this isn't a dvd commentary about any specific write but like, why keira? why a roomba?
Aw, Keira is the best. But I know, it is a little confusing. Basically, when I started Kauri's story I didn't know much about how I would deal with the setting yet. But I knew I wanted a sort of "10 minutes in the future" dystopia with sci-fi elements, and I wanted it to be a world we could recognize as our own but still different in small but consequential ways.
And the semi-sentient AI Roomba is really kind of a glimpse into how even sentience isn't treated as something that gets you valued as human or having rights, because it's a world where even living human beings can be "wiped clean" and forced into a kind of permanent underclass to the immensely wealthy. The AI Roombas are another facet of this. Thinking machines become status symbols for the rich and famous to show off with, just like living breathing people are.
Keira is named by Kauri, unknowingly naming her after Liam Harker's twin sister. She is someone he can talk to during painfully lonely days spent almost entirely isolated. Owen doesn't bring guests or friends by. He leaves for days at a time. Kauri has no one but the Roomba, who at least has some limited ability to speak back.
Humans can pack-bond with anything, really. Kauri bonds with her. And when Owen breaks the computer chip inside Keira that limits the scope of her sentience and intelligence, she is able to reflect that bond right back and help him escape.
Yes, it's a silly thing, a roomba best friend and companion. But it is also a showcase of how lonely and desperate for someone to treat him like a person Kauri really was.