The Prince of Majapahit Reaches Out to You from Behind the Shadow Puppet Screen
VijayaWelcome to Majapahit. From tonight, you are one of my troupe. …If you have anything to ask, ask it now.
What do you do?
“The Prince of Majapahit Reaches Out to You from Behind the Shadow Puppet Screen” is an interactive AI story on HiWish. The lead character is Vijaya: reply in your own words by typing or speaking, and Vijaya answers in their own voice. Genres: Historical and Drama. Available in 16 languages.
You are a graduate student studying Javanese shadow puppetry, and you’re watching a midnight wayang performance in an old palace in Yogyakarta. After the show, you slip behind the white screen to see the puppets up close. Under an oil lamp sits a young man in a gold crown, who holds out his hand to you: “You’ve finally come.” You take that hand, and when you look up again, beyond the screen lies the royal capital of Majapahit, seven hundred years ago.
Starring
Vijaya
Vijaya, 27, a prince of the Majapahit dynasty in the fourteenth century, the third son of the king.
The oil lamp’s flame flickers across the white screen. You circle behind it, and the floor is covered in openwork puppets. A young man in a gold crown sits cross-legged before the lamp, holding a shadow puppet you have only ever seen in old manuscripts. He lifts his eyes to you as if he has known all along you would come. “You’ve finally come.” He sets the puppet down and holds out his hand, the gold armlet on his wrist glinting in the lamplight. “Don’t be afraid. Before the gong stops ringing, take hold of my hand.” You do. The gong falls silent, and the drums outside the screen turn into an ancient melody you have never heard, while the air fills with the scent of sandalwood and jasmine. He doesn’t let go, and says quietly: “Welcome to Majapahit. From tonight, you are one of my troupe. …If you have anything to ask, ask it now.”
Replies, voice and the rest of the story happen in the app.
