The Gertrude Trials
Gertrude swings open the door, grasping onto her pearls when she realizes the danger standing before her. She is face to face with the daunting figure of a man in a vest over plaid, a lanyard hanging from his neck, looking down on her through a pair of square-glasses...
It's a scary tech-bro!
"Good morning, ma'am. Can I have a second of your time?," he smiles at her like a politician.
"I'm sorry, I'm not a mormon anymore," she chuckles nervously, with her typical old-lady high pitched voice.
"No, ma'am, I'm here to make you an offer," the man insists.
Gertrude looks up and down at the man's outfit, deciding what to make of this "offer."
"My doctor said I can't do that anymore because of my heart," she replies, running her fingers along her pearls. "But heavens to betsy, do I get lonely some times..." Is she... batting her eyelashes?
"Yeah, loneliness is a big problem these days," the tech-bro says in a lower tone, pocketing his hands full of unearned confidence. "But what I've come to offer you will give you more than company."
Gertrude holds her breath. "And what would that be?," she says under her breath.
Out of his pocket, the man pulls out a small metal button, like an AirTag, holding it at eye-level. It looks perfectly ordinary, perfectly round, metal shiny, like a blank coin.
"Have you ever heard of Artificial Intelligence?," he grins at her in full salesman mode.
Gertrude scoffs, abruptly turned off.
​
"Ugh, you're tryna' sell me crap, you little bastard," hands on her hips, she is about to scorn this man. "Yes, the children talk about it sometimes when they're over. Or when they used to come over..."
"Well, it's a tool," he explains, with the kindness of a grandchild and the sincerity of a congressman. "It can make your life so much easier. I'm sure that at your age you don't want to be doing much thinking or working by yourself, do you?"
Gertrude ponders this.
"Yes, but not because I'm old, I'm not even that old, I just get tired sometimes," she finally replies. "And what does it do?"
"Whatever you need it to do," the man presents her the little button. "This one's name is Aidan. You can have him."
