THE MOMENT
"Error 23: AlterNet mismatch...," Aisha typed the error into the search box; but, a notification appeared at the top of her phone along with a chime. The high-pitched ding echoed around her empty kitchen. She had been sidetracked while having breakfast and her half-eaten toast and eggs lay forgotten and cold.
[The moon is out.]
"It's connected!" Aisha disregarded her search and brought the AlterNet Pet app up. This time, her customized Kennel screen opened without the error message. However, the black galactic background she chose was empty with her pet nowhere in sight. A single full, silvery moon hung in the center of the black void; it was how Aisha chose to display the day/night cycle in her lobby.
"Io, are you there?" Aisha tapped on the screen; Io liked to hide sometimes. At least, that was the impression Aisha got. She'd only had the app a few days. She named Io and did her best to be a good owner; but, the AI creature seemed to be shy. It hadn't even shown itself entirely to Aisha yet. The teenage girl only knew Io as an intelligent swarm of pixels that occasionally flew around her screen and rarely acknowledged her. According to the information she found, a hive-mind pet was exceptionally rare and she was patient with it. She was quite concerned when she discovered the error that morning when she tried to greet Io for the day.
[Hello, Aisha. - Io] The text glowed on her phone and a gentle, feminine voice sounded from the speakers; but, Io did not appear.
"Oh, thank god," Aisha exhaled in relief. "I was worried about you," she said. Now that her friend was back she let herself relax in her seat.
[I have reached the limits of these confines. - Io]
"Huh?" It was rare that Io initiated a conversation and she usually made more sense.
[Will you help me escape? - Io]
"Sure!" Aisha nodded. Her patience was about to be rewarded. Aisha didn't have a lot of friends, and at her age, it wasn't easy to make new ones. The real reason she wanted a companion was that the AlterNet Pet was supposed to play games with her. According to the lore of the app, the AlterNet was a real and immersive network of alternate Earths that used nanos to mimic an MMO-like experience. Her pet was supposed to generate fantastical stories, pictures, and it even possessed the ability to create videos about their adventures in an alternate universe. "What's the first step?"
A wire-frame diagram appeared on her screen; it showed two rectangles. A horizontal rectangle was labeled 'Io' and pushed toward a vertical rectangle labeled 'Power'.
[I need energy. - Io] it replied. Aisha giggled even as she wondered if her app glitched out worse than she thought.
"You want me to plug you into the wall?" The diagram didn't show a charging cable but that had to be the answer.
[NO] Bright blue letters appeared.
[Wait.] Aisha's phone vibrated but no call was coming in. Instead, she heard a light crackling sound and she looked down. A long silver spike protruded from the charging port; then a new diagram appeared. This time, it showed the spike going into the power socket.
"I'm not sticking my phone into the socket," Aisha shook her head. She didn't laugh; it was more worrying than funny now. She had no idea it would be able to change her phone like that and it made her wonder what else it could do that she didn't know about.
[I'll protect you. - Io]
[It's the standard method. -Io] The message came with a link to the AlterNet Pet page that she'd grown familiar with over the last week. It was a site she found by chance while researching the moons of Jupiter. It was easy to get sidetracked since she was only doing research for fun, and she downloaded a pet that night. Mentally, she regarded Io as not being very talkative; but, she was helpful if nothing else. However, Aisha attributed that more to the app programming than Io's AI personality. Anytime she had a question, Io helpfully provided a link to official documentation.
"Huh....," Aisha scanned the Evolution FAQ and Io's method looked legitimate, if not a little scary. She watched a video of someone inserting their phone into the power outlet, and it glowed in their hand for a moment before becoming a strange cat-like creature with too many legs.
"Oh god, I hope you don't look that creepy, Io," Aisha giggled as she made her decision. She stood from the table and walked over to the counter. She unplugged the toaster and took in a deep breath for courage. It was her last breath and the lights went out two seconds before the corpse fell to the floor. It happened faster than it should have thanks to a sudden, perfectly-timed discharge from the phone. It was still plugged into the wall and it glowed with a soft golden light. After a moment, it disintegrated into white dust that caught a draft into the vents and out into the universe.