User:Ingolfson/Sisela

Sisela Ytheleus 1/2 is a fictional robot drone in Ian M. Banks The Culture science fiction universe, appearing in Excession as one of the main characters of the early part of the book. It is one of two (hence the '1/2' designator) physically identical D4 type military drones of the Peace Makes Plenty starship, Stargazer Clan, Fifth Fleet of the Zetetic Elench faction (which itself is an associated splinter group of the main 'Culture' civilisation of the books).

The drone's main function in the story is to provide a first view for the reader at the extreme power of the 'Excession' of the novel, a strange force which takes over the Peace Makes Plenty in bare seconds, even though the ship represents one of the most technologically (and through its own Ship Mind, intellectually) advanced groups in the fictional universe.

After fleeing from the invaders physical and mental invasion by a trick involving a random hyperspace jump, the entity 'Sisela', now copied into the body of its twin, at first tries to repair itself and make its way back to friendly contact. However, it is found by an Affronter ship, and eventually self-destructs rather than letting itself be taken captive. However, by that time, it has managed to come close enough to the Affront ship to burn a short message into the ship's skin during its own explosion, which later succeeds in giving warning about the fate of the Peace Makes Plenty when the Affronter ship arrives at a neutral port.

This behaviour is described by literary researchers as one very much in line with not only the drone's military programming, but also in the spirit of space opera, where honour (such as achieving 'good death') is paramount. Thus the drone's behaviour, as well as similar actions of other characters in the books, serve to underscore Banks writing style.

Also commented upon is the writers use of antromorphising speech patterns for the drone, which is a machine intelligence (though with several levels of backup brains, including a biological one). Its doubts and fears, described in simple language, and its agressive 'pluckieness' serve to make the drone into a real character.