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Faye and Bubbles get into a fight; Marten arrives to see Bubbles frantically giving Faye CPR (Damn you Willis!);

Bubbles nearly snaps something of Faye's and ends up having a nervous break-down;

A week of random guest strips just to troll us all;

Bubbles storms off and Faye starts doing detective work with Hannelore and Station's help;

Bubbles has a breakdown when Faye tells her that she wants "to help my new friend" and tells the whole terrible story;

Faye says 'screw you' and we never see Bubbles in the strip again;

Bubbles comes across as a whiny child; we realise she's not PTSD at all, just antisocial and self-pitying;

Inexplicably, the arc turns into a kind of alt-rock musical on the subject of Bubbles wanting "to be a real girl".

[Method of Madness]

Is the "stupid punching bsg" just a typo or am I missing some indie thing going on?

Battlestar Galactica?

That was my thought. SHE'S A CYLON!

[Stoutfellow]

Remember when this strip was about people and interpersonal relationships instead of emo Blade Runner extras? That was awesome. If this week is any indication, it's now a 1:4 ratio, respectively.

Are you suggesting that Bubbles isn't a person?

[Thrudd]

Also, just to raise a point, her PTSD may not have anything to do with direct combat at all since a soldiers training is supposed to include the tools to deal with combat stress long before they are mustered out on active duty. My guess is that this would apply to AIs just as much as it does to the bags of mostly water.

If anything, it may be the result of some other action where all he vaunted power, training and skills were of no use whatsoever.
An example would be This Horrific Tragedy where the first responders had to deal with the aftermath and the victims passing away right then and there as everyone was rushing to peel them out of the vehicle.

* do not click the link unless you are morbidly curious on the details.

[Is it cold in here?]

It's parallel to Faye's experience to lose key emotional support to violence.

Survivor guilt is a likely candidate too.

[Omega Entity]

If anything, it may be the result of some other action where all he vaunted power, training and skills were of no use whatsoever.
An example would be This Horrific Tragedy where the first responders had to deal with the aftermath and the victims passing away right then and there as everyone was rushing to peel them out of the vehicle.

* do not click the link unless you are morbidly curious on the details.

There's a special place in hell, if you believe in such a place, for idiots who get into the driver's seat with even a buzz going.

EDIT: Here is an article relating to the first-responders' PTSD.

I'd also like to note, that the threshold for some people is lower or higher than others - for my friend, she was in a car accident with her two children. Though her injuries were relatively minor (she had a minor concussion, which while yes, still somewhat major, it could have been a lot worse), and her children were pretty much unharmed, she's still struggling with PTSD as a result of it. She ended up having to resign from her job as a stylist because when children screamed while getting their hair cut, it would take her back to the accident and presumably, her own children's screams.

[War Sparrow]

PTSD is weird. They actually don't know what causes it. It's linked to heart rate variability (if your heartate goes up when your excited, and down when your not, as opposed to being fairly regular) whether the person chose to be in or could escape the situation, if the person didn't wait six hours to go to sleep(there was a study done that linked sleeping right after a traumatic incident caused it to go into long term memory, before the body got the chance to trigger the parasympathetic nervous system with regards to the incident.) There are case studies of people falling at an airport, with no injury, and getting PTSD. There are people that get hit by trains and are fine. 

[Perfectly Reasonable]

I was going to agree with Akima that Bubbles needs sturdier exercise gear.

But what is she mainjacking? If it isn't "My Litttle Pony" episodes, she could be much closer to Faye than we want to think. Maybe they -do- need each other...

[Akima]

I think the cause of PTSD is clear enough; traumatic stress (it's right there on the label). What is not clear is the mechanism through which it works, and why some people experience it following circumstances which do not affect others in the same way.

I hope Jeph expands on if, and why Bubbles has PTSD, too. "Been to war" isn't really a good enough explanation-it takes more than a really bad experience to develop something like that.

Also, just to raise a point, her PTSD may not have anything to do with direct combat at all since a soldiers training is supposed to include the tools to deal with combat stress long before they are mustered out on active duty.

I am puzzled by these postings above suggesting that the stress of battle is not a sufficient explanation for Bubbles' possible PTSD. Since the days when it was called "shell-shock", has not a major part of the literature on the subject related to military psychological casualties?

But what is she mainjacking? If it isn't "My Litttle Pony" episodes, she could be much closer to Faye than we want to think.

I thought she was just recharging. Though the cable is a bit thin for that, now I come to think of it (depending on the charging voltage, obviously). Bubbles must have some pretty solid energy-storage after all.

[Omega Entity]

But what is she mainjacking? If it isn't "My Litttle Pony" episodes, she could be much closer to Faye than we want to think. Maybe they -do- need each other...

I figured it's her power supply or something. If she's an older model, she probably operates differently than the newer models, kind of like how new idevices use lightning cables now instead of those wide rectangular things.

[Kugai]

I think she's recharging.  She is and older model of military AnthroPC and it may also a faculty of her being an early Military Combat AI/AnthroPC.  You know, a limiting factor built into her by the military as a form of controlling her and her kind just in case.

[Is it cold in here?]

If she lives at the shop they may have 480V available. That cord doesn't look bigger than 16 gauge.

[Storel]

I have to agree with the the guy on the Subreddit who said that, out of sight of us, Claire stepped on Martin's foot when, in panel 3, he said: "But you're always welcome!", making him hurriedly add: "I mean, not for the smooching part!"

I'm quite tickled by the idea that there are readers who saw that last panel and thought to themselves, "Marten is being quite awkward - there must be some explanation."

Marten being awkward? How unusual! 

If she lives at the shop they may have 480V available. That cord doesn't look bigger than 16 gauge.

I don't know enough about electrical stuff to get the connection between those two statements. Would 480V require a bigger cord? Or are you saying that a small cord could transfer more power if the voltage were higher?

[Is it cold in here?]

The latter. Power is voltage times current, so less current is needed at higher voltages to get the same amount of power. Other things being equal (there are a lot of other things to keep equal) a smaller cord can carry less current safely.

[Morituri]

Welp. 

Somebody's darned unhappy.  And as for whether she's in the business of beating up that athletic equipment or herself?  Embrace the power of AND, my friends.

This isn't even anything to do with "introverted" or "extroverted", for whatever that's worth.  At this point the character could be either one, and hasn't had occasion yet to be clearly visible as one or the other or neither.  Seriously; that's not the important issue here. 

There's lots of things she might need.  But a lot of them are probably things she's not ready to accept.  For example she probably needs someone to be around her for a while and really listen.  But she won't feel like she has the duty to tell them anything important, nor will she feel that they have the right to hear anything important.

So....  I dunno how a real psychiatrist would handle it, but for me this would be a "be present but be quiet" and "interact but interact about something else" kind of moment.  Like, I'd like to know more about robotics and how robotic bodies go together and work; I'd ask for help from her with that.  And if she has anything to say about the events of the previous night, start off by apologizing for pressuring her to something she didn't want to do and see where she takes it from there.

In a similar situation, I learned a whole lot about guns and gunsmithing from someone who really needed listening to about something else.

[ZoeB]

I think she's recharging.  She is and older model of military AnthroPC and it may also a faculty of her being an early Military Combat AI/AnthroPC.  You know, a limiting factor built into her by the military as a form of controlling her and her kind just in case.

No, it's just that all that power - power enough to disintegrate a punching-bag - has to come from somewhere. Pintsize's power requirements are like that of an electric bike. Momo's, like an electric scooter or segway. Bubbles - like an M2 Bradley. Power storage is a problem. I don't know how many kw/hrs she burnt up in her "exercise", but it would be a lot. She's drained - not just emotionally.

She needs help. She deserves help. That might be like trying to help a wounded tiger though, without a tranquiliser gun. Tricky. Non-trivial.

[J]

"My sex life?  Yes, yes, I've got top men working on it as we speak."

well it's either that, or you handle everything yourself.

If she lives at the shop they may have 480V available. That cord doesn't look bigger than 16 gauge.

well we could just chalk that up to artistic license, but where's the fun in that? i'm gonna say that her military-issued ac adapter uses some kind of super-conducting material in place of boring old copper wires.

Wow! Bubbles needs more robust exercise gear! Kevlar? Chain mail? Solid rubber? Steel?

I think that's missing the point. She wanted to kill something and killing a punching bag doesn't carry unfortunate legal penalties.

i doubt akima was being fully serious there.

but there is an interesting question to look at here; bubbles is using physical activity to burn off excess aggression, which is important because earlier a momentary loss of her temper resulted in several hundred dollars in property damage, and could have easily injured a (mostly) innocent human.

so then, why is a psychologically unstable a.i. allowed to walk around in a weaponized milspec combat chassis?

[Method of Madness]

Because it's her body.

[J]

and if she had been the control system for a tank or an aircraft carrier she could just take it with her when she retired?


actually, pintsize has a military issue chasis as well, but his was forcibly disarmed by government agents. and he is at least slightly less likely to kill someone than bubbles is.

[J]

more to the point, what happens next time bubbles loses her cool? will she knock a lamp post over, into the middle of a busy street? or perhaps punt a newspaper machine through somebody's windshield? or maybe she stays with the wall-punching and just takes out a load-bearing pillar, collapsing part of a ceiling onto some people.



it seems to me that her preference for solitude may be based at least partially on this; that she knows something like that might happen, & doesn't fully trust herself to behave responsibly to keep it from happening.

[Neko_Ali]

I think people are overstating her danger by quite a bit. She did not hit Faye. She did not miss by accident. She was sending a clear warning to someone who doesn't take verbal or non verbal clues or requests to leave her alone. Bubbles is well aware of that fact because that is exactly why she got herself into the situation at the party in the first place. Faye kept pushing and pushing until she found the right button to mash. So the only thing Bubbles had left as she saw it was a direct physical threat. Then she went home and tried to work out her frustration on some heavy bags. It didn't work, but at no time during any of this did she lose control, or was actually a danger, aside from freak accidents with flying masonry. Given the fact she can put her fist through all that leather and sand, it's quite likely that she pulled her punch on the wall, using only enough to demonstrate her strength.

Also keep in mind that Pintsize didn't have a military grade chassis taken from him. He had an active military weapon. When you are discharged, you keep your kit, but you don't get to walk off with the rifle you carried, or the tank you drove. Momo has stated before that legally speaking, the chassis an AI inhabits is their own. I'm sure there are limits to that, you wouldn't let the AI in charge of a nuclear submarine keep it when they decide to change jobs. Those things run in the millions of dollars.  Who knows how much Bubbles' chassis cost. It's entirely likely that she bought it out with  her accumulated pay when she left the service or was discharged.

As far as people just letting her walk around, she did say that 'better minds have than you have tried' to 'fix' her. The implication is that she has seen a robo psychiatrist sometime in the past at least. While I imagine Bubbles was less than open and cooperative dealing with them, they didn't judge her to be a danger to herself or others at least.

[J]

I think people are overstating her danger by quite a bit. She did not hit Faye. She did not miss by accident. She was sending a clear warning to someone who doesn't take verbal or non verbal clues or requests to leave her alone. Bubbles is well aware of that fact because that is exactly why she got herself into the situation at the party in the first place. Faye kept pushing and pushing until she found the right button to mash. So the only thing Bubbles had left as she saw it was a direct physical threat.

i'm sure the fact that bubbles was only threatening to murder faye, rather than actually murdering her will be of great comfort to whomever has to pay for the damage she did to their wall.

Then she went home and tried to work out her frustration on some heavy bags. It didn't work, but at no time during any of this did she lose control, or was actually a danger, aside from freak accidents with flying masonry. Given the fact she can put her fist through all that leather and sand, it's quite likely that she pulled her punch on the wall, using only enough to demonstrate her strength.

i'm fully willing to give her the benefit of the doubt that she wasn't actually trying to hurt faye; and that she keeps her fists properly sighted in and calibrated, so the chance of killing her accidentally was minimal. but the fact remains that her answer to the question "How do I get this annoying person to leave me alone" was "Attempt to terrify them with threats of physical violence!".

this is not the behavior of a responsible & fully rational person.

Also keep in mind that Pintsize didn't have a military grade chassis taken from him. He had an active military weapon.

actually, if i recall correctly, they had to be talked out of just confiscating the whole body, & settled for just taking the laser as a reasonable compromise.

actually, the fact that she's driving around in a military chassis is basically irrelevant; if she were behaving this way in a powerful industrial machine, it would be just as bad.

[cesium133]

"My sex life?  Yes, yes, I've got top men working on it as we speak."

well it's either that, or you handle everything yourself.

"My sex life is a DIY project."

[Neko_Ali]

i'm fully willing to give her the benefit of the doubt that she wasn't actually trying to hurt faye; and that she keeps her fists properly sighted in and calibrated, so the chance of killing her accidentally was minimal. but the fact remains that her answer to the question "How do I get this annoying person to leave me alone" was "Attempt to terrify them with threats of physical violence!".

this is not the behavior of a responsible & fully rational person.

Perhaps you missed all the comics and where I talked about how Bubbles has been trying for a while to get Faye to leave her alone, all of which have failed. 'Subtle' just doesn't work on Faye. Neither did directly saying it to her face. Even trying to walk away from the situation that was causing her so much distress wasn't enough to get Faye to go away. I'm not saying she's fully rational. If she was she wouldn't be suffering so much. And honestly, who really is? Everyone has their baggage to carry. I'm saying that Bubbles is actually responsible and in control, and not a significant danger to other people unless she chooses to be. And she has consistently chosen not to be, including when she had to use physical violence to get her point across.

And a wall is a lot easier to repair than smashing Faye's face.

[J]

help me out here; am i completely misunderstanding your point, or are you saying that it's ok to use threats of physical violence and cause property damage, if someone is sufficiently annoying?

Subtle' just doesn't work on Faye. Neither did directly saying it to her face. Even trying to walk away from the situation that was causing her so much distress was enough to get Faye to go away.

ok, subtle doesn't work. fine. how about telling their mutual employer "The new girl won't stop pestering me with personal questions, please tell her to mind her own business." or maybe just ignore any non-work related conversation attempts. or just don't show up at the party. hell, even if we're just talking about this particular incident; bubbles has a running speed of 30 kliks, she can easily remove herself from the situation without damaging innocent masonry.

because even if bubbles is fully in control of her actions, that doesn't change the fact that she's causing property damage and threatening to murder someone who isn't just not threatening her, but is completely incapable of threatening her. all that would mean is that she either couldn't see any of the other options available to her, or that she could see them, and chose that one as being preferable.


so imagine this: if i were a person who carried a handgun on a daily basis, and someone i didn't like wouldn't stop talking to me.  and so i pull out my gun and put a few rounds into the wall 10 inches from their head. should i be allowed to keep that gun?

[Neko_Ali]

Well first of all, Faye is capable of harming Bubbles emotionally, just not as easily physically. Nor am I saying it's okay or acceptable to harm or threaten to harm someone. But yes, sometimes some people just don't get the hint unless you go to extreme measures when everything else has failed. Also emotional distress will cause people to act out in ways they normally wouldn't. Should we lock up everyone who loses their temper because they could be violent? If that was the case, Faye should have been locked up long ago. She frequently would use threats and violence to get her way. People seem to be reacting more strongly about Bubble's punch because she's 'big and scary military robot' which is exactly how Bubbles thinks that people consider her.

[ReindeerFlotilla]

ok, subtle doesn't work. fine. how about telling their mutual employer "The new girl won't stop pestering me with personal questions, please tell her to mind her own business." or maybe just ignore any non-work related conversation attempts. or just don't show up at the party. hell, even if we're just talking about this particular incident; bubbles has a running speed of 30 kliks, she can easily remove herself from the situation without damaging innocent masonry.

because even if bubbles is fully in control of her actions, that doesn't change the fact that she's causing property damage and threatening to murder someone who isn't just not threatening her, but is completely incapable of threatening her. all that would mean is that she either couldn't see any of the other options available to her, or that she could see them, and chose that one as being preferable.


so imagine this: if i were a person who carried a handgun on a daily basis, and someone i didn't like wouldn't stop talking to me.  and so i pull out my gun and put a few rounds into the wall 10 inches from their head. should i be allowed to keep that gun?

Rules of fiction. Show, don't tell. Make it dynamic.

Remember when Pintsize was armed with military grade laser, caused wanton property damage, and Dora assaulted a federal agent?

[sitnspin]

help me out here; am i completely misunderstanding your point, or are you saying that it's ok to use threats of physical violence and cause property damage, if someone is sufficiently annoying?

Annoying is not the issue, psychological harm is the issue. Continuing to pressure someone who is under considerable psychological distress is more than just "annoying". Are threats of violence socially acceptable in most instances? No, but psychological harm is a real thing and a person in within their rights, in my opinion, to defend themselves from it, even when that harm is unintentional.

[J]

if we have reason to believe that further loss of temper may cause them to act violently, then i'm pretty sure we do lock them up. whether or not they would 'normally' act that way is basically irrelevant.

secondly, 'all else' has not failed; the argument that because subtlety hasn't worked, 'extreme measures' are necessary is invalid, because it presupposes that there is nothing between "I'm leaving." and "BUBS SMASH!". there are multiple avenues of recourse that have yet been unexplored.


but lets break the situation down:

1) you have an AI housed in a weaponized combat-chasis, who is suffering from emotional instability & psychological illness.

2) said AI who can be driven into a wall-smashing rage by the combination of an annoying coworker and a brief, uncomfortable social situation.

3) said AI either could not recognize that she had multiple non-smashy options available to her (in which case, she was irrational due to her emotional instability, and thus unpredictable), or could do so and consciously chose to smash a wall as her most preferred option (in which case, she is fully responsible for her actions).

4) said AI claims to have been resistant to previous attempts at rehabilitative therapy.


my solution to this is that she be removed form the combat-chasis & moved into something less dangerous. her original to be held in custody pending successful rehabilitative therapy. ie: she can have it back, once she can be reasonably expected to use it responsibly.

what would your solution be?


Warning - while you were typing 2 new replies have been posted. You may wish to review your post.

[J]

Rules of fiction. Show, don't tell. Make it dynamic.

i understand that concept, but don't know how it relates to the post you quoted.

Remember when Pintsize was armed with military grade laser, caused wanton property damage, and Dora assaulted a federal agent?

i do remember that, and referenced it in some of my earlier posts in order to draw parallels with the current situation. in both cases, an unpredictable AI was in possession of dangerous military hardware & caused property damage with it.

Annoying is not the issue, psychological harm is the issue. Continuing to pressure someone who is under considerable psychological distress is more than just "annoying". Are threats of violence socially acceptable in most instances? No, but psychological harm is a real thing and a person in within their rights, in my opinion, to defend themselves from it, even when that harm is unintentional.

ok, granted. however, the issue is not whether or not psychological harm is a real thing, or whether or not a person has the right to defend themselves from it. the issue is whether or not bubbles can be trusted to consistently employ appropriate defenses against said harm.

if hannelore stuck a gun into the face of everyone who tried to shake her hand, we wouldn't say that it's ok because she has the right to defend herself psychologically. we'd say that she lacks the judgement necessary to be a responsible gun owner, and that someone should take that thing away from her.

[sitnspin]

I find punching a wall and brandishing a firearm to be completely incomparable, even for someone as strong as Bubbles. She did not hurt anyone. She just made herself crystal clear.

[Is it cold in here?]

You find them different, but to me the parallel is a close one. It's taking lethal machinery out and demonstrating willingness to use it. It causes mortal fear and is meant to.

[Reaver]

Faye admits to throwing Bubbles in the pool hoping she'd float, what Faye needs to do is fix her own issues, and not go trying to shove people into pools to try and force them to fix their problems faster than she is fixing her own 8I

And as I said already, Faye has no tact, no light touch, all she does is sorta push something till it fits in the hole, which might work for some, but it's clearly not working for Bubbles, so the little southern belle could kindly step off and stop pushing  an issue that really...is not her business .

She is not friends with Bubbles, just because she WORKS with Bubbles doesn't mean they are friends, just because Faye sees herself in Bubbles doesn't mean she has a right to force herself into her life.



Also glancing at the pole, it's almost laughable to expect Bubbles to break down crying and spill the whole story to Faye because she calls her, her friend

[Method of Madness]

Also glancing at the poll, it's almost laughable to expect Bubbles to break down crying and spill the whole story to Faye because she calls her, her friend

After Friday, it seems at least possible. Hardly ridiculous.

[Kugai]

I suspect that Faye just might be the one that gets Bubbles to open up in the end.  Even if it's only to her or to one of the others.

[aphanisis81]

Remember when this strip was about people and interpersonal relationships instead of emo Blade Runner extras? That was awesome. If this week is any indication, it's now a 1:4 ratio, respectively.

Are you suggesting that Bubbles isn't a person?

It's been well over 24 hours, and I still have no idea how to answer this.

[BenRG]

Remember when this strip was about people and interpersonal relationships instead of emo Blade Runner extras? That was awesome. If this week is any indication, it's now a 1:4 ratio, respectively.

Are you suggesting that Bubbles isn't a person?

It's been well over 24 hours, and I still have no idea how to answer this.

Try to answer it from an in-universe perspective. Do you consider Bubbles a 'person' - a fully realised being with strengths, weaknesses, quirks and flaws just like any human or do you think that, in the end, Faye is dealing with misaligned machinery and/or corrupted software in a military combat drone?

[Method of Madness]

a fully realised being with strengths, weaknesses, quirks and flaws just like any human

I would consider her all of those things, but does being all of those things make her a person?

[BenRG]

a fully realised being with strengths, weaknesses, quirks and flaws just like any human

I would consider her all of those things, but does being all of those things make her a person?

To me, yes. 'Person' (as least to me) meaning 'something that has the complexity, autonomy and self-identity similar to that of a human on top of sapience and sentience.

It's risky to use 'like a human' as a defining characteristic but, really, it's the only solid reference template we've got right now.

[Method of Madness]

By that definition, are all humans people?

(I know technically the proper pluralization would be "persons", but...ugh, that word never looks right.)

[Zebediah]

I prefer to assume that all members of the species Homo sapiens are people, because the alternative is a nasty can of worms that I would rather not open.

[WareWolf]

if we have reason to believe that further loss of temper may cause them to act violently, then i'm pretty sure we do lock them up. whether or not they would 'normally' act that way is basically irrelevant.

secondly, 'all else' has not failed; the argument that because subtlety hasn't worked, 'extreme measures' are necessary is invalid, because it presupposes that there is nothing between "I'm leaving." and "BUBS SMASH!". there are multiple avenues of recourse that have yet been unexplored.


but lets break the situation down:

1) you have an AI housed in a weaponized combat-chasis, who is suffering from emotional instability & psychological illness.

2) said AI who can be driven into a wall-smashing rage by the combination of an annoying coworker and a brief, uncomfortable social situation.

3) said AI either could not recognize that she had multiple non-smashy options available to her (in which case, she was irrational due to her emotional instability, and thus unpredictable), or could do so and consciously chose to smash a wall as her most preferred option (in which case, she is fully responsible for her actions).

4) said AI claims to have been resistant to previous attempts at rehabilitative therapy.


my solution to this is that she be removed form the combat-chasis & moved into something less dangerous. her original to be held in custody pending successful rehabilitative therapy. ie: she can have it back, once she can be reasonably expected to use it responsibly.

what would your solution be?


Warning - while you were typing 2 new replies have been posted. You may wish to review your post.

That would probably be the preferred official response, but it's highly probable the Powers That Be don't know just how bad Bubbles has it. She is living underground, after all. The plot question now is, can Faye et., al. get her into a space where the PTB don't have to rip her out of her body against her will  (doing god knows what additional psychological damage)?

Here's another question...how much weaponry have they ALREADY taken off of her to return her to civilian life?

[Method of Madness]

I'd think you can say that all people are humans, or that all people have certain characteristics. Both definitions have their disadvantages, the former rejects non-humans, the latter rejects some humans, but opens the door to many more.

[Tova]

I don't understand this entire argument, which appears to boil down to: "Someone in the comic did something that is not okay and is not 100% rational."

I am shocked. Shocked, I say.

One side of the argument started with: "I think people are overstating her danger by quite a bit."
And the other: "This behaviour is not okay."

These are not contradictory viewpoints.

[Is it cold in here?]

Well said.
----
If Bubbles is like many carbon-based combat veterans she needs someone with the common experience and credibility of another veteran to reach her. The robot support group might be a total failure, for example.
----
"Show me how you act, and I will tell you what you believe". If you were in the QC universe, would you treat Momo as an information appliance or as a person? If you treat her as a person then you've acknowledged her personhood even though it's obvious she's a different species from you.

[Method of Madness]

I'd treat her as I'd treat a human.

[St.Clair]

I believe I understand your intent, but...
Taken literally, that, like many (mis)applications of the Golden Rule, might be a mistake.
She's not human.

[mustang6172]

Well said.
----
If Bubbles is like many carbon-based combat veterans she needs someone with the common experience and credibility of another veteran to reach her. The robot support group might be a total failure, for example.
----
"Show me how you act, and I will tell you what you believe". If you were in the QC universe, would you treat Momo as an information appliance or as a person? If you treat her as a person then you've acknowledged her personhood even though it's obvious she's a different species from you.

What do the forum rules say I have to treat Momo as?

[Method of Madness]

I believe I understand your intent, but...
Taken literally, that, like many (mis)applications of the Golden Rule, might be a mistake.
She's not human.

So? I made no claim that she was, just that I'd treat her the same as I'd treat a human.

[Tova]

I believe I understand your intent, but...
Taken literally, that, like many (mis)applications of the Golden Rule, might be a mistake.
She's not human.

That is fair enough, she's not; but I believe that the gist of what people are trying to say (as I'm sure you realise) is that the way you would treat an AI in the QC universe would resemble the way you'd treat a human far more closely than the way you'd treat an appliance.

What do the forum rules say I have to treat Momo as?

I don't believe the forum rules have much to say on the topic of how to behave during hypothetical meetings betweeen forum members and fictional characters within the QC universe.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

I remember one of the Mods saying once that if sapient lobsters joined the forum, he expected them to be treated with decency and respect. (Not a lobster myself, but I applauded.)