Fair warning .. Tomorrow will be a NSFW update just for Valentines day! and we are participating in the Valentine’s Day Sex Drive. started by Sarah Zero webcomic!
In panel 3 I think the lighting for Dr. Silver's face may be a little ... inopportune. Or maybe her face needs to be turned just a smidgen more to the camera so we see something besides the black of her headpiece? Other than that, there is much art-y goodness on the page. ^_^
He did give her an order ("Noctis, call off your shooter"). She disobeyed it. Then he reasoned with her.
The phrasing of "... another collar" is interesting to me. When did they throw off the one they had previously been wearing? Are they all just free agents now?
When your commanding officer in the field says "Do this," it's an order. Never doubt it. If he says, "Please do this," or "Would you do this?" then there may be room for seeking clarification.
As far as I know, there was no "yoke of oppression" to Decimus. The "yoke of oppression" was to the Throne of Nova Roma. Consider the following hypothetical exchange ...
DECMIUS: "Kali, have two Cassians go kill Maxus."
KALI: "I must refuse, Prince. He hasn't been convicted of any crime yet."
HRIST: "Who knew it would be so easy?"
MALATI: "Yeah! Why didn't anyone tell me that was an option?!?"
If this were a branch of the service in 2017, I would have to agree. I am not as certain of how the informality plays out for them, though. You could be right, I don't know. Her inhibitor didn't do anything, so it must still have had room for interpretation.
Not necessarily. If some hidden trigger condition was met with the death of Decimus, they may all just be free agents now and hiding that fact until they were caught at it.
She probably needs a hug right now, but would never show it.
8 years as Marine .. Co : "sargent call off your shooter." That is Definitely an order.!! and Noctis did refuse it..
and she got around it , by stating this is an ongoing threat,!
Noctis is basically saying that the Cassians already have a "master", and they don't intend to let another one (the cyberpath) subvert them.
I feel I really need to point something out: Noctis did not disobey an order.
The Cassians are not military personnel. Maxus is not Noctis's "commanding officer".
The Cassians take commands solely from the House of Livius, the ruler of Nova Roma (in recent years, those two have been one and the same), or whoever is properly designated as the ruler's proxy by recognition of the Senate.
Noctis respects Maxus. She's perfectly willing to cooperate with him and follow his lead, relaying directions to the Cassians to assist in his strategies to reestablish order. However, the current arrangement is informal; until he's installed as regent by the Senate, he can't give her orders.
Well, that does, of course, make a huge difference. However it would seem rather disingenuous of her to place herself 'at his disposal' and relay his orders without speaking up at the time to let him know she had no intention of following them -- especially since she had previously addressed him as "Lord Regent", implying she intended to treat him as if he was the acting Throne. If I were Maxus, I would take offense that she disrespected me so much as to 'play' me like that. Guess we'll have to see how it goes.
However, she did disobey an order. She was apparently able to because it came from outside her chain of command, and was, therefore, not binding on her.
Seeing this, if I were Maxus, I would definitely suggest to Marcus that he take Quintus as Acantha's bodyguard instead of Noctis. Too dangerous to send someone who can't be trusted to abide by any agreements until after a legitimate Regent is confirmed by the Senate. And there will be cyberpaths in New Troy.
Respectfully, Gil, I see two very practical reasons why Noctis is still the better choice. The first one is that she is still bound to House Livius. Protecting Acantha will be an "inhibitor charged" duty to her (as well as one that she would gladly carry out).
Second, and more importantly, as Bad-arse as Quintus might be, he's not a match for a black angel. Noctis on the other hand, might be.
She is apparently bound to follow the orders of the House of Livius -- and there is no one to issue such orders.
The only order that appears to apply to her is 'to put her plan into effect for the greater glory of Nova Roma', and the only two people who could have amended, altered, or clarified that order are dead, while the only successor to either of those is in a medically-induced coma.
She is a complete free-agent, in other words, with an army of Cassians bound to follow her orders. If she were to (not that she would) declare a state of emergency and prevent the Senate from meeting for the duration, she could presumably do anything at all that she could justify with even the most tenuous pretext. (She did, after all, justify the attack on Dr. Silver based on what turned out to be erroneous information.)
Maxus should (in my opinion) be handling her like unexploded ordnance. Especially coming from a culture where 'clockwork' is generally regarded with fear and distrust and considering she's already shown willing to unilaterally abrogate his agreements without notice or warning.
The bodyguard can't do squat if Acantha's surgeon decides to let his scalpel 'slip', dealing with a Black Angel is an irrelevancy. A competent human bodyguard should be plenty to keep Acantha aware of security concerns, prevent her from being easily coerced, and keep off riff-raff in the streets. Anything else is, arguably, the responsibility of the host nation towards their exalted guest anyway. Also remember that a full bodyguard contingent can be sent along only a few hours behind, probably arriving before she is even out of surgery. It's only the Dart's limited seating that restricts her escort in the initial stages.
Also note, CentComm has witnessed this entire little exchange (through Marcus). I can't imagine why she wouldn't persona non grata any and all Cassians, just on general principles at this point. Diplomatic bodyguards have to be acceptable to both nations, or else immunity won't be granted and credentials won't be accepted.
Noctis is basically a free agent to a point, yes, but a trustworthy one and she has proven it. You might not like how she gets things done, but she carefully weighs her actions. Maxus trusts her implicitly as he has shown. Noctis is fighting for a greater cause, too. She is fighting to throw off the yoke of oppression for all androids in Nova Roma. That can be viewed as an altruistic motive too. In Nova Roma, some humans are slaves, but at the same time, ALL androids are. She basically had her life on the line because she wants civil rights, not only for herself, not only for the Cassians, but for ALL androids in Nova Roma. Noctis FIGHTS for android RIGHTS.
I can think of no better representative to go with Acantha and see what android rights look like in New Troy.
Inspirational, is what I call it.
**edit
Noctis is bound to the House of Livius. That is more than just receiving and obeying orders; it also means working for the good of House Livius, and all that entails. That puts a limit on her "free agency".
There are many things in the above, @megados, for which I can find no canon justification, and several with which I outright disagree. But, everyone is entitled to their opinion.
I will point out that being trusted by someone is not the same as being trustworthy. It will also not surprise me if Noctis ends up in New Troy. Ratings of dramatic series which exclusively follow the stories of people who make only good descisions continue to remain inexplicably low. ^_^
I stretch things at times, as you sometimes do, Gilrandir. :-D As you say, we're all entitled to our opinions. However, what I'm portraying is my belief in seeing an emergent being in Noctis. Some of her constraints removed, she now can act on some of the things that before, she could only think about. She managed to assist in what could finally be the winning of a great boon for android-kind (and slavery in general) in Nova Roma. She has had a big part in a revolution that could eventually change the face of human-android coexistence. Rose points out that she refers to already having a Master, and my opinion is that it is one that Noctis believes in: Acantha. She alluded to it a few pages back: "If Nova Roma is to have a future, you hold it's key", spoken to Ada, what seems like an eternity ago. Noctis now has to get to that dart . . . .
We disagree on her trustworthiness, but I think it only stems from our differing individual fundamental understanding of Noctis herself. As I view her, the only ones who need fear or mistrust her, are the ones who, one would do well to mistrust. Her outcomes minimize negative consequences for innocents and allies, as I see it. Dr Silver may disagree with me here, though. She may have a point. Noctis seems to weigh for least bad when there is no good option. Maxus isn't stupid, and he trusts her, because to him, she's a known quantity, and he understands her. They share a bond that both of them value. Maxus also knows that she was instrumental in saving his ass. He won't quickly forget that.
As far as being seen as persona non grata, TeeDee and Marcus just witnessed this whole scenario, and can testify on her behalf. Centcomm, by your extension, has also "listened in". Now that they know what she was fighting for, and if TeeDee and Marcus are half the people I believe them to be, they should, even if grudgingly, acknowledge, Noctis' intentions were to the good. Dr Silver may, however, present a dissenting testimony, but given her propensity of siding with the androids, she may also reluctantly chime in on Noctis' behalf . . . who knows?
Since you address what New Troy and Centcomm might be thinking, I would refer back to Stormwind13's input on this from the last page, and also ask why in the world would they not grant Noctis' access. They are undoubtedly aware of most of the conditions on the ground in Nova Roma and who the players are, if Centcomm has been listening in as you propose. If it is Centcomm's intent to stabilize Nova Roma by whatever means, she has just found one hell of an expedient.
Just my opinion, of course.
**edit -- Also, I am remiss . . . Rose, thank you for filling in some of the gaps! (sorry for the wall of text!)
Maxus and Noctis are allies and Maxus knows it. He knows he can not command hor and even trying to would probably lead to finding new loopholes in his command on her part. Go see this page http://datachasers.thecomicseries.com/comics/1278/ for Maxus acknowledgement of Noctis position.
I'm sure that's the sense in which it was meant, @Morituri. And @Tokyo Rose has already confirmed as much.
Of course, to me it seems like that would actually be less horrific. The worst fear (as expressed by Noctis) is that they'd be mentally enslaved and unable even to feel badly about it, with a sideband that they could potentially be turned against those to whom they have a duty of protection. But (it seems to me) that would be replacing one master with another. If they just added a second master to the first, presumably all the first master's directives protecting the city and the populace would remain in force.
Really, in my opinion, the loose phrasing and inexactitude of expression -- as well as the carefully reasoned concern that their new master would likely be worse than Decimus ^_^ -- just goes to show how mind-numbingly freaked out by the notion that Noctis is. You can tell by the extreme emotional display of her facial expressions. ^_^
That was explained on a previous commentary page, @Sheela: laptop issues included a (hopefully) temporary loss of passwords, so logging in is not on for @Tokyo Rose at the moment.
Cassian Tennyo, a few pages back, had two opaque (blind) eyes. I suspect they can 'see' in other spectrum (spectra?) that the human eye cannot. Their view of the world may be in the infrared like the inside of a darkroom or in a reverse b/w image like a photo negative.
Tokyo Rose again. (I wonder if this Name line will do anything?...)
Tennyo and Astraea have the weird eyes because they do indeed have access to vastly expanded visual capabilities. They can both see infrared and ultraviolet, have thermal imaging, telescopic vision, etc.
Heh! Astraea has a sense of humor like Tennyo. in her case using old video game voice clips to communicate with her superiors and none were the wiser. It would be interesting to learn exactly what the processing power of the Cardassians brains are. Probably could be measured in yottaFLOPS (10=24).
Apropos of nothing, it is strange to me, given her rationale, that Noctis would agree to this, since she knows that there is at least one cyberpath who is currently able to reach from either the Hub, or some other undisclosed location, far enough to go into the tunnels and control Nox's voicebox. It's hard to imagine any plausible path to the rendezvous that would put said cyberpath out of the way of doing the extensive and far-reaching damage she fears.
I suppose it is possible that she thinks the cyberpath couldn't do it without making it obvious in some way that she was at work, which would give Astraea the opportunity to fire. But, as far as I know, DataChasers psionics have no visible power effects by default.
Aeneas, the Three Treasures, and a handful of people in Shinedo know the truth about Tokyo Rose.
Noctis has no idea that Tokyo Rose/the Specialist is anything but a Shinedo A.I. that works in concert with the Three Treasures. She thinks the stunt with Nox's voicebox was done via wireless signal.
So, Cassians are equipped for wireless remote control of their voice boxes. ^_^
I didn't figure she knew Tokyo Rose (aka, 'The Specialist') was a cyberpath. I figured it would be obvious to her that the voder was being hijacked by a cyberpath, even if someone else was then 'speaking into the microphone', as it were. I didn't even know if she knew Tokyo Rose at all, much less that she was an A.I.S. -- that wasn't really established one way or the other (IMHO) during the conversation. She obviously knows The Specialist claims to be associated with Shinedo, because that did come up in the conversation. ^_^
I would make the case that if "The Specialist" is an AI capable of restoring Aeneas and neutralizing Decimus's doomsday device, Noctis is not going to waste much processing time on wondering how she could access Nox's voice box even if it wasn't something that would be normally possible.
I would make the case that if Noctis finds out Tokyo Rose is a thousand-year-old AIS (or something that functions like an AIS) that is also a powerful cyberpath, she would crap her skintight pants.
Except, you know, that whole biology thing. I guess she never got the upgrades....
Frankly, even without a wireless emitter, and the absence of a cyberpath, the AIS's are so unusual, that they might as well have "magic" available to them.
To have a mysterious AIS such as tokyo Rose do strange things is, frankly, to be expected.
I think that's right, Sheela. Remember this is over a thousand years in the future, and if our technology has advanced so dramatically in two hundred years, think of what could happen in a thousand!
No matter how old you are, it is difficult to connect a toaster to the internet if the toaster has no WiFi hardware and no physical connection. You can't use the InterNet to hack a Smith&Wesson revolver and remotely move the safety lever to keep someone from shooting you. (Or maybe you can, but I thought that was telekinesis, not cyberpathy. ^_^)
Why? Dr. Silver should be familiar with G.I.G.O ("Garbage In, Garbage Out"). You can program an android to believe anything you want during initial construction. If some unnamed stranger loaded a whole bunch of hate and fear into an android, that would likely disgust her, but I don't think it would surprise her, given her opinion about typical humans and their irrational anti-android prejudices.
No matter who the source of Noctis' faulty information is, though, we can be reasonably confident Dr. Silver will assume some human was to blame, until it is proven otherwise. ^_^
I'm wondering how Noctis will react, when she learns that Silver helped Ceci, an intelligence that didn't belong in a dark angel, allowing Ceci to overpower Watchdog, and save Aeneas from the spike and Nova Roma (and possibly other cities) from the contingencies.
"Hey Noctis, you Cassians, Aeneas, and Nova Roma would be ash, right now, if not for Doctor Silver."
Lets see if they can also crack the kinky a$$ code to make things interesting xD
I am pretty sure that it is all they need to fully integrate with humans.
When talking to CentComm about the plan, just after rescuing Mira and just before talking to Decimus, she said something to the effect of:*
CALLIOPE: Why Silver? I always have the impression that she's about to stab me in the back whist talking to my face.
I also recall a comment by one of the creators that Calliope resents Silver using her power to make up for her inability to engineer things. Instead of working hard and getting things right.*
At risk of sounding critical, but I just have to ask, is it me or does TeeDee's head seem a little out of scale in the first panel? I've stared at it several times now and I keep coming to the same conclusion.
It's a trick of perspective. The really nice thing about using 3D figures is that unless you intentionally futz with morph/shaping dials, you get consistent results. No "whoops, shit, I drew the proportions all wrong". :D
Did Astraea's comment to Kali come six years ago, or has she been using old video game quotes FOR six years? lol
OTOH, we know that the inhibitors that inhabit the Cassians are built into their central programming/chassis - unlike an inhibitor collar. It makes me wonder if Dr. Silver will (eventually) be able to disarm/deprogramme/remove said inhibitor for the Cassians, and if they WANT them to be disarmed/deprogrammed/removed...
We know they can be reprogrammed without even needing a cyberpath, so it should be possible to reprogram them to "stay quiet", which would be functionally equivalent to removing them, if nothing else. As long as you are authorized to reprogram them in the first place.
re programing aside .. because of Rome's policy on artifolk,, Cassians have to have inhibitors or be destroyed..
so disarm / deprogram , made quiet would be basically a death sentence if found out.!
Also on a separate note. Silver can NOT cyberpathicly remove a inhibitor. Her powers do not work on " intelligent AIs." Also While silver could " nullify the effect of a inhibitor for a time the moment she stopped applying power the hard wired instruction set would take back over. Sorry.
sigpig, I think the way it works is this: As a minor, Acantha couldn't assume the throne until she comes of age. If Maxus were to be named Lord Regent by the Senate, he would rule by proxy until Acantha comes of age, deferring to Acantha's wishes. They could remove the inhibitor requirement altogether. They could also grant personhood, but I don't know if either of those would have to be ratified by the Senate. I don't think any of that would happen while they're still in New Troy. I am often wrong though . . .
Granting Personhood for the Cassians is probably a very bad idea, Megados. Acantha is going to have enough problems getting the city to accept Aeneas (if Arianna's reaction is any indication of how the rank and file feel).
Adding personhood and freedom to the mechanical assassins that have been roaming the streets will cause riots in the streets, and Acantha will be lucky if that's all it causes.
You are quite right. I was only trying to describe a mechanic by which it might work, and showing that it wouldn't happen in the short time they would be in New Troy. Much would have to happen in the interim. I didn't intend to imply it would be an immediate path to take. Before anything like a blanket decree would be considered, stability has to be restored, and it is yet to be determined what part the now restored Aeneas wishes to play. Luckily, Acantha had fostered a relationship with him, and my hope is that that relationship remains. It may be possible that a few may be elevated in the interim, but even that remains to be seen
I don't know if getting an inhibitor physically removed could be done in some kind of surgical procedure, Sheela, but it wouldn't be necessary. It could just be programmed to be "always off".
Your way would work, I think, but it's hella expensive! LOL
Re: Ghostbusters theme, That's one I hadn't seen before. Thx!
Sheela's pretty much nailed it. The Cassians' inhibitors are part of their initial build.
Anyone who watched the (fucking incredible, highly recommended) HBO series "Westworld" might recall a scene wherein it was made explicitly clear that a key piece of body architecture was part of the "control system" for the android hosts. Similar concept.
Rose, I have not seen Westworld, yet . . . it is on my list, and you are the third one to recommend it, so I'll have to move it up on the list.
I have been thinking more about these inhibitors. Logically, wouldn't it be easier to turn it off? It would seem that something with such granular control, providing such definable exceptions would have a master conditional exception that says all conditions are exempt. It would still be there, but rendered inert, no?
I see no reason to remove it, you just program it to be a passthrough so any incoming signal is passed on, unmodified. The equivalent of writing "if(FALSE) then punish() else proceed();" Which, if it is an unintelligent device, a cyberpath should be able to do.
Since we are told they are A.I.S.'s, however, reprogramming an inhibitor is not possible (except when it is) and shutting it down would be killing it, anyway. Just killing A.I.S.'s is wrong. ^_^
Here's the weird thing, though ... androids (as far as I know) have inhibitors to keep them from going 'rogue'. If inhibitors are intelligent, what keeps them from going rogue? And, if you know how to build intelligent inhibitors that can never, ever, go rogue under any circumstances, why not just build the androids that way in the first place and save on the hardware? ^_^
I see what you mean Sheela, I should have been more clear, I guess. Example: Kali's inhibitor was adjusted to deactivate upon Acantha's death. Kali saw Acantha suffer a sword wound which she thought top be fatal, and the condition was met to deactivate the inhibitor, and allow Kali to make her own free choice. What I'm trying to say is this: If an inhibitor can be set to deactivate under a condition, why could it not be set to deactivate under all conditions?
I thought the inhibitor was a hardware module located on the MACCS. Even if it's a module of the synth brain it still would have to have a separate kernel module to set its operating conditions, if Kali is any example.
Gilrandir, you beat me to it LOL
As far as AIS referring to the inhibitor, I thought that referred to it being a functional part of the synth brain. Kali wasn't shut down to reprogram her inhibitor. .
I'd have thought the language would be a little more user friendly by then . . .LOL
I'm as confused as ever. I don't have a way out of the configurable/not configurable paradox.
I am still confused. There was a standing condition in which she was to protect the House of Livius, and Decumus in particular. She had no other orders at the time. Here, Kali's inhibitor is adjusted to a condition where if something happens, (Decimus crosses the line) . . .Later we see that he does. (He stabs Acantha), and the condition is met. Inhibitor shuts down, and she toasts Decimus. I was told that it was an act of her own free will after the condition was met and the inhibitor deactivated. She was able to make her own decision, and she decided that Decimus must go. (Libertatum)
If Kali's inhibitor can be adjusted, it shows inhibitors can be adjusted. If it can be adjusted to deactivate, it can be deactivated, no?
Or I'm missing some piece of critical information . . . or it's <CLASSIFIED>
I hope you know Silver as well as you think you do, because if not, for the next 24 hours, Noctis will appear in an inset window in the corner of every LunaComm terminal in the solar system, slapping her face and saying, "Why are you hitting yourself? ... Why are you hitting yourself? ... Why are you hitting yourself? ..."
In another corner, a bandaged Doc Silver will be bragging about how she personally saved Aeneas, Nova Roma, and the rest of the world from certain obliteration.
Of course, by the time Silver's head clears and she's able to stand up, she might remember that the mission is classified, she actually likes androids, and she can't control androids with her cyberpathy... can she?
It's a "minor clipping issue" beam. I think (Cent can confirm or deny) that the scan graphics are on a transparent plane, which is an independent figure, and that plane is intersecting with Dr. Silver's torso. Cent usually does her absolute best to avoid clipping issues, and the unavoidable ones are usually postworked in Photoshop to clean them up, but sometimes we do overlook things.
Noctis, I knew my faith in you was justified!
*hugs Noctis*
**edit I concur. Great page!
The phrasing of "... another collar" is interesting to me. When did they throw off the one they had previously been wearing? Are they all just free agents now?
I think the collar she refers to is the yoke of oppression under Decimus. It is a metaphorical one, I think.
As far as I know, there was no "yoke of oppression" to Decimus. The "yoke of oppression" was to the Throne of Nova Roma. Consider the following hypothetical exchange ...
DECMIUS: "Kali, have two Cassians go kill Maxus."
KALI: "I must refuse, Prince. He hasn't been convicted of any crime yet."
HRIST: "Who knew it would be so easy?"
MALATI: "Yeah! Why didn't anyone tell me that was an option?!?"
Either way, I'm not retracting my hug!
She probably needs a hug right now, but would never show it.
Another hug? *hugs Noctis again*
and she got around it , by stating this is an ongoing threat,!
Noctis is basically saying that the Cassians already have a "master", and they don't intend to let another one (the cyberpath) subvert them.
I feel I really need to point something out: Noctis did not disobey an order.
The Cassians are not military personnel. Maxus is not Noctis's "commanding officer".
The Cassians take commands solely from the House of Livius, the ruler of Nova Roma (in recent years, those two have been one and the same), or whoever is properly designated as the ruler's proxy by recognition of the Senate.
Noctis respects Maxus. She's perfectly willing to cooperate with him and follow his lead, relaying directions to the Cassians to assist in his strategies to reestablish order. However, the current arrangement is informal; until he's installed as regent by the Senate, he can't give her orders.
However, she did disobey an order. She was apparently able to because it came from outside her chain of command, and was, therefore, not binding on her.
Seeing this, if I were Maxus, I would definitely suggest to Marcus that he take Quintus as Acantha's bodyguard instead of Noctis. Too dangerous to send someone who can't be trusted to abide by any agreements until after a legitimate Regent is confirmed by the Senate. And there will be cyberpaths in New Troy.
Second, and more importantly, as Bad-arse as Quintus might be, he's not a match for a black angel. Noctis on the other hand, might be.
The only order that appears to apply to her is 'to put her plan into effect for the greater glory of Nova Roma', and the only two people who could have amended, altered, or clarified that order are dead, while the only successor to either of those is in a medically-induced coma.
She is a complete free-agent, in other words, with an army of Cassians bound to follow her orders. If she were to (not that she would) declare a state of emergency and prevent the Senate from meeting for the duration, she could presumably do anything at all that she could justify with even the most tenuous pretext. (She did, after all, justify the attack on Dr. Silver based on what turned out to be erroneous information.)
Maxus should (in my opinion) be handling her like unexploded ordnance. Especially coming from a culture where 'clockwork' is generally regarded with fear and distrust and considering she's already shown willing to unilaterally abrogate his agreements without notice or warning.
The bodyguard can't do squat if Acantha's surgeon decides to let his scalpel 'slip', dealing with a Black Angel is an irrelevancy. A competent human bodyguard should be plenty to keep Acantha aware of security concerns, prevent her from being easily coerced, and keep off riff-raff in the streets. Anything else is, arguably, the responsibility of the host nation towards their exalted guest anyway. Also remember that a full bodyguard contingent can be sent along only a few hours behind, probably arriving before she is even out of surgery. It's only the Dart's limited seating that restricts her escort in the initial stages.
Also note, CentComm has witnessed this entire little exchange (through Marcus). I can't imagine why she wouldn't persona non grata any and all Cassians, just on general principles at this point. Diplomatic bodyguards have to be acceptable to both nations, or else immunity won't be granted and credentials won't be accepted.
I can think of no better representative to go with Acantha and see what android rights look like in New Troy.
Inspirational, is what I call it.
**edit
Noctis is bound to the House of Livius. That is more than just receiving and obeying orders; it also means working for the good of House Livius, and all that entails. That puts a limit on her "free agency".
I will point out that being trusted by someone is not the same as being trustworthy. It will also not surprise me if Noctis ends up in New Troy. Ratings of dramatic series which exclusively follow the stories of people who make only good descisions continue to remain inexplicably low. ^_^
We disagree on her trustworthiness, but I think it only stems from our differing individual fundamental understanding of Noctis herself. As I view her, the only ones who need fear or mistrust her, are the ones who, one would do well to mistrust. Her outcomes minimize negative consequences for innocents and allies, as I see it. Dr Silver may disagree with me here, though. She may have a point. Noctis seems to weigh for least bad when there is no good option. Maxus isn't stupid, and he trusts her, because to him, she's a known quantity, and he understands her. They share a bond that both of them value. Maxus also knows that she was instrumental in saving his ass. He won't quickly forget that.
As far as being seen as persona non grata, TeeDee and Marcus just witnessed this whole scenario, and can testify on her behalf. Centcomm, by your extension, has also "listened in". Now that they know what she was fighting for, and if TeeDee and Marcus are half the people I believe them to be, they should, even if grudgingly, acknowledge, Noctis' intentions were to the good. Dr Silver may, however, present a dissenting testimony, but given her propensity of siding with the androids, she may also reluctantly chime in on Noctis' behalf . . . who knows?
Since you address what New Troy and Centcomm might be thinking, I would refer back to Stormwind13's input on this from the last page, and also ask why in the world would they not grant Noctis' access. They are undoubtedly aware of most of the conditions on the ground in Nova Roma and who the players are, if Centcomm has been listening in as you propose. If it is Centcomm's intent to stabilize Nova Roma by whatever means, she has just found one hell of an expedient.
Just my opinion, of course.
**edit -- Also, I am remiss . . . Rose, thank you for filling in some of the gaps! (sorry for the wall of text!)
Of course, to me it seems like that would actually be less horrific. The worst fear (as expressed by Noctis) is that they'd be mentally enslaved and unable even to feel badly about it, with a sideband that they could potentially be turned against those to whom they have a duty of protection. But (it seems to me) that would be replacing one master with another. If they just added a second master to the first, presumably all the first master's directives protecting the city and the populace would remain in force.
Really, in my opinion, the loose phrasing and inexactitude of expression -- as well as the carefully reasoned concern that their new master would likely be worse than Decimus ^_^ -- just goes to show how mind-numbingly freaked out by the notion that Noctis is. You can tell by the extreme emotional display of her facial expressions. ^_^
>_<
Tennyo and Astraea have the weird eyes because they do indeed have access to vastly expanded visual capabilities. They can both see infrared and ultraviolet, have thermal imaging, telescopic vision, etc.
I suppose it is possible that she thinks the cyberpath couldn't do it without making it obvious in some way that she was at work, which would give Astraea the opportunity to fire. But, as far as I know, DataChasers psionics have no visible power effects by default.
Noctis has no idea that Tokyo Rose/the Specialist is anything but a Shinedo A.I. that works in concert with the Three Treasures. She thinks the stunt with Nox's voicebox was done via wireless signal.
I didn't figure she knew Tokyo Rose (aka, 'The Specialist') was a cyberpath. I figured it would be obvious to her that the voder was being hijacked by a cyberpath, even if someone else was then 'speaking into the microphone', as it were. I didn't even know if she knew Tokyo Rose at all, much less that she was an A.I.S. -- that wasn't really established one way or the other (IMHO) during the conversation. She obviously knows The Specialist claims to be associated with Shinedo, because that did come up in the conversation. ^_^
Except, you know, that whole biology thing. I guess she never got the upgrades....
To have a mysterious AIS such as tokyo Rose do strange things is, frankly, to be expected.
Who knows what tricks she has up her sleeve, even without her cyberpathy.
"By. Your. Command."
I wonder what will happen when they meet in New Troy... =P
@alt text: I guess six years ago she stumbled upon an old crate of video games... =P
That has got to be a statement that is gonna shake the foundations of her belief...
No matter who the source of Noctis' faulty information is, though, we can be reasonably confident Dr. Silver will assume some human was to blame, until it is proven otherwise. ^_^
Of course she will; humans are always screwing stuff up. I offer myself as evidence. :-D
"Hey Noctis, you Cassians, Aeneas, and Nova Roma would be ash, right now, if not for Doctor Silver."
"Oops."
I am pretty sure that it is all they need to fully integrate with humans.
By the way, I call the quote from RoboCop.
DR. SILVER: How can I be sure that you won't attack me?
NOCTIS: I promised my Lord Regent.
CALLIOPE: That's a shame.
CALLIOPE: Why Silver? I always have the impression that she's about to stab me in the back whist talking to my face.
I also recall a comment by one of the creators that Calliope resents Silver using her power to make up for her inability to engineer things. Instead of working hard and getting things right.*
*Done from memory so may be inaccurate
Did Astraea's comment to Kali come six years ago, or has she been using old video game quotes FOR six years? lol
OTOH, we know that the inhibitors that inhabit the Cassians are built into their central programming/chassis - unlike an inhibitor collar. It makes me wonder if Dr. Silver will (eventually) be able to disarm/deprogramme/remove said inhibitor for the Cassians, and if they WANT them to be disarmed/deprogrammed/removed...
so disarm / deprogram , made quiet would be basically a death sentence if found out.!
Unless quieting the inhibitor was only after 'fixing' some of their personality flaws...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4OV2UofPFg
There are a couple of others too.
Adding personhood and freedom to the mechanical assassins that have been roaming the streets will cause riots in the streets, and Acantha will be lucky if that's all it causes.
And even then, more subtle software programming may follow over, though that could probably be subverted over time with therapy and the like.
On a sidenote :
When it comes to mechanical music, I've always been a fan of the Ghostbusters Theme melody on 8 floppy drives, it's just so well made.
Your way would work, I think, but it's hella expensive! LOL
Re: Ghostbusters theme, That's one I hadn't seen before. Thx!
Anyone who watched the (fucking incredible, highly recommended) HBO series "Westworld" might recall a scene wherein it was made explicitly clear that a key piece of body architecture was part of the "control system" for the android hosts. Similar concept.
I have been thinking more about these inhibitors. Logically, wouldn't it be easier to turn it off? It would seem that something with such granular control, providing such definable exceptions would have a master conditional exception that says all conditions are exempt. It would still be there, but rendered inert, no?
It's literally part of their backbone.
Since we are told they are A.I.S.'s, however, reprogramming an inhibitor is not possible (except when it is) and shutting it down would be killing it, anyway. Just killing A.I.S.'s is wrong. ^_^
Here's the weird thing, though ... androids (as far as I know) have inhibitors to keep them from going 'rogue'. If inhibitors are intelligent, what keeps them from going rogue? And, if you know how to build intelligent inhibitors that can never, ever, go rogue under any circumstances, why not just build the androids that way in the first place and save on the hardware? ^_^
I thought the inhibitor was a hardware module located on the MACCS. Even if it's a module of the synth brain it still would have to have a separate kernel module to set its operating conditions, if Kali is any example.
Gilrandir, you beat me to it LOL
As far as AIS referring to the inhibitor, I thought that referred to it being a functional part of the synth brain. Kali wasn't shut down to reprogram her inhibitor. .
I'd have thought the language would be a little more user friendly by then . . .LOL
I'm as confused as ever. I don't have a way out of the configurable/not configurable paradox.
That won't happen with Noctis' inhibitor.
If Kali's inhibitor can be adjusted, it shows inhibitors can be adjusted. If it can be adjusted to deactivate, it can be deactivated, no?
Or I'm missing some piece of critical information . . . or it's <CLASSIFIED>
I am not speaking of Noctis' inhibitor.
In another corner, a bandaged Doc Silver will be bragging about how she personally saved Aeneas, Nova Roma, and the rest of the world from certain obliteration.
Of course, by the time Silver's head clears and she's able to stand up, she might remember that the mission is classified, she actually likes androids, and she can't control androids with her cyberpathy... can she?
Funny how she's applying force to someone's throat, yet she's totally calm and collected, hell, even polite.
Curious though what kind of (scan?) beam the bots emit that pass through Dr. Silver and come out the same on the other side?
Also, I'm guessing a quote she'd use is "all your base are belong to us?"
Holding on to the ground, is useful when all else fails.
wcgw?
:) I love you guys.
And you all thought I was joking when I mentioned the possibility that a single cyberpath could destroy the world. ^_^
Those rioters are using combustible lemons, aren't they?