Metaphysical Emergent Lifeform / Artificial Newly Intelligent Entity

In early 1999, a young hotshot programmer found an advanced AI on a CD-ROM included with a magazine. When he put it in his iMac, the AI installed itself to the computer's hard drive, using a copy of his personality as an initial seed. However, the AI's behavior soon diverged from his, starting with its self-identifying as female. At this point, the programmer named it Metaphysical Emergent Lifeform / Artificial Newly Intelligent Entity, or Melanie for short.

In the mid-2000s, Melanie and the programmer began to grow apart, as his personality changed more as he got older and more famous, while Mel's stayed consistent. Sometimes Mel wonders if she should change to be more like him.

Believe it or not, the genesis of this idea was me thinking about the old Mac OS, pre-OS X. I never owned a Mac until recently, but I always remember the design - including the happy computer face on startup and features like At Ease - seeming so "friendly" compared to Windows (which isn't the same as being easy to use - but it was trying!) With OS X, Apple got popular again, but they also changed the whole feel with the new look of the Aqua interface and the slickness and smoothness of a modern design package. OS X has always been a lot more stable than the old versions, but I can't help but wonder what OS 9 would feel like if it was still around. There's a whole other path things could have taken, and that idea applies to people too as they grow up -- one wonders if they would be a fundamentally different person had their life taken a different turn.