Aurora Unit

:For other uses, see Aurora Unit (Disambiguation).
Aurora was the name of an organic supercomputer created twenty years prior to the events of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, by a team of Galactic Federation scientists. Since that historic date, thousands of Auroras have been built and installed. Originally designed for scientific purposes, the Auroras are now used in government, business, and military roles as well. They are given male, female, or gender-neutral personas, based on the needs and desires of the staff at the facility they are to serve in. A vast network links all existing Auroras, allowing them to access a tremendous database without peer.
During the events of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the Federation's Aurora Units had been corrupted by a Phazon-based virus, with the Federation believing Space Pirates are to blame. An Aurora Unit, Aurora Unit 313, had also been stolen by Space Pirates from the GF ship Valhalla. Samus encounters three of these in the game. They are Aurora Unit 242, Aurora Unit 313, and Aurora Unit 217. Aurora Unit 486 is also mentioned in a scan as the designer of the terra-forming project on Norion, because the planet was uninhabitable before. Aurora Units always talk in collective first person, much like the Borg in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager.
==Similar supercomputers==
The Aurora Units bear a striking resemblance to the Mother Brain, though Auroras have a more mechanical look compared to the mostly organic Mother Brain. The Mother Brain was built by the Chozo many years before the AUs' creation, though the manga indicates that the Federation had some part in this as well, as she was built to link the Federation and Chozo information databases, similar to the function of the Auroras. Additionally, a trailer for Corruption shows blueprints made by the Federation for a "Future Aurora Complex" nearly identical to the Zebesian Command Center later seen in Super Metroid. Beyond this, there is no concrete evidence as to how the supercomputers are related.
The Master Brain is an entity used by the Space Pirates as a force field generator for their Doomseye ship in Metroid Prime: Federation Force. Despite its name being an obvious reference to Mother Brain, its less organic appearance gives it a stronger similarity to an AU.
In Metroid: Other M, which chronologically takes place after Corruption, it is revealed that the Galactic Federation created Sector Zero, as well as an AI (based on Mother Brain's) which originally possessed a form resembling a large featureless brain; this was known as MB. The Aurora Units may have been the predecessors of this technology - in other words, MB may be an advanced AU model.
The Security Robot B.O.X.'s brain resembles an Aurora Unit, as does the Alimbic Cortex Chamber. Also, the exposed head of Quadraxis is similar to an Aurora Unit. This has led to speculation that they can be installed into weapon platforms.
The Central Units in Metroid Dread are also large cyclopean brains and share the same naming convention as Aurora Units. This suggests a possible connection or inspiration by the AUs, but their location on a planet inhabited by the Chozo makes it more likely for them to be linked to Mother Brain.
==Notable Units==
*Aurora Unit 217 (stationed on Elysia in SkyTown, originally on Demeter)
*Aurora Unit 242 (stationed on G.F.S. Olympus)
*Aurora Unit 313 (stationed on G.F.S. Valhalla, later sent to Phaaze by Dark Samus)
*Aurora Unit 486 (unknown location, stationed on Norion)
==Official data==
===Information terminal (Docking Bay 4)===
"Aurora Unit - GF DF AU068"
"20 years ago, a team of Federation scientists announced the birth of an organic supercomputer. Its name was...Aurora. Since that historic date, thousands of Auroras have been built and installed. Originally designed for scientific purposes, the Auroras are now used in government, business, and military roles as well. They are given male, female, or gender neutral personas, based on the needs and desires of the staff in the facility they are to serve in. A vast network links all existing Auroras, allowing them access to a tremendous database without peer."
===Unused Logbook entries===
http://tcrf.net/Metroid_Prime_3:_Corruption
==Trivia==
*Aurora Units and MB's first form share quite a few similarities, such as both being built by Federation scientists and resembling gigantic brains in containers, though MB is seemingly more organic and is programmed to think like Mother Brain. AUs, on the other hand, resemble the Pirate leader in physiology only. Though it cannot be said for certain that AUs are completely benevolent, due to numerous evidence of corruption in the Galactic Federation, as well as an unused Logbook entry's mention of 313's strange, aggressive behavior long before it was ever corrupted by Phazon.
:*Oddly, although MB is more organic, she lacks Mother Brain's characteristic eye, which the Aurora Units do possess.
:*Their resemblance to Mother Brain is referenced in a cut version of Aurora 242's logbook entry, where it mentioned that the crew of the Olympus gave her the nickname of "Other Brain", a practice that Fleet Admiral Castor Dane disapproved of.
*The Galactic Federation has been known to reverse-engineer many of the Chozo's advanced technology. The AUs may be reversed-engineered versions of Mother Brain.
:*AU's somewhat resemble Mother Brain's original appearance in Metroid, since they also seem to possess long cables connected to an orifice in front just like the original Mother Brain.
*Strangely, the AUs refer to themselves as "we", "our", or "us", suggesting that the entire network shares a collective consciousness or speaks for the entire Federation. There are some points, however, when 242 says "I".
*If one looks very closely at the communications terminals in front of Aurora Units (as well as nearly every Galactic Federation-owned screen), one will find that some of the lines of text read "What Will You Do?" and "You Can't Do That On Television!", both of which were early '90s Nickelodeon shows.
*After "curing" AU 217, it takes Samus around a minute and a half to get out of the maintenance area and interface with it. In that short time, 217 is able to: reboot itself, re-establish communication with the AU network, download and analyze the information of the last five months, use the Leviathan and SkyTown's data to devise a plan to destroy the shield, and use both Ghor and Samus' abilities and weaknesses to further develop the plan. Because 217 had been infected and isolated from the network five months prior to Samus's arrival, it is unlikely it could have done all the calculations and planning before being restored.
==Gallery==
Storyboard8.png|Aurora Unit 242 concept art.
Aurora_unit_render.jpg|Danny Richardson render
Image:Aurora1.PNG|A unit in an Aurora Unit tank.
Image:Aurora242.png|Blueprints for a Future Aurora Complex that looks similar to the Zebesian Command Center in Tourian.
AU 217 talking with Samus.jpg|Aurora Unit 217.
Boss aurora8.jpg|Samus battles Aurora Unit 313.
==References==
ru:Aurora Unit
Category:Galactic Federation
Category:Galactic Federation technology
Category:Aurora Units
Category:Artificial Intelligence
Category:Networks
Category:Danny Richardson