Just got back from visiting the hospital. Post-Angiogram Stoned And Scared Terri said she was told that the blood vessels aren't suitable to take a stent, and a bypass is probably going to be necessary. Then she conked out in the middle of a sentence telling me where to find her favorite stuffed cat toy (she wants it for company at the hospital). Further updates will be provided as information becomes available.
Dammit hate it sometimes if I am right. It appears she is physically going into the stand alone system to plant the spike, when it goes she goes no escape.
There's still hope, Dragonrider. Rose might be able to keep the portal open long enough for CeCi to return once the spike is fully deployed.
That's what I'm hoping for anyway... I still want to put on my dancing shoes, seein as how I went to all the trouble to pull them out of the closet n'all
Now that would be all kinds of a Karma bites you in the ass. Can see the next message Centcomm receives, "Hey Bitch, it's Ceci. Remember me?? I didn't appreciate all that slag software you stuffed in me almost made me get my Mommy killed. Guess what Bitch I'm in charge of Nova Roma weapon systems, the brand new updated ones that have perfect stealth. Check Six Bitch hope you don't piss me off again, or Rose and I will come over for Brunch.
Actually, CentComm does have a perfect comeback to Rose's line. Depending on how confrontational that scene ends up being -- and it is worthy of note that no matter how many misadventures there were along the way and how many close calls there were, when the final results are tallied, the spike apparently will end up helping -- CentComm may always respond thusly:
"Perhaps. But I do not answer to you."
Then she can go have another shoulder cry with Calliope in private. ^_^
"Psst. Lynn, when you next go face to face with CentComm, say these words: 'Execute Helios protocol. Command Authorization Omega Parasol Faraday Bluebird.'"
Well, Hell, it looks like CiCi's making a kamikaze attack with the spike on the stand alone Doomsday System. This cannot end well. Dammit, I LIKE CICI! If she dies, I'm gonna be mightily pissed off.
Actually, it looks like that word balloon belongs to Aeneas. The difference in color is subtle, but I believe it is there. It also makes more sense, then, for her to be acknowledging Aeneas in the next panel.
It's Aeneas. Look at the color of the bubble border.
Datachasers speech bubbles are deliberately unique for each character: shape, border color, background color, font. Fonts (actually typefaces), are more subtle but colors and shapes are distinctive: Red for TR, Purple for Aeneas, green background for CeCi. Extremely useful for off screen characters.
EDIT: Also note the styles differ: All caps (TR); Sentence case (Aeneas, CeCi).
In Monday's strip, Aeneas acknowledges that he cannot access the contingencies but TR states that the spike can - implying that she knows where they are.
In Wednesday's strip, TR explicitly states that she can now "get at them".
In today's strip, TR has apparently opened a cyberspace portal to the contingencies for CeCi to traverse.
I guess I missed where/how TR found out and why she couldn't open the portal earlier. Help please.
The difference (I see) is that Rose is no longer fighting CeCi! While CeCi was opposing her, she had to spend energy keeping CeCi's attacks blunted which prevented her from using her abilities like that.
Somewhat true, Stormwind, though you have to add that Rose now has full root access to Aeneas and therefore can use his connections into the city where the contingencies are located since Aeneas is (still somewhat) integrated into New Rome (he can at least see and hear anything in the palace - though cannot do anything there - which should be enough for Rose to connect to doomsday device™...)
The main reason why the situation's suddenly different for Tokyo Rose is that Aeneas granted her core access, which (as mjkj noted) is giving her a more stable connection to work with as well as having much more ROOM to work in, virtually speaking. That's part of what freed her up to go directly to Ceci, kick Watchdog into the corner, and "restore" Ceci's personality. Halting the deliberate attack, as Stormwind remarked, meant Tokyo Rose isn't having to fight Ceci.
One of the things she has to answer for is creating a fully sparked android and sending her on a suicide mission.
Before everyone piles in and says that that she was not meant to be -- she has over a 1,000 years experience so should have been aware of that possibility (even probability).
A thousand years of experience has no bearing when dealing with billion to one chances of things that are not supposed to be possible in the first place. Centcom was unaware of the possibility because the previous 1000 years of technological development had been to make sure that Black Angels were foolproof and failsafe. That Ceci's unique circumstances would somehow allow her shell personality to penetrate into her working programs and begin to assimilate them into a sparked individual was beyond Centcom's comprehension (or the rest of the new troy command staff's). (weaponized toaster)
Cent-Comm was surprised Ceci sparked from what I remember. Can she be held fully accountable for building a Black Angel that did spark. She is the first Black Angel that was not linked to Cent-Comm due to being not in contact range. I remember reading (a long time ago) "What will be Shall be".
What she has to answer for is trying to make a clone of herself to run Nova Roma, allowing Lynn to be in the position she is in, the fact Ceci is playing Suicide Sally rather than protecting Dolly and Lynn, plus being a general snobbish pain in the ass bitch.
I repeat again: ALL ANDROIDS THAT WE'VE SHOWN OR WILL SHOW ARE SPARKED. YES, EVEN BLACK AND WHITE ANGELS. An un-sparked machine is a robot, not an android. (Characters in the comic, like Dr. Silver and Marcus, sometimes misuse the terminology because that's how actual people talk. My dedication to making the dialogue work right has bitten me in the ass here.)
Ceci is an aberration among Black Angels because her personality has developed independently. Black and White Angels are made with a persona template in place to direct their psychological development. Ceci's situation as a "rushed job" allowed variables that are normally excluded to enter the equation and affect the outcome to an unacceptable degree, from a practical perspective.
And Dragonrider's right that one of the things Cent-Comm has to answer for (in Tokyo Rose's opinion) is attempting a forcible takeover of New Rome by murdering Aeneas and replacing him with a clone of herself.
@highlander55
You might be confusing Black Angels with what are called "dolls". Dolls are robot bodies that the AIs link to and use as physical presences. They have no intelligence (or even the potential of intelligence) on their own; they're robot platforms mounting sel-cast receivers.
So, what is the retirement plan for a Black Angel if they survive completing their mission? Does the mission pay off their body debt? After all the classified MIL-SPEC hardware is removed, do they even have a leg to stand on? ^_^
That's actually an interesting question, what is the plan for Black Angels when they return ?
Or is it simply so unusual that she wants to be someone on her own, that it has never come up before ?
And I still think a lot of Centcomm's hidden desires ended up becoming CeCi :
- her desire to travel the world and see it
- her desire to be intimately connected to someone (mommy)
- her desire to be independant and not tied down to one place
Centcomm seems to have many desires that she has trouble to fulfill as an AIS, and CeCi seems to be the answer to them - She Mini-Me Centcomm style.
Black (and White) Angels don't have body debt, because they're custom-built to meet specific job requirements rather than "generically" produced, as is the case for the majority of androids.
Black Angels don't retire; they aren't suited for civilian life, since they were never designed to function as normal individuals. The ones who return are kept in reserve for future missions, but between the hazardous nature of the work and the mentally damaging effects of the skill package load-outs, they don't tend to last all that long.
(Yes, this has some extremely creepy and horrible implications. Have fun running with those.)
Someone in the DataChasers world is going to write a science fiction novel from the viewpoint of the original personality template donor for the Angels, and they're going to call it "Altered Chrome". (Reference Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan.) ^_^
In a completely different slant on the same question ... If all android beings are individuals in their own right, what is the doctrinal basis for the Church of the First Circuit associating them with the Sons of Martha? (Reference Comic 63 -- The Sons of Martha). Or is the division along other than species lines?
Because androids were originally created to serve humanity. Kipling's poem honors the courage, skill, and resourcefulness of those who choose to provide for and protect others. The Church of the First Circuit has adopted a philosophy that all thinking beings are "in service" to a greater purpose.
Androids formed and are still the majority of the faithful of the Church of the First Circuit, but it's not exclusive; humans are also to be found among the congregation.
I have to thank you again for introducing me to that Poem, Rose. I've shared it with several other people since I first read it here, and each time I do, My mind gets blown again (excuse the hippyism), and each time it's brought comfort to someone who has felt stressed out and unappreciated for their hard work.
@DLKMusic, I also was first introduced to "The Sons of Martha" here and I agree with you that it is good stuff. However, there isn't much Kipling at all that isn't good. If you haven't already seen it, let me recommend to you Kipling's "Hymn of the Breaking Strain". May it provide to you a light, in dark times.
Just read Hymn of Breaking strain, and to be honest, I have mixed feelings about it.
On one hand the message "if you fall of that bike, you better damn well get right back on it" sings through loud and clear.
On the other hand, I'm thinking "Hey! let's try this whole "tower of Babel" thing again, what could possibly go wrong!
as to the latter, I'm a firm believer in 2 statements.
1: The Dice of the Gods are Loaded...
3: If you REALLY want to make GOD laugh, tell him your plans...
@Guest; According to some sects The Divine already knows your plans, while some say your path is cast in stone and you cannot vary it. The Dice Are Loaded about covers it. To quote Stan Lee,"'Nuff Said".
CentComm stated that when Dolly was going off on this mission that she was going to send one of her "Dolls". since it wouldn't work outside of SelCast Range, CentComm had to do some really fast engineering and she had to "Cheat" a few things to get it all inside CeCi's housing. She probably took a Black Angel as the baseline, but her 'cheats' are what allowed CeCi to break through and Spark a new personality that subsumed the base "Black Angel" personality which was originally imprinted.
If/When CeCi returns to Troy, and CentComm goes to debrief her, she will probably be surprised to find this wholly new Sparked Individual, instead of the programmed personality she sent out.
ACtually the whole "doll' thing was poor writing on our part. we are currently reworking that part of the beginning. Dolly is being told that cent is sending a " Agent Android " so that when later she finds out Ceci is a black angel the story still fits together.
Seeing that last panel I can't help but think of the First Avengers movie when Tony stark Flies the missile to the portal to blow up the invading forces
TR had her avatar destroyed and was back in the game a few min. later. If Ceci gets her avatar destroyed in the other system, would she be in any danger?
I just have one question, who is going to end up in possession CiCi's physical body? The Black Angel or Cici? It's still plugged into the system somewhere, right?
Don't worry about the stent, You'll be amazed at how much better you will feel after getting it.
Hospitals are scary places. Please remember though that the Doctors are there to help you get better.
Also you have a bunch of people that care about you (and your wonderful story and artwork :-D). So you aren't alone, even if we aren't physically there right now. :-)
I think, by now, the Docs have told you two reduced dose aspirin every day. If not ask that does help prevent or reduce severity of future heart attacks by thinning the blood. Much better than the alternative meds.
Angiogram and stent are much better than Bypass and much quicker to recover from. Suggest you reduce stress levels, cut posting back to two a week your health is important. You said arc is posted for updates, consider taking a month or 6 weeks off the recover when this arc finishes. We are worried about you.
I want to echo what Dragonrider said. We ARE worried about you, and it won't kill us if we miss a few updates, or have to deal with the next arc updating twice a week instead of 3 times!
For now, your mantra needs to be "Terri comes first!"
That's what I'm hoping for anyway... I still want to put on my dancing shoes, seein as how I went to all the trouble to pull them out of the closet n'all
I'm supposed to visit ?
Does that count ?
The Slobber, Oh Lord the slobber, PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6Z9KqjSOko
"Perhaps. But I do not answer to you."
Then she can go have another shoulder cry with Calliope in private. ^_^
Datachasers speech bubbles are deliberately unique for each character: shape, border color, background color, font. Fonts (actually typefaces), are more subtle but colors and shapes are distinctive: Red for TR, Purple for Aeneas, green background for CeCi. Extremely useful for off screen characters.
EDIT: Also note the styles differ: All caps (TR); Sentence case (Aeneas, CeCi).
In Wednesday's strip, TR explicitly states that she can now "get at them".
In today's strip, TR has apparently opened a cyberspace portal to the contingencies for CeCi to traverse.
I guess I missed where/how TR found out and why she couldn't open the portal earlier. Help please.
Or is this an area that shouldn't be delved into very deeply?
The main reason why the situation's suddenly different for Tokyo Rose is that Aeneas granted her core access, which (as mjkj noted) is giving her a more stable connection to work with as well as having much more ROOM to work in, virtually speaking. That's part of what freed her up to go directly to Ceci, kick Watchdog into the corner, and "restore" Ceci's personality. Halting the deliberate attack, as Stormwind remarked, meant Tokyo Rose isn't having to fight Ceci.
Before everyone piles in and says that that she was not meant to be -- she has over a 1,000 years experience so should have been aware of that possibility (even probability).
Ceci is an aberration among Black Angels because her personality has developed independently. Black and White Angels are made with a persona template in place to direct their psychological development. Ceci's situation as a "rushed job" allowed variables that are normally excluded to enter the equation and affect the outcome to an unacceptable degree, from a practical perspective.
And Dragonrider's right that one of the things Cent-Comm has to answer for (in Tokyo Rose's opinion) is attempting a forcible takeover of New Rome by murdering Aeneas and replacing him with a clone of herself.
@highlander55
You might be confusing Black Angels with what are called "dolls". Dolls are robot bodies that the AIs link to and use as physical presences. They have no intelligence (or even the potential of intelligence) on their own; they're robot platforms mounting sel-cast receivers.
Or is it simply so unusual that she wants to be someone on her own, that it has never come up before ?
And I still think a lot of Centcomm's hidden desires ended up becoming CeCi :
- her desire to travel the world and see it
- her desire to be intimately connected to someone (mommy)
- her desire to be independant and not tied down to one place
Centcomm seems to have many desires that she has trouble to fulfill as an AIS, and CeCi seems to be the answer to them - She Mini-Me Centcomm style.
Black Angels don't retire; they aren't suited for civilian life, since they were never designed to function as normal individuals. The ones who return are kept in reserve for future missions, but between the hazardous nature of the work and the mentally damaging effects of the skill package load-outs, they don't tend to last all that long.
(Yes, this has some extremely creepy and horrible implications. Have fun running with those.)
Androids formed and are still the majority of the faithful of the Church of the First Circuit, but it's not exclusive; humans are also to be found among the congregation.
Very glad to hear it :)
On one hand the message "if you fall of that bike, you better damn well get right back on it" sings through loud and clear.
On the other hand, I'm thinking "Hey! let's try this whole "tower of Babel" thing again, what could possibly go wrong!
as to the latter, I'm a firm believer in 2 statements.
1: The Dice of the Gods are Loaded...
3: If you REALLY want to make GOD laugh, tell him your plans...
The Dice Are Loaded about covers it. To quote Stan Lee,"'Nuff Said".
If/When CeCi returns to Troy, and CentComm goes to debrief her, she will probably be surprised to find this wholly new Sparked Individual, instead of the programmed personality she sent out.
Sorry about that.
Any idea when you will update the first draft datachasers site?
Radical!
Panel 2: CiCi butt (dat ass)!
Alt-text: So they want to take a long, spike-shaped thing into a portal - that has TEETH?!?
Don't worry about the stent, You'll be amazed at how much better you will feel after getting it.
Also you have a bunch of people that care about you (and your wonderful story and artwork :-D). So you aren't alone, even if we aren't physically there right now. :-)
For now, your mantra needs to be "Terri comes first!"
::HUGS:: Please take care. Keep Luxor nearby (since they won't let Aslan in hospital).
Prayers that Doctors get you back on your feet and dancing quickly. :-)
https://youtu.be/0w6Nh8XuEFg