Consider Selkhet 3000, One of My Original Characters
Who is Selkhet 3000?
I needed someone who could be a helper with the robots and Dr. Tinerrian, and quickly hit upon the idea of a robot filling that niche. Enter Selkhet.
Where Did Selkhet 3000 Come From?
When I first started writing about the Obolonks, I was completely winging it. As a result, I had no idea what I was going to do with Selkhet (or any of the other characters, for that matter).
The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Selkhet
Much like Tommy 2000, Selket is created in Dr. James Tinerrian’s lab. She precedes him yet is a 3000 model. But she’s not the first fully sapient robot that Tinerrian makes. That is the seldom seen Emma 1000.
Why is she a 3000, and Tommy a 2000? Even Peri asks this! But the truth is, at the start, I was just going with what I felt sounded the best. With Tommy, there was some alliteration. Then I came up with an explanation. She would be overly emotional and sometimes less than controlled. Hence Tinerrian takes Tommy back to an earlier restore point.
But I have never honestly explored her less than fully controlled side. Maybe I will in the prequel, although it’s more likely it would be in the third trilogy series.
Description
I like the look of Selena Gomez for Selkhet. Very lovely, and very no-nonsense.
Purpose/Theme/Motivation
In some ways parallel to Tommy, she’s almost a proof of concept as to just what Tinerrian can do. But like Tommy starts off, her emotions are initially more a series of weights and measures than anything else.
That is, she performs trillions of calculations per second to determine if the proper emotional model to follow is the one of disgust, sorrow, joy, or any other feeling.
Her essential motivation is to take care of things for Jim Tinerrian. This includes long after his death, in the Time Addicts trilogy and beyond. In that trilogy, she immediately recognizes that Josie James needs help, and helps her.
But (if I recall correctly), she and Josie have never actually met before. But Selkhet trusts Tommy, and Tommy knows Josie is important.
Quotes {Peri has just met Selkhet and Tommy; Tommy has just morphed in front of Peri}
“Or an executive or any professional person here on Earth,” Tommy said. “Or I can look like a hayseed from Europa.” To prove his point, he became younger and taller and leaner, and wore a pair of coveralls but no shoes.
Peri’s jaw dropped, “Did you see that?” she asked Selkhet and Dr. Tinerrian. “Did you? That was, that was incredible.”
“Oh, that’s nothing,” said Selkhet, yawning slightly and morphing herself into a short, elderly, overweight Indian woman who looked a lot like Peri’s ex-mother-in-law.
“Oh my God!” Peri reeled, her heart in her throat, “You, you’re a, a, a, a, what?”“
Dr. Tinerrian, I believe you owe me a dollar.” Selkhet smiled. “We had a little wager going. The doctor said you wouldn’t guess I, too, am a robot. I am Selkhet Three Thousand.”
Peri sunk into the desk chair Tommy had vacated. After a moment, her detective instincts kicked in. “If you’re a Three Thousand, then why am I getting a Two Thousand? Er, no offense meant there, Tommy, but why?”
“Selkhet is a prototype. She’s the first of her kind and is here to help me with all of the other robots. Hence her name, Selkhet.” Peri squinted, tilting her head slightly. Dr. Tinerrian added, “Selkhet was the Egyptian guardian of the dead. Our Selkhet here is guardian of the robots. Anyway, Tommy is the first for the police department. We’re rolling out the entire Tommy Two Thousand series within a year, but he’s the first. There’ll be one in every police department from the Boston Meg to the Perth Meg and elsewhere in between—in all twenty-eight megalopolises if I have anything to say about it. And maybe they’ll even be off-Earth, and on a moon or a planet, too.”
Relationships
Although she’s just a machine, Selkhet has relationships.
Selkhet and Jim
Did Jim Tinerrian consciously create Selkhet to be a kind of dream girl for him? I confess even I’m not sure. But her devotion to him extends long past his death. Although she’s not as much of a tragic figure as Tommy is after Peri’s death.
One thing I wanted for her was for to not be Jim’s mindless servant, and she isn’t. She’s more of an employee half the time.
Selkhet and Tommy
Almost like a big sister in the first trilogy, Selkhet becomes Tommy’s plus-one for various social engagements in the second trilogy. I don’t really ‘ship them although I recognize that readers might…
Selkhet 3000 and Emma 1000
Because Emma doesn’t show up until the last of the Time Addicts books, I don’t have too much on this relationship. However, even though Emma is the elder of the two, Selkhet is more sophisticated and take charge.
Emma often doesn’t know how to act around people, and suffers from what we would call a form of social anxiety. Selkhet takes Emma under her wing and champions her, almost like a mentor and a protégée. And although I never put it on the screen, Emma had to have reactivated at some point.
Perhaps Selkhet was responsible for that? I might explore that in the third trilogy.
Conflict and Turning Point
Just like Tommy 2000, Selkhet 3000 is in both of the currently existing trilogies and her fate is fairly similar to his. When he is damaged in a way that is essentially a happy accident, he shares his transformation with her, so that she may experience it as well. That’s one turning point in her existence.
Another is when she helps out Josie. Selkhet could have more or less looked the other way. But she doesn’t. I don’t honestly explore it, but to my mind, it’s not specifically due to continuing devotion to Jim. I feel it’s more that she just plain feels it’s the right thing to do. Her acting on a hunch makes her more sapient than, in some ways, even Tommy.
Continuity/Easter Eggs
Much like Tommy, Selkhet can technically live forever, as long as she can find replacement parts. Hence, she played a relatively big role in the final book in the Time Addicts trilogy.
Future Plans for Selkhet 3000
The prequel for Time Addicts did not include her. And as for the prequel to The Obolonk Murders, that’s a long shot.
Selkhet 3000: Takeaways
Charming, smart, and sophisticated, Selkhet 3000 has a lot going for her. She’s fun to write.
Selkhet 3000 — the mother hen of the sapient robots.
Want More of Selkhet 3000 and the Rest of the Obolonk Universe?
If the story of the Obolonks resonates with you, then check out my other articles about how our society turns tripartite, with humans, robots, and Obolonks.
Character Reviews: The Obolonk Murders
Humans
Robots
Obolonks
Character Reviews: Time Addicts
The Good Guys
- Josie James
- Carmen D’Angelo, MD
- Dalton Farouk
- Tad Lewis
- Cyndi Mendez
- Bobby Brodie
- Keisha Darnell
- Vera Travers
The Bad Guys
- Peter Ray
- Dae Ou Xiang
- Elston Young
- Corwin Zachary