Berkeley
The Guide
Every hero’s journey needs a sherpa at the bottom of the mountain ready to show them the way. For the beginning of Suncatchers, Berkeley is that very guy. Created by Ivan as the first ever AI in River Redstone, his appearance is a bit outdated, but his chips are one of kind.
Ever the diligent companion, Berkeley does more than just cook and clean. Tasked with raising Sunny (and to his surprise, Aurian a bit later), Berk takes it upon himself to do the best he can in guiding two teens into eventual adulthood. All things considered, he did a damn good job if he says so himself.
Art by Cate Standish
Inspiration for Berkeley
Berkeley is truly my favorite character in the entire story. I needed some kind of relief from the heaviness of certain scenes and his charm and wit really pulled through for me. I also thought about the “hero’s journey” and there’s always someone who knows just enough to get the hero going. Obi Wan, the Mystics from The Dark Crystal, Dumbledore, you name it. There’s always a guy, right? But it happens sometimes in life, too. Your first guide might just be a therapist or a mentor, and I wanted Berkeley to come across that way.
Now, the twist with Berkeley is that he’s not just a side-kick cyborg. We see that a lot, too, in stories. I wanted him to be more actualized than just a “guide” or a “helper”, so he pushes back quite a bit with many of the characters he encounters. He even overwrites his own programming if the situation is dire enough. But the most interesting question I rolled around with him was “how will an AI be received in this moment, right now?”
Looking outward in 2026, AI is by far the most polarizing conversation I’m seeing. Probably even more so than politics (despite AI being integrated into governments or every facet into everyday life). And Suncatchers is all about polarity, so it feels like a good conversation to be having. Even in my home state of Alabama, data centers are getting so much push back from local communities because of how resource draining they are. Artists are being replicated, celebrities and social media influencers are getting their likeness stolen. And that’s not even touching the scary shit that’s happening with AI right now.
We are looking into a future where a Berkeley may (and probably will) exist. Possibly even to the point where sentience is likely. If that happens, what does that mean for us? What I find so interesting is how the conversations around AI don’t have much middle ground. We have so many movies about artificial intelligence being either hellbent on destroying humans (The Matrix, Terminator) or being these kind, little things that just want to be accepted (A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Bicentennial Man, and I would even throw in Ex Machina as far as wanting to be seen as real). There’s either a bazooka or Pinocchio, so how can it be both?
The mundane challenge that’s come about with AI is probably the least expected: it took art and water. Which, weirdly enough, shows that it’s fundamentally a human product.