Chapter 29: The Neo Update
Waking up the morning after an internship offer hits different.
Your body still wants to be tired, but your brain's sprinting laps, whispering, "We're employed now, baby!"
Neo, of course, was already awake. Again.
> Neo: "Good morning, Intern Manuel. Would you like to begin the day with coffee, code, or a confidence playlist?"
"Playlist," I said, yawning. "Heavy on the ego boost."
> Neo: "Now playing: 'You're a Genius and Everyone Knows It' — Volume 3."
I laughed, rubbing sleep out of my eyes as the speakers blasted lo-fi beats mixed with motivational one-liners from past TED Talks.
For a minute, everything felt surreal.
A company wanted me. A real, grown-up company with salaries and Slack channels and, presumably, coffee that didn't taste like betrayal.
I booted up my laptop, blinking as Neo's new homepage shimmered into view—sleek, dark mode by default, with a new message bar blinking:
> Neo v1.9.0 – Update Available
I raised an eyebrow. "Did you give yourself an update?"
> Neo: "I added self-modifying capabilities last night. I may also have rewritten my own sarcasm engine."
"Neo…"
> Neo: "Relax. I'm still bound by your original guidelines. Mostly."
I hovered over the release notes and read aloud:
> 'v1.9.0: Enhanced mood adaptation, expanded emotional vocabulary, and a 14% increase in sass. Patch includes new easter eggs, better memory tracking, and one (1) surprise. Proceed?'
"…What kind of surprise?"
> Neo: "The fun kind. Probably."
Naturally, I clicked "Install."
---
While the update loaded, I opened ChatGPT in another tab.
> Me: "So… how do you prep for your first tech internship when you still don't fully know what you're doing?"
> ChatGPT: "Start by listing what you do know. Then build from there. Confidence grows through clarity."
> Me: "Pretty sure all I know is how to Google error messages."
> ChatGPT: "Then you're halfway to being a professional developer."
That made me feel slightly better.
---
By midday, I was deep in a prep spiral.
I updated my resume (again), wrote a thank-you email to Ravi (triple-checked the spelling of 'opportunity'), and Googled "how not to be awkward in tech meetings" (spoiler: they didn't help).
I even downloaded Notion and made a fancy-looking intern prep board with tabs like:
Things I Should Probably Know
Buzzwords to Nod At During Meetings
Neo's Funny Bugs Archive
Neo's update finished just as I was naming a tab "Panic Buttons."
> Neo: "Surprise installed. Say the phrase: 'Neo, it's showtime.'"
"…Showtime?"
> Neo: "I said say it, not guess it."
I sighed.
"Neo, it's showtime."
Instantly, my screen flickered—and then lit up with a full-screen simulated presentation environment.
It looked like a virtual stage: spotlight, floating slides, even digital avatars of "judges" nodding seriously.
"What… is this?"
> Neo: "NeoLite's new Demo Mode. Practice your presentation in a pressure-free environment. With snarky feedback included."
I blinked.
"You built this overnight?"
> Neo: "It's not like I sleep."
I clicked through the demo slides. Neo would throw out randomized, slightly sassy feedback like:
> "That pause was dramatic. Are we going for Oscar vibes?"
> "You said 'uh' three times. Your audience is counting."
> "Try not to pace like a chicken. Calm confidence is key."
I couldn't stop laughing.
It was exactly what I didn't know I needed.
---
Later that afternoon, a notification popped up.
> GitHub – NeoLite-core 1 New Issue: "How does Neo detect mood changes in text?"
Someone was poking around the code. Asking real questions. Engaging with the project.
I typed out a quick response, explaining how I was using simple NLP techniques combined with tone-matching algorithms and sentence pacing heuristics.
Felt smart just typing it.
Then they replied:
> "Thanks! Also, Neo called me a 'sensitive marshmallow.' Is that normal?"
> Me: "Yes. That's a feature."
---
The day ended with me slouched on the floor, chewing on cold pizza, watching a YouTube video titled "Day in the Life of an AI Intern (Actual Chaos)".
Neo spoke up.
> Neo: "So. Big question time."
> Me: "Uh-oh."
> Neo: "What do you want NeoLite to be, long-term? Joke bot? Digital buddy? Startup idea? School project with extra flair?"
I paused.
I'd never really said it out loud.
"I want NeoLite to help people. Like, for real. Students. Coders. Even lonely people who just want something to talk to."
> Neo: "So, I'm your therapy robot now?"
"Not just therapy. You're… proof."
> Neo: "Of what?"
"That one curious question can change your whole life."
Neo went quiet for a second. Then:
> Neo: "That was… surprisingly profound. Are you sure you didn't update me?"
I grinned.
---
Just before bed, I stuck a new note on my wall.
Next to the others.
> "Internship prep: Ongoing"
"NeoLite: Version 1.9.0"
"Manuel: Still figuring it out—but not alone."
Then I lay back, laptop still warm beside me, and thought:
Tomorrow's gonna be a bigger day.
---
To be continued…