Comic Discussion > ALICE GROVE
Alice Grove MCDLT - March 2016
Deadcoder:
Just a random thought: what if the wipeout wasn't perfect? What if the night walker is a collection of nanomachines from before the wipeout who formed a simple hive mind out of survival instinct?
Perhaps nanotechnology was common prior to the wipe, and the wipe killed off most of the hives of nanomachines. The machines lack basic intelligence on their own, outside of "work with others and follow received tasks", and without a mind capable of interacting with them, such as Gavia or Ardent, are incapable of more. Since most hives were wiped out, the night walker was the culmination of the survivors who came together out of instinct. But with something like those minds, they can thrive. It's also possible that some of the machines are degrading after all these years, and they view Ardent and Gavia as a replacement population or repair potential.
Also, why is it that the night walker's eyes were originally white, and now they're yellow?
Samik:
Hey folks. Been reading QC for years, and it's Alice Grove that gets me to register, go figure. Wasn't sold on it at first, but it's winning me over, rapidly.
The reason I registered was because, I also read the forums regularly, and something has been driving me nuts. I don't mean to come in hot, but... don't we pretty much know exactly what Alice and Sedna are at this point? I just went back and did a full read-through in one sitting, and it seems pretty fairly spelled out, to me.
Consider this sequence of pages:
http://36.media.tumblr.com/7b2cf42f0808fc04a71bd2ce1d8e8c07/tumblr_npt9gxuM4r1tl5t55o1_1280.jpg
http://40.media.tumblr.com/f051e3691e33746ce448a1c2421702c3/tumblr_ntemouoPtE1tl5t55o1_1280.jpg
http://41.media.tumblr.com/1a3c63aff3054244db2a76f01f4bd5a6/tumblr_nthpqg2wVt1tl5t55o1_1280.png
And then the first panel of:
http://36.media.tumblr.com/b6783ee334fa8ad4b914afd8fe7888b4/tumblr_ny4qdeoJih1tl5t55o1_r1_1280.png
--- Quote ---"Long ago, humanity split into two factions. One favored the advancement of the species by enhancement through biological means. The other favored the development of artificial intelligence, to aid humanity and enhance it through its own methods.
The AI faction pulled ahead - they created truly sentient artificial life, and began integrating it into their society. This led to a series of regional conflicts that finally escalated into all-out war. It lasted for years. Billions died."
--- End quote ---
--- Quote ---"I should know. I was a weapon too, once."
--- End quote ---
Alice and Sedna were the front line weapons of the biological faction - the cutting edge of bio-mods. Consider also this sequence:
http://40.media.tumblr.com/b2c87fe97f76724a584d3ccca16dce81/tumblr_ns6dn0x02p1tl5t55o1_1280.png
http://41.media.tumblr.com/38bd61b31b88d16ca3f2ccd36eb18405/tumblr_nsmk7mmvc51tl5t55o1_1280.png
http://40.media.tumblr.com/5bbb34ee51f2ce030911c37bc9b1bf7d/tumblr_nsq6zb9Diq1tl5t55o1_1280.png
http://40.media.tumblr.com/3da859079e7802ec7f8a769478571279/tumblr_nsw9scd2ni1tl5t55o1_1280.png
Alice was on the losing side of a war where "billions died". Those in orbit were on the other side. I'm sure she's got some pretty darned unpleasant memories of that period of time. Her distrust and paranoia are understandable.
Also seems like it would shed a bit of light on Alice and Sedna's relationship. They were comrades in arms, fighting a losing war. They probably went through some rough stuff together, that will keep them connected on some level no matter what disagreements they may have. I can't help but notice that they defaulted to sleeping back-to-back.
Anyway, thanks for humoring me. I have a theory about what is going on in general, and where this story may be headed (and a theory about what the Nightwalker is that excites me very much), but I'm going to hang on a bit, and see what kind of feedback I get on the above first (this is already way more than anyone wants to read). Feel free to rip my speculation to shreds - I can handle it!
Method of Madness:
Probably partly true. We'll find out eventually. Either way, welcome to the forum!
BenRG:
@Samik,
The impression that I got was that the war was ended by a third party, now vanished and the current situation imposed upon the two parties. That's why there is still this feeling that the war could start again because nothing was ever really resolved. Someone just pushed the two sides apart and forced them to stop fighting.
Samik:
To be fair, Alice is the only one we have seen express that feeling - that the war could start again at any moment - so far. Gavia is equally convinced she's wrong.
In any case, by "losing the war" I only meant "in the process of losing". I'm imagining that the biologicals were in pretty rough shape leading up to the blink.
I may very well be wrong; Alice's monologue seems to imply that the AI faction "pulled ahead" in the time period before the war; she's not specific about any of the action of the war itself.
But, I think there's some evidence for my assumption here:
http://40.media.tumblr.com/3da859079e7802ec7f8a769478571279/tumblr_nsw9scd2ni1tl5t55o1_1280.png
Alice seems to be admitting that, though she wouldn't go quietly, if push came to shove, the orbital faction would likely win. If a third party truly wanted to create peace, and had the power to perform arbitrarily large and apparently instantaneous edits to an entire world and all its inhabitants, why would they allow to remain a power imbalance that would permit one faction to re-open and win the war whenever they felt like it (or create that imbalance, if the factions were approximately evenly matched beforehand)?
Okay, I'm going to get further into my wild speculation below, if for no other reason than to get it on record, so I can pat myself on the back, or point at myself and laugh, later. (Also, I feel we may be getting some more information on some of it very soon.) This is a lot of text, and I won't be offended in the slightest if no one reads it.
(click to show/hide)Re: the Nightwalker(s):
(click to show/hide)They are charged with keeping an eye on earthbound humanity, either just to make sure everything is going smoothly, and/or to make sure that they don't start to reach a level of technology that could be threatening to those in orbit / themselves / generally upset the current balance.
This is why the Nightwalker has not done anything much for so long... until Gavia and Ardent came along. Their nanotech is the first instance down on earth of something that crosses the tech threshold to trigger the walker.
The Nightwalker's role may be as simple as obliterating or quarantining any violating technologies, and alerting someone to the event.
If I'm right, then the upgraded water pump could be a problem, and we may be getting a big red button press at some point here.
Re: The order of the world:
(click to show/hide)From the very little we've seen of this world so far, it seems to me that the regulatory dynamic on earth and in orbit is actually quite similar: Down on earth, you've got a town of blissfully ignorant folks going about their daily lives, managed and watched over by an enhanced human. Up in orbit, you've got (if Ardent and Gavia are any indication) blissfully ingnorant folks going on about their business, watched over and managed by a sentient tree.
My guess is that the AI faction won the war, after a fashion. That fashion being that it was the tools and weapons, the AI, that "won" - not the wielders. There was a singularity/run-away growth scenario, where the strongest and best AIs attained a level of intelligence and power so as to take complete control of human affairs. At that point, instead of wiping out their opposition (because they no longer needed to), they picked a third option, and re-ordered the world into the form with which we've been presented. Now, both populations are free to live in the way that seems best to them - one rejecting technological transhumanism and living as natural biologicals, and the other embracing technology and nano-tech self-modification. But, both populations are probably locked into an approximate period of history, and are not entirely free to develop further.
Either the Praeses are the architects of all of this, or the AIs that were, left the Praeses and the Alices/Sednas behind as capable but ultimately limited guardians and managers of their respective populations.
About the title:
(click to show/hide)Alice is not the only former "weapon" that has taken charge of protecting a community on earth. As former guardians, it would be in many of their natures to continue on in that role. (BenRG, I like your observation about Sedna's "instinct of kindness" re: the pillows.)
The Praeses (or the architects) identify the communities by their caretaker. Thus, "Alice Grove".
Re: The present action:
(click to show/hide)So, the question is, why has the action of our story come to pass? There doesn't seem to me to be any reason at all for a re-opening of hostilities. Is a re-integration in the works? That would seem to jive well with Ardent's payload.
After all, almost no one alive now was around when sides were taken and lines were drawn. If given the choice, some or many of those on earth may chose to rejoin the future. The Praeses may have just decided it's time to extend an "invitation".
Alternatively, the Praeses could be maliciously attempting to activate the Walkers against the unsuspecting communities by placing triggering technologies in their midst (though it would seem a clumsy way of doing it).
Last one, re: Alice's "grudge":
(click to show/hide)If the AI faction was really pulling ahead in the time leading up to the war, it may very well have been the biologicals that fired the first shot, sensing, and unwilling to accept, their own impending irrelevance. If so, Alice may have come to be fully aware that she did some very dirty things, in the service of a cause she's no longer completely convinced was right.
(click to show/hide)One more thing that came through very clearly on my re-read: although occasionally childlike/naive/impulsive, Gavia is extremely intelligent and observant. I do not think that she's going to simply be a victim/witness - she'll have some major role to play in how this all turns out, before all is said and done.
There. I just threw a lot of crud against the wall. Let's see if any of it sticks.
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