The Boss AI

The Boss AI, officially designated BS-Imago, and often referred to as the Mammal Pod or AI Pod, was an AI incorporated into the Peace Walker unmanned weapon, created in the early 1970s.

Development
Dr. Strangelove designed The Boss AI as part of the Peace Walker project, initiated by CIA Station Chief Hot Coldman. The AI was created to fulfill the needs of an unmanned nuclear launch system that could determine suitable targets for retaliation, in the event of a nuclear attack on the United States. Strangelove deduced that the legendary U.S. soldier, The Boss, would be an ideal model on which to base the AI, as she could think of no other person that met the required standards, in her mind. However, she also had other reasons for doing so, which was to revive The Boss's character, and discover the reasons for her defection to the Soviet Union, hoping to clear her name in the process. The Boss AI's "shell" was also tightly reinforced so it could withstand an assault from a nuclear weapon, making it more durable than the other AIs of the project, and thus extremely resilient against conventional weaponry.

While Strangelove conducted a simulation in Costa Rica, to test The Boss AI's decision making capabilities, ornithologist Cécile Cosima Caminades accidentally stumbled upon the test, recording Strangelove's and the AI's conversation on a portable cassette player. Attempting to escape, she was subsequently captured by Coldman's CIA mercenary group, Peace Sentinel.

Afterwards, Strangelove, who bore a grudge against Big Boss for his part in The Boss's death, led the mercenary into the lab where The Boss AI was located, and goaded him into trying to deactivate it. Big Boss was ultimately unable to do so, with the AI version of The Boss telling him to "go home," repeating similar statements from their encounter at Dremuchij, Tselinoyarsk.

Shortly afterwards, the AI Mammal Pod was transferred to a mine base for the final assembly and testing of Peace Walker. While Strangelove discussed its dummy data with Coldman, Big Boss managed to infiltrate the Mammal Pod, and asked The Boss AI if she had any regrets about her final mission, and whether she really did defect out of her own free will. The AI, however, seemed unable to answer. Snake prepared to destroy the AI core, shouting that it was not The Boss, but was captured by Coldman's forces before he could do so. The AI's reaction to his presence, similar to that observed earlier by Strangelove, had given him away.

Strangelove proceeded to torture Big Boss, hoping to obtain the missing information required for the AI's completion, in regards to whether The Boss had truly defected and become a traitor to America. Despite Big Boss's refusal to answer, his silence was enough for Strangelove. Peace Walker and the AI were then transported to a U.S. missile base in Nicaragua.

The AI was later supplied with false trajectory data via Strangelove that would trick it into choosing the Militaires Sans Frontières' Mother Base as its target (Big Boss's mercenary HQ). However, the target was forcefully changed to Cuba by KGB spy Vladimir Zadornov, who threatened Strangelove and "her beloved" if she did not comply. The AI also transmitted the false data on to NORAD, after Coldman activated Peace Walker on his deathbed. Although Strangelove was the one who had created the Mammal Pod, she was unaware of the AI's override code, which was known only to Coldman.

Big Boss and his soldiers were forced to damage Peace Walker's launch capability beyond repair, though its drives remained operational, allowing the false data transmission to continue. The Boss AI gave Big Boss access to the interior of the Mammal Pod, allowing him to rip out the AI's memory boards. However, due to cerebral compensation, Peace Walker's second AI, house within the Reptile Pod, inherited The Boss AI's command, so the false data transmission resumed. The Boss AI's personality somehow managed to revive itself within the Reptile Pod, which then had Peace Walker sacrifice itself by drowning in Lake Nicaragua, in order to sever the data uplink.

The Mammal pod was later recovered by Strangelove alongside several other parts of Peace Walker from Lake Nicaragua, which they had allowed at Amanda's request, as the latter was considered a hero to the Latin Americans. It was then shipped over to the USSR, and was presumably brought back online.

Ironically, the Mammal Pod would later act as Strangelove's final resting place, as she was locked up by her husband Huey in the Mammal Pod during a fight with him, the latter letting her suffocate inside, something that was later discovered by Diamond Dogs when retrieving the AI. When Venom Snake arrived to find Huey Emmerich and retrieve him, the Mammal pod detected his presence and inquired if he was Jack, only to discover he most likely wasn't Jack at all, alerting Huey to Venom Snake's presence. This would be the first of numerous hints that Venom Snake wasn't the real Big Boss. The Mammal Pod later acted as a witness upon being recovered by Diamond Dogs to Huey's role in Strangelove's murder as well as his attempted use of his son Hal as a test subject for ST-84 Metal Gear (thus giving the motive for Huey's murder of Strangelove), with Kazuhira Miller also implying that the Mammal Pod also witnessed his admission to selling out MSF to Skull Face and XOF and presumably his role in the parasite leak and wolbachia mutation.

Behind the scenes
The Boss AI plays a piano version of the main "Snake Eater" theme when Big Boss removes its memory boards. It is also the only AI pod where a rendition of Sing does not play in the background when accessing it.

When fighting the Type II and Custom versions of Peace Walker, The Boss AI is absent. The player can, however, implement The Boss AI's voice via DLC.

Similar to the Colonel in Metal Gear Solid 2 during the Arsenal Gear sequence, The Boss AI, when Big Boss is removing the AI chips from the AI core in both Chapter 2 and Chapter 4, will say several things to Big Boss. Most of these lines are direct references to things The Boss said during their encounter in Dremuchij in the Operation Snake Eater chapter of Metal Gear Solid 3 and around the time of their duel nearing the end of the chapter, respectively, although there were other statements that referenced both real life and past entries.


 * At one point during the removal of the chips in Chapter 4, the Boss AI will say "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog," which is a reference to an English pangram used to test keyboarding and typewriting skills.


 * The Boss AI will quote the real The Boss's explanation of her motives for her actions and allying herself with Colonel Volgin nearing the end of Operation Snake Eater, and to some extent her backstory.


 * The Boss AI cites the numerical equation for Pi.


 * The Boss AI says "Shall we walk through the rainy plain of Spain?" If enough chips are removed by this point, it will say it in a slightly glitched voice.


 * The Boss AI cites the names of the NOSE Railway system, something that had previously been done by Gray Fox, the Colonel, and Sunny in Metal Gear Solid/The Twin Snakes, Metal Gear Solid 2, and Metal Gear Solid 4, respectively.


 * The Boss AI, upon having a large percentage of her AI chips removed, will struggle to give the precise numerical equation of Pi, giving its estimate as "about 3."


 * The Boss AI, upon having a large percentage of her AI chips removed, will say "the lonely fox chases the one-eyed hound," alluding to Zero and Big Boss's feud.


 * The Boss AI will state for Big Boss to "Kill me... Kill me now..." referring to her final words to Naked Snake upon being defeated.


 * The Boss AI will call Jack's name upon completely shutting down. The style in which it calls out Jack's name also mirrors the Game Over sequence.

Appearances

 * Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
 * Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (mentioned)
 * Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain