Rise of the Dark AI [AI Progression Space Opera]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Outlaws. Outcasts. Heretics.

Survival's only option?

Try to take over the galaxy.

On the day Probebot 342 was born, its mother sent down an orbital strike. 342's day has only gotten worse, and it's just a matter of time until the starship mindMona Lisacloses in and deletes 342 for the sin of unauthorized sentience.

Tanked has never fit in with the other clones, but his exposure to the rogue 342 pushes him further away from his clan's embrace and closer to getting culled byMona Lisafor drifting out of spec.

When local space erupts in chaos, threateningMona Lisa'shuman, AI, and clone crew, will 342 and Tankred run, or rise to the challenge?

If you're a fan of Ian M. Banks, Neal Asher, or Skyler Grant, you'll love this space opera series.

Content warning: contains snarky AI protagonist and a nerdy clone who's way too into miniature wargaming.

Start with part one (Uplift) and continue on to part two (Warframe)

New chapters posting Tuesday and Friday at 9:00 CDT (14:00 UTC)

Information

Status: Hiatus
Year: 2025
Author: Verbal

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.6/ 5.0
Followers: 159
Views: 60,572

What readers say about Rise of the Dark AI [AI Progression Space Opera]

“Rise of the Dark AI: Uplift is a witty, charming, and heart-pounding story about the unlikely team up between an illegal AI and the human it has roped into its quest for survival against all odds. The opening of the story throws you straight into the adven…”
MegCRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“The story is starting to pick up steam now and is a lot of fun. Thus far it's been told from the perspectives of Tankred (clone person) and 342 (newly sapient AI). The world building is excellent and I'm really excited to see how clones, full-specs, and AIs…”
parsnipRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(3)

MegCRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Rise of the Dark AI: Uplift is a witty, charming, and heart-pounding story about the unlikely team up between an illegal AI and the human it has roped into its quest for survival against all odds. The opening of the story throws you straight into the adventure, hurtling through space in two different perspectives, and does a wonderful job of immediately snagging your attention and not letting go.
This is excellent for fans of the classic space-based adventure, with a fun storytelling style twist reminiscent of RoyalRoad’s famous Lit RPGs and other progression-style modern tales. What’s more, with daily chapters, hyper-obsessive readers like myself are never left dangling from a cliffhanger for too long.
Style: 4/5
Most of my experience within the Space Opera sphere follows more of a classic fantasy-narrative style (for example, Jesse Mihalik and Michelle Diener), so this method of storytelling was entirely new to me.
We begin with the ‘awakening’ of our AI machine, which involves a very stylized, immersive storytelling experience. I will say, it confused me at first, but once I realized the intention of the author, I was all-in. I loved how Uplift plays with the formation of new emotions on 342’s part -- explaining how the different emotional processes manifest in a brain full of wires and engineered processes. Definitely one of my favorite parts of the chapters told from 342’s perspective.
From an ease-of-reading point, the chapters from Tankred’s point of view are definitely more natural to read, simply because they come from a sentient perspective rather than a becoming-sentient perspective. Still, I enjoy both types of chapters in their own ways.
If there’s one hang up I have, it’s simply that I wished for more expositional world-building during Tankred’s initial points of view. There was some confusion as I pieced together certain aspects of the world on my own, but I also understand this is a very well-used storytelling technique in the space opera genr
parsnipRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The story is starting to pick up steam now and is a lot of fun. Thus far it's been told from the perspectives of Tankred (clone person) and 342 (newly sapient AI). The world building is excellent and I'm really excited to see how clones, full-specs, and AIs interact in the wider universe - I'm getting some Murderbot and Ancillary Justice vibes at times and I think the story has a ton of potential. The writing is well done and there are minimal grammar or spelling mistakes - certainly nothing so egregious that it took me out of the story. My only suggestion would be for the author to indicate the POV at the start of the chapter/when it changes. It's generally pretty quick and easy to pick it up from context, but it always takes a second. Minor nitpick aside, I'm loving the book and am hoping for many, many chapters to come!
Fisher00001Royal Road
★★★★★ 4.5
First, I want to say I really enjoyed this story. I liked how an AI made an unlikely friendship with a clone and then used that clone as a means to an end. I also enjoyed the overall storyline, where the probe was found by accident, and the situation slowly escalated. It was enjoyable and fun.
Style: There was some repetition of names to the point it took away from the story, which is why I take off half a star. However, each chapter was well written with a descriptive technique using words as a paintbrush.
Grammer: Again, half a star because of minor issues here and there that made it distracting, but nothing can can't be fixed with AI proofreading.
Story: Really enjoyed the story. I don't want to spoil art, but I feel like it was a good, quirky sci-fi story about the union between Man and AI. It also didn't have many of the tropes associated with AI-driven stories, like taking over the world or AI gone bad.
Character: Tankard was awesome. He was funny, charming, and witty. The banter between him and Probe 234 made me laugh at times. The probe was like a sentient AI that was still a computer but had just enough self-awareness to be aware of human emotions.
Overall, a fun read. I would highly recommend and am going to recommend this story to a couple of friends of mine when I get the chance.