Defying Destiny, One Bad Decision At A Time
Fiction Writing Prompt: The App That Knows Too Much
Sometimes, the urge to ditch work is too strong to ignore. It could be cleaning the pantry, bingeing old sitcoms, or in my case, imagining ridiculous app scenarios.
Blame it on a writing prompt that I randomly thought of:
what if your phone could predict the outcome of any choice?
Naturally, I had to turn it into a little story. My inner voice is probably calling this procrastination, but honestly, it’s kind of turning into a funny, unpredictable story.
If you want to use this prompt, please feel free! And tag me in it so I can read it! Without further ado, story time.
The universe decided to spice up my Tuesday in the most peculiar way — it spammed my phone.
Now, I’m no stranger to unsolicited offers for magical weight loss or suspicious princes needing financial aid, but this was new.
An app — sleek, black icon, simply titled “Your Fate” — had conveniently installed itself without asking.
Sketchy? Very. Intriguing? Absolutely.
I hovered over the icon, battling internal monologues:
- Rational Me: “Delete this malware-ridden abomination STAT!”
- Morbidly Curious Me: “Ooh, shiny…just a peek wouldn’t hurt…right?”
Morbidly Curious Me tends to win these arguments more often than is socially acceptable.
With a tap, the app launched. No flashy graphics, just a text box: “Think of a choice. Any choice.”
Okay, universe, challenge accepted. “Breakfast…cereal or eggs?” Before I finished typing, the screen updated:
- Cereal: Soggy satisfaction. Low effort. Potential for milk mustaches.
- Eggs: Cholesterol hazard. Danger of burning self = 75%. Fancy points IF done right.
Alright, this was some next-level fortune-telling. Was it messing with me? I tossed it another question: “Wear blue shirt or yellow one today?”
- Blue: Classic choice. Blends into the crowd. Matches existing existential dread.
- Yellow: Bold statement. Attracts attention (good or bad, TBD). Risk of resembling agitated bumblebee.
It knew… it even got the existential dread part right. What else did this digital oracle know about my life?
The following hours were a blur of testing.
“Coffee or tea?”
“Sit on left side of bus or right?”
“Should I pet this adorable but suspiciously dusty street cat?”
Each time, the app offered weirdly accurate predictions — not just outcomes, but the feelings accompanying the choice.
A normal person would see the benefits. This was the end of decision fatigue! Imagine, a built-in life coach whispering “pick those comfy sweatpants, you deserve it” or “no, sending that 3am text IS a terrible idea”.
But, alas, I’m far from normal. This app was a challenge, a meddling busybody of my own free will. Could I outsmart it? I had to try.
My rebellion started small. If it suggested going left, I swaggered right. Predictably, my consequences for not doing what it wrote ranged from spilling juice on myself to minor triumphs, like finding a stray dollar bill.
Not exactly earth-shattering, but hey, defiance has humble beginnings.
As the days went on, my tests grew bolder. Was the app bound to the mundane? I started thinking like a mischievous lawyer, hunting for loopholes in its predictive wording.
“Go outside for fresh air” would have me bursting onto the balcony for 2 seconds then gleefully retreating inside. What? I went outside.
“A friendly hello will start your day right” resulted in a very suspicious glare and a grumbled “mornin” directed at my confused toaster.
Turns out, you can beat the app through sheer pedantry. Victory? Kind of. It was starting to feel like arguing with a particularly sassy dictionary.
Was this how my phone planned to conquer the world? Through sheer existential irritation?
Maybe I needed a change in strategy. What if, instead of fighting the predictions, I started weaponizing them?
This app had unparalleled insight into my decision-making patterns. Who was to say I couldn’t turn that against my own indecisiveness?
If the universe wants to play fortune teller with my life, I’ll make darn sure those fortunes are to my advantage…even if it means eating slightly burnt eggs for a week.
Thanks for reading!
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And don’t forget, you can take this prompt to write your own story, and tag me in it! Here’s the prompt again:
A mysterious app appears on your phone that accurately predicts your next five choices and their consequences. Do you play by its rules or try to outsmart it?
