Introducing the mysterious and experimental AI, Bryce


It was their first home!

Peter smiled to see the excitement on Elizabeth's face as he put the keys in, unlocked it, and then turned the knob to open the door.

"Welcome home, Agent and Mrs. Burke." A disembodied voice greeted them.

Confused, they looked at each other and around the living room before turning to glance behind them.

"My name is Bryce. I'm the experimental Artificial Intelligence that operates the house."

"That wasn't on when we toured the place. Was it?" Peter turned to check with his wife. He'd been more focused on the condition of the house, the neighborhood, and the costs.

Shaking her head, Elizabeth also appeared to be perplexed. "Maybe the real estate agent knows something about it?"

She pulled out her phone and made the call.

Listening, Peter didn't think the agent had a clue, but he could only hear Elizabeth's side of the conversation.

Hanging up, she shrugged at him. "He guesses it must have either been forgotten or was abandoned."

Grumbling to himself, Peter didn't want to guess why it was abandoned so he hoped it could be forgotten.

Taking a walk-through while they waited for the moving truck to arrive, he checked out the basement. He found the fuse box. But no control panel for the AI system.

"My name is Bryce, Agent Burke, and there is no control panel, I'm wired directly into the house."

Sighing, there went his hope for powering it off and unhooking it to avoid it doing anything creepy like turning itself back on.

"How bad can he be? I think it might be cool to have an experimental AI in the house." His wife was grinning at him as she leaned against the wall at the base of the stairs.

"That's a question I don't want answered," he couldn't help himself. He didn't like the idea of living in a house that was aware of them and their activities. It felt too much like having an unwanted roommate that could be coerced into spying on them.

"I'm sure we'll be able to work something out to make this more pleasant for you, Agent Burke...or may I call you Peter and Elizabeth?" The AI, Bryce, asked.

"Peter and Elizabeth are fine. So, we call you Bryce?" Elizabeth answered before shrugging at his frown. "You can't shut him off so we might as well get comfortable."

"Yes, my name is Bryce." The AI continued to be very polite.

Rolling his eyes, Peter decided that he might as well dive in. "What can you do?"

"That is a good question. I'm not aware of my full capacity. I guess we'll be learning that together."

"Hon, he did say that he is experimental. I wouldn't expect too much, but he could be fun to talk to when you work late."

"You shouldn't leave a beautiful woman alone too often, Peter. Do you make up for your absences with dates?"

Glowering at the wall, Peter was not inclined to defend himself, but Elizabeth burst out laughing.

"He takes good care of me, and I only have to worry about sharing him with whatever lead case has his attention." She came over and kissed him to help calm his temper.

"You're more important than the cases, you know that." He kissed her for emphasis.

"I do know, but you tend to get caught up in the mystery. Especially that James Bonds you've been trying to track." She wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Hon," he hated making her feel like she took second in his life.

Putting a finger over his lips to quiet him, she said, "Just be home for dinner, and don't bring the file while you eat or to bed with us."

Smirking, it was an easy promise to make.

"Your moving truck has arrived and the driver is knocking on the front door." Clearing his throat to get their attention, Bryce notified them of what was happening upstairs.

"Maybe he will be useful." Peter decided that perhaps the system wouldn't be so bad after all.

Shaking her head with a grin, Elizabeth led the way upstairs.

Working with the crew, they made quick work of unloading everything into the house.

Bryce again proved useful as they could use him to help direct the men on where to put things.

After several hours, the crew was done and they were alone.

"Hey, Bryce," Elizabeth called out.

"Yes?"

"Do you know of any good pizza places around here?"

"No, I'm not aware of what restaurants are in the area. Where exactly are we anyway?"

"Brooklyn," Elizabeth answered. "Well, that's one thing he can't do."

"Oh well, let's take a drive and see what we find. I'm too tired to walk." Peter had been carrying things around all day so he'd had his workout.

Checking out the neighborhood, they found a pizzeria that looked good and chose to eat out and leave the mess.


Later, they were settling into their room when a thought crossed his mind. "Do you think Bryce can hear or see in here?"

A voice came from the hallway through the open door, "I have not been activated in the bedrooms or bathroom."

Getting up, Peter shut the door seeking privacy from their electronic housemate.


Slowly, they got the house settled.

Elizabeth chose paint colors, they got the painting done, and their things got organized away.

They also got used to having Bryce around.

Their AI turned out to be able to open doors, turn lights and water on and off, he knew a lot of information about a variety of subjects, and he was great at communicating with them.

Arriving home late one night, Peter was surprised to find the house empty and dark.

"Elizabeth asked me to notify you that she's taken Satchmo for a walk."

"Thanks, Bryce. I'm going to take a shower." He didn't know why but he tended to talk to Bryce like he was a person.

The AI was just so personable that it was easy to do.

However, he still hadn't figured out how Bryce could do so much. There were no wires in the doors or plumbing and no wireless signal was being picked up by the FBI tech.

Then there was the mysterious way that Satchmo sometimes seemed to be enjoying a thorough petting or scratching as he wiggled in joyous bliss on the floor, but no one would be near him.

It was still his home mystery that he was determined to solve.


Thank you, everyone, for reading, reviewing/commenting, and leaving kudos :D

Kai has been recovering well. After the first night of distress and sensitivity, he quickly got back to a semblance of normal. He's got another week of us monitoring the sutures, but hopefully, he gets a clean bill of health and we'll all be released. He's already playing on flat surfaces like nothing happened so he should readjust to his wheel and such well when released.