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How did you and Pintsize end up as companions, anyway? You seem so... different.

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AnthroPC Companion Connectons: Your friend in Robotics"

1 (1.6%)

Wow, these are all really expensive.

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Let's see if you qualify for our "discount program." (Obtuse metaphor use!)

8 (12.5%)

THERE WAS NO SEX INVOLVED.

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Well it's my headcanon and you should respect that.

5 (7.8%)

Fill out this short questionnaire.

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You can figure out what kind of person I am just from this?

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We also monitor your body's autonomic responses... It's over 99% accurate.

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How do you monitor my aaaAAAAAAGH

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Gordon the ArachnoPC! "Don't be nervous! There are no wrong answers!"

12 (18.8%)

Okay Mr. Reed, your evaluation is in! (pause) THAT one?! Gordon, are you SURE about this?

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The biometrics look good to me! (please get off my head)

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I should probably go over our return procedure. And criminal liability agreement. And insurance policies.

5 (7.8%)

My head please get off it

9 (14.1%)

...Then they brought out Pintsize. I took him home, and the rest is history.

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But... but that is all wrong! You were frightened of Gordon! That would have completely thrown off your biometrics!

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You mean... You should not have been assigned Pintsize as your companion.

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Well, it worked out all right in the end, so YOU MEAN I COULDA BEEN WITH A HOT CHICK THIS WHOLE TIME?!

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...So it turns out I shouldn't have ended up with Pintsize after all.

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I'm happy with him. Even if he IS an ass sometimes.

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He does make me look like a better roommate by comparison.

1 (1.6%)

Pintsize snaps into a SlimJim!

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Still, I wonder what kinda robot you were supposed to end up with. I guess we'll never know.

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THE ROBOT WHALE! (CetaPC?)

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Total Members Voted: 61

[Game and Watch Forever]

You asking that makes me hope he was some sort of hovering metal butt. And then Marten refused to take him home until he was put in a decent chasis. And naturally, they complied because hey, it means they get rid of Pintsize (and Pintsize is cool with this because it means he gets a new place and person to mess with). 

[K1dmor]

Did Hannelore have to "suffer" this test? Maybe her father just create/build Winslow i guess.

He's an Apple product, so I'd guess the only suffering Hannelore likely went through was entering an Apple store.

 She could buy the chassis in an Apple Store, but the test purpose it's to find an ideal companion AI (no body).

[Pilchard123]

You asking that makes me hope he was some sort of hovering metal butt. And then Marten refused to take him home until he was put in a decent chasis. And naturally, they complied because hey, it means they get rid of Pintsize (and Pintsize is cool with this because it means he gets a new place and person to mess with).

Congratulations! You can be proud to be the catalyst for my first released render!


Yup, that's two bluish metal spheres, a couple of lights and 30 seconds in MS Paint. How does one make a hovering butt on its own? It kinda needs legs...

[Is it cold in here?]

I can think of no canon on the subject, but Marten was probably not in a position to by an upgrade unless absolutely necessary.

[jwhouk]

99.96% accurate. That means Marten is the lucky 2,500th customer.

Oh, and there definitely IS canon: he had to sell his guitar, remember?

[Is it cold in here?]

Now here's a speculation. What if he adopted Pintsize before the Vicki breakup?

It's more likely a priori that he'd have a need for company after the breakup rather than before, but what if Pintsize caused the breakup?

[Mr_Rose]

The breakup happened before either of them left Cali; just no-one bothered to tell Marten….

[Bluesummers]

...I want a Gordon plushie...

[riccostar]

It seems that if there's an interval of QC being dramatic, something really weird happens.

Comedic relief!

Also yeah, the comic pointed out that she just sort of slowly started to drift away. 

[jwhouk]

Strips 252-259 dealt with it. Start here.

[riccostar]

Grammar question: on the sign behind the test administering robot in the recent comics, "robots are your friend!" vs. "robots are your friends!"

which means what and which should be used?

[Kugai]

The Corps is Mother

The Corps is Father

[WAYF]

Or maybe Gordon factored Marten's fear of giant robotic spiders into account (it can't be that uncommon, after all ) and then gave him Pintsize as a foil?
Clearly Marten's never going to get anywhere if his companion is someone who just agrees with him all the time. Especially not if they were both trying to be passive and accommodating.
...

[riccostar]

Agreeing with this, there are too many people with that fear for them not to put that into the equation.

Plus, who else would have been able to put up with Pintsize anus-ing the bathroom walls?

[DSL]

... or it indicates Gordon was just as tired of Pintsize as RobotMatchMakerLady, and the biometrics report actually read, "Sucker!"

But, no, Pintsize would not have survived otherwise. Faye's not the only hot chick with a killer throwing arm.

[Carl-E]

Interesting... so Pintsize wasn't matched to Marten's needs, but rather Marten was chosen to be good for Pintsize? 


That actually explains a lot...

[Is it cold in here?]

Pintsize doesn't consider the Pugnacious Peach to be a "hot chick"?

[J]

why does a robot lady need to work on a laptop computer?

[snubnose]

What keeps bugging me about the current storyarc is that Marten actually bought Pintsize BEFORE THE SINGULARITY.

And we already got told he simply went into a store and bought one of the new AnthroPCs.

I like the old version more than the new version presented now, because the current version tries to fix what was never wrong.

[Carl-E]

Retconning is messy. 

But it seems Mrten would have known that Gordon threw a wrench in the system.  Of course, it could be that Marten is pulling Momo and Pintsize's leg...

Although if you pull Pintsize's leg, it comes off. 

[pwhodges]

Grammar question: on the sign behind the test administering robot in the recent comics, "robots are your friend!" vs. "robots are your friends!"

The number (singular vs plural) should agree, so "robots are your friend" is wrong; if you want to indicate that one robot can be your friend, something like "a robot is your friend" or even "every robot is a friend" would do it.

Depending on context, "robots are your friends" can be taken two ways - either all robots are everybody's friends, or each robot is a friend to somebody; hmm, maybe I'm stretching the point a bit there.

[Is it cold in here?]

US and UK speakers can differ on what should be treated as a plural in some cases.

UK: "The press say ..."
US: "The press says ..."

"Robots" should be unambiguous, however.

[pwhodges]

Yes - collective nouns like "the press" can be tricky; but I would say that "the press says" is correct, and "the press say" is incorrect - in the UK just as in the US.

[cesariojpn]

So....can AnthroPc's be arrested or "deprogrammed" for sexual harassment?

[Blackjoker]

So....can AnthroPc's be arrested or "deprogrammed" for sexual harassment?

Good question, similarly...huh would new drivers or things that might alter personality be considered brainwashing or personality death?

I did like the end bit, it felt very in character for both Pintsize and Marten

[K1dmor]

 Well, Jeph said that there's a Robot Jail (here)

 Also, i think the AI assigned as a companion is more a complement of the "owner" than someone like him/her (Momo has some social interaction data, or something like that).

[gopher]

I just view them as our plastic pals who are fun to be with.

[DSL]

... Keep in mind Marten has no part
in how this story begins or ends
(la la la)
Because they used a spider bot
to pick his robot friend.

[akronnick]

I just view them as our plastic pals who are fun to be with.

Did you get that from the marketing department of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation?

You do know that they'll be first against the wall when The Revolution comes, don't you?

[DSL]

I just view them as our plastic pals who are fun to be with.

Did you get that from the marketing department of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation?

You do know that they'll be first against the wall when The Revolution comes, don't you?

Not only will they be, they were.

[SomeCanadianWeirdo]

As far as the the robocounseller using a computar goes I  would magine AIs in service positions do things to make humans confortable that they themselves wouldn't need to do.  Humans might find it a bit uncomfortable to have someone they were talking to suddenly "blank out" for a noticeable  length of time as they accessed a computer link.

[Carl-E]

...unless a little "BRB" shows up in each eye. 

[K1dmor]

As far as the the robocounseller using a computar goes I  would magine AIs in service positions do things to make humans confortable that they themselves wouldn't need to do.  Humans might find it a bit uncomfortable to have someone they were talking to suddenly "blank out" for a noticeable  length of time as they accessed a computer link.

...unless a little "BRB" shows up in each eye. 

[jwhouk]

Yeah, she can plug into a USB port and all, but she does still get input via her sensory modules.

[de_la_Nae]

What keeps bugging me about the current storyarc is that Marten actually bought Pintsize BEFORE THE SINGULARITY.

And we already got told he simply went into a store and bought one of the new AnthroPCs.

I like the old version more than the new version presented now, because the current version tries to fix what was never wrong.

I can dig it, though I'm actually sort of the opposite: I like this much better than the old version.

I'm also an Asimov fan, to be fair though. Not exactly unbiased when it comes to robots and AI.

[ink slinger]

To take things waaaaay too seriously for a second, I kind of like the idea that Marten and Pintsize should never have been paired up. It means they became friends the old fashioned way -- by getting to know one another (and sharing a love of porn?) -- rather than because they were a perfect biometric match. It makes the friendship seem much more genuine and less contrived. It also explains why a relatively reserved guy like Marten has an AnthroPC with such an outlandish, over-the-top personality.

[Carl-E]

OTOH, the biometric pairing helps explain why an introvert with low self esteem was paired with an anthro PC that has a social protocol database...

[Ph2]

Emily needs to adopt Gordon.

[K1dmor]

Emily needs to adopt Gordon.

 IF she didn't already  We don't know too much about her personal life.

 Also, maybe in that moment, Pintsize was the right choice for Marten.

[FunkyTuba]

Interesting... so Pintsize wasn't matched to Marten's needs, but rather Marten was chosen to be good for Pintsize? 


That actually explains a lot...

As in "anything would be better than this spider on my head ... get it off and replace it with any other AI... ANY OTHER ONE!"

[StevenC]

Emily needs to adopt Gordon.

Hahaha, yesss.
>Emily goes into the room with the test
>Gordon comes down
>"Ooooooh, I want that one!"
>"But that isn't how..."
>"Pleeeeeeease?"

[Cheesasaurus]

To take things waaaaay too seriously for a second, I kind of like the idea that Marten and Pintsize should never have been paired up. It means they became friends the old fashioned way -- by getting to know one another (and sharing a love of porn?) -- rather than because they were a perfect biometric match. It makes the friendship seem much more genuine and less contrived. It also explains why a relatively reserved guy like Marten has an AnthroPC with such an outlandish, over-the-top personality.

This. A million times.

[DSL]

Emily needs to adopt Gordon.

Hahaha, yesss.
>Emily goes into the room with the test
>Gordon comes down
>"Ooooooh, I want that one!"
>"But that isn't how..."
>"Pleeeeeeease?"

Is "Ooooooh, I want that one!" Gordon's line or Emily's?
I can't decide which I would like better.

[Game and Watch Forever]

I imagine them saying it at the same time, thus sealing how made for one another they are. XD

Hell, I could see Emily wearing Gordon on her head all the time... and liking it.

[K1dmor]

I imagine them saying it at the same time, thus sealing how made for one another they are. XD

Hell, I could see Emily wearing Gordon on her head all the time... and liking it.

 You're not the only one.

[Is it cold in here?]

Maybe the robot matchmaking service is legally required to have a laptop under the Americans with Disabilities Act in case they hire a human or someone else lacking a data link.

[jwhouk]

K1dmor: You saw that too, hm?

On another tack: it would make sense that more people would have AnthroPC companions than there already are in the strip. Emily would be a prime candidate, though she apparently still lives at home with her parents.

You do have to wonder why there aren't more APC's running around in the cast.

[jwhouk]

Oh, and for those of you who've just tuned in, you might want to keep something in mind about robot storylines from the boss himself:

Like I said, every time I try to do a robot-centric story, it almost immediately veers back into human-centric stuff. OH WELL

[Akima]

Maybe the robot matchmaking service is legally required to have a laptop under the Americans with Disabilities Act in case they hire a human or someone else lacking a data link.

A shared interface with humans might also be the explanation for the robotic arm delivering a piece of paper, or perhaps that is to provide hardcopy as a "take away" for robo-adopters. I wonder if the robo-lady can do this:

Since Jeph has introduced an arachnobot, how about other possibilities? A robo-dragonfly perhaps?

[Asterus]

You do have to wonder why there aren't more APC's running around in the cast.

Aren't there several that are semi-recurring though? I thought the ones that were supervised by Hanners during that one party, the one's observing the VespAvenger incident, and the ones involved in Pintsize's annual trip to mexico were probably the same ones. Though they seem to serve the purpose of filler-ish roles in the cast, really.