To celebrate the 75th edition of The 8:10 Newsletter, the EICs decided to weave a story together! We started with an AI-generated prompt and passed the story along for each of us to add our touch. Here’s the result- it’s quite something!
THE CHOSEN SIX
Image source: www.pinteret.com
Chatgpt prompt:
“On a quiet Tuesday morning in Dalton Heights, a strange message appeared on every phone, TV screen, and even the sky itself: ‘Tonight at midnight, everything changes. Find the Six.’
Gargee, EIC (Complimentary With Compliments):
Who were the Six? {Well anyone who is remotely invested in pop culture will think of the umbrella academy. (maybe I haven’t watched the show, don’t correct me)} Was this a message from God? After all the message had appeared in the sky and the US industrial military complex isn’t as keen to flash messages in the sky. As this message became a national emergency, half of the population simply shrugged it off and went to work, while the other half tried to be main characters (in a chatgpt generated prompt story) to try and find the six. One of them was Laura. An economist by the day and writer by night, she was not a normal person. She vicariously lived through fictional characters and now it was her chance to experience it. In real life. With real stakes. That is a nauseating feeling but who cares the world was probably going to end on a Tuesday. A Tuesday of all days.
Sarthak, EIC (Art Thou Cultured?):
Laura could not stop herself from thinking about the message while at work. Could it be a gang of notorious Americans who were on a mission to kill her? Were these people who could lead her to her future fiancé? Or was it the sixth digit of a coupon code that she had apparently lost which could save her a few bucks at a Crossword store?
Meanwhile, Gabriel, her boss, had asked her to prepare for the meeting with the executives of a marketing firm. The discussion revolved repeatedly around how the firm had failed to maintain its clientele and how the financials had unsurprisingly worsened. Followed by a luncheon, she returned to her desk to unravel the mystery message. On the table lay a letter with a little key attached to it. Inside the letter was a note that read:
“There aren’t that many in Paris,
Nor do you have it in abundance in your vicinity.
Come, come my dear,
The golden door awaits you.”
Bhakti, EIC (Econcordia):
Baguettes? Of course not. They were everywhere in Paris and at the bakery next door. And golden doors certainly weren’t attached to bakeries. Laura tried to focus on work as Gabriel waited impatiently for her reports, but the riddle kept nagging at her.
After hours of working, her coworkers dragged her out to celebrate. “Everything is going to change!” they cheered, but Laura’s mind raced with possibilities. Where could this door be hiding? As midnight approached, she found herself in the old library of Dalton Heights, facing a golden door pulsing with energy. Heart pounding, she clutched the key from the mysterious letter.
Outside, the world was in chaos—riots, prayers, and desperate searches for the Six. Laura ignored her buzzing phone and unlocked the door. It swung open to reveal five others, equally bewildered. In that moment, they knew: a scientist, a soldier, a child prodigy, a healer, an artist, and Laura—the economist-writer—were the Six.
Padmaja, EIC (I’m Game):
Laura stepped forward and muttered, “So we’re the Six, we are the ones the prophecy spoke of, WE ARE THE CHOSEN ONES”. Everyone looked at Laura, all of them still as confused as before. What are we meant to do? What is going to change? And how are we to do anything about it? They were all strangers but in that moment something a lot greater connected them to each other.
They looked at each other and Amanda, the healer said, “During life’s gravest moments, I have found it best to search for the answer within”. Just as Amanda uttered these words a glowing ball of light emerged and it repeated Amanda’s words and vanished.
Anthony, the scientist muttered, “The answer lies within, how very poetic, but are we to look into each other’s minds now?!”. Just as he said this, Michael, the child prodigy whispered, “Yes, looking within and understanding each other”.
Christine, EIC (Kathaa):
As the six stood together in the dimly lit room, visions erupted around them. It was as if a film reel was being played around them. Except what this film reel was showing was real. It was the real world around them as they saw it every day. However, a couple of seconds later, they saw the world in the reel slowly collapsing into darkness and nothingness. They were watching the end of the world, right in front of their eyes. Then they heard it, the voice. “You have been brought together because you have what humanity needs to survive. Look within and find the answer, together.” What was happening? Were they… were they supposed to somehow…. save the world? “That can’t be right. Surely a mistake has been made! I am… I am nobody…. I am just an eco- i am just an econ-” and suddenly Laura woke up, almost screaming “-OMIST!”
As she lay there in her sweat-drenched pajamas, she realised, it was all just a dream. A ridiculous, over-the-top dream. Though it was slightly difficult for her to shake off the weird feeling after she woke up, as she progressed through the day, the dream had almost exited her mind. She even went out to the mall where her best friend dragged her to a line in front of a fortune teller. Though begrudgingly, Laura waited with her friend to get to the front where the lady sat. However, when she got there she was flabbergasted. It was the woman from her dream! Amanda, the healer! And before Laura could say anything or do anything, the colour ran out of Amanda’s face as she recognised who stood before her, the woman from her dream! Laura, the economist! As they stared at each other fixated, Laura was met with the dreadful realisation that maybe, it wasn’t a dream after all. As if the world seemed to slow down, the women looked around themselves and to their astonishment, they spotted the rest of “THE SIX”. Some at a cafe, some at a bookstore, but they were all there. They had all been brought together.
It wasn’t a dream. It didn’t end when they woke up that day. In fact, their journey (the one they were to embark upon to save the world) had just begun!