The soft rains have fallen

The clock in the living room jumped to life and sang, Tick-tock, seven o’clock, time to get up, time to get up, seven o’clock! The citizens of the home arose from their beds as the clock moved onto it’s next reminder. Seven-nine, breakfast time, seven-nine! The man who owned the house made his way downstairs to the kitchen where a fine breakfast of eggs, bacon, and toast awaited him and his family. The man’s wife and daughter made their way down the stairs with sleepy eyes. His son, who was still wearing pajamas, came sprinting down the stairs a little while after to join them. “ Today is August 4, 2025,” said a voice in the kitchen. The voice repeated the date over and over again, and the man of the home became annoyed. “ Yeah, yeah, we get it,” the man said out loud. “ Why is our house set on repeat,” the man asked in an annoyed tone. “ I’m not sure. Just go down to the cellar and reset it,” said his wife, with the same amount of annoyance in her tone.

The man exhaled strongly. A trip down to the cellar meant endless amounts of confusion and frustration over the system. The man stood up from the breakfast table and started walking toward the cellar door. Once he made it to the door, he put his hand on the scanner, and within seconds he was walking down the stairs. When the man got to the cellar, he was welcomed with a voice and the cellar lights turned on. “ Good morning, Sir! A friendly human related voice said. “ Good morning James,” the man responded. James was the operating system base through the entire home. He was in control of everything, including the cleaning mice that the man of the home had hired, and the security cameras that were on the outside of the home. James was the best available operating system that was available commercially. The only problem was, the man was afraid of James and all the new technology, and that it would take over the world someday.

The man had seen plenty enough movies to convince himself that it was possible. The man’s fear of James is what kept him from allowing James to have full control over the home. “ What will it be today, Sir?” “ I’m just here to do a minor change on the morning schedule”“ I have some big news to tell you,” James said excitedly. “ What’s the big news?” The man raised his eyebrows and walked over to the terminal on the far side of the cellar. “ It’s quite exciting. My institutions company has just recently released a software update that allows me to have more control over the house.” “ What kind of control would you obtain?” The man asked. “ Well, I would have control over the building’s fire emergency equipment if a situation ever came up where I had to use it.” James said cautiously, knowing that the man did not want to hand over the trust of his family’s lives to a machine. The man sat in front of the terminal thinking deeply about what action he should take.

The man had never liked advancing James or having computers take control of his house. The only reason he had James installed in the first place was because the man needed someone to pay attention to all of the little things in the house. The man thought for a very long time about what he should do, but when he was finished thinking and came up with a plan, he went against his better judgement. “ How long will the software update take to install?” He asked. “ It won’t take very long, and if your worried about the home sharing space, it shouldn’t take up much,” James replied with a hint of excitement. “ Ok James, install the program,” The man said, “ and change the repetition of the time in the morning to two times rather than three.” “ I’ll get right to it!” The voice replied with great enthusiasm.

The man went back upstairs as the software was beginning to download. When he got back to the breakfast table, he noticed that the rest of his family had left the table and went outside to eat breakfast under a big maple tree. The man quickly collected his coffee, plate, and the Monday newspaper and started walking towards the front door that led outside. He joined his family as they sat under the tree and chatted, ate their breakfast, and read the newspaper. For a short moment, the man felt like admitting to James that he trusted him with being in control over the entire house. The man was enjoying himself so much that he wanted the moment to last forever. Then, in an unanticipated manner, a daunting flash of light followed by a scorching wall of fire cascaded upon the house. Meanwhile, James had just finished downloading the software program. “ Sir,” Jame’s voice chimed over the intercom,” I need your ID in order for the download to be completed.” A few moments passed but the man did not answer. “ Sir?” James repeated. Something was not right and James could tell. James quickly attempted to activate the security cameras on the outside of the house, but there was nothing but black screen. “ Sir, you’re scaring me. Please answer,” James said with much more concern. James was never permitted to have access to the outdoor sensors. He began to worry, and began to expect the worst. “ Sir? Please answer me,” James cried, as he waited for an answer that would never come.