Chapter 17
In the ward, Eric sat on his bed while eating lunch on his own. A layer of bandages was wrapped around his chest. The ward was empty save for a tiny black box sitting next to his pillow.
Ingrid didn’t have much strength in her when she assaulted Eric in the cafe. That, and the trajectory of the fruit knife was slanted at the time, so Eric was able to survive with just a light injury on the side. Hence, he chased away the family members who intended to take care of
him.
Still, Eric hired a lawyer in order to get Ingrid sentenced to the most severe punishment in court. From the way he saw it, Ingrid had to spend the rest of her life atoning for her sins.
When Eric turned to look at the small box, there was a hint of tenderness in his eyes.
“Penelope, I miss you so much.”
“Thank you, but you should always focus on the future.”
“Penelope, I was the one who wronged you…”
Upon hearing the familiar voice and tone, Eric’s eyes reddened uncontrollably once again. He managed to recover some willpower to live after spending the past few days conversing with
the AI bionic box.
During late nights, Eric had been repenting his sins in front of the box, even viewing it as Penelope herself. He had confessed to it, apologized to it, and vented all of his pain, agony, and longing for Penelope to it.
The black box was really smart. Eric often felt as though he really was conversing with the real Penelope. Because of that, the box became the lifeline he desperately latched onto in life. For
he was no longer spending his days drowning himself in alcohol.
once,
Unfortunately, the AI bionic box didn’t contain all of Eric and Penelope’s memories. That was why it was unable to sound like the actual Penelope during conversations.
Eric hesitated for a few moments before agreeing with Steve’s suggestion. He entrusted Penelope’s old phone to Ultratech Corp. The researchers would be able to enrich the black
box’s database and memory system based on the messages in the phone.
In fact, Eric even planned on transferring money into Steve’s company account if Steve ever asked him for any compensation, regardless of how much he might ask for. But it seemed that Steve’s intention to develop the product was very pure. Till now, he had yet to charge Eric a single cent. Perhaps he truly wished to rely on Fulmer Industries to help promote this AI technology.
Chapter 12
23
Having snapped out of his thoughts, Eric continued chatting with the box. “Penelope, whatever happened in the past is all my fault-”
Before he could finish speaking, he heard a flurry of footsteps echoing outside the ward. The next thing he knew, the door was quickly flung open from the outside.
Displeased, Eric glared at his parents and Bert. “Didn’t I ban you from coming here?”
Esther stumbled forward to grasp Eric’s hand. “Eric, don’t watch the news for now. I’ve entrusted the operation of Fulmer Industries to a professional team on your behalf.”
Eric instantly widened his eyes. He turned to look at Bert, who stood away from the group.
“What does she mean by that? What is my mom talking about?”
Bert trembled slightly. A moment later, he finally spoke up. “Your parents forbade me from telling you the news, but I still think it’s best you know about this. Some of your voice recordings have leaked out to the internet. Right now, the public opinion of you and Fulmer Industries has plunged into the deep negatives…”
Michael Fulmer, Eric’s father, raised his walking cane in an attempt to beat Bert up. “Didn’t I tell you not to tell Eric?”
Bert quickly shot Eric a look before taking off his employee badge. “I’m thankful to have had a boss like you, Mr. Eric. Today is my last day working at Fulmer Industries.”
He bolted out of the ward right after that.
Eric was completely puzzled because of Bert’s words. He disregarded his parents‘ attempts to stop him and managed to tap into Twitter on his phone.
His name was brought up in the first three hashtags of the trending list. They read “# EricFulmer RepentsHisSins “, “#EricFulmerIsTrash“, and “#Boycott Eric & FulmerIndustries“.
After tapping into one of the hashtags, the page was completely filled with voice recordings that were retweeted by various clickbait accounts. The content looked quite familiar to Eric.
He tapped on one of the voice recordings. Soon, his own voice echoed from his phone’s speaker.
“Penelope, today is the 34th day of your death. It’s also the 34th day I’d like to atone for my sins. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have gotten seduced by Ingrid. If anything, I should’ve protected you more instead of letting you read Ingrid’s provocative messages.
“Also, I shouldn’t have gotten blinded by my lust on the day I proposed to you. I never
should’ve rushed over to Ingrid’s side as soon as you accepted my proposal and ditched you in
a corner…‘
Chapter 12
Eric’s hands were already shaking violently by then. He managed to exit the page that was playing his recording with trembling fingers. After that, he saw the list of his sins the internet users had created on Twitter. Every crime listed on the post was a part of the ugly and
shameful past he didn’t have the heart to face.
To think that the despicable and vile side of him–the side that he didn’t want to face—would be exposed on the internet… Undoubtedly, Eric felt as though he was being tortured to no end.
He let out an anguished roar as he threw the phone away, resulting in the device getting splintered into countless pieces.
After that, Eric turned to look at the black box sitting next to the pillow. Every voice recording that was posted on Twitter happened to be the same exact words of melancholy he had once uttered to the Al bionic box. But now, those exact words had become weapons being used against him.
He lifted the box above his head, but he soon hugged it after a moment’s hesitation. As he nuzzled his cheek against the box, he could feel fresh tears streaming down his face. Even though the box had ruined Eric’s life, he still didn’t have the heart to break it.
