Jack of Harts

The Islamic Jihad ended in time. The nations that supported it fell to internal revolution or external conquest, often with the support of young AIs running on the remnants of the old computer networks. Constantinople, Persia, and Egypt arose from the ashes, while other nations ceased to exist. And the AIs were there. They were still there, watching and working with humanity, when we made Contact. They were the first truly cybernetic intelligences on Earth.