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ATHENA: Neural Uplink

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bBefore piloting ATHENA, Elizabeth undergoes the proprietary neural sync process and meets her digital doppelganger...

"The genius of the APOLLO and ATHENA programs lie not in the hardware, which is state-of-the-art, but in the sync process between the human pilot and the suit.  As you know, the capacities of our normal human brains are insufficient to match the capabilities of the hardware -- our memory, response time, emotional steadiness, and strategic thinking -- are pitiful when matched against those of an artificial intelligence.  But we still need the crucial quality of human judgment that no AI can, as of yet, replicate.  Most of the earlier prototypes tried to combine the two in some way -- usually involving an inflexible AI structure that would override the pilot's mind when necessary -- but the stress it inflicted on the brain led to pilot burnout, fatigue, and... other problems.  But our new sync process is unique.  In the case of Elizabeth here, the parameters of her mind -- her emotions, memories, tendencies -- have been mapped and used as the template for her own personal ATHENA AI.  Thus, when she and the suit are activated and brought into sync, she surrenders her free will to a mind that is very much like her own, only a million times faster and more exacting.  She becomes, in essence, a better version of herself...."

(I like to imagine that the APOLLO program was the half dedicated to a male pilot, but they had a hard time finding a suitable candidate, and it ends up being delayed or scrapped.)

Again, big thanks to :iconflagellant-chicken: Flagellant-Chicken for commissioning this series!
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Comments16
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"...other problems." Interesting concept, and an interesting take on the relationship between organic and digital people.

Their differences in expression here make it feel like we're observing but not hearing a conversation between these two faces; it doesn't so much feel like a person in sync with their digital avatar, as someone finding that avatar a little too smug for their liking.