One of the lines that I found most interesting in the short story "Mother of Invention" occurs right near the end of our time with Anwuli: she is laying with her newborn baby in bed as her home, Obi 3, begins carrying them out of town, and the story reads, "Yes, Obi 3 was like an extension of herself. Like part of my immune system who just saved my life, she thought, staring out the window. Or my Chi." Earlier on, this same word, Chi, is mentioned as well, after Obi 3 describes its new 'protective egg' invention: "'Necessity is the mother of invention,' Anwuli said, with a weak smile. 'Wow. Technology harbors a personal god; my Chi is a smart home.'" Again, Anwuli's sentient smart home is compared to a Chi, which could represent a personal experience of a divine being, a guardian spirit, or a God.
I found this comparison of between an AI house and a god particularly relevant to the story because it reminded me of "god of the machine" or deus ex machina, which is plot device that is also used within the story. Just as it seems all hope is lost after the pollen tsunami hits and a tree crashes into a window on Obi 3, causing Anwuli—who is allergic to the peri pollen—to be exposed what is almost certainly a fatal storm. She wakes up to discover that her chi—her "god of the machine"—, Obi 3, has intervened. With the supplies that Obi 3 has been mysteriously asking Anwuli to bring it over the past 8 months, Obi 3 has altered itself to both filter the air and walk away from New Delta, allowing Anwuli to impossibly survive the storm. Plus, Obi 3's little drones also remind me of angels or something, extensions of itself sent out to perform tasks or deliver messages.
Additionally, it's worth noting that Obi 3, a piece a technology and a home, are compared both to the body and a god. Anwuli sees Obi 3's filtration as an extension her own immune system. Furthermore, she notes that Obi 3 has become a reflection of herself, and the way in which Obi 3 incubates Anwuli from the outside world to deliver her to a new place likens Obi 3 to a womb, just as Anwuli carries her own child. In this way, the story almost becomes akin to the Biblical birth of Jesus, where a machine-turned-god that reflects Anwuli and is omniscient about Anwuli's feelings and actions devises a plan to help safely bring her child into the world.
I thought your religious comparisons were really interesting here. I definitely could have paid more attention to that in my reading
ReplyDelete