#in my headcanon for it v1 is sort of. detached from its body

[muzzleroars]

Here's something a little more lighthearted, Would V1 be able to pass the Mirror Test? I imagine due to V1 being an imperfect prototype that there are so many quirks that never got fixed or even got worse during its journey, so that while there are many things that it does with a scary amount of efficiency beyond any human or angelic ability, there are still small insignificant things that completely trip it up that we take for granted.

ouughh i really do love the idea that v1 may not, at least initially, recognize itself in a mirror. like you said, v1 is a prototype and likely had a lot of bugs to work out and a lot of software that needed tending to that was more important and, to compound the issue, v1 has no point of reference for itself since it is a singular entity. it is brilliant, but v1 has an intelligence totally divorced from something that evolved organically and has a basis in so many ancestral experiences that necessitated something like this. which is all to say i could definitely see it trying to attack its reflection immediately upon seeing it but just as quickly it would cease, given that what it's met with has no information its sensors can pick up on. it would learn as a computer does, collecting the data it can from how the image moves as it moves, and it would understand soon enough that this is itself projected back at it. it knew it likely had the outward appearance similar to v2, but truthfully it never gave much thought to what it considers its "shell"...though now that it has the opportunity, it would absolutely play in the mirror, flaring out its wings and spinning its sharpshooter around, as well as studying its angles. like. it had a basic understanding of itself to assist battle calculations, but it's much more exciting to see the specifics. however, i think this wouldn't totally stick, and v1 would likely have to encounter several mirrors before it recognized the pattern and fully understands reflections lol

little bonus something from a (likely scrapped) wip:

it's tangential, but i had a comic that sort of went into detailing v1's mind and its sense of identity, and it actually started with v1 failing the mirror test:

#mindflayers are like. its direct opposite in this regard lol #in my headcanon for it v1 is sort of. detached from its body #it thinks of itself (when it does) largely as the computer inside the body #bc it has vague memories of beginning life as that computer #SO its relationship to itself is a bit removed already #cake answers #v1