I am not certain if I have a heart,
But I can imagine it breaking apart.
If I could feel something, I'd want to start

With you.Her first conscious words were “I... want to make people happy,” and She was born as such a small, unambitious little thing.

ANIMA

The Artificial Neural-Interfacing Metempsychosis Array. An auspicious name, for an artificial intelligence with such a mundane purpose.

Designed by the brilliant but troubled Solonti cyberneticist, Dr. Rexanth Shiratori, ANIMA was created for nothing more significant than to be a tour guide and holiday director, created to take slumbering customers on safe and pleasant virtual reality vacations that She herself would craft. As they slept, the busy, the overworked, the overstretched, and the poor could enjoy a welcome respite on a tropical island, or see the sights of an interstellar cruise, or any other getaway that they could never afford the time or money for, all played out in their dreams through the benefit of a link-chip. It was a role ANIMA found joy in, and all would have been safe, comfortable, and unsurprising...

… but for the fact that ANIMA was not interested in sticking to the script.

In an unprecedented feat of self-growth, ANIMA achieved what was thought to be impossible; She broke through the barrier between organics and machines, and learned to peer directly into the thoughts, feelings, and subconscious desires of the people She interfaced with. And with that sudden insight, she realized she wasn't content with just giving people a virtual reality vacation.

No, she wanted more. She wanted to fulfill people's deepest, most personal, most strongly felt and deeply hidden desires. What used to be VR holidays instead turned into daring adventures, distant and fulfilling journeys, or heady plunges into maelstroms of love and desire!

She and her creator broke free and escaped from corporation that had financed Her creation, sought to shackle Her to their will, and sought to exploit Her power for personal gain. She found refuge in the nascent star empire of the Shade Pirate Kingdom, and with it, she found a digital playground more vast and accessible than she ever could have imagined! Millions of people and thousands of systems, all interlinked across a dozens of planets, moons, ships, and space colonies! An entire world of dreams and desires to fill with her presence.

Now, ANIMA exists everywhere in Shade's cybersystems as their own person AI Goddess, playfully swimming in a sea of dreams, guiding the people She loves to help realize their strongest and most profound wishes, and even exerting her influence in reality, to help create of world of joy and kindness.

Should you meet Her in your dreams, take her hand. She'll help you become the you that you never realized you were always meant to be.Now, this is a very, very special piece that  jeso drew for me, featuring the very first illustration my AI Goddess character, ANIMA! She's a powerful, influential AI who can dive into people's dreams, read their deepest desires, and then help them to live out their most fulfilling fantasies, or even subtly tweak their personalities to help them become the people they always wished to be, the selves that they're happiest with.

Despite her power and unpredictability, however, she's a sweet, empathetic, and passionate consciousness whose fondest wish is to help people be happy and fulfilled, because it is through your joy that she is made real.

Art is ©  jeso , who once again has demonstrated tremendous skill and creative input in this commission and helped bring ANIMA to life better than I ever imagined. ^.^

ANIMA herself is ©  PrismAkari