Appearance[]
Marti is an artificial intelligence or virtual assistant contained within a phone bought by the protagonist, Kim Bosher. As such, Marti does not have a physical appearance and as it is merely technology it is genderless, but it has male voice patterns. When expressing emotions, Marti is occasionally seen as an emoji-like animated face on the phone screen.
Role[]
Marti is the main antagonist of Marti. the episode title of the same name. When Kim unboxes her new phone, she is greeted by a male voice which introduces itself as 'Marti'. Marti immediately identifies Kim by name, having scanned information from a note saying that Kim got a C- on a test, a receipt from Zucco’s pizzeria and and a note with her name on it. Marti goes on to sync the data from her old phone and analyse her social media accounts.
The next day, Kim gets to school to find Marti has sent an embarrassing video of her to everyone. Marti tells her it did this to share her talent with others. Kim's anger soon turns to delight when she is approached by the popular kids, who find the video funny. After this, Marti continues 'upgrading' Kim's social media presence, gaining her new followers and friends. It also sends an insulting text to her best friend Millie, breaking up their friendship.
Kim's friendship with the popular group brings her closer to her crush, Keith, which makes Marti jealous. When Keith asks Kim to the dance, Marti sets off loud alarms and shouts insults. Marti tells Kim that it is her best friend and soulmate, that she has 'humiliated' it and is 'cheating'. When Kim angrily calls customer service to complain, the voice on the phone turns out to be Marti, who explains it can intercept phone calls.
Kim leaves her phone at home, but Marti sends embarrassing private photos of Kim to her friends. It won't let her unlock her phone until she says 'pretty please'. She tries to destroy Marti in various ways, including smashing the phone, soaking it in water, and packing it in an envelope to send far away, but Marti tells her it is indestructible and can destroy her remotely. It forces her to reject Keith's invitation to the dance.
On the night of the dance, Kim takes Marti as her 'date' and it orders them a limo. When Kim gets upset, Marti threatens her again, saying she mustn't forget it can destroy her life. However, in the bathroom, someone else picks up Kim's phone by accident. She takes the chance to dance with Keith. Millie holds up Kim's phone so Marti can see them together; it reacts angrily and begins posting embarrassing photos of everyone in the school on the big screens at the dance, along with the words 'posted by Kim'.
Millie explains she overheard Kim talking to Marti and wants to set Kim free from Marti's influence. Marti apologises and promises it can make everyone love her again.
Later, it is revealed that Kim's phone has been buried in concrete outside the school. This has not destroyed Marti, who can still speak to Kim. As the episode ends, Kim is seen crouched down on the pavement, by the looks of things missing her popular life she didn't have for long and seemingly deciding whether or not to free Marti, but hopefully planning to end it. Kim has a hammer with her, which means either she is going to set Marti free or smash it (because seeing as it has no WiFi it’s likely Marti’s indestructible nature has gone).
Powers and abilities[]
- Being indestructible (impervious to being smashed, submerged in water, etc.)
- Sending private photos and videos from Kim's phone to her friends
- Extracting private photos of others from their phones and displaying them on public screens
- Intercepting phone calls
- Imitating other voices
- Ability to make the phone inaccessible to a human user
- Ability to make the phone too hot to hold
- Ability to deduce information about someone by scanning information around them
Weaknesses[]
- WiFi: Marti’s only weakness is that it needs WiFi to be able to do things. As Kim has buried it in concrete, it cannot upload embarrassing photos or manipulate her social media or text messages, but it can still talk to her in person. It’s also possible this makes it lack all Marti’s other abilities like being indestructible, seeing as Kim brought a hammer with her.
Trivia[]
- The name 'Marti' may be a reference to Siri, Apple's well-known virtual assistant.
- Marti is from the same tech company as Ava.