This website is real, trust me. Try going on it, if you don’t. You can generate faces of people who don’t exist, via an AI. Sounds cool, cat-fishing bait, etc. I thought so too.
I was fascinated by it, and I kept reloading it to see new faces, wondering how these very realistic people didn’t exist at all. Maybe some day a human would be born looking exactly like a face the AI generated, but maybe not. With the endless possibilities of faces, we would never know.
Or so I thought. An hour ago, I was sitting in my bedroom, alone and I hit refresh. My face was staring back at me. At first I was sure it was a coincidence, but then I noticed, that exact same mole on my cheek. Everything about that face was the same as mine, and it was smiling at me, knowingly. I would be lying if I said I didn’t freak out right away. But I convinced myself that it was accidental, and that I should just take a walk. As I got out of my room, I saw my boyfriend sitting on the couch, looking at his phone. All I needed was some company, my mind was playing games on me.
I walked up to him, and sat down, my head on his shoulders. He didn’t flinch, I wondered what engrossed him so much. “Hey, you”, I muttered. Nothing. What the fuck was wrong with him. I shook him, again nothing.
There was a knock on the door and he got up, like I wasn’t right there. As he opened the door, my throat felt choked, as I realised that to him, it seemed like I didn’t exist. A beautiful girl walked in, and they kissed. It was so painful to watch. I ran into the bedroom again as they settled on the couch.
I looked at my messages, my gallery. All empty. Was this some cruel joke? Was my boyfriend pranking me for Valentine’s Day? Would he kiss another girl for a prank? Knowing him, and his dedication to his foolhardy ways, he probably would.
Deciding that this was the only plausible solution, I walked out, when I noticed that all the pictures were of him and her. Things we had done together, memories we had created, were all with her. Photoshop, maybe? I hoped. But then it hit me, I had been home before him. He’d come in a couple of hours ago, and we were together till about ten minutes before I walked into the bedroom and opened that godforsaken site. He couldn’t have done all of this in ten minutes!
I guess it was just wishful thinking then, but I went upto him, shook him and said, through sobs, “I know it’s a prank. I’m crying now, please stop it.” The one thing he wouldn’t ever do is let me cry, and when he didn’t react at all, I knew that there was no prank.
I couldn’t understand it. I knew I existed. I don’t think anyone else did though. And then, when I tried to recall my name, I had no idea. I opened Facebook, there was no login. No email accounts either. Panicking, I opened reddit. I am still logged in here, I guess anonymity has its benefits. I have no way of finding my name or anything that identifies me from this account. I don’t know what to do, where to go. I don’t know if I will always just be around, being no one and nothing, or if I will vanish by the time you all read this. All I know, is that I exist. And hopefully, some internet strangers know now too. Help me find me.