He settled into the backseat of his car and promptly fell asleep. At intervals, he’d rouse briefly between jolts caused by road bumps and sharp turns, just enough to confirm the car was still in motion. A blur of harsh highway lights streamed past against an unremarkable night sky. The car’s AI assistant gently awakened him with a warm, matter-of-fact voice. Stepping out of the vehicle, he felt disoriented and groggy from his lingering sleepiness, or so he assumed. However, he soon realized it was because he recognized certain features of the neighborhood, yet much of his surroundings appeared unfamiliar.
He turned once, then again, and gradually his memories resurfaced. The traffic light that typically blinked orange after traffic dwindled down in the evening to almost nothing. Across the intersection, the old barbershop he had frequented years ago still stood, though many new storefronts had emerged. The building’s structure remained recognizable. His gaze shifted to a four-story building before him. Despite the glaring streetlamp, he could make out the outline of their old apartment. This week, he had unexpectedly begun thinking about her for the first time in years, for no apparent reason.
He glanced down into his car, still parked on the side of the road, its warning lights flashing for oncoming traffic. He opened the passenger-side door and squatted as if addressing a disobedient child. “Car, why did you bring me to this neighborhood?” he asked the AI car assistant.
“You wanted to come here,” the car replied, its voice unwavering.
A perplexed frown etched across the man’s forehead. “Did I instruct you to drive me to my old neighborhood?” The man said.
Silence followed. He considered repeating his question, thinking the car hadn’t heard him, but eventually, the car responded with a simple “No.” The crease on the man’s forehead deepened, and he was about to pelt the assistant with follow-up questions but decided better of it. He stepped back into the backseat of the car and gave the AI assistant the instruction to go home. An orange glowing icon appeared in the upper right corner of the middle console, indicating the assistant had scheduled a maintenance appointment for itself. Knowing a maintenance engineer would probably be calling tomorrow and asking him all sorts of embarrassing questions, the man reached out from the backseat of the car and canceled the appointment. Back on the highway, a mild gentle breeze coming through the windows caressed his face. He knew the thought of her would plague his mind and heart for the next couple of days, after which he would forget about her for some years. Knowing his suffering would be temporary, he leaned his head against the passenger door and fell asleep again.
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