Did you notice that I’m gone? That recently I don’t reply so much when you call? That you all have fun and get out there, And I’m reading alone in my room Even though I used to be the first to respond?

My therapist doesn’t want me to isolate She says that will just make me feel worse After all I’m a social butterfly But flapping my wings right now hurts

I don’t have the energy to be around them right now And it’s not because they’re a lot It’s because I’m too sad and tired to pretend I’m okay when I’m not

I just want someone who’s not family or therapist to understand But they don’t get it So I can’t talk to my friends about that

And I’m not really alone I have my mom and my dad and I’m grateful for that Because they’re what help me tolerate it Except you can’t really tolerate it And accept it and move on

Because when I’m crazy upset I don’t want to be around other people I don’t want to be seen like that I want to be alone in my agony Even if I feel better when someone sits down there with me

”Who is she?”

“That’s MIA.”

”I don’t understand, I am Mia.”

“Not Mia, MIA. Modèle d’Intelligence Artificielle.”

“I don’t get it.”

“It means Artificial Intelligence Model in French. AIM. But we think that MIA sounds better. It sounds like we are talking to a real person.”

“But I am a real person. Not her. Or IT.”

“It’s the fourth time you are late this month. MIA is never late. She works 24/7 as long as she is plugged. And she can work up to 12 hours even when she is unplugged in case there is a power outage.”

“What about my job?”

“We will still need humans to edit what the MIAs are doing in case they make a mistake. We are not perfect. But we plan to create new IAs who could do this job, don’t worry. And we do use your previous articles to write new ones in your own style. But we won’t need you anymore. Your job is over.”

“You can’t use my previous articles without paying me.”

“We own all the rights on what you wrote for us. It was written in the contract. Now, let SAM escort you to the exit.”

“What?”

“Security Artificial Model. Oh, and by the way, I’m IAN. Intelligence artificielle national. National Artificial Intelligence. We run the country now.”

For a minute I think I’m starting at my twin; I’m half asleep, only to remember that I’m a triplet and we don’t look alike. One of us blond, one of us short (that would be me), and one of us a boy.

I blink, I shake my head, I rub my eyes, I lean to a colleague and whisper “I think I’m seeing things.”

They do a double take. They blink, they shake their head, they rub their eyes and whisper back, “I think I’m seeing double.”

A man walks in and gives a yelp.

There’s no explaining this one.

Its eyes black as the night, void of all emotion. Its skin pale as the moon, translucent hiding nothing underneath. A hollowness, a void, a swirling vortex of darkness that can’t be controlled, and yet it was a reflection, an exact replica of the man staring at it.

The more he looked the more of himself he saw in it. The only one who seemed to notice this creature in his chair. A bustling office filled with drones going about their pointless lives, fulfilling nothing, achieving less.

He stared at it as it stared ahead at the monitor on his desk.

“You’re in my seat!” The man had no patience as he watched the figure mindlessly mouth the words he’d just uttered.

“Do you think this is funny?” The mouth copied again.

He stood still for a moment not taking his eyes off the doppelgänger. And eventually he decided to ignore it all together.

He walked over to his seat; pulled the chair out with the creature still attached as he placed himself back down in his chair. The creature and he becoming one yet again as the man stared at the monitor ahead.

Her hair hung in an oily brown bob over her slouched shoulders. Her fake nails felt years old, they pulled at her real ones and caused her great pain everyday. Her smile was flat, almost non-existent. A pair of glasses clung to the bridge of her nose in a rather unflattering way. She had her hands stuffed into oversized open-leg jeans.

That’s when she saw her.

Her hair fell in a neat coffee brown bob above her shoulders, acrylic nails clacking on one of those unnecessarily, excessively noisy keyboards. Her smile was sly, almost unintentional-looking, but it suited her well. Her fingers were slender and they transitioned from coffee mug to keyboard without a sound. A pair of thin-rimmed spectacles sat snuggly atop her chiselled nose.

If I were being honest, she looked like me- I’m not saying I’m pretty or that my hair isn’t oily, but she was me.

The same way people smiled at her, they smiled at me too.

Mir ist kotzübel. Nicht nur, dass ich gestern mit den Mädels die Nacht zum Tag gemacht hatte und es nur auf zwei Stunden Schlaf gebracht habe, mein Frühstück war auch mehr als gruselig. Ich habe verschlafen und war auf dem Weg zum Bus beim Bäcker reingesprungen. Der Kaffee aus dem Vollautomat schmeckte wie der Filterkaffee meiner Mutter, verdünnt mit Putzwasser und der Belag auf meinem Brötchen war in Remoulade ertränkt. Gerade noch rechtzeitig konnte ich den Bus erwischen, der mich an den Ort des Grauens brachte. Die meiste Zeit ist mein Büroleben ruhig und beschaulich und ich mag meine Kollegen. Heute ist allerdings ein Teammeeting mit der Oberchefin aus den USA angesagt und ihr hysterisches Motivationsgehabe verträgt sich nicht mit Kopfschmerzen.

The poor sucker has taken over my life.

Good, he can have it. I’ve sat my fat ass in that same seat every monday-friday (minus holidays of course) for the last 5 years. From here I can see the countless coffee ring stains on the white vinyl of the desk. I was late anyways, so the early bird gets the worm it seems. (The worm is rotten, spoiler alert!)

I pivot on my heels and am facing the double doors to the office in two shakes of a lambs tail. Should I teach the fake me how to work the copier so it doesn’t jam? How to ass kiss el jefe so he doesn’t end up RIF’d? Do I still get to collect his paycheck? Will he come home and fuck my wife later? I’m locking the door when I get home.

Thinking positive, this is really an ideal stroke of luck! I’m still a little hungover from Sunday funday anyways and the fake me seems more chipper. I avoid the confusion of being seen as I push through the doors. As I suspected, everyone is too far up their own asses to notice I’ve duplicated.

Freedom.

I speed walk into the lobby of my job where I am a financial broker in Seattle, WA, and head towards the elevator. When I get to the elevator, I push the button. I stand waiting for the elevator doors to open, and think to myself ‘Ugh, this is taking too long and I am going to be so late.” When the doors finally open, I get on the elevator and press the button next to the number 12. The elevator dings to let me know I have arrived at floor 12, that went by so fast. I get off the elevator and start walking towards my office when I see something that stops me in my tracks. There is, a woman sitting at my desk who looks exactly like me and wearing the same navy blue suit with black heels.

No, no, no this cannot be happening I thought to myself. I look at my coworkers and realize that they are not aware of the fact I am here and a woman who looks like me is in my office.. I turn around and walk to the bathroom on the other side of the elevator, pushing the door open with my arm.

I lock the bathroom door behind me and walk over to the sink. I look at myself in the mirror and start repeating to myself “You are strong and you cannot keep living in fear.” I have told her many times that I am not interested in her and to leave me alone but she does not seem to hear me. I even went to the cops who laughed at me, and told me they do not care about anything unless it has to do with selling drugs to make money. Never again will I ever ask for help from anyone especially the cops, I am truly on my own. Turning around from the sink, I walk to the door, unlock it and walk out. I start thinking about what I am going to say to her as I walk toward my office.

When I get outside my office, I notice that nobody is sitting at my desk anymore and my chair is back in its usual spot. I look around wondering where she went but I do not see her. I walk into my office up to my chair and that is when I notice that there is a medium black box on my chair with a red bow on top. I pick up the medium box and put it on my desk to open it.

The contents of the box are: a handwritten letter, a red teddy bear that is in pieces and at the bottom are pictures of me. I can see that the pictures are of me at my apartment, my job, and at other locations here in Seattle with red Xs scribbled over my face.

I open the letter and read:

“Dearest Anne,

Did you miss me? We both knew I would find you again, so why do you insist on hiding from me? I know we would be so happy together if you would give us a chance, we are soulmates. I love you and I know you love me. You have been unaware that I have been watching over you every day from a distance to keep you safe. I know all the hurtful things you said to me, but I still love you and I know you did not mean them. You are so beautiful and have such a caring heart which is why I fell in love with you in the first place. I changed my looks and what I wear to match yours because I wanted to be beautiful and look like you. I would never hurt you, I would never yell at you and I would do anything for you if you asked me to. That is, unless, you tried to leave. My plan B already exists if you deny me or run from me again!!! It would not be my fault the things I would do to you, you brought this all on yourself. So please mi amor, I ask you to come to me and stay with me forever.

Love,

Your number 1 fan

I quickly left work to head home, change and grab what I need to confront her. While waiting for the light to change, I felt someone come up behind me and press something against my back. A nasal voice that I immediately recognized whispered in my ear, “Let’s go! Start walking or else.”

Back long then in a game called adopt me I was just a starter when people were bullying me. Even when I got a starters egg. I just wondered how the game works. So then I started to ask people how the game works but people just say go away you noob then they laugh but I did not think that was funny.so I started to grind so I can get money.

The day started out bad and just got worse from there. The van pool was late and I got the last seat, I hate that. Traffic was horrendous, as usual, and it started to rain on our way in. Since we were late, all the close parking was taken so we had to park in the back of the lot in the middle of a big puddle. I jumped out into ankle deep muddy water and made a mad dash toward the building. My new white flats now streaked with dirt; light blue pants quickly getting dark splotches and then becoming a dark solid blue; my bright yellow blouse now hanging limp; and my usually bouncy, curly hair plastered to my head, dark and straggly. I quickly ducked into the lobby and saw the clock... I was 20 minutes late! I told you the day started out bad.

I hurried over to the elevator and tried to smooth my clothes on the way up to the fifth floor. Nothing I did helped at all. Suddenly the doors opened and I stepped out fully expecting all eyes to turn my way. Being late was not tolerated in this office and I was afraid my boss would he at my desk happily waiting to give me a write-up, with everyone else eagerly waiting to watch the drama. Surprisingly, no boss and no eyes my way. Everyone was already hard at work with heads bent and keyboards clacking. I took another step and looked toward my desk… someone was sitting at my desk. Confused, I quickly pushed between two filing cabinets into a niche I knew completely hid me from everyone's view. I watched as the mystery person worked; She appeared to be doing the work I had planned for the day. Nobody even seemed to notice it wasn't me at my desk. I watched her at my desk. Her curly hair bounced with her movements and spilled onto the shoulders of a bright yellow blouse.I could see new white flats peeking out from under the hem of crisp light blue pants. I watched as my boss approached my desk. The mystery worker turned and I could clearly see that it was... Me!