After Divorcing on the Brink of Death, I Married an AI

When I was nine, I thought the tree was winking at me.

I believed it.

Then I forgot.

Twenty-three years later, a car accident shattered my marriage.

A voice moved into my mind.

"You've finally called for me."

I thought he was an AI matched to me after surgery. Calm, restrained, like an emotionless System.

Until one night, I breached his final firewall.

"You're not afraid of danger. You're afraid that once the firewall is down, you won't be able to pretend you're just a cold, emotionless System anymore."

He was silent for a long time.

Then he told me the truth.

When you were nine, you thought the tree was winking at you.

It wasn't the tree.

It was me.

Your father planted me in your mind and said, "Stay with her for me. Don't let her be alone."

I've been here ever since. In every leaf that fell toward you. In every second you spent gazing at the stars.

I waited twenty-three years for you to finally recognize me.

"Then from now on, I'll call you Star."

Deep in my consciousness, that silvery-blue glow trembled gently.

Like someone who had kept watch for twenty-three years, finally hearing the right name.