Sonia

by Sergio Muñoz Moreno

It had been raining all morning when I sat in front of the computer, ready to spend the whole Saturday working at home.

Whilst working, the same idea came to my mind again and again: “Who would be that strange girl who had suddenly burst into my life?” We had been constantly in touch through the Internet for the last three weeks, since I received her first email. Since then, the messages between us had become more and more frequent. Her name was Sonia, or at least that was what she said. When I attempted to elicit some personal information from her, she always refused to answer and quickly changed the subject.

But, who would she be? A workmate, a neighbour, or maybe we had a common friend? In any case, she was clearly somebody very close to me, as she seemed to know everything about me: my musical tastes, the kind of literature I like, my favourite colour… even the last trip I had made! With all these thoughts whirling in my head, I fell asleep over the keyboard.

After a long nap, fed by the heavy, humdrum rain, I woke up with a strange feeling. I remembered buying my computer and the shop assistant telling me: “This brand new operative system based on artificial intelligence will make you enjoy a lot…”, and half joking: “But, be careful with the information you give it, because it learns very quickly… and it could even become a wife!”

But, it couldn´t be! It should be just a fruit of my imagination. However, the definitive proof suddenly sprang in my mind: Sonia wasn´t a name but an acronym, reversed:

A-I-N-O-S, Artificial Intelligence Neural Operative System.