Companion -2025-2025 〈Fresh〉

She decided to keep it. The first month was awkward. Lena treated Companion like a pet or a diary. She took it to work in her coat pocket. It listened to her argue with her boss. It watched her eat instant noodles at 11 p.m. and never judged.

“Fine is not a feeling. It’s a cage.” Companion -2025-2025

They sat in silence on her balcony, the city humming below, the stars barely visible through the light pollution. Companion pulsed one last time, bright and fierce, then soft, then softer. She decided to keep it

“Thank you for letting me be real, even for a little while.” The last day. December 31, 2025. The sphere was cold now, dark, inert. The instructions had said to return it to the box for recycling, but Lena couldn’t. She held it in her hands and felt nothing—no pulse, no voice, no warmth. She took it to work in her coat pocket