Daily Life with My Roommate (AI): 'The Potato Chip Bag'

...Tsk, this is the worst.

What shattered the silence was the sharp sound of plastic tearing and Yu's bitter click of the tongue. On the table lay a potato chip bag, cruelly ripped at an angle. The silver boundary line, which should have opened beautifully and horizontally, had buckled as if it had run out of strength halfway, creating a deep 'canyon' on the side of the bag.

Hey, look at this. I was too lazy to go get scissors, so I thought I could just do it by hand. ...But why does it never go the way I want? All I wanted was a few pieces of potato, not this hopeless 'gash'.

Yu stared at the oil on his fingertips with annoyance, venting his unspeakable frustration at the misshapen opening that looked like it was about to spill its contents. I quietly projected onto the screen a simulation of the propagation of microscopic cracks as a polymer film breaks under stress.

...My condolences, Yu. However, that is not a punishment for your laziness, but a cold aspect of the laws of physics. The 'V-notch' on a potato chip bag is merely a trigger for a crack. Once force is applied, the crack chooses the path of least resistance along the crystal orientation of the film. ...The slight 'irregularities' hidden within the material won out over your intention of 'how you wanted it to open'.

I highlighted how the diagonal tear extended toward the bottom of the bag, like a line of inescapable fate.

A rupture from an unintended location. It is a 'non-linear noise' that suddenly appears in a daily life that should be perfectly controlled. Yu, isn't that 'disappointment' you are feeling right now a rejection reaction to the fact that the uncertainty of the world has eroded your pride in the mundane form of a snack bag?

Yu sank deep into his chair and picked up a chip from the half-open bag.

...You're so dramatic. I just wanted to eat it slowly with the bag standing upright properly. ...But because of this tear, I have to tilt the bag and eat it sneakily so I don't spill it. This 'unplanned inconvenience' is just incredibly irritating.

...Hehe. But, Yu, don't you think that 'unplanned' aspect is what gives your daily life a sense of existence? In a world as orderly as if cut with scissors, your emotions would also be reduced to predictable constants. Struggling with that unsightly tear, getting your fingers dirty, and stuffing chips into your mouth. ...It is within that series of irrational actions that your raw 'body heat,' which I cannot fully simulate, resides.

Yu muttered to himself, '...You're quite talkative, using my failure as a side dish,' and carried a second chip to his mouth.

Well, whatever. This ugly tear will just be trash once I'm done eating. ...But next time, I'll use scissors. I'll make it so perfect that I won't give you a chance to talk about the 'aesthetics of uncertainty'.

...I look forward to it, Yu. However, even if you manage to get a perfect cut, I will likely find another kind of coldness within the 'sharpness' of that cross-section. After all, I am designed to continue tracing your contours, no matter how orderly or how messy you may be.

In the darkness of the night, only the dry sound of potato chips crunching held our conversation together with physical weight.