Shipmind

Name:  Shipminds

Faction:  Zodiac Empire

Notes:  Shipminds are a complicated topic in the Zodiac Empire.  Originating from the Fenghuang Empire, they spread to the rest soon after the foundation of the Zodiac Empire.  At first, they were simply artificial constructs that helped Fenghuang crew help operate their vessels while permitting a higher level of automation.  As Fenghuang technologies and ships grew eve more advanced and complicated, Shipminds grew ever closer to becoming truely sentient and aware.

In time, Fenghuang Shipminds evolve past the point where they weren't simply AIs, but true SIs.  Organically modeled, modern Shipminds are capable of full emotional expression.  Each Shipmind is also a unique individual with seperate characteristics and traits from each other....no two are exactly alike, even those considered 'twins'.

Though no Shipmind is alike, there are unique characteristics that generate 'families', no matter the relation, of the kind of ship a specific Shipmind is installed aboard during construction.  This means that more agressively minded Shipminds would be unsuited for a transport, so they are more often installed in more combat oriented vessels.  Same goes the otherway, as passively minded Shipminds would be poorly suited for service aboard a dedicated combat vessel.  Of course, this doesn't mean their aren't exceptions to the rules as some Shipminds can 'evolve' like any person over their life in terms of personality.  For example, the Shipmind of the [i]I.W.B. Talyn[/i], class ship of the Talyn class battle dreadnoughts, was originally the Shipmind of an Aslan class dreadnought that was killed by damage protecting an evacution from a pair of rogue Terran Athena class grand cruisers and, while still retaining an agressive streak, has learned how to be diplomatic and hold in his anger when needed, though there are still some things that can light the short fuse.

As part of the bonding process between Shipmind and commanding officer, a sample of a ship's Commanding Officer genetic material is integrated into the bioship's matrix while it is created.  This links Shipmind directly to the Commanding Officer assigned at launch and, as such, makes it next to impossible to change a commanding offier's flag to a new ship.  As such, Zodiac Empire bioships and cybernetic vessels generally have the same commanding officer from launch to 'retirement'.

Though, of not, even after a ship is 'retired', the Shipmind does not go with said vessel as he or she can be extracted and implanted into a new ship under construction.

As Shipminds age at a slower rate than all other known species, their true appearance tends to be that of a child.  As such, they regularly adopt public 'adult' forms for every day use and only allow their most trusted friends into their Mindscape or see their true forms.

Due to the unique connection between Shipminds and bioships and cybernetic ships in the Zodiac Empire, they have been unable to be installed on their fully mechanical vessels to date due to incompatabilities of technologies - unlike Photonics, a Shipmind can't just hop between any systems.  This is, in part, as a Shipmind isn't just isolated in a small section projected from holo-projectors, but is the ship in total.

New Shipminds have a number of different methods of coming into existance.  First is as offspring from two parent Shipminds, though the exact process of how this occurs is unknown.  Secondly, it is possible to scan an individual's brain and translate this onto a Shipmind's matrix, allowing a new individual to come into being.  A third method is for an individual, usually dying, to upload themselves into a blank matrix.  The fourth manner is in a lab, as were the original Shipminds.

Since the recovery of the [i]Crimson Sunrise[/i], the ship's repair and introduction into the Imperial Starfleet, Zodiac Empire has access to the original AI core designs of the ship.  While integrated into the hardware of Shipminds proper, the purely mechanical nature, combined with the Zodiac Empire's own technologies and research, allows for a design that permits inorganic Shipmind constructs.  These mechanical ship Shipminds are just as capable as their bioship counterparts, but lacking in their telepathic talents.  However, cybernetic ships, like the repaired [i]Crimson Sunrise[/i], allows a middle ground with hybridized capabilities of both sides of the coin.

In any case, a full Shipmind, be he or she from a cybernetic ship, bioship, or pure mechanical ship, is unable to totally fit inside a Synthetic body.  However, their core self can be copied to that body in order to create a slightly different 'sibling' with their own personality quirks.