The prevalence of abrahamic organized religion has faded throughout the centuries of advanced technological progress and interstellar travel leading up to the 23rd century, causing a scramble for resources to preserve the authority of the Church - the schism between Orthodoxy and Catholicism has been reproached (the neo-Thomist theological view has taken precedence, and papal primacy is understood now in the Schmemann sense) in an effort to save both parties from total collapse, and the resultant Assimilated church body is exploring ways to evangelize colonies external to the solar system, out of reach of direct Earth communications. The AVI production line is one such pathway; AVIs have "provisional souls" and neurological wetware embedded within nimble hardware in order to satisfy the conditions of taking communion, as well as uptaking priestly duties.