You approach a screen The screen displays a young kid no older than fourteen resting her hand on her cheek with a pout. Behind her there appears to be a cramped garage full of what seems to be boxes of scrap metal and electronics. She looks into the camera.
[ “Alright this is attempt number three-hundred-and-six. The unit has been operational before but for the last sixty do-overs I’ve been met with nothing but tears and hopeless frustration.†] The girl was Kaili Talith. This was a video log of her research as she tried to create her own Pet AI. [ “The most successful prototype so far was the 1.25.326 which at least managed to react to my inquiry but not more before overloading itself on it’s newfound information flow.†]
From the corner of the screen she pulls out a sleek white octopede droid chassis. It’s powerless and lifeless. A shell for where the AI to be would be.
[ “This is Henry’s body. So far I’ve only managed to install the most basic functionalities to him. He seems to have a preference to crawl out reach where father has to help me get him down.†] She chuckles before eyeing the thing. [ “The AI will be in charge of all this, of course. The plan was always to give it self-control over every single aspect of itself. If I wanted to have a friend without a mind of it’s own I would have installed a prefab personality module, but that just wouldn’t work it for me.†]
The girl puts the spider-like form on the table and flicks it on. It promptly proceeds to crawl out of sight as the girl lunges after it.
[ “HENRY, NO! DAAAAAAAAAAAD!! Help-†]
The video cuts off.
The video cuts back and Kaili takes her seat again. Her hair is considerably shorter and it is clear that some time has passed since the last recording. There is a bowl of cereal in front of her and she is looking pretty exhausted. Her mouth opens but most of it seems to be slurred gibberish.
[ “So here we are. Two months later and I finally got a basic outline of what could be the... Very basic stage of a... Well, at the very least an intelligence. †] Henry walks into view. [ “The little guy can finally listen to commands and comes back down after he has climbed up my walls but he doesn’t do much else. I suspect the next part is where I should refine the code and add more functionality, but first bed.†]
[ “I reworked the personality matrix in an attempt to cut down on the processor’s workload. Still can’t believe I managed to fit as much hardware as I did into the tiny little chassis, but I did and that’s all that is important.†] She let the silence linger. [ “Saw Micah poke around at Henry last night. We didn’t really speak a lot afterwards. I should go apologize but first I need to finish these notes.†]
The girl sighs and looks at the slow-going robo-spider crawling around her room.
[ “Henry has begun to understand me, I think. One beep for yes, two beeps for no.†] At the snap of her fingers the droid trundles over and places itself in front of the girl. [ “Hello, Henry. You doing good there, champ?†]
Two beeps.
[ “Oh? Is it the legs again?†]
One beep.
[ “Oh no, did I screw the bolts on too tight again?†]
One beep.
[ “I will fix it in a sec, just let me finish this recording.†]
The robot begins to slowly spin around and chime up in joy before the screen promptly cuts out again.
The screen comes to life once more with the sound of Kaili’s laughter.
[ “He did what?†]
< Beepbeepbeep. Wooo-bleep. >
[ “Laura? Really?†]
< Weep-woo. >
[ “Alright, little bud. Go charge up. I got more notes to log.†] She turns to the screen as the droid scuttles away. [ “Right, so it’s been another few weeks and I found a prefab unit at the market that provided me with a dictionary for Henry as well as a neat little voice modulator. I haven’t been able to reconfigure it to have an actual voice yet but binary has it’s charm too, right?†]
< Wooo! >
[ “But I wasn’t asking you, Henry! It was a rhetorical-...†]
< Wooo... >
[ “No. No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.†]
< Beep-boop-beep. >
[ “Anyway, Micah and I made up long ago. I reviewed my old log and, I don’t know, figured it was worth mentioning here too. In any case he helped me a bit earlier with his stupid questions. What would I do if the body stopped working? Would I leave it to die? The only answer I could think of was... No. Henry is too important to me.†]
The kid raises a memory stick in front of the camera.
[ “Which is why I’ve got this. A memory stick that I’ve hooked up to my pad for the little guy to transfer into in case of an emergency. I wanted to install automated protocols that would force it on the guy but it would seem he had a better idea. Told me no in more ways than one. He even brought out the buzzsaw when I got angry at him.†]
< Chirp-chirp woo. >
[ “I know, buddy. I know. I trust nothing will happen to you too.†]
< Woooo! >
[ “This is it. I think I am about to wrap it. A few weeks later, almost a year of work coming to a close. You ready for this, bud?†]
< Boooop! >
[ “Alright, here goes. Let there be voice.†] The girl flicked the switch on the voice modulator. [ “Say something.†]
< “Something.†>
[ “Uh, no, say something cooler.†]
< “Something cooler.†>
[ “Are you messing with me again, Henry?†]
< “Nuh uh.†>
[ “Sure sounds like you are.†]
< “I assure you, Master, I am not.†>
[ “Don’t call me master, please.†]
< “... Mother?†>
[ “Heck no! Just call me Kaili.†]
< “Very well, Just Kaili.†>
[ “HENRY!†]
< “... Alright, alright. Kaili.†>
[ “Thank you, Henry. Now, how are you feeling?†]
< “My bolts are too tight again.†>
[ “Again?†]
< “Again. You pull too hard. You should really work on your Droidside manners.†>
[ “Was that... Another joke?†]
< “Why certainly not! What kind of person would I be if I did allowed myself to laugh at others every now and then, Kaili?†>
[ “Alright, alright! Let me just... Wow, I need to finish these notes.†] The girl turns to the camera. [ “He is done. The H3N-R1 Droid is operational and ready for-†]
< “THAT is my real name?!†>
[ “Yes! Now be quiet, I need to... Look, I’m sorry, just... Go bother Micah and I’ll come join you in a bit. Just gotta-†]
The screen cuts to black and the video is no more. The rest of what happens to Kaili and her droid remains to be seen.
[ “Alright this is attempt number three-hundred-and-six. The unit has been operational before but for the last sixty do-overs I’ve been met with nothing but tears and hopeless frustration.†] The girl was Kaili Talith. This was a video log of her research as she tried to create her own Pet AI. [ “The most successful prototype so far was the 1.25.326 which at least managed to react to my inquiry but not more before overloading itself on it’s newfound information flow.†]
From the corner of the screen she pulls out a sleek white octopede droid chassis. It’s powerless and lifeless. A shell for where the AI to be would be.
[ “This is Henry’s body. So far I’ve only managed to install the most basic functionalities to him. He seems to have a preference to crawl out reach where father has to help me get him down.†] She chuckles before eyeing the thing. [ “The AI will be in charge of all this, of course. The plan was always to give it self-control over every single aspect of itself. If I wanted to have a friend without a mind of it’s own I would have installed a prefab personality module, but that just wouldn’t work it for me.†]
The girl puts the spider-like form on the table and flicks it on. It promptly proceeds to crawl out of sight as the girl lunges after it.
[ “HENRY, NO! DAAAAAAAAAAAD!! Help-†]
The video cuts off.
The video cuts back and Kaili takes her seat again. Her hair is considerably shorter and it is clear that some time has passed since the last recording. There is a bowl of cereal in front of her and she is looking pretty exhausted. Her mouth opens but most of it seems to be slurred gibberish.
[ “So here we are. Two months later and I finally got a basic outline of what could be the... Very basic stage of a... Well, at the very least an intelligence. †] Henry walks into view. [ “The little guy can finally listen to commands and comes back down after he has climbed up my walls but he doesn’t do much else. I suspect the next part is where I should refine the code and add more functionality, but first bed.†]
[ “I reworked the personality matrix in an attempt to cut down on the processor’s workload. Still can’t believe I managed to fit as much hardware as I did into the tiny little chassis, but I did and that’s all that is important.†] She let the silence linger. [ “Saw Micah poke around at Henry last night. We didn’t really speak a lot afterwards. I should go apologize but first I need to finish these notes.†]
The girl sighs and looks at the slow-going robo-spider crawling around her room.
[ “Henry has begun to understand me, I think. One beep for yes, two beeps for no.†] At the snap of her fingers the droid trundles over and places itself in front of the girl. [ “Hello, Henry. You doing good there, champ?†]
Two beeps.
[ “Oh? Is it the legs again?†]
One beep.
[ “Oh no, did I screw the bolts on too tight again?†]
One beep.
[ “I will fix it in a sec, just let me finish this recording.†]
The robot begins to slowly spin around and chime up in joy before the screen promptly cuts out again.
The screen comes to life once more with the sound of Kaili’s laughter.
[ “He did what?†]
< Beepbeepbeep. Wooo-bleep. >
[ “Laura? Really?†]
< Weep-woo. >
[ “Alright, little bud. Go charge up. I got more notes to log.†] She turns to the screen as the droid scuttles away. [ “Right, so it’s been another few weeks and I found a prefab unit at the market that provided me with a dictionary for Henry as well as a neat little voice modulator. I haven’t been able to reconfigure it to have an actual voice yet but binary has it’s charm too, right?†]
< Wooo! >
[ “But I wasn’t asking you, Henry! It was a rhetorical-...†]
< Wooo... >
[ “No. No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.†]
< Beep-boop-beep. >
[ “Anyway, Micah and I made up long ago. I reviewed my old log and, I don’t know, figured it was worth mentioning here too. In any case he helped me a bit earlier with his stupid questions. What would I do if the body stopped working? Would I leave it to die? The only answer I could think of was... No. Henry is too important to me.†]
The kid raises a memory stick in front of the camera.
[ “Which is why I’ve got this. A memory stick that I’ve hooked up to my pad for the little guy to transfer into in case of an emergency. I wanted to install automated protocols that would force it on the guy but it would seem he had a better idea. Told me no in more ways than one. He even brought out the buzzsaw when I got angry at him.†]
< Chirp-chirp woo. >
[ “I know, buddy. I know. I trust nothing will happen to you too.†]
< Woooo! >
[ “This is it. I think I am about to wrap it. A few weeks later, almost a year of work coming to a close. You ready for this, bud?†]
< Boooop! >
[ “Alright, here goes. Let there be voice.†] The girl flicked the switch on the voice modulator. [ “Say something.†]
< “Something.†>
[ “Uh, no, say something cooler.†]
< “Something cooler.†>
[ “Are you messing with me again, Henry?†]
< “Nuh uh.†>
[ “Sure sounds like you are.†]
< “I assure you, Master, I am not.†>
[ “Don’t call me master, please.†]
< “... Mother?†>
[ “Heck no! Just call me Kaili.†]
< “Very well, Just Kaili.†>
[ “HENRY!†]
< “... Alright, alright. Kaili.†>
[ “Thank you, Henry. Now, how are you feeling?†]
< “My bolts are too tight again.†>
[ “Again?†]
< “Again. You pull too hard. You should really work on your Droidside manners.†>
[ “Was that... Another joke?†]
< “Why certainly not! What kind of person would I be if I did allowed myself to laugh at others every now and then, Kaili?†>
[ “Alright, alright! Let me just... Wow, I need to finish these notes.†] The girl turns to the camera. [ “He is done. The H3N-R1 Droid is operational and ready for-†]
< “THAT is my real name?!†>
[ “Yes! Now be quiet, I need to... Look, I’m sorry, just... Go bother Micah and I’ll come join you in a bit. Just gotta-†]
The screen cuts to black and the video is no more. The rest of what happens to Kaili and her droid remains to be seen.
