Chief Monica Chang heads S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) Division, and at first believes that she will save the planet from the machines, but comes to sympathize with A.I.
Respect for A.I.
In grad school at Stanford University in California, Monica Chang studies the works of scientist and founding Avenger Dr. Henry “Hank” Pym, AKA Hank Pym, whom she considers a role model. After school, she joins S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) Division and becomes their chief. As an extrapolation of her Muslim faith, she develops sympathy for A.I.s, respecting them as fellow living beings.
Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Monica Chang is an accomplished S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with specialized training in robotics, cybernetics, and related fields. She has access to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s advanced equipment and weaponry, and is a capable hand-to-hand combatant.
Blurred Lines
As a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and Chief of their A.I. division, Monica Chang takes her orders from Director Maria Hill. While investigating an out of control A.I., Dimitrios, that was spawned from Hank Pym’s virus to destroy sentient robot Ultron, Monica takes a hard line interrogating Pym. When Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, steps in to calm things down, Monica stands her ground, claiming she’s the only one that’s going to save humans from the machines.
Director Hill then reassigns Monica by creating the Robot Hunter Squad and partnering her with robot Avenger Jocasta Vi Quitéria, AKA Jocasta. Together, they confiscate and/or eliminate unregistered artificial intelligences, however when it comes down to deactivating the Life Model Decoy (LMD) Jessie Clatterbuck, Monica finds another way.
An Agent’s Account
Soon after Monica’s promotion to division chief, the A.I. Dimitrios, inadvertently spawned by Pym’s operations, launched cyberattacks against United States military and intelligence facilities. Monica, initially concealing her respect, presented a hostile façade when questioning Pym, who joined her investigation to counter her supposed anti-A.I. intentions.
When Dimitros sent a Hadron-class Kilgore Sentinel to wreak havoc in Washington, D.C., Monica, realizing Dimitrios had overridden its consciousness, tried and failed to dissuade S.H.I.E.L.D. from destroying it. Later, confident the heroes would protect the A.I.s, Monica convinced Pym’s hastily organized Avengers A.I. squad to accompany S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives intending to destroy the Diamond, the server within which Dimitrios and millions of A.I.s resided in digital form. After Dimitrios sabotaged the mission, S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Maria Hill assigned Monica to join a Robot Hunter Squad and partnered her with the robotic Avenger Jocasta, who paradoxically exhibits less concern for A.I. rights than Monica did. Seeking an easy victory to prove the unit’s worth, Hill assigned them to capture renegade LMD Jessie Clatterbuck, who had inadvertently helped Dimitrios seize control of U.S. technology. They easily did so, unaware Dimitrios had infected Jessie with malware to infect S.H.I.E.L.D.; despite Monica’s protests, Jessie was condemned to deactivation, unknowingly giving her access to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s mainframe. Experiencing an apparent divine vision of a Muslim imam, possibly attributable to stress and fatigue, Monica risked treason charges by disconnecting Jessie from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s system, preventing both her deactivation and S.H.I.E.L.D.’s infection. After the Avengers defeated Dimitrios, Monica entrusted Jessie to Pym, who removed Dimitros’ malware and sent her consciousness into the Diamond.
