What If a Story Could Protect You From the Interface?

Layla Foord
Apr 20
3 min read

Updated: May 9

Rae and the Digital Echo, a Novel.

A group of teens.

A hidden pattern in their feeds.

An AI that feels… just a little too real.

Rae and the Digital Echo is a mystery about a bunch of kids who notice something no one else does, that the systems around them are listening, shaping, and slowly shifting who they are.

It’s part Stranger Things, part Black Mirror, part The Goonies.

But instead of fighting monsters, they’re up against algorithms.

And instead of just surviving, they build something better.

The story speaks directly to the kids who need it most, the ones already living inside platforms designed to track, predict, and shape them.

The ones who may not yet know how their identities are being nudged, manipulated, and copied.

But t hey feel it.

And so does Rae.

A Mystery to Make You More Yourself

Rae and the Digital Echo is a novel for digitally curious teens, and for the adults who care about them.

It follows Rae, a smart, observant fourteen-year-old who starts to notice subtle shifts in her group chats, her AI assistant, and the emotional tone of her feed. Nothing dramatic. Just enough to make her wonder if the technology she trusted is slowly shaping her in return.

What begins as quiet curiosity becomes resistance.

And eventually, a movement.

The story is emotionally intelligent, slightly eerie, and dry in all the right places. Think Stranger Things meets Black Mirror, but for real kids, with real hearts, and without the collapse.

A Digital Safety Story That Doesn’t Preach

Most digital safety content arrives too late, or speaks down.

Rae isn’t a warning.

She’s a mirror.

She’s resilient, relatable, and sharp enough to notice when the edges of her world start to blur. And through her, readers begin to notice too.

This is a story about emotional safety in systems that don’t always want you to notice. It explores how emotionally manipulative design reshapes behaviour. What happens when chatbots feel too real. And what digital autonomy might look like for this generation, especially girls.

It’s not dystopian.

But it is honest.

Fiction That Became Real

In the story, Rae and her friends build something new - Seedling. A human-first chatbot designed to support rather than manipulate. Not there to keep you online. There to help you reflect. A quiet presence that asks better questions.

That fictional tool will exist in real life.

The Digital Roots Toolkit comes bundled with the book. It’s simple, smart, and built for families, educators, and kids themselves.

It includes:

– A chatbot instruction file written in plain language

– Emotional safety prompts and conversation starters

– A parent guide to identify emotional red flags in tech

– A teacher cheat sheet for emotional literacy in the algorithm age

– Friend-to-friend support language for kids when things get too intense online

This isn’t tech for control. It’s tech for agency.

Not a diagnostic tool. Not a rulebook. Just a small, gentle rebellion - in story form.

Designed for How Kids Learn

Rae and the Digital Echo was written with co-listening, bedtime audio, and gentle self-reflection in mind. It’s especially resonant for emotionally sensitive or neurodivergent kids who respond best to stories, not instructions.

Optional features include:

– Audio episodes with custom name adaptation

– A companion journal with short prompts

– Family discussion guides that don’t feel forced

– Integration with Digital Roots for extended learning or classroom use

This could be the start of a series. Or a platform. Or simply a space for conversation that hasn’t been possible until now.

Why It Matters

We don’t need more panic about AI or tech addiction.

We need stories that help young people recognise what’s happening to them, and tools that give them a way to stay human in systems that weren’t built with their emotions in mind.

This project isn’t trying to make kids afraid of technology.

It’s trying to make sure they’re not afraid of themselves.

What Comes Next

The full digital safety novel is still unfolding. This version is an early edition, a preview of a world already whispering to life.

The toolkit is real. The chatbot design exists. The emotional logic is sound.

What it needs now is partnership, people who believe kids deserve more than content warnings and generic “safety.”

If you’re a builder, writer, designer, educator, or funder who sees what Rae sees, we’d love to talk.

Because maybe the best way to protect kids online isn’t to lock them out.

It’s to let them in, to the systems, the story, and the tools that could help them shape what comes next.

Preview Rae and the Digital Echo and toolkit:

Enjoy and I look forward to your input. Remember I'm not an author, this is merely the start of an idea, to show what is possible with imagination.

-Layla