Bernice

Bernice
The vehicle of the Sky Captains of Industry.

History
A 1957 Model Chevrolet Sedan modified to contain a sophisticated computer system, renewable hydrogen energy source and grav-lev motivators in place of wheels. Physical evidence suggests that these type of modifications were common in the immediate pre-Rock Era. In the wake of post-industrialism a return to earlier constructions combined with the new technologies of the day allowed long lasting vehicles to be created that served many more purposes than their designers originally intended. Bernice, for example, could travel on nearly any terrain and was capable of carrying far more weight than prior wheel/shock technology would allow.

Sentience
It has often been suggested that many of these vehicles, Bernice in particular, posessed some degree of sentience by the 23rd century. Cenozopolitan records furthermore confirm Bernice to be one of the first to be installed with an adaptive AI core. Despite the lack of actual evidence, it is then reasonable to believe that over the ensuing 200 some odd years Bernice would have developed a personality of a sort, and more than likely various communications methods. As to whether this is an early example of machine sentience on Urf, that cannot be said with confidence. It is however certain that, sentient or not, Bernice inhabits a prominent place in the Sky Captains mythos.