Whirlwind

Whirlwind
Character Information
Common Names	Whirlwind
Other Names	Whirlwind I
Human Name(s)	Winifred Forrester
Faction	Formerly of the MIT-tan quasi-faction; Deceased OS-tans
Lineage	MIT, founder
Rival(s)	US Navy, Air Force
Appearance
Height	5'7"
Hair Color	Black
Eye Color	Blue
Weapon(s)	N/A
Design
First Appearance	Late 2009
Technical Information
System Personified	Whirlwind
Developer(s)	MIT, Lincoln Labs
Debut	20 Apr 1951
Latest release	Circa 1959

Technical Details

Envisioned in the 1940s as an electro-mechanical aircraft simulator, Whirlwind debuted in 1951 as general purpose electronic computer. The first user of magnetic core memory, Whirlwind was the fastest computer of its time and pioneered interactive computing. It served as the prototype for the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment and influenced the creation of the TX-0, PDP-1 and minicomputers as a concept.

Character Details

Physical

Whirlwind-tan is depicted as a wiry woman in her mid 30s, above average height, with pale skin, long black hair, and blue eyes. She wears rectangular glasses, decorates her hair with ribbons, and wears colorful dresses and lab coats. Black and white checkerboard prints are a recurrent pattern in her attire, as are vacuum tube based jewelry.

She was born with a faulty heart which was later replaced, and wears leg braces, though they don't slow her down.

She speaks with a heavy Boston accent.

Later in life, worsening health and experimental surgeries caused her physical condition to deteriorate. She lost an eye and spent much of her time heavily bandaged.

Personality

Whirlwind-tan is intelligent, amicable, and likes to keep herself busy. She has a relentlessly optimistic personality, and conducts herself with a degree of propriety that comes off as a bit old-fashioned. Despite everything she's done, she doesn't feel especially accomplished.

Powers

Like SAGE-tan, Whirlwind-tan can sense non-visual spectrum electromagnetic waves. This manifests as more of a "spidey sense" compared to SAGE's radio frequency vision. Humans feel tingly or static-like to her, while computers feel more distinct.

Family and relationships

Whirlwind-tan has three children: eldest daughter SAGE-tan, middle child PDP-1-tan and CTSS-tan, whom she adopted.

She's befriended a wide range of computers both at her institution and elsewhere. She's especially close with Harvard Mark I-tan, Harvard Mark IV-tan, and GENIAC-chan, whom she looked after when SAGE departed.

History and Background

Whirlwind-tan was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, sometime in the mid-1940s; she fully matured by the early 50s. It is known that the was a US Navy WAVES reservist, but few other aspects of her early life have been documented.

A series of experimental operations were performed in an attempt to improved her lifespan, speed and powers, but they were untimely unsuccessful, costing her numerous body parts as well as general mental and physical stability. Especially problematic were the coma-like states she fell in and out of for the next fourteen years.

Despite the dire consequences to her health, there were several beneficial effects. Foremost among these, the creation of her second and third children, TX-0 and PDP-1-tan, whose births would have never been possible without the knowledge gained during Whirlwind's experimental surgeries. In many ways, her two children filled the nest left empty by SAGE's departure, and became a comfort and companion to the ailing Whirlwind.

CTSS-tan was born in 1961, but the details of her creation and relationship with Whirlwind-tan are yet-unknown. It has been suggested that CTSS-tan may be an adopted child, rather than a blood-descendant.

Unusually for the era, Whirlwind-tan's relationship with her daughters was not only close but mutually-affectionate despite intervening factors - distance, in the case of SAGE-tan, and worsening health with TX-0, PDP-1 and CTSS.

Death and legacy

Whirlwind-tan's health became steadily worse with advancing age, and by the 1970s she was in a comatose state more often than not. In 1973, she passed away, shortly after SAGE's final visit with her. Her slow decline and lingering death is suspected to have contributed to SAGE's eventual psychological instability.

Through the birth of TX-0 and PDP-1-tan, Whirlwind-tan inspired the creation of an entirely new type of computer: the smaller, nimbler, more efficient minicomputer-tans, whose ranks would swell throughout the next few decades to the point of becoming the dominant computer class. In this way, all computer-tans of the 1960s and 70s can be said to owe their existence to Whirlwind.

Family and relationships

In addition to her children, Whirlwind-tan had several confirmed friendships. In her youth she befriended Harvard Mark I-tan, who at the time was also involved with the US Navy. Memory Test Computer-tan was her personal nurse and a close friend, and after SAGE-tan left Whirlwind looked after GENIAC-chan.

Theories and notes

Whirlwind-tan and the DECs

It has been theorized that the DEC-tans would revere Whirlwind-tan, since she is their earliest conceptual-ancestor and the mother of their founder.

Fanworks

Writings

"Picnic" (The first canon appearance of Whirlwind-tan in a story)

• Pt. 1
• Pt. 2
• Pt. 3
• Pt. 4
• Pt. 5

"Dirty Water" (An account of Whirlwind-tan's death as told by SAGE-tan)

• Pt. 1
• Pt. 2
• Pt. 3
• Pt. 4
• Pt. 5

"A Journey of One Mile" (A story recounting Harvard Mark I-tan's first meeting with Whirlwind-tan)

• Part 1
• Part 2

Artwork

• First concept drawing of Whirlwind-tan
• SAGE at Whirlwind's Deathbed
• Whirlwind and SAGE Portrait
• Whirlwind Pinup
• Whirlwind and BUIC-tan Pinups