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Bubbles

Hanners

May (because irony)

Marten

Claire

Marigold

Momo

Dale

Brun

Emily

Steve

Cossette

Elliot

Pintsize

Clinton

Melon

Gordon

Dora

Winslow

other (please state)

[Gyrre]

Do you think Roko will go for the full repair, too?

Also, so many cast members to keep track of for polls now.

[OldGoat]

Bubbles, who will recognize and respect Roko's dedication to duty and other core values they both hold.
Steve, because he taught some of the under cover operative classes at the academy and she really liked him as an instructor.
Dale because he's so fundamentally decent and honest without being cloyingly sweet.
Winslow because he's so fundamentally decent and honest and cloyingly sweet.

She'll find Clinton just as annoying as the meat people do.

[SmilingCat]

I voted may, because I can see them bonding over a shared understanding of how screwed up the legal system is.

[zisraelsen]

Dang. Whoever it was that called hanners delving deeper into robot pathology with regards to the smellucinations, well done.

[brasca]

Winslow and Momo seem the most obvious, but I think Roko could get along with Elliot since he seems easy going and Steve since he's used to top secret shenanigans and can probably relate to some of what Roko experienced with her encounter with Spookybot.

And now I'd like to know what tea triggers fantasies of motherly giraffes.   

[BarGamer]

Assam blends takes you to Japari Park from "Kemono Friends."

[Is it cold in here?]

For an interesting take on giraffes which would work well with today's comic, see Marshall Rosenberg's YouTube videos about "nonviolent communication".

[Tova]

Maybe it's Rooibos. 

[shanejayell]

I'm imagining Bubbles coming in ordering tea to go, Hanners asking why then basically asking to come along... 

[BenRG]

I didn't know what Jeph was doing at first, not until I saw the anthro-giraffe! This is actually sort of what I wanted Emily to see when she entered through one of the doorways of Bubbles' mind - a whole mindscape filled with weird, wonderful but personality-revealing things.

I'm a bit freaked out by Hannelore taking notes, mostly because I didn't actually expect my off-hand suggestion that she write a book about her experiments to happen!

[Akima]

You might say that it behooves ungulates to be hospitable. 

[Tova]

*snigger*
Yes, you might say that... 
... just let me ruminate on a suitable response.

[JoeCovenant]

Hang on...
Where is this taking place?

I don't remember seeing the frosted glass door panel before...

[BenRG]

Hang on...
Where is this taking place?

I don't remember seeing the frosted glass door panel before...

What frosted glass panel? They're still at Union Robotics; I think that Bubbles is standing in front of a hand-washing basin, given the tiling and the height.

[Zebediah]

So just label this "Hero's Journey Blend". Not sure yet if this is the "call to adventure" stage or the "supernatural aid" stage. But Ms. Ungulate may be exactly the Obi-wan that Roko needs.

It takes multiple cups to get the full story. Roko will be back. 

[BenRG]

So just label this "Hero's Journey Blend". Not sure yet if this is the "call to adventure" stage or the "supernatural aid" stage. But Ms. Ungulate may be exactly the Obi-wan that Roko needs.

MS UNGULATE: "This is the One Thumb Drive, imbued by the Dark Lord Spookybot with all their power, malice and will to dominate all sentient minds, taken from their shattered chassis by the Daughter of the Creator and later stolen by the Girl Who Would be a Fighter Jet."

[Tova]

"It must be taken deep into the cellar of Coffee of Doom and cast into the fiery Coffee Roaster whence it came."

[Ysobel]

Hang on...
Where is this taking place?

I don't remember seeing the frosted glass door panel before...

What frosted glass panel? They're still at Union Robotics; I think that Bubbles is standing in front of a hand-washing basin, given the tiling and the height.

It is some cabinet, apparently : http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3482

[JoeCovenant]

Hang on...
Where is this taking place?

I don't remember seeing the frosted glass door panel before...

What frosted glass panel? They're still at Union Robotics; I think that Bubbles is standing in front of a hand-washing basin, given the tiling and the height.

It is some cabinet, apparently : http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3482

WHAT have they DONE to be able to shrink it like that !?!?!?

(Thanks for the catch, I KNEW it was glass, just couldn't think what else it was supposed to be...
But yeah, it's certainly shrunk!)

[JoeCovenant]

Hang on...
Where is this taking place?

I don't remember seeing the frosted glass door panel before...

What frosted glass panel? They're still at Union Robotics; I think that Bubbles is standing in front of a hand-washing basin, given the tiling and the height.

Nah... (see above)... Glass panelling right enough.

[tustin2121]

AIs don't need to sleep; they can just charge from a wall socket and can presumably do other things while doing so. So presumably they don't dream, because they don't sleep. So Hannelore's teas are the closest they get to dreaming...

I have yet to see any electric sheep, though. 

(And now I want Hannelore to open an AI tea shop called "The Electric Sheep Emporium".)

[Is it cold in here?]

We've gotten contradictory information about whether they sleep. Momo said once that she doesn't need to. On the other hand there was a comment from Jeph somewhere that every intelligence needs periodic downtime.

[sidestephen]

I actually done once that thing that Roko just did. Only there was no one to catch me, and I ended up with a broken upper jaw.

[SmilingCat]

We've gotten contradictory information about whether they sleep. Momo said once that she doesn't need to. On the other hand there was a comment from Jeph somewhere that every intelligence needs periodic downtime.

There's a difference between sleep and downtime. I imagine a period of peace and quiet without significant stress on the processor would count.

[zisraelsen]

Man, I love this storyline so far. Roko's a great character, I hope she becomes a regular.

[Storel]

Okay, Faye, you'd better let Bubbles handle the client interaction from now on -- she has a much better bedside manner.

[Nycticoraci]

"Do androids dream of electric sheep?"
No they dream of anthropomorphic animals living on a house on the prairie.

[brasca]

Okay, Faye, you'd better let Bubbles handle the client interaction from now on -- she has a much better bedside manner.

Agreed and Roko told Faye it was psychosomatic so she really can't be surprised by all this. 

Hope Roko isn't too heavy otherwise Hannelore might need a chiropractor...  which could be a new line of business for Union Robotics since the only people she'd feel comfortable touching her back are AIs.   

[Shjade]

"Do androids dream of electric sheep?"
No they dream of anthropomorphic animals living on a house on the prairie.

In which Hannelore develops a new medium of role-playing games for AI: role-playing teas.

[pwhodges]

Thinking back to earlier discussion, I note that Roko does have toes.

[BenRG]

Am I the only one who thinks that at least a part of the problem is that Faye is really interested in this subject? She's finding the engineering and materials science of it so fascinating and she can't really get why anyone else would be grossed out by it or even genuinely traumatised by being shown by bits of them that normally don't see the light of day. It's not really a lack of empathy as much as it is excitement at something that genuinely interests her and she wants to share this unequivocally positive experience with others. What she needs to learn, of course, is that not everyone looks at being shown their anatomy the same way as you do to examining it or reacts to the prospect of work being done on their anatomy in the same way as you.

I'm thinking that the countdown clock until Bubbles smacks Faye upside the head (verbally or literally) is running.

Also: Yes, Hannelore, she's heavy. I wouldn't be surprised if her chassis is insulated against taser-fire and has a very dense ballistic-weave skin.

[Gyrre]

Kudos to BenRG and Akima for guessing the toe structure correctly.

Also, hurray for getting to see under the polymer skin!

[Gyrre]

Am I the only one who thinks that at least a part of the problem is that Faye is really interested in this subject? She's finding the engineering and materials science of it so fascinating and she can't really get why anyone else would be grossed out by it or even genuinely traumatised by being shown by bits of them that normally don't see the light of day. It's not really a lack of empathy as much as it is excitement at something that genuinely interests her and she wants to share this unequivocally positive experience with others. What she needs to learn, of course, is that not everyone looks at being shown their anatomy the same way as you do to examining it or reacts to the prospect of work being done on their anatomy in the same way as you.

I'm thinking that the countdown clock until Bubbles smacks Faye upside the head (verbally or literally) is running.

I wonder if this means that Faye is North Hampton's modern Michelangelo. Just with AI chassis and her being a 'her'.

On top of being a Renaissance master, Michelangelo was an avid anatomist. Some anachdotes claim that his most treasured gift was a dead Turk one of his soldier friends gave him.

[Tova]

I guess in her case extreme stress causes a disruption to her autonomic processes, thus she loses consciousness?

[Tlaloc]

Glad to see Faye is also not getting what is with Basilisk

[BenRG]

I guess in her case extreme stress causes a disruption to her autonomic processes, thus she loses consciousness?

No; Bubbles hit the nail on the head. It's psychosomatic: Roko really doesn't want to see her detached and flayed foot, so her subconscious systems shut down her higher processes (she 'faints') so she doesn't have to do so.

[Cornelius]

She panicked and mentally hit the reset button.

[JoeCovenant]

I'm hoping this aversion is only to seeing her 'own' disembodied parts?

A cop that can't look at Robo-parts without fainting would be, I imagine, a bit of a hurdle to have?

[DannyboyTheDane]

Am I the only one slightly ... bothered by Faye's lack of empathy for Roko's aversion to her own innards? (Bubbles seems at best neutral about it, at worst slightly passive-aggressive.) AI in the QC universe is clearly a surprisingly close analogue to the human mind, with seemingly all of its wonderful weirdness and irrationality, and Faye is by no means a stranger to AIs in all their human glory, so how can she be so surprised by it? I get being slightly annoyed from the perspective of "This is making my job of fixing you harder!", especially since she's used to working on robot fighters (some of whom almost seem to enjoy a bit of mechanical body horror), but she almost seems annoyed at the very concept of Roko not having a completely rational, mechanical attitude towards her own body. Come on, Faye, I know you're snarky, but you're not usually insensitive.

[BenRG]

Am I the only one slightly ... bothered by Faye's lack of empathy for Roko's aversion to her own innards?

The thing is that this is really in-character for Faye. She is insensitive and tends to ignore others feelings, especially when something amuses, excites or somehow stimulates her own interest. She's had mis-steps with Dora, Marten and Bubbles because of this trait.

I'm thinking that Jeph is taking us in the direction where either Roko, Bubbles or both telling off Faye for her thinking that she can be insensitive, rude and even intimidating to anyone without consequence. It might end up a character-building moment for Faye if Bubbles is sufficiently firm in expressing her disappointment in Faye's behaviour and highlighting consequences ("She may recommend that people not to use our services because of your deplorable behaviour.").

One possible way that Jeph could handle that scene that I would like to see would be for Roko to come around with Faye, who is shame-faced and not meeting her eyes. Acting like a scolded teenager told to apologise, she'll ask Roko's forgiveness and promise never to be so insensitive and thoughtless again. Roko will smirk and respond: "Bubbles told you to apologise, didn't she?"

Faye will respond with a panicked expression. "Yes... No! How did you know?" There will follow the next day Roko proving her detective's qualification by explaining why she knows Bubbles is one of the few people in this world who can persuade Faye to moderate her behaviour.

[DannyboyTheDane]

I should probably clarify that I was thinking insensitive in the sense of not respecting people's sensibilities despite being aware of them. Is Faye insensitive in this sense? Genuine, non-patronising question - I just genuinely don't remember that being the case; her not being particularly perceptive and then putting her foot in her mouth, yes, absolutely, but I recall her usually feeling sorry and apologising when she realises (the thing with her making decisions without Bubble's input is a good example). With Roko, it feels like active, aware insensitivity; I keep getting a "you're not supposed to feel like this, so stop it" vibe from her, which really doesn't sit well with me - it feels very un-Faye to me.

[Cornelius]

Let's not forget that Faye's only experience in AI repair so far has been the repair shop at the underground robot fights. Somehow, I doubt that the AI participating in those have the kind of sensibility officer Basilisk is displaying here. Indeed, from Punchbot's gleeful defeats, it would seem rather the opposite. This may genuinely be the first time time she comes across an AI where seeing their parts is a problem.
Don't forget, before she left Coffee of Doom, the AI she most interacted with, was Pintsize, who hasn't got much issues on modifying himself either.

[shanejayell]

I do love Faye's "WHY IS SHE EVEN ABLE TO DO THAT?!" reaction.   

[Is it cold in here?]

Police are exposed to hazards all the time, traffic accidents being the most common.

Officer Basilisk is handicapped in her job if she can't stay conscious if parts fall off in a collision.

She shouldn't come to pieces over coming to pieces.

[zisraelsen]

Roko's really the only AI we've met so far that has such a strong aversion to seeing parts of her detached. The bots at the fights couldn't care less, and May was less disturbed than she was pissed when her arm came off. I think part of why faye isn't taking roko's aversion into account is that she hasn't had to before.
Side note, kudos to jeph for writing a really believable malfunction for an AI to experience. In a lot of media I notice that there's usually less sense made and more technobabble said when there are problems like this. Tendons coming out of alignment, though, sounds like something that would happen to robot feet all the time.

[Morituri]

First, I suspect repairs involving internal parts made visible would be a lot more common for AI than they are for humans, because while Robot bodies can be made more durable in the short run, the warranty on the parts expires a lot faster without the aforementioned self-repair capabilities of the human chassis.  No matter how good your mechanical elbow is, you're going to have to replace it once a decade or so if you use it a lot.

That said, Roko may be less than ten years old in her mechanical body; her simulated growing-up time as a disembodied AI in a software creche on some server didn't involve such physical issues, and they may not have been simulated.  So she may be dealing with parts starting to wear out for the first time. 

Speculation that maybe she is a copy of a human mind currently running as an AI in a robot chassis would be another possible reason for her to be unfamiliar with this kind of repair - but that brings up a host of additional issues, such as whether and where QC medical/AI science is that advanced and how she feels about the 'life left behind' of  her biological predecessor, and how the people from that life (parents, friends, lovers, children ... great-great-grandchildren?) feel (if they even know) about her.  Does she visit the gravesite of her biological 'parent' every so often when she needs to think about the 'meaning of life', or just to pay respects and leave flowers?

Whatever the shape of Roko's issues in detail though, I can see Bubbles taking advantage of Roko's momentary "Downtime" to explain to Faye that they're going to be giving her a deep discount and an apology, and in the future please show more respect for the sensibilities and sensitivities of our customers, both because we don't really want to be known as assholes and because showing the same respect for people's issues about their mechanical bodies that you'd show for their issues about their biological bodies is the right thing to do.

[OldGoat]

Police are exposed to hazards all the time, traffic accidents being the most common.

Officer Basilisk is handicapped in her job if she can't stay conscious if parts fall off in a collision.

She shouldn't come to pieces over coming to pieces.

In my own personal experience, the sight of other people's blood and parts don't bother me in the least, but I learned long ago to look the other direction when I'm getting an injection or blood draw.  (The smell of an abruptly opened bowel is another matter.)  Roko can sort though a pile of body parts, human or AI, soaked with hydraulic fluid and/or blood like a trooper*, as long as she isn't the source.

*See what I did there?   

[swapna]

I think Faye isn't insensitive on purpose - she's just been "socialised" in this job by AIs like Bubbles or Punchbot or CW. CW popped open another AIs head to demonstrate before she even started, and nobody saw an issue. Punchbot and other fighters might have even inquired about the nature of the damage, and what she did to fix it; they'd need in-depth knowledge of everything to do with their bodies and others because they are fighters; I'm willing to bet that precise strikes can be even more devastating than between humans.

Bubbles might need to teach her, but not by scolding her; I think her behaviour isn't much different than what it was in CW's shop, so just asking her to be a little more patient with AI like Roko might be enough.

Also, how in hell does Roko use her feet without knowing how they work?

[Is it cold in here?]

Most organic people can do just that.

[swapna]

Most organic people can do just that.

Yep, but then again, we don't come with USB ports either. To receive data, an AI has to "speak" the USB protocol, just as they have to be able to consciously access and filter data that they access over library databases or the Internet. So, the idea you're proposing is that AI are  can use those protocols/their  bodies without consciously accessing them, like organics, or even without being _able_ to access them. Which would make less sense, since they get software upgrades (with bugs that they have to patch, that affect their bodies - Thumblord? The many-fingered Momo?) And Hardware upgrades that would come wither different software.