THE COMPANION

(3 singers: soprano, tenor and baritone)
Sometime in the future people will buy and live with biomorphic android Companions. Maya (soprano) is one such person. She’s a corporate executive and each day comes home to Joe (tenor), her interactive, programmed lover, housekeeper and cyberspouse. It's a status symbol, owning a Companion. Joe looks and sounds human, only better. Even so, Maya feels like she’s not getting the most out of her Companion. She maxes out her credit to get an upgrade. A CompTech named Dax (baritone) comes by to install new hardware. They flirt. The new complexity of Joe's programming—he quarrels and withholds affection—is more annoying than pleasurable. Maya calls the Dax to come over and shut down Joe. When he arrives, a tense love triangle and power struggle ensues.