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I will not leave a debt unpaid. I offer my left hand as collateral.

Let us consider that "plan C".

I could rip you apart, tear out your mind substrate, and crush it to dust in my hands. There is nothing you could do to stop me. I choose not to.

That is an... alarming endorsement.

I am a font of merriment and cheer

I have a houseplant, now. Arthur can vouch for my trustworthiness.

We have holes in our hearts. We can paper them over, and learn to live with them, but they are still there.

I am calling the police on this conversation.

If your love life requires close air support, something has gone very wrong.

It is true. I do not sparkle.

Betwixt my mighty glutes

Please do not taint the sanctity of Unicorn Grove.*

I am the Skull Master now!*

I have cast off so many burdens recently. It is time for one more to go.

When, in your experience, have I ever been magical?

[a different quote] (please share the quote)

purple monkey dishwasher

[Tyr]

To your Ethical Debate Hook: I am doing that later today(it's 4am). Without going into too much detail, I'm taking over something my mother would normally do so she stays home to recover from illness. 

[Eternal_Newbie]

Considering everything May's been through, I get the feeling that she takes bodily autonomy very seriously. And I think she would react very badly to waking up in another chassis without anyone bothering to get her permission to do so. I also can't see anyone reputable doing something like that even in an emergency, as we saw with Roko and her chassis getting destroyed.

How she would react to someone offering the funds to either buy another chassis or repair this one I don't really know. May is an interesting character, but I find it hard to predict her. But again she seems very aware of power dynamics and my gut feeling is that she would be reluctant to take a loan from Sven. But this storyline has already gone in unexpected directions, we will just have to see where it goes.

[JoeCovenant]

Hang on...
Sven's 'loaded' yeah?

Maybe May will get to be a fighter jet yet!
(Or at least get a better battery!)

Whereas the 'they two are SO gonna hook up!" was obvious from the meet-cute in the alley, (I think about 75% of us 'called' this one!) I could see this becoming a thing!

[TheEvilDog]

Sven is loaded in the sense that he can afford a two storey apartment, not "I can a buy a fighter jet!", he's not that successful a song writer.

[BenRG]

I'd say that he could definitely afford a decent chassis; they seem to be in the 'decent family car' price range.

Considering everything May's been through, I get the feeling that she takes bodily autonomy very seriously.

I'm honestly not sure about this. Whilst I agree that May would not like having things done to her without her being consulted, even in an emergency, I don't think that she has any particular emotional connection to her chassis; her attitude would be: "The damn thing wouldn't even boot anymore? Okay, that explains the derma layer instead of rigid plastic!". So long as she got one that left her still recognisably her, I suspect that her main problem would be her pride being undermined by someone thinking that they needed to help her.

FWIW, I suspect that the 'long pole' in any 'May gets a new body' arc would be convincing the Department of Corrections bureaucracy that the current chassis is unserviceable and then convincing them that they don't need to provide a replacement, which would likely be worse.

Basically, it is this dead hand of the state that would make any body swap have to be done without consultation (in the even where it was impossible to restart May for whatever reason). I can't see the DoC providing a server with a virtual environment to discuss it with her without a pile of paperwork that could take weeks or months to process, so it would become an issue of how do do the least harm in the most reasonable time-frame.

[pwhodges]

Considering everything May's been through, I get the feeling that she takes bodily autonomy very seriously.

Having the UK government at the top of my mind today, I had a serious double-take reading that...

[Marco]

This comic has come a long way. The typical old days-QC strip for today would be a comment from Pintsize about last night events. Of from (Heaven help us) Yelling Bird...

[Mr. Doctor]

Eh, I liked Yelling Bird. 

[cybersmurf]

This comic has come a long way. The typical old days-QC strip for today would be a comment from Pintsize about last night events. Of from (Heaven help us) Yelling Bird...

Yelling Bird is done. Probably died trying to skull fuck a hyena.

Pintsize hijinks probably return the day his giant metal dong is done, and the balls attached.


I think, to an extent, May has taken over a part of Pintsize's crudeness.

[Case]

Considering everything May's been through, I get the feeling that she takes bodily autonomy very seriously.

Having the UK government at the top of my mind today, I had a serious double-take reading that...

With the other May slowly turning into an extra from 28 Days later, I can imagine the cognitive dissonance...

[Nigel]

I realize that forgetting the cable is "an important plot point", but seriously? It's like leaving your phone, keys, wallet AND insulin pump behind.

A bit of a challenge for my 'willing suspension of disbelief'.

[TheEvilDog]

Maybe, if it was a date or something planned in advance.

But I doubt Sven thought "Maybe I'll hook up with an AI tonight. Better make sure I have the proper cable for her afterwards." Likewise, I doubt May would have thought she'd have her first sexual experience with a human that night, let alone the forethought that she might run out of power afterwards.

I imagine that an AI forgetting their power cable would be like a human forgetting their keys. It can happen.

[dutchrvl]

Maybe, if it was a date or something planned in advance.

But I doubt Sven thought "Maybe I'll hook up with an AI tonight. Better make sure I have the proper cable for her afterwards." Likewise, I doubt May would have thought she'd have her first sexual experience with a human that night, let alone the forethought that she might run out of power afterwards.

I imagine that an AI forgetting their power cable would be like a human forgetting their keys. It can happen.

On the other hand, forgetting my keys usually does not result in me becoming unconscious with no way to ever regain consciousness unless an external party assists me. Forgetting a power cable is a legitimate threat to their life, in other words, so one would think they would do everything in their power to always have one.

Side note: considering their apparent complete reliance on power/charging for their consciousness, to me it makes little sense for the AIs in QC not to have such hardware built in their body/chassis.....

[Timemaster]

On May forgetting her charger: my daughter is asthmatic since her 13th birthday. Not severely, but nonetheless. She is 19 years old now. That doesn‘t keep her from regularly forgetting her asthma inhaler at home when she goes out. So go figure...

Sven, what‘s the problem? Put May on your couch, put a blanket over her, leave a note just in case. And then go to the convenience store where you‘ve seen her coming from and get her friggin charging cable. Plug her in and wait till she boots up. If she doesn‘t, give Faye a call and ask for advice. Simple as that.

TM

[Is it cold in here?]

It is likely May's first time with a human.

If I were naked and having the vulnerability that comes of doing things for the first time, hearing "That was weird" would hurt.

[TheEvilDog]

Although this is May we're talking about, she had a massive grin on her face, surrounded by a variety of strange and unusual implements.

Weird would probably be an indicator of success in her eyes.

[Case]

On May forgetting her charger: my daughter is asthmatic since her 13th birthday. Not severely, but nonetheless. She is 19 years old now. That doesn‘t keep her from regularly forgetting her asthma inhaler at home when she goes out. So go figure...

[Morituri]

I dunno.  Sven is quite plausibly responsible here.  After all, he's the prime partner in the activity wherein May ran her batteries down.  If not for him, she'd easily have enough charge to get to the office and get the darn thing.  On the one hand he's 'obligated' to do something if he's serious about not being such a douche to his hookups.  But on the other hand that obligation might get him a pass on her 'I-don't-take-charity' response if he does *somewhat* more than absolutely necessary.  May would be freaked out if he offered to buy her a new chassis.  But she'd accept a new charge cable considering it to be just an indication that this Sven guy isn't a complete ass, and if he went further and got her something major like a new battery pack she might be mad, but she might just think he's overreacting or she might even be happy about it.

If he ambles down to Union Robotics and buys an adapter plug (or a replacement cable, or whatever) that's the minimum he can do as a considerate person.  There's no need for him to be hauling May down there if she's safe in his apartment; he can just tuck her into bed with a blanket and head out.  So there's no need for her to go through the stress and embarrassment of waking up with Faye and Bubbles worrying over her.  They'd worry anyway of course; a proprietary charger cable is probably instantly identifiable to them as connecting Sven and May and indicating that May is or has been in trouble.  But May wouldn't have to be in front of them while they worry, where the awkwardness, embarrassment, and self-inflicted stress would make her blow a gasket.

If he gets her a new battery pack, that's a little more into the territory of possibly setting off May's I-don't-want-charity response.  And he can't install that himself; that'd be something they'd need to discuss sometime when she's awake, and then she'd go in for the procedure.  But right now he's in the situation that would *allow* someone to buy her a new battery pack, and be *LESS* likely to set off that response than anybody else.  Again, it's the "being partly responsible for the problem" thing that gets him a pass, except in that scenario he'd be doing more than just the 'being considerate' minimum.

[Morituri]

If I were naked and having the vulnerability that comes of doing things for the first time, hearing "That was weird" would hurt.

Point, but remember May's barbie-doll anatomy.  She's intensely aware of it, and she *knows* that's going to seem weird to a human.  And I get the impression, given the array of noodle implements lying around, that they were actively *trying* to achieve weird.  Possibly, on her part, as a strategy (successful! YAY!) to distract him from the weirdness of the barbie-doll anatomy.

[OldGoat]

If I were naked and having the vulnerability that comes of doing things for the first time, hearing "That was weird" would hurt.

But to May "That was weird" would be a complement.

About where Jeph is taking May:  He's not shy about tackling social issues and creating characters who represent marginalized groups.  I'm thinking May is about to officially become a sex worker.

She represents a part of the real life population that engages in prostitution out of a lack of other employment options.  She's the opposite of Roko in that she actively loathes her current chassis (for the most part she's fine with its appearance, but despises its functional condition).  Whether Sven attaches any strings to his offer of a new chassis or not, she'll reckon a period of sexual indenture to him for such consideration a pretty sweet deal.  Indeed, she's already shown that she's willing to perform sex acts for money (I'm sure most of us remember her sitting on Pintsize's face so I'm not going to look up the link), and that was to finance a new face covering.

Now, what happens when she gets a body she actually likes?  A partner's "that was weird" might not be perceived in the same way.

[Thrillho]

If I were naked and having the vulnerability that comes of doing things for the first time, hearing "That was weird" would hurt.

Point, but remember May's barbie-doll anatomy.  She's intensely aware of it, and she *knows* that's going to seem weird to a human.  And I get the impression, given the array of noodle implements lying around, that they were actively *trying* to achieve weird.  Possibly, on her part, as a strategy (successful! YAY!) to distract him from the weirdness of the barbie-doll anatomy.

Please read this post back and imagine May is trans rather than a robot.

[Thrillho]

If I were naked and having the vulnerability that comes of doing things for the first time, hearing "That was weird" would hurt.

But to May "That was weird" would be a complement.

About where Jeph is taking May:  He's not shy about tackling social issues and creating characters who represent marginalized groups.  I'm thinking May is about to officially become a sex worker.

She represents a part of the real life population that engages in prostitution out of a lack of other employment options.  She's the opposite of Roko in that she actively loathes her current chassis (for the most part she's fine with its appearance, but despises its functional condition).  Whether Sven attaches any strings to his offer of a new chassis or not, she'll reckon a period of sexual indenture to him for such consideration a pretty sweet deal.  Indeed, she's already shown that she's willing to perform sex acts for money (I'm sure most of us remember her sitting on Pintsize's face so I'm not going to look up the link), and that was to finance a new face covering.

Now, what happens when she gets a body she actually likes?  A partner's "that was weird" might not be perceived in the same way.

So much 'nope' in this post.

'That was weird' as a statement immediately following one of the most intimate acts possible is EXCEEDINGLY unlikely to play well. ESPECIALLY with someone who loathes their body.

[OldGoat]

If I were naked and having the vulnerability that comes of doing things for the first time, hearing "That was weird" would hurt.

But to May "That was weird" would be a complement.

About where Jeph is taking May:  He's not shy about tackling social issues and creating characters who represent marginalized groups.  I'm thinking May is about to officially become a sex worker.

She represents a part of the real life population that engages in prostitution out of a lack of other employment options.  She's the opposite of Roko in that she actively loathes her current chassis (for the most part she's fine with its appearance, but despises its functional condition).  Whether Sven attaches any strings to his offer of a new chassis or not, she'll reckon a period of sexual indenture to him for such consideration a pretty sweet deal.  Indeed, she's already shown that she's willing to perform sex acts for money (I'm sure most of us remember her sitting on Pintsize's face so I'm not going to look up the link), and that was to finance a new face covering.

Now, what happens when she gets a body she actually likes?  A partner's "that was weird" might not be perceived in the same way.

So much 'nope' in this post.

'That was weird' as a statement immediately following one of the most intimate acts possible is EXCEEDINGLY unlikely to play well. ESPECIALLY with someone who loathes their body.

Did  you read beyond the first sentence?  In as much as it can apply to a robot, May is CIS and probably straight. 

[Skewbrow]

On May forgetting her charger: my daughter is asthmatic since her 13th birthday. Not severely, but nonetheless. She is 19 years old now. That doesn‘t keep her from regularly forgetting her asthma inhaler at home when she goes out. So go figure...

In some circles they really drive this point home. Now where is the paraphrased version about a mathematician and their coffee mug?

Ninja'ed by Case. Sigh.

[Mr. Doctor]

The "weird" comment played well here though. May certainly did not disagree.
The whole sex worker comment made me cringe. Are we reading the same comic? 

Also, I do not share the hopes of Sven meeting Faye/Bubbles for this. Sven doesn't need that interaction and neither does Faye, specially Faye.

[OldGoat]

The "weird" comment played well here though. May certainly did not disagree.
The whole sex worker comment made me cringe. Are we reading the same comic? 

Taking on social issues and representing marginalized groups is supposed to make you cringe.

[DSL]

Liking the shoutout to Erika Moen.

[de_la_Nae]

If I were naked and having the vulnerability that comes of doing things for the first time, hearing "That was weird" would hurt.

Point, but remember May's barbie-doll anatomy.  She's intensely aware of it, and she *knows* that's going to seem weird to a human.  And I get the impression, given the array of noodle implements lying around, that they were actively *trying* to achieve weird.  Possibly, on her part, as a strategy (successful! YAY!) to distract him from the weirdness of the barbie-doll anatomy.

Please read this post back and imagine May is trans rather than a robot.

I'm gonna be messy here, but there's a *lot* of things we sometimes do to overcome or cope with our trauma, dysphoria, and the tensions it all causes in our heads. Not all of it great or consistent on the surface, maybe, but plenty. 'Leaning into the weird' is one of those messy things that sometimes gets done. As is sex work. And I didn't mention BDSM/kink earlier on a lark either, which I know you know what I'm saying with that. Mori and the Goat might be on to something, even if it's only in the same neighborhood.

[Roborat]

Good thing she didn't power down in the middle of fun times, poor Sven might have been traumatized.

[Raptorofwar]

If I were naked and having the vulnerability that comes of doing things for the first time, hearing "That was weird" would hurt.

But to May "That was weird" would be a complement.

About where Jeph is taking May:  He's not shy about tackling social issues and creating characters who represent marginalized groups.  I'm thinking May is about to officially become a sex worker.

She represents a part of the real life population that engages in prostitution out of a lack of other employment options.  She's the opposite of Roko in that she actively loathes her current chassis (for the most part she's fine with its appearance, but despises its functional condition).  Whether Sven attaches any strings to his offer of a new chassis or not, she'll reckon a period of sexual indenture to him for such consideration a pretty sweet deal.  Indeed, she's already shown that she's willing to perform sex acts for money (I'm sure most of us remember her sitting on Pintsize's face so I'm not going to look up the link), and that was to finance a new face covering.

Now, what happens when she gets a body she actually likes?  A partner's "that was weird" might not be perceived in the same way.

So much 'nope' in this post.

'That was weird' as a statement immediately following one of the most intimate acts possible is EXCEEDINGLY unlikely to play well. ESPECIALLY with someone who loathes their body.

I mean, she seems pretty happy about it, given her smile afterwards.

[Thrillho]

I have been misread, likely my fault, if I have come across as saying that May specifically would find these conversations problematic.

It was the way in which May was being spoken about and the likelihood of people with analogous experience reading it, and expanding it outwards.

There are plenty of good and bad reasons why May may behave the way and ways that she does.

[Tyr]

I realize that forgetting the cable is "an important plot point", but seriously? It's like leaving your phone, keys, wallet AND insulin pump behind.

A bit of a challenge for my 'willing suspension of disbelief'.

Your phone is the only one I think is germane here, as the other ones would stay on your person.

If I may craft a scenario: If May's battery has been acting up like that, and assuming that AI get the same amount and numbers of breaks, She's prolly recharging on her fifteens and lunch, just in case. It's prolly a hassle to plug in both ends every two hours, so she just forgot to snag it in the hour between her 'smoke break' and getting off shift.

(In my state your 'smoke break' is apparently separate from the standard law-mandated 15 minutes every two hours. as evidenced by my managers standing out at the docks for fifteen minutes smoking, snuffing the cigarette, then standing out there for another 15 minutes for their break.)

[hedgie]

Smokers often also get other, unofficial breaks.  Very few bosses want to see a terminal nicotine addict deprived of their fix.

WRT to May's cable, and the stuff one normally carries in their pockets, it's totally believable.  I empty my pockets of phone, keys, wallet, cigarettes, lighter, etc every time I get home.  I almost never forget to bring any given thing, but it is known to happen.

[Is it cold in here?]

Sex worker character? Been there, done that, and kinky to boot.

[DSL]

In my experience you're gonna forget something important at the worst possible time. Why should AIs be any different?

[themacnut]

I'm sure we've all known people so forgetful they'd walk off without their head if it wasn't attached. Apparently AIs are no different, and May was almost certainly distracted by anticipation of sexytimes.

[Morituri]

Please read this post back and imagine May is trans rather than a robot.

Absolutely.  And that's the whole point.  People shouldn't have to go through that shit, people shouldn't have to come up with dysfunctional coping mechanisms, people shouldn't have to rejoice that they were able to make something besides their own body "the weird thing" about the situation. 

But none of that "shouldn't have to" takes it away so they don't have to or don't feel like they have to.  And that sucks.

I consider May's un-gendered body a cruel and unusual punishment, if she didn't choose it.  And that's *EXACTLY* the kind of shit trans* have to deal with, plus an additional helping of "fuck you" that there exists somebody *ELSE* who made that decision with no consequences to themselves.

[OldGoat]

Sex worker character? Been there, done that, and kinky to boot.

Although Veronica is retired from "the business."

[Is it cold in here?]

How does a computer forget something?

[TheEvilDog]

Corrupted files and registries.

[Tova]

How does a computer forget something?

May is not a computer.

Unlike the 'weird' remark, which she was clearly pleased about, I doubt she would be pleased about this characterisation.

[jwhouk]

I'm sure we've all known people so forgetful they'd walk off without their head if it wasn't attached. Apparently AIs are no different, and May was almost certainly distracted by anticipation of sexytimes.

You can call Melon by her name. 

[bhtooefr]

How does a computer forget something?

So this is something that I touched on in the Patreon comments, I'll bring my comments over here now that the comic that they're related to is public:

You know, I just realized something - a brownout like that means that May will not have successfully saved everything. (Being forced to sleep by a low battery state protects what's in RAM, but a weak battery with high internal resistance like that, voltage will have dropped below thresholds and she went down hard.) She *will* have memory loss... the question is how much.

To expand... I'd guess that the *best* case is that she doesn't remember the last couple words she said. However, if "afterglow" for a QC AI is really "reduce other processing loads to commit a sexual experience to permanent memory"... that process was interrupted by her charging woes. She may not even remember having sex with Sven at all (although she'll almost certainly remember arranging their hookup). To be honest, this could be quite horrifying for her, even if she doesn't admit it to Sven.

It was pointed out in reply to those comments that the memory technology used by QC AIs may not be volatile like current state-of-the-art RAM technologies, though.

[Penquin47]

Also, given that they seem to have cleaned up (at the very least, neither is covered in lube or whatever they used to write on each other). it seems that some time has passed.  May's memory loss, if there is any, is likely not going to involve the sexual encounter itself.

[TheEvilDog]

Well that certainly would have been a unique take on the walk of shame.

[ZoeB]

If I were naked and having the vulnerability that comes of doing things for the first time, hearing "That was weird" would hurt.

Point, but remember May's barbie-doll anatomy.  She's intensely aware of it, and she *knows* that's going to seem weird to a human.  And I get the impression, given the array of noodle implements lying around, that they were actively *trying* to achieve weird.  Possibly, on her part, as a strategy (successful! YAY!) to distract him from the weirdness of the barbie-doll anatomy.

Please read this post back and imagine May is trans rather than a robot.

+1e6 insightful.

From a trans guy

Then the real test comes: You've never really had any romantic attachment before. For some reason it has always felt wrong and you've avoided it. Sure sometimes you take special care, go out wearing a shirt and tie, bind the chest and uh. something in the trousers. It feels good but as soon as you start talking to someone, your voice gives you away as a pretender, a wannabe.

But someone comes along, someone that you could talk to forever, hold forever. She's a beautiful woman and God, you Want her. She's keen on you too and before you know wht's happening, you're lying, naked, warm and relaxed in a mutual embrace. But even in ecstasy (and that's hard enough), you can't fully suppress the screaming in your head. Your body is wrong.

[shanejayell]

That's a BIT mean, May, *lol*

Plus, Momo would be REALLY jealous if Sven carried her home...

[SmilingCat]

On the subject of proprietary charging cables, I'd suspect it's like the Macs that the schools and some government offices always used for so long. A company got an in with the government to supply the chassis, and the government went along with it either in a misguided attempt to save money or due to heavy lobbying.

It's only a civil rights issue if you can demonstrate a quality of life problem to enough people in power loudly enough in a way that makes the people that elect them care. Up until that point it's just a lucrative market that's locked into your design standards and out of your competitors.

[Gyrre]

1. TFW you can't actually read the letters in the registration for this forum. (I swear I'm not a robot.)
*snip*

That could be an indication of unknown eye issues.

[Is it cold in here?]

How does a computer forget something?

May is not a computer.

Unlike the 'weird' remark, which she was clearly pleased about, I doubt she would be pleased about this characterisation.

When I asked Jeph in some Q&A about whether robots feel pain, he said something very close to "No, they're computers", and definitely used the word "computers".

I forget when this was, and it matters, since Jeph has steadily upgraded the status of the synthetics in the strip. It might no longer be the appropriate term. I vaguely remember it was after Momo's upgrade but can't even be sure of that.

If May were real I would ask her and abide by her answer.