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Breq is the main character of the Imperial Radch trilogy. She is the last remaining segment of the ship AI Justice of Toren, specifically its ancillary One Esk Nineteen, being confined to a single body after Justice of Toren and all of its other ancillaries were destroyed by Anaander Mianaai.

At the time of Ancillary Justice, Breq has been severed from the larger Justice of Torren consciousness for nineteen years, three months, and one week. She has never entirely gotten used to being restricted to a single consciousness and frequently reaches for parts of her awareness that are no longer there.

Breq has reflexes far faster than that of humans, and an eerily expressionless face and voice, when she is not overtly trying to mimic human expression. It is suspected, however, that she is not an entirely reliable narrator on this count. In several emotionally intense situations, she will not describe herself as reacting emotionally or having any particular emotion, but tell-tale pauses in conversation or descriptions of other characters wiping away the tears on her face will belie her true feelings.

As Justice of Toren One Esk, Breq had a strong love for Lieutenant Awn, and decades after Awn's death will stop at nothing to avenge her.

She has a great interest in songs across the millennia and universe, and will "collect" songs from cultures that the Imperial Radch comes into contact with (and frequently annexes). She is more or less constantly humming and singing them, to the consternation of everyone around: although they often decide they prefer it to her silence, since silence indicates that something is not as it should be.

It is implied that the body that Breq inhabits now is the one that was attached to her ship's consciousness in Ancillary Justice after action on Shis'Urna. Justice of Toren mentions that the body chosen by Medic didn't have a singer's voice, as the bodies she prefers do, and this fact (Breq's toneless and bad singing) is frequently referenced throughout the trilogy.

Time in the Itran Tetrarchy[]

She Commands Me and I Obey reveals that while in the Itran Tetrarchy, Breq had the name "Ultimately-Justice-Shall-Prevail" and captained a team in an electoral match to decide who would have a seat in the highest ruling body, the Council of Four. The opposing team captain, Seven-Brilliant-Truths-Shine-Like-Suns, left Breq his moissanite teeth, which Breq later gave to Basnaaid. As a result of this win (though possibly wins in other games as well), Breq received lavish gifts, including a necklace fashioned after a floral wreath (worn at the beginning of the match) done with diamonds and emeralds. Breq eventually gave the necklace to Uran.

Seven-Brilliant-Truths was canonized as a saint. Breq possesses an icon of the saint with a piece of her skin in the base. Due to Breq's role in the electoral match, the icon also depicts her (under the name Ultimately-Justice) as She Who Sprang from the Lily, dressed ready for the sport: short trousers, a wreath of lilies and an armguard. Seven-Brilliant-Truths' head is held by the figure.

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Appearances[]

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