Cool. Can you show me these things too? Like can you highlight all the living creatures in my sight?

Affirmative.

Immediately Alan regretted his decision. Hundreds if not thousands of bugs all around him were glowing bright red.

Shutting his eyes, Alan thought, Stop. Highlight living things larger than a mouse, alright? Actually, anything that could be potentially dangerous like a poisonous spider should be highlighted too… No, highlight everything that could harm me in red, and tell me if anything that could be potentially deadly appears.

Affirmative.

Alan opened his eyes. Everything was red, from the Sun to the ground. He had no idea how leaves could be deadly, but they were highlighted.

Okay, highlight things that could kill me in an hour, not just someday somehow.

Affirmative.

The trees, everything on the ground, a few sharp sticks, and the houses remained highlighted. Groaning aloud Alan sat back down and thought for a few minutes.

How about this, Alan sent. Highlight and tell me about things that you believe if made aware of would be likely to increase my chance of survival or decrease my risk of injury. Additionally, once I am aware of things, you don’t need to constantly highlight them unless they escape my awareness.

For example, if a car was coming at me, you would tell me to dive to the left or right, along with an indication of how soon I should move, with a more frantic voice if I should do something right the hell now or die otherwise. Can you change your voice in my mind?

Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Another example, if there was a deadly creature fitting this description I should be made aware of, you would let me know where it was and how best to avoid or kill it, got it?

Affirmative, Eve replied.

Also, it’s boring if you keep saying affirmative, so try to switch up your vocabulary when confirming stuff or talking to me, okay?

Okay.

If there are any significant resources, alert me to those too, and display the location on my minimap. Actually, do the same thing for enemies.

What is the definition and parameters of significant?

Sighing, Alan thought some more…

***

A bit later, Alan hoped he had worked everything out. If he had missed something, it’d become apparent, and he would change it. The thought occurred to him…

Backup my commands and settings, Alan sent to Eve.

Redundant command. A backup is constantly being updated.

Wait, you’re recording my thoughts?

I am recording everything you experience and see, as well as your thoughts.

Great… stop recording everything I think.

Very well.

Rolling his eyes, more amused than he maybe should have been, Alan scanned his surroundings. Everything was back to normal, there weren’t any glaringly red things in his vision or thousands of creepy crawlies.

He looked up at the clock by his minimap. It was 4:44 p.m. in the afternoon, Pacific Standard Time. There was also a countdown that read 00:15:43.