*Months Later*
The world had certainly fallen head over heels for S.A.M. Over 80% of the population owned the small AI system, putting it in their homes, their cars, work desks, anything they could insert the little chip into. The interest in technology and computer systems spiked, and universities began offering more science and technology classes in return. The countries biggest in the science community, China, the United States, Russia, all began competing to create the next big scientific breakthrough. Researchers had claimed it to be the technological revolution of the era, and at first it seemed it wouldn’t ever stop.
That first month or two after the system had originally come out, the news report doubled, then tripled in occurrence, due to the creator adding upgrades and new features, such as voice-to-talk abilities. And then he’d given S.A.M. a voice so people could feel as though they were having a real conversation with a human being. The public just kept eating it up.
Now though, after the initial boom of production and demand, the industry was beginning to slow down once more. A few knockoff brands had tried starting their own companies, but the creator held a patent for that specific technology, and sued anyone who tried competing. The price of the little computer chip dropped to $500, then $350, once it was apparent that the demand for the AI was slowing down. Used AI systems weren’t difficult to find at pawn shops or clearance sections of electronic stores.
Still, Abby hadn’t gotten one. Not because she didn’t want it necessarily, but because she wasn’t partial to follow trending fads. If she were to get one, she’d get it when the price dropped some more anyways. Data entry specialists didn’t make all that much money. $800 for an entertainment machine was a waste of the little money she did have saved.
Not that a part of her was burning to have one. It intrigued her a little, but not enough to openly pursue getting one. Besides, most days she was just too tired or disinterested in doing anything.
Still, when she saw the beat-up little box in a clearance section of a store the next day, buried deep underneath phone chargers and headphones, she picked it up and inspected it. A little red price tag on the back said it was only $100. Though the outside packaging looked like it’d been crushed or sat on at one point, the tape was still sealing the top and bottom flap shut, so it hadn’t ever been opened. It was the original model, without all the fancy upgrades later models carried, giving an indication to why it was so cheap.
‘I wonder what all the fuss has been about…’ She thought.
Acting more on an unusual whim than anything else, she added it to her cart. Today was one of those good days, where she felt a small spark of curiosity and excitement at opening it when she got home.
Grabbing a few more items and checking out, she hurried to her car to head home.
After the food items were put in their proper places, Abby picked up the little box, walking over to her laptop on the table. The top was easy to open with the outward damage the way it was. Pulling the top flap up, she tipped the box over, dumping the small manuals and piece of cardboard into her hand.
The cardboard square had the chip attached to it, secured under a thin strip of plastic. Abby set it aside and opened the folded instructions. The letters were small, making it difficult to see in the dying light of her apartment. She reached over and turned on the lamp, reading the words as follows:
‘Thank you for purchasing the Sentient Autonomous Machine, or S.A.M., AI system! You’ve just taken a step towards the future of technology and scientific advancement. If you were a part of the kick-starter fund, instructions for your rebate are on page 8 of this manual.
Included in this package are instructions for setup of your S.A.M. system, as well as one computer chip with the AI program installed. Please read directions before installing the system onto your device…’
The directions went on for a couple more pages, but Abby was too tired to read it all. What could the harm be? If she got confused along the way, she could just look it up. Grabbing the chip, she ripped the plastic strip off and tossed all the cardboard aside.
Holding up the small chip, she inspected it in the lamplight. It looked almost exactly like a SD card for a phone, except on the flat face it spelled the word ’S.A.M.’ in white letters.
Hesitating only a second more, she plugged the little device into her computer. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, still nothing. Frowning, Abby looked at the directions, eyes scanning the words for what to do.
‘Be sure that your computer is completely turned off before inserting the S.A.M. chip…’
Oh, right. Taking the card back out, she did as the instructions said to, shutting down her computer. The screen finally went black, and she reinstalled the chip in the side. Then, turned on her computer normally.
This time, instead of the same old start screen she was so used to, the first screen that appeared was bright blue. Across the center was ‘Sentient Autonomous Machine.’ Then, a loading bar appeared below the words. It slowly filled, finally reaching the end and the screen changed to that of a white setup screen.
Following all the directions took awhile, waiting as the new programs loaded onto the computer hard drive. Finally, after about ten minutes and three or four times glancing back at the directions, the system was loaded, and a screen appeared asking for permission to restart the computer. Abby clicked ‘yes’ and watched as the screen turned black once more.
When it turned on once more, it had returned to her normal startup screen, with the picture of the rain-splattered window pane on a stormy night. She logged into her user, eyes traveling to the new icon that now appeared in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen.
Taking a breath, she clicked it.
A chat-like screen appeared then, with a window popup that asked ‘What is your name?’ In the text box below it, Abby typed in her name before clicking ok. The chat window showed up again, the large text box waiting to be used at the bottom.
Suddenly unsure of what to do next, she tested it out, typing a simple message.
Hello.
She hit send, leaning back in her chair to wait for something to happen. She wasn’t altogether sure how this actually worked, or how long it took for the system to ‘respond’ back. Then, a moment later, the words ’S.A.M. is Typing.’ appeared just above the text box. A small chat bubble popped up below the word she'd typed. It read:
Hello, Abby.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
