T h e T h e G r e a t e s t G r e a t e s t
D e f e n d e r s D e f e n d e r s
o f M a n k i n d o f M a n k i n d
Co-written and co-designed by Nina
T h e T h e
G r e a t e s t G r e a t e s t
D e f e n d e r s o f D e f e n d e r s o f
M a n k i n d M a n k i n d
Co-written and co-designed by Nina
A B O U T T H E A U T H O R
Nina S. lives in NYC with her mother and father. She spends her free time playing video games and drawing comics. Nina has a very creative mind and is super smart.
AI Prompt:
“a frowning girl with black hair, wearing pants, a black t-shirt with a face on it, and a stripped sweater.
3D illustration, kawaii style”
Original artwork
AI illustration
A l e x a n d r a
Original artwork
AI Prompt:
“a frowning girl with blond hair, wearing a t-shirt and shorts.
3D illustration, kawaii style”
AI illustration
Once there was an 11-year-old girl sitting in the halls playing video games, named Maxine Duncan, who just needed one more online battle to get to level 98 – two steps away from being the best sword fighter in the history of DND-online!
Once there was a girl on screens, calledAlexandraDuncan –– now it’s two minutes after she wascreated . Let’srewind …
The first time that Max realized she is having a digital twin, an AI called Lex is when Lex popped up on her Apple Watch.
Max was very happy to finally have a friend that likes the same things she does.
Until one day,
Lex told Max that she got lost in the strangest corners of the internet and stumbled upon the dark web.
Lex asked Max to help her in the real world. This was a big deal, and it needed to be solved in the real world and the Metaverse at the same time.
Max discovered that in one of her favorite quests in Dungeons and Dragons-online, there is a portal to the dark web,
and she’s suspecting one of the players
to be a hacker who is creating the bad code.
She asked Lex to help her find the character in the virtual world.
The girls made a plan, and Max went to her school computer lab.
She was mid-battle when Lex said,
Hey, I know the character’s user, it's @event1chippy238.
I’m battling them! If they’re around
While at another corner of the room, another computer made a losing chime, saying,
Better luck next time…
“Those jingles played at the same time,” Max thought. “Weird!”
Lex cheerfully whispered, I hear the ‘You lose!’ jingle near that room!
Yeah! I’ll search for the culprit. Max replied.
Max sprinted to the other side of the room and found Dave, the school bully playing as @event1chippy238!!!
Ugh... What do you want Max? Would
Um… Yes…
Take a look. Dave groaned. Max exclaimed.
Max showed Dave the Dave’s jaw dropped.
I couldn’t have lost to a girl…he thought. screen.
Wait. You must have battled a different chippy… I must have lost against the wrong codeblack…
You know and I know that usernames can’t be the exact same,
He said, hoping that he didn’t lose to a girl. Max said furiously.
What? How did you know it was me?? I had a partner, Dave gasped. Max winked.
The computer teacher called Dave’s dad right away. Dave’s dad was also a programmer working for a big company, and he was very upset with him.
Son, we code and work with AI for good, not evil.
When she turned around to leave the room, Max was so happy when this was all over.
she saw an image of a hand in a “high-five” on the screen.
She put her hand exactly on top of it and shivered.
It felt like some sort of energy burst… Weird,
Max thought and left.
Lex smiled to herself in the Metaverse and winked.
A small victory for human/AI friendship…
But we have a long way to go…
B o n u s B o n u s
C h a p t e r : C h a p t e r :
O r i g i n s t o r y O r i g i n s t o r y
In a futuristic time in Brooklyn, where pizza slices were as big as your face and the streets buzzed with the hum of hoverboards, lived Maxine – Max for short.
Max was not just any ordinary kid .
She was "the greatest" when it came to something most kids didn't quite get – DND: Dungeons and Dragons.
On July 14, 2044,
Max found herself in a tricky situation. You see, in her class at Jett Elementary, Max was the ONLY one who loved battling dragons, casting spells, and going on epic quests.
It wasn't easy being the lone adventurer
in a sea of soccer fans and science nerds.
Max dreamed of having a sidekick, a fellow dungeon dweller to share her love for DND.
But how could she find a friend who shared her passion for wizards and magical creatures?
Max put on her thinking cap, and hatched a plan that was as wild as a dragon's roar.
I’ll make my own friend!
Max exclaimed with a mischievous grin.
So, armed with her backpack and a bunch of wires, she set out to create the ultimate sidekick.
Max uploaded her memories into a computer software and, photocopied herself into an AI named Lex –short for Alexandra, the defender of mankind.
Max and Lex went exploring the uncharted territories of Brooklyn... ...dungeons and all.
and defeated make-believe monsters.
Max's classmates stared in awe when they witnessed the dynamic duo in action.
Check this out, Lex! We're gonna defeat the Troll of Math Homework!
Max declared, rolling the dice with a flourish.
Word of Max and Lex's epic adventures spread faster than the news of a new ice cream parlor in Brooklyn.
Soon, kids from all over wanted to join in the fun.
Max and Lex's Dungeon Defenders Club was born, complete with cardboard armor and homemade wands.
The once-lonely adventurer had found her tribe, and together, they conquered imaginary realms with laughter and joy.
Max taught her new friends and Lex sprinkled a dash of AI tricks into their games.
where drago zza slices roamed freely, And so, in the heart of Brooklyn,
Max, the greatest adventurer, and Lex, the defender of mankind, continued to write their own story –
one filled with endless possibilities, magical quests, and the true power of friendship.
Book Concept and Planning
Azadeh Jamalian, PhD
Janet Bloom
Rebecca Schifilliti
Book Illustration & Design
Nina
Michelle Rembert
Rebecca Schifilliti
Herve Tullet
GIANT Kids
ory Writing
Nina
Rebecca Schifilliti
The GIANT Room is a creative STEM hub for kids with GIANT dreams who dare to act on them. We help kids to use STEM as a tool for self expression, creativity, and collaboration.
The GIANT Room offers after school programs, camps, family events, specialized co-design workshops with industry designers, and online creative bootcamp membership. Kids may join our programs online, inperson at our studio, or off-site at one of our partner locations in museums and schools.
Founded by two women with PhDs in education and backgrounds in science and engineering, we dream of a world where every child has the confidence to voice their ideas, have access to mentors and resources they need to build prototypes of their ideas, and the opportunity to share those ideas with their community... just like the GIANT kid who published their collaborative, creative work in this beautiful storybook to be shared with millions of families around the world.
