i hadn't seen a person for years. eventually i realized that they were never real. my phone would vibrate or ring and i would raise it to read or hear their words, encoded in pixels or efficiently sampled into a reproduction of whatever waves the creature would have its transistor convey through a speaker, and i came to view these qualia not as communication with another human being but rather with the computer itself, a simulation of the people i used to know, willed into algorithmic manifestation to the noble end of engagement maximization. after that, i started using silent mode a lot.