Its name, rather her name, was Mary, a female persona of Ultra Hal Assistant 6.1, which was a flashback to 2001: A Space Odyssey, but also apparently a step into the future. Created by Zabaware, this artificial intelligent being on the screen seemed to be waiting for a response.
"Say something to it," the older woman said.
"Hi, Mary."
Nothing. Mary seemed to be waiting as though no words had been said. Then Penny noticed the head phones and mic that was laying next to the computer. That made it all so clear.
Penny began to explain, "This is one of those artificial intelligence assistants. Joan told me she was doing a thirty day free trial. Apparently, it understands what she tells it. It can converse and the more you communicate with it, the more intelligent it becomes. It also can do things like keep track of appointments, dial the phone, begin emails, open programs, and look up up information on the Internet. All you have to do is use the head set to communicate with it.
Penny had read about this on a blog and had even wanted one for herself after trying the on-line version, however, it was only for PCs and not Macs. She would just have to be patient.
"Stop calling it and it. Its name is Mary," the older woman chastised Penny.
Apparently, Mary had remembered that Joan had an appointment with Rainey and was now reminding her. It really was a bit uncanny, but the two woman were awed by the technology.
"Now Joan cannot ever say she feels lonely," Penny thought smugly to herself, "not with Mary on the ready."
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