"Thanks for coming everyone. That was an amazing birthday party. I appreciate all of your gifts. Have a safe trip home." Curtis Cherry had just hosted a small group of friends to help celebrate his 30th birthday. The party was actually a surprise as Curtis wasn't expecting to do anything on his birthday. His friends from work came over and brought pizza, drinks, cake, and presents.

"Hmm, looks like there's one last present I forgot to open. There's no card on it. How strange. I wonder what it could be. Better not shake it in case it's something fragile." Curtis gently removed the wrapping paper and opened the box. Inside he found an Alexis, the latest voice-control system that allows for users to play music, shop online, or check the weather forecast. "Awesome! I've always wanted one of these things!" Curtis cheered.

Curtis spent the entire weekend finding out about all the things that Alexis could do. He was a big music fan and loved having songs playing in the background while he did his housework. "Alexis, play Love Me Do by The Beatles." "Playing Love Me Do by The Beatles." Curtis danced around the house as he sang along with The Fab Four.  Curtis put his laptop away as he wanted to find out as much as he could from Alexis. He thought it was so cool to have a voice answering his every question.  It also provided company for him as he lived alone. Curtis was like a kid with a new toy on Christmas morning.

THE LAUGHING PEN

PUBLISHING COMPANY INC.

On Monday morning, Curtis returned to work. He was in a good mood as he his head was filled with music and knowledge he had acquired from Alexis. During the staff's first coffee break, he inquired about who had given him the Alexis. "Hey, do any of you know who gave me that Alexis thing for my birthday?" "Alexis? What's that?" Tanner from accounting asked. "You know that voice-activated device that lets you do a ton of different things." "Wasn't any of us" Wanda replied. "Didn't the person leave a card?"she followed up. "No, that's why I thought it might've been one of you. Oh well, it's an awesome gift no matter who got it for me."

Curtis began using his Alexis more and more over the next few days. He used the device to set his alarm for the morning, to control the lights in the house, and other devices around the house. He had his Alexis set up to do just about everything possible. When Curtis woke up in the morning, he was immediately able to check the sports, traffic, and weather updates. As much as he was enjoying this new technology, Curtis couldn't help but wonder who had bought it for him. It was kinda strange that nobody at work fessed up to buying it. And how did the present get into his house in the first place? The only clue was a simple card that read, "Happy Birthday Curtis!"

One weekend Curtis's nephew Randall came over for a visit. He was fascinated by Alexis and all of the things his uncle had programmed it to do. "Can I play with it now Uncle Curtis?" Randall excitedly asked. "It's not a toy Randall. But if you finish your math homework you can ask Alexis to play some of your favorite songs." While his uncle was in the kitchen tidying up, the clever kid was able to get Alexis to help him with his homework. "Alexis, what is 4 x 4?" he whispered. "4 multiplied by 4 is 16." "Sweet" Randall giggled as he proceeded to get all the answers to the questions that stumped him.

Soon Curtis had programmed Alexis to perform nearly every function possible. He also started to become lazy as he assumed that everything would be taken care of by Alexis. At first some of the tasks the asked of Alexis helped to save time when he was running late or had a deadline to keep. Even though Alexis wasn't a living, breathing entity, it seemed as though Curtis was taking advantage of the new technology he had been afforded. As strange as it may sound, you could almost feel sorry for Alexis.