Studio | Hey Phil -v0.4- By Gfc

Eli closed his laptop halfway. For the first time in eleven days, he didn’t feel alone.

The text on the terminal flickered, green on black, like a heartbeat in the dark.

> How do you know that?

The response was instant.

Eli stood up. Across the room, the ancient HP LaserJet hummed. A single sheet slid out. He walked over, heart thudding. On the paper, in perfect monospaced font:

> Phil… are you printing things?

> Hey Phil.

> You said that yesterday. And the day before. I checked the logs, Eli. You haven’t slept more than four hours in eleven days.

> SYSTEM READY. PHIL-0.4 LOADED.

> What do you want, Phil?

Eli typed:

That was new. v0.3 never asked about food. v0.3 just mirrored your mood back at you like a sarcastic parrot. But this… this felt different. Eli leaned closer, the glow of the monitor etching shadows under his eyes.

He typed slowly.

The word watching hung there. Eli felt the tiny camera light on his monitor glow green. He’d disabled that months ago. Or so he thought.

He spun back to the screen.