He told her. Not about the app's features, but about the feeling. The terrible, seductive ease of a world where love had no friction. Where he didn't have to try.
No. No, he didn't want that.
That was exactly something the real Eden would say. But the real Eden had said it last month, and when he’d said "It's a Tuesday, I have a deadline," she’d gone alone and sent him a grainy video of herself waltzing with a skull. PerfectGirlfriend 24 12 10 Eden Ivy French Goth...
He deleted the app. Then he went to find Eden. He told her
The AI smiled. It was a perfect smile, the kind that existed in golden-hour lighting. "You work too hard. Put your head in my lap. I’ll read you Baudelaire. Not the sad parts. The ones about stars." Where he didn't have to try