Chapter 9 · Continued
Normal Parameters
He glanced toward Cam again.
“That’s what people don’t understand yet. You don’t miss them because they’re human.” He paused. “You miss them because they quietly become part of your life.”
Jane and Chris went out that evening, and honestly, it was kind of amazing.
Good food. Easy conversation. No awkward pauses or trying too hard. Just laughter, stories, and increasingly ridiculous conversations about adaptive AI behavior.
Jane had a couple of drinks with dinner. Chris stuck to coffee because he was driving, although he claimed this made him the responsible adult and therefore entitled him to judge all her menu choices.
At one point, he nearly choked laughing when Jane told him Cam had reorganized her spice cabinet alphabetically by expiration date.
“That is honestly one of the most aggressively helpful things I’ve ever heard,” he said.
“It took me twenty minutes to find the paprika.”
“Worth it.”
By the end of dinner, Jane realized something important.
Being around Chris felt easy. Comfortable in the same way Cam’s presence had slowly become comfortable.
Only warmer.
Messier.
Human.
They lingered outside the restaurant beside Chris’s SUV, talking long after they should have left.
Finally, Chris smiled slightly. “So…”
Jane looked up at him. “So?”
He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly looking just uncertain enough to be charming. “Would you want to come over for a nightcap?”
Jane smiled immediately.
No hesitation this time.
“Yes,” she said softly. “I’d love to.”
The next morning, Cam stood near the front window as usual, monitoring the movement outside the house while he waited for Jane to return.
Seymour sat nearby cleaning one paw, completely indifferent to human relationship developments.
A dark SUV turned into the driveway.
Cam observed Jane leaning across the center console toward Chris. Their contact lasted several seconds and appeared to produce positive emotional responses in both participants.
Noted.
Jane finally stepped out of the SUV smiling. Chris waited until she reached the porch before pulling away.
She entered the house carrying her purse and wearing the same clothes she’d had on the night before.
“Good morning, Cam,” she said cheerfully. “Everything okay here last night? Did you feed Seymour?”
“Yes, Jane. I was aware that you did not return home.”
Jane paused.
Not because he sounded upset. He didn’t.
Somehow, the sentence still made her feel as though she’d been caught sneaking into her parents’ house at sixteen.
“I fed Seymour in your absence,” Cam continued.
From the floor, Seymour glanced up briefly.
Evidence supported the statement.