Okay, maybe this is how my crazy mind works but, seriously, this is the only thing that I could focus on Friday. Why is Hannelore (who, typically, seems to have a grungy personal aesthetic of sorts) wearing neat clothes and looking more formal and businesslike? There are many options but I've tried to list a wide range of potentially funny ideas above.
'Dinner with Beatrice' is the obvious continuation of the Bubbles in Peril arc as Beatrice may be able to provide some information about Corpse Witch that Station might not be able to find from legitimate sources. Additionally, Beatrice may be the necessarily ruthless mind that clues our heroes into options that, perhaps, might not automatically occur to them. "Why don't you just buy the place from under her, dear? She'd have to tell you whatever you want! Your father put some very interesting failsafe modes into AIs to prevent them from hiding critical information from their operators!" (1)
However, my real guess is some variant on option 6 - She's treating herself to going out somewhere nice for dinner and she's going to run into Brun and Elliott on a date. Much against her will, she ends up being sucked into the whole surreal experience, having to translate back and forth between the two of them so that they can come closer to understand what the other is thinking. It may even end up in a weird, bizarro-world 'Cyrano De Hanners' scenario!
What do you all think?
-------------------------------
(1) This could lead to some interesting ethical dilemmas. Would using an override code on Corpse Witch and thus forcing her to submit make them just as bad as she is?
Okay, either Slenderman is starting to franchise, or the Robot Mafia is moving into Northampton
Who knew AI's had Men In Black?
Comic up.
...Notice the red eyes? Remind you of anyone?
I have been reading too much Sandman, I think, as my first thought on seeing our new friend was "Oh Crap, now Desire's involved? We're all gonna burn!"
In fact, based on their dialogue thus far, I'm still not convinced we wont...
Is Graymarm another AI? Has the coloring, but I don't see a neck seam. Or is (s)he a hologram? That would explain the sudden appearance; if Bubbles' memories look vulnerable, out pops this apparition to make vague threats.
It took me a little while to realize that wasn't Dora.
I have been reading too much Sandman, I think, as my first thought on seeing our new friend was "Oh Crap, now Desire's involved? We're all gonna burn!"
In fact, based on their dialogue thus far, I'm still not convinced we wont...
...Notice the red eyes? Remind you of anyone?
RGB = 0x961851 (http://www.color-hex.com/color/961851) - distinctly towards purple, but not a colour for which a name comes to mind.
I'm not putting my money down on this new character being female yet. Almost literally nothing is about them, a very androgynous appearance and 'they' pronoun just doesn't reveal anything. Which may just be the way this new person likes it.
This is someone who represents something far more important or threatening to an AI than a vicious criminal like Corpse Witch or a petty officer like Rocco Basilisk. We don´t know enough about how Jeph ist imagining the whole AI stuff to jump to any conclusions. But I´m imagining some kind of Authority (notice the capital letter) which has power over AI´s and of which they have reason to respect it and even be afraid of.
Bubs will have to make a decision right now! And Agent Peroxide seems very sure that she will...
Here I was hoping that link was to DORD. :venonat:I forgot about DORD (http://dord.horse/). I miss DORD.
Woooh, I´m suddenly getting a Pulp Fiction vibe here. 8-)
What if Someone is really pissed off by this situation and has sent a cleaner to take care of it.
Now.
Once and for all.
The question: is Agent Peroxide Vincent Vega (John Travolta) or rather The Wolf (Harvey Keitel)? The suit would be appropriate for both of them.
I´d rather go for the latter. :-D
TM
... In French, it is called "un sac de noeuds" (a bag of knots. Alternately, it can also be understood as a bag of dicks, because noeuds is also slang for dicks... Never mind that interpretation...).
I really hope that Bubbles doesn't make a deal with Mr/Ms MordenWhat *do* you want?
and now I am definitely hearing the Rolling Stones (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBecM3CQVD8).
Plan A: All's normal, hope in time CW ponies up the correct encryption keys and the memories are unlocked without any further mental booby trappage.I forgot:
Plan B: Binary Bedevilry from a Buddy's orbitting Brain.
Plan C: Compact Corpse Witch into a tin Can.
and now I am definitely hearing the Rolling Stones (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBecM3CQVD8).
Elders?
Gary?? (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2070)
Bubbles is VERY not-amused. I don't think I (or any other mortal entity) would want to be on the receiving end of that glare.
This is a strange appearence indeed. Agent Peroxide shows up like being beamed in from the USS Enterprise. Notice that he/she stands behind Faye in the third panel. How did he/she (or maybe it?) get there without her taking notice?I think they're unscrupulously interested in the immediate effects of partitioned traumatic memories having said partion removed. I'd wager that 'Peroxide boogie' here will wish for Bubbles to remain 'under observation' for some period of time once the partition is removed.
I´m still wondering about the "waking up screaming" part. So it represents something which is like a nightmare or some kind of bogeyman to AI´s. I don´t think this is a kind of mobster or a federal agent of some sort. This is someone who represents something far more important or threatening to an AI than a vicious criminal like Corpse Witch or a petty officer like Rocco Basilisk. We don´t know enough about how Jeph ist imagining the whole AI stuff to jump to any conclusions. But I´m imagining some kind of Authority (notice the capital letter) which has power over AI´s and of which they have reason to respect it and even be afraid of.
Maybe Station telling his collegues has brought this affair to the notice of someone who is far more powerful and doesn´t like it at all. Maybe The Authority (I like this already) objects to bubbles memories beeing partitioned away. Or she knows something which must not get into the wrong hands. CW´s for example. Bubs will have to make a decision right now! And Agent Peroxide seems very sure that she will...
But all of this is speculation. I suppose tomorrow we´ll all know a lot more.
Can´t wait:
TM
I really hope that Bubbles doesn't make a deal with Mr/Ms Morden
Anyway, this whole developement seem to be a classic deus ex machina and I must admit that I´m not a big fan of that. When there´s drama, it should be somehow resolved by the protagonists. The drama can turn out to be a comedy or a tragedy, but either way it´s their own story. Now this kinda becomes the story of someone else.
Hmmmmh - This comic kinda reminded me of a group of (Space)ship-AI's in one novel of Ian Banks' Culture-cycle, the so-called 'Interesting Times Gang'. Sort of the good guys (of the 'Veteran Special Forces'-variety), but ... you wouldn't always know from the way they operated.
I'm leaning toward the theory of some highly advanced group of AI's, so far advanced in fact that they're indistinguishable from gods. Luckily for us, they're so fast and deep in their thinking that they barely interact with this plane at all. But now someone's got their attention. And there are some gods whose attention you do NOT want. Wake up screaming indeed.Yes-ish.
Do you remember all those 'hypothetical' talks Bubbles and Faye had about intelligences without consciousness and the bad things that the Singularity could bring both to humans and synthetics alike? I'm thinking that Alucard's ultimate boss (no matter the nature of that control) may be one of those nightmare intelligences that is different enough from human in thought and motivation to act in a way and towards goals that bode no good for anyone in order to achieve an end state that it has chosen for purely and coldly logical reasons that it regards as 'optimum' in its own analysis of reality.
One of the reasons I've always found the Terminator movies a little unsatisfying is the idea that a truly super-intelligent AI would need to resort to anything as crude as nuclear war.
I really hope that Bubbles doesn't make a deal with Mr/Ms MordenWhat *do* you want?
puissant
adjective
archaic, literary
Having great power or influence
A couple of people have brought this up. I don't see it: the kind of entity they were talking about there is so far removed from interactions as petty as one individual blackmailing another with memory access that I can't fathom a motive for one to get involved, much less for its involvement to be this directly provocative and, well, human in form. (Right down to claiming a "sentimental streak." How often has that not been a thin excuse for ulterior motives?)
None of this reads like "transcendent tech hivemind" behavior to me.
Robo-persons-of-ambiguous-gender-presentation in Black? I certainly don't think I'd want to be anyone they'd decided was a "filthy little brainfucker". One gets the impression that the AI community polices itself fairly ruthlessly. One of the reasons I've always found the Terminator movies a little unsatisfying is the idea that a truly super-intelligent AI would need to resort to anything as crude as nuclear war.
But yes... this is in danger of introducing a Deus Ex Machina just as much as having Hanners or Station break the encryption etc.
They're young and powerful - station and colleagues are "less puissant elders".
They're young and powerful - station and colleagues are "less puissant elders".
Station's a mainframe and the new ones are a cloud-connected cluster. Station doubts he can break the encryption, the new ones simply state that they will.
Hmmmmh - This comic kinda reminded me of a group of (Space)ship-AI's in one novel of Ian Banks' Culture-cycle, the so-called 'Interesting Times Gang'. Sort of the good guys (of the 'Veteran Special Forces'-variety), but ... you wouldn't always know from the way they operated.
There's also the fact that they used the word "brainfucker" which is parallel to "meatfucker" in the Culture novels.
this is in danger of introducing a Deus Ex Machina just as much as having Hanners or Station break the encryption etc.
But yes... this is in danger of introducing a Deus Ex Machina
In case no one picked it up, the eyes are distinctly like that of the lead character of another comic that Jeph draws... (http://www.alicegrove.com/post/105572876174/alice-youre-getting-creepy) when she is upset and/or triggered.
One thing that I'm finding particularly ominous about Pale Agent is that they have no compunction about disabling a human, even temporarily, with some kind of stun-touch. That's a line I don't think I've seen an AI cross in this universe, except in self defense. PA does it nonchalantly and apparently steps over Faye's body to talk to Bubbles. That's a level of dismissiveness, even contempt, toward us meat-sacks that does not bode well.
Also, they use the word "puissant." Never trust anyone who uses the word "puissant."
P.S.: No matter how bad these guys might be for Bubbles, I think that we can already see that they'll be much worse for Corpse Witch.
Bubbles is VERY not-amused. I don't think I (or any other mortal entity) would want to be on the receiving end of that glare.
The fact that Alucard doesn't care gives us a disturbing insight into just how powerful her sponsor is.
Friday
Alucard and Hannelore are facing off. Alucard insists that this does not involve her and calls her 'Daughter of the Creator'. Hannelore tells Alucard that she 'isn't welcome here' and orders her to leave. When Alucard sneers that she doesn't obey orders from 'the likes of her', Hannelore responds thus:
"Unit Bravo-Three-Dash-Six-Six, One-Delta-Slash-Six-Niner-Five! Master Override; reset to factory settings, authorisation One, Lima, India, Six, Two..."
"NO!" Alucard looks terrified. "Very well; this location is off-limits."
Taking them at their word ( and trust but verify here...)
They're young and powerful - station and colleagues are "less puissant elders".
It also occurs to me that a rational response from Bubbles (other than scepticism as to whether than can really do what they say) would be:
"Thankyou very much. I don't wish those memories back now, but I do need to know they are potentially accessible if I do need them. Now you have freed me so I can act ethically, thank you again".
She can then return to the warehouse, let CW know that her lever no longer has power, and continue as before, without destroying the place for those disadvantaged robots who depend on it.
Station's a mainframe and the new ones are a cloud-connected cluster. Station doubts he can break the encryption, the new ones simply state that they will.
Yeah, we've become accustomed to thinking of Station as the Last Word in AI, because Hanners says he is. The New AI Gods may consider him a doddering old coot who they humor.
It's possible that it's an old school vs new school hacker kind of divide here. Just because Station and his contemporaries don't know of any of their ways to break this encryption safely doesn't mean the New Kids don't.
Friday
Alucard and Hannelore are facing off. Alucard insists that this does not involve her and calls her 'Daughter of the Creator'. Hannelore tells Alucard that she 'isn't welcome here' and orders her to leave. When Alucard sneers that she doesn't obey orders from 'the likes of her', Hannelore responds thus:
"Unit Bravo-Three-Dash-Six-Six, One-Delta-Slash-Six-Niner-Five! Master Override; reset to factory settings, authorisation One, Lima, India, Six, Two..."
"NO!" Alucard looks terrified. "Very well; this location is off-limits."
Nice, but if Hanners has some sort of "Master Override" for all AIs, why wouldn't she have offered to use it on Corpse Witch?
I also created an account for this...
Our new "friend" is very interesting. A non-binary AI? Pun?
this is in danger of introducing a Deus Ex Machina just as much as having Hanners or Station break the encryption etc.
Is a god from a machine (or in this case possibly a machine god) always a bad thing storywise, especially if the god themself is very entertaining?
Is a devil not just a minor god?
*This* is a shark jump? Not the visit to Station, the introduction of Bubbles, the VespAvenger, or any other long list of times I could probably pull out with more thought?
Nah, I've been with this comic 8 years, it's always meandered.
Anyway, I hope Bubbles passes the test in front of her. I hope she recognizes it.
Anyway, this whole developement seem to be a classic deus ex machina and I must admit that I´m not a big fan of that. When there´s drama, it should be somehow resolved by the protagonists. The drama can turn out to be a comedy or a tragedy, but either way it´s their own story. Now this kinda becomes the story of someone else.
Yeah, I am not crazy about the Deus Ex Machina, either. The new character* is super cool and I want to see him/her more, but the introduction was kinda iffy to me.
I wonder if paralysing Faye was the new character's disregard for her and Woland just didn't care, or perhaps it was a calculated move to show "see? I can do awesome things" to lead more credibility to the offer. I suppose we'll know when we see the plot develop and we know the new arrival's personality better.
*I'm gonna call him/her "Woland" in my head, I have absolutely no idea why, but she reminds me of the "Master and Margarita" character with her attitude, if not looks, and people in the forum are already drawing comparisons to Satan, so I'm gonna go with that.
...
All of those crazy things were still about people. People in crazy situations, but still people.
This arc is not about people. I just went back and checked. In the last 30 actual comics (subtracting out holiday filler), there have only been 3 comics that include two humans talking to one another. The last two months have featured speaking parts from eight robots/AI (Bubbles, May, Pintsize, Corpse Witch, Station, Jeremy, whoever the cop is and who ever this new devil character is) and only three humans (Marten, Faye and Hannelore).
Time will tell, though.
So, living, sentient, feeling beings who happen to have machine bodies are not 'people'. Featuring AIs, which have existing in the comic as long as it has existed is jumping the shark. Gotcha.
Anyway, this whole developement seem to be a classic deus ex machina and I must admit that I´m not a big fan of that. When there´s drama, it should be somehow resolved by the protagonists. The drama can turn out to be a comedy or a tragedy, but either way it´s their own story. Now this kinda becomes the story of someone else.
Yeah, I am not crazy about the Deus Ex Machina, either. The new character* is super cool and I want to see him/her more, but the introduction was kinda iffy to me.
I wonder if paralysing Faye was the new character's disregard for her and Woland just didn't care, or perhaps it was a calculated move to show "see? I can do awesome things" to lead more credibility to the offer. I suppose we'll know when we see the plot develop and we know the new arrival's personality better.
*I'm gonna call him/her "Woland" in my head, I have absolutely no idea why, but she reminds me of the "Master and Margarita" character with her attitude, if not looks, and people in the forum are already drawing comparisons to Satan, so I'm gonna go with that.
I've been imagining Graymarm's dialogue spoken in the voice of HIM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo7S61f7qGA) from the Powerpuff Girls. It works rather well. The gestures and manner from the comic suggest the same sort of androgynous and extravagant sleaze, coupled with arrogant privilege.
Wait...
because we don't know yet if QC's HIM is a he or a she or both or none) and a good part of the floor, most probably from the perspective of Bubbles.
Whoa. That does look like Desire.Wait...
because we don't know yet if QC's HIM is a he or a she or both or none) and a good part of the floor, most probably from the perspective of Bubbles.
Neither. They are a they. ;)
And they are totally Desire from the Sandman. That's how they now Bubbles can't resist their offer. :-D
This storyline got weird. This is weird, right? What comic am I reading?
And watch out for Lawrence Fishburn.
Wait...
Where is Faye!?
She was sliding all the way to the floor in panel 2; you can see her next to Bubbles' chair.
But in panel 5, Faye's gone and you can see almost all of HIM (like the villain from the Powerpuff girls, because we don't know yet if QC's HIM is a he or a she or both or none) and a good part of the floor, most probably from the perspective of Bubbles. Perhaps even directly from her eyes.
So where is Faye!? :psyduck:
Emily is capable of breaking/hacking/slipping through an encryption that advanced AIs don't even want to touch?
...Did we know this already? I don't remember knowing this already.
No, they said they didn't want to go rooting in Bubble's head. They're just going to be the door opener and probably guidance and let Emily and Bubbles deal with the demons that get let loose.
I'd be very disappointed if Jeph let QC jump anything smaller than a blue whale ...http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2337
Emily is, well, Emily. We're talking about someone who nearly summoned Cthulhu....That is the kind of thing that would attract attention in some circles, yes. Unusual too. At least, I hope it's unusual.
As someone who's followed QC for near eight years....
This arc is not about people. I just went back and checked.
Secondly, Bubbles' decision is entirely comprehensible and believable. That doesn't make me happier about it. They may not require a direct 'price' but I'd be more concerned about the 'favour' they ask for some time later in exchange for not betraying Emily to the NSA for unauthorised access of all the classified defence data in Bubbles's head.
Emily is, well, Emily. We're talking about someone who nearly summoned Cthulhu....That is the kind of thing that would attract attention in some circles, yes. Unusual too. At least, I hope it's unusual.
Scary Vampire Person is drawing on the same tropes as a crazy person with constantly changing aliases who likes to post on Charlie Stross' blog. I don't recognize them. Could someone explain more clearly than "Desire from the Expanse"? Are we talking about the Neil Gaiman comic? Where are the specific similarities?
There are some vampire tropes, either White Wolf or the novels that inspired WW, but I don't know enough to 'read' them either. The name Rocco Basilisk is a joke about the LessWrong community, and that is another area of crazy that I just know a little about.
The comment about similarities with Ian M. Banks' Culture novels rings a bell too, but I only read one of those ... not my thing.
Bubbles consents, but does Emily? Did Emily know this person already?
This kind of defeats the point of "No strings attached" that Mercedes here presented, don't you think?
I could find examples, but that would require reading their posts, and that way madness lies. The gender-ambiguity, casual arrogance, random changes in topic and metaphor, references to elders and sanctity of mind, and allusiveness feel similar in Grey Face and "Minerva Owl" of the many handles.Scary Vampire Person is drawing on the same tropes as a crazy person with constantly changing aliases who likes to post on Charlie Stross' blog. I don't recognize them. Could someone explain more clearly than "Desire from the Expanse"? Are we talking about the Neil Gaiman comic? Where are the specific similarities?
There are some vampire tropes, either White Wolf or the novels that inspired WW, but I don't know enough to 'read' them either. The name Rocco Basilisk is a joke about the LessWrong community, and that is another area of crazy that I just know a little about.
The comment about similarities with Ian M. Banks' Culture novels rings a bell too, but I only read one of those ... not my thing.
I know which person from Charlie's blog you're referring to, but I don't see that much similarity -- probably because New Character also physically resembles Desire from the Gaiman comic.
But maybe "Minerva Owl"/HB was alluding to that comic?That's possible, but their (Minerva Owl's) style reminds me more of Delirium, only more pessimistic, or a mix of the two. And the sanctity of mind thing is a major thing that points to the Culture novels (for Grey Face). That's why I said they seem like a mix of Desire from the Gaiman comic and an AI from the Culture (specifically the Interesting Times Gang).
What is even going on? I think this is the first time this comic has ever completely lost me...It's a new character. We have yet to see, that's kind of the point.
Did I miss somewhere where this character or who they represent were introduced?
I think it will end up bringing sweeping and irreversible change to the comic. The direct intervention of this superhuman entity in the lives of the cast changes the entire genre of the work. Farewell slice-of-life comedy, hello sci-fi adventure. Now that Faye is tangled up in a situation of this gravity, the shadow of these events will never allow things to go back to "normal" for the gang.
Honestly?
As someone who's followed QC for near eight years, bought books, bought my wife a bear monster shirt, and owns Pintsize and Winslow plushes.... yes. This story arc does feel like a jump the shark moment.
The end of QC is going to be the beginning of Alice Grove.
Honestly?
As someone who's followed QC for near eight years, bought books, bought my wife a bear monster shirt, and owns Pintsize and Winslow plushes.... yes. This story arc does feel like a jump the shark moment.
I blame Alice Grove. :-D
Nah, joking aside, I welcome the leaping of this here Hammerhead hurdle. As far from the comic's starting premise as it seems to me to be, I find it quite exciting!
As valid a guess as any!The end of QC is going to be the beginning of Alice Grove.
Honestly?
As someone who's followed QC for near eight years, bought books, bought my wife a bear monster shirt, and owns Pintsize and Winslow plushes.... yes. This story arc does feel like a jump the shark moment.
I blame Alice Grove. :-D
Nah, joking aside, I welcome the leaping of this here Hammerhead hurdle. As far from the comic's starting premise as it seems to me to be, I find it quite exciting!
Pintsize is Alice.
They may not require a direct 'price' but I'd be more concerned about the 'favour' they ask for some time later in exchange for not betraying Emily to the NSA for unauthorised access of all the classified defence data in Bubbles's head.
I think that you are missing the point: "No strings attached" only means that they won't directly ask Bubbles for anything; what Bubbles might offer them in exchange for not shopping Emily is another matter altogether. That's her choice, not a 'string attached'.
In the criminal mind, or those minds for whom typical ideas of ethics are curious alien cultural artefacts, they are essentially indistinguishable.
Pretty sure that whoever you have in mind wouldn't fail to notice the difference.
"we're just, as a professional courtesy, letting you know that we're tossing Azuma to the wolves"
Now I'm gonna hear Annie Lennox voicing Alucard...
If you've given your word that there are no string attached, and you never lie, the difference matters a great deal.
I still don't get why you're over-analysing it.
You seem to think that someone would care about the difference.
If you've given your word that there are no string attached, and you never lie, the difference matters a great deal.
Not really; you never ask for anything; no strings attached. If, at some point in the future, when hearing of your future plans, people you've previously helped volunteer to carry out services for you in exchange for you changing your plans, then that is entirely their prerogative. You're not actually asking for anything form them so there are no strings. If anything, they're the ones attaching strings to you by making their favours in return conditional!
They may not require a direct 'price' but I'd be more concerned about the 'favour' they ask for some time later in exchange for not betraying Emily to the NSA for unauthorised access of all the classified defence data in Bubbles's head.
If you've given your word that there are no string attached, and you never lie, the difference matters a great deal.
So would that make everything that's happened since a spinoff? Like what Skin Horse is to Narbonic, but with more characters from the previous comic being present.
I'd actually say sometime around Marten + Claire = end of "regular" QC. I would have liked the strip to end at #2882 (https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2882) (sad ending), but would have been fine with #2890 (https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2890) (happy ending). Oh well. So it goes.
/tangent
You do know that Desire is based on Annie Lennox and David Bowie?
Emily is capable of breaking/hacking/slipping through an encryption that advanced AIs don't even want to touch?
...Did we know this already? I don't remember knowing this already.
First off, I'm with tupsharru and islan. I know not of this Desire of Expanse. And if Jeph is relying on 'ooh, -everybody- knows that' to carry his storyline, then he's not the storyteller I think he is.
"Do let us know if you start to go insane".
There I was, all primed to read that line as being a setup, and Emily said
"How will I know"
and the rest of that sentence just spoiled my fun.
If you're complaining that Jeph made a pop culture reference that some readers might understand, then I'm kinda curious what comic you've been reading, because it certainly wasn't this one.
"Unless we got particular pleasure out of fooling you into agreeing to it first."
That's not helping, Silverbot!!
If you've given your word that there are no string attached, and you never lie, the difference matters a great deal.
Not really; you never ask for anything; no strings attached. If, at some point in the future, when hearing of your future plans, people you've previously helped volunteer to carry out services for you in exchange for you changing your plans, then that is entirely their prerogative. You're not actually asking for anything form them so there are no strings. If anything, they're the ones attaching strings to you by making their favours in return conditional!
Okay, fine. So maybe you could clear this up for me. My confusion arise from the original post. Why so concerned? If Bubbles volunteers to carry out services for them, then I don't see an issue.
They may not require a direct 'price' but I'd be more concerned about the 'favour' they ask for some time later in exchange for not betraying Emily to the NSA for unauthorised access of all the classified defence data in Bubbles's head.
You've kind of backtracked on this, just admit it and we can all move on.
"Unless we got particular pleasure out of fooling you into agreeing to it first."
That's not helping, Silverbot!!
"Unless we got particular pleasure out of fooling you into agreeing to it first."I just misread "Silverbot" as 'Silverbolt' and now I'm trying to peg one of the many voices Scott McNeil (http://m.imdb.com/name/nm0573926/filmotype/actor?ref_=m_nmfm_1) has done to our mysterious mulberry-eyed pale presence.
That's not helping, Silverbot!!
Do you mean Françoise Appledelhi mixed with a handful of other characters from manga and anime?If you're complaining that Jeph made a pop culture reference that some readers might understand, then I'm kinda curious what comic you've been reading, because it certainly wasn't this one.
Emily herself is a Japanese pop-culture reference, after all - but knowing that's not necessary to understanding her.
"Do let us know if you start to go insane" - best line for a long time.
On the other hand, does Emily get to keep that interface device? And if so what will she do with it later?I was going to say 'make friends with satelites', but hasn't she already done that?
To clarify, the new character seems to use the pronouns: we/our/ourselves/us
Do you mean Françoise Appledelhi mixed with a handful of other characters from manga and anime?
Do you mean Françoise Appledelhi mixed with a handful of other characters from manga and anime?
Emily is drawn in anime style; her surname is Azuma, the name of the author of Azumanga Daioh, one of Jeph's favourite manga and animes, and she has (or had while her hair was longer) a passing resemblance to Sakaki in that series.
If this entity was dishonest, it wouldn't have pointed out why it might not be trustworthy.
Faye's boobs are still a very powerful narcotic, even for Bubbles.
Most people seem to think the grey maybe-maybenot AI is a government agent.
Am I the only one who got an immediate vibe of Mephisto? As in Faustian deal Mephisto? Is an AI Satan a thing post-singularity?
This all brings up a point that I'm not sure has yet been discussed.
How well is Bubbles going to cope with suddenly being confronted with these long-dormant memories?
Even in the best-case scenario, this is going to be pretty painful.
To clarify, the new character seems to use the pronouns: we/our/ourselves/us
Conventionally, that makes them royalty. Are we about to discover that robots have a monarchy?
Alternatively, and more obviously, it is simply because they are the avatar of a collective cloud-connected being, in computing terms a cluster, which is how some of us interpreted it from their first appearance.
A lot of people mentioning Emily's lack of consent. I am more worried about her utter lack of understanding of her objective.
She wasn't even awake for the exposition part of this game. She knows little or nothing about what Bubbles has in her head or even that she wants memories back, or does not. Even presuming that Emily has some amazing ability to hack encryption and that the UI is intuitive enough for her to use correctly on the first try, does she know why it might be helpful? A goal?
See, after reading this, I was just like, "The whole comic has been in a similar, strange tone." But then I remembered that some of the characters went to a space station for a birthday party, and the station is actually sentient and can project itself into a human-ish form for easier communication. If that's not a shark jump, I have no idea what is.Someday I think we will point to Faye's punching of Corpse Witch to be the moment QC officially jumped the shark. The "show about nothing" has delved deep into science fiction and now Desire of the Endless has shown up to throw urban fantasy into the mix.
"Punching the Shark (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/JumpingTheShark)" :mrgreen:
If I had to pin down a shark jump...
I originally thought it was around #1845 (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1845), when Marten and Hannelore discovered the Secret Bakery and its obvious alternate-universe characters... probably after it was revealed that the episode wasn't a one-shot throwaway joke. Still, I did like Padma as a character, and other storylines around that time. Things continued meandering, even through the occasional AI exposition (#2085 (http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2085), et al.).I blame Alice Grove. :-D
Nah, ...
I haven't read past the first few weeks of that one, but QC's recent sci-fi robotshop "Corpse Witch" plunge has definitely escalating beyond the normal hijinks of Momo, May, and Pintsize.
I'd actually say sometime around Marten + Claire = end of "regular" QC. I would have liked the strip to end at #2882 (https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2882) (sad ending), but would have been fine with #2890 (https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=2890) (happy ending). Oh well. So it goes.
/tangent
"This is the story of Emily and Her Little Ponies!"[/b]
Others refer to them with the pronouns: they
"They seem nice"
"If they wished to do me harm, they would have done so already."
Did I miss the frame where the Avatar of Nightmare disabled Faye? Bubble mentions it in the 2nd to last frame but I couldn't find a reference to it in the art of the previous comic.
To clarify, the new character seems to use the pronouns: we/our/ourselves/us
"We're what wakes them up screaming."
"We picked up on your little ...were were going to go "Gives us the shivers..."
"...we'll have Ms. Azuma do it."
"If they wished to do me harm, they would have done so already."
I still don't get why you're over-analysing it.
Ever since Hannelore took Marten and Marigold to outer space to celebrate her father's birthday on his very own space station, the notion that QC could ever really "jump the shark" has been meaningless. Despite being set in a post-singularity present world similar to ours But With Robots, Jeph has always managed to keep the comic grounded despite all the weirdness. QC can't jump the shark. It's impossible...
...except, well, everything since Faye met Bubbles at the underground robot fighting ring has just felt like a rejected prequel storyline from Alice Grove, which is why I stopped following daily updates several months ago. It might not jump the shark, but it's not really the QC I used to know.
They may not require a direct 'price' but I'd be more concerned about the 'favour' they ask for some time later in exchange for not betraying Emily to the NSA for unauthorised access of all the classified defence data in Bubbles's head.
You've kind of backtracked on this, just admit it and we can all move on.
No, they're the same thing just expressed differently. Never ask but manipulate into offering voluntarily, possibly with airily implied menaces. Oh, and act reluctant but admit that you need the favour and, if not doing the bad thing is the price then you can possibly see your way to agreeing.
Oops, yeah, sorry, that was in fact supposed to be with a single 'o' in the first syllable. Fixed.
But "Eschatogenic" didn't make you bat an eye?
To be honest, I'm not sure I'm thrilled with the addition to the comic of what appear to be more or less omnipotent beings, but I'm happy to sit back and find out where this takes us.
Like us, the QC world exists in an increasingly digital world. Unlike us, however, there exists AI and collective Intelligentsia monitoring everything in their world. There's chatter, video feed, informants, undercovers and the list on.
Most people seem to think the grey maybe-maybenot AI is a government agent.
Am I the only one who got an immediate vibe of Mephisto? As in Faustian deal Mephisto? Is an AI Satan a thing post-singularity?
Satan as in "Quasi-Supernatural Entity with the sole goal of ruining humanity spiritually and morally"?No.Not in SF-lit, as far as I can recall. In "serious" discussions about AI ... IDK. Off-the-cuff I'd say that judging from the one secure datapoint for intelligence that we have - ourselves - it would not be rational to expect an AI to develop into an artificial Satan (in the boundaries of the definition in my above line), for lack of human examples (I recognize that the veracity of that statement is highly dependent on one's definition of 'evil' in general, and 'sole aim' as well as 'ruin' in particular). I think 'satanic' behaviour simply "doesn't pay of", in a (very vague) game-theory sense, or in the sense of "parsimonious use of ones resources".
The closest I can recall is the Eschaton in Charlie Stross' Singularity Sky (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singularity_Sky) - but that's more like a dialed-up Skynet that believes in the principle of applying the minimum of violence necessary to protect itself from humanity meddling with causality in its historic lightcone. Where "minimum violence" can include a planetary civilisation violating it's commandment suddenly finding itself in the path of a city-sized asteroid.
Not strictly speaking evil, but terribly, terribly ... un-empathetic.
If "Eschatogenic" is supposed to mean "pertaining to/wrt. Eschatology" -> That one actually does exist in German: Eschatologisch Dictionary ranks it at 2/5 for frequency of use
I fear more and more that GreyCreep was sent by Corpse Witch. Rather than unlocking Bubbles memories the intended goal here is to encrypt or erase the memories of Faye to bring her Bubbles in line.
Beyond that, I find this whole plot thread to have progressed surprisingly quickly. It has only been 20 pages since Bubbles revealed her secret.
I still don't get why you're over-analysing it.
I fear more and more that GreyCreep was sent by Corpse Witch. Rather than unlocking Bubbles memories the intended goal here is to encrypt or erase the memories of Faye to bring her Bubbles in line.
Beyond that, I find this whole plot thread to have progressed surprisingly quickly. It has only been 20 pages since Bubbles revealed her secret.
Hmmm.... I wonder if CreepyPasty is an artificially created organic entity that's had cybernetic components interwoven with the organic components, not a traditional cyborg so much as a bio-mechanical being.
I suppose Jeph introduced Agent Peroxide and the whole "almost omnipotent AI"-stuff to get Emily into Bubbles brain as soon as possible. Maybe he got tired of all this drama and hoplesness. After a few days thinking about it, I´m fine with this.
And I love Agent Peroxide. Come to think of it, maybe he uses the "we" because he´s not an independet AI of his own, but rather a drone, a representation of one or more of those friggin´powerful AI´s themselves. :-D
So I suppose (or rather hope) we´ll get a loog inside Bubbles brain. Can´t wait for this to happen. What will it look like? Something in manga-style is a good guess I think.
Or maybe Its something like Gunnerkrigg Court: New Data:
http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1599
Or a real classic: Doonesbury: The Return to Reagans Brain (1987):
http://www.gocomics.com/doonesbury/1987/03/23
Huuh, I can´t wait. 8-)
TM
Oops, yeah, sorry, that was in fact supposed to be with a single 'o' in the first syllable. Fixed.
Vomiting certainly is intense. And it does usually feel better when you stop.
That was a sweet little moment between Faye and Bubbles. Jeph has been doing a very good job telling a story of a friendship between them that has been only good for both parties. I can hear the shippers going 'Squeee!' from my seat here!
That's my feeling, yes. Something like the Gen-3 Synths from Fallout 4 - A human-like chassis made of synthetically-created biological components seamlessly merged with electronic components to enable the AIs to operate through the cereberal cortex. A true android, as it is frequently described in golden-age sci-fi rather than the cruder 'meat over a metal frame' form that was popularised in The Terminator or the 'pre-programmed clone' from Blade Runner. I can honestly hearing the dev team for that chassis telling a sceptical Dr Elicott-Chatham that this represents 'the next evolutionary step of AI and human alike'.
That was a sweet little moment between Faye and Bubbles. Jeph has been doing a very good job telling a story of a friendship between them that has been only good for both parties. I can hear the shippers going 'Squeee!' from my seat here!
Vomiting certainly is intense. And it does usually feel better when you stop.I get migraines, and for many years the course of them was that I'd feel worse and worse, headache would be more and more intense, then I'd throw up and that was a signal that the worst was over and I'd soon be feeling better. So the vomiting was positively welcome!
Vomiting certainly is intense. And it does usually feel better when you stop.
Ah, no. I understand, but in English "-genic" means "cause of" or "starter" and "-logical" means "about" or "pertaining to."
...
Something labeled "Eschatogenic, do not touch" has an implication that fooling with it could end the world.
It is possible to be very close friends with someone without there being romance involved. That said, there has been plenty of body language from Bubbles that Faye's more casually hands on moments are flustering to Bubbles, but not unwelcome. That could be an indication of attraction toward Faye. Or it could be that Bubbles is just unused to such displays and doesn't know how to deal with them. She doesn't do the 'blush and avert eyes' when Hanners hugs her though. Just for Faye. So it's entirely possible that Bubbles feels some attraction to Faye beyond friendship.
If you have led a life without close personal friendship (even though her fallen squad were dear to her, I don't think it is the same), then when you make your first true friend, you will friend hard.
Not even a gesture at seeking Emily's consent for something that could leave her with nightmares at the very least.Equally, no indication of compulsion, and Emily seems to put the headband on voluntarily with a "Neat! Okay!", so maybe that happened "off screen". Honestly, would anyone expect Emily even to hesitate to perform a risky brain-dive? She's got the mind-set of a smokejumper (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokejumper).
True - but if the closest you ever got to 'friend' and 'family' was a military unit (and there's many reports from soldiers who said those bonds are even closer, and more intense), then someone as fiercely loyal as Faye probably fits your mold likeMmm... Given that Bubbles was designed to be a member of a combat team, Faye's loyalty and pugnacity might resonate strongly. Faye and Bubbles are 同袍 (tóngpáo (https://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=%E5%90%8C%E8%A2%8D)), which means both comrade-in-arms and intimate friend, and I can't think of an English word that means quite the same thing.... a thing that fits another thing that ...(*) even better.
Either Agent Creepy is that cynical or she's using cynicism to cover for 'The Feels'.
Either Agent Creepy is that cynical or she's using cynicism to cover for 'The Feels'.
It's possible, though by no means certain, that Agent Creepy Hive Mind know Bubbles will be perfectly fine, and are thus completely unmoved by all the (unnecessary from their perspective) emotion on display.
It is possible to be very close friends with someone without there being romance involved.
Wait, was there ever any semblance of mental health on Emily to begin with?Not if they're Grey Goo. The nanobots would just melt around her fists. She knows who they are and she knows full well she can't do anything. Her threat was empty, but she wanted to show displeasure.
On other news, I'm pretty astonished by how Mercedes went "Wouldn't work" on the physical violence threat. I assume they're an AI, but let's be serious here, Bubbles could very well crush them into their molecular components.
Wait, was there ever any semblance of mental health on Emily to begin with?
I am calling them Legion and my theory is that they are Grey Goo.Er.. a hivemind that clueful, one of the first things they do is to port onto EMP resistant hardware/wetware. Good idea anyway to have lithophile backups as well in case of gamma ray bursters, to reboot life in a reasonable time, millions not billions of years. Go Arrhenious ( see Arrhenius) too.
They've been in hiding because people would freak out and probably blow an EMP, since they are literally (in this form at least) a walking end-of-the-world scenario - but they aren't motivated to wipe out the world, by whatever lucky happenstance.
I signed up for these forums because you all are terrible at theory crafting.
It's a good point, to which I say "maybe." The AI don't seem as powerful as some of the real-life predictions we have for a post-singularity world. Why do AI's have human level intelligence and underground fight clubs, if we've passed the singularity?I am calling them Legion and my theory is that they are Grey Goo.Er.. a hivemind that clueful, one of the first things they do is to port onto EMP resistant hardware/wetware. Good idea anyway to have lithophile backups as well in case of gamma ray bursters, to reboot life in a reasonable time, millions not billions of years. Go Arrhenious ( see Arrhenius) too.
They've been in hiding because people would freak out and probably blow an EMP, since they are literally (in this form at least) a walking end-of-the-world scenario - but they aren't motivated to wipe out the world, by whatever lucky happenstance.
I signed up for these forums because you all are terrible at theory crafting.
See Brin's Existence. Or Vinge's Fire on the Deep for a Rocco Basilisk.
I feel that talking about organised crime or even world wars when dealing with such entities is at best like toddlers discussing how to unwrap a chocolate bar during a meeting of nuclear physicists, and worrying that one might snatch their rattle away.
Why do AI's have ... underground fight clubs, if we've passed the singularity?
Why do AI's have ... underground fight clubs, if we've passed the singularity?
There's no reason to think, in the expanse of the post-Singularity mind, that some of them wouldn't find fighting to be fun.
Why do AI's have human level intelligence and underground fight clubs, if we've passed the singularity?
Given that Bubbles was designed to be a member of a combat team
I had come away with a different impression after her conversation with Momo about choosing the military as a career. It sounded like she was a run-of-the-mill AI who thought she should serve her country.That's a good point I had forgotten. Perhaps I was thinking too much about the computers of today, rather than self-aware AI people.
The AI don't seem as powerful as some of the real-life predictions we have for a post-singularity world. Why do AI's have human level intelligence and underground fight clubs, if we've passed the singularity?One shouldn't forget real life predictions are fiction too.
My point is that the Singularity did not confer the god status as predicted in the real world. It was limited somehow. There shouldn't be, for example, money, in the common conception of "post-Singularity" - even in the best case scenario where AI doesn't try to kill us, they've solved resource problems for us.Why do AI's have ... underground fight clubs, if we've passed the singularity?
There's no reason to think, in the expanse of the post-Singularity mind, that some of them wouldn't find fighting to be fun.
Why do we humans have fight clubs? Because its fun for some people and for others, its a way to make a lot of money very quickly.
Despite the fact that the Singularity has occurred in the QC-verse, its quite obvious that the world is not in the best state. There's some degree of discrimination towards AI, both from within and without the community. Unless you're an AnthroPC and paired with a human, I would imagine that being an AI in the world is quite difficult. I mean, look at May and Bubbles. May couldn't even get basic healthcare from the government when her chassis began to fall apart and had to go to an illegal repair shop for help. Bubbles is ostracised by both the human and AI communities for choosing to serve in the military. Neither of them have many options.
The Singularity may have happened, but human nature isn't so easily changed. And we know that AI are made in humanity's image.
I am calling them Legion and my theory is that they are Grey Goo.
Nanotbots exist only in SF-litQC is sci-fi. I'm going with the MST3K mantra on this one...
Nanotbots exist only in SF-litQC is sci-fi.
Nanotbots exist only in SF-lit and there, Grey Goo is the nanotech equivalent of cancer
It helps to imagine under what conditions a man would be swimming at, say, the same Reynolds number as his own sperm. Well you put him in a swimming pool that is full of molasses, and the you forbid him to move any pare of his body faster than 1 cm/min. Now imagine yourself in that condition; you're under the swimming pool in molasses, and now you can only move like the hands of a clock. If under those ground rules you are able to move a few meters in a couple of weeks, you may qualify as a low Reynolds number swimmer.
I'll show you a picture of the real animals in a bit but we are going to be taking about objects which are the order of a micron in size (Fig. 4). That's a micron scale, not a suture, in the animal in Fig. 4. In water where the kinematic viscosity is 10^{-2} cm/sec these things move around with a typical speed of 30 micron/sec
Yes, I am using "Grey Goo" in an not totally correct sense, to informally refer to a nanobot swarm. Legion is a nanobot swarm. Though Legion may be capable of "grey gooing" his environment, perhaps after a certain point when they achieved sentience, they decided it was more interesting to observe and interact with the world than to eat it. It would certainly be easier to assemble a swarm of that size if the nanobots were capable of self-replication.I am calling them Legion and my theory is that they are Grey Goo.
Nanotbots exist only in SF-lit, and there, Grey Goo is the nanotech equivalent of cancer ... Talked to a tumor lately?(click to show/hide)
And lastly, how would nanobots - structures whose dimensions are measured in a millionth of a millimetre: roughly a hundreth of the avg. diameter of a capillary - manage migrate from the contact point at Fayes forehead to every relevant motoneuronal pathway in a matter of seconds?
One of my favorite observations is "We are thegraypink goo".
Nanotbots exist only in SF-litQC is sci-fi. I'm going with the MST3K mantra on this one...
This is certainly an AI of wealth and taste.
Given that Bubbles was designed to be a member of a combat team
I had come away with a different impression after her conversation with Momo about choosing the military as a career. It sounded like she was a run-of-the-mill AI who thought she should serve her country.
If someone in the QC world is designing people with personality traits to adapt them to being members of a combat team then the ethical issues are intense.
Once the mission at hand is completed, the vacated chassis will collapse into its component parts. After all, they have better things to do.
Once the mission at hand is completed, the vacated chassis will collapse into its component parts. After all, they have better things to do.
This would be of interest to May, who apparently likes that color or something close to it, and has been having trouble with her parolee chassis.
Of course, a bit of genderbending is involved, but if Pintsize is to be believed that amounts to flipping a bit.
So assuming that GreyCreep is a mouthpiece for a collective intelligence:
I'm also seeing that there isn't much enthusiasm for Clinton and Emily having a second date.
In any case, I expect we'll see more and more (human) characters go the way of Sara and Yelling Bird.