Lauren groaned theatrically. Ellie was consulting her phone again. It was a new and expensive model that came with an advanced personal assistant. It had been marketed as \u2018Artificial Intelligence\u2019 and Lauren had been very vocal about her insistence that it was more like \u2018Artificial Incompetence\u2019. Two weeks into the holiday of a lifetime, and Lauren was thoroughly irritated by FLASH.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Please don\u2019t trust that slop.\u2019 Lauren complained. \u2018Come on, we\u2019re travelling, we\u2019re supposed to be finding out about different cultures, meeting interesting people, exploring islands and cities! That thing just sucks up the commonest stuff and pukes it out again. Follow its advice and we\u2019ll just end up doing what everyone else does.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018FLASH is better than that. It\u2019s not like the other assistants. It\u2019s trained to challenge me, to be an extension of myself. I\u2019ve just uploaded our dietary preferences too. It knows I\u2019m vegan and about your \u2026 \u2019 Ellie ignored Lauren\u2019s eye rolling. \u2018It was FLASH\u2019s idea to get the ferry to this island. It\u2019s quieter here.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lauren had a different view. \u2018Hmm, the place needs more tourists, I reckon someone\u2019s paid FLASH HQ to push people here. It has nothing to do with your personal development you know? You\u2019re just paying a lot of money to be advertised at. Come on, leave that thing at the hotel, let\u2019s just wander.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ellie sighed. \u2018Just give me a minute \u2026\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She consulted her phone and smiled. \u2018Right, I\u2019ll put FLASH away. I promise. But it did recommend a good restaurant in the next village, and it\u2019s ordered a taxi. That\u2019s it, for the day, we\u2019ll do things the old fashioned way for a while. It\u2019s your holiday too.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lauren smiled, relieved. She\u2019d been getting worried. The taxi ride was uneventful, and the restaurant was, she admitted, very nice. The food was good too, tasty and plentiful, washed down by a jug of peach flavoured sangria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At first, she thought she\u2019d just drunk too much, her lips were numb, and she felt pleasantly buzzed. She didn\u2019t start to get worried until her tongue started to swell. \u2018What\u2019s in the punch?\u2019 she asked the waiter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Orange juice and peaches, some spices. Nothing on your allergy list. I\u2019ll go and check.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He came back quickly. \u2018I\u2019ve called an ambulance. It\u2019ll be here very soon. The orange juice is fresh, squeezed today, but we got an order an hour ago for pureed strawberries for a special customer. I\u2019m so sorry, there must have been some cross contamination.\u2019 Ellie watched the air ambulance leave. Lauren would be OK, another customer had found her epipen and jabbed her. It hadn\u2019t occurred to Ellie, and when she\u2019d demanded advice from FLASH, it had merely suggested that Lauren should drink some milk. It looked like the holiday was over. She checked her phone. \u2018Ideas for the single traveller \u2026\u2019 popped up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lauren groaned theatrically. Ellie was consulting her phone again. It was a new and expensive model that came with an advanced personal assistant. It had been marketed as \u2018Artificial Intelligence\u2019 and Lauren had been very vocal about her insistence that … Continue reading