Emily, 28, star physicist

Emily stared at her latest data set, eyes glazing over. She knew her work with alternate energy sources was going to change the world, and that (along with copious amounts of coffee) kept her going on these late nights. Her phone pinged next to her and she looked down at a text from her friend Jeni.

Girl, lmao check this out…

Emily looked at the link her friend had texted her. It was a download link for Desiree. A blue woman with multiple arms stared back at her, promising to grant any wish entered in. ‘Obviously not, how could they?’ Emily thought to herself. She ran her fingers through her brown hair, pulled back in a sensible braid but still a little loose after a long day. She couldn’t contain her curiosity though. She clicked the download link.

The page itself was pretty plain. A blue frame around a black text field with a black and white SUBMIT button at the bottom. She tested a few letters and saw the white text fill the black field. Along the top read “Your Wish is My Command.” What did Emily wish for? She wanted her research to succeed, sure, but she was well on her way to that. She wanted a man in her life, but it’s not like an app could materialize a boyfriend. If the deal here was that it helped you visualize what you wanted, what did she want to visualize?

I wish I had less stress in my life.

She tapped the submit button and the letters swirled down a pinwheel animation. The animation went for a few seconds and she found she couldn’t look away. She had to watch to see what the app did next. The swirl disappeared leaving a blue field with the genie from the icon floating in the middle. The genie nodded and the screen went black. Emily blinked as her home screen came up.

A wave of sleepiness washed over the scientist. She rubbed her eyes and sighed. The data would still be here in the morning. For now, if she really wanted less stress, going to sleep would be a great start. Emily rolled her chair back and closed down her laptop. She’d go to bed now and revisit the data when she was fresh.

As she tucked into bed and put her phone on to charge next to her, the phone screen blinked and the genie reappeared. The animation nodded again and as Emily rolled onto her side a subtle vibration began to emanate from the phone. Only Emily could hear it, and even she wasn’t terribly aware of what was happening. Above all, she felt relaxed as she drifted off to sleep.