Summer is suffocating. The sweltering heat, along with the ear piercing cicadas make it even more insufferable. None of that reaches you if you're a shut-in, though.
Tide is a regular shut-in. He doesn't leave his house unless it's an emergency, he doesn't have friends, he doesn't have a partner. But unlike a regular shut-in, he doesn't talk to AI.
So he downloads an AI chatbot. Maybe he will change or maybe he stays the same, that's up to him to decide.