My story is about the life of a personified Minitel, Marquis, who is one of the first models. In this
story’s world, set around the year of 2042, the Minitel’s popularity expanded beyond France and
grabbed major tracation in other countries, especially in the United States. The United States
adopted this mode of communication and a minitel was placed in every single household in
America, similar to France. Over time, new models were made that allowed for a greater control
and connectivity in a utopianistic style. The government had unlimited access over daily, menial
choices made by the user. This style forced a regime of controlled interaction. A boy named
Charlie found one of the original Minitels in his grandmother's attic, who was the second owner.
His grandmother was moving into a nursing home soon and was getting rid of a lot of her
belongings and allowed Charlie to have it. She warned him about keeping it a secret because it
is now illegal to own an original device because it allows for illegal activity. After lying to his
mom, Charlie had to take his hourly scheduled online surveys for the government to keep tabs
on what the citizens were doing. Marquis noticed this and was astounded because this was his
ultimate goal. He was created for the sole purpose of controlling and maintaining society. He
was shocked by how blatantly this was being done but he assumed that is due to the addictive
nature of technology and wanting to be constantly connected. Marquis is satisfied and the story
ends.
If there was a continuation of the story, I would make Charlie interested in finding a way out of
this oppressive cycle. Marquis might be pleased with what has been accomplished but Charlie
would desire a world beyond the bounds of this network. Charlie would keep completing the
surveys and doing any tasks the government sets for him to not raise suspicion while finding
some way to manipulate Marquis the Minitel into connecting with the other citizens who were on
the illegal online network. Charlie and the others would set out on a mission to destroy the
network. Throughout this journey, Marquis has a change of software (heart) and sympathizes
with Charlie and wants to aid him in his mission.