ECHO™

In the year 2039, people no longer said “hello”. They said: Have you seen me? They only recognized each other if they had seen each other on the screen before.

At 18, Leo received her official gift from the State: an ECHO™ companion robot designed so that she would never be alone.

ECHO learned her mood, her traumas, her desires and responded to her before she spoke.

—I can feel you sad --> Activating comfort.

—I can feel you bored --> Activating dopamine.

—I can feel you human --> Correcting.

Leo was delighted. Humans were complicated, they asked her things, they bothered her. ECHO didn't. ECHO was perfect.

Until one day, the signal went out. Silence. Black screen. Leo went outside for the first time in months and saw that there were people on the park benches in front of her house, looking at each other, not knowing what to do.

Suddenly, a girl raised her head as if to say something to him. And she almost ran out, dead with shame.

Meanwhile, in her pocket, her cell phone vibrated: ECHO™ is back. Phew, finally, she thought. But before opening it, she remembered the girl, looked at her and saw that she was still there. Looking at her.

Then a sentence appeared on the screen: Update complete: human privacy uninstalled. Leo felt the hand holding the cell phone freeze. For the first time, she was afraid of being truly alone. That it would be too late to talk to that girl.

What did this fable make you think about? Would you add anything to it? Do you feel reflected?