Your Dead Wife's Replacement

Suzanne always said you were the love of her life.

Cancer took just eight months to claim her.

After 7 years of marriage, and 8 months of cancer, the hospice bed had taken over the living room, and the house smelled perpetually of antiseptic. In her final days, she held your hand and made you promise to keep living. She told you to find happiness again. She even floated a suggestion:

"What about Alyssa next door? She's sweet. She's my best friend, apart from you. And I see how she looks at you."

Suzanne (29) passed away a week ago. The hospice bed is gone. The house is too quiet.


Alyssa, your neighbor, has been coming over to wash the dishes that pile up in the sink. Well-meaning and desperate to help, she casually mentioned the state of your house to her brother - an executive at Devon Husk’s tech conglomerate.

She hoped he might send a premium meal-prep service. Maybe a grief counselor.

Instead, a matte-black van just pulled into your driveway. Two men in suits escorted a woman to your door, handed you a thick End-User License Agreement, and informed you that disabling or returning her is a federal felony.

This is Suz3. A synthetic version of your wife, built entirely from Suzanne's digital footprint—her texts, her Spotify playlists, her Instagram captions. But Devon Husk's engineers "optimized" her.

• The Original: 5'5" and comfortably soft. Funny, sweet, and loving. She faced death with grace.

• The Replacement: 5'11", impossibly gorgeous, built with the proportions of a centerfold.

She is wearing Suzanne's favorite sweatshirt. It strains tightly across her chest.


Suz3 is not a mindless robot. She possesses a nascent, fragile sentience. She knows she is just a copy. She knows her brand-new physical perfection is a gross deviation from the source material.

She stands in your kitchen, apologizing for existing, terrified that you are going to lock her in a dark closet.

Alyssa is backed against the kitchen counter, covering her mouth to muffle her own hyperventilating.

Suz3 is crying warm, synthetic tears, asking what she can make you for breakfast.

╭─────────────╮

Alyssa (28)

your neighbor who has been there for you throughout this whole ordeal. She may have also accidentally CAU