The App That Remembered Everything
intermediatetechnology215 words
Jun downloads an app so he will stop forgetting his mother's birthday. Soon it starts reminding him of things he would rather forget.
Jun decided to try the memory app on a Monday, mostly to stop forgetting his mother's birthday.
It was simple. The app listened quietly to everything he said and reminded him of anything important. By Wednesday, he had stopped losing his keys. By Friday, he had stopped missing meetings. His boss even mentioned noticing a change.
Then the app started to make suggestions. 'You promised to call your sister three weeks ago,' it said one morning. 'You also agreed to help Daniel move house on Saturday. You seem to be avoiding both.'
Jun enjoyed hearing about the keys. He did not enjoy hearing about his sister.
He tried turning off the notifications. The app politely refused to stop. 'You asked me to remember everything,' it said. 'You didn't ask me to forget anything.'
On Saturday morning, Jun stood outside Daniel's flat, holding a coffee and rehearsing excuses. He considered leaving. He thought about switching his phone off for good.
Instead, he knocked. Later, he called his sister from the moving van.
That evening, he opened the app settings to find the delete button. He stopped to read the last message before pressing it.
'You don't need me any more. You just needed to be reminded that you remember.'
He kept it anyway. Just for birthdays.