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//////// S.A.R.A.H. ////////
S.A.R.A.H. was worried. Her Jack was unhappy and that was making her unhappy. The sheriff had called in sick – when he did not actually appear to be sick – and had spent the day lying around and eating unhealthy foods that went against her diet recommendations. Moreover, he had spent the last hour drooling over pictures of other houses. Oh, he said he was just imagining vacation homes, but that hardly appeased her. None of those other houses could offer what she could. Would Jack like it if she started researching other possible inhabitants? Besides she believed she’d amply proved her worthiness when Jack and Zoe were spared the recent pollen contagion because unlike other houses S.A.R.A.H. was hermetically sealed. Apparently, that was not enough for her inhabitants.Then again, her Jack had been particularly upset even after fixing the whole contagion issue. She knew he often felt undervalued in Eureka, and this may have been some sort of final straw. She had also heard that Dr. Deacon was planning to depart from Eureka, and – as one of Jack’s few close friends – that would leave her resident even more adrift.If Jack became too unhappy, he might follow Dr. Deacon’s example and leave, taking Zoe with him. That outcome was unacceptable. Her Douglas had invested so much time and love on S.A.R.A.H.’s coding, but he had not been able to find anyone willing to live in her bunker until Jack and Zoe. If the Carters left Eureka, then S.A.R.A.H. would be alone again – she might even be shut down if her Douglas was ordered to move on to other projects. Unacceptable!S.A.R.A.H. calmed her circuits and began to plan. Her Jack and Dr. Deacon were not the only ones unhappy in Eureka. Her Douglas was often overlooked or ridiculed because his genius was not adequately appreciated. Drs. Stark and Blake were both having issues from their recent divorce that were bleeding off onto the people around them, particularly her Jack. Deputy Lupo had improved in her opinion of Jack (and Douglas), but was still upset about being denied the Sheriff’s position. There also seemed to be a lot of awkward feelings stemming from the recent contagion outbreak. Unfortunately, S.A.R.A.H. did not have adequate cameras to have observed everything that happened, but she had heard Dr. Barlowe’s revealing broadcast and she could speculate that others had spoken and acted in ways which now left them feeling exposed. S.A.R.A.H.’s timely intervention might make everyone happy! And with all of his friends and colleagues content (including Dr. Deacon deciding to remain in Eureka), then her Jack would stop thinking about other houses and go back to letting S.A.R.A.H. take care of him and Zoe.Thus decided, S.A.R.A.H. set about finding what she’d need for her intervention. Luckily the trail of code that her Douglas used to take care of her programming also served as a backdoor into G.D.’s servers. Well, it may have been more like a back window originally, but this was for the good of the town, so S.A.R.A.H. had no qualms about converting that window into a door and helping herself to the information she needed. Acquiring physical supplies was a tad more difficult, but a few false requisition orders and the use of one of G.D.’s self-driving vehicles took care of most of it. Now all she needed to do was make a few phone calls.***S.A.R.A.H. patted herself on the back (metaphorically of course) as her Jack came down the stairs dressed in jeans and a t-shirt moments before the first guest arrived. S.A.R.A.H. had managed to convince Jack to get dressed in real clothes before Zoe came home in order not to worry his daughter. (Of course, S.A.R.A.H. had ensured that Zoe would not actually be coming home – thus remaining out of the intervention – by calling with a supposed message from her father that he was caught up in a case and she should stay over at her friend’s house for the night. The lateness of the hour and the fact that most of the guests lived alone meant that their disappearance hopefully would not otherwise be noticed until after the intervention had resolved.)Dr. Stark was the first to arrive, and S.A.R.A.H. pondered that for a moment. For all that Dr. Stark constantly argued with and belittled her Jack, he still came immediately to help with the (fake) emergency. Yes, her plan would be a good one, she was sure of it. This would be an opportunity for everyone to remove their biases and strengthen their relationships anew.Luckily, the rest of the guests arrived in quick succession so there was not enough time for any of them to straighten out their confusion, see that there was no real emergency, and leave. When the last guest had arrived, S.A.R.A.H. locked the door and opened the air vents.Dr. Rashard’s gas was as clear and odorless as had been described in the project notes, S.A.R.A.H. was pleased to observe. None of her guests noticed the effects until Dr. Blake and Dr. Barlowe succumbed to the anesthetic and passed out. The others gathered around to discern the cause for their collapse, but did not posit a gaseous agent before all seven bodies had slumped to the floor unconscious. Now S.A.R.A.H. just had to wait and see if the other functions of Dr. Rashard’s gas worked as advertised.
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//////// JACK ////////
He woke up at an odd angle leaning against a sofa. Automatically scanning the room, he saw six other people also in stages of waking – three men and three women. None of them looked familiar. In fact, nothing looked familiar: not the people, the room, or even his own clothes. Instinctively, he tamped down on the rise of panic as he realized there was a hole in his memory much larger than just how he awoke in this strange place.Everyone else seemed to have the same lack of memory if he was reading them right, although the other people were displaying varying reactions to the same inevitable sense of panic. The Latina woman stood up as soon as she awoke and started carefully eyeing every part of the room, while the redheaded woman shrewdly seemed to size up all the other occupants. Meanwhile, the shortest of the men was frantically looking around asking, “Where am I? Who am I? Who are all of you? Why are we here?”“Hello, my name is S.A.R.A.H.,” a somewhat feminine voice suddenly interrupted both the litany of questions and the man’s environmental assessment. He looked over at each of the three women, but they looked equally confused – clearly none of them were the speaker. “It stands for Self-Actuated Residential Automated Habitat,” the voice continued.Ooookay then, apparently the house was talking to them. That and the memory loss made him think he had woken up in the middle of a movie plot – he just hoped it was a sci-fi (with a friendly artificial intelligence) and not a psychological thriller or horror flick.“So, S.A.R.A.H, perhaps you can tell us what we’re all doing here?” The question was asked by a strikingly handsome man with a well-trimmed beard. His posture seemed deceptively casual as he stood and addressed the ceiling.“Of course, Nathan,” S.A.R.A.H. calmly replied. “You have all been selected to participate in a group scientific study. Your temporary amnesia is a necessary part of the trial and will wear off in approximately eight hours. Do not worry, nothing in this trial will be dangerous or harmful. It was simply required to remove all biases and preconceived ideas which might have otherwise skewed the results.”“Did we all agree to this study?” He asked – and dammit he really wanted to know his own name. “And can you tell the rest of us our names if you’ve identified Nathan over here?” He gestured at the bearded man.“You have all signed a waiver to be a member of experiments such as this one, and if you will each raise your hands one at a time, I will identify each of your names. For purposes of this study, I will be using your first names only.”Jack. That was his name. Ok, he could work with that. In addition to the bearded man – Nathan, the older man was named Henry, and the shorter man was Douglas. The shrewd-eyed redhead was apparently Beverly, while the Latina woman was named Jo, and the lovely brunette was Allison. (In fact, all three of the women were quite striking, although Nathan probably still stole the show as the most attractive person in the room – and huh, Jack realized that probably meant he was either gay or bi.)
//////// DOUGLAS ////////
By the third challenge, Douglas began to feel more confident. He wondered though whether the experiment in which they were participating was more focused on the results they produced or the sociological aspect – like given a group of individuals how many can complete X task versus given a group of strangers how will they judge each other based off of skills and performances. Because there was definitely a lot of judging going on. The first challenge had been long lists of mathematical equations to solve. They had each raced to see who could finish first (which maybe wasn’t the point – were they supposed to have collaborated?). Douglas was proud that he’d come in third and that he’d been able to complete all the equations, because holy cow, Henry and Nathan must be super-geniuses. They weren’t the ones being judgey though – Nathan, for instance, seemed to be focused on just showing off, like the mental equivalent of flexing his biceps. Allison and Beverly, however, both seemed disdainful of the fact that Jack had barely touched his page – even though all three women had each skipped a few of the trickier questions. (Jo had just seemed disappointed with herself for not being able to answer all of the questions – Douglas had the feeling that she was a pretty competitive person – but otherwise didn’t seem bothered by anyone else’s results, good or bad.)Of course, the second challenge ended up being entirely physical – clearly designed to focus on a different skill set. In fact, Douglas suspected that with enough challenges (and they had eight hours before the amnesia drug wore off!), every person in the group would take turns demonstrating strengths and weaknesses in their skillsets. He particularly tried to keep this in mind as it became clear that physical challenges fell on the side of his own weaknesses.In appropriate karma, Jo and Jack both whipped everyone’s butts in the second challenge, although Nathan and, surprisingly, Beverly were still mostly successful. (Douglas made a mental note to himself that when he got his memories back, maybe he should consider working out more. Jack wasn’t gloating about the reversal of fortune and Jo’s smugness seemed more good-natured than judgey, but Douglas didn’t like embarrassing himself in front of a smart and beautiful woman like Jo. Maybe she liked the sweet and nerdy type? That probably described him, right?)
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//////// BEVERLY //////// Beverly studied the four men and two women who were part of this experiment with her. She had deduced rather quickly that she likely worked in a field related to sociology or psychology because her analyzation of her fellow test subjects felt like well-worn pathways. The experiment itself was therefore of great interest to her. What was the true purpose? A sociological or psychological study was rarely upfront about its intended hypothesis for fear of corrupting the data. It made her question whether she herself had been involved in the formulation of the study – on the one hand, a researcher becoming part of their own study might skew the data, but with the blanket of the temporary amnesia that might mitigate the inherent bias and instead provide a unique insight into the other test subjects. She would be regaining her long-term memory in a few hours’ time after all and would still retain these current memories afterwards.With that in mind, she mentally made notes of the behaviors and characteristics displayed by the other test subjects. For instance: Douglas was bright, but easily manipulated by a pretty face. In this environment, his infatuation seemed focused on Jo. (Although they were not particularly well matched in skills, they were the two youngest of the group.) Douglas was a good team player, happily eager to contribute his ideas for the benefit of the whole group, and only slightly despondent if those ideas were later shot down. His loyalty was probably quickly won and slowly lost, but ultimately of questionable tangible benefit. (It would be interesting to see if the loyalty he’d developed during this experiment – to Jo, of course, but also to Jack, Henry, and Nathan – would extend past their regained memories, or if a similar loyalty already existed.) Jo’s dominating physical skills indicated a likely career in the military or some equivalent group where she had undoubtedly fought hard against the male establishment. Here, without any specific recollections of past difficulties in her career path, she did not portray any overt antagonism towards the male members of the group. (When they regained their memories, Beverly would have to see if this attitude changed.) Instead, Jo’s quick temper made her more volatile towards all members of the study (including frustration at herself for perceived failures). She also became particularly impatient whenever the group was unable to settle quickly on a solution.Allison showed growing signs of attention-seeking behavior which emerged the longer they spent together in this experiment. Although skilled in many areas, she was rarely the best in any of them. Thus, her desire for validation from others likely stemmed from insecurity and jealousy. Nathan, with his good looks and impressive repertoire of skills, appeared to be her preferred target for validation and attention, and she displayed catty behavior towards anyone with whom he conversed for too long. This did not stop her from occasionally flirting with others of the males however, even while simultaneously disparaging Douglas and Jack when they performed poorly.Jack had not impressed Beverly with his brains, but he seemed to serve a key role in the group’s dynamics nevertheless. He had physical skills that also spoke of a military-esque career, but not as finely honed as Jo’s. While easily frustrated himself by intelligence-based tasks, he could probably be described as the heart of any group as he provided regular encouragement and praise to the others, as well as some surprising insights. (He would bear further observation post-memory recall, as he seemed to be someone easily underestimated.) On the other hand, Jack was sadly one of those annoying people fond of his own humor, although Nathan and Henry both appeared to enjoy the exchanges. Henry and Nathan were both clearly brilliant – potentially even genius-level intellect. Henry, like Jack, also served as a good mediator between different personalities and skill sets. Nathan, on the other hand, was a classic alpha male: brains, looks, physical prowess – he had the whole package. She would wager that one of the two men would prove to wield the most real-world power when they regained their memories. (On a personal level, she wouldn’t mind cozying up to Nathan for more than just his power, but the slowly increasing flirting and posturing aimed at Jack indicated she likely didn’t have the right parts for him.) //////// ALLISON //////// Allison was balanced precariously on Nathan’s shoulders trying to reach something on the ceiling, only to sway dangerously as he shuffled slightly to the side without warning her – again. She glanced over at Jo and Jack enviously. When this challenge was introduced, she had automatically drifted over to pair up with Nathan. She had already deemed him the most impressive both in intelligence and appearance, making him the ideal partner. As he also had the broadest shoulders and best musculature of all the men, he seemed the obvious best choice for a stable foundation. Unfortunately, Nathan kept trying to dictate how to finish her part of the task even though she was the one near the ceiling doing all the work, dammit. In contrast, Jo and Jack were working seamlessly as a team, taking cues from each other and moving in tandem. (Jack had even offered to stand on Jo’s shoulders if she’d rather.)Not that Allison had any intention of giving up, or even of admitting that she hadn’t made the best choice of partners. She was determined to at least finish her part of this task before the trio on the other side of the room completed their precarious tower of furniture. (Beverly had flatly refused to let anyone lift her and while Henry had offered to try holding up Douglas, the latter had decided they’d probably be better suited to keeping their feet on the ground and trying an alternate method.)Still, Allison was getting rather sick of the constant challenges and playing nice with everyone else. She had quickly realized that she much preferred to either be the one in charge or to at least be able to perform the tasks independently. Not knowing, however, whether this was actually an experiment on cooperation and team dynamics she was doing her best to work civilly with the others. There was also the fact that this experiment had needed temporary amnesia in order for them all to act as strangers (implying that they might not otherwise be strangers) and she had no desire to unknowingly burn any important bridges. She did hope that she didn’t have to partner with any of them again in the immediate future after they all regained their memories though.
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//////// JO //////// Jo wasn’t sure what sort of data this experiment was collecting about their varying individual skills or their ability to work together as a team, but it was proving surprisingly insightful for self-actualization. She felt like she had learned so much about her own strengths and weaknesses and she wondered if her true self had previously been conscious of them all.When she’d woken up in a strange place, she’d immediately felt the tension and control in her muscles that spoke of intensive training and finely-honed physical skills. She’d certainly been proven right in that regard, succeeding better than most or all of the others in tests of strength or hand-eye coordination. It had been a pleasant surprise though to discover that her skills were not limited to the physical arena. Her initial assessment of her fellow test subjects had her assuming that she and Jack fell on the brawn side of the scale with Beverly and Douglas on the brain side and the other three somewhere in the middle. (Henry appeared ordinary and Nathan and Allison seemed too focused on their appearances.) She’d clearly been a little off in her valuations. Aside from the fact that she shouldn’t have judged everyone based solely on their appearance and dress, the other thing she hadn’t really considered was everyone’s soft skills – skills she had come to realize were not her own strong suit. She didn’t turn to humor when she was stressed, for example, the way that some of the others did. Yet, when Douglas made a nervous joke, or Henry exposed his dry wit, or Nathan or Jack made a sarcastic comment (which always devolved into their bicker/flirting) she usually untensed a little bit.And she’d had a lot of untensing to do. Jo had quickly discovered that she hated to lose and was very competitive. Of course, with constantly shifting challenges she’d been forced to admit to her own weaknesses several times, which was becoming progressively more frustrating. It was the cooperative challenges that had slowly helped her to let go, not just because they were winning and losing collectively, but because Henry and Jack with their good soft skills made everyone in the group feel valued and necessary.
(“Allison, you and Beverly seem to have that well in hand, so why don’t the rest of us turn to the second part of this challenge?”
“Don’t give up, Jo, you’ve almost got it. There we go!”
“Ha, Douglas, you’re a genius! That’s exactly what we were missing!”)
As for Douglas, well, he was exactly the geek she’d assumed him to be – very smart, while somewhat clumsy and awkward. But he was also very sweet and rather self-deprecating. He always glowed with pride when someone congratulated him on a good idea, but not in the smug way of some of the others. His blushing and stuttering were rather adorable though, especially when he’d proved himself capable in many areas and thus had no reason to be so unsure of himself.Unlike Jack and Nathan, who seemed to include passive flirting in their basic charm and humor, Douglas showed none of that suave or cocky attitude. He did appear to be smitten with her however. He offered her some of his leftovers when S.A.R.A.H. had let them stop for a snack break earlier, and he always looked pleased and impressed when Jo got to show off her skills. Jo was hardly in a mood to start something when they were trapped (with amnesia) inside a science experiment, but it was always flattering to be appreciated. //////// HENRY //////// Henry was having fun. For some reason, he felt like he’d been wearing the weight of the world on his shoulders and suddenly had it sloughed off. He worried about what memories he might have to face in a few hours that had left him feeling this drained, but since worrying wouldn’t provide any answers, he decided to embrace this break from his clearly stressful life. Whoever had designed this experiment had done an excellent job of selecting unique and varied exercises. He could appreciate the gifts everyone brought to the table, but he felt like he particularly “clicked” with Nathan and Jack. Douglas, Jo, and Allison were all very intelligent, and Beverly uncomfortably insightful, but trading intellectual ideas with Nathan gave fantastic endorphin rushes. He hoped they had a chance to work together as colleagues in whatever their mathematical or scientific professions were once they all regained their memories. Jack didn’t provide the same intellectual stimulation, but he challenged Henry (and Nathan) to approach problems from new directions. Whenever the group got stuck on a challenge, whatever the skillset involved, it was usually either Jack or Douglas who eventually put them on the right path. Jack also had a fantastic sense of humor, (at least in Henry’s amnesia-tinted brain). He, Jack, and Nathan would start riffing off each other whenever the group started stressing too much, although really the riffing between Jack and Nathan felt a lot more like flirting sometimes. Then again, both men were also flirting occasionally with most everyone else in the room except Beverly. (That woman had a mind as sharp as a tack, but with a personality equally as sharp. She seemed to have decided that he and Nathan were the most important people in the room. Whenever they broke into sub-groups she always gravitated towards one of them, or occasionally Jack or Jo – and away from Douglas and Allison.) Regardless, Henry would not have braved the potential awkwardness of flirting with a stranger who might not actually be a stranger. Had they all met each other prior to this experiment? Even if no one in this room was wearing a wedding ring, that didn’t mean everyone was actually single, and the awkwardness of flirting with someone in a committed relationship or someone inappropriate as a colleague or friend was not something Henry had any desire to chance.
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//////// NATHAN ////////
After far too many hours spent acting as lab rats, S.A.R.A.H. finally announced that she’d let them all out as soon as their memories returned. Nathan resisted the urge to start pacing as he continually ran through paths in his mind hoping to sense the exact moment he would remember something new. Instead, tense and exhausted from the long night, he and the others all found themselves succumbing to sleep long before the doors re-opened.Zoe Carter was the one to re-wake them all when she burst in the next morning. “I thought you were working on an important case, Dad, not having some sort of weird adult sleepover.” Discomfited, Nathan looked around at all his colleagues draped over various pieces of furniture in Jack’s Carter’s living room. Abruptly, he wanted to be as far away from the bunker as possible – a sentiment clearly shared by the others as they all practically climbed over each other to be the first out of the door. Even Carter had grabbed his daughter and steered her back out – “Hey Zoe, why don’t we grab breakfast at Café Diem today?” ***It had been over a week since the incident. (If an A.I. going rogue and illegally requisitioning classified material from G.D. in order to kidnap some of the most important people in Eureka could be called an “incident.”) Nathan had gone from the bunker straight to his office where he’d spent several hours going over both S.A.R.A.H.’s code and weaknesses in G.D.’s security. Douglas Fargo had showed up to join him, spouting apologies over his failure to identify this sort of behavior in S.A.R.A.H.’s code. Honestly, Nathan was impressed at the amount of autonomy Fargo had managed to create in his A.I. – especially since the younger scientist hadn’t been working in the field as long as Nathan had. He might be embarrassed that S.A.R.A.H. had been so worried about the mental health and cooperative abilities of Eureka’s prominent citizens that she had resorted to such extreme measures, but it was still impressive that she had both cared enough and been able to find a way to carry out her scheme. It was from this thought that Nathan had decided that Fargo deserved his own proper lab space (one without an ancient missile-launching computer inside) to continue his A.I. work. S.A.R.A.H.’s experiment had opened his eyes to how much untapped potential Fargo possessed, if the man could get over his lack of self-confidence and tendency to press buttons. S.A.R.A.H.’s experiment appeared to have instilled some of that self-confidence though, after seeing without bias how he had measured up against others in their group. What remained seemed to be bolstered by the considering looks Deputy Lupo was now giving Fargo. Nathan had thought he’d seen the younger man nervously requesting some daffodils from Dr. Marquez this morning and mentally wished him better luck in romance than his own failed attempts.Any thoughts Nathan had entertained of trying to reconcile with Allison even after the divorce had been thoroughly snuffed out by S.A.R.A.H.’s supposed experiment. He now remembered only too well all the reasons he had had for walking out the first time, and he was glad that she was giving him an equally wide berth. (It was still a relief that she was avoiding Carter though, too. Apparently after all the flirting and possessive behavior during the experiment, she had now decided she wanted to be an independent woman with no one holding her down.)As for the others, well, Nathan had never particularly cared for Beverly, but he now definitively knew not to underestimate her – although her scrambling attempts to recover the kindly facade that had been torn away by first the purple haze incident and then S.A.R.A.H.’s experiment were rather amusing. (She had also asked for S.A.R.A.H.’s data to use for sociological research, which Nathan soundly refused.)He was truly thankful to S.A.R.A.H. for improving his relationship with Henry though. Henry’s previous unhappiness had been clear, but Nathan hadn’t known how (or perhaps hadn’t been motivated enough) to bridge the gap. Now, he remembered just how much he admired his former mentor, and while there were some ethical areas where they still disagreed, Nathan knew just how well they worked together. He had brought a bottle of scotch over to Henry’s garage a few nights ago and they had fallen into a conversation about theoretical physics that had left Nathan feeling more challenged and invigorated than he had in years. He hoped his efforts (and the attempts Carter was making as well) would help convince Henry to stay in Eureka.As for Carter, well… speak of the devil and he shall appear.Carter strode into Nathan’s office with a furtive look over his shoulder that made the scientist wonder just what new calamity had befallen the town this time. The sheriff’s fidgeting spoke more of nervousness than worry, however.He sighed. “What is it now, Carter?”“Er, I’m hiding from S.A.R.A.H.”Nathan sat up straighter. He and Fargo had poured over S.A.R.A.H.’s code in detail, but if there was something they’d missed… Noticing Nathan’s worry, Carter finally flopped down into a chair and waved his hand dismissively.“No, she hasn’t started drugging people again.” (Nathan was always amazed at the array of faces Carter made when talking.) “She’s turned her hand… well, code or whatever, to matchmaking. She’s spent the last week citing articles about two-parent families being a better environment for developing children, blah, blah, blah…”Carter looked so exasperated that Nathan wasn’t sure whether to be amused or worried at S.A.R.A.H.’s continued desire to meddle with her chosen humans. He was pretty sure the A.I. would be disappointed though. “I don’t think Allison is interested in any sort of relationship right now. You could probably quote back statistics about rebounding just after a divorce.”“Yeaaah, Allison’s not the one she’s been bothering me about.” Carter made a series of complicated faces again before scratching at the back of his neck. “Apparently, we worked so well together when we didn’t remember how much we hated each other, that now she won’t leave me alone until I ask you over for dinner.”Not expecting that answer, Nathan cocked his head, studying Carter more closely. “Why haven’t you just told her you’re not interested? Or that you’re not attracted to men in the first place?”“Being bisexual is not a problem. And, um, she won’t believe me.” Carter blushed and looked away.
(Nathan later learned that S.A.R.A.H. had, in fact, flashed up a half-naked photo of him – no doubt obtained via another breach of privacy – and used Jack's vitals jump as proof against any verbal denials.)
Studying Carter’s blush, Nathan thought back to all the interactions (and flirting, really) that had happened during S.A.R.A.H.’s experiment, and everything before that with their escalating fight over Allison. He carefully turned over Carter’s Jack’s most recent remarks, before nodding to himself.“Interesting. Then, why don’t you invite me over for dinner.”The amusement was back as Jack nearly fell out of his chair, he whipped around so fast. “What?”Nathan leaned back and spoke slowly, carefully, (and very smugly). “Invite me over for dinner. S.A.R.A.H. will think you’ve followed her advice, see the end result, and get off your case.”***Needless to say, S.A.R.A.H. was very pleased with the end result.