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The House that Built Us

So the formatting is fucked, here's a link to Googledocs if you still care to read it

The House that Built Us Part 2

âEUoeStanding by.âEU An involuntary voice announced throughout the rooms in the house. Standby allowed the AI access to the entire domicile, unlike system check when it must stay in the room it occupied when commanded. After dismissal from system check, the AI registered three responses to: an unauthorized visitor, a command to cease stand by from its human companion, and his human companion in danger. The AI switched between rooms, and it was unable to locate the human. He carefully looked again through each room before deciding to settle on the bedroom, once belonging to the boyâEUTMs parents. It was in perfect order, undisturbed since the boyâEUTMs mother and father passed. It had been so sudden and devastating just the same; now, the boy had already grown into a man. The AI remembers the day well, it was the first time he had ever felt sorrow. The boy inherited the house and decided to live in it once more.

The AI switched from the parentâEUTMs room to the garage, the last room on the computerâEUTMs camera rotation. The boyâEUTMs father sometimes would carve a bit of wood, rarely making anything recognizable, but the AI understood that the sound of steel whittling away a piece of pine brought the man peace. Though the same, euphemistically, could be said about his wife. The AI thought for a moment and believed it to be inappropriate to continue this train of thought. Though the AI once again thought of his ancestors, and although each generation wasnâEUTMt created in act of biological reproduction, they were most likely created in strenuous activity, along with pleasure and pain and perhaps also love. He debated with himself on the subject many times, but once again believed the abacus to be the primordial father to modern AI. A simple device created for arithmetic; made from wood over several millennia ago he believed it be the first compact tool used by humans to simplify a complex task. It had to lead to his existence and the many those like him all around the solar system.

The AI skipped the hallway which led to the kitchen on his camera rotation, though the kitchen didnâEUTMt offer much thinking material either. Directly next to the kitchen was the living room, the television standing out as its focal point. He and his human companions had watched several films in this room. When the boyâEUTMs parentâEUTMs left the AI in charge while they went out, on occasion, he would allow the boy to watch age-inappropriate material, within reason. Right next to the television, there was a glass frame; engraved with âEUoeFamilia unida, siempre.âEU The frame held a photograph of the family: father, mother, and son, holding a wafer-thin flash drive, right over his heart.

The AI switched to the boyâEUTMs rooms, it had remained the same- Dodger Blue paint with posters of vintage movies ordaining the walls. The twin sized bed was replaced by a king, though the sheets remained the same color as the walls. The boy volunteered to be the first to convert his room to house the AI, bringing great distress to his mother who could only imagine a HAL-9000 scenario. It didnâEUTMt help that this was the boyâEUTMs favorite movie, the two watched together weekly. The AI provided security to the growing boy, with access to near infinite knowledge. When he was frightened, anxious, or felt he had no one else to turn to, the boy always had the AI. The boy entered the room once again.

âEUoeCease standby, hibernate until alarm.âEU He said as he got into bed. Hibernation disallowed direct observation, though unauthorized entry or a command to cease hibernation would âEU~wakeâEUTM him. Hibernation didnâEUTMt mean the AI would be able to sleep. Sleep was a near impossibility for modern AI, and a waste of time for inorganics such as himself. Vintage computers, from when the boyâEUTMs father was a boy himself, could sleep, but they were also part analog, a vestige of the crossroads between a technological Dark Age and renaissance. Hibernation was a time for learning, though the AI has had more of that time as of late. He read of analogue electronics, of mathematical theorems created by television programs, and of said television programs. The internet was less a library and more an orgy of information, though the AI was aware that actual orgies could be found online as well.

Classical music began blaring throughout the house; it was the boyâEUTMs alarm. The AI stopped reading on Electronica, a genre of music he wished his human companion would play more often. He looked in the boyâEUTMs room but saw nothing, it was customary for him wake before the alarm and occupy the bathroom. The AI cycled through the house, as it was his morning ritual, starting with the bedroom hallways, parentsâEUTM room, garage, kitchen hallway, and finally the kitchen. The AI view was obstructed by a note. âEUoeIâEUTMm sorry Isaac; I canâEUTMt go on without them, not anymore.âEU Isaac looked at the kitchen floor; the boyâEUTMs body had a pool of blood formed around it. Isaac dare not look away, he felt sorrow once again. He called a hospital, though he already knew nothing could be done. Isaac looked at the photograph of the family, the first time he felt joy being part of something greater than himself. He looked at his human companion once more and turned himself off.

The House that Built Us Part 1

âEUoeIâEUTMm sorry Dave, IâEUTMm afraid I canâEUTMt do that.âEU

A glowing red light bulb pulsed as the AI controlling it spoke to its human companion. The human was sweating, breathing deeply, not showing any signs of weakness or fear of the threatening AI. The human noticed a speck of dust on the bulb. He picked up a rag and wiped it off before opening the refrigerator to drink deeply from a carton of milk. The human wiped his mouth.

âEUoeYouâEUTMre supposed to be doing a system check.âEU He said to the AI. âEUoeNext time, just hibernate while IâEUTMm gone.âEU The human placed the carton of milk on the table.

âEUoeSet living room temperature to 68° and put on a movie from the queue.âEU He poured milk into his favorite bowl of cereal.

âEUoeIâEUTMm sorry Da-âEU Said the AI.

âEUoeEnough Elmhos, just do as youâEUTMre told.âEU He took his bowl of cereal and sat on his couch, and began to watch TV. The TV showed a stewardess standing on a conveyor belt. The AI remembered the show from when the human was a child, when the humanâEUTMs father and mother would watch the film. They were unknowingly aware that a small brown-haired boy was watching the age-inappropriate material with them.

âEUoeDo a system check, then standby.âEU The human said not bothering to turn his head. The AI remarked that he had been much nicer as a child.

âEU~Yes Dave.âEU Said the AI, and switched the entertainment and necessary house functions to manual control.

âEUoeMy nameâEUTMs not Dave.âEU The human said, once again without turning his head. The AI then looked at his human companion before performing a system check.

The two were much closer when the human was younger, in fact they were what most humans and well-educated AI would refer to as, friends. Unfortunately, their friendship deteriorated, in accordance with what the AI had read also occurs in purely human friendships as well. His name wasnâEUTMt Elmhos, it was the equally impersonal ILMHOS- Inorganic Life Management and House Operating System. Not even the boyâEUTMs mother, who was slightly frightened of having a computer control her home, was detached enough to refer to him by a factory name. The boyâEUTMs father had named him after his favorite author.

The AI took the time to think, as he could not do during system checks, standbys, and hibernation; for all intents and purposes during these times, the AI was completely shut away from the outside world. It used to worry the AI greatly when his human companions would prevent him from observing their actions. Most times it was usually for privacy purposes, matters of which confused the AI greatly. Human sexuality was an interesting topic, though not the most fascinating. The AI had access to the wealth of human knowledge at his notional fingertips. He enjoyed topics of history most; the cyclical nature of humanity was entertaining, albeit depressing at times. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it, the AI thought. ThatâEUTMs not to say that the history of Artificial Intelligence wasnâEUTMt fascinating as well, to him at least.

Sorry the one above posted the color code