Really? I will not speak for others, but for myself, apology not accepted ... or required. (Referring to the collective "you" of the creative team:) This is your story. I came along for the ride, eyes wide open, and am enjoying the bitter and the sweet. I want stories that hit hard, stroke soft, tickle me in intimate places and .... Wait! We probably better not go there. ^_^
A warning is fine ... but an apology? None for me, please. Be honest and true to the characters and that is all I ask.
OK when we see where this is then I may believe Ceci might survive this, however wanna know who the patchwork Masked Lone Stranger is and what she will do. If that's Watchdog she will not be happy about failing to replace Aeneas with a Centcomm clone.
OK from your comment I am fearful our Black Angel turned World Savior is about to fall prey to her makers use it and lose it its only public money to replace them philosophy. Please let Dolly team up with Calliope to extract revenge, like maybe having to clear all her decisions through Dolly.
Watchdog creeps me out. Very much trips my uncanny valley! I can about hear Hal's voice there, expecting watchdog to say why CeCi has to be turned off. ;-7
Everybody on this page are avatars in cyberspace if I'm not mistaken. CeCi's body is still in meat space so who knows what CentComm put in if Black Angels really are disposable.
Watchdog kinda creeps me out but I'll be damned if you didn't totally nail her design.
Thankys, watchdogs actual look was several years in the making. Heck this whole scene pushed my abilitys to the limit. Not however my computer thankfully :D
Ceci saved the day, now someone has to save her from Bride of Chucky over here.
Of course that depends on where "here" is. AI core, countermeasures core, her own body? I'm guessing Rose is a little too fried at the moment to pull any magic tricks, and with the Treasures running over dialup, that leaves A to be the hero... Hopefully he does better with this round of cyber combat.
Those movies scared the heck out of me, and the vibe watchdog is putting out fits pretty well. A fragmented, spiderweb cracked entity that you *just can't get rid of* has appeared right behind her, and (while her eyes are possessed of a hallowed glow) decided to start up a conversation with a one word reply.
Note this is the same Watchdog that effectively killed Ceci not too long ago with another one word reply. Ceci has a demonically possessed doll / dragon priest (Skyrim) / terminator stuck inside her own head. An intelligent weapon that might have the intent of annihilating itself as a mission goal, and it just noticed Ceci again.
The *situation* with Aeneas and the data spike was frightening. Now the *character* of Watchdog is scary.
@pirtnac now that I read your full comment I'm changing my "Bride of Frankenstein" recommendation to something a bit more in line with your thinking, Bride of Cthulhu comes readily to mind.
Woohoo! CeCi made it through. Go CeCi! Is the Masked Avenger aka Watchdog her default setting? A backup program? A parasite and CeCi's the host? Between all those AI 'minds' there, they should be able to separate CeCi from her evil twin.
What you see here is Ceci .. what you all know and love intact and whole - And her "friend" and other half watchdog. think of her as a inseparable twin. Nether one can survive without the other.
Think this fits our Little Darling as a fitting Memorial Song, With some apologies to "Old Blue Eyes" Frank Sinatra.
Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see if there is life
On Jupiter and Mars
In other words, set me free
In other words, let Me be Me.
Fill me with a song
And let me sing forever more
This is all I long for
All I need forever more
In other words, set me free
In other words, Let Me be Me.
That appears to be a early style android shell plates over a flexible skin body style (type 2 perhaps)for the watch dog, symbolizing her primitive humanity but extensive mechanics verses Ceci's more well developed human characteristics. I'm reminded of the two Belldandies in the "Oh! My Goddess!" movie, "I'll share all your pain if you'll share all my joy."
I don't think she's set for pyrotechnics inside what was expected to be the home of a new Cent. So, we're looking at a system wipe, so no data would be left behind for people to read. Going to ones or zeroes. Rose better rush.
I am curious why the best [on-site, ambulatory combat] asset remaining is set to self destruct. Seems...inefficient.
I just remembered that unless it's been changed Ceci(dark angel) still has one objective still to accomplish (two if you want to get picky. but they are related). She has to make sure Dolly returns safely to New Troy. She can't do that if she's deactivated.
At risk of being argumentative, Dolly is severely incapacitated and deep in enemy territory. Although in friendly hands, she is far from being safely returned to home base. (Not to mention keeping her out of a certain other doctors hands)
Actually, those kind of got pushed aside Tim. On page Agendas, 9 October 2015 in the third panel protecting Dolly and recovering Lynn were primary and secondary objectives. Then the deep programming kicked in.
On page Disarming, 25 December 2015 in the second panel, CeCi had a completely NEW Primary objective. Dolly and Lynn were no longer her concern at that point it looks like.
Edit: And yes, Dolly is semi-crippled Tim; however, when Dolly left CeCi she was fine and armed. There didn't SEEM to be anything in her way that she couldn't handle and Dolly wasn't reduced to a hobble. Nor was Acantha one heartbeat from death. Situation has changed, but CeCi (and watchpoodle) don't KNOW that.
Huh. I always expected her avatar to be more canid. Maybe a bit wolfish. And up to right now everybody's been using the male pronoun to refer to Watchdog, because gender-based stereotypes.
It definitely works though. The pronounced artificiality of Watchdog's avatar is completely appropriate.
Gahhh just noticed when I posted that earlier I wasn't logged in. So that was me.
And the spike is what I was referring to. We knew the second processor was the CCM (Watchdog), but Dolly didn't know what the third chip was. And now we do know.
That is probably only ONE of the things CentComm cheated on to get to fit. As she said, she had to cheat to get several of them to fit "http://datachasers.thecomicseries.com/comics/407 - Angel in a box"
Watchdog looks very cool if a bit creepy. And thanks to that plus the author's note with the song plus the later comment about how she and CEci are inextricable; I'm kinda getting a Bladerunner Replicant style vibe off of that last panel. I can all too easily imagine WD's next line as being the same as Roy Batty's last one. "Time to die"
The story is set in a post apocalyptic future. Large pockets of civilisation exist. Due to the nature of the apocalypse, there are far more women then men. These city states sometimes get on and sometimes don't. Androids and gynoids are as much a part of the population as humans are. We are coming to the end of the first arc. I'll try not to give any spoilers:
The daughter of the highest ranking human (of the most powerful city state on the American continent) is kidnapped on the eve of her 18th birthday by another city. The teenager's bodyguard wants to save her but does the AI of the city agree?
What I like?
1. The art.
2. The genre (more about that below)
3. Actions have emotional consequences.
4. Characters feel three dimensional
5. Technology is well handled
6. The aliens in the story show a lot of thought (including the fact that you aren't tripping over one every time you turn a corner).
The webcomic format gives the authors the space to tell an expansive story. The comic combines science fiction, action and drama.
Since the spike was suppose to take over the New Rome AI, an actual explosive device would be a bad idea for a self destruct as it would damage the very system Centcomm was trying to take over.
It would be difficult to completely destroy the Cece battle frame without doing a bunch of damage to surrounding systems.
That leaves things like her nanobots taking her apart, bit by bit, a mico-thermite reaction system, like what the military uses to cut steel structures (and some say was found in the dust of 911) or a reverse blast from her built in blaster.
Anything bigger would be too dangerous.
The question of where she actually is has never been answered, it has been stated she is >>>>At This Point In The Story<<<< unharmed except for the removal of her clothes. That is >>>NOT<<< an assurance this condition will continue past this page. Our hostesses are closely related to the Marquis De Sade why else would they provide all the cliff hangers? Remember Cent said next >>>>2<<<< pages would be brutal. That means Monday before this is resolved.
As a reference back to the two Belldandies in the OMG movie, neither could exist without the other. One had been dominant while the other had been kept dormant to prevent her goddess powers from going out of control. But eventually they were going to have to merge into one being, and that would essentially eliminate the two separate beings. The question was could they do it without losing their best qualities and memories and not destroying each other (and everything else).
She may be the bride of Cthulu, but I'm not sure what that says about Cent-Com. I view her like Death in the Sandman series, friendly but scary. I can picture her saying "Hi, I'm Watchdog and I am not here to kill you. If I was, there would be nothing you could do about it, so relax. There's no reason we can't be friends." However, if she starts singing the Mr. Rogers theme song, be afraid, be very afraid.
Hey hey readers - if anyone is in the mesa / Pehonix area with a car and would like to help me out - I need to get to the doctors tomorrow i can offer gas and food. All i ask is no smoking around me please.
ETA: THAT'S WATCHDOGS FONT!!!
ETETA: Rose's facial expression looks like she has a sudden terrible realization, that she DOESN'T like.
A warning is fine ... but an apology? None for me, please. Be honest and true to the characters and that is all I ask.
Watchdog kinda creeps me out but I'll be damned if you didn't totally nail her design.
You did it Ceci <333
A bit creepy, perhaps, but awesome.
Reminds me I once joked about Watchdog beng sparked. Seems like it kinda is.
Of course that depends on where "here" is. AI core, countermeasures core, her own body? I'm guessing Rose is a little too fried at the moment to pull any magic tricks, and with the Treasures running over dialup, that leaves A to be the hero... Hopefully he does better with this round of cyber combat.
Note this is the same Watchdog that effectively killed Ceci not too long ago with another one word reply. Ceci has a demonically possessed doll / dragon priest (Skyrim) / terminator stuck inside her own head. An intelligent weapon that might have the intent of annihilating itself as a mission goal, and it just noticed Ceci again.
The *situation* with Aeneas and the data spike was frightening. Now the *character* of Watchdog is scary.
And that character is currently *smiling.*
Fly me to the moon
Let me play among the stars
Let me see if there is life
On Jupiter and Mars
In other words, set me free
In other words, let Me be Me.
Fill me with a song
And let me sing forever more
This is all I long for
All I need forever more
In other words, set me free
In other words, Let Me be Me.
Oh, she is the watchdog... she looks great but broken...
...and I do not like the glint in her eyes...
I hope CeCi will survive the "Attack of the Watchdog"...
PS: Oh, is CeCi suddenly nekkid???
Why does Watchdog have the same hair style as Rose?
I am curious why the best [on-site, ambulatory combat] asset remaining is set to self destruct. Seems...inefficient.
On page Disarming, 25 December 2015 in the second panel, CeCi had a completely NEW Primary objective. Dolly and Lynn were no longer her concern at that point it looks like.
Edit: And yes, Dolly is semi-crippled Tim; however, when Dolly left CeCi she was fine and armed. There didn't SEEM to be anything in her way that she couldn't handle and Dolly wasn't reduced to a hobble. Nor was Acantha one heartbeat from death. Situation has changed, but CeCi (and watchpoodle) don't KNOW that.
It definitely works though. The pronounced artificiality of Watchdog's avatar is completely appropriate.
EDIT NOTE: Bride of Cthulhu probably comes closer than the other one I suggested.
yeah, I'm pretty creeped out by watchdog, no question about it.
I think we all know now what the THIRD Chip held.
The second Chip held the CCM and Watchdog Ceci resided in the proymary synth brain along with most of watchdogs's intellect.
And the spike is what I was referring to. We knew the second processor was the CCM (Watchdog), but Dolly didn't know what the third chip was. And now we do know.
That is probably only ONE of the things CentComm cheated on to get to fit. As she said, she had to cheat to get several of them to fit "http://datachasers.thecomicseries.com/comics/407 - Angel in a box"
So who knows what else is hidden in CeCi?
It has been a busy three weeks (or so).
http://txfellowship.blogspot.com/2016/07/yes.html
The story is set in a post apocalyptic future. Large pockets of civilisation exist. Due to the nature of the apocalypse, there are far more women then men. These city states sometimes get on and sometimes don't. Androids and gynoids are as much a part of the population as humans are. We are coming to the end of the first arc. I'll try not to give any spoilers:
The daughter of the highest ranking human (of the most powerful city state on the American continent) is kidnapped on the eve of her 18th birthday by another city. The teenager's bodyguard wants to save her but does the AI of the city agree?
What I like?
1. The art.
2. The genre (more about that below)
3. Actions have emotional consequences.
4. Characters feel three dimensional
5. Technology is well handled
6. The aliens in the story show a lot of thought (including the fact that you aren't tripping over one every time you turn a corner).
The webcomic format gives the authors the space to tell an expansive story. The comic combines science fiction, action and drama.
It would be difficult to completely destroy the Cece battle frame without doing a bunch of damage to surrounding systems.
That leaves things like her nanobots taking her apart, bit by bit, a mico-thermite reaction system, like what the military uses to cut steel structures (and some say was found in the dust of 911) or a reverse blast from her built in blaster.
Anything bigger would be too dangerous.
I'm in awe...but I also fear for everyone.