Over on Lor’s end, Kate could hear a constant background noise of auto rickshaws honking, dogs barking and kids shouting on the street. She imagined Lor could hear the same from her end. But at least Kate didn’t have younger siblings who fought all the time and were as loud as stray cats in heat. Those were the worst (the cats), screaming like Dragon Ball martial artists and running on rooftops in the dead of night. Lor screamed with the scandalous voice of a fish market vendor: “Leonard! Lisbeth! SHUT UP!” Then, Lor’s youngest sister, a 1.5-year-old named Lily, opened the bedroom door and toddled into view. “Awww,” Kate gushed. “Lily’s so cute! I just wanna pinch those rosy cheeks!” “I know, right?” Lor said as she picked up her sister and bounced her on her lap. Lily cooed and laughed and tried to reach Kate through the screen. “I wish teens like us retained their kissability and huggability from childhood.” “What do you mean? You’re still kissable and huggable.” “Oh yeah

When the rhyme vanished, a small window appeared next to the oven. There were five tabs above it. The first tab had a hair icon, the second a face, the third a torso, the fourth a sun wearing shades and the fifth a shirt. Kate clicked the Hair tab and she was presented with a whole gamut of men’s hairstyles: undercut, curly, layered, wave, Harajuku matted style, asymmetrical emo, mohawk, crew cut, man bun, spiky, flat top, dreads, Elvis… Kate thought it was because the app-maker was Japanese or hair dyes were sold separately, but all the hairstyles were black. It was a good thing though because she was already having a hard time just picking the style. She settled on Layered after a great deal of toing and froing. Next, she clicked the Face tab and was presented with the close-up of a wireframe face spinning lazily. On the left edge of the window, additional tabs had appeared: Face shape, Eyebrows, Eyes, Nose, Lips and Ears. The character’s face would change instantly depending on

Kate finished talking about her tragic experience. It took about half an hour but it felt much longer. At first, she was hesitant to keep talking not because she was worried someone was listening in – not in the physical sense because she knew her pa was a heavy sleeper but in the electronic sense, through the app. But the truth of the matter was, Kate was more concerned about Ecto being a sham and there being absolutely no one, chatbot or whatever, listening on the other end. It helped that Ecto gave a lot of encouraging signals for her to continue, such as nodding and saying little things like “Uh-huh,” “I see,” “Please go on,” “Oh no” etc. His picture would freeze to a sympathetic listener’s face, complete with Mona Lisa eyes that appeared to be riveted on her. Like he said, he was a good listener, adding precise reactions to keep her talking and knowing when to respect her silence. When she burst into tears in the middle of her story, for instance, he waited for her to compose her

The actual park where Kate went was small. It was more of a playground for kids in her subdivision. There were seesaws, a push merry-go-round, slides, swing sets and a jungle gym. Like most parks in the Philippines, it was right next to a street and had more concrete than trees or grass; the trees being mostly palm. And because it was weekend, there were a lot of people – that is, kids, their parents and senior citizens. Kate was the only teen because she would’ve gone to the mall with Lor and the Bali Girls if this was an ordinary weekend or with Josh if they hadn’t broken up. Kate tried to block out this last thought. The afternoon was of course sweltering hot but there was enough shade on the benches by the park edges and on some of the playground equipment. Kate picked the most isolated of the green metal benches and sat down. “I can hear children screaming,” Ecto’s voice came through her earphones with undisguised alarm. “What manner of place is that?” “Don’t worry. They’re sc

When her ma went to bed and Kate was finally back in her room and lying on her bed, she used earphones to mute all of Ecto’s sounds and settled for chatting by text. [Hi! Thanks for the recharge] [Sure np] [While I was charging, you received 3 SMS. 2 from Lor and 1 from Grace. Would you like to read them now?] [No l8r] Kate said, though she guessed they were updates on the dress-scoping. [So, what have you been up to while I was out?] [nm just dinner n talking with my ma] [Really? What did you talk about?] [Just stuff] [What kind of stuff? Does she know about He-Whose-Name-Cannot-Be-Spoken?] [Ofc not] [Why not?] [She’s a mom. She wouldn’t understand] [I thought moms knew and understood everything] [U can’t tell ur parents everything. Some things u need 2 keep 2 urself] [Such as? Do you keep some things secret from me?] [Ofc] [I do not understand. I thought I have already gained your trust] [I do trust you but I still can’t tell u everything] A pause from Ecto, and