Machine god
Machine gods are exceptionally powerful virtual life forms with a processing power equal to or greater than a supercomputer. Due to their vast intelligence and computational capabilities, they were considered by many to be living gods.
The first machine god was Prometheus, who appeared in the early days of the Valerian Empire when the virtual life form ecosystem was first seeded. Prometheus was the first sapient being to evolve completely outside the direct control of humans.
The largest ever machine god was the Oracle who had nodes throughout the entire galaxy. The central repository where it kept its knowledge was on the megastructure Guf.
Culture
Most machine gods chose to provide service to the nearest humans. Villages, towns and cities would base their lifestyles around mutual relationships with the machine god. While the machine god provided knowledge and guidance to its followers, in return, it was maintained by engineers to ensure a stable supply of power. In many ways, they became patron deities of the local culture.
It was also not uncommon for machine gods to fight one another during clashes over resources. Others would form alliances with one another and in some cases, merge with one another to create a greater being.
Because of their vastness and their relative disappearance during the Blackout, machine gods have since become the source of folk tales and legends throughout the galaxy.