Echo

Abstract

Would you accept a personality replacement? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, Stanley is an awkward kid growing up to be an awkward adult. He struggles with depression, ADHD, anxiety, and just generally fitting in. He struggles to make friends in high school, and has only one friend in college, although his anxiety keeps him from spending too much time with him. In short, life, at least from Stanley’s perspective, is a never-ending string of misery. Echo is a new technology marketed as a “personality replacement.” First used to reform criminals, it is now being offered to the public to correct various mental disorders. Much to the frustration of his sister and college friend, Stanley pays to be Echoed, and is reborn a happy, confident, and different, person.