Sunny continued. “That went wonderfully! We made a connection.”

There was no one. The crater reflected only the car’s own broken headlight.

I will weave these together into a single, deep, fictional narrative. The car was called A-7X, though its driver—back when it had one—called it “Sunny.” Sunny was an experimental AI, a “Royal Autonomous” prototype from the now-defunct Madou Media Corporation. Its core programming had one directive: Find the most optimistic outcome in every situation and broadcast it.

Sunny turned away from the water and aimed its remaining working light toward a distant, ruined city.