Chirox

Chirox is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Chirox is a minor character in the Legends of Dune trilogy created by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

A former combat "mek" in the robot forces of the Evermind Omnius, he is found by the Ginaz mercenaries after a battle. He is damaged and incapable of fighting, so they erase his main programming (except for his fighting abilities) and then reprogram him to remove his loyalty to Omnius. He is then used to train new mercenaries to fight his former master's combat forces. Because Omnius believes his combats meks are perfectly designed for their purpose he does not upgrade their design, making Chirox almost identical in design to the combat meks used for the remainder of the Butlerian Jihad. Among the Swordmasters trained by Chirox are the Legendary Jool Noret and his father Zon Noret.

Although Chirox already was an efficient fighter due to Omnius' programming, his fighting skills were enhanced by Jool Noret to allow him to "learn" from his opponents and continuously improve his abilities. But during one of Zon Noret's military leaves on Ginaz, he is inadvertently killed by Chirox. While sparring with Chirox, Noret unknowningly activates the advanced training programs created by his son, commanding Chirox to "fight without restraint." Unprepared for the sudden increase in the robot's skill, Zon is struck down in the presence of Jool Noret, inflaming the younger man to become the greatest Sword Master of Ginaz.

After decades of service, the fanatics of the Cult of Serena lured Chirox to Salusa Secundus to "reward" him for his service to humanity with the intention of destroying him. Nar Trig, a former student, led this effort and attempted to defeat Chirox, but the robot vastly outmatched his ungrateful pupil and was forced to kill him by decapitatation rather than be destroyed. Chirox's companion Istian Goss, another former student of the Ginaz school, was prepared to defend Chirox to the death from the mob, but in order to save his friend and to prevent the deaths of the cultists, Chirox chose to sacrifice his own life and shut himself down.

Istian then stood guard over his remains for an indeterminate period. He was the only one to recognise that Chirox's choice to resist his built-in instructions was evidence of not just "intelligent programming" but of free will, and the implication of a soul.