Gillian Wallace, Ph.D.

This story is part of the Hummingbirds gameplay experience.

You should read it from the main website.

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Gillian Wallace, Ph.D.
Lecturer – University of Edinburgh

The United Kingdom was not spared by the fierce civil wars that plunged Europe into darkness, although it was not hit as violently as other regions of the continent. Nevertheless, history does like to rhyme, and these troubled times led not only to the rise of a new Irish republicanism, but also to the renewal of calls for Scottish independence.

The British security forces, split between increasing numbers of fronts – at home and abroad, nervously responded with excessive coercion against these re-emerging movements. While initially successful, the strategy was not adapted to a world dominated by instant feeds and satellite communications. Instead of rapidly squashing dissidence, these actions merely fueled public anger and mistrust against the central government; terrorism and militias soon resurfaced.

Gillian, a student at the University of Glasgow during the years preceding the apogee of the crisis, was profoundly influenced by the ideas of the many charismatic idealists at the campus. A proud Gaelic maiden through and through, she swore at the time that she would not to let her Scottish homeland remain under the thumb of the British rule.

Years passed by, however, and Gillian became more pragmatic as she gained in maturity. The thoughts of open rebellion were far gone when she earned her doctorate in computer sciences; she accepted a position as lecturer at the prestigious University of Edinburgh. Despite this, she hasn’t changed her mind about the need for an autonomous Scottish state, and to this day, she remains involved with the SNP.

A genius in the creation of algorithms related to pattern recognition, Gillian always had a deep fascination with the emerging field of Artificial Intelligence. Despite her relatively young age (for a university staff member), she already published a few high-impact articles in which she describes ways to optimize multisensorial acquisition by careful imitation of the human brain functions.

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While few will contest the academic value of her ideas, the manipulative Gillian is always surrounded by controversies. Thus, many nasty rumors about her behavior circulate on the campus, and they involve some of the most prominent donors of the University. While no one dared to accuse her directly, the head of the School of Informatics strongly suggested that she take some time off as a visiting scholar in America.