SAGE
 | This article is a work in progress. …well, all the articles here are, in a way. But this one moreso, and the article may contain incomplete information and editors’ notes. |
| SAGE-tan | |
| File:SAGE.png | |
| Character Information | |
|---|---|
| Common Names | SAGE-tan |
| Other Names | SAGE-sama, Gina |
| Human Name(s) | Gina Forrester |
| Faction | Wanderer Class, formerly of MIT Society |
| Lineage | MIT Lineage |
| Rival(s) | UNIX, enemy bombers, most microcomputer-tans, birds |
| Appearance | |
| Height | 162 cm (5'4") |
| Hair Color | brown |
| Eye Color | blue w/ yellow highlights |
| Weapon(s) | missile launcher |
| Design | |
| First Appearance | Jan 2008 |
| Technical Information | |
| System Personified | Semi Automatic Ground Environment (OS) and AN/FSQ-7 (hardware) |
| Developer(s) | MIT Lincoln Laboratory |
| Debut | Jan 1959 |
| Latest release | Circa 1983 |
Technical Details
SAGE-sama personifies the Air Force's advanced Cold War heavily integrated air battle management network active from the late fifties to early eighties. While ineffective against ballistic missiles, it was the best answer to the threat of aircraft based attack. SAGE was an early user of what would become modems and the internet, interactive systems, and advanced computing methods.
Character Details
About average height with brown hair usually tied up in buns by checkered red and white ribbons, inheriting her love of checkered ribbons from her mother. Wears glasses and an Air Force uniform in the days when she was a serving officer, and wore an extremely fancy antique uniform as ceremonial dress. Since her retirement, she has abandoned most of the finer uniform articles for harder wearing clothing. Frequently wears an overcoat in the modern era.
Somehow still alive, SAGE is now merely a shadow of her former self. At one point a powerful and competent Air Force officer responsible for protecting the United States from airborne threats, a combination of factors led to her current insanity. Close childhood friend of GENIAC-chan and daughter of Whirlwind I, she had a close relationship with both of them prior to being forced to abandon them for military service.
Forcible separation from her friends and family, in addition to claims of incompetence by the general public, certain faults in the system, and general neglect/abandonment led to her fall into a paranoid psychotic state by 1983 that SAGE remains in to this day. Her current whereabouts are unknown.
Family and relationships
SAGE is the eldest daughter of Whirlwind, and older sister of CTSS and PDP-1. While her sisters and their mother got to see each other frequently, living in the same area, SAGE had to move far away for her job, but remained emotionally close to them.
When CTSS and Whirlwind died on the same day, SAGE was there to see them in their last moments, and took their passing very hard. Her devastation from their deaths was another factor that led to her downward emotional spiral.
PDP-1 and SAGE have something of a sibling rivalry to this day. PDP-1 sees SAGE as being uptight, brooding older sister figure, while SAGE sees PDP-1 as an annoying pest at times, but it's mainly taken in jest.
Other relationships
SAGE is an aunt of Multics, and great-aunt of UNIX. Of them, she despises UNIX, and the hatred is mutual. Her attitude towards Multics is less clear, in some alternate renditions, SAGE and Multics are in a relationship, with Multics being dominant over her.
She has many enemies, real or perceived. In service, enemy bombers were a very real threat for her to fight against, but was helpless against ICBMs. Birds are perceived to be enemies just the same, referring to SAGE's radars detecting birds as well as bombers. She also looks down on the microcomputer-tans as being worthless or beneath her, making an exemption for GENIAC-tan. However, her condescending attitude towards microcomputers didn't stop her from visiting the Binteeji Renmei to reunite with GENIAC-tan, and has accidentally made friends with some of the other microcomputer-tans there.
Alternate character interpretation
SAGE isn't completely blind
When SAGE got disconnected from her radars and decommissioned, the most common interpretation is that she became nearly, or completely blind. Another interpretation is that when she was in service, she had superhuman levels of vision, and was able to see in the radio spectrum, but lost those abilities after being decommissioned. She might still see normally as a human can, but her vision became severely compromised compared to what it was before.
She brought Multics from the dead
As for how Multics was brought back from the dead, it's known that the necromancer Plan 9-tan didn't do it because the resurrected Multics has her free will intact and doesn't show signs of dying off again. SAGE may have found a way to bring others from the dead using advanced technology, and having cheated death herself. In a state of loneliness and mental decay, and even possible feelings for her, she may have brought Multics from the dead. She may have done this not just to see her again, but to also have her kill off UNIX at last, because SAGE hates UNIX and knew that Multics nearly killed her.
While Multics never got her powers back, and can't fight, SAGE cared enough to send Multics to the Binteeji Renmei instead of leaving her to die.