VRMMO: World's First Glyphborne-Chapter 26: Jinu
Percy gave Valerie a ride back to the airport, then it was just a quick and not at all torturous 2 hours in the airport before her half hour flight back home.
By the time she was finally unlocking her front door and rolling across the threshold, Valerie was completely exhausted. Yet even still, as she swung the door closed behind her, she called out into the depths of the apartment,
"Jinu! I’m home. You better not have started dinner without me."
Even if it was close to 9 o’clock in the evening, her mind was still on the thought of food. She blamed the airport for that. If only she had gotten some food alongside her coffee, this wouldn’t have been an issue. Still, even if she was hungry she hated the thought of Jinu cooking alone for a variety of reasons.
There was a moment of silence before a soft but masculine voice shouted back to her.
"No, I haven’t. I know your feelings on such things."
Valerie nodded softly to herself and let out a sigh of relief. Despite how many times she had told him not to, there were a few occasions where Jinu got a little confused or over-zealous and forgot his instructions.
That usually led to a mess of the kitchen and even a small, yet thankfully manageable, fire on one fateful day. She did not need that again.
Stripping out of her clothes, Valerie plucked her usual comfy clothes from their place on her bed, gave them a good sniff test before pulling them into her body. When you were at home, nothing was more important than being warm and comfy.
Whilst she was in the process of pulling the fluffy hoodie over her head, a handsome face peaked through the door at her.
This particular handsome face belonged to a man with Korean features, with kind eyes, a soft jawline, sharp cheekbones and a kind but promiscuous smirk constantly dancing across his lips. Not to mention his perfectly smooth skin that looked like it could have been airbrushed.
That was because it most likely had, as while this face did belong to Jinu. It was also a face that was displayed on a magazine cover, which Valerie had cut out and stapled to the head of a robot.
Yes, Jinu was decidedly not Valerie’s gorgeous boyfriend, just a robotic helper that she had defaced with a staple gun and then gave it the name of the man she had defaced said robot with.
The real Jinu, i.e. the man whose face she had stuck to the robot, was simply some Korean pop singer she had liked when she was younger. It was better to look at his face than the blank robot head.
"Madam, A parcel arrived for you today while you were out. Now, would you like me to start dinner?"
Jinu said with his happy, masculine tone exactly how he had been programmed. Valerie let out a groaning sigh. She plucked a headset and gloves from her bed, placed it on her lap and spun herself around before wheeling towards the door.
"I already told you no Jinu. I’ll make dinner. Don’t do anything on your own. Now move out of the way before I run you over."
"Ah yes, of course. So you did. How silly of me."
The robotic pop star stepped out of her way, letting her pass, before following her back to the kitchen so that they could start dinner together. It was not a romantic or ’couple’ type activity, however.
The gloves and headset Valerie had were designed for taking control of Jinu. She sat at the table, looking through his eyes and controlling his arms. He physically made the food, but she did all the thinking.
It wasn’t that AI didn’t exist in the world, despite all of their technological advancements. It was just that it was absolutely terrible, even despite all their technological advancements. That wasn’t through lack of effort though.
Truly sentient and living AI did exist, but it was created by a singular man instead of a company. It was just... some random guy who existed online, performing under the avatar of a frog and with a pseudonym, that created the first truly sentient AI.
This AI was treated like his daughter, and was eventually given legal status as a person after many years of court cases and politics.
That was also the reason corporations didn’t try to replicate his advancements. If you spent billions making a sentient AI, then you had to legally treat it like a person and thus pay it and give it rights. It was cheaper to hire people for cheap wages to control their robots remotely, which is exactly what Valerie did as a job.
Dumber, non sentient, AI was still something they could do, but that was only sold to the rich for their private bots that didn’t need control. The cheaper you went, the dumber it got, until you got to Jinu’s level.
Just smart enough to walk, talk and imitate conversation. Just dumb enough that he would fail with a lot of basic tasks that required fine motor skills. Plus, she just liked doing the cooking herself.
He was a gift from her brother, to help Valerie around the house since she didn’t want some nurse. As irritating as Jinu could get sometimes, she really did appreciate the freedom it gave her.
With the idiotic robot under her control, there was no fires or accidents in the kitchen. Dinner was served and promptly eaten. Thankfully, loading the dish washer was something she could happily leave up to Jinu, whilst she found and opened the package that had arrived.
It was a rather large box, large enough to contain a human head. Thankfully, that was not what it contained, as instead it held a case of energy drinks neatly wrapped and stacked in rows.
Alongside the case of drinks there was a note that read,
{Thank you for participating in the Beta Test of Dawn of Divinity
As discussed at the event, this is the first delivery of your year’s supply of our exclusive energy drink, D-fuel. One can will fill you with enough energy to last you 6 hours of gaming glory!
We highly recommend a can before every session!
As additional thanks, your exclusive comfort gel chair and neural crown will arrive shortly before the official release of the game in two weeks time. You can expect the first check of royalties at the same time!}
After a few more messages of thanks, it ended. Valerie read over it again, before scoffing to herself.
’Man, they really went all out on flattering their guests, huh? Oh well, looks like you lose this time brother. You might have had a romantic dinner with your partner and proposed to her, but I get a new extra comfy chair.
So really, who’s the successful one now? Me. That’s who.
Although... I wonder what it means when it says royalties? Ah well, I guess I’ll find out when the check comes. I won’t spit in the face of free money. I guess now all I have to do is wait.’
