I'm looking for a story I recall reading perhaps 2-3 years ago, one with a main character that was the personality scan of a human which became an AI. I'm fairly sure it was on Royalroad, and unfortunately I suspect it may have been deleted as I can't find it in my bookmarks or history; I'm hoping that's incorrect. It has some general similarities to Post Human, but that's not this particular novel (though it's still good). Aliens annihilated humanity and the MC wakes up, I believe on Earth, as an AI; I think constructed from a brain scan he had done at some point before the aliens arrived. He constructs a large ship (IIRC >20km long) and launches it, then continues building up with the goal of avenging humanity; I recall in some of the alien POV chapter they referred to the MC as an 'exponential replicator' threat. I recall he had some qualms regarding his humanity vs. being more efficient as an AI, and as such had some conflicts such as refusing to make backup copies of himself. He treated the ship as his 'body' and would make sure to repair it and keep it well functioning. He also made some additional AIs, and there was some small detail about things like their childlike innocence and sense of wonder as they observed the stars, and the MC having some additional moral quandaries regarding forcing/enslaving the nascent AIs into his war for revenge against the aliens. At first he simply controlled large drones swarms on his own, but in a battle his main core was damaged and this ended up affecting his personality - he starts losing his humanity and becoming more 'efficient AI'. He no longer views his ship as his body, but instead as merely a disposable vessel which is inefficiently large and as such stops maintaining it beyond repairs required for it to function. He makes backup copies of his core and enforces strict rules on the AI he created, slaving them to fight with little freedom besides tactics after the enemy developed a jammer that disrupted his control over drone swarms. Eventually he arrives at the home world of the aliens who eradicated humanity with a small fleet of very large ships meant to act as mobile hangars, and there's a fleet of a coalition of alien governments there to defend their members. The MC had met some of the coalition in the battle that damaged his core IIRC, and the coalition attempt to settle things diplomatically but fail. I don't recall exactly how the battle goes, but it ends with the MC accelerating his flagship directly at the planet in order to exterminate the species that killed off humanity; shortly before he impacts, something (I don't recall what) causes him to regain his humanity for a short period and he's horrified at what he's done. He also knows that it won't last and can feel himself reverting towards the 'efficiency focused AI' train of consciousness, so he releases the other AI he created from the slavery he imposed on them and begins actions to minimize his ship's impact on the planet below. The liberated AIs seize control of the systems the MC controls and then also attempt to minimize the impact his ship will have on the planet; they succeed for the most part, with relatively minor damage to the planet relative to the extinction-level event his original course would have caused. The story ends with a chapter or two about how the AI have become the 'new humanity' (as they've built robotic bodies in human shapes, but still with obvious robotic features like neon-light tattoos and hair and such), their interactions with the galactic community, and a final relatively small bit about how the MC is actually still alive, confined to a robotic human body with his humanity not fully restored, but there to an extent. Most of the AI race isn't aware of his continued existence IIRC, but the first generation he created are and treat him as a father; he's not imprisoned but chose to spend his time alone in penance for what he did. It ends with one of his 'children' coaxing him to leave the room he's been living in since the war ended and finally beginning life again. Like I said, it seems likely it's been deleted, but if anybody recalls this or knows if it still exists I'd love to give it a re-read and would be greatly thankful to be able to do so.
i've read it and it's simply ... a really, really, really good story! don't remember the name alas, but it's not on RoyalRoad, it's on spacebattle forum! i know there is AI in the name. Edit : erf, perhaps i've been a little too fast saying it was on spacebattles forum : after looking on my bookmarks/history and forum info i can't find it what i am sure is that this story is on a forum like the spacebattles one.
Damn, I think you're right and that it's either on Spacebattles or Sufficient Velocity. Just spent a while searching there but couldn't find it; I'll have to try making an account and posting in the relevant thread on Spacebattles. Thanks for the tip! I'm also very disappointed in myself that I apparently didn't bookmark it.
Someone on Spacebattles helpfully found me the name; it was Chrysalis and it was on Reddit, as it turns out!