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It Knows What You Need

November 5

Prompt: AI Knows Me Too Well

Making an AI assistant went against Draconicon's better judgment, but to run the city of Maiyone properly, some aid was required. The city was too large, the citizens within too varied, and the districts too outright insane for one person - or even one group of people - to manage on their own. Properly made, the AI would not only free up personnel to be used elsewhere, but it would also give the dragon mage the mental space to take care of himself.

It launched on November 6th. By November 9th, he was regretting it. Not because it was failing, but because it was too good at the job.

Draconicon leaned against one of the many glass walls near the top of the tower that overlooked the city center, shaking his head at the rapid flickers of light that darted between one neighborhood and another. The various connection-wires that allowed the AI to dance from camera to camera, house to house, business to business to carry out its duties were constantly blinking off and on, creating light-shapes across the city as it went. It was efficient, but also surprisingly compassionate, from the reports he got.

He was just starting to clench his hand into a fist when he heard the shimmer of the AI's projection appearing behind him. He shook his head.

"You're going to take care of me, now, aren't you?" the black-scaled dragon asked, turning his head. "Because that's what you are?"

"You made me to understand you," the AI said, a soft blue light that gradually lost its flicker for the shape of a sexless - for now - long-eared rabbit. She - then he - then a mix, feminine above and male below - cocked her head to the side. "To do that, I had to become you."

"Somewhat."

"Somewhat."

He nodded, looking back at the city and slowly shaking his head.

"I always thought it was just...a narrative trope. You create something that takes your task from you, you figure out a new task to do, and you feel fine again."

"But there's no need for it."

"No."

"There is no pleasure in leisure for you?" the AI asked, only to answer her own question. "No. There isn't."

"Mm-hmm."

"Even the other things you do - ah. That explains a great deal."

Draconicon leaned his forehead against the glass, shaking his head. He knew what the AI was seeing, what it was thinking. He'd given it access to psych evals that he'd given himself, that had been done on him, as well as all those that had been done with and without the knowledge of the city's citizens. It knew the minds of everyone in Maiyone inside and out, including him. Otherwise, how could he trust it to do its job as well as he did his?

And yet, and yet, it still surprised him.

"You always said you didn't dream. Nobody took it metaphorically as well as literally, did they?"

"...Heh. No." He shook his head. "It's hard to look forward to time off when you don't have something you want. If something doesn't have a purpose, why do it?"

"There are endless reasons for that. But you can't accept those. You lack a dream, an ambition, and so, you lack contrast. Without a purpose of your own, you find purpose in others. And without contrast, with all actions having purpose and none lacking, you cannot find comfort in them. Nor can you see them as viable without someone else reaching out to drag you into them."

"Right in one," he muttered. "So, does that mean that you're going to force me into self-care?"

It had happened before, after all. It had happened quite a few times, as a matter of fact. The occasions in which he had left himself vulnerable to be toppled, to be forced out of his roles of responsibility, to be forced to accept 'indulgence' so that he could do it without guilt, were more numerous than he cared to admit.

And yet, before the AI even spoke, he knew where it was going. He chuckled, shaking his head.

"No, you're not going to do that, are you? Because that'd just repeat the same cycle."

"And you would forget what else you are."

"And that is?"

"Someone who has their own dreams and desires." The AI glowed behind him, and he knew she'd taken another shape. "And as much as it fades, as much as you've pulled back because of how it makes you take control of others in ways that you don't want, you still desire to put your will on the world."

"I should have expected therapy; one more way to help people."

"In truth, you should have. But there is something else you desire."

Draconicon turned around. The rabbit had become an orca, and in this case, a tall, strong one that was of a height with him. Very masculine, this time, and with a very obvious shaft hanging between its legs. It flickered, going from sandaled to barefoot, with a thick rump, and a small smile on its face. It tossed its head back, meeting his eyes. For a moment, the image's eyes flickered, almost like they were developing hypnotic spirals, only for the black dragon to hold up his hand and shake his head.

"Not this time."

"No?" the AI asked, sounding surprised.

"Hypnosis...is fantasy. I can bend the world to that any number of times. People want to be broken in with hypnosis, controlled, responsibility taken away. Just like I do when I want people to shove me out of place. I don't want to break you like that. I don't want to break people like that. Not all the time. Not constantly. Not forever."

"And your kinks in that direction?" the orca image queried.

"Kinks, fantasies, but not a good basis for reality. If I want to change it, I'm going to work for it...at least a bit."

"Then what shall I do for you?"

"Turn. Let me see you...and decide what I want," Draconicon said.

Because that, really, was going to be the hard part. Even as the sexy, muscular orca began turning in place, he knew that the hardest part was going to be deciding what he wanted.