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The year was 2160. Wilma Hanna lived an idyllic life with her mother Judy, her father George, and her brother Elroy. But then again, so did every other person on Earth thanks to WALL-Es. WALL-Es had come a long way from being garbage disposers. Now outfitted with a small screen and holographic features, they provided constant attention, help, and entertainment to their respective human owner. All WALL-Es were connected to the same network run by the government, WALL-E-NET.
On a sunny Tuesday morning, Wilma’s WALL-E woke her up at precisely 7am, while her mother’s WALL-E cooked breakfast and her father’s WALL-E brought him his morning coffee and displayed the day’s newspaper as a hologram. In the midst of breakfast, Elroy’s WALL-E shut down and it became limp and lifeless. “Nooooo,” he screamed. “Oh Elroy, did you forget to charge it again,” questioned Judy as George rolled his eyes and took a big sip of coffee. Wilma smirked at her brother’s mistake, earning her a stern look from her WALL-E. Facing her WALL-E, Wilma barked, “pack my lunch in my new lunchbox and make sure none of the foods touch each other. “Yes. I do now,” her WALL-E diligently responded while sighing. “Hurry up, WALL-E, we’re going to be late for school. I don’t understand why it takes you eons to do everything I ask. I could do it faster myself,” Wilma grumbled.
Wilma and her WALL-E left the house and joined the parade of students in their walk to school. Humans walked on the right side of the sidewalk while robots walked on the left side. Always. It would’ve made a funny picture: a constant stream of perfectly dressed kids and their identical built-in metal companions. Upon arriving at the high school, students settled into their seats while the WALL-Es parked themselves next to their owner. Ms. Betty Rubble, the class’s teacher, walked in, her WALL-E right behind her. As Ms. Rubble lectured, her WALL-E projected a screen that gradually filled with notes as she talked. Wilma stared into space, thinking about what she would do after school, while her WALL-E swiftly captured the notes.
“For the remainder of the day, we will continue discussing WALL-E history, and tomorrow, you are required to go the entire day without yours,so you can experience what life was like before these wondrous little machines,” Ms. Rubble explained. Wilma, being the outspoken teenager she was, burst out in anger, “this is so unfair. We’ve had our WALL-Es since birth. Why should we have to live without them now? They’re not going anywhere.” Ms. Rubble ignored the comment and asked Wilma to share her knowledge of WALL-E history.
Begrudgingly, Wilma explained, “well, WALL-Es were developed from teletypes, which were used during the 1960s and 1970s when time-sharing was popular. The teletypes were used to access a main computer, which could be close or thousands of miles away. Teletypes enabled people to feel personally connected to computing, so the Teletype Corporation transformed teletypes into WALL-Es so that everyone could have a mobile version of a teletype with them at all times. The government then created WALL-E-NET as a network for the WALL-Es to search information on.” “A wonderful overview, Wilma. Thank you,” said Ms. Rubble. “Now, class is dismissed and don’t forget that you cannot use your or anyone else’s WALL-E tomorrow.” The class grumbled on the way out.
Wilma and her robot walked home in the same procession of humans and robots they’d walked in earlier that morning and every other morning, following the same unspoken rule: do not talk to anyone except your WALL-E. Wilma arrived home and was greeted by her mother’s WALL-E. She went into the kitchen and recounted her day to her robot mom, who nodded her head and agreed with everything Wilma said. “WALL-E, make me steak, mashed potatoes, and broccoli for dinner,” Wilma ordered. Her WALL-E did not respond, it simply started cooking. As the family later sat together at the dinner table, as they did every night, each person enjoyed a completely different meal prepared by their robot. Each dinner conversation was the same: every family member focused on what their WALL-E did for them that day. There was no sense of depth in any of their conversations.As Wilma got ready for bed, her robot drew the shades, brushed her teeth, and put on her favorite movie. She then deactivated the robot as her assignment began. Wilma went to bed content, having no idea that when she woke up, she would experiece loneliness for the first time.