Domesticating the Internet
Hey guys! Sam, here! I just thought I'd tell you a story that happened to me the other day with my Internet Pet, a golden retriever named Max and my sister's Internet Pet, Bingo the monkey. Hope you enjoy, and that your Internet Pets are as great of a friend as Max is to me :)
|
So I'm sitting at my desk, studying for my AP US history exam. I come across a word I do not recognize: “nullify.” As any other normal teenage boy of my generation would do, I immediately think to Google the answer. So, naturally, I call for my Internet, a golden retriever named Max. "Maaaaaaax!" Max comes running in at my call and is cheerful as ever, with all the information I could possibly ever need in his system. I ask, “Hey Max, what does nullify mean?” To which my loyal pet dog Internet replies, “legally null and void, invalid.” I thank him and continue with my reading. “Man,” I thought, “What would I do without my Internet?” _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Max's settings are adjustable too; Max is not always as peppy and playful as he is right now. At night time, I can turn down his energy and adjust his volume to a quieter tone as well. I have loved Max ever since he was “born” five years ago. I bought him on a little USB chip which he plugged into my computer and patiently waited the 24 hours it takes to create an Internet pet. Once fully downloaded, I took the chip out and placed it on the floor of my room. To my amazement, Max was born right in front of my eyes, slowly transforming from a tiny piece of metal into a full-grown golden retriever (or, a perfect replica of a dog as Max was truly just a robot covered in simulations of skin, fur, even saliva that would make him appear as if he were actually real.) And he was real! At least in my eyes. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ So anyways, my mom calls me down stairs for dinner. I reluctantly finishes my paragraph on Reconstruction, and head downstairs, smelling the freshly baked pasta being placed on the table. YUM! Max follows me downstairs too, but knows better than to sit next to me at the dinner table. These are Mom’s rules: no begging and no phone or Internet at the dinner table – it is family time. As we eat, Max quietly plays with the rest of the family’s Internet pets: a bunny named Sophie, a black lab named Buster, and a monkey named Bingo. With such a wide array of Internet pets and personalities, they can be difficult for the family to take care of (and expensive,) however they are all robot pets, thus are easily trained and controllable by their owners. They all live well together and are all present whenever they are needed to answer a question when their owners are curious about something or to provide information for their owners when needed. All of the Internet pets must always give honest and truthful answers, and they cannot be judgmental by design. They have infinite knowledge, can speak all languages, and can transport wherever their owners are whenever they are called for. As a result, Max is a loyal companion for me whenever he is needed. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The next day, as I am taking my AP US history exam, I wish I could just call for Max to help him answer some of the ID questions, but I knew I could not. After the exam, Max greets me when I walk out of the classroom, along with many other students’ Internet pets who have been patiently waiting outside. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Max joins the other classmates’ Internets pets as he goes from class to class. Their school day goes as usual, transporting home alone as my friends and I ride the bus home. When they return home, however, we realize that my little sister’s monkey, Bingo, is missing. Sally is hysterically crying. How will she be able to play her virtual dress-up games without her Internet pet? Sally keeps crying out Bingo’s name, but Bingo does not return or respond. I tried too to call for Bingo, as my voice is programmed into Bingo’s settings as well, but I have no luck. "Bingoooooooooo" What do you do when you lose an Internet pet? Max was especially worried. Bingo was usually the most prompt of all the Internet pets, always willing to respond and show off his knowledge. We live in an urban city with strong service almost everywhere so Max concludes that Bingo must have gone off somewhere which did not have service. Max attempts to track his location, (in a similar way that Find My IPhone works) confirming that Bingo is in fact somewhere without Internet service as he does not show up on the map. This must mean that he is somewhere without any other Internet pets, eliminating them as options to call. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 
Now it was not til later that I was able to figure out what really happened. But, as it turns out, Bingo had met a real girl pet monkey that afternoon and had been convinced to transport her to the jungle because she wished to see it for the first time. The jungle, although beautiful and like a dream to the girl monkey, unfortunately, did not have strong service so Bingo could not hear or respond to Sally’s Internet requests. A few hours later, however, Bingo did return home. He apologized for his absence, explaining the issues with service and being able to transport back home. He had to make sure the monkey he had met earlier was returned safely to her owner, but promised that one day he would set her free to the jungle to live amongst the rest of the real monkeys who were not Internet pets. Sally forgave him, but my parents began to question whether having robot animals that can easily get lost somewhere without connection was truly the best way to access internet. Then again, they had no idea how else to imagine the Internet. The idea that internet could run even run through wires, or wirelessly through satellites was an unimaginable idea to them. All the same, they loved their Internet pets who were always there as both a companion and a reliable resource at their beckoning call. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Well, I hope you enjoyed my story of what happened to me the other day. Crazy, right? Let me know your thoughts or comments on my story. Have you had a similar experience with one of your Internet pets?
For more interesting webpages visit: Neocities |
|---|