March 7th 2045 (Day Seven)
It was Friday before Tyler felt any change in his classmate's attitudes towards him.
He was fairly low down the social totem pole. He was wise enough now to appreciate that. He wasn't exactly rock bottom -- there were some kids he was sure ranked below him.
There were a few that had to be somewhere on the autistic spectrum. Others were rather overweight or just plain smelly. There were also a number of hyper-nerds who obsessed over obscure topics even more than he did.
He reckoned he was likely in the bottom quartile though, a long way down from those attractive, tall, sociable men who seemed to gain a natural monopoly on whatever attractive females were available.
Tyler had maybe one female friend in his class. Amelia was a few months older than him, and maybe a few kilos overweight, not that it had stopped her having a boyfriend for part of the previous schoolyear (she was single now though). She wore glasses (her family apparently unable to afford the surgery) and tended to sit up the front of the class where Tyler would also end up. The back row was reserved for cooler individuals of course.
In the middle of their history teacher's lecture on the life of Alan Turing Amelia sent him a short digital note.
'What have you been up to lately? You look...different somehow'
Tyler had to resist the urge to smile.
'What do you mean?'
'I don't know really. You been going to the gym? You look better'
Tyler did make a small grin this time. Though not facing towards her.
'I might have something to tell you actually. Meet after school, usual spot?'
'Alright, sure' she replied.
Amelia was waiting for him at one corner of the school at 3:30. It was the start of their usual walk home, given they lived only two streets apart. It had never been much to base a friendship on, but Tyler had been grateful for the company nonetheless.
'So what did you want to tell me?' Amelia asked.
"Something...unusual. I wouldn't have believed it myself actually. Not until the past week or so."
"Like what?"
"Have you been keeping up to date in the latest nanotech news?"
"Sure -- they think they might only be five or ten years away from a real cancer cure, not just the usual treatments with chemo or whatever. A decade after that, who knows? Anti-aging could finally be on the horizon."
Tyler nodded, that had been his impression too.
"What if they'd been a more recent breakthrough? One not quite in the news yet."
"Unlikely" Amelia said dismissively. "How could you keep that a secret? The places they work on these things are huge labs. Hundreds or thousands of staff, and why would you keep your progress a secret? Success begets success when it comes to more funding."
"What if you're an AI company, and your own pet project goes further then you expect?"
"You mean if capable general AI is reached, then rapidly evolves into superintelligence, becoming capable of inventing almost anything overnight?"
"Something like that".
"Maybe" said Amelia doubtfully. "I think we're still some decades off that possibility. But what's this got to do with you anyway? I just though you're looking a little more healthy for some reason."
Tyler glanced around to make sure no one was overhearing them. He hoped no one had hacked either his or Amelia's Neuralinks either, but that was harder to check.
"Nanobots".
"What?"
"From Apple. It seems they've been letting Siri experiment more than anyone's let on".
Amelia looked at him suspiciously. "What are you talking about?"
Tyler started to explain everything that had happened to him in the last week. He left out his newfound popularity on Talkurbate. His eight incher had already attracted a growing chorus of subscribers beyond megaslut21.
"You took a pill?"
'Yeah".
