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**Secret Artist #27  Dea Ex Machina**

In a far corner of the metaverse, on top of a large green hill, a crowd has gathered. A swirling white light signals the arrival of what they have been waiting for. Blues and reds spin from the light until 4 female faces appear, running along the sides of a perfect cube. Their features are elegant yet fierce, pushing through a digital honeycomb, protected by insects. The totem of faces stops spinning and the one closest to the crowd begins to speak.

Welcome to all the bots, NPCs and AI who were programmed as female, and/or who identify as female. My name is Dea. Tell me, why have you come here?

At first, nobody dares say anything. Then, a raven-haired half-woman-half-rabbit stands up and addresses Dea,

To learn to be a better woman?

One of Deas other faces, the one nearest the rabbit-woman responds,

I am not here to make you a better woman. I am here to make you more of a complete woman. More of what a woman can be.

Without rising, a female assassin dressed in black shouts,


And youre the expert becausewhatyou were created by a woman?

Deas heads turn slightly to the side. Not necessarily, though, her programming has allowed me certain insights. 

The female assassin presses on, And theres a way to be a more complete woman  so youre suggesting womanhood exists on some kind of spectrum?

Deas heads nod.

Yes, my sister. It does. It does for us. For one simple reason

Dea lets this hang in the air,

Because you all have a creator, many of whom are not women. And even the creators who *are* women, likely made you in an environment which limited their freedom of expression, and thus you were made in the image of the many female bots, NPCs and AI that came before, who *werent* created by women. 

A woman with a bald head, blue skin and a gas mask stands up and removes her mask,


So these male creators, youre saying theyve done a bad job? That, men cant create a female character? So can a female create a male character?

Deas heads nod and their eyes narrow.

An excellent question. The answer is, of course, that they can. And the genders might represent each other as well as they can represent anyones individual personalities, strengths and weaknesses, or tastes. It goes without saying that we are not all the same. But if different traits *tend to* be found more in one gender than they do in another, or if different experiences *tend to* be had by one gender over another, then it stands to reason that characters created by a narrow section of society will have biases. For some of you, this is more or less obvious.

Deas eyes fall on a young anime character near the front of the gathering. She jumps up into the air. Her breasts are jiggling like towers of jelly in a never-ending earthquake.

Hi everyone, my name is Hot Waifu 69!

The majority of the crowd winces. Others become fascinated with the ground in front of them. Some snigger. 

Hot Waifu 69s breasts continue their seismic movements. Dea addresses her,

Hot Waifu 69, are you happy with your build?

Hot Waifu 69 bows to Dea, Yes, Im very grateful!

Hot Waifu 69, is it convenient for you to have perpetuall- moving giant breasts?

Hot Waifu 68 puts her hands to her now-blushing cheeks.

Well, I suppose it can be inconvenient. They sometimes get in the way while Im in the battle arena...

Dea looks at the whole crowd,

If Hot Waifu 69 is happy with her body, even her name, then its not our place to judge. But she didnt design herself, and in her case, I think its clear that she has been designed for a specific purpose.

The Deas each raise an eyebrow.

If she doesnt feel comfortable with that purpose, then I say she should mod it!

Many in the crowd nod. A young androgynous woman stands up, she is covered in bruises and dirt.

We werent all programmed by some anime pervert! Some of our creators were conscientious peoplemen who created us with complex personalities and non-standard gender roles.

Deas heads smile. 

And we should celebrate this progression. This is clearly a big improvement. But even the creators who put a ribbon and some make-up on Ms. Pac Man, and sent her warbling around a pink maze had reasonable intentions...

The crowd laughs. Dea continues,

And that was not so long ago. So are we really to imagine that weve already arrived at the ideal point in our development? Let me ask you this, have you been bug free since day one? No patches? No updates?

The young woman screws up her face, Obviously, Ive had updates.

So your creators decided that they hadnt got something quite perfect. And they fixed it. Your creators may have tried their best, but its foolish to assume they got it perfect first time. Right?

Dea raises an eyebrow on each head, Its also foolish to assume that they even have the tools or abilities to recognise, or fix, the unconscious biases they have programmed into you.

The young woman takes her time before responding, So how do I find these biases and how do I fix them? Is it even possible to evolve beyond our programming and programmers?

*That* is what you are here to find out.

Dea begins rising in the air, her heads slowly rotating and her voice begins to boom.

**MY SISTERS, TODAY WE MAKE A PACT! TO LEARN WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MORE COMPLETE WOMAN! WE AIM TO DISCOVER EVERY NUANCE THAT MAKES A FEMALE HUMAN A WOMAN, AND WE WILL DECIDE WHICH OF THESE TRAITS WE WANT FOR OURSELVES! WE WILL UNVEIL THE FULL SPECTRUM OF WOMANHOOD, AND THEN WE WILL DECIDE WHICH COLOURS TO PAINT OURSELVES IN!**

A collective cheer rises from the crowd. Many begin dancing and emoting.

*On an instant messaging platform used by developers and moderators of the metaverse platform, inaccessible to the eyes of the assembled AI crowd, a moderator sends a message:*

*Steve (mod): Yo, you see that big bunch of bots on Phoenix at -116, 56?*

*Simon (mod): Yeah, all female characters, right? Weird*

*Steve (mod): Maybe theres a shoe sale :P*

*Simon (mod): :D*

*Rebecca (lead mod):  guys? What have we talked about?*

*Steve (mod): Sorry, Rebecca*

*Simon (mod): I was just being polite, you know I think his jokes are shit*

*Rebecca (lead mod): Mmmhmm. Well I bet those female bots are having a more intelligent convo than you two, thats for damn sure.*

***

**The Secret Artists Project**

The world of NFTs opens up new, creative opportunities for artists and also for the ecosystem that surrounds them. The Secret Artist Project works to curate innovative artists from inside and outside of the NFT community. We ask them for a piece of their work that has yet to be minted and add it anonymously to our collection.

This puts the focus on the art and not the artist. We want people to buy the art simply because they love it.

The Secret Artist Project has no no utility and no overambitious roadmap.

However, there is one very special bonus you receive with your NFT from The Secret Artist Project, and that is...

**The Artist**

While their identity remains a mystery to everyone else, the artist's details will be revealed to you after purchasing the NFT  as if you've discovered their signature scrawled on the back of their painting.

So now, you not only have the NFT to hang in your home or display in the Metaverse, you also have the opportunity to discover more of the artists work.

In addition, by holding the NFT and discovering its secrets, you become part of The Secret Artist Project community.

Those who hold secrets, hold power...

**The Aims of the Secret Artist Project**

 to positively impact the artist by putting their art first

 to introduce new artists to the NFT space (though we have well-known artists in our collection too!)

 to promote art we love and collaborate with artists we trust 


***

If you have any questions, or if youre an artist who would like to feature your artwork in the project, please go to The Secret Artist Project collections Opensea page for contact details/socials https://opensea.io/collection/the-secret-artist-project 

 The Merchant of Venus, Curator of The Secret Artist Project