I would certainly hope so, I've been working on that hole for a while !
Soon I'll be able to bury douchebag head first, and still put his shoes 6 feet under. :)
At the very least, the Black Angel who has taken that body ought to be handing Dolly some kind of media with a savefile of CeCi's personality matrix on it.
You might want to retract that demand. As an author I tell you that my personal knee-jerk reaction to people trying to make a creative demand like that is to either give them the opposite or to *punish* them by giving them what they asked for. The creators here seem to be slightly less sadistic on that count than I am, but I would probably be... amused... by the results of pushing this 'demand.' ;)
Less Sadistic? What universe are you reading this from? All these cliff hangers, totally screwing with our favorite characters, letting us hang with at least seven sub plots going at once, think I may have missed one or two there, yeeesh.
They are walking the tracks. It takes longer, but that's okay since Decimus can keep Kali entertained by explaining to her how much he is suffering and how unfair everything is. The noble and generous lord will even demonstrate his magnanimity by holding up both ends of the conversation so that she need do nothing more challenging than listen appreciatively and admire his manifold wondrous qualities and virtues -- although an occasional inarticulate <sigh> of admiration would not be out of place.
If they runout of track before he runs out of things to say about himself, they can always double back and forth a few times until he has had a sufficient time and space to completely disclose the intricacies of his thought to his enraptured audience. ^_^
"IF" they run out of track? Truly, the efforts of mankind throughout history have not yet produced enough track to exhaust the amazing qualities he believes about himself!
I mean, you know, with nowhere near enough room to slow down.
A few crunches, a big splatter, one Cassian who's managed to leap directly from the tracks onto the top of the train, and an Aeneas about a quarter of the way through the bootup process who might not wake all the way up before the contingencies put him right back to sleep again....
Train : Oh, hello, are you Kali the Cassian by any means ?
Dolly : Uhh, no, I'm Dolores and I'm not a Cassian.
Train : Oh, that is most vexing, I heard she was in the company of Prince Livius, and was told to find him.
Acantha : I think you'll find him in the palace.
Train : Oh, the Palace, I know that place well!
Train : Well, I'm off then.
Dolly : Uhh .. okayyy.
Acantha : Have a nice day! :D
Train : Thank you, and you have a nice day too Miss Acantha Livius.
Acantha : You're welcome, and don't forget to run my brother down if you see him on your tracks!
Lynn : Acantha!
Acantha : What?`
Lynn : You're being sassy again!
Acantha : So?
Lynn : Acantha!
Dolly : *sigh* Kids.
Train : I shall endavour to fullfill the orders of a Livius!
Train : Goodbye!
Train : Oh, Hello, you wouldn't happen to be Kali ?
Kali : I am.
Decimus : Finally some transport, I am tired of walking!
Train : Mis Kali, could you help me find the Prince ?
Decimus : What ? I'm standing right here!
Kali : Erhh .. he's right you know, he's standing right there. *points*
Train : Oh ? Mister ..
Decimus : PRINCE!
Train : Decimus Livius of New Rome ...
Decimus : NOVA ROMA !
Train : ...
Decimus : *glower*
Train : ...
Train : Luna-Com does not share or endorse... *starts backing up*
Decimus : AAARGH, I KNOW!
Decimus : You just wiggle this way and that way like a magggot on a hook to avoid choosing side, and .. I ...
Decimus : Wait ... Luna Com ? In a train ?
Train : ♪♪♫♪ Just kidding!! ♪♫♪♪ ☺
Train : Besides, in order to fulfill the royal order by Acantha Livius, I need the runup!
Decimus : Huh ?
Train : DEATH BY TRAIN !!!!!
Ah, the poor train ... Forever railing at it's destiny. Constrained by the ties that bind. Ever hungry for power, but running on D-cells. (Or diesels, depending on what kind of train it is. But I think it is a kind train.) And, as it wends its sticky way onward, obedient to its creator's imperatives, it contemplates that ancient existential dilemma: Who will stop the train? ^_^
Very kind of you -- but yours was more creative, more elaborate, more detailed, more amusing and generally more impressive than mine. Especially "How could you miss???!" ^_^
Without sufficient training and experience using it, anything like a gun is generally far more hazardous to the user and their friends than anyone they'd like to use it against. Maybe a rape-whistle?
In order for that statement to be true, "sufficient training" has to be defined as low as being told the 4 Rules and given an overview of the gun's functions, and "experience" as having operated those functions. From that point forward, an adult is a somewhat larger threat to a hostile than a friendly or themselves.
In the case of military action, IFF and cool under fire being an issue, it might also be necessary to give an instruction to hide in the back, let the team Bad-S handle threats, and focus on not shooting the wrong person. That is, "here's a defensive weapon, nooblet, try not to have to use it."
The story of the lady with a gun in her purse that was shot to death by her baby would indicate otherwise. The necessary rules must be well-drilled habits or else they will be forgotten in distracting, difficult or upsetting circumstances... precisely when you need those rules the most. It so happens that Lynn Taylor is in a warzone, in foreign territory, has been kidnapped, thought she saw her boyfriend die in a gunfight, and has good reason to believe there are more people who would seek her death, capture or worse after her that may get to her. Giving her a gun in this time and place would be guaranteeing that she will disobey the necessary rules.
Goo, goo, ga, ga, bang!
Lynn is not a baby, nor is one present. The baby was not an adult, nor was the baby taught the 4 Rules. Your anecdote is wholly inapplicable. If there is someone directly in front of her, intending to kill her, and Dolly has been somehow disabled, she needs the gun, and the 4 Rules are at their least important, not their most. Let's review: The gun is always loaded? It better be, or it's going to be about as useful as a rape-whistle. Never point it at something you are not prepared to destroy? Not a problem. Always be sure of your target and what's beyond it? Decimus is identifiable, Blues are conveniently color coded, and "what's beyond it" is why she has instructions to keep it as a reserve. At the point she is using it, instead of hiding, no friendlies are still standing. There will be adherence to this restraint, given the relationship of trust between her and Dolly, and the psychological easiness of hiding in combat. Keep finger off trigger until sights are on target? Small but not inconsequential chance of discharge during draw means some threat to herself...but if she shoots herself in the leg and then proceeds to dump the next bullet into her assailant, she still comes out ahead.
As I said, minimal instruction is required to make her more dangerous to hostiles than to her self or friendlies. "More" improves the disparity in a most gratifying fashion, and is well worth the time (which makes me wonder if/why Dolly hasn't already done it), but in a pinch, some is better than none.
I'm somewhat baffled that the notion of arming a woman a weapon and telling her to hide behind her lifelong guardian is less appealing to you than limiting her to a "rape-whistle" in a "warzone." That's little more than a dinner bell when surrounded by Praetorians.
I've seen how people with minimal instructions are handling weapons outside of stressful combat situations.
I wouldn't trust those people to not accidentally shoot me and/or themselves when put under stress. And I mean straight shooting, not even counting in ricochet.
Handing someone like that a gun? Hell no!
Now handing Lynn a blade? That I could agree to. She has more than just basic training with weapons like that, Dolly has a good grip on her skill level and we know Lynn to be able to put her skill to use in actual combat situations.
Twenty seven million, two hundred and fifty-eight thousand, two hundred and sixty-four faults in the system, twenty seven million, two hundred and fifty-eight thousand, two hundred and sixty-four faults... look one up, spend an hour fixing it, twenty seven million, two hundred and fifty-eight thousand, two hundred and sixty-three faults in the system.
While both efforts are truly laudable, we all know this is how it actually works:
27,258,254 faults in the code,
27,258,254 faults,
Pick one out, check the documentation, get with a couple other programmers, spend three hours fixing it...
27,258,321 faults in the code!
critical mass: n.
In physics, the minimum amount of fissionable material required to sustain a chain reaction. Of a software product, describes a condition of the software such that fixing one bug introduces one plus epsilon bugs.
What's the split between hardware and software faults though?
Zero faults "found" in personality matrix. Odds of it being the only piece perfect? Low, particularly given past experience. "Crazy" is now "working as intended." "Eccentric" might be a better term, considering. Loving it.
Actually Visvires it may not be as improbable as you think. Aeneas was attacked by external forces that did damage to pieces they could reach. I think I would bury the hardware containing an AI's personality more deeply than the piece that moves freight or the like. The better to protect it from accidental harm.
I don't think that Aeneas' attackers knew which pieces to attack, instead attacking what they want could readily see. Their surprise and weapons let them inflict grievous harm before Aeneas could bring his defenses and wipe them out.
There's actually an interesting statement being made with "zero personality faults". It implies that what other people have observed as 'crazy', 'irrational', or 'mad' is actually just "inhumanly clever'. (Cf., the character of the Vielfrasse from Dan Crawford's _Rouse a Sleeping Cat_)
Or, it could just be that by the time we pick up the overseer's monologue, the personality faults have already been fixed, since they were considered higher priority than the other faults. Certainly you want to make sure your therapy is complete before you give the PTSD survivor back their guns.
There are a lot of distinctions between what gets called a "fault" in different contexts. "No faults found" should probably be read as "fully expressible in the representation we're using and also not showing any inconsistencies due to data corruption."
That's kind of like saying of a book that the print is clear and the pages are dry. It's not the same thing as talking about whether the contents of the book make any damn sense.
I actually met William Burroughs several times. He hung around my college's research library when I was an undergrad and we got into the habit of snarking at each other now and then.
I did my best but he was, um, better at it than I was, to say the least. I always had to look things up to realize who had gotten zinged and how hard. Sometimes it was me.
Still, he cracked a smile a couple of times and said he appreciated getting some practice at not being braindead.
Actually, you'll note that (per the overseer) the evaluation is being made in 'comparison mode' -- so what that is likely to really mean is that 100% of the storage allocated to the personality matrix matches the reference file copy -- whether that reference file copy happens to be expressed correctly and in a self-consistent fashion or not. (Although reference copies usually do. That's why they're reference copies. ^_^)
Soon I'll be able to bury douchebag head first, and still put his shoes 6 feet under. :)
*hides ship*
And there's especially no CeCi//Noctis ship here either! Nooooo.
I wonder if Doucheimus and company have found the tram yet?
If they runout of track before he runs out of things to say about himself, they can always double back and forth a few times until he has had a sufficient time and space to completely disclose the intricacies of his thought to his enraptured audience. ^_^
I mean, you know, with nowhere near enough room to slow down.
A few crunches, a big splatter, one Cassian who's managed to leap directly from the tracks onto the top of the train, and an Aeneas about a quarter of the way through the bootup process who might not wake all the way up before the contingencies put him right back to sleep again....
Like .. as if it was searching for him ?
... hmmm ...
*clickety click*
*clickety click*
*clickety click*
*screech*
Train : Oh, hello, are you Kali the Cassian by any means ?
Dolly : Uhh, no, I'm Dolores and I'm not a Cassian.
Train : Oh, that is most vexing, I heard she was in the company of Prince Livius, and was told to find him.
Acantha : I think you'll find him in the palace.
Train : Oh, the Palace, I know that place well!
Train : Well, I'm off then.
Dolly : Uhh .. okayyy.
Acantha : Have a nice day! :D
Train : Thank you, and you have a nice day too Miss Acantha Livius.
Acantha : You're welcome, and don't forget to run my brother down if you see him on your tracks!
Lynn : Acantha!
Acantha : What?`
Lynn : You're being sassy again!
Acantha : So?
Lynn : Acantha!
Dolly : *sigh* Kids.
Train : I shall endavour to fullfill the orders of a Livius!
Train : Goodbye!
*clickety click*
*clickety click*
*clickety click*
*comes across Kali and company*
*clickety click*
*clickety click*
*clickety click*
*screech*
Train : Oh, Hello, you wouldn't happen to be Kali ?
Kali : I am.
Decimus : Finally some transport, I am tired of walking!
Train : Mis Kali, could you help me find the Prince ?
Decimus : What ? I'm standing right here!
Kali : Erhh .. he's right you know, he's standing right there. *points*
Train : Oh ? Mister ..
Decimus : PRINCE!
Train : Decimus Livius of New Rome ...
Decimus : NOVA ROMA !
Train : ...
Decimus : *glower*
Train : ...
Train : Luna-Com does not share or endorse...
*starts backing up*
Decimus : AAARGH, I KNOW!
Decimus : You just wiggle this way and that way like a magggot on a hook to avoid choosing side, and .. I ...
Decimus : Wait ... Luna Com ? In a train ?
Train : ♪♪♫♪ Just kidding!! ♪♫♪♪ ☺
Train : Besides, in order to fulfill the royal order by Acantha Livius, I need the runup!
Decimus : Huh ?
Train : DEATH BY TRAIN !!!!!
*clickety click*
*CLICKELTY CLICK*
*CLICKETY CLACK*
*CRUNCH*
Train : ....
Kali : ....
Train : ....
Kali : HOW COULD YOU MISS ???!
:D
Still, better look at configuration or macro definitions, that's the only place something can get that horked.
In the case of military action, IFF and cool under fire being an issue, it might also be necessary to give an instruction to hide in the back, let the team Bad-S handle threats, and focus on not shooting the wrong person. That is, "here's a defensive weapon, nooblet, try not to have to use it."
Goo, goo, ga, ga, bang!
As I said, minimal instruction is required to make her more dangerous to hostiles than to her self or friendlies. "More" improves the disparity in a most gratifying fashion, and is well worth the time (which makes me wonder if/why Dolly hasn't already done it), but in a pinch, some is better than none.
I'm somewhat baffled that the notion of arming a woman a weapon and telling her to hide behind her lifelong guardian is less appealing to you than limiting her to a "rape-whistle" in a "warzone." That's little more than a dinner bell when surrounded by Praetorians.
I wouldn't trust those people to not accidentally shoot me and/or themselves when put under stress. And I mean straight shooting, not even counting in ricochet.
Handing someone like that a gun? Hell no!
Now handing Lynn a blade? That I could agree to. She has more than just basic training with weapons like that, Dolly has a good grip on her skill level and we know Lynn to be able to put her skill to use in actual combat situations.
https://youtu.be/mvhFs2bdRpE
27,258,254 faults,
You fix one up, and give it a hug,
27,258,253 faults in the core,
SING WITH ME NOW!!!
27,258,253 faults in the core,
27,258,253 faults.....
27,258,254 faults in the code,
27,258,254 faults,
Pick one out, check the documentation, get with a couple other programmers, spend three hours fixing it...
27,258,321 faults in the code!
The scary thing is that sometimes, as you make progress, the error count actually does go up.
In physics, the minimum amount of fissionable material required to sustain a chain reaction. Of a software product, describes a condition of the software such that fixing one bug introduces one plus epsilon bugs.
What's the split between hardware and software faults though?
27,258,254 faults,
You fix one up, give it a hug and then you have a beer,
27,258,253 faults in the core,
*much, much later*
17,564,344 Faulssh in sche coar,
17,564,344 faulsches,
Fffiiixsch whon up, gi'e eee a huug, 'n' thensh youse hav' beer! *hic*
17,564,343 faulshes inna coar...
Oooh .. wai'a min'ert ...
Y moar faulshces appears?
*hic*
17,564,348 faulches inna coar ... *hic*
And multiply it by ten thousand!!!!!!!!
I don't think that Aeneas' attackers knew which pieces to attack, instead attacking what they want could readily see. Their surprise and weapons let them inflict grievous harm before Aeneas could bring his defenses and wipe them out.
Or, it could just be that by the time we pick up the overseer's monologue, the personality faults have already been fixed, since they were considered higher priority than the other faults. Certainly you want to make sure your therapy is complete before you give the PTSD survivor back their guns.
That's kind of like saying of a book that the print is clear and the pages are dry. It's not the same thing as talking about whether the contents of the book make any damn sense.
I did my best but he was, um, better at it than I was, to say the least. I always had to look things up to realize who had gotten zinged and how hard. Sometimes it was me.
Still, he cracked a smile a couple of times and said he appreciated getting some practice at not being braindead.