I had a missed call… from my own phone number
I hate talking on the phone.
All those awkward pauses, not knowing how to end it…
And the risk of talking to someone for over an hour?!
It's terrifying!
So I keep my phone perpetually on silent, and figure if it's important, they'll
text or leave a voicemail.
So on Sunday evening, while I was doing the dishes, my phone was silent on the couch.
When I picked it up later, to check the time, I found that I had a missed call at 7:24 pm.
But what I saw next made my heart start to race.
The missed call was from my own number – (352)-xxx-xxxx.
Is that even possible?
I thought.
I did a quick Google search.
"Some scammers can impersonate your phone number, to make you more likely to pick up
the phone," the webpage read.
"To prevent it, go to…"
Ugh.
I closed my laptop, tossed the phone on the bed, and took a shower.
When I got out, I checked my phone.
There was another missed call from my number –
And a voicemail.
Probably just a message from the scammer, I thought.
Are you satisfied with your internet?
Do you need a new dishwasher?
I dialed in to voicemail, and listened closely.
Thump!
The first thing I heard was a dull thump, echoing through the earpiece.
Then, the next 25 seconds were static – a low hum.
And I could hear some sort of clicking in the background – faint, barely audible.
Click, click, click.
At 25 seconds in, I heard a distinct rustling sound – and then the static started to fade.
It didn't disappear, but it faded slowly into a soft hum.
At 27 seconds – intermittent blips of voice, cut with static.
I couldn't make out any words, but it sounded female.
And the tone sounded relatively normal – I don't think she was screaming or crying,
but I'm not sure.
And then – at 35 seconds –
"STOP!"
This word was clear.
It was shouted, loudly and firmly, over the static.
I couldn't tell if it was angry or afraid – with such a short clip, it was hard to
tell.
But I did know one thing, without doubt.
It was my voice.
The voicemail ended there.
I dropped the phone, and just lay there on the bed, trying to make sense of it all.
Probably just a weird glitch, I thought, draping an arm over my face.
And was it even really my voice?
I mean, hundreds of men must sound like me, right?
–
The phone flashed.
A text.
I grabbed it.
The phone slipped in my sweaty fingers as I tapped away, brought it up –
The text was from my number.
And it was only four words, all in caps:
DON'T OPEN THE DOOR
Well that's ridiculous, I thought.
What does that even mean?
Of course I have to open the door sometime!
Tomorrow is a workday, and –
The air-conditioning kicked in.
A low hum filled the room.
Click, click, click.
High-heeled footsteps, out in the hall.
And then –
Thump!
A sharp knock, at my door.
Has Anyone Else Tried Befriending a Bot?
David and I were best friends pretty much our entire lives.
What made our friendship even stronger was the fact that we didn't have any other friends.
Sadly, we fell apart when we ended up going to different colleges.
We would contact each other occasionally, but after a couple of years, we stopped talking
all together until two months ago.
It was a bit awkward at first, but after a couple of minutes, we were talking like we
once did.
He was working as an app developer while I was working in a retail store.
He dropped out of college two years in when he realized he wouldn't learn anything new
from college.
I graduated with a degree in English in hopes of being an English teacher, but yeah.
Couldn't find a school that would take me, so I was just a retail worker making a little
over nine an hour.
After I told him about my shitty job, I could hear the excitement grow in his voice.
This may not be exactly how the conversation went, but I will try my best.
David: "Okay.
So you wouldn't mind quitting if you were given a better opportunity, right?"
Me: "Definitely.
I hate my job, man.
I barely make enough to pay my bills.
Even though I work 55 hours a week."
David: "I am actually quitting my job because I had an idea for a new app, and I know it'll
make a crazy amount of money.
I would just need you to constantly talk to the bot I have created."
Me: "That sounds cool man, but are you sure I can help you by just talking to a bot?"
David: "You already have.
Let me explain.
Where do you live now?"
Me: "I moved back into my parent's house.
They moved to Tennessee."
David: "Cool.
I'll be there tomorrow at 10.
Talk to you then."
He hung up before I could say anything else.
I was confused, it sounded like David, but the way he spoke to me, sounded like a completely
different person.
All of my questions were answered as soon as I opened the door and I saw David standing
in front of me.
Before I could greet him, he opened his mouth and I had to stop myself from gagging.
His teeth were missing, almost his entire tongue looked to be torn off besides the one-inch
sliver of blackened flesh, and bright pink bumps filled up almost every inch of the inside
of his mouth.
I took a step back, and he gave me a sad grin before pulling out his phone and started to
tap on it.
A couple of seconds later, he let out a half-sigh half gurgle and faced the screen towards me.
In his voice, the phone spoke to me.
"Hey man.
I see you noticed my fucked-up mouth.
I'll tell you about it at a better time.
I will say, it was one of the reasons why I never did end up finishing college.
Also, like I said I found a job.
They didn't really care I didn't talk.
They just needed someone to do the job, which I did extremely well.
Hell, I even made this bot.
It doesn't talk like me just yet, but it will.
Which is why I am asking you to talk to the bot.
You have known me my entire life.
You know the things I would say and the things I wouldn't.
Coach it.
Teach it.
Plus, once the bot is perfect, I can put it on the market as a talk to a realistic bot
app."
David looked at me with his eyebrow raised the entire time.
I took a couple of minutes to think about what he just offered me before saying, "I
can do it, but I don't know if you can pay me enough for me to quit my job, so I'll
talk to it for around an hour before I go to bed."
David shook his head and immediately, the bot replied for him.
"I can pay you five grand to talk to it for two days.
That's all it needs.
Eight hours minimum each day.
Plus, I will give you 50% of what we make."
He looked up at me with a smile on his face.
He already knew I was in.
David handed me the phone, gave me a pat on my shoulder, and left.
I guess he knew there really wasn't anything else we could do.
The next two days, I talked to the bot just like I would talk to David.
Whenever it used words that he wouldn't normally use I would correct it.
It was odd, it knew everything David and I did.
Every single memory David had, the bot has as well.
The last conversation was the oddest one.
Which is why I am writing on here.
I'm concerned, and I am hoping someone will be able to help me out with any suggestions.
Bot: "You know what's been bugging me?
I busted my ass off for so long, and because of these bumps, my life has started to fall
apart."
Me: "I know, that must suck man.
I can't believe they would just show up out of nowhere."
Bot: "They didn't.
They came because I am a sick man.
I know we knew each other for a long time, but you didn't know everything about me."
Me: "Can you tell me?
You know you can trust me."
Bot: "I can now.
I'm physically dead by now.
My intentions were to kill myself a day after I saw you.
Don't worry, I already deposited 10k into your account.
I decided to add a little more since I'm sure you've guessed by now, this will not
be making any money.
No, this is my final gift to you.
The truth as well as a friend that isn't fucked up in the head.
Are you ready?"
Me: "Go ahead."
Bot: "After we grew apart, I started to go crazy little by little.
I'm a sick person, man.
I didn't want to drag you into the depths of hell with me.
The times I was caught staring at the other kids in our school, thinking about how their
flesh would taste filling my empty stomach.
The kids thought I was just weird, but I'm glad you didn't.
You were the only one to keep me from becoming the person I turned into after we drifted
apart.
I wanted to contact you every day, but I didn't want to keep dragging you down.
I'm sure you were making friends left and right, I didn't want to become a burden
on you.
I tried to find other friends, but no matter who I met, they would end up stop talking
to me within a couple of days.
My parents stopped talking to me, everyone did.
I didn't have anyone else, and I started having those thoughts more and more.
I did the only rational thing in my mind and that was creating another "you".
I used the bodies of people just as fucked up as me.
I started with the frat guys that were involved with several sexual assaults, after that I
geared towards the lonely men I lured into my house while acting like I was a fourteen-year-old
boy."
Me: "Shit.
What happened to them?"
Bot: "Usable body parts were used to create a replicate of you, I burned the majority
of the bodies, but after awhile I started feeling an uncontrollable hunger.
The hunger dwelled within me when we were young, but it was easy to avoid the cravings.
Like I said, they were just intrusive thoughts.
Thoughts I could overcome, but seeing all of the dead bodies burning away, the sweet
smell of their burning flesh filling my nose, I couldn't handle it anymore.
It started with trying a finger here and there, then I started eating more and more.
I wouldn't have stopped, but the bumps started to appear, and before I even finished my project,
I decided to ditch it.
I was already doing fucked up shit, but with everything put together, I don't belong
here.
Which brings us to the present.
I know you are probably disgusted with me right now, but please hear me out.
I only made this bot so that I can somehow live on without being the fucked up person
I was.
This is a fresh start for me to somehow be a better person."
No comments:
Post a Comment