WCDT - December 12 to December 16, 2022 (strips #4936 to #4940)

[Gyrre]

It was that or trying to come up with 'advant garde scents'.

[St.Clair]

the Viper is coming

[Farideh]

Only when the eagle has landed, after the rooster crowed at midnight.

[shanejayell]

the Viper is coming

I'm old enough to remember that episode of GI JOE....

[Oenone]

I wonder if it's Steve's spy friend?

[shanejayell]

Security staff! Cool.

[Stoon]

I like her hair.

[SomeCanadianWeirdo]

She's one of the most human AIs I think we've seen.  It's also interesting she's scared of bugs.  Then  again you probably don't want bugs getting in you if you're an AI.

[Gyrre]

The walking hair drain clog variety? Yeah, that's one of the few non-parasite arthropods[1] I understand people getting freaked out by.

[1] All parasitic arthropods warrant some level of squick. Especially Copopds.

[Wingy]

Kinda looks like the security guard on Station.

[mcguganator]

She's one of the most human AIs I think we've seen.  It's also interesting she's scared of bugs.  Then  again you probably don't want bugs getting in you if you're an AI.

melon has entered the chat

[shanejayell]

Hi, Evan!

Yeah, we're still HERE so must be good at their job...

[Cornelius]

Well, either that, or their inordinately complex and convoluted plan to blow up the planet fails due to oversight of a commonly known detail.

[St.Clair]

FOOLS! I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!
(ask me how)

[immortalfrieza]

FOOLS! I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!
(ask me how)

Radioactive mutant hamsters?

[Akima]

Don't come to Australia (Canada without the cold winter but with more foul language), Marten. We have lots of house centipedes. Of course... They have cute red legs, and though they are not aggressive, a painful bite. House millipedes are smaller and cannot bite, but if bothered, they spray a toxic chemical that can cause painful rashes on human skin. I don't know what effect either would have on a robot, but millipede toxin is highly acidic...

[Gyrre]

She's one of the most human AIs I think we've seen.  It's also interesting she's scared of bugs.  Then  again you probably don't want bugs getting in you if you're an AI.

At least until she deploys her arm cannon.
[Said arm cannon may or may not fire yellow foam balls in 3 round bursts.]

[stayctee]

Don't come to Australia (Canada without the cold winter but with more foul language), Marten. We have lots of house centipedes. Of course... They have cute red legs, and though they are not aggressive, a painful bite. House millipedes are smaller and cannot bite, but if bothered, they spray a toxic chemical that can cause painful rashes on human skin. I don't know what effect either would have on a robot, but millipede toxin is highly acidic...

Ah, I remember Australia, and its lack of large predators (I'm from western Canada so this was something I noticed) but the many many many tiny predators which is much much worse. I remember my friend saying, "oh yeah, that ant? Don't go near it." As it stood its ground in the middle of a path we were walking on. Chilling.

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

Oh. My. God.  That is the best security AI name ever.  I am six kinds of jealous.  (And twelve kinds of 'I'm with you on the centipede thing, kill 'em on sight, says I!!')

[Gyrre]

It was suggested on the Discord that 'Evanescence Incinerator' sounds like at least half of a new band name.
I'd like to suggest that said band migt be techno-ska, trance-ska, or hyperpop that got its start heavily modifying the music of Evanescence.

[osaka]

Fun fact, "Evanescence Incinerator" is basically a canonically correct Roegadyn name in FF XIV. Evan here is a bit too short to be a representation of a Roegadyn.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

So 'automated security' deals with simple routine stuff. Anything more complex is referred to  Evan and her people. Sounds reasonable to me.

( yes canada has house centipedes google is your friend )

[shanejayell]

No update today?

[Farideh]

IKR?

[Gyrre]

No update today?

Sometimes it's posted around midnight [CST] or later for whatever reason. The new comic is up by the way.

On that note; 🎵 bust~ed 🎵

[JimC]

No Claire, that doesn't follow. Yes, Security does has an excellent opportunity to plant bugs,  but that doesn't mean that no-one else does. Maintenance/housekeeping for instance would have legitimate access to the room and thus an equal opportunity.

[Tova]

Go back and read panel two again. I think you skipped over a bit.

They'd need to have access this room, and know how to circumvent that fancy automated security you were talking about.

[derris_kharlan]

Good lord Claire, who put the stick up your butt?

[traroth]

JJ is going full James Bond, today...

[Boxer]

Well Claire might not be wrong on that part on if people are bad at their jobs, she is questioning why she is there in the first place... bad hiring practices seems to be answer Number 1 at this point.

[zioninavision]

Claire must be somewhat travel fatigued at this point! but also, they haven't reached the impressive/inspiring part of Cubetown yet!! 

[Cypher]

God, Claire comes off like such a pain in the ass to put up with. I get Jeph is going for "only sane woman", and indeed much of what she complains about/ objects to isn't totally unreasonable, but she comes off so... bitter? Frustrated? Like, THIS is the way to interact respectfully with a potential new long-term co-resident/ colleague (in the sense that they'd both work there)? Nah.

[Perfectly Reasonable]

Evan is certainly well kitted out. I wonder what that thingy strapped to her arm is?

[shanejayell]

Ah, there we go.

Why can't Evan be bad at BOTH? *lol*

[Gyrre]

Evan is certainly well kitted out. I wonder what that thingy strapped to her arm is?

Spare battery pack? Maybe a kit of custom potpourri?

[Pseudowolf]

Well, judging by Claire's sudden apparent hostility, it seems like she's getting a little disillusioned with Cubetown.

[Farideh]

Evan is certainly well kitted out. I wonder what that thingy strapped to her arm is?

Spare battery pack? Maybe a kit of custom potpourri?

Looks like a Swiss army knife to me.


Re. Claire's attitude: she is having a job interview at a place that she's wary about, just had a very exhausting flight, dealt with Marten and his seasickness, and then arrived in her room to find someone who ostensibly works there lurking on the balcony. I'd be testy too, although personally it reads more as "I'm running out of spoons".

[somnolesence]

This is going to be Claire super villian origin story.

Driven mad by the residents and employees of Cube Town, she runs for whatever passes as mayor of the place and takes over using their experimental tech and collective AI intelligence to branch out and bring order to the world.

[DreDotJs]

Honestly, I'm 100% on Claire's side. She's coming over to a place to evaluate whether it's a level of batshit she can put up with, which she arguably made clear to Moray, and after being very nice the whole time to the nicest person showing them red flag after red flag red flag, I'm out of spoons to be even remotely nice to the head of security literally in my new digs without my consent or foreknowledge because she was chasing an easily clockable red herring and taking up my one hour of rest after an exhausting flight. She is so much nicer than I would have been in this panel,

I'm not gonna lie, this and the 1pm explosions joke clinches for me that this is a bad idea; if this were the real world, I'm not sure that I wouldn't consider all of these people incompetent to the point of dangerous, and the lack of boundaries is just plain aggravating.

[Tova]

What a refreshing callback to the even more negative (hostile even) response to Claire's first appearance. Back when the forum was busier and certain people didn't hesitate to reach for sexist insults.

So, here is a little observation I've been sitting on for some time about Jeph's art style. I most likely won't get another chance to express it.

He tends to default to drawing characters with angry faces when they make critical comments.

REALLY angry faces. Over the top angry faces. Silent-film-era-overacting angry faces.

More than once, I've wondered whether the character in question is really as angry as they look or if it's just a quirk of Jeph's art style. Especially when people react strongly along the lines we've seen in this thread.

Maybe I'm wrong and I should be going purely by what's on the page when interpreting the comic, but I really do wonder, because of how often I've seen furious faces over much more minor matters or even as a punchline to a joke.

Edit: to be more precise, what we're seeing on Claire's face is not so much anger as it is utter disgust. It's incongruous.

[DreDotJs]

I will also say that Moray is so sweet and excitable that it seems like she'd be very hard to be this level of frank with (which, again, is what she's going there to do, wrangle these idiots into something resembling a place run by common sense) so I'm not surprised that Claire's not digging through her rapidly disappearing emergency stash of cares to give with Balcony Lady.

[Sorflakne]

Ok Claire's being an asshat. Even secure military facilities with good security teams still do bug sweeps despite them in theory not being necessary. You'd be amazed at where and how surveillance devices have slipped past security.

[derris_kharlan]

Ok Claire's being an asshat. Even secure military facilities with good security teams still do bug sweeps despite them in theory not being necessary. You'd be amazed at where and how surveillance devices have slipped past security.

EXACTLY.  You know what who don't have a clue about security do?  Assume their secure site doesn't need to be checked!  No system is perfect which is WHY you have multiple layers of security, do security sweeps, etc.  With an attitude like hers Claire would fail even the most basic security check.  What exactly are Claire's qualifications to pontificate on security anyway?  Heaven help the poor people of Cubetown should Claire take the job, I've worked with insufferable think they know it alls like her before and it's never a pleasant experience, especially since they seldom actually do know what they are taking about in the end.

[shanejayell]

And poor Evan is panicking. *lol*

[DaiJB]

FOOLS! I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!
(ask me how)

I have this T-shirt!  -  Sometimes I forget I'm wearing it, then get self-conscious when random people on the street look at my chest and grin... 

[Tova]

I've changed my mind now that she's still furious and now just think that after all that's happened, she's finally rejecting the place for the most ridiculous reason imaginable.

[St.Clair]

re the title of the latest comic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w7Ol1qDg-o

[Farideh]

Huh, Jeph actually addresses Claire's mood in his newspost!

This one got away from me a little, I think! Claire comes off as more unreasonably angry than I intended. Oh well!

[de_la_Nae]

honestly i think claire's under-reacting

[Farideh]

I've rejected jobs for much smaller red flags. If they want Claire, they better start making a better impression.