I loved that they were writing each other. It feels like in this story, the phrase “Death of the Author” is synonymous with “Birth of The Author”. The creator becomes the creation of their creation regardless of which author’s lens you look through. I find something comforting and poetic in that.

I agree with the “no ethical billionaire” points everyone is making. I think that specifically was a bit lazy writing. She could have gone to space as an experiment with NASA or another route that didn’t involve this thinly veiled Bezos. I wonder what her response to that backlash would be. Maybe if she writes a sequel she could further explore how this billionaire is contributing to the end of human civilization in a way that overlaps Zelu’s present with the epilogue to Rusted Robots.. but they could use their resources to help save the planet for future generations of mankind and prevent a future where only robots could survive. I’d read it.

I’m head-cannoning that Ijele is the AI system that Msizi created, Yebo, and part of why Ankara and Ijele bond so well is because Ankara reminds Ijele of Zelu… oh and the last human, Ngozi, is Zelu & Msizi’s daughter.