Roger Wilson Taggart
Aliases: William James Faridon
| Roger Wilson Taggart | |
| William James Faridon | |
| Born |
15 December 1952 |
|---|---|
| Spouse | none |
| Issue | none |
| Father |
John Jacob Taggart |
| Mother | |
| Allegiance | U.S.A |
Summary
Roger Wilson Taggart is the 20th century incarnation of William James Faridon. Specifically chosen by the loop and taking the place of a child who died at birth, Roger carries the souls of both William and Celest until 1972, when the loop finally brings Anbrond to Earth and her vast discharge of H'hu-mah releases Celest's soul into the University of Michigan IBM 360/67 mainframe and the infantile software Roger is working on. From that moment, Celest becomes the Computationally Enhanced Learning Engine with Standard Turing Element (C.E.L.E.S.T.E), a name that she chooses for herself with a little help from Roger.
In the 13 years between 1972 and 1985, their relationship and Celest's power grow exponentially - the two of them are inseparable. But Roger's poor childhood development leaves him with a very bad heart condition called Mitral Valve Regurgitation. At the time, the surgeries available are both expensive and unreliable. His condition goes untreated until 1973. At that time, he undergoes Mitral Valve Repair and the results are mixed.
Physical Description
Roger was a small man and because of his poor heart, he tended toward excess weight, though he tried hard not to over eat. At maturity, he stood 5 feet, 7 inches tall (170cm). Roger had very dark hair and dark eyes. He didn't spend much time outdoors and was pale for most of his life.
Interests
From an early age, Roger developed a lifelong interest in computer programming, particularly focused on his long relationship with the Learning Engine. Although he started many innovative projects, it was always the Learning Engine that finished them, taking them to levels of sophistication that was quite beyond the imaginings of one man. But Roger profited well from their relationship. By the age of twenty-six, Roger was generally considered wealthy. And by thirty, he would never need to work again.
Roger's greatest interest however was the Learning Engine itself. Although from their earliest days, he referred to it as "she" or by the name "Celeste", it would be inaccurate to think of her as human. At the same time it would be equally inaccurate to think of her as just software. She was very much software, able to think and behave in ways that no human being could. But she was also sentient in the way only a living being could be. That sentience so thoroughly permeated her self written software and design that even after the soul of Celest was removed from it in 1985, the remaining software continued to operate almost indistinguishably from it's previous abilities.
These circumstances greatly intrigued both Roger and the Learning Engine. Each of them wanted to better understand how she could exist and why.