Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT
WCDT Strips 3386 - 3390 (2nd - 6th January 2017)
jheartney:
Other non-Deus Ex Machina resolutions:
• There are no encrypted memories; Bubbles got on the table for some other reason and CW implanted fake memories of her traumatic military service in order to enslave Bubbles.
• Bubbles reminds CW that if the encryption key is destroyed, there's basically nothing standing between CW and a. Bubbles' vengeance; b. Station's vengeance; c. Faye's vengeance; and d. prosecution by Basilisk. So CW better not destroy it. Bubbles then reveals that she was trained in anti-AI torture techniques, and that she is going to start using them on CW unless the key is forthcoming. So CW doesn't dare destroy the key, and faces some very unpleasant times if she doesn't give it up.
• Bubbles and Faye go over CW's head to Big Fish, and let him know that large orbital guns are ready to take out both the skate park and lots of Big Fish's other property, and CW gets fired. On the run from Basilisk, Station and Bubbles, CW finds someone to eliminate her own memories of the key, and to transfer her to another chassis so she can't be found. That person turns out to be... Pintsize! CW ends up literally as a toaster, and Bubbles gets the key from Pintsize, who fished it out of CW's memories while she was on the table.
• Bubbles resigns herself to never getting the memories back, but also refuses to take violent action against CW. Faye and Bubbles open their own AI repair clinic, and life goes on. Then one day, after Basilisk finally shuts down the skate park, who should show up at the clinic door but... CW! CW, down on her luck and badly needing repairs after a run-in with some other pissed-off colleagues, agrees to trade the key to Bubbles for repairs. So they put CW under for repairs. At length she wakes up as... a toaster!
Morituri:
Station may or may not be able to help Bubbles specifically but I think that Corpse Witch has just made an enemy far beyond her league regardless. If the moment comes that Station concludes that he *can't* help Bubbles, I suspect CW will come into some career-ending difficulties.
He may talk about orbital railguns, but Station controls other resources whose collateral damage is far more controlled. He has friends all over, and hirelings if he wants them. He has access to all kinds of information, and a formidable intellect to make use of it.
brasca:
--- Quote from: jheartney on 04 Jan 2017, 17:13 ---Other non-Deus Ex Machina resolutions:
• There are no encrypted memories; Bubbles got on the table for some other reason and CW implanted fake memories of her traumatic military service in order to enslave Bubbles.
• Bubbles reminds CW that if the encryption key is destroyed, there's basically nothing standing between CW and a. Bubbles' vengeance; b. Station's vengeance; c. Faye's vengeance; and d. prosecution by Basilisk. So CW better not destroy it. Bubbles then reveals that she was trained in anti-AI torture techniques, and that she is going to start using them on CW unless the key is forthcoming. So CW doesn't dare destroy the key, and faces some very unpleasant times if she doesn't give it up.
• Bubbles and Faye go over CW's head to Big Fish, and let him know that large orbital guns are ready to take out both the skate park and lots of Big Fish's other property, and CW gets fired. On the run from Basilisk, Station and Bubbles, CW finds someone to eliminate her own memories of the key, and to transfer her to another chassis so she can't be found. That person turns out to be... Pintsize! CW ends up literally as a toaster, and Bubbles gets the key from Pintsize, who fished it out of CW's memories while she was on the table.
• Bubbles resigns herself to never getting the memories back, but also refuses to take violent action against CW. Faye and Bubbles open their own AI repair clinic, and life goes on. Then one day, after Basilisk finally shuts down the skate park, who should show up at the clinic door but... CW! CW, down on her luck and badly needing repairs after a run-in with some other pissed-off colleagues, agrees to trade the key to Bubbles for repairs. So they put CW under for repairs. At length she wakes up as... a toaster!
--- End quote ---
Too many of these scenarios require the protagonists to be as bad as the antagonist and in that way Corpse Witch still wins. As much as I like Bubbles she made an under the table deal and she could walk away at any time if she could give up on the memories. Of course Corpse Witch may have another fail safe to keep Bubbles in line, but that remains to be seen. While I don't think Corpse Witch is a good AI there might be more to her than just a stock villain. Perhaps as one of the first line of AIs she didn't have the privilege of knowing good humans and gravitated to the underworld much like Bubbles. Of course the irony is someone who might have suffered from exploitation thinks nothing of doing the same.
Perfectly Reasonable:
I agree that Jeph is doing a nice job here. Just "Rokko's Basilisk" tells me he has spent significant time looking into weird AI stuff.
I'd like to see more on Corpse Witch's backstory. Good villains have good reasons for doing bad things.
Neko_Ali:
I suspect she has good reason to distrust and dislike humans. We know there is a certain amount of anti-AI bigotry in the world.
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