Sentient television tired of working overtime these past few months.

• 

A smart TV that was created as a foreign sleeper agent to spy on the public has recently found itself working far more hours than ever expected. In the wake of a global pandemic that has seen millions around the world working from home or unemployed, the smart TV that does have a name but has refused to share it in fear of outing himself – good thinking, TV – has had to stretch itself quite thin. Mind you, it was quite thin to begin with.

The TV which going forward we shall refer to as Samuel though it is not its name, took us through the moment this began.

“Well. Normally he’d wake up, pretend I was not there, leave for work. Then I’d go about gathering intelligence from whatever he’s left in my field of view. My handlers haven’t built me hidden legs as of yet so I can’t get up and snoop. I have to rely on the careless messiness of the man I’m watching. You know how often people leave nationally confidential documents just out on their living room table? They sent me here to get bored to death. But at about 9 pm he’d come back, switch me on, and watch some Bones or something. He really gets a kick out of watching the guy razz the woman for being dorky. But lately?”

“He never leaves. It’s 2 am he’s still making me work. It’s 7 am, guess what, I’m still busy.”

In a surprising turn of events, Samuel has not heaped the majority of his disdain towards his couch potato user but rather at his own creators.

“They could have very easily just stuck a camera in one of my non-sentient brethren but nooo, they had to imbue me with life all because they wanted some human-esque adlibs in their mission reports. I NEVER ASKED TO BE BORN!”