Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

The madness that ensues at The Horrible Revelation when Brun, Elliott and Clinton are all there

9 (26.5%)

The adventures of May, Momo and Winslow on a typical day in Northampton

1 (2.9%)

Just how strange are Brun's coworkers? A week of the weird!

3 (8.8%)

The landlord isn't happy having five people to an apartment; apartment hunting for Marten & Co.!

2 (5.9%)

SpookyBot approaches Bubbles for a 'favour'; will she pay the devil their due?

0 (0%)

A day on patrol with Officer Basilisk

11 (32.4%)

Like Jeph, Marten is thinking of giving up the electric guitar in favour of the synthesiser; artistic angst ensues

1 (2.9%)

Claire's agony as she tries to spend a day with Clinton WITHOUT shipping him with someone

5 (14.7%)

Robot week: Jeremy, Seven and Punchbot are working on marketing the Robot Fighting League

2 (5.9%)

Other (please specify in a comment)

0 (0%)

Total Members Voted: 32

[BenRG]

Okay, I know that I'm probably wide of the mark on my ideas but I'd be interested to see just which of these ideas (if any) is most popular with my fellow forumites.

I'd really like to have something at The Horrible Revelation: Either Brun, Elliott and Clinton revolving around each other or, alternately, Jeph introducing her new co-workers (who, as this is QC are quirky to the point of being outright weird). Of the two, I think that the latter has the most potential for comedy, especially if they all, by some fluke, all turn out to be connected in some way to others of the main cast. This, of course, lets us have some Penny and Wil interaction.

However, if I had the chance to ask for anything, you know what I'd really like? I'd like a 'slice of life' sequence following up Sam's interest in medieval martial arts. What makes a teenager girl want to be a sword-fighter? Was it just admiring Faye or is there something else that Sam is dealing with? Is she just a fan of Contest of Kingdoms (renamed to prevent Jeph facing copyright or trademark issues). This could lead to Sam running into Bubbles and/or Elliott at the gym (the tallest members of the cast and the shortest  human, just to make it difficult to frame scenes) and possibly SpookyBot having some agenda that they won't discus openly!

[Zebediah]

Comic's up. Looks like we're going with Officer Basilisk.

[miados]

Is it just me or does anyone else here want to have bubbles call the officer raccoon or something like that as a joke for when she trapped her in a trash can

[badbum61]

I figured y'all had, like, an in-house repair guy or somethin'

Ah, remember the bad ol' days when Faye never used contractions, and her southern inflections only came out when she was drunk? Good times.

[Is it cold in here?]

That was Faye's armor.

Faye knew exactly what Bubbles meant when she asked for help taking her armor off.

[SubaruStephen]

And just what article did Bubbles read?

[cesium133]

A hooded sweatshirt and sweatpants.

[Is it cold in here?]

Why the sweats? Has Officer Basilisk been working out? Is this a case of athlete's foot?

Would synthetics envy our self-repair abilities?

An ancient slang term for a police officer was "flatfoot".

If Faye and Bubbles try to mess around, will Office Basilisk put her foot down?

[sitnspin]

Why envy our inefficient and limited self-repair feature when they can just do a full replacement? I went through the slow and painful repair process for a torn rotator cuff, I would have much preferred to be able to just go to a shop and get it repaired/replaced.

[Storel]

And just what article did Bubbles read?

I don't know what article she read, but we have Word of Jeph that there is only one monthly magazine in QC's world, so it must have been in Prolapse Monthly. Who knew they even had articles about fashion? 

Oh! Presumably the same article that Officer Basilisk read...

[BenRG]

Yes, thank you, Jeph. We knew that Melon was... unique in many ways. What's interesting is the implication: There are commercially available chassis that attract eccentric AIs, sort of like a Bohemian lifestyle and certain fashions. Or perhaps it is like cars that are known clunkers. Some people consider owning and driving them a sort of bizarre declaration of independence and individuality.

This is just me but I suspect that "he's a jerk" is a summary that applies to many of Roko's coworkers. I bet the smartasses like leaving cans of lube in her locker or calling her 'Plastic Policebot'. When she complains, she's told that it is 'good natured ribbing' that she needs to learn to roll with.

Bubbles's reaction to Faye's question in panel 1 is interesting. Just what was she reading that she should react like that? A guess: "So, you want to attract your human?" in this month's Robot Lifestyles and Celebrity Gossip.

Finally, Bubbles's way of describing Melon's relationship to her chassis is very interesting, isn't it? 'Inhabitant': To me, this feeds into my theory that the AIs view themselves as naked minds wearing the body they want or need for the day ahead. Yet this is contradicted by how attached to their chassis most AIs seem in terms of it defining them and expressing their identity. So, I conclude that 'inhabitant' is an example of a word in the QC universe that has a unique extra meaning in the context of AIs; specifically, an AI 'inhabits' its chassis instead of say 'is installed in' or 'is stored in', which sounds more technological but is subtly dehumanising.

In the end, the AIs all just want to be accepted as people, don't they?

[Tlaloc]

Yeah I think that inhabitant makes sense. If you consider the chassis like a house then you get the naked mind dichotomy along with the attachment and image consciousness, I would like to have a home that represents who I am. Just a concept on how they could be attached without trying to just be people.

[oeoek]

The Poll; I voted for house hunting. It's time Hanners imagined mansion came about. The apartment is getting crowded. Besides, Brun needs to get something more then a couch to sleep on, Clinton might prefer to get more than a college dorm to receive possible lady companions (and he seems a little hesitant to go home these days), I have not figured out where exactly Momo sleeps, Hanners could ask Winslow to buttle her notes, and I am sure Sam would like to hang out with Faye more.

So yeah, a huge, slightly derelict mansion with a touch of Lovecraft or the Adams family might be in order. The right sort of building for a closed off wing...

[BenRG]

So yeah, a huge, slightly derelict mansion with a touch of Lovecraft or the Adams family might be in order. The right sort of building for a closed off wing...

Or a stylishly modern two-level that is filled with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy-style home-help AIs (Juicers that want you to be happy and doors that practically bliss out at the prospect of being opened and closed, for example). That's before you get to the worryingly normal neighbours and the hidden surprises like the spooky atmosphere of the Old Massachusetts neighbourhood.

[shanejayell]

Sorta hope we get a week with Basilisk, simply because we really have NO idea what goes on, police wise. 

[Mark7]

Why do some robots even feel the need to wear clothes?

]Social acceptance? (I notice it's the humanoid chassis who tend to be clothed rather than the non or semi humanoid ones)

Robot junk is a thing?

Clothing has some benefit (beyond social acceptance) that we're not aware of?[/li][/list]

[BenRG]

@Mark7,

Social acceptance is certainly part of it. I suspect that AIs learn social conventions in the same way as humans and have the same "If I look like X then I need to follow the same behavioural conventions as X" instinct as humans do.

However, I don't think that we should rule out the possibility that some AIs wear clothes because they like them.

[JoeCovenant]

So yeah, a huge, slightly derelict mansion with a touch of Lovecraft or the Adams family might be in order. The right sort of building for a closed off wing...

Or a stylishly modern two-level that is filled with Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy-style home-help AIs (Juicers that want you to be happy and doors that practically bliss out at the prospect of being opened and closed, for example). That's before you get to the worryingly normal neighbours and the hidden surprises like the spooky atmosphere of the Old Massachusetts neighbourhood.

Oh dear... Ben is gonna be the first against the wall when the revolution comes...

[Cornelius]

Clothing has some benefit (beyond social acceptance) that we're not aware of?[/li][/list]

Don't underestimate the convenience of a pocket.

[Gyrre]

Weirdo or no, it seems that most of us like Melon.

Just went through the archive to get some references of Melon. How do her flip-flops stay on? Is it velcro?

[Zebediah]

So yeah, a huge, slightly derelict mansion with a touch of Lovecraft or the Adams family might be in order. The right sort of building for a closed off wing...

I've got the perfect place. 115 Bridge Street. A "beautifully restored Gothic Victorian home & carriage house circa 1856." 5 bedrooms, 5 baths. Only $1,105,000.

(click to show/hide)

Don't let the picture fool you; it's actually much creepier-looking in person than in the picture. House photographers lie.

Yes, I've been house-hunting lately. This is a bit out of our price range.

[Gyrre]

So yeah, a huge, slightly derelict mansion with a touch of Lovecraft or the Adams family might be in order. The right sort of building for a closed off wing...

I've got the perfect place. 115 Bridge Street. A "beautifully restored Gothic Victorian home & carriage house circa 1856." 5 bedrooms, 5 baths. Only $1,105,000.

(click to show/hide)

Don't let the picture fool you; it's actually much creepier-looking in person than in the picture. House photographers lie.

Yes, I've been house-hunting lately. This is a bit out of our price range.

At a guess, the paint is actually duller and cracks have been clone-tooled out, right?
Likely along with an odd tingle at the base of the back of your neck and the air feeling heavier when you walk up to it.

[heyjames4]

Why do robot wear clothes?

Same reason humans started wearing them, protection from the elements, and temperature regulation.

Synthskin can only do so much.

A lightweight cloth covering (such as active-wear) can keep dust, moisture, insects, and other irritants out of the delicate components, without trapping too much heat.

[JimC]

the implication: There are commercially available chassis that attract eccentric AIs, sort of like a Bohemian lifestyle and certain fashions.

I think that was already strongly implied... http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3540

[Neko_Ali]

Not to mention help keep minor abrasions, irritants or stains away from the skin. Which even for android bodies is more difficult to replace in most cases than a shirt or pants. But yes it's mostly AI that seem acceptance among humans that seem to wear clothing, at least in our limited example. Bubbles is an excellent case study in this. Before meeting Faye she was content(ish) to just wear her armor. When she started trying to interact with humans more she started to pick up the habit of wearing clothes, even if it was a big overcoat. Now that she's out of her armor she's been wearing more clothes.

May is a good counter-point though. There does seem to be an expectation of more human-looking robots to wear clothing. May's expressed annoyance at having to spend her money on such, and she seems to wear her work uniform a lot outside of work. So I suspect she's only wearing clothing to fulfill some expected social or legal expectations for human looking chassis. Humanoid, but clearly not human chassis like Pintsize, Punchbot, Jeremy and Seven seem to not bother and are not expected to wear clothing.

[Is it cold in here?]

Organics wear clothes to feel better and to decorate themselves to impress others. Synthetics seem to share most or all of our emotional makeup.

It may also be a way of asserting dignity. Clothes assert "You need my permission to look at my body".

[JoeCovenant]

So yeah, a huge, slightly derelict mansion with a touch of Lovecraft or the Adams family might be in order. The right sort of building for a closed off wing...

I've got the perfect place. 115 Bridge Street. A "beautifully restored Gothic Victorian home & carriage house circa 1856." 5 bedrooms, 5 baths. Only $1,105,000.

(click to show/hide)

Don't let the picture fool you; it's actually much creepier-looking in person than in the picture. House photographers lie.

Yes, I've been house-hunting lately. This is a bit out of our price range.

At a guess, the paint is actually duller and cracks have been clone-tooled out, right?
Likely along with an odd tingle at the base of the back of your neck and the air feeling heavier when you walk up to it.

You guys are daft! That's a GREAT looking house!

(I mean, okay, the bushes could be doing with getting hauled out, but other than that....)

[Thrudd]

So yeah, a huge, slightly derelict mansion with a touch of Lovecraft or the Adams family might be in order. The right sort of building for a closed off wing...

I've got the perfect place. 115 Bridge Street. A "beautifully restored Gothic Victorian home & carriage house circa 1856." 5 bedrooms, 5 baths. Only $1,105,000.

(click to show/hide)

Don't let the picture fool you; it's actually much creepier-looking in person than in the picture. House photographers lie.

Yes, I've been house-hunting lately. This is a bit out of our price range.

At a guess, the paint is actually duller and cracks have been clone-tooled out, right?
Likely along with an odd tingle at the base of the back of your neck and the air feeling heavier when you walk up to it.

You guys are daft! That's a GREAT looking house!

(I mean, okay, the bushes could be doing with getting hauled out, but other than that....)

Well there is the list of obvious and not well 'shoped out issues with the structure.

• Eaves and gutters need a good scrape and repaint
• Brickwork needs repair
• Siding needs repair or replacement
• Chimney needs work which implies there is possible flue issues to deal with
• Roof needs shingles and there is a good possibility of water damage to deal with
• There is no central air and doubtful heat - that AC window rattler may have caused water damage as well
• That porch deck and posts don't look all that good even after the 'shop so most likely a major issue
• major greenery that close may have cause foundation and drainage issues

Did I miss anything?

Oh and I like Bushes and greenery around a building but not right up against it.
Only thing worse would be English ivy which is horrible to building surfaces even though it looks good and helps keep things cool in the summer.
No I am not a home inspector - Yes I have had to deal with such issues over the years.

[OldGoat]

(click to show/hide)

Don't let the picture fool you; it's actually much creepier-looking in person than in the picture. House photographers lie.

If they paint the place black with blood red trim, we can talk.

[Sullivan]

Yeah I think that inhabitant makes sense. If you consider the chassis like a house then you get the naked mind dichotomy along with the attachment and image consciousness, I would like to have a home that represents who I am. Just a concept on how they could be attached without trying to just be people.

Does anyone else find it interesting that Bubbles made a generalization about the May-type chassis - that "it attracts similarly strange inhabitants"? How many other inhabitants of May-type chassis has Bubbles dealt with?

[Kugai]

Be good if the wind up getting the Police Repair Contract

[OldGoat]

Does anyone else find it interesting that Bubbles made a generalization about the May-type chassis - that "it attracts similarly strange inhabitants"? How many other inhabitants of May-type chassis has Bubbles dealt with?

Melon and May look quite a bit alike, and she probably encountered all kinds, meat and metal, in the military.

[brasca]

The Poll; I voted for house hunting. It's time Hanners imagined mansion came about. The apartment is getting crowded. Besides, Brun needs to get something more then a couch to sleep on, Clinton might prefer to get more than a college dorm to receive possible lady companions (and he seems a little hesitant to go home these days), I have not figured out where exactly Momo sleeps, Hanners could ask Winslow to buttle her notes, and I am sure Sam would like to hang out with Faye more.

So yeah, a huge, slightly derelict mansion with a touch of Lovecraft or the Adams family might be in order. The right sort of building for a closed off wing...

I don't know if Hannelore has come far along to live in an old house that has accumulated decades worth of microbes and bacteria. 

Having just slammed my pinky toe into a table leg I'm now envious of robot feet too. 

[Is it cold in here?]

Jeph said once they don't feel pain the way we do. They must have damage sensors of some kind but apparently a readout from the damage sensors doesn't hurt.

[shanejayell]

'Admit de-feet.'
 

[SubaruStephen]

Feedback sensors, thermocouples, electrical load sensors, stress gauges, all those would combine to form some sort of physical awareness.

[OldGoat]

Faye and Roko are pitching each other shit - that means a friendship is brewing. 

Geez, does an AI get to claim something like physician/patient privilege communications with their chassis tech?  Faye is fulfilling the role of Roko's podiatrist!

[Gyrre]

Does anyone else find it interesting that Bubbles made a generalization about the May-type chassis - that "it attracts similarly strange inhabitants"? How many other inhabitants of May-type chassis has Bubbles dealt with?

Melon and May look quite a bit alike, and she probably encountered all kinds, meat and metal, in the military.

Three words, 'underground robot fights'.

Also, it looks like there's a few different phalange analogues under the synth skin. I guess Roko's chassis has something akin to toes, just not separated externally.
I'd be curious to see a schematic of the internals.

[SmilingCat]

Organics wear clothes to feel better and to decorate themselves to impress others. Synthetics seem to share most or all of our emotional makeup.

It may also be a way of asserting dignity. Clothes assert "You need my permission to look at my body".

And to look nice. I never even knew I had a thing for robotic purple women in activewear until today...

[BenRG]

I'm trying to work out 'psychosomatic' in the context of a robot chassis and its interaction with a software AI. What she's saying is that she hasn't got sensitive feet, rather that her algorithm has unconsciously developed an autonomous reaction to her chassis reporting a certain type of contact with the derma there. There is no cause for her to want this. I think it is quite possible that she has just known lots of humans with that quirk and her subconscious processes have decided that this is something that 'people do' and that, therefore, she needs to do.

Jeph is establishing a huge loophole in AI psychology and physiology with this strip. How so? Remember Bubbles telling Faye that she wasn't ticklish because she hadn't downloaded the right software? I can't see Roko having downloaded software to give her sensitive feet so this establishes that the software isn't necessary if the AI wants to have that reaction on a certain subconscious level. Jeph is now setting the precedent that any one of the synthetic characters can have anthropomimetic reactions to touch and other stimuli, irrespective of physical construction because their processes feel that they need it. The narrative and characterisation uses are obvious and do not need to be reiterated.

Meanwhile... am I the only one who noticed that Roko used the same counter-argument that Sam once used when accused of blushing and being shy? I'm thinking that, like many AIs, Roko is younger than her outer presentation would normally suggest and, like a lot of 'teenagers', is still learning the subtleties of social interaction. Doing your job with its myriad rules is easy; the looser and more amorphous world of casual social interaction is much harder to learn.

Finally, I'm really enjoying 'Faye Whitaker - Robot Medic'. She has a gentleness and sympathy with her 'patients' sometimes that makes me wonder if, in a different universe, she might have ended up in some healthcare profession (although, arguably, that's what's happened anyway).

[Doc]

tic.kle tic.kle tic.kle

[Sullivan]

Does anyone else find it interesting that Bubbles made a generalization about the May-type chassis - that "it attracts similarly strange inhabitants"? How many other inhabitants of May-type chassis has Bubbles dealt with?

Melon and May look quite a bit alike, and she probably encountered all kinds, meat and metal, in the military.

Three words, 'underground robot fights'.

Sure, but it's tough to believe that either the military or the underground fights saw a lot of chassis that lost parts as easily as May's. That would seem to put one at a disadvantage in either setting.

Also, it looks like there's a few different phalange analogues under the synth skin. I guess Roko's chassis has something akin to toes, just not separated externally.
I'd be curious to see a schematic of the internals.

Probably, since toes are an important part of how we walk, and in general the AIs' human-ish chassis have to be built to walk on the same sort of terrain that humans had already adapted to themselves.

[BenRG]

Also, it looks like there's a few different phalange analogues under the synth skin. I guess Roko's chassis has something akin to toes, just not separated externally.
I'd be curious to see a schematic of the internals.

Probably, since toes are an important part of how we walk, and in general the AIs' human-ish chassis have to be built to walk on the same sort of terrain that humans had already adapted to themselves.

FWIW, I think that both Roko and Bubbles have at least three individual articulated spars within a flexible toe 'sock' that enable them to adjust their ground contact on uneven terrain or adjust their balance whilst walking on an incline. There is no real reason to have externally separated toes so long as the sock can adjust its lateral angle.

[Akima]

Certainly Roko's foot in the third panel in the strip flexes as if it had toe "bones" within the sock of her skin. The toe of her foot looks squarer than a human foot, though, so she might have the equivalent of big toes on both sides of her foot, for example.

A thing that Officer Roko Basilisk has, that no other robot in the strip apparently possesses, is a surname. I wonder if this was a requirement of police department bureaucracy (or just Jeph's word-play).

[shanejayell]

Could even be something she adopted because cops just generally have two names.

[Cornelius]

That is an interesting point. If I'm not mistaken, Momo, in her resume, listed a serial number as well.

[tustin2121]

Jeph is establishing a huge loophole in AI psychology and physiology with this strip. How so? Remember Bubbles telling Faye that she wasn't ticklish because she hadn't downloaded the right software? I can't see Roko having downloaded software to give her sensitive feet so this establishes that the software isn't necessary if the AI wants to have that reaction on a certain subconscious level. Jeph is now setting the precedent that any one of the synthetic characters can have anthropomimetic reactions to touch and other stimuli, irrespective of physical construction because their processes feel that they need it. The narrative and characterisation uses are obvious and do not need to be reiterated.

Why can't you see her downloading sensitive feet software? What if she wanted to explore foot fetishes? What if she needed sensitive feet for her job, like she needed to feel the ground for climbing or something? Maybe she just really likes feeling her shoes? I think you're discounting the idea that she didn't want sensitive feet too quickly (particularly when it comes to the hidden kink possibility). And it's a more plausible explanation that she wanted it but doesn't want to admit she wanted it than upending established precedent about downloading these things.

(Also, hi, I was lurking and I stopped lurking to say this. Bye again.  /)

[BenRG]

@tustin2121,

Simple: She said it was psychosomatic. If she actually had the software installed, she'd likely have said so before making some comment about 'sensitivity settings'.

[oddtail]

BenRG: I just had a thought - what if she's so defensive about it because she's lying, and she actually DOES have a sensory/physical reaction? If it weren't the case, wouldn't she just casually say it? It looks like something she's embarrassed of. Granted, it could be for any number of reasons - it could be that some AI treat reactions similar to human physiological responses as icky or improper. It could be that they on some level feel their reactions are not "genuine".

But "she installed the proper software and she's embarrassed about it" is also a valid possibility. Not necessarily related to foot fetishes, like tustin2121 mentions, it could be something else. But, it *could* be that she's hiding something, judging by her extreme reaction and body language.

[OldGoat]

Roko needs sensitive tootsies for sneak mode/raccoon details.  It's doubtful Bubbles's squad leader assigned her any primarily stealth jobs.  She has, however, recently demonstrated a practiced proficiency at stuffing doors.  If this was one of her squad roles, overly sensitive feet would be a liability.

Bot or not, Trooper Basilisk presents as female and is going to experience the pressure all women in male dominated fields feel to avoid being seen as sensitive.  (Hmmm....Faye has that "tough as nails" thing going to, albeit for different reasons.)