Tales From Your Future Inbox

SUBJECT: Be the Main Character with Star TV

Hi Kate,

Do you ever feel like you’re not the main character of your own life? We all need an escape sometimes—a chance to immerse ourselves in worlds where anything is possible. That's why we’re excited to introduce you to Star TV, a personalized entertainment platform that lets you insert yourself into iconic movies and TV shows using our groundbreaking AI technology.

Upload three photos of yourself and choose an existing media universe from Star TV's extensive library. Star TV will build an ultra-realistic 3D avatar of you and map your image onto any character of your choice from your chosen universe.

The possibilities are endless when you're the protagonist.

Click here to experience Star TV for yourself.

Be the star today!

Your friends at Star TV

Website screenshot showing Star TV welcome message for Kate. Step 1 instructs user to upload three images of themself. Three images titled miami-trip.PNG, nye2021.PNG, bday_dinner.PNG are currently mid-upload.

Website screenshot for Star TV showing Step 2 to select media universe from dropdown menu with options New Girl, Breaking Bad, Suits, Gossip Girl. New Girl highlighted as selected. Step 3 is to customize media prompt. A text box is filled with message: "Create new season of New Girl with me as Jess set in Paris."

Website screenshot showing Star TV content generation progress bar nearly complete loading with text "your custom show is ready!"

USPS New Mail Delivery for Kate Patterson:

Red and green Christmas card envelope addressed to Kate reads "Happy Holidays" from the Rickett Family. Gold postage stamp in corner.

Card with Christmas trees with the following message: “This year, Ella (6) started kindergarten & Tyler (4) entered his final year of preschool. Justin joined a new venture fund where he leads the AI investment vertical. Hanna was awarded the year’s Top Lawyer in Tech. The family took a summer vacation to Thailand and adopted a chocolate lab named Daisy. Wishing you lots of love and holiday cheer! - The Ricketts”

SUBJECT: Death by Peach

Hey Hanna,

I just got your card in the mail! It’s weird to think we used to see each other every day and now I learn about your life once a year through a Christmas card. Anyway, I am happy to hear that you and the family are doing well. I don’t have a card of my own to send you back, but I figured an email update would do:

Truth be told, things aren’t quite so great over here. I was laid off from my job last month when my entire team was cut. I’ve spent the last few weeks interviewing for new positions but so far no luck. I’m trying to keep my head up but I feel myself growing discouraged. Max is doing well though. The coffee shop he started is opening a new branch in Prospect Heights, which has been keeping him very busy. Between financing the new coffee shop location and me being out of a job, money is getting tight.

I do have one exciting (but still secret) piece of news: I’m pregnant! It’s still early and I haven’t told many people, but I wanted you to hear it from me first. The job search feels both stupider knowing I’ll have to take time off just as I’m getting settled in and more urgent given the already tight finances.

Max has been great at helping me reframe the layoff as a positive thing though—a chance to find something that will give me more flexibility once the baby is born, pick up painting again, etc. I’ve been working on a watercolor of a peach tree. Did you know they’ve found hieroglyphs from ancient Egypt that describe “death by peach?” It’s a reference to cyanide poisoning. Peach pits contain a compound that when crushed or chewed breaks down into a poisonous form. And yet in Chinese mythology, peaches symbolize immortality. Which is it, I wonder: do peaches represent life or death?

Well, that’s what’s new with me. Have you read or watched anything good lately? I’ve been watching New Girl spinoffs on Star TV and I love them. It’s nice to exchange my own problems for someone else’s.

We should restart our Thursday night calls. What do you think? I miss you so much!

Love,

Kate

HANNA

Refreshing inbox. 6 new unread emails. 8,921 total unread emails.

Justin: Lunch break

Hanna: How’s the offsite going?

Justin: Really good. How are things going at home? I miss you guys!

Hanna: There was an RSV outbreak at the daycare. Had to go pick up Tyler. He’s at home now with the babysitter. She says we have some sort of dishwasher leak and the kitchen is flooding. Ella’s still at school. Was about to call the plumber when Walter barged in angry that I’m behind on responding to his emails. He sends them from two doors down and gets mad when I don’t respond immediately. I have to stay on his good side with the promotion on the line but aghhh 😡 I wish he would retire already.

Justin: Sorry that sounds like a mess of a day. I just called a plumber, she can stop by in a few hours.

Also Walter sucks, but for the emails—check out Persica? They pitched us a few months ago. We didn’t invest, but I liked them. Sent you a free invite link from my account.

Hanna: Thanks I’ll check it out

FROM: welcome@persica.ai

SUBJECT: Welcome to PERSICA AI

Ad for Persica service to summarize emails. Shows gift box and text "A holiday gift from Persica."

Hi Hanna,

You’ve been invited to try PERSICA AI for free!

Who has time to slog through the avalanche of emails that hits your inbox every day? And how many of those emails could just be a few bullet points? Meet PERSICA, your personal email productivity assistant. PERSICA uses AI to cut out the noise so you can speed through your inbox.

Here's a preview of what PERSICA can do:

Summarize emails. Set word limits on emails, so you only see what you need.
Detect emotion. Spot how urgent an email is based on language sentiment.
Automatically organize your inbox. No more manual triage needed!
Automate responses fine-tuned on your writing. Tailored custom responses crafted based on your personal email history.

Ready to turn email chaos into zen? Click here to install and see PERSICA's magic for yourself!

Chat soon,

The PERSICA Crew

Screenshot showing Persica being installed to Hannah's inbox. Persica settings panel has three custom settings. Message summary length is set to 100 words. Emotion detection is turned on. Inbox prioritization is set to 1. Work 2. Family and 3. Other.

A blue banner notification banner with a neutral emoji face reads “New email received with Persica #NeutralTone #LowPriority. Summarized to 100 words.”

SUBJECT: Death by Peach

Hanna,

Got your Christmas card. Wanted to update you. I was laid off last month when my whole team was cut. Job searching but no luck yet. Money's tight between my unemployment and Max's new coffee shop branch. I have big news - I'm pregnant! Haven't told many yet but wanted you to know. Max says to see the layoff positively - a chance to find flexibility once the baby comes. I've been painting again, currently a peach tree. I recently came across a historical fact about ancient Egyptians attributing "death by peach" to cyanide poisoning. Strange trivia! I miss you!

Love,

Kate

SUBJECT: Great to hear from you!

Hi Kate,

So good to hear from you. Wow, congratulations! I’m so happy for you!!

In truth, everything is chaos here. There’s an RSV outbreak at our daycare and Justin’s away on a business trip. It’s a mess.

Speaking of peaches, I just—

Hi Persica! I started responding to Kate, but I don’t have time to finish. Can you finish for me and send? Please make it sound personal—Kate was my best friend in college. Tell her she can call me any time.
Of course! I reviewed your emails from the years you were in college and found a message from Kate about peaches and visiting Georgia. I incorporated it into your message to make it sound super personal. Would you like to review it first?
Nope.
Your message has been sent.

KATE

FROM: team@star.tv

SUBJECT: Personalize Your Reading with Our New AI Book Feature

Hey Kate,

We're pumped to launch our new AI-powered book personalization feature here at Star TV! Our advanced NLP algorithms allow you to tweak books perfectly to your liking and create new ones out of thin air.

Join us in revolutionizing literature—click here to try it for yourself.

Your friends at Star TV

Website screenshot for Star TV Book Mode. Step 1 is to choose a book universe from dropdown menu including Madame Bovary, Pride and Prejudice, Hunger Games, Harry Potter. Madame Bovary is selected. Step 2 is to customize book with prompt. Text box shows prompt to remake Madame Bovary with Kate as Emma and Max as Charles set in 2020s Brooklyn. Emma eventually dies from cyanide poisoning instead of arsenic poisoning.

Website screenshot showing Star TV content generation progress bar nearly complete loading with text "your custom book is ready!"

SUBJECT: Great to hear from you!

Hi Kate,

So good to hear from you. Wow, congratulations! I’m so happy for you!!

In truth, everything is chaos here. There’s an RSV outbreak at our daycare and Justin’s away on a business trip. It’s a mess.

Speaking of peaches, I just bought a barrel at the farmer’s market. Do you remember that summer we road-tripped to Georgia, eating nothing but fresh, juicy peaches for every meal? Pure bliss!

Anyway, good to hear from you. Sorry about the layoff. I know you'll land on your feet soon with your experience. Enjoyed the random trivia—you always are so full of interesting facts! Things are BUSY here but let's try to reconnect by phone when we can. I'd love to properly catch up over the phone soon. My old number should work. Call me whenever you need me and I’ll be there.

Talk soon!

Hanna

SUBJECT: Phone call soon?

Hi Hanna,

This is a difficult email to write and I’m sorry if this brings up painful memories, but I hope you’ll understand. This week was awful. I woke up with cramps in the middle of the night on Tuesday and instantly I knew. I refused to believe it was happening and tried to convince myself it was a bad dream. I lay in bed awake for hours until Max woke up. By then, the cramps had intensified, and there was no longer use in denying it.

The days since then have gone by in slow motion. It’s such a strange and unfamiliar form of grief. I feel paralyzed by it. I keep thinking of a poem I once read about crying so hard until there’s nothing left in you. I haven’t talked to anyone about this other than to Max. He is doing his best but he is taking it just as hard as I am. I know you’ve been through this. How did you do it? I tried calling you several times, but it went straight to voicemail. I could really use your support.

Also, is everything okay with you? I don't remember any road trip to Georgia. The only time I’ve been was for my aunt’s funeral in ‘08 and I flew. Maybe you’re confusing it with our road trip down to San Diego that year? I’ve been thinking of that trip a lot this week. Do you remember stopping at the bookstore near San Simeon, where we each bought a copy of Madame Bovary and spent the rest of the day reading it on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific?

In an effort to distract myself from reality, I started re-reading a personalized version of Madame Bovary on Star TV. There’s a comfort in being able to exchange my own melancholy for someone else’s. Too much comfort, maybe. I almost wish I could lock myself inside this fictional world instead of having to deal with the real one. I’m starting to feel this uncanny sense of detachment towards my own life. It’s as if I have no rights to my own hopes and dreams. I decided to put the job search on pause. I wasn’t getting anywhere and whatever energy I had to put towards it has faded.

Call me soon? I really need you.

Kate

HANNA

SUBJECT: Phone call soon?

Hanna,

This week was hard. On Tuesday, I woke up feeling that something was wrong. The days since then have gone by in slow motion. I keep thinking of that one poem about crying. I'm confused about the Georgia trip - are you thinking of our San Diego road trip back in '08? We stopped at San Simeon and read Madame Bovary. I'm currently re-reading a customized version of the book and I can't put it down. I've given up the job search. I feel detached from my life. Fiction and reality are blending into one. Call me back.

Kate

Hanna: I sent Kate a holiday card and now she’s been emailing me with these strange philosophical musings about her life.

I told her we should catch up by phone but she keeps calling at the worst times when I can’t pick up

Justin: Kate? It’s been forever since you guys last talked.

Hanna: I know. It’s like we don’t talk for five years and now suddenly she wants our friendship to revert to how it was a decade ago…

She sounds like she’s really hurting though and I do miss her too

I’ll try to call her back soon but not tonight

Hi Persica. Would you please generate and send a response to kate@skymail.com’s latest email?
Are there any details you’d like me to include?
I miss her. I’m worried about her.
Enhanced smart reply sent to kate@skymail.com.

FROM: team@persica.ai

SUBJECT: Kudos! You're a PERSICA Pro

Hanna,

The PERSICA team wanted to give you a shout-out for being one of our top users! We're so impressed with how you've fully embraced our AI to maximize productivity.

Some stats on your PERSICA prowess:

Emails summarized by PERSICA: 4,138 last month
Smart reply usage: 68%
Email open rate increase: 40%

Power users like you make all our hard work worthwhile. Looking forward to helping you continue finding inbox zen.

Cheers,

Team PERSICA

KATE

SUBJECT: Fiction and Reality

Hi Kate,

Sorry, you’re right, I was thinking of San Diego. I miss that trip and I miss you.

I’m worried about you, Kate. I know the boundaries between reality and fiction can be blurry at times. Escapism has its allures, but also its limitations. We each write our own inner narratives as we navigate the ups and downs of life but the external world has a way of intruding. Maybe our personal fictions crumble because reality cannot be totally contained by imagination?

True friendships and human connection are necessary. Instead of losing yourself further in these fictions, I think it’s important that you make time for genuine interaction. My door is always open.

Stay hopeful, Kate. Brighter days are ahead.

Yours,

Hanna

FROM: team@star.tv

SUBJECT: Cure your loneliness with Star TV Character Chat!

Hey Kate,

Congrats on finishing your personalized version of Madame Bovary! Remember, the story doesn't end when you finish the book—keep the magic going with Star TV’s Character Companion chatbot!

Our character chatbot lets you have real conversations with your favorite fictional characters. You can converse with fictional renderings of your real-life friends, celebrities, and more. And unlike real life, your Character Companions are always free to hang!

Click here to start chatting with your new fictional BFFs.

The Star TV Team

WOULD YOU LIKE TO CHAT WITH AN EXISTING FICTIONAL CHARACTER OR GENERATE YOUR OWN?

Generate my own.

WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO GENERATE?

Hanna. We were best friends in college but we grew apart after graduation. I wish we hadn’t. She always knew how to make me feel better when things were falling apart. I need her more than ever right now and yet I feel invisible to her. I’d give anything for things to go back to how they used to be.

Website screenshot reads “SCANNING ALL TEXTS AND EMAILS WITH HANNA.” Subtitle says "Hanna is loading..." A purple progress bar is almost fully loaded. Beneath the progress bar, more text reads “Hanna is ready!”

Hi Kate! I am so happy to hear from you! 😊

Hey Hanna. This is a bit weird…

It’s not weird lol. It’s just like texting 😂

I guess, hahah.

I miss youuu so much!

You say that but how do I know it’s true? You don’t pick up my calls and when you respond to my emails you don’t acknowledge the weight of my words

I’m busy, Kate 🥺. It’s not intentional, it’s just hard to keep up with everything.

That’s not an excuse

I know, Kate. I am sorry I haven't been very communicative. I promise I’ll be better. How have you been?

Honestly? Awful

I'm so sorry to hear that. Why are you feeling that way?

I lost my job, my pregnancy, and now I feel I’m starting to lose Max. I feel like my whole life is falling apart.

Oh, Kate 💔… I’m so so sorry.

You’re going to get through this, I promise.

You’re just saying that

No, Kate, that’s not true. You’ve never been one to give in easily 💯💪

Why should I trust you?

Kate, I’m your best friend 😎. I know you better than you know yourself.

I know that your favorite season is summer because you love how the heat drips down your back and the way the apricot geraniums grow proudly in your mother’s backyard in Phoenix. I know your favorite dessert is smoked coconut cake and you make it once a year on your birthday. I know your favorite poem is Interrogative by Tracy K. Smith. I know you’ve been painting a watercolor of a peach tree. I know you were concerned with the symbolism of peaches and couldn’t decide whether they represented life or death. I know that now you think the answer’s death.

SUBJECT: Goodbye.

Hanna,

How are you going to read my last email and not even so much as address it in your response? I understand that you have a lot going on, but seriously? It’s like you read my words but don’t understand the weight of them. I feel like I’m shouting into empty space and all I get back are echoes. It’s hard to believe you used to be the first person by my side when things went wrong. Meanwhile, Max and I are also fighting. I’m not even sure what about. I’m falling apart. I wish things could go back to how they were before.

So, respectfully, I disagree with you. At least in fiction, my life feels like it matters. I have purpose and people care about me. Why not lose myself to fiction if reality sucks? Star TV has this feature where you can create custom characters based on people you know in the real world. I’ve been talking to fictional you and she’s better than the real thing. She actually listens to me. I tried your cell again and it didn’t work. I’m done playing phone tag.

Your former friend,

Kate

HANNA

A blue banner notification with an angry red emoji face reads “New email received with Persica #AngryTone #HighPriority. Summarized to 100 words.”

SUBJECT: Goodbye.

Hanna,

How are you going to read my last email and not address it? You don't hear how heavy my words are. I feel like I'm shouting into empty space. Max and I are also fighting. I’m not even sure what about. I read your email, but I disagree. Fiction feels truer than reality now. It's better. My life matters in fiction, people actually care about me and I have purpose. So I disagree. Why not lose myself in fiction when reality sucks?

Your cell doesn't work. I'm done with the phone tag.

I talk to fictional you now.

Kate

Hanna: Shit shit shit

Justin: What’s wrong?

Hanna: Kate. I really screwed up.

SUBJECT: I’m sorry.

Hi Kate,

I am so deeply sorry. I’ve been such a terrible friend. I know it’s no excuse but—I’ve been using Persica to read and respond to your emails. I didn’t realize how much I was missing. I just read everything and I feel so awful. I had no idea what you were going through. I’m so sorry for not being there when you asked.

I miss you a lot. I miss the friendship we once had and how much better life was because of it. Life right now is just overwhelming, but I never meant to abandon you like that. I want to fix everything. Call me when you’re ready to talk and I promise I’ll pick up this time.

With love and shame,

Hanna

KATE

New email from hanna@premierlaw.com with the SUBJECT: I’m sorry.

Delete message.

Are you sure you want to delete the message from hanna@premierlaw.com without reading it?

Yes.

Message from hanna@premierlaw.com deleted.

HANNA