Comic 1515 - Enough For One Day

30th Jul 2017, 9:00 PM
Enough For One Day
Average Rating: 5 (19 votes)
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Comments:

DLKmusic 30th Jul 2017, 9:04 PM edit delete reply

wow... Dolly may not swear much, but when she does, Rose takes notes for future use!
Centcomm 31st Jul 2017, 11:10 PM edit delete reply

Shes got some good ones shes picked up here and there.
antrik 1st Aug 2017, 8:19 AM edit delete reply
Well, she *has* been around TeeDee in the past :-)
megados 30th Jul 2017, 9:08 PM edit delete reply

Ahaha, nice dodge! :D

But it was alluded to some time ago, so it's not unexpected that Dolly will be staying as she is for the foreseeable future.

And yes, the explanation would require walls of technobable.
KarToon12 30th Jul 2017, 9:32 PM edit delete reply

*in a Dalek voice*

Explain! EXPLAIN!!!
Centcomm 30th Jul 2017, 10:03 PM edit delete reply

hahah ok win! nice one!
jas 31st Jul 2017, 4:56 AM edit delete reply

That was awesome, KarToon! So easy to imagine! :)
MikeLinPA 31st Jul 2017, 5:19 AM edit delete reply
To put it simply, you're new upgrade is not backwards compatible. There is no going back.
Mister Black 31st Jul 2017, 9:30 AM edit delete reply

Perhaps *ELABORATE! ELABORATE!* ??
megados 31st Jul 2017, 9:46 AM edit delete reply

Haha, Mister Black, yes!
Haegan2005 30th Jul 2017, 9:42 PM edit delete reply

This had me laughing hard. Good job Rose!
Timotheus 30th Jul 2017, 9:53 PM edit delete reply

I believe the reasoning can be summed up fairly concisely. Your operating system has been reformatted and sped up so most normal systems cannot handle it, your peripherals have been increased by a couple orders of magnitude and are now fully integrated into your neural systems so you now need a chassis that can support them, once you've expanded a neural network it's hard to shrink it without damage to the core program, and we may have changed some of core programming language during the transfer. (All inferred from the transfer scene dialog)
megados 30th Jul 2017, 10:03 PM edit delete reply

Pretty good but "shrinking without damage to the core program" is debatable. It has been inferred that the core program, aka Dolly, is unchanged. Technically, she would lose some sensory functionality, and some peripheral truncation, but Dolly would still be Dolly. There has to be more to it than that.
cattservant 30th Jul 2017, 10:13 PM edit delete reply

Perhaps Dolly is too human now?
The Sunny Side of Life 30th Jul 2017, 10:59 PM edit delete reply
Quick question on Troy law: 1. Does the 100 year 'retirement' law still apply to Dolly in her new form? Does the retirement law apply to those classified as robots?
Tokyo Rose 31st Jul 2017, 1:03 AM edit delete reply

1 - Yes
2 - No
Tokyo Rose 31st Jul 2017, 3:25 PM edit delete reply

Bwahahaha!!
Ictuan 31st Jul 2017, 7:04 PM edit delete reply
@Stormwind13, I so loved that movie. Every time I watched it I'd notice some craziness going on in the background that I missed the first dozen times I watched it. :-D
Timotheus 31st Jul 2017, 1:49 AM edit delete reply

My theory is the functioning core program is spread out through the neural network to facilitate interfacing with all the sub routines and peripherals. It then becomes very difficult to separate the core program from the larger network without damaging or losing some of it. You can save the central personality and memories, but you'll still lose some of the total person. Sort of like moving a tree, you can dig out a root ball but you'll still lose some roots.
It's comparable to how Teedee was worried about the flash drive transfer and whether Ada was still "Ada". With the flash drive you're transferring everything (hopefully) to a comparable (or greater) matrix. It's when you're downsizing that things get worrisome.
In Dolly's case there are no comparable bodies at the moment to transfer to.
megados 31st Jul 2017, 5:08 AM edit delete reply

I have a theory, but it works differently.

Dolly's new body is quite advanced over her old one. The sensory package is much more granular, finer motor control, biologicals etc., etc. To accommodate all this, the modules interfacing these new peripherals have to be more sophisticated and granular as well. As we work our way up, the MACCS will have to have similarly been augmented. We could think of it as going from an eight-bit sensory system, for example, to a sixty four-bit system. The other upgrades can be similarly described. I'll just talk about the tactile sensory system here. When we think of the difference here, the pressure feedback, and the temperature feedback, for instance would be more context specific, much more granular, as well as there being a much greater sensing point density. Just for one contact point, such as a fingertip, this means a much greater data throughput, compared to her old body. That represents, in a small way, the differences between the old and the new. The tip of the iceberg, so-to-speak.

Dolly's core program, containing Dolly's consciousness, has to interface with whatever body she has. Her core program has to have modules which interface with the MACCS and have the data throughput capability comparable with whatever systems a particular body has. These modules are the interface point between the actual consciousness that is Dolly, and the various senses, and motor controls which are part of the body. Her consciousness and these modules, together comprise her core program.

If one goes back and looks at the pages where Dolly migrates to this new body, she passes a number of checkpoints. These are actually a good representation of how I think this works. As I see it, as Dolly migrates to her new body she is recompiled. the process is difficult, because this is being done on the fly, with her consciousness still active. The parser and interpreter have to make distinctions about whether a data set is part of consciousness or part of an interface module. The old "eight-bit" modules are discarded, and replaced with new "sixty four-bit" ones. This means that initially, Dolly's consciousness contains only a small fraction of the register points it takes to fully integrate into the new body. This also explains why she has to "get used to" the new body, and as she practices with it, the new register points are organically generated within the synth brain. Once she is fully integrated into the new body, these organically generated register points are part of Dolly's consciousness. They allow Dolly to fully utilize, and experience the new body's capabilities.

It is one thing to recompile Dolly and leave some register points blank, but once those have been "filled in" by Dolly's experience with the new body, they are part of her actual consciousness. It would be very difficult, if not impossible to recompile Dolly at this point and reduce the number of register points, because it would result in part of her consciousness becoming "pixelated". Dolly would no longer be Dolly.

What this ultimately means, is that it's not hard to upgrade an android's body, but it becomes quite difficult to downgrade, and the greater the downgrade, the more difficult it becomes.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but it is very difficult, and carries a great risk of damaging or destroying the consciousness of the individual.

FWIW, that's my take on it. Poke away, I guess :)
Stormwind13 31st Jul 2017, 5:30 AM edit delete reply

You might be onto something, megados. I can't do searches on this little phone.
Sheela 31st Jul 2017, 5:58 AM edit delete reply

I like the concept of her conciousness becoming "pixelated", kinda like shrinking a big image into a much, much, much, smaller one.
It's similar, but not the same image.
Dolly would no longer be Dolly.
megados 31st Jul 2017, 6:55 AM edit delete reply

Exactly, Sheela.
Highlander55 2nd Aug 2017, 1:51 PM edit delete reply
@ Megados.. That's saying IF she is reliant on MACCS to the extent like other Androids. We have no idea what her full upgrade encompassed from Calli. That would have to come from the ones telling the story.
Hornet 31st Jul 2017, 6:15 AM edit delete reply
think that would depend on whether the core was still in a glass jar and everything else accessed it through ports (15 pin mini video port). Or has the integration moved to a more direct access system (integrated video).
Sheela 31st Jul 2017, 6:28 AM edit delete reply

@Hornet :
Core-inna-Jar would only work with Read Only methods, which might be useful in a robot, but not in an Android.
Androids are more like two-way-jars that can be expanded.
Frankly ... the jars are a lie, they only exist in their minds.
megados 31st Jul 2017, 6:33 AM edit delete reply

To be honest, I would much rather have an explanation that simply says "It's complicated", than one so full of holes that you could use it as a sieve. I can maintain my suspension of disbelief. :D
antrik 31st Jul 2017, 1:23 PM edit delete reply
I'm also thinking along the lines of her personality having been expanded into a larger capacity, making it tricky to compress it back without loosing important bits...

There is an additional aspect to consider though: since this frame is such an experimental one-off design, it's quite possible that the structure is simply incompatible with other advanced designs, and it wouldn't be possible to cross-grade her personality even if other new frames could match the capacity...
Kiddeagle 31st Jul 2017, 7:39 PM edit delete reply
It breaks down to this: Your electronic, binary, hardware brain was transferred to a non-binary, protein, wetware brain. once there it expanded and can no longer be converted back into a simple, binary program again with out major loss of data.
antrik 1st Aug 2017, 8:23 AM edit delete reply
I don't think the fundamental operating principle changed with the body swap? It was a synth-brain, it's still a synth-brain... Whatever that is ;-)
cattservant 30th Jul 2017, 9:57 PM edit delete reply

Entropy rears it's unavoidable head.
Sevian 30th Jul 2017, 9:59 PM edit delete reply

Haha.. Kind of want to see the whole room in a state of awe from that statement.
mjkj 30th Jul 2017, 10:34 PM edit delete reply

*lol* wise decision, Lynn...

Yeah, no downgrade possible, Dolly...

*lol* @alt text...

xpacetrue 30th Jul 2017, 10:40 PM edit delete reply

Umm.... I'm confused.

I was under the impression, from previous comic pages and comments from The Duo, that transferring an andy's mind to a new body is risky - even when both frames are more-or-less standard issue. And by "risky", I mean that there's a distinct - very much non-zero - probability that the android's mind could be permanently lost in the attempt.

I get that Dolly doubts the usefulness of her current frame in performing guardian duties for the Taylors. However, if there's a good chance that she would die attempting a body swap, why would she ask for this?

Even more puzzling, why would she suggest that she make a temporary transfer quote, "While you work on this frame"? This implies that she would transfer back after Calli fixes (and, perhaps, modifies) her current frame. Making two transfers (temp frame and back again) would likely incur twice the risk of death as a single swap.

Further, I can't help but read between the lines in Dolly's dialog. And I get the impression that she planned to make a permanent swap to a 'more suitable' frame, not a temporary one. Why would she be disingenuous to Calliope of all people? Just spit it out: You don't want your current body and you want something more appropriate for your guardian role. Though, I can see that she'd have to phrase it delicately. Saying that would likely hurt Calli's feelings.
All the Pickles 31st Jul 2017, 1:12 AM edit delete reply

Given all the body swaps and upgrades mentioned along the way, I have a feeling the process is normally a lot safer and easier than what we've seen. We saw a transfer from a model 2 body with nonstandard brain upgrades into the prototype model 5 body. That was much more involved than the transfers between model 3/4 bodies that most androids do. The other two transfers we saw were from backups hastily made just before or after death, so the complications Teedee and Ada experienced could most likely be avoided during a non-emergency transfer.
Tokyo Rose 31st Jul 2017, 1:29 AM edit delete reply

Under normal circumstances, the risk is minimal. A human comparison would be the odds of going under/coming out of general anesthesia--there's always a non-zero chance that Something will go wrong, but the situation is usually controlled to a pretty fine degree. Dolly has changed bodies before without a hitch (such as years ago, back in the days when she was in the field with Calli and Fallon).

Dolly meant "while you work on this frame" in a far more general sense--more "while you refine this concept". This is a prototype body; it just got a beta test in a big way, but it's by no means a completed project. Calli may come to the conclusion that the best way to proceed is to build another frame, incorporating the new data and refinements. Getting to the point of completed-project could easily take years, and during that time, Dolly doesn't want to be stuck in a body that can't perform her Guardian role. But yes, saying it that bluntly would hurt Calli's feelings, and Dolly doesn't really want to do that.
Sheela 31st Jul 2017, 5:53 AM edit delete reply

To be fair though, the body she's in now, is only a little bit damaged, it's not like it's about to completely malfunction, so she might as well stay in it until a better frame is available.

And it's not like the body isn't capable at all, it's just *less* capable at fighting. I seem to remember some gutters finding that out the hard way.
megados 31st Jul 2017, 7:59 AM edit delete reply

Also, let's not forget that she did rather well against Kali with this body, especially considering she isn't fully acclimated yet, and Kali was a tank.
sigpig 31st Jul 2017, 1:29 PM edit delete reply

IMHO, Kali was seriously holding back. It wasn't until Douchie stabbed Acantha that she kicked out Dolly's knee. Kali could have done that at any time (the speed of the strike was incredible, IIRC), or she could have simply dispatched Dolly easily.
Tokyo Rose 31st Jul 2017, 4:48 PM edit delete reply

Kali was not holding back; she could not hold back, as Dolly's attack on Decimus had triggered Kali's directives to protect him. Dolly's armor and combat experience played a large role in her being able to hold her ground as well as she did. However, unarmored, she'd have been fucked. In her previous body? She'd have won.

Dolly actually is not legally able to perform as a Guardian at this time. New Troy regulations are strict on the standards for that job role, and Dolly's current body doesn't meet them. (A temporary exemption can be applied for, based on her circumstances, but otherwise, Dolly's going to be on involuntary vacation until she can get into a body that actually meets the requirements.)
megados 31st Jul 2017, 5:41 PM edit delete reply

*quietly absorbs new information*
antrik 31st Jul 2017, 5:50 PM edit delete reply
With every new comment on these matters, I have a harder time putting things into perspective. In an earlier comment a few months back, you stated that Noctis could easily defeat a room with an assortment of military units (combat drones, armed androids) -- implying the Cassians are pretty much super-powered. Kali being the most senior of all Cassians, I assumed her combat prowess would at least match Noctis. And now you are saying that Dolly -- a civilian guardian -- could actually beat Kali, if she was in her old body? I.e. Dolly could easily defeat a room full of military combat drones?...

I hope I am misunderstanding something here, since otherwise this is seriously straining my suspension of disbelief...
megados 31st Jul 2017, 6:35 PM edit delete reply

Kali was not most senior; she was in command, but she was younger, (30 to Noctis' 58). I do not think Kali would have been able to defeat Noctis. Noctis is extremely fast, lethal, and has a lot of experience. Kali was good, but not that good, I don't think. Kali's origin isn't clear to me. I seem to remember she was once Parvati. Kali was princeps, I believe, because of her unique directives regarding the Livius family. None of the other Cassians have directives specifically tied to the house of Livius, that I know of.

Of course, I am often wrong . . .
Tokyo Rose 1st Aug 2017, 1:01 AM edit delete reply

I am not saying Dolly could defeat a roomful of military combat drones. I am saying that in that situation, if Dolly had been in her previous body, she would have defeated Kali. It would have been very close, it would have been very brutal, and she might not have walked away from the fight under her own power, but Kali wouldn't have walked away at all.

Kali's combat experience was limited, as she was primarily intended to guard the royal family; she also had administrative duties to perform in her role as princeps (along with babysitting Decimus), which prevented her from spending as much time practicing and training as the other Cassians did. Dolly has more actual combat experience and is much more current on her personal training and practice. Also, Kali was running on limited power at the time of the fight and did not have the kind of gear that Dolly was using. On top of that, New Rome's android tech is a good generation or so behind New Troy's; Dolly's stock frame was more advanced than Kali's, and Dolly had been modified to pretty much the upper limit of "civilian use".
guest 1st Aug 2017, 8:36 AM edit delete reply
Domo Arigato Sempai. bows..
antrik 1st Aug 2017, 8:43 AM edit delete reply
@Tokyo Rose thanks, that does clear up a lot of things :-)

There is one bit I'm still confused about though: in the past, it has been said that while the Cassians should theoretically be behind Troy technologically, "they cheat" (without disclosing in what way) -- didn't that apply to Kali?
megados 1st Aug 2017, 11:47 AM edit delete reply

Thanks Rose! That fills in quite a few blanks. :)

*edit: Some of that information foreshadows some sticky conversations ahead. Dolly is getting quite a laundry list of issues she will have to address.
guest 31st Jul 2017, 7:51 PM edit delete reply
@Tokyo Rose : /bow ,,please enlighten us.. how is a New troy type 3, better that a New Rome Cassian close assault.?? what up grade made the difference?
an are you saying IF they had the same body type,(an both integrated) that because of Dolly's experience, Dolly would have won..??
Arigato
Sheela 31st Jul 2017, 8:33 PM edit delete reply

First off, Dolly's old body was heavily modified for Guardian duty.
It was probably modified more heavily than the Cassians.

As for the fight between Dolly and Kali, we have to remember that Kali was almost out of juice, from forcing open all the doors - Kali was not at her best.
Tokyo Rose 1st Aug 2017, 1:03 AM edit delete reply

See above
antrik 1st Aug 2017, 8:49 AM edit delete reply
@guest while Dolly had an old base frame, she has been upgraded by Calliope with a lot of new stuff over the years -- supposedly including some bleeding-edge technology not yet generally available. What's more, it has been said that everything else being equal, the older frames are indeed *better* suited for combat in general than the newer ones... So her frame being old, did not at all mean it was obsolete.
Centcomm 1st Aug 2017, 2:59 PM edit delete reply

as they say the diffrence is in the blood and bones... A top tier boxer wont ever win punching a tank. ( like a actual M60 thing with treads. ) it just doesn't register.

Dollys old frame was armored and full metal from bones to sub dermal plating. She had a outer " skin " That was soft some areas more than others. She had no genitals she had no " weak spots. " The two bruses on Dollys collarbones is from being hammer fisted by Kali. Now Dollys body is like that of a top teir human athlete. She is blindingly fast. But she feels pain. and her joints can be " overstressed " . Kali was a tank period. her skeleton was metal her muscles were fiber bundles that didnt care. the only thing she was lacking was recovery time.

And yes Dolly is more experienced in hand to hand. Both have similar training.

Ill add more perhaps after talking to Rose.
megados 1st Aug 2017, 4:17 PM edit delete reply

That helps make it clearer, Centcomm, thanks. The more I think about it, the more I can understand Dolly's frustration. On one hand, she realizes that this body, while much better in some ways, such as you mention, plus just allowing her to more fully experience life, the downside is that it isn't as suitable for her guardian role. She is upset by that, but on the other hand, Calli gave her that as a gift, a token of their high esteem - out of love and thanks. She doesn't want to hurt Calli, especially now with everything else going on. Plus, now she is finding out that there isn't a path by which she can change it, at least for the time being. At the moment, she is stuck between a rock and a hard spot. If that isn't frustrating enough, she still has to settle up with CentComm over being sabotaged, and about CeCi.

Dolly has a lot on her plate. If it were me, I'd be kinda bummed about now.
Stormwind13 31st Jul 2017, 1:32 PM edit delete reply

I've reached the conclusion megados that Kali was in third gear though. Dolly was running flat out and giving as good as she got from Kali until Acantha went down. Then Kali kicked it into FOURTH gear and Dolly didn't have an answer.
Timotheus 31st Jul 2017, 1:59 PM edit delete reply

@Stormwind - I agree with your description. Prior to the fall of Acantha, Kali was fighting all out as a normal warrior and Dolly was matching her. After her (Kali's) limits were dropped, Kali went into berserker mode (considering she would self immolate shortly thereafter) and that Dolly couldn't keep up with.
megados 31st Jul 2017, 2:37 PM edit delete reply

I also have to agree that Kali wasn't going all out. The thing that struck me, though, was that Kali seemed impressed: "It as been a long time since I had seen my own blood". We also have no basis of comparison of how that fight would have gone if Dolly still had her old body. I think Kali would have prevailed either way, but my point is that Dolly did well.
velvetsanity 30th Jul 2017, 10:58 PM edit delete reply

@alt_text but I *like* poking holes! And I so rarely get to attempt it! *pout*
Sheela 31st Jul 2017, 3:56 AM edit delete reply

I .. I would *never* do such an underhanded thing as to poke holes in your explanations!

*looks innocent*
Deoxy 31st Jul 2017, 6:25 AM edit delete reply
"I .. I would *never* do such an underhanded thing as to poke holes in your explanations!"

Of course you wouldn't! That's just ridiculous!

For you, the proper verb is not "poke", it's "chew".
Sheela 31st Jul 2017, 8:52 AM edit delete reply

*grins*
antrik 31st Jul 2017, 1:10 PM edit delete reply
@velveltsanity exactly! Poking holes is half the reason we read it in the first place... ;-)

GOTTA FEED YOUR AUDIENCE, Ms. Artist! :-P
antrik 31st Jul 2017, 1:59 PM edit delete reply
On a more serious note, I really believe these technical (and other) details we can argue over are the reason for this overly active comment section... It might sound like criticism sometimes, but it's not really meant to be :-)

If I actually had issues with things that aren't entirely plausible on serious consideration, I couldn't enjoy any science-fiction ever... Or in fact most other works of fiction, such as pretty much all romance. Rather, I just look at most genres of fiction as various types of fairy tales -- obviously not realistic, but nonetheless pretty stories.

(The only thing I do actually take issue with, is if someone insists they are painting a plausible scenario, even when it clearly isn't...)
Rashala 30th Jul 2017, 11:54 PM edit delete reply

Translation. Dolly we upgraded you to windows 10000000000 version 1.0. And it doesn't let you revert or transfer the licence to new hardware.
Tokyo Rose 31st Jul 2017, 1:31 AM edit delete reply

This is why being on the "beta release channel" is a venture for the more daring among us. :D
Sheela 31st Jul 2017, 3:59 AM edit delete reply

Ugh .. Windows 1.0 was crap ... 3.1 was much better.
Fairportfan 30th Jul 2017, 11:56 PM edit delete reply

DOLLY! Language!
Sheela 31st Jul 2017, 4:00 AM edit delete reply

Aw, c'mon Fairport, that's not fair ... she hasn't even said "Microsoft" yet!
Stormwind13 31st Jul 2017, 5:03 AM edit delete reply

Shows how 'human' Dolly has become, I think. When she gets frustrated, she lets it show now.
megados 1st Aug 2017, 2:04 PM edit delete reply

That's true, Stormwind13, it seems like ever since her fight with Kali, she let's her frustration show more. Either she feels more human, or feels more of the frustrations that humans face.
Stormwind13 1st Aug 2017, 2:56 PM edit delete reply

I think the latter. Dolly 'failed' in her job. And got crippled in the process. So has a lot to be frustrated by.

Dolly showed SOME of her frustration before. When dealing with CeCi (::cries a little:: still miss her) early on. She was continually frustrated on this mission. I think it has built to serious annoyance levels and lead to her swearing. She has found out the 'joys' of being human, I think. :-D
Just_IDD 31st Jul 2017, 1:03 AM edit delete reply
Could somebody clue Us mobile users into the alt text? We have no way to hover the mouse.
All the Pickles 31st Jul 2017, 1:16 AM edit delete reply

I know the feeling. Going through the archive on mobile I ran into quite a few pages where people were discussing the alt text without any way for me to see what it said. On this page it says:
Writer: "Why does the protoscript have a block that's just 'explain' over and over? No technobabble?" Artist: "Do you WANT to give the readers stuff to poke holes in?" Writer: "... never mind."
Sheela 31st Jul 2017, 4:04 AM edit delete reply

They have this weird idea that we, the readers, would poke holes in their technobabble !

We would never do this !
All the Pickles 31st Jul 2017, 4:12 AM edit delete reply

No, most certainly not! *nonchalantly hides a variety of sharp objects*
Stormwind13 31st Jul 2017, 4:43 AM edit delete reply

Sorry puppy but that doesn't ring true. There seem to be individuals that seem to LIVE to poke holes in anything seemingly scientific said. :-p
guest 31st Jul 2017, 8:35 AM edit delete reply
? sooo Sheela.?? have you Not read all this wall o text .?? .. not mentioning any names .. there's at least 3 who was poking seconds after the page posted...

hehe : good puppy have a shoe...
Sheela 31st Jul 2017, 8:55 AM edit delete reply

Nope ... nooo ... not a chance !
I don't read walls of text, I *bite* them ! :D

ooOhh, shoe! *promptly gets buried in the backyard*
guest 31st Jul 2017, 9:01 AM edit delete reply
LOL.. so worth loosing a GOOD shoe..!!
Sheela 31st Jul 2017, 3:39 PM edit delete reply

LOL, if you're loosing one of your own shoes, you're doing it wrong!

Loosing someone elses shoes, on the other hand.
Raphael 1st Aug 2017, 5:26 PM edit delete reply
For the alt-text on mobile, if you have an android phone, simply hold down your finger on the image until you see the pop-up which has the alt text.

(don't have an Apple product so no idea if this works on iOS)
All the Pickles 1st Aug 2017, 6:23 PM edit delete reply

That might be only for the newest phones or for certain models. I have an Android phone a year or two old and the popup only has the URL and some options (view image, save image, etc.).
Raphael 1st Aug 2017, 10:17 PM edit delete reply
Hmmm, may be because I'm using Chrome browser, not the default browser (phone is a S7)
velvetsanity 2nd Aug 2017, 2:40 AM edit delete reply

It does indeed work on iOS
Greenwood Goat 31st Jul 2017, 3:11 AM edit delete reply
I am now imagining a fantasy scenario where Cent-Comm produces a fully-rendered traversable model of her simulation and gives a viewing to cast members past and present...

Nox: This is so... cathartic! Die, you meatsacks!

Malati: Disaster horror at its best! Oh, look, there's me leading the defence of the gladiatorial arena, and- oh nooooo! Linus Maximus - right in the face, too! :-p

Teedee: *munches popcorn* :-)

Kusanagi: This is highly instructive. Thank you for inviting me to this viewing, Cent-Comm-san.

Tokyo Rose & Malati: *wait for particularly intense sequence of massacring* *steal some of Teedee's popcorn while she's engrossed in the slaughter* ;-)

>:=)>
Sheela 31st Jul 2017, 4:06 AM edit delete reply

I would like to revisit the Murderturd moments then, if nothing else, then to see how many different ways it could have taken out the defensive gun placement. :)
chk 31st Jul 2017, 7:12 AM edit delete reply

Man. Some androids are never satisfied.
Stormwind13 31st Jul 2017, 8:24 AM edit delete reply

Dolly came out second in a fight, chk. She (and her charges) only survived it because the winner didn't want her dead.

Still, Dolly is convinced that if she had her old body, she would have fared better. I'm no longer sure of that myself. I think Kali was the superior warrior in THAT fight, regardless of which body Dolly inhabited.
guest 31st Jul 2017, 9:00 AM edit delete reply
i agree.. even if they had the same body type, Kali would walk away,( unless Dolly somehow got a lucky strike ) .. Kali was a Cassian first then a guardian vs Dolly was always a guardian with combat training...

Cassian = Close ASSault i ANdroid
Stormwind13 31st Jul 2017, 1:44 PM edit delete reply

Actually, I don't think that is the way the name is defined, guest.

Of course, there doesn't seem to be just ONE 'history' of the name Cassian so I can't be sure.

Cassian seems to be from Latin with the meaning of hollow or empty. I could see the Nova Romans doing that to the Cassians, calling them hollow or empty of true life.

It was used as a MALE name in the 4th and 5th century. There is a patron saint of stenographers from the St. Cassians.

Cassian also is said to be a Welsh name, meaning curly-headed. It was still a boy's name.

Tokyo Rose 31st Jul 2017, 3:33 PM edit delete reply

Actually, when we were trying to come up with a name for the sinister scary androids as a group and went digging through history, I latched onto this guy's name.
antrik 1st Aug 2017, 8:54 AM edit delete reply
So the Cassians were named after Cassius, because they were created to protect the throne from guys like Cassius? And in the end, it was their very principal who became Cassius herself?...

Whoa. And all this time, that irony has been totally lost on us ignorant lot...
Tokyo Rose 1st Aug 2017, 3:23 PM edit delete reply

@antrik

Pretty much. Little details like that make me giggle.
megados 1st Aug 2017, 4:45 PM edit delete reply

Oho! Nice touch! I had not realized that.
chk 31st Jul 2017, 10:27 AM edit delete reply

She wouldn't have survived in her old body.
megados 31st Jul 2017, 2:41 PM edit delete reply

You could be right, chk. She might have a little better speed and control with the new one. Just guessing here.
Sheela 31st Jul 2017, 3:42 PM edit delete reply

I think Cassian could also be translated to "empty shell", which would be fitting.
Rms2000 31st Jul 2017, 1:03 PM edit delete reply

Aww. I wanted to hear the explanation.
Tokyo Rose 1st Aug 2017, 4:22 AM edit delete reply

Suffice to say that Calli is getting into highly technical territory. Terri and I have read a shit-ton of interesting and odd stuff, but we sure don't hold degrees in multiple interrelated fields of study. :D
Sheela 1st Aug 2017, 2:58 PM edit delete reply

I like Megados' idea of "pixellation" when "scaling down" a consciousness, it makes a lot of sense.

Especially since you can use image editing as an easy metaphor.
Basically, take a photo at 2k x 2k pixels, then scale it down to 200 x 200 pixels, then look at it ... it's a similar picture, but so much data has been lost that it's not the same picture anymore ... even if you scaled it back up to 2k x 2k, it still wouldn't become better.
Similar, but not the same ... Dolly would not be Dolly anymore.
Calliope do not want to kill the Dolly she knows, by compression.
antrik 31st Jul 2017, 1:38 PM edit delete reply
A rather circumspect way for Cent-Comm to say that Lynn likely has valuable intel...
Tokyo Rose 31st Jul 2017, 3:35 PM edit delete reply

Is Cent-Comm saying that Lynn may have valuable intel, or is Cent-Comm talking down to her? Hmmm...
antrik 31st Jul 2017, 6:10 PM edit delete reply
Does it have to be either-or?...
Ictuan 31st Jul 2017, 7:16 PM edit delete reply
Of course Cent-Comm is talking down to Lynn over her existence Cent-Comm is probably dressed down hundreds or thousands of individuals with more life experience than Lynn. However, Lynn has first hand knowledge of the inner workings of New Rome, that would certainly be valuable data the Cent-Comm would want, even if all it did was confirm what intel she got from others who were there because of the rescue mission.
knuut 31st Jul 2017, 9:47 PM edit delete reply
I'm surprised that Cent-Comm hasn't at least tried to actively d-brief Lynn. Perhaps Calliope is blocking her.
Stormwind13 1st Aug 2017, 4:36 PM edit delete reply

I'm wondering if CentComm is waiting for the psych evaluation. Is Lynn 'stable' enough to provide RELIABLE information right now, knuut? I mean, this is the next day, from comments by Rose (Part of the Plan from 17 July 2017). So not that much time has gone by.
knuut 1st Aug 2017, 9:04 PM edit delete reply
D-brief is about collecting and recording data. It does not need 'stability". Interpreting that data to create reliable information comes later.
Stormwind13 2nd Aug 2017, 7:19 AM edit delete reply

True knuut. I guess I'm wondering if it would be so emotionally charged to effectively be of null value, in CentComm's opinion? Or possibly that because of her emotional state, trying to do the debrief might cause more harm than the value of the intelligence gained?

We may never know for sure. Even if we did, it might not make sense to a human but be blindingly obvious to an AI like CentComm.
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