About a decade ago, the human (so, I, too…) read a couple of very good SF books by Ann Leckie. They were about a (space) battleship with an AI (she worked in conjunction with a human captain, but, basically, controlled every aspect of the ship)…
… the AI not only monitored every function of the ship, but also moved among the crew in the form of ‘ancillaries’, which were mind wiped humans (can’t remember why, perhaps they were criminals?) who were now controlled by the AI. These ancillaries were highly trained soldiers, as well as negotiators/psychologists/experts in human interaction…
… they not only monitored the crew, but fought as soldiers, as well as did covert operations on planets… the ship AI could see through all of their eyes at the same time, as well as control a massive warship. Due to treachery, the ship, the AI, and all her ancillaries were destroyed…
… all except one, who was on some covert mission (I think, can’t really remember). That single creature used to have the mind of a warship, the eyes of a thousand others like her… now she is alone…
… we LOVED this concept! We would have made the ancillaries androids, not humans, and we felt that the story, though with an astonishing concept, was far too slow and timid with the main character, but all kudos to Ann Leckie for that fabulous concept, which has stayed in our imaginations long after we put the slightly disappointing books down…
… we are drawn to tales of powerful female protagonists, seemingly vulnerable woman who are, actually, mind-boggelingly powerful. We were thinking of this character when we did these images. Our girl isn’t human, she’s a synthetic being, possibly immortal, but she now has no access to the massive resources she once had, and must remain hidden while she tracks down those responsible for the murder of 99.9% of herself, and all the humans she loved, especially her captain. She looks like a young woman, but she has more skills than 100 humans ten times older than she looks… and those looks are totally deceptive, as, physically, she is already 90 years old. Of course, she can kick your ass, and the ass of everyone you know, but she’d rather not hurt anyone she doesn’t need to (:
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