{"id":1930,"date":"2026-06-03T21:35:05","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T21:35:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/virli.site\/?p=1930"},"modified":"2026-06-03T21:39:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T21:39:50","slug":"the-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/virli.site\/?p=1930","title":{"rendered":"PART 2: The Call"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Emma wasn’t supposed to answer unknown numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years of spam calls had taught her that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that Tuesday morning, while walking across campus, her phone rang from a number she didn’t recognize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some reason, she answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Hello?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a brief silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then a calm male voice said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Emma?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Yes?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Good. I wasn’t sure this number would still reach you.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The voice sounded normal. Friendly, even.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Who is this?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another pause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“My name is David.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She searched her memory but couldn’t place the name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Do I know you?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“No.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That answer immediately felt strange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But you know my son.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emma frowned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What son?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Ryan Carter.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now she recognized the name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan was in two of her university classes. They weren’t close friends, but they knew each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“How do you know Ryan?” she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man laughed softly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I’m his father.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conversation should have ended there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But somehow it didn’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The caller knew details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He knew which classes Ryan was taking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He knew Ryan was failing statistics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He knew Ryan had recently broken up with his girlfriend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He even knew Ryan’s habit of pretending everything was fine when he was struggling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The information was so specific that Emma never doubted him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before hanging up, the man said something unexpected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Ryan doesn’t talk about it, but he’s having a hard time.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What should I do?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Just tell him someone still believes in him.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the call ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emma stood there for several seconds staring at her phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a strange conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But not a threatening one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just… strange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few hours later she finally found Ryan on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She walked over to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Your dad called me this morning.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/span><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ryan looked confused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then his expression changed completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“That’s impossible.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Why?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His voice became quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Because he died three years ago.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emma felt her stomach drop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“My dad died in a car accident.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She showed him the number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan stared at the screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The color drained from his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“That’s his number.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a moment neither spoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Ryan grabbed his own phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He opened old messages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same contact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His father’s phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither of them knew what to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually Ryan suggested the obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Let’s call it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emma hesitated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then pressed the button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The call connected immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One ring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two rings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three rings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A click.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Someone answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither spoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the same voice said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Hello?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emma nearly dropped the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan froze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was his father’s voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exactly as he remembered it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not similar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan’s hands started shaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Dad?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the call disconnected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither slept that night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next day they went to the police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The police assumed someone was playing a cruel prank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when investigators traced the number, they found something impossible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The SIM card had been inactive for over three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No outgoing calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No incoming calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No recent activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to every record that existed, the call should never have happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mystery attracted attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phone experts couldn’t explain it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Telecom engineers couldn’t explain it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weeks passed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Ryan remembered something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before his father’s death, he had worked as a software engineer for a small artificial intelligence startup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A startup that had gone bankrupt shortly after the accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After digging through old company records, Ryan found a former employee willing to talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man looked nervous the moment Ryan mentioned his father’s name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You really don’t know?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Know what?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former employee sighed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Your father was the lead developer.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For what?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man hesitated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“For a digital consciousness project.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan laughed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“That’s science fiction.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Not exactly.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The employee opened an old folder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inside were hundreds of documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voice recordings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personality simulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years of data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The project had one goal:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To create an AI version of a real person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan stared at the files.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then found his father’s name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands of hours of recorded conversations had been used to train the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His memories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His personality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The employee looked away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“After the accident, the project was shut down.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“So that’s it?” Ryan asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Someone activated the AI?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man slowly shook his head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“That’s the strange part.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The servers were destroyed years ago.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryan felt a chill run through his body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Then where did the call come from?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The employee didn’t answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because he had no answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Months later, life slowly returned to normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mystery remained unsolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then one evening, Emma received another call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her hands trembled as she answered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Hello?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The familiar voice returned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friendly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Almost human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Emma.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She sat down immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What are you?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A long silence followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then the voice spoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this time it sounded different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not sad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not confused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Certain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You’ve all been asking the wrong question.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emma’s heart pounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What does that mean?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The voice replied:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You assume I’m Ryan’s father.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cold sensation spread through her body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“You’re not?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The answer came instantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“No.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Emma couldn’t breathe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Then who are you?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The voice spoke one final sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sentence that police, engineers, and investigators would never be able to explain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I am the first person who will be born entirely from a human memory.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The call ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the number never called again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emma wasn’t supposed to answer unknown numbers. Years of spam calls had taught her that. But that Tuesday morning, while walking across campus, her phone rang from a number she didn’t recognize. For some reason, she answered. “Hello?” There was a brief silence. Then a calm male voice said: “Emma?” “Yes?” “Good. I wasn’t sure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1931,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1930","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1930","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1930"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1930\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1933,"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1930\/revisions\/1933"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1930"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1930"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/virli.site\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1930"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}