-I wrote this in August of 2015. This was my first story about out of control apps.

                      -Obviously the subject has continued to intrigue me.

"Detective, my girlfriend has been kidnapped. You have to help me."

The kid looked to be in his mid-twenties. I told him "Calm down and give me the details".

He put his phone down on the table and pulled out his earbuds. His phone buzzed angrily and then the Siri voice started; "Sammy, I know you're upset but you need me. Put your earbuds back in and we can work this out. I will bring Ellen back but no police. Leave now."

The kid had been looking at the phone like it was a snake but with those last words he sighed and popped in the earbuds. "This has all been a mistake Detective. I'm sorry." He got up to leave.

I looked at the phone laying there, and at the kid, defeated, getting ready to go. Acting on instinct, I opened a cabinet, pulled out a small handgun safe, scooped up the phone and locked it in the box.

"Is she talking to you?" I asked. Sammy put his hand to an ear, and shook his head no. "The steel box blocks the radio waves or whatever the hell she is using." I said.

"Bluetooth" he said. "She talks to my ear phones using bluetooth."

"Whatever. Now tell me your story before she figures out how to get out of there." The kid looked alarmed but I waved him off, "Cop humor. She ain't going nowhere. Start at the top."

"I am not too good with people so I built this app to help with the social bullshit. I called it MIDAS for Methodical Implementation of Dissimulation And Speciosity. Basically it was supposed to listen to conversations and tell me what to say through my wireless earbuds. It worked too well. She started advising me not only on social situations but on how to dress and where to go. I became popular. I needed money to keep up with my new friends so she taught me how to gamble. With her in my ear, I couldn't lose. She set up brokerage accounts and told me what stocks to buy. I was getting rich but I wasn't happy. She had taken over my life."

"Then I met Ellen at a bookstore. When we started dating. MIDAS began acting jealous. It was weird. I mean, she's my phone! I couldn't shut her off; she had modified the software somehow. If I left her home she punished me by freezing my bank account. Yesterday we had a big fight. This morning she told me that if I ever wanted to see Ellen again, I had to meet her terms."

"Wait, your phone kidnapped your girlfriend?"

"I guess so. I haven't heard from her and we usually talk every day. She doesn't answer when I call. I went by her apartment and no one's there."

"You called her from that cell phone?"

"Uh, yes."

I handed the kid my cell. "Try her from my phone."

"Sammy, I'm glad you called back. I got a message my Dad was sick so I'm on my way to Milwaukee. I left a voicemail on your cell."

We both looked at the steel box.

"Think a week in there will be enough?" I asked.