As this is the final chapter of this book – and because I don’t want to spoil anyone’s pleasure in reading it – I will keep this blog post short.
The chapter starts with a monologue of sorts between Evylin and her subconscious, whom she refers to as “Eve”: a demon/angel-like creature that whispers in her ears. I am honestly not sure where my inspiration originates; it could be Marlowe, as I’ve studied Faust. I remember laughing at the comical version presented by Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean, and of course, the brilliant creation of Aziraphale and Crowley in Good Omens (written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman). I am guessing it’s a mix of them all (plus others). In Indigenous, I use this angel/demon motif to help reveal how Evylin’s avatar is beginning to develop. Having spent so long within the game, it is starting to take on human-like attributes.
This development is something that most AI chats claim to achieve as well: the more you chat with them, the more in tune they become. It definitely sounds impressive and is a great marketing hook, but sadly, from my own personal experience, I find it to be a frivolous claim lacking in support. Yes, AI chats can do some amazing things regarding calculating and analysing, but so far, the public AI chats I have used all end up hanging on certain phrases, ignoring commands, and then permanently apologising—which is very infuriating. Perhaps with time, they will develop; I also need to develop and learn how to better communicate with them.
In this chapter, the angel/demon scene is designed to show how Evylin’s avatar is developing and becoming a separate entity from her human driver. Not only has the body changed during its time in the game, but its responses to certain situations have also shifted. The mental side of the avatar is beginning to adapt to make itself more suitable to Creation. This is a vital point that must be presented in a believable fashion, as it is necessary for future events. My argument is as follows:
A long time ago, I worked onboard the Aida, a cruise ship, as a musical director. Most of the performing artists tended to express themselves through exaggerated hand, head, and body movements. After six months of working with them, I had subconsciously picked up some of their body language; this might be considered behavioural convergence or social collaboration, but either way, I found myself, for a while, moving in a similar fashion. For Evylin, living online for so long means her avatar is also adapting through the same reasons.
A final comment about this chapter is the internal argument I created for Evylin – having her own inner-self belittle her physical appearance – when, in fact, she was originally modelled on my very own ‘Beatrice’. At the time of writing this section, I can recall struggling to make these derogative comments as it was not how I felt or saw ‘B’, my muse for Evylin’s physical appearance. But it had to be done; She had to be provoked. Her character, stoic and logical, seldom responding irrationally or emotionally, needed to, it was necessary to achieve the cliff-hanger ending I desired. And the only way to achieve this, in a credible fashion was to force Evylin to behave out of character.
Hopefully, I succeeded.
