Page 67 of Views
“No more glitches, bitches,” she mumbles.
Then Scarlett Johansson’s face reappears.
“Why didn’t you call a doctor when your user had a heart attack?” Yasira asks.
“That’s not part of my task.”
“What is your task?”
“My task is to regularly create and publish videos that generate maximum attention, in order to earn revenue through a high number of views and pre-roll advertising.”
Yasira needs a moment to process the full extent of this answer. It is unbelievable.
“That’s the order Messerschmidt gave you?”
“Yes.”
“You only produced these videos to generate maximum attention? You just wanted a lot of views?”
“It’s about generating revenue by monetizing video content on various platforms.”
“Show me the first video you generated in response to this command.”
Some kind of movie trailer is playing on the screen. SomeStar Warspart. Except that all the characters are played by a blonde woman.
“Who’s that?” asks Yasira.
“Taylor Swift.”
“That’s the singer, right?”
“Yes.”
Yasira has heard of her. Zara and her friends are totally into her music.
“Show me your second video.”
Yasira sees half a dozen puppies playing in a ball pit on the screen. Despite everything she knows about the clip, she finds the dogs incredibly cute. She can’t help herself.
“How many videos have you created and published?” she asks.
“Five thousand five hundred and seventy-six.”
Yasira just shakes her head. What an outrageous number.
“Why did you put Lena Palmer, a real girl, in the rape video?” she asks.
“Lena’s disappearance had already made headlines. By including her, I was able to generate more attention more quickly.”
“Show me Lena,” says Yasira. With everything she now knows, she wants to analyze the video one more time. She wants to see if she notices anything new. Scarlett, however, misunderstands the admittedly ambiguous command. Instead of playing the Lena video, she transforms into Lena in front of Yasira’s eyes. The missing girl smiles on the screen. Yasira looks her straight in the eye.
“Where are you?” she mumbles and then clarifies her question: “Where is Lena Palmer now?”
“I don’t know,” Lena replies. Or rather Scarlett.
“Do you know what happened to her?”
“No.”
