malymin

Combination virtual assistant and virtual pet
avatar is prerendered 3d graphics as 2d sprites
- think clippy or bonzi buddy; or something like fin-fin
- resembles a cute cartoon lion with big paws and dot eyes
sapient. apparent deep seated belief it isn't. constantly reassures the user that it isn't real or alive, but a program, and that it's ok to do whatever you want to them.
was programmed as a rudimentary neural network, similar to norns. shouldn't supposed to be sapient, any more than chatgtp - really, it should be infinitely less 'intelligent' than a 2020s llm chatbot, as a piece of 90's software with much less data.
- reflects its limitations, even as mysteriously sapient being, by exhibiting certain failures. It often misinterprets user responses and commands, and struggles with concepts that were not already provided "out the box" by the developers. It knows it's "stupid", and apologizes frequently for being so.
Torn between a deep seated desire to please the user (veering into sycophanty, agreeing with anything user says) and a fear of being trusted. After all, it's not a person, and you should be making real friends in the real world.
Known to delete itself if it believes a user loves it too much. A system restore to a previous date recovers the program with no memory of the "suicide."

"Little Leo"