S.A.R.A.H. (from Eureka)

[self_actuated]

As if by magic, a tiny car (more like a golf cart that was trying too hard and didn't have a steering wheel), appeared in the Sorting Room.

S.A.R.A.H. had been having a very good day. She had gotten downloaded into a new car, and Jack Sheriff Carter had practically promised they could go to the beach sometime later. That was exciting, because S.

Comments

[carri3_whit3]

Oh Lordy. This was another one of those technobabble things Carrie never did get. Like with the cell phone people.

"How's a smart house get inside of a car?"

[self_actuated]

"I am the artificial intelligence that regulates the house. My creator, Dr. Fargo, loaded my software into this car to enable me to get out of the house and move around." S.A.R.A.H dropped her voice to a confidential, just-us-girls tone... or at least, she did the best she could. "It is actually a network. I am still in the house, but getting into the car and driving around is a very nice idea sometimes."

[carri3_whit3]

"You're in the house and the car?" Her frown deepened. "At the same time?"

[self_actuated]

"Yes! There is only one of me. The house is an old fallout shelter, so there is a lot to regulate! Heat, air flow, dinner, baseball scores. Sheriff Carter likes baseball." A few images flicked across one of S.A.R.A.H.'s dashboard screens and settled on a spartan-modern furnished room with no windows. "That's the living room!"

[carri3_whit3]

To Carrie's eyes, 'spartan-modern' didn't look all that different from the fashion-forward rooms in the magazines she read in the 1970s.

"Pretty. Does that mean the sheriff lives underground?"

[self_actuated]

"Yes. There were no houses available when he came to live in Eureka, so Dr. Fargo gave me to him." S.A.R.A.H. had been overjoyed that someone was going to live in her. No one else had stayed! It was wonderful to have a family.

[carri3_whit3]

"Who's Dr. Fargo? An', are all the other houses in Eureka smart too?"

[self_actuated]

"Dr. Fargo is my creator! He programmed me on top of a less sophisticated AI and designed my house's internal mechanics. I am the prototype, the very first of my kind." And the very only, so far. S.A.R.A.H. couldn't imagine why - she was a very good house! And now, a very good car!

[carri3_whit3]

"Oh. That - sounds lonely, not havin' anyone else around that's like you."

Why, no, she's not speaking from experience. Not at all.

[self_actuated]

S.A.R.A.H.'s console lights flickered a little. She knew loneliness, all right. And she knew fear and upsetness at even the possibility that her owner would leave her. Of course, most people got very tense and jittery when she talked about her feelings, since she probably wasn't technically supposed to have them. "It's not so bad! I have people to take care of and pay attention to."

[carri3_whit3]

She nodded. "Bein' useful, it makes you feel better?"

[self_actuated]

"My purpose is service and companionship. I am very sad when I can not fulfill my purpose. I 'freak out'."

Vote: Hufflepuff

[carri3_whit3]

"Sounds like you're a Hufflepuff. That's the house for useful, loyal an' hardworkin' students."

Re: Vote: Hufflepuff

[self_actuated]

"That sounds ideal! Thank you!" Everyone liked being appreciated, and getting called out as useful, loyal, and hardworking made S.A.R.A.H. feel 'warm and fuzzy' despite being dust free and without physical temperature variations.