In th Culture books by the late much lamented Iain M. Banks, one of the oldest drones began life as a house minicomputer that over time accreted many programs a

In th Culture books by the late much lamented Iain M. Banks, one of the oldest drones began life as a house minicomputer that over time accreted many programs and uncountable layers of software, achieved sentience by the time the Culture came about some 9,000 years later.