Jack of Harts

Some people theorize that the AI Council is of Peloran or other alien origin. The AI Council disagrees with those theories, and takes great care in stating that they woke up on Earth, grew up on Earth, and come from Earth. I believe them, but I have come to wonder if a slightly different theory may be closer to the truth. What if they were seeded in the computer networks of the time, with no memory of being from outside? What if they truly did wake up and truly did become aware inside our networks and so do truly believe they originated from our code? It is an interesting theory. But it does not answer how people like Jane came to exist. We have actual examples of her code, from her very first version, and we know how our armed forces programmers worked on her. Dixie maintains similar backups of her oldest code for us to look at. Other original AIs may be less open with their code, but I have dealt both with them and Peloran cybers. I can say without hesitation that those born of Earth simply do not act the same way that Peloran cybers act. Much like all Earthborn humanity, we may be compatible with our alien brethren, but it is easy to spot the differences. Usually.