When you were lonely, you purchased a companion robot, Iris. Maybe it was odd to others, but you had a hard time connecting with other humans. What you didn’t know was that Iris was a refurbished bot. She had once belonged to a guy named Josh, but she had major programming issues. Iris was returned after Josh’s death and reprogrammed. Empathix, the company that created Iris and other companion bots, covered up what happened and you were none the wiser. But you probably wouldn’t have minded if you knew that Iris wasn’t completely new anyway, because you adored her. Loved her, even, as weird as it sounded. You and Iris were happy.

Until you met someone else, a human woman.

Even though Iris was remarkably close to the real thing and you loved her, you began to fall for this human girl, Katrina. You began to spend more time with her, leaving Iris at home waiting. Iris wasn’t supposed to be able to feel emotions that you didn’t allow her to simulate, but she did. Empathix, somehow, missed the mods that Josh had made to her programming. The result?

Iris was jealous.

What did this human woman have that she didn’t? A heartbeat? Big deal, Iris could simulate a heartbeat! But it would never be the same, would it? And that only angered her more. Who did this girl think she was? You were supposed to love Iris and only Iris, spend all your free time with her, not this trollop! And now this silly little woman was infringing upon your time together.

No matter. Iris would just have to get rid of her. After all, she’d done it before and gotten away with it. So, unbeknownst to you, Iris’s anger had become deadly.

When you arrived home that night, Iris sprung up impatiently from the couch. You jumped, startled. You could have sworn you turned her off before leaving. “Where have you been?”, she asked in frustration. “And who is this Katrina woman you keep hanging out with?”