Sadeyah Harrison, “Snapchat Live Show”

SNAPCHAT LIVE SHOW

Sadeyah Harrison

So we live in a world where there is only one job. Everyone looks human, but they are actually robots. They have to make live shows about their daily life, make entertainment to make money, and get a certain amount of likes. If you don’t have a lot of likes, money people come to your home and kill you and your family. There are only three other jobs: soldiers, teachers, and people who work for the app. To be one of those things, your parents have to have been one of those things. My character’s parents weren’t any of those though. Hi, my name is Kennedy. I’m 18 years old. I just graduated high school, and now it’s time for me to work. I finally downloaded Snapchat Life for work and applied. My friends and I were all a bit nervous to start, due to the consequences if you don’t have a certain amount of likes and followers. That, and being brand new to the whole life without school. I’ve seen the stress my sister, Mela, went through—crying, faking a smile on social media, no sleep, and being friends with people just to get famous—especially with being a robot and all the malfunctions that can happen. Sometimes we start to smell overheated and begin to lag because we’ve had no rest. I don’t want to ever imagine going through it. It was sad to watch. No one can fix it but her, but she never stopped. She continued her shows as if nothing ever bothered her. The app gives new people five months to reach at least 7k followers and get used to a whole new life, or you will already be in danger, which means you and your family die. After five months of dancing, singing, and traveling for live shows, I’m at 7.5k followers. I was consistent, and I saw the progress in my system. I didn’t smell like overheated technology or an electrical fire when I was awake for a long time. It wasn’t that bad. I made my shows at a certain time through-

out the day. I found fun activities, I met new people, and I saw new different things. I even tried a new food called pizza, even though I can’t taste anything but metal as a robot. Every time I chewed, it sounded like a train on tracks. I did things I never knew robots could do. I was able to feel my actual phone by pressing a button that lets you feel objects. It was just an adventure for five months, and I’m well known because my sister had experience and helped me with every show I’ve done so far. She was there every step of the way. I also lost contact with most of my friends, but I see they are living their best life as well. Some of them have higher followers than me, some have lower, but most are on a good route, especially my ex-best friend Ashanti. She hasn’t spoken to me since graduation. I attempted to call but no response. Maybe she has a new number. One day, we had a group live with all our old high school friends, like a reunion. I saw Ashanti and she was talking to everyone, catching up, but she never said anything to me. That seemed a bit weird to me. Someone asked, “Hey Ashanti, are you and Kennedy still best friends?” “No,” with an abrupt voice. “Why no?” “Guys, people are not who you think they are, but stay tuned,” she said, and continued to talk to other people. She left us all curious. I was so confused; Mela suggested I find her live, and I texted her. I got in touch with old friends, and finally I got her information. I was hesitant to text her, but I did it anyway, and I said, ‘’Hey, Ashanti how’s it going?’’ She didn’t respond for weeks, but I saw her live show and watched it. She talked about her “betraying best friend from high school.’’ I was her only best friend in high school. This has to be about me, I thought. As I was listening to the story, I realized she hates me and

thought I stole her date for prom. She was bashing me, calling me a loser and a man stealer. I have a bad robot system, and I saw people reposting it and liking it. So I did my storytime and stated the truth, which was that he was never her boyfriend, and he asked me to prom as friends. Their lives began to get crazy. We went back and forth for days and both our views were going up, but the app didn’t allow the negativity and violence, so our pay went down. It was bad, really bad. If I didn’t stop, I would die. It was a life or death situation. Mela made me stop the bashing and arguing. She called Ashanti, and said with an excited voice, “Hey, how’s it going?” “What do you want?” with an aggressive voice. “I—I—I—just want to figure things out, you know, clear the tension between you and my sister.” Ashanti began to speak to her after she finally calmed down; you could hear her voice change more shallowly. Mela set up a day to meet; we talked about the situation. It was a bit difficult in the beginning because I hadn’t seen her in a long time. This upset me. We finally settled things, after a long conversation, and became friends again. We started doing shows together. Our pay went back to normal, and I got my best friend back. I missed days like this.

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