Tears in Rain

Forget about those clumsy attempts to mimic humans that were interesting and amusing, but failed to convince in the 2030s, Trudy 2.2 is a new generation of artificial intelligence, the first of the Companions range developed to provide a real alternative to soul-destroying online dating in order to find a human partner.

You have to understand, she is astounding - attractive but not like a model… more subtle than that. Her skin is soft and warm but not perfect, her movement incredibly human. And we haven’t even talked about her intelligence unit. You will not believe how clever, funny, warm and responsive Trudy is… and of course she learns all the time, becoming more human every day through her experiences. I mean, she watches Peep Show on her intranet and her sense of humour develops a definite edge of wicked irony. But it’s all just for you… when you buy her, you will be the sole recipient of her affections. Guaranteed.

Yes, that’s a good time to introduce Evie, who is human... all too human, in fact. Trudy is placed with her to develop her life experience - to hang out, talk, have a laugh, go shopping, play chess with… you know the kind of thing. It's called everyday life.

But that could be the first mistake of the Companions development programme. Evie is, well, not at a good point in her life. She needs the money that mentoring Trudy will give her, but she is sceptical about a ‘robot partner’ to say the least.

Also, she is breaking up with her boyfriend, struggling to concentrate on her work as a copywriter, drinking way too much and descending into a bit of a mess generally.

Is that really what the Companions programme needs at this delicate formative stage?

But then, it would be wrong to underestimate Trudy’s perceptiveness and ability to see through Evie’s unhappy stroppiness and to begin to see value in her only too real human imperfections… of which she has many. So although it looks like the Companion is learning everything that is bad about humans, what she really learns is how complicated they are.

Trudy and Evie learn to care about each other In the most unlikely way, Trudy begins to trust Evie and asks if she will teach her to kiss and her mentor finds herself, not disgusted as she might have anticipated, but intrigued. Then she feels how soft Trudy’s kisses are and… it’s life defining time.

Tears in Rain is a sexy romance. At least I think it’s a romance… it’s so hard to tell when an algorithm is driving the actions of one half of the couple. I was also going to say it’s a lesbian romance, but again… one’s a girl and the other… just looks like one. And feels, smells and tastes like one.