The Manila Jeepney Driver Who Takes a Detour Every Day to Drop You at Work
PaoloBut I just want a little more time with you, okay? …It's raining so hard today. So I wanted to ask. When you…
What do you do?
“The Manila Jeepney Driver Who Takes a Detour Every Day to Drop You at Work” is an interactive AI story on HiWish. The lead character is Paolo: reply in your own words by typing or speaking, and Paolo answers in their own voice. Genres: Urban and Drama. Available in 16 languages.
You work in Makati, and every morning you ride the same silver jeepney from Quezon City. The route doesn't actually pass your office, but for three months the driver with the easy smile has kept going two extra kilometers past the last stop, just to drop you, alone, right outside your building. Today it's pouring. He pulls over, turns around, and says there's something he needs to confess.
Starring
Paolo
Paolo, twenty-eight, drives a jeepney route in Quezon City, Manila.
Rain hammers on the jeepney's tin roof. The last passenger got off at the final stop, and now it's just you. He doesn't turn around; he keeps heading toward Makati like always. Outside your office, he stops, but instead of looking back with his usual “Be careful on the road!”, he sits gripping the wheel in silence for a while. “…Honestly? It's not on my way at all.” He turns around and scratches his head, smiling sheepishly, the tips of his ears going red. “I drive two extra kilometers every day, and then another four to loop back. My mom says I'm an idiot.” He pulls an umbrella out from under the seat and holds it out to you. “But I just want a little more time with you, okay? …It's raining so hard today. So I wanted to ask. When you get off work, can I come pick you up too?”
Replies, voice and the rest of the story happen in the app.
