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Dinner with Beatrice

A date with someone

She's going to the Church of Gary!

Her Evil Twin Sister is marrying someone (!) and she's going to sit at the back of the chapel

She's helping Arthur out at the Self-Help Group and she likes to look professional

She's agreed to chaperone Brun and Elliott

She's agreed to chaperone Clinton and Emily (I doubt it would be anything anyone would recognise as a date!)

She's wearing a pullover to teach Bubbles how to pull off the cardigan look

She's meeting a venture capitalist to get start-up cash for the cleaning business she wants to start with Brun

Other

[oddtail]

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.

Why so? Crude methods have the advantage of being simple solutions. They have fewer moving parts, and fewer things can go wrong as a consequence. And when T1 and T2 movies were out, there was no omnipresent connection of everything up to and including individual light bulbs to computer systems. Nuclear arsenals would be, at the time, one of the major ways an AI with limited access to meatspace could do a lot of damage, without an intricate plan that might fail at several stages.

[brasca]

I really hope that Bubbles doesn't make a deal with Mr/Ms Morden

What *do* you want?

I think we know what they want, Bubbles memories, but why?  This may go beyond post traumatic stress from losing her comrades.  She may have learned something about AIs and humanity that shook her to the core.

Bubbles next question should be who are you because seriously we're just coming up with all kinds of names for Proto Gavia until we do. 

[JJCalem]

Puissant?  Don't think I have heard that word before...

puissant
adjective
archaic, literary

    Having great power or influence

Cool, learned a new word today!

[USS Martenclaire]

A faustian pact to escape a previous faustian pact? How could it possibly go wrong?

[WareWolf]

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.

it's not just one individual blackmailing another---it's another AI's brain being interfered with to an unacceptable (to them) degree ("the whole 'sanctity of mind' thing").  They may consider that the equivalent of child abuse. And vigilante action against that particular crime can be pretty extreme.

[WareWolf]

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.

Is it a Deus ex Machina if the Deus creates as many problems as it solves? I see a DeM as a too-easy, glib resolution of all conflicts, not a takeoff point  for new, possibly worse ones.

[pwhodges]

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.

[WareWolf]

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.

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.

[Neko_Ali]

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. Given that Creepy here seems certain that it's doable, it may be they already have broken that kind of encryption before. Of course, doing so may involve serious risks that Creepy isn't bothering to tell Bubbles about. Given how seriously they consider sanctity of mind though, it seems unlikely that they would not tell Bubbles about the risks. Of course, they wouldn't be the first people to use the same techniques as the people they despise without even realizing the hypocrisy. Wasn't what happened to Bubble's unit some sort of secret? Creepy certainly implies they know all about what happened... And seemed to be mocking Bubbles in a 'Oh, how sad about your poor friends dying horribly' *evil chuckle* kind of way.

[Zebediah]

Let's not make the mistake of taking this person at their word. They may very well be lying about who they are, what their intentions are, and what they are capable of.

An alternative explanation: This is someone sent by Corpse Witch to tempt Bubbles into doing something rash, to see how far Bubbles will really go. If Bubbles takes the bait, Corpse Witch can then feel justified into activating the other controls she installed in Bubbles' mind while she was in there. Agent Creepypasta is simply an agent for hire who has a taste for expensive and androgynous chassis - an ordinary AI who likes to pretend to be more than they are.

[Case]

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.

True - IIRC, messing with someone's brain/mind was the one true taboo in the otherwise cheerfully anarchist Culture. And in 'The Hydrogen Sonate', the 'Mistake not ...' refers to it's (martial) puissance ...

[Method of Madness]

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?

[Case]

But yes... this is in danger of introducing a Deus Ex Machina

[Storel]

Such an interesting twist, so many interesting ideas about it! Sorry this is so long...

In case no one picked it up, the eyes are distinctly like that of the lead character of another comic that Jeph draws... when she is upset and/or triggered.

Alice's eyes are just plain blue in the strip you linked. Yes, she has shown red eyes occasionally, but I thought we already established that this new person's eyes are purple, not red.

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.

Yes, that disturbs me quite a bit too.

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.

That's a cheering thought!

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.

And that is not.

BTW, I googled Alucard to find out why you keep using that name. Verrrrry interesting comparison!

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?

Taking them at their word ( and trust but verify here...)

They're young and powerful - station and colleagues are "less puissant elders".

I took that to mean this person represents the more 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.

Interesting, but I don't think CW would be capable of letting things continue as before if she knew her leverage was gone -- she'd be desperate to find some new leverage she could use over Bubbles. Threatening to hurt Faye is one possible leverage that comes to mind...

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.

Station may be the Last Word in known AI... but Gary, mentioned earlier, would be an example of unknown AI. Are there other AIs like Gary, that have evolved themselves outside the knowledge of humans? Only the Shadow Jeph knows!

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.

It's also possible that these New Kids are less concerned with the possible danger to Bubbles than Station is. Given the way Agent Violet treated Faye, their ethics already seem pretty questionable...

[Stibbons]

I also created an account for this...

Our new "friend" is very interesting. A non-binary AI? Pun? Perhaps this is one of a group that likes to live outside the box as it were, keeping a low profile, out of sight, out of mind, free of the human rules of the rest of society hence not adverse to a bit of interference. S/he speaks of getting info from some of their less powerful elders, perhaps they monitor chatter (but messing with some of the big Intelligences, the ones even Momo considers weird, is beyond even them). They clearly have resources however that outclass even Station.

I think we just met the AI equivalent of Anonymous...

And WTF did s/he do to Faye?! Some kind of neural pulse? Something that interferes directly with the target's central nervous system anyway and clearly highly targetable with a simple touch. Be afraid, be very afraid.

[BenRG]

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?

The way I see it, it's the nuclear option - It effectively lobotomises an AI, resetting all their personality sliders to the initial 'stable norm' that ECR assigns and purges the memory. So, using Corpse Witch's own code (and each one is unique - only a mind like Hannelore's could hope to remember them) would delete the encryption key along with her personality. Hannelore was using it here because Alucard really is so dangerous (on both a physical and moral level) as well as having the ability to 'resurrect' almost immediately thanks to her Sponsor, that, if she refuses an order to back off, the only safe and really effective option is to effectively execute her on the spot.

So, yeah. This scenario calls for:

• Hannelore to know Alucard either personally or by reputation;
• Alucard essentially being a Loki or Mestopholes-like character who could talk anyone into anything given enough time but corrupting them on a moral level so totally that they'd never recover their ethical balance; Hannelore knows that even trying an argument would be self-defeating;
• Hannelore also knows that Alucard probably would disable her physically (the same way she did Faye) if she found her too bothersome so quick action is necessary.

[renfield1969]

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.

[gprimr1]

Here's a thought that crossed my mind.

Could this new person be from a rival group? "Sure, we will liberate you...and then you will work for us."

[thedevilissix]

I also created an account for this...

Our new "friend" is very interesting. A non-binary AI? Pun?

A non-binary AI skinny Ursula, maybe ...

"I'm a very busy woman and I haven't got all day and it won't cost much...just your voice!"

Seriously though, I smell some very stinky small print in development....I can't really believe that she doesn't want some sort of temporary/permanent sacrifice from Bubbles or anyone affected in return.

[St.Clair]

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?

A god solves the problem and leaves the stage, though there may be fallout and consequences (or not, if their purpose is simply to provide a quick end to the story).
When a devil offers to solve the problem, there are always consequences.  And the devil will probably return at least once, to collect.

[Method of Madness]

Is a devil not just a minor god?

[Welu]

I'm very intrigued by the latest strips. I'm enjoying seeing Jeph go further into this area of the QC world.

[de_la_Nae]

*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.

[Is it cold in here?]

What if Bubbles's mission was not a routine deep black op but instead something pivotal and government-rocking scandalous?

[Zebediah]

Is a devil not just a minor god?

Depends on your theology.

[jaquio]

*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.

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.

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.

[Case]

I'd be very disappointed if Jeph let QC jump anything smaller than a blue whale ...

[Neko_Ali]

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.

[NemesisDancer]

I'm wondering whether this new character might be some sort of AI hivemind (similar to the Geth in Mass Effect). I've noticed Person-In-Black never once says "I" - opting instead for "we" - and claims to be "a sympathetic party" ("party" potentially implying more than one person, or in this case, consciousness). I'm thinking perhaps Jeff's "They seem nice" comment didn't entirely mean "they" in the gender neutral sense, but instead in the plural sense of the word.

[Kugai]

[A small perverse otter]

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.

A Deus ex Machina is a very specific plot device in which the author cheats the audience by bringing in a previously-unmentioned magical creature at the end of the story which ties up all the loose ends with a wave of a magic wand. Agent Creeptastic is not a DeM -- they're a legitimate plot device themselves. They were foreshadowed by Station's inability to crack CW's encryption (and possibly Bubbles' concern about qualitatively different kinds of AI). They are, themselves, a source of conflict, not a God-like character which fixes everything without any further story-telling.

[Case]

...
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.

Hmmmmh ... As has been pointed out, the QCverse AI's satisfy pretty much every criterion for 'people' you can come up with (up to & including pron-addiction). Could it be that the main difference you perceive in the QC narrative is less about 'it's not about people anymore' and rather 'It's not about the last stages of human Neoteny anymore'?

Because that'd be true - it isn't. And it couldn't have. QC can't be about 'people (who'd agree they should be grownups by now) finding themselves in a Collegetown and life and stuff' forever. I mean, I live in a University town (job hazard of working at Uni), and I know some really, really nice people who came here to study and then stopped studying and then ... life happened. And the one specific guy I have in mind is a 41 (which makes him 2 years my junior), a somewhat precariously employed sound-engineer with the local theatre whose one big worry in life seems to be that he suspects his girlfriend of wanting offspring - My money is on him turning out to be a great Dad once he inevitably becomes one (I mistrust people who don't crap their pants at least a little bit at the thought of bearing the responsibility for raising bona fide human being).

QC hasn't been about Indie music, Marten & his laid-back attitude towards career progress, or long-term planning for years. Even the about page has changed to 'Questionable Content is an internet comic strip about romance and robots'.

Happy Days jumped the shark in the fifth of it's eleven seasons - We're well into the 13th year of QC -> Even if Jeph was "desperate(ly) attempt(ing) to keep viewers' interest" by employing outrageous antics/plotlines, we'd have gotten more than our share out of it, IMO.

Which brings me to my last point: Why should he be desperate? I can't find any traffic data for questionablecontent.net that's older than 30 days, can you? After all, writers let their show jump the shark because of declining audience interest.

[zmeiat_joro]

New Person is certainly meant to allude to Desire of the Endless, but the language they're using (brainfuckers/meatfuckers) alludes to me to the Culture and their AI's aversion to reading baselne humans' minds, in an attitude analogous to ours towards bestiality, with the subtle difference that in this case it's messing with lesser AI's minds. So this hints towards an interesting mixture. I await what will happen next.

[de_la_Nae]

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.

Beat me to it, and said it better than I can.

[pwhodges]

These days it seems to me that "Jumping the Shark" has become an expression meaning "a storyline which I don't feel invested in".  I.e., it's entirely in the eye of the beholder and essentially not about the comic at all.

[zmeiat_joro]

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.

The Master and Margarita is great, but I think you're overinterpreting here. It's a very different narrative.

[BlueFatima]

I don't know about whether or not QC is shark-jumping (I actually am enjoying the storyline so far), but the new creepy character is very clearly a homage to Desire from the Endless. Anyone who's read the Sandman knows what I'm talking about. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desire_(DC_Comics)
 

[Perfectly Reasonable]

"And people like you love to do things for people like me. Why should I trust you inside my head? After what you did to my friend?"

I've been imagining Graymarm's dialogue spoken in the voice of HIM 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.

!!!!!

[vforvancouver]

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!?   

[BlueFatima]

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. 

[TheEvilDog]

Wow, those "Dun, dun, DUUUUUUUUUUN!"s keep getting louder and louder.

[Truec]

Well, at least this is a step up, Bubbles doesn't have nameless culturally-ambiguous gender-neutral creepy person rooting around in her head.  Just Emily.

^{Nothingcouldgo wrongwith this...}

[Is it cold in here?]

Not even a gesture at seeking Emily's consent for something that could leave her with nightmares at the very least.

Albino Creepatron is someone to avoid.

[foolsguinea]

This storyline got weird. This is weird, right? What comic am I reading?

[foolsguinea]

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. 

Whoa. That does look like Desire.

[Case]

This storyline got weird. This is weird, right? What comic am I reading?

I distinctly recall its content being described as 'questionable' a while ago. By some author or other ...

[Method of Madness]

Bubbles consents, but does Emily? Did Emily know this person already?

[Random Wanderer]

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.

[Neko_Ali]

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.

[SomeCanadianWeirdo]

Six months from now a bunch of people will be complaining that we haven't seen the AIs in weeks, and wondering when Jeph is going to finally resolve the "What are Steve and Cosette going to do about her pregnancy?" plotline that's been running for the last 30 strips.