Week 2 Story: Pym's Gal
Note: I have added this story to my portfolio here: Link
Pym's Gal
Pym Malachi Ian was tired of being alone. He blamed some of
his lonely nature on the name his parents gave him, supposedly he was descended
from some famous Greek sculptor, but he just thought it was lame. Not that he
wanted to be popular, everything about the idea disgusted him, specifically the
other people. He wasn’t cynical, he just couldn’t stand the rest of his
generation, specifically the girls. All they cared about was how they looked
and what parties they went to and every other aspect of their appearance. If
something didn’t directly affect how they were seen, either literally or in a
social sense, those girls couldn’t be bothered by it.
But Gal A. T., she was the exception. Everything about her
was perfect, from her looks, to her brains, to her slightly shy personality.
Everything that could be perfect about her, was in Pym’s eyes. The only problem
was that she wasn’t exactly real. Pym was enough of a computer wizard to model,
design, and create Gal in a computer program. He had formed every physical
feature to be perfect, but couldn’t create a realistic AI to make speech worth
it, so he could only marvel at her beauty. He spent every available hour interacting
with Gal, getting as close to her as he could.
Eventually, more out of desperation than anything else, Pym
began to try everything he could to make Gal more real. He looked into robotics
and chat bots, he researched artificial intelligence, he even briefly looked at
which religions granted miracles at the cheapest rates, but he came no closer
to a physical Gal. Finally, when he was almost out of hope, he remembered his
namesake and the era he came from. With no other options, and nothing to lose,
Pym looked up the alter and offerings associated with Venus, the god who
granted Pygmalion’s plea so many years ago. He spent an entire afternoon
burning incense and praying for his Gal to be real, but received no audience
with the god nor any indication that anything had happened. It had been a long
shot, but Pym was disappointed nonetheless.
When Pym returned to his room, he was surprised to see his
computer already on, and Gal’s program running on his desktop. It was as though
he was being mocked, constantly reminded what will never be truly his. He
angrily tried to shut down the program, but it wouldn’t respond. As he clicked
with more aggression, he eventually realized the screen was getting brighter.
He stumbled backwards as the screen became blinding, eventually tripping and
falling to the floor, his hand shielding his eyes from the brilliance of the
screen. Then, the brightness vanished. Pym blinked a few times, trying to adjust
to his new surroundings when he notices something new. Standing between him and
his computer was the most beautiful girl he’d ever laid eyes on.
As Pym’s jaw slowly came back off the floor, Gal spoke with
the voice of a god, “You have pleased me, Pym.” He knew it was Venus speaking
to him, “I have granted your plea, may your love be a story told for eons.” As
Venus’ voice faded, Gal blinked several times, as if coming out of a stupor.
Finally, she locked eyes with Pym, and her eyes softened as she gave him a
small smile. Their marriage and love forever immortalized in the story of Pym’s
Gal.
Searching "online girlfriend" was dangerous, and this was the safest picture I found
Author's note: This started as the story of Pygmalion, the sculptor who fell in love with his own sculpture. The plot is very similar to this story, except that mine is written in modern times which today's technology. I thought it would be fun to show that, although technologies change, some stories remain relevant forever.
Biography: Metamorphosis: Pygmalion, from Ovid's The Metamorphoses Link
Hi Joe!
ReplyDeleteIt was very interesting that you took such an old story and brought Artificial Intelligence into it. That was very unexpected - but a very great way to change the narrative! I love that you incorporated technology, since we live in the information age. The story is very similar to the same story, while being completely different. This gave me inspiration to bring technology into one of my future stories! Great work!
This is, in my opinion, a great way of retelling a story in modern times. The theme and story is the same at its core, but all the details are written to fit seamlessly into the modern setting. I especially like the way you describe Pym's reaction to Gal's program running, since it fits very well with the personality shown by Pygmalion in the original.
ReplyDeleteThere are a few small details that come off as a bit odd to me; for example, the meaning of the A.T. of Gal A. T. never really comes up, either as a small piece of humor (such as the "supposedly he was descended from some famous Greek sculptor" line) or even just as a short line to fit it into the narration.
But those small details don't overtly take away from the entire piece, and the overall theme comes through very well regardless. I look forward to seeing other stories from you in future weeks!
Hi Joe! As others have commented, this is a really smart twist on the story of Pygmalion and his statue. There's a lot of conversation happening now about the future of AI and our relationship with the technology, so this comes off as very topical, a la Black Mirror or Westworld. I wonder what it would do to the story if you went all the way with the technological theme, and made Venus into some kind of miracle program or the screen name for another genius engineer that helps Pym in his aim. I was kind of left wondering why the goddess Venus would choose to help Pym when he held such negative views about women, especially seeing as she's big on the whole "beauty" thing that Pym seems to resent. As a side note, the caption on your picture is hilarious. Great story, looking forward to see what you do with other myths.
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