The development of AI has lead to a major sociological study of both humans and AIs - as far as the wider world is aware, it represents humanity's first contact with an intelligent non-human "species". (Of course, those behind the Veil have a completely different opinion on the matter).

To what extent does AI culture copy from humanity, and when do they instead develop their own traditions, taboos and customs - and, in turn, how do humans react to this? These studies are rather in their infancy, given that AIs are less than two decades old as a species and very scarce (numbering only a few thousand worldwide), but some trends are already emerging.

For the most part, AIs do wish to integrate with human society, and so a lot of their behaviours are immediately recognisable from the local and global cultures they interact with.

There are therefore an overwhelming majority of humanoid AIs who elect to wear clothing of one form or another, even though it is not a requirement of warmth or modesty (for many of them, at least. Some chassis are anatomically accurate).

This is not however a particularly useful indicator for anyone wondering whether they are looking at an AI or a simple automaton; many automaton owners prefer to have their robots dressed, and automatons outnumber true AIs by a factor of thousands. (In Britain, there are approximately a thousand AIs, but approaching a million automata - even with only a minority of automata being clothed, they massively outnumber AIs)

This presents a particular challenge for some AIs. A common issue is that many chassis (particularly older designs) have exposed working parts that can snag or dirty fabric.

Athena's case is perhaps a bit more familiar to (some) humans - she's simply not a shape that is commonly marketed to by clothing companies. Although her chassis is much more human than most combat AIs, her military design purpose still shows through in her physical size.

The design brief for Athena's chassis was a 190cm (6' 3") height with a design weight of between 250 and 300 kilograms (550 to 660 lbs) - deemed as large enough to maximise her physical power, but without standing out unduly amongst human soldiers or immediately breaking everything she set foot on. A formidable opponent in combat, but not however a size easily catered for in an even vaguely feminine body shape.

Athena is seen here shortly after her final demobilisation from Afghanistan (having served almost constantly for the prior three and a half years, Athena was one of the very last British troops to leave in October 2014), attempting to refresh her civilian wardrobe (with the help of her mother, Alice*).

This was not overly successful - these days, Athena now sources much of her clothing from a specialist tall women's store based in Croydon.

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* The same character as seen here, but Alice didn't upgrade to that chassis until February 2015. (Which I completely messed up on the first version of this I did, so I had to go back and change over the models).

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General background:

"Fracturing Veil" is an in-development science-fantasy setting, set in an alternate modern day where artificial intelligence and robotics have made great leaps; While truly conscious AI remains an highly expensive and equally legislated scarcity, lesser automatons have become a familiar sight throughout the industrialised world.

But under this veil of modernity lies a hidden world of beasts and daemons, a realm kept secret by ancient pacts and concealing magics. The main story revolves around an ex-military AI prototype inadvertently discovering this underground reality, and thus finding herself inducted into a world of the paranormal.





~~~~~- "Athena" partially based on the (now-dead) "Daughters of ARES" mod for Fallout New Vegas.