There's a very loud horror to being Aidey that over powers her quirky behavior for me. Her profile lists all these worldly indulgences: mountain air, pizza topping prefs, returning a shopping cart. Aidey wants to be a part of the wider world, she would thrive being let loose. Yet, I do not think we have seen her off of that pillar, let alone ever eatin anything. There is a chance that she cant even leave that pillar because of her programming. She exists to perform, and then go back to her room. That is her beginning and end. She herself calls the court room a stage.
Her body is not even hers it is one she shares with The State and her 83 siblings. She is only herself when performing her role. At all other times shes shoved in a digital holding pattern twiddling her thumbs till she gets to front again. I would be fuckin extra af if I only got to be a person for like, 5 hours a week too !!! If she only exists to perform then let it be a fun performance!
Her design too screams in your face how this world thinks of her. If justice is a performance at least make it something worth staring at. A woman on a pedestal to be looked at but never listened too. She is here to keep the play moving. The second anything the state would deem important happens an actual human judge steps in.
You could argue that shes not truly sentient so it is ok to treat her like this, but can you?? In a game about the masks we wear and what it truly means to be human, who is to say an android or two haven't made the same leap Serra did in their own way? How can you be sure.
Sometimes the best mask of all is the fool. No one would suspect a woman is suffering when all they see is a buggy robot. Being a full person means death so better a clown than scrap metal.
It is by this very role shes carved for herself that she can engage with the world the best now that I think about it. No one is going to bat an eye if the "quirky pandemic era vocab rawr ex three" robot asks about drama, or unimportant details. She has but a small peephole to see the real world and she is taking full advantage.
In conclusion I wish I could give Aidey a hug.
