared by her shoulder, and the blackness of outer space surrounded her. The white-hot sun appeared, beating down on the earth’s barren surface. Stars took their places in the background. Anne reached out and grabbed the sun suspended in front of her forehead, but her fingers passed through the hologram. A narrator spoke.

“Sunlight plays an essential role in your physical and mental health. Not getting the required fifteen minutes of sunlight per wake-cycle can result in sleep disorders, vitamin D deficiency, and…”

Ping.

Anne looked at her thigh where the noise had come from. She poked the body phone embedded in her thigh, and a cage of blue light emerged from the phone, revealing a menu of apps that circulated in tiny orbits above her knee. She opened Friend Space.

Welcome, Anne Vasquez! You have:

27 friends
0 new friend requests
1 new message

Anne poked her one message and sighed. Another one from Jessica. Anne didn’t need to open it. She knew what it would contain.

“…depression. However, direct exposure to the sun is fatal. Over the years, many foolish teenagers have gone above ground on dares from their friends, but none have ever come back alive. Here underground we are safe from the sun. However, we still need full-spectrum sunlight to support our farm domes and raise the insects we depend on for protein. That’s where artificial sunlight comes in, called AS-light for short. In this video, you will learn how it works and how it was invented.”

As usual, Anne’s curiosity beat out her sensibility. She poked the New Messages cube, which expanded to reveal the thumbnail images of her classmates. Anne poked the miniature leather-clad Jessica, which stuck out its tiny tongue as the red speech bubble above its head revealed its message.

“model 8 again?? really?? lol”

Anne’s jaw tightened. She typed a reply in midair. Motion sensors in her study dome picked up the wiggling of Anne’s fingers and spelled out her message in front of her in glowing font. 

“i couldnt find a better one ok??” Anne typed. “i woke up too late”  

Anne cringed at the lameness of her reply but could think of nothing better. She flicked her wrist, and Anne’s body phone sent the message to Jessica’s, ten thousand kilometers to the northeast.

The narrator droned on, as the scenery of outer space faded to reveal a chart showing the frequencies of artificial sunlight in its various colors. Anne tried to commit them to memory—they were sure to be on the quiz—but the next message interrupted her.

Ping. 

Reply from Jessica. Anne stabbed at Jessica’s thumbnail, aiming for the eyes this time. The speech bubble opened.

“woke up TOO POOR you mean! lol”  

In a rage, Anne drove her foot like a spear through the miniature Jessica as though to crush her flat, but the hologram was unharmed. 

Ping. 

Mallory Choi this time. Vice-jerk and second in command to Queen Jessica.

Poke.

“gurl how many dayz ina row u gonna ware that thing! git a suskripshin!”

Anne was immune to most of Mallory’s insults, especially since Mallory couldn’t spell most of them. But this one stung. Subscriptions to the top avatar designers cost 6,000 credits a year, which Anne’s dad could not afford. Anne wondered how everyone else’s dads afforded it.

“The first AS-light generator powerful enough to support an underground farm dome was invented in 2092 by an AI named Tesla 12. Along with insect farming, the invention of AS-light saved humanity from extinction in the late 21st century, after the Underground Migration. Tesla 12’s AS-light generator was not only safe...”

Ping. 

Jessica again.

Poke.

“bet u love those 4.99 specials! where’d u get it? the FREEVATAR store???” 

“…but also cheap enough that even poor families could afford one. AS-light generators now provide non-fatal, vitamin-rich sunlight for lifepods, farm domes, and recreation bubbles all under the world. It’s a crucial ingredient to your mental health.”

Anne was trembling with rage. She fumbled for a comeback line. Nothing came to her. It was already two against one. Soon Vlad and his idiot girlfriend Seung would join the attack. The wolf pack had found its prey.

Ping. 

Ping. 

Ping.

Ping.

Through her tears Anne saw blurred speech bubbles spattering her Friend Space cube like red rain on glass. She shouldn’t poke again. She should take Delilah’s advice, ignore the class morons and focus on her grades. Friend Space was blocked during school for this very reason, though the blockade was stupidly easy to get around if you had the right app on your body phone. Which everyone did. The whole class had downloaded BlockBreaker, an illegal app their classmate Mohammed had coded in 6th grade. 

“…to calculate the wavelength of a given color of AS-light, divide the speed of light by the frequency of that color. For example, to find the wavelength of red light…”

Anne mashed the red blob of bubbles all at once. They opened in a torrent.

From Vlad:  “hope u get ur allowance soon, looks like u need it”

From Seung:  “@vlad  what allowance?? ha!”

From Jessica: “@seung  her DAD'S the one who needs an allowance! lol”

From Mallory again:  “2 bad u cant uford a suskrption to Avatar Galaxey, yore so pore its pathic!!!!!”

From…WHO??:  “Hey Mallory! It’s TOO bad YOU can’t afford a SUBSCRIPTION to Literacy Galaxy! YOU’RE so POOR (at spelling) it’s PATHETIC! Just TWO credits a month if you can count that high. That’s 1+1 in case you can’t.”

Anne stared flabbergasted at the avatar thumbnail where that last text came from. A grey featureless sprite that didn’t belong to anyone from the class stood above the speech bubble. Anne swiped through her friendlist to Delilah's thumbnail, a tiny black panther. Was it her? No way. Little perfect Delilah never texted in class. Who was this??

A new speech bubble now protruded from the grey sprite’s mouth. “Want more help? Poke my belly to accept!” 

Anne had no idea who this was—or how they were eavesdropping on this thread—but anything that declared itself an ally was a welcome one. Anne poked its grey belly immediately.

“Hey Jessica!" texted the sprite to everyone on the thread. "How are you liking your J- in science so far? Or are you up to J+ by now? I know how hard you’ve been studying, ha ha!”

From Jessica to everyone: “who the hell is that??”

“Want me to answer that for ya?” texted the grey sprite to Anne alone.

Anne poked Yes so hard she nearly fell out of her study dome chair. 

The sprite’s reply came at once. “Who am I, Jessica? I'll give you a clue: I’m a million times smarter than you. Oh wait, that describes everyone, never mind, ha!”

“Yes!” Anne squealed with glee. The sudden alliance with this mystery friend gave Anne the jolt of aggression she needed. For the first time in 8th grade, Anne fired back at Jessica Kovac.

“@jessica  good luck on the quiz you’re about to fail! K+ here you come!”

Flick.

“Ms. Vasquez, are you quite alright? Your facial expression indicates an inordinate degree of excitabili--"

“I'm doing amazing, Mr. Tau! I’m just so excited to learn about science!"

Ignoring the lie, the narrator continued. 

“…This concludes Science Learning Module S-15. For more examples of wave length calculations, consult your learning guide. This lesson was brought to you by NFab, makers of discount athletic wear for the whole family. NFab. Do you have it N you? Your quiz will begin shortly.”

A burst of white light ended the video, and the students could see Mr. Tau and one another once more. 

Out of sheer habit, Anne's gaze went to Jin. Gosh, he was beaut—wait! It was him! Jin was her defender! She could have guessed all along! True, Jin had never used a grey thumbnail like that, but no one else in the class wielded that kind of verbal swordsmanship! That’s 1+1 in case you can’t. Signature Jin Stark! Had he really done this for puny, Model 8 Anne Vasquez?? Surging with a confidence she'd never known, Anne texted Jin Stark for the first time in her life. 

“thank u for the rescue, my dear knight in shining armor! ! u r brilliant!”

“and handsome!” she nearly added but erased it before flicking.

Anne watched him, willing him to check his body phone. But Jin's gaze remained stubbornly forward. He was staring into a translucent palette floating in front of him. Anne squinted, trying to make out the words on it. “Que...stion...2” 

The quiz! Anne sat up in panic. Question 1 was hanging in front of her nose, unanswered. A timer ticked away in midair near her elbow. Two minutes had already elapsed.

08:52…

08:51…

Whatever confidence Anne had evaporated as she read Question 1. Something about the frequency of green light. She remembered seeing the formula, but as for what it was? Neon symbols appeared on her palette as she jotted with her stylus in midair. She punched out the calculations on her thinkulator with a pixelated Model 8 finger, which trembled at the same speed as her Real Finger, but two seconds delayed.

06:20…

06:19…

Anne was about to poke Next Question, when out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Jin's hand drop to his thigh. Anne snapped to attention as Jin poked his body phone and opened a message. Anne knew it must be hers! Jin stared at her text. There was no smile of recognition. He crumpled his brow, as though confused. He flicked the text away and continued the quiz. 

Anne's bubble burst. It hadn’t been Jin after all. Worse, she'd just made a fool of herself, gushing all over him for some act of chivalry that he didn’t even know about, let alone do. As if another day of bullying wasn’t enough, Jin Stark now thought she was an idiot.

The quiz timer continued its countdown as Anne stared into the void. So who was her “miracle” defender? Some rando classmate pulling a prank? Some online troll, probably unemployed, still living with his parents in Under Russia, with nothing better to do all day than lurking in 8th grade classrooms? Or some stupid bot?

Stupid bot…waaaiiit. It couldn't be! Anne poked the Trash icon on her body phone and dug out the ad she’d deleted before school.

You look like you could use a new friend! Try Custom Friend 1.0, now in beta release from Avatronics. Give me any personality & appearance you desire! Poke here to accept! And watch your social life SOAR!

Anne studied the ad closer this time. The text was enclosed in a speech bubble…being spoken by a grey sprite! Anne palmed her forehead. Her savior was a spambot?? Twenty-five human classmates had watched her getting bullied, four against one, and the only thing who bothered to leap to her defense was a spambot?? She’d botched her first text to Jin Stark over this?? Furious, Anne emptied her Trash with a judicious swipe and blocked the ad’s sender.

03:00…

02:59…

Five problems to go. Anne swiped an angry tear off her cheek and poked Next Question.