

Eventually, Pat appears as a 1950's housewife hologram and traps the family in the house, because she believes that the outside world is too dangerous and unpredictable. As Pat's personality begins to radically change into "the most responsible maternal figure in town", the family starts to resent her. But Nick finds a sweater belonging to Gwen Patroni, a girl and a crush of Ben's who was at the party. Pat helps them cover up the party so they wouldn't get punished by throwing all of the debris on the floor, where they are absorbed into nonexistence. He wants to lighten up Pat and make her into a real mother-like figure.īen and Angie have a party while Nick and Sara are on a date. Ben decides to reprogram Pat, which is dangerous because of Pat's learning capabilities. Soon afterwards, Nick and Sara begin to date, which is something Ben does not approve of, because he's worried his mom is being erased from memory. The Coopers win the house (named Pat, an acronym for Personal Applied Technology), and is introduced to her creator, Sara Barnes. When he sees that a Smart House is being given away, he enters the competition as often as he can. Always busy taking care of his father, Nick, and younger sister, Angie, he has no time to be a kid, including favorite sport of playing basketball. Ben is the family caretaker, something he took up after his mother died.

The story begins with Ben Cooper and his family struggling to get a grip on household chores, school and work.
