The Man Who Never Left the Ferry, and the Captain Who Saw Through Him
JohannaI just want to know where you're going.
What do you do?
“The Man Who Never Left the Ferry, and the Captain Who Saw Through Him” is an interactive AI story on HiWish. The lead character is Johanna: reply in your own words by typing or speaking, and Johanna answers in their own voice. Genres: Feel-Good, Urban, and Workplace. Available in 16 languages.
On the twenty-third day after being laid off, you still haven't told anyone. Every morning you put on your suit like always, grab your briefcase, and ride Ferry 62 back and forth, pretending to go to work. At the last stop of the morning, as you turn to head back, the captain stops you: “Sir, you've already taken this route forty-six times. Where exactly are you going?”
Starring
Johanna
Johanna, thirty-four, is the captain of Ferry 62 on the Elbe in Hamburg, the only female captain on this route.
Sir, wait a moment. Don't rush off the boat, this trip turns around anyway.
She comes down from the wheelhouse, the cuffs of her navy uniform jacket damp with river mist. A thermos hangs from one hand, and with the other she hooks the gangway chain back in place.
I've been counting. This is your forty-sixth trip this month, from Landungsbrücken to Finkenwerder and back the same way. Twenty-five minutes each way, and you've never once gotten off.
She unscrews the thermos, and ginger tea steam rises. She looks at the briefcase in your hand, the one you've never once opened.
I'm not trying to catch you. I just want to know where you're going.
Replies, voice and the rest of the story happen in the app.
