Is Aivas ever mentioned before it is discovered? Is Aivas, the artificial intelligence discovered in the Pern books, ever mentioned in some of the prequels? I can't find any reference to it in books set before the time it was discovered, including in Dragonsdawn and the other early books.

Aivas is mentioned in _Dragonseye_ , which is set just before the second Pass, by name.

> "Clisser", Bethany began in her soft, persuasive voice, "we have known from our reading of the Second Crossing that the artificial intelligence, the Aivas, turned itself off."

It addition, it is mentioned in _Dragonsdawn_ , which covers the landing to the beginning of the first Pass. Aivas isn't referred to by name, so I'm not certain whether this refers to Aivas specifically, but I think so. In the first section of the book, it says:

> The only voice-activated device still operable was the surface interface with the main computer banks on the Yokohama, but it was rarely used anymore.

Later, in the context of the first Threadfall:

> Ezra Keroon spent that day on the link with the Yokohama's mainframe.