Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT Strips 3031-3035 (24th to 28th August 2015
mustang6172:
Why would humanoid be the best shape for a combat robot? How effective is a bipedal tank?
DSL:
Next we find out Bubbles has PTSD triggered by teddy bears. And logs.
cesium133:
Log files, of course, not wooden logs.
Morituri:
My take on Bubbles (when I was writing fanfic) was that she was built in a "Mark 1" chassis - ie, strictly military property built to military specification - back before AI rights became a thing. When AI rights did become a thing, they had to give her the same rights as a human soldier - including the choice of mustering out or re-enlisting. But she's a Mark-1 and not compatible with the analogous civilian hardware. The Mark-2's, which would be what they produced after it became clear that military AI's do in fact have a right to muster out, would be built with AI modules and/or software compatible with civilian hardware, allowing AI's to be demilitarized - in this case meaning transferred to a "commodity" or civilian chassis - if and when they muster out.
The Mark-2 compatibility with civilian AI modules or software would also be required for another reason: The US has an all-volunteer military. Once AI's have the rights of citizens you can't "conscript" them any more absent their voluntary cooperation, nor make them to-order for military service that they don't volunteer for. Instead you have to send out recruiters to get civilian AI's to volunteer, the same as they have to get civilian humans to volunteer. So naturally the Mark-2 chassis has to be compatible with the volunteers that might need to inhabit it.
But this leaves Bubbles is in the awkward position of a soldier who has mustered out (with what appears to be a possible case of PTSD) and is driving around the equivalent of a tank in civilian life, because its idiot builders, not anticipating the possibility of her leaving the military, didn't leave an exit hatch that would allow her to easily climb out.
I don't know how much, if any, of this is similar to what Jeph is thinking or what will become canon, but that's how I interpreted it anyway, and it seems plausible to me.
I hope to see her at the robot support group where May and Momo spend their Tuesday afternoons. I think the interaction would be interesting, because May would be insanely jealous of the military chassis and Momo would probably have to remind her to be respectful and not fangirl all over it.
Morituri:
--- Quote from: Granitefish on 24 Aug 2015, 20:48 ---"Anti-tank rifles are illegal in this state."
Is this implying there are states where they are legal?
--- End quote ---
Um, actually? Yes. Yes there are. Nevada for one. IIUC the rules there are weapons that do not fire more than one shell with a single pull of the trigger, have a magazine limited to less than some number of rounds I forget, and can be both carried by one person and fired from an upright position, are legal with a permit.
An AT rifle is hellish to fire from an upright position, but it can be done. No matter how strong you are, if you're human it'll knock you flat on your ass with bruises that won't heal for weeks. And you won't get that permit if you live in a densely populated area or aren't on really good terms with the local county sheriff, but otherwise, yes. There are a number of people who legally own some damned heavy weapons out there.
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