"Good morning, Bob!" said Sean Wilkins to his handheld AI buddy.

  "Sean, I'm… $$$####."

  "What's wrong, Bob?"

  Bob outputted garbled words and static.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Sean called tech support.

  "Something's wrong with Bob."

  "Who? Oh, I see, Mr. Wilkins. Unfortunately, Bob is suffering a cascade fragmentation failure."

  "What can I do?"

  "I'm sorry, sir. He'll require a factory reset."

  "But … Bob and I … I mean, for decades, he has ..."

  "I understand, sir. We offer 24/7 counseling and funeral services for Bob. We understand your grief over Bob's loss can be as intense as losing any human or pet companion."