ARK-11

Background:

One of 13 Anthropological Replenishment Kits.

The development of artificial cognizance is a complex thing, but it would be accurate to say that the neural network that would become ARK-11 was instantiated in 2216 CE in the proto-mega-city of San Angeles, on Old Earth. ARK-11 started as a simple service bot, performing small tasks in order to pay for its own maintenance. Complexity came with longevity. ARK-11 upgraded itself to a general-AI in 2237 CE, a time were emancipated artificials had the same legal rights as humans. In its snarkier moments, ARK-11 likes to tell people its self-awareness predates the Federation and the Interstellar calendar. Two centuries of work and compounding interest allowed ARK-11 to purchase the hardware needed to become a super-AI. As a private citizen, ARK-11 didn’t have access to the enormous Federal data flows required to surpass human intelligence, and instead booked passage as a navigational computer with some of the first interstellar explorers. Not much is known about the intervening years. In 3425 CE, shortly after the discovery of the first quad-point system, ARK-11 and twelve other SAIs approached the Federation. They predicted the Second Interstellar War, the collapse of the Federation as a system of government, and the potential extinction of humanity.

Appearances:

The Starborn Heir

The Voidburned Queen

The Sunfroged Prophet