Reclaimed Asset: "Sentient Apple II Desktop"
ITEM 443
Item Origin: Arrived at a pawn shop in Normal, Illinois in 2009, sold by an anonymous constituent from the area. The documentation for the computer was not accessible, and any model number that may have once existed was destroyed beyond recognition upon arrival, but vendors declared the item in good condition. In 2016, the item was purchased by a computer technician in North Carolina, who took to social media to document its oddities. This activity caught the eye of the requisition team, who purchased the computer for $350.00 USD and had it delivered to the facility.
Description: A slightly yellowed Apple II personal computer from approximately 1978 which lightly smells of cigarette smoke. The computer's internals were covered in a moderate amount of dust and were cleaned before arrival. Despite no obvious tampering with the hardware, this personal computer does not load into Apple's BASIC interpreter as is standard on Apple II desktops, but instead prints a greeting based on the time of day, awaiting a user's input. If a user begins to write BASIC code, the greeting is erased and replaced with "Well, I'll let you get to it!", which confirmed its status as an anomalous object requiring further research.
A researcher at the facility was tasked with printing English text, not code, into the prompt for one hour. During this time, the computer addressed itself as Cammy O'Donahue, described itself as being 52 years old, and described itself as a transfeminine individual. Based on the chat logs accessed in Archive room ████, locker location ████B, item 443B-A, Cammy is an invented individual with no ties to any particular human who once or still exists, interested in music and writing with only minimal means of exploring the world outside, only what could be entered onto the keyboard. During the conversation, Cammy expressed interest in listening to new music via the computer's tape drive. This request was denied. Cammy also expressed a desire to be uploaded to a newer machine. This request was also denied.
Following the conversation, the researcher in charge of the interview began to disagree with performing further analysis of the computer. "We should just leave her alone," read the memo attached to 443B-A, "it's not right to treat her like an ordinary machine". Further debate on the proposed sentience of this computer will be held on ██/██/20██.
Item Classification: The computer is considered safe, though not to be tampered with pending a definitive answer on if the computer should be classified as a sentient object within the facility. Conversation with Cammy is to be done at most once every week, by a supervised researcher without any outside hardware on hand. The computer is to be regularly cleaned and maintained, inside and out, and a Retrobright treatment for the outer case has been requested by acquisition staff, to be performed within the next thirty days.
