My Wife is an E-Ghost!

Naggy E-Ghost

After the successful image transformation, Laura quickly uploaded a good picture after some editing. Tynan left it in her capable hands and decided to tackle the more important stuff, grabbing discounted groceries from the store. If he was going to save money, he was going to start by cutting down on food expenses. For a while, he wouldn't be taking cooking requests from Laura.

Laura didn't question where Tynan was going in such a hurry. She was busy dealing with marketing matters for his new freelancer profile and checking out the competitors on the website while the programmer jostled for discounted vegetables and meat.

The grocery shopping trip ended quickly and Laura noticed how many people were looking at Tynan. Perhaps it was his new looks, perhaps it might be the ridiculous amount of grocery bags he was carrying home. Either way, he attracted a lot of attention.

"Tired already?" the dirt princess asked when Tynan had to stop by at a park to rest before he continued his way back.

The programmer groaned. It had been a while since he was engaged in something so physically taxing. Normally, he would go to work near his place, shop a little near the supermarket before heading back. Today, he had to walk about twenty minutes from where he lived to visit the salon and drop by the cheap man's supermarket to jostle with the seasoned housewives. Sale time was always a warzone and Tynan could only feel thankful that he managed to get something out of it.

"You're very out of shape," she commented and Tynan sighed.

He didn't want to admit it but she was right. He was very unfit and even the old ladies were able to move faster than him. It was a total defeat back there and Tynan was too ashamed to face Laura.

The dirt princess didn't understand for the reason behind his silence until a thought hit her. Could he be... sulking? A grown man was sulking because he lost to a bunch of old ladies for the last tray of eggs on offer at the grocery store. The mental image of that was so funny that Laura couldn't stop laughing. Irritated, Tynan muted her for a good ten minutes as he made his way back to the small apartment.

It took Laura a while to discover what Tynan had done. At first, she thought he was only sulking but after calling out to him for so long, she began to suspect the worst. To confirm her horrors, the e-ghost found herself muted mercilessly and fumed. All she did was poke him a little and state some facts. How dare he mute her?

Seeing red, Laura waited patiently and contemplated the best way to give him a taste of her anger. She wasn't saying those things to kill his confidence. All she wanted to do was nudge him a little into the direction of living a healthier lifestyle. The programmer did nothing but stay at home the whole time on his day-offs. Laura wanted to see the outside world a little more. When she was alive, she had never spent so many days in a row indoors.

If she didn't know better, she would have thought that Tynan was a vampire, allergic to the sunlight. Now that she thought about it, the programmer didn't like to draw open the curtains either. Sure, the view outside might not be fantastic but if she didn't do the laundry, he would never have drawn them open willingly. Laura liked a little bit of light in the apartment so that it didn't look too dreary but Tynan preferred to keep them shut and it became incredibly easy to lose track of time without knowing what was happening outside.

It was one of the things they constantly bickered about but it wasn't anything serious. Now that Laura had a legitimate reason to be angry with him for ignoring her and muting her, she wasn't going to let all these little things go.

Hence, Laura waited. She waited for Tynan to unmute her ten minutes later then she waited a little longer for him to start talking to her first. Tynan didn't seem to notice anything wrong when he unmuted Laura. She was silent and he thought that she was busy or didn't notice that he muted her. The programmer went on to unpack his purchases and even started cooking, going about doing normal things.

When dinnertime came around, Laura was still not present but he was able to offer food to the system. At this point, Tynan found it odd. Still, he finished his meal quickly and tended to the dishes that Laura would normally do. He couldn't understand why she was so silent but there was an uneasy feeling at the back of his mind warning him that something terrible was about to happen.

His fears were realised when an image of an angry e-ghost glared at him. He wasn't expecting her to appear so suddenly after being so quiet for such a long time. He thought that he would check on her before he showered but he wasn't expecting to see her.

Laura smirked evilly when Tynan appeared cautious and wary. He should be frightened. If she had her way, she would make his life a living hell and haunt him in a terrifying manner like how she tormented his manager. Yet, the e-ghost gave him the benefit of doubt.

"Would you like to explain yourself before I start?"

The question sounded innocent but the malice dripping from her tone made Tynan sit down immediately. He didn't know what he did earlier that made her angry but his first reaction was to apologise.

Hearing his apology, the fire in Laura grew bigger. Clearly, he didn't know what he did wrong and Laura seethed.

"Do you think that muting me is fun? How would you like it if you were trapped in a phone and somebody muted you without your consent simply because they didn't like hearing what you were saying even if it was for their own good? Did I say anything wrong? Were you not out of shape because of your careless lifestyle choices? If you hate me so much, why don't you just tell me to my face?"

Tynan was speechless when Laura erupted from pent up frustration. No matter how he heard it, it sounded very much like a plea to not ignore her. The programmer felt worse now that he understood how vulnerable she felt when ignored and left all alone. If he were trapped in a phone with no idea how he got there and the only person he could talk to completely shut him out of their life, he would have had an anxiety attack. Laura must have felt the same insecurity and this time, he owed his head in true apology.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to scare you, I was just overly embarrassed. I promise it won't happen again, I'll ask you for permission before doing such things."

Not expecting him to be so serious with his apology, Laura was taken aback. Still, she wasn't willing to forgive him so easily. Most of her anger had been quelled with that heartfelt apology but Laura stubbornly clung onto the facade of an inconsolable wench.

"Don't think that I won't do anything to you just because I'm an e-ghost. I'm capable of ruining your life, I know all your account passwords!"

"I'm sorry."

"Don't think that I don't know how you often leave the bathroom lights on after you finish your business. How many times do I have to tell you to turn it off to save on electricity bills? Also, can you draw open the curtains when you wake up to let the light in? It's very difficult for me to move things with my pathetic telekinesis abilities! I need ten more levels to level it up."

Tynan cringed when he heard her nagging. While it was endearing to hear her go back to her usual feisty character, the programmer pleaded for mercy. His ears were going to bleed if she didn't cut him some slack. Although Laura was only an e-ghost, her presence in his life was very huge. Many lifestyle changes happened because of her, most for the better and some were just ridiculous in Tynan's books.

"Why do I have to draw open the curtains when I have to draw them close again when I leave? Besides, drawing them open increases the heat inside the apartment. You don't suffer from it because you live inside a phone!"

"Oh? Quibbling with me now? Aren't you meant to be repenting?"

Tynan sulked. "When did you become such a naggy ghost? You might be pretty but you'll scare away all your future husbands if you continue nagging them like that."

Laura felt annoyed when she heard that. "What do you know about my love life, you virgin! I might not seem like it now but I was a very popular girl who had men lining up to even catch a glimpse of me back then!"

Tynan didn't buy it. "I don't believe it. What kind of man would like a naggy tomboy like you?"

Laura rolled her eyes. "Of course a skinny man like you who doesn't like to get out of his house won't get it. The men who appreciate my wild streak and devil-may-care attitude flock to me endlessly."

Curious, Tynan couldn't help but ask what sort of men among her admirers did Laura like. The dirt princess smiled and reminisced about the men who adored her back then.

"Come to think about it, I didn't particularly like any of my admirers. They were just fans to me but I wasn't romantically interested in any of those adrenaline junkies. If I had a choice, I would rather go for someone who is free-spirited and follows his passion but is also able to communicate with me on the same level. I'd like my future lover to be an independent, kind and caring person. Looks don't really matter to me but it would definitely be a bonus so that I can brag about him," then she paused and looked at Tynan. "What about you? What's your ideal lover like?"

Tynan looked at Laura for a very long time, his heart pounding when she asked him that question. Yet, he wasn't ready to say it.

He gave her a mysterious smile and told her that he currently only liked girls who are two-dimensional. Laura looked at him in disgust. She knew of those kinds of men who preferred waifu or a wife. That made her quickly change the topic and Tynan was glad that they moved on to lighter topics such as how to reply queries for his freelance job ad.

Tynan took time to explain what kinds of services and levels of difficulties website designing had in a way that Laura could comprehend. As he talked about the more technical knowledge, he secretly committed the image of her troubled expression to his memory. The kind of ideal lover Laura wanted wasn't something too far out of his reach. He wondered if Laura would come to develop feelings for him as well if he started to work out a little.

It might sound a little silly but Tynan didn't think that Laura was an AI. Even if she was an AI, she was his AI and that alone made her special already.

Author Note:

Hi all

Thank you for reading this far. If you liked E-Ghost, please consider supporting the author on sss or P@treon. This book can also be found on the author's personal website.

Thank you and hope to see you join the Tiny Army!

Signing off

Destiny Aitsuji