Sometimes It Stares Back by Anthony Cawood (AnthonyCawood) writing as Fred Nobody - Short, Comedy, Horror - A puzzle addicted young woman finds an unlikely connection with her super-helpful smart speaker, together they must crack the internet's toughest conundrum. 10 pages - pdf format

Writer interested in feedback on this work

Somewhat predictable, except for Alex showing up.  I knew the speaker thingy was more than just a tool.  Part of the reason I'll never have one in my house.  I like the dialog / interplay between Olivia and the speaker.  That was very good.  It felt natural.

You kinda lost me in the final act and I drifted off. Immensely entertaining, imaginative and witty first two-thirds.

Alex Garland.  

I really liked Olivia and her interaction with the speaker. Good job making it believable that she'd get attached to the voice from the speaker, that was sweet and sad. Definitely made Olivia very likeable.

I admit to being confused on what Olivia was trying to figure out, who Alex was and why he showed up at the end. Kinda went over my head. But I loved how she and the speaker worked on it together, then the speaker seemed to want Olivia to succeed so continued working while she slept??

The writing here is great and this was a very easy read. It just went over my head a bit. Best of luck!!

Ahoy writer -- my 2 cents. Thought I'd show some luv. Well it's one of the most interesting ones. Different. Not cookie-cutter.  It was cool to see the Mayan symbols. Luv the interaction between Olivia and the speaker. And yes, I have an inkling on who wrote this... no quibbles I care to share.

Enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Best of Irish luck! -_ghostie gal

Easy to read, and some great dialogue/interaction between the pair.

I would probably enjoy it more if I knew what cicada 3301 was, but even without that knowledge I did find it engaging.

Nice work

I'm with the others here. Great writing made it an easy read. I enjoyed Olivia's interaction with the AI. All good until the very end where I thought it fizzled a little. Maybe because I didn't really know what they were talking about. Still, this is my favorite so far. Great job!  

I seem to recall this being an internet phenomenon when it first hit the scene back in the day… way back. There was much speculation as to what exactly it was, even some threads going so far as to state it was the CIA searching for code breakers etc. Can’t remember the logistics of/or what became of it, and it slowly faded into obscurity.

Reminds me of The Most Holy Trinosophia by Comte de Saint-Germain. Basically, it’s a metaphorical prose that details the creation of the Philosophers Stone, the Universal Panacea, or fountain of Youth. The entire manuscript is written in both English and French, however, also incorporates a very cryptic form of ancient languages and symbols. That’s here if you want to take a crack at it:

https://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/mht/index.htm

Anyway, the story you have here is a just deliverance of what is quickly becoming common knowledge: AI and the threat it poses to humans, but it could also (potentially) enable inquiring minds to break cryptic messages that have been floating around society for eons, as well, might just find a cure for every illness known to man, if it doesn’t kill us first.

Alex Garland, nice… probably my fav director to this day.

The writing is strong, the story interesting and there was great interaction between Olivia and the
speaker. But I'm not that cerebral and got lost somewhere in the middle of your story.
I did get the ending, so that was cool. Overall, a nice effort.

Olivia working with the speaker solved the internet toughest puzzle should be glad and encouraging. However, it seems that Alex standing holding a crystal dagger in the doorway  didn't go with the story. The whole atmosphere of Olivia talking with the speaker was good and funny.

Michael.

Writer,

Nice work. Ten pages just flew by, everything flowed very nicely. There is an underlying creepiness to this story regarding the AI that bothered me in a good way, seeing as Olivia seemed to feel almost attracted to it. Bonding with it a little bit much. In the end, a cautionary tale and well done.

Steve

Agree with everything SAC says above.  This is a really good, if cautionary, tale about how we now and may in the near future, interact with AI.  Even the affection for it, for lack of human bonding, is, although touching, also worrisome.  I wasn't sure throughout the story if the AI was really for, or secretly working against Olivia, whether it was truly trying to help her solve the puzzle or helping unearth the evil.  As others noted above, I got a little over my head and didn't understand some of the references.  I also had to Google Alex Garland as I'd never heard of him.  I guess I'm still a little confused as to how he connects to the story, but I'm sure others familiar with him get the connection.  Anyway, all that said, this is really a very well-written tale and engaging from the start.  I have to say it's one of my favorites in this OWC.  Oh BTW, the term "f*ckity" will now become my new favorite swear word LOL.
It's just the right sentiment without sounding too crass.  Love it!  

Good job with this and I wish you much luck with it!

Kathy

Thanks for all the reads and useful comments, really appreciated and will be going into a future re-write.

Cicada 3301 is a real internet mystery, fascinating if you want to Google.

Alex Garland is the director of a number of SciFi films, most notably Ex Machina which is well worth a watch, so using his name was just a little in joke for the SciFi fans.

Kathy - glad to have expanded you vocab