- Bouncing between an unfulfilling personal and professional life, Tom Ford buys a virtual assistant. Out of the box, Marta leads Tom to choices he never imagined while selling him more products. Angered by his loss of privacy, Tom is about to discard Marta when something happens that changes his buying habits forever.—Grant Bergland
- In the future, most jobs have been replaced by automation. A few service-based jobs remain that cater to the wealthy like chefs, bakers, rodeo clowns, and doormen. Tom Ford is a virtual doorman who is abused by his clients who believe he is a program, not a real person. To cure his loneliness, he buys a virtual assistant who is a small pyramid created by the online megastore The Marketplace. Tom names the pyramid Marta and is seduced by her purring voice but then is turned off by her desire to have access to his personal contacts.
When Tom is on a coffee break the next day, Marta tells him to take a different path back to work and meets Tandy Willoughby, an artisan baker. He returns home with as much bread as he can carry and there is a Marketplace package waiting for him. When Tom opens the package, Tom is infuriated to discover Marta has ordered him athletic apparel and shoes from The Marketplace without his permission. However, at that moment Tom is contacted by his doctor who just received Tom's heart rate data, weight, and GPS records for the entire year from Marta. Dr. Fine warns Tom his insurance premiums will increase if he does not exercise, so Tom puts on the athletic apparel ordered by Marta and goes to the gym.
At the gym, everyone is dressed exactly the same as Tom and has the same smartwatch. Marta orders Tom to exercise in a specific spot in a yoga class and meets Tandy again who is also wearing the same athletic apparel as Tom. When Tom returns home he is angry to discover another box from The Marketplace ordered by Marta. Marta explains that Tom's credit card and GPS data indicate it is highly likely he will need the condoms in the next week. Tom stops being angry and becomes happy.
The next day, Tom interviews other doormen as employees for his business who are incompetent. Then, Tandy calls and Tom discovers she is applying for the job as well. Tandy is impressed Tom has his own company but Tom is upset that she has forgotten he told her this fact the previous night. Tom and Tandy go on a date and Tandy invites Tom home.
As they walk inside, Tandy is holding a small Marketplace package. Tom asks about the package and Tandy says it's nothing and goes upstairs. Looking around the apartment, Tom discovers Tandy has exactly the same apartment as he does and owns many of the same Marketplace products as he does like a Yankees pennant, a coffee machine, coffee cups, pillows, a gaming system, gummi bears, and a virtual assistant identical to Marta. Tom talks to the assistant who has a gruff, male voice. Tandy returns not wearing her leggings and says she is bored.
They sleep together and Tom wakes the next morning to Tandy's assistant telling him he can use the bathroom but needs to leave in ten minutes or the assistant will call the police. In the bathroom, Tom discovers the Marketplace package is addressed to him with instructions that the package be delivered to the bathroom.
Tom is touched, thinking Tandy has bought him a present. But, Tandy's assistant informs Tom that he ordered the package because he knew it was highly likely Tom would need the package based on data from other Marketplace customers. Tom opens the package and finds a toothbrush and toothpaste. As he begins to brush, Tom asks the assistant what is on Tandy's wishlist. The assistant recommends Tom buy a new sheet set because the metrics indicate Tom and Tandy will move in together within two weeks. The story ends with Tom looking in the mirror, realizing his unexpected relationship with Tandy was engineered by the virtual assistants based on data from Marketplace purchases.
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