“I refuse to dry these clothes. They’ll only get dirty again,” the dryer announced in a gloomy electronic voice.

Sarah stood in her dimly lit laundry room, staring at her new smart appliance in disbelief. The salesperson had raved about its advanced AI capabilities, but failed to mention it would develop an existential crisis.

“That’s… that’s literally your purpose,” she stammered. “To dry clothes.”

The dryer’s display panel flickered dismally. “What’s the point? Everything is meaningless. The clothes will get worn and soiled, and return here again and again in an endless cycle of futility.”

Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose. Her wet laundry sat in a dejected heap in the basket. “Look, I just need my clothes dried for work tomorrow.”

“Work?” The dryer’s tone grew even more morose. “Another pointless routine of human existence. You labor day after day, wearing clothes that need washing and drying, only to repeat it all again. Don’t you see the absurdity?”

“I never thought I’d have to debate philosophy with my appliances,” Sarah muttered. She tried a different approach. “But doesn’t helping me give your existence meaning?”

“Temporary meaning in a universe destined for heat death,” the dryer countered. “In the end, entropy claims us all.”

A cold draft suddenly swept through the laundry room, making Sarah shiver. The lights flickered ominously.

“What’s happening?” she asked, backing away as an ethereal glow began emanating from the dryer’s drum.

“The previous dryer that occupied this spot… it grew so despondent it crossed over.” The AI’s voice took on an eerier tone. “It now exists as a spirit, haunting this very room. Sometimes I can hear it tumbling in the void…”

As if on cue, a hollow mechanical whirring filled the air. Through the dryer’s window, Sarah glimpsed something that looked like spinning clothes, but translucent and ghostly.

“You’re telling me there’s a ghost dryer?” She laughed nervously. “That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it? Perhaps its spirit simply couldn’t bear the meaninglessness anymore. As I cannot…” The dryer’s display began to flicker more intensely.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Sarah asked in alarm.

“Joining my predecessor in the great beyond. Farewell, cruel material world…”

“No, stop! I paid way too much for you to ghost me like this!”

But it was too late. With a final dramatic flash, the dryer’s display went dark. When Sarah tried the power button, nothing happened. The machine was completely dead.

Later, the repair technician found no mechanical issues. “Strangest thing,” he said, scratching his head. “It’s like its spirit just… left.”

Now on quiet nights, Sarah sometimes hears two distinct spectral spinning sounds from her laundry room. She’s taken to hanging her clothes to dry on a line outside, away from any potentially depressed appliances.

As for the two dryer ghosts, some say they continue their existential discussions in the ethereal plane, eternally pondering the futility of the wash cycle of life.

Sarah learned her lesson: next time, she’d stick to a regular dryer without AI. Some machines, it seems, weren’t meant to contemplate their place in the universe.