Interesting. An Android on the council. If they are truly to be considered citizens then this has to be done. The question is, how does she regard the Taylor family and centcom? I suspect that the Taylor family has the visibility of a vice president. You know there is one, but you can't remember who it is.
That's funny. I'm 46, so I first voted in the 1990 election. While it wasn't a presidential election year, off the top of my head, Dan "Potahtoe" Quail, Al "Internet" Gore, "Peppered him good" Cheney, Joe "No media attention" Biden, and that transwoman transphobe. I do know who they is, but they's been trumped by the president enough their name is eluding me at the moment.
That said, I agree with you on the impression the Taylors are probably the same visibility level, more or less. How well you know them depends on your level of political interest, but it's a few orders of magnitude less critical than who the president is.
A point to ponder... The situation in the datachasers universe really is not like today (even if you take a really cynical point of view!!). On the one side you have CentComm and her ilk, truly powerful entities, who have human and android stewards/chatelaines/shire-reves, so to speak. A word from them has great weight, either way. Then you have an elected council, now with android membership. Who has the final word? Practically, it would be CentComm, in the final analysis. Pragmatically, the Council would do a great deal of talking with CentComm and her servants to find a reasonable path. Not a democracy as we would like to understand it, but something new.
more like a constitutional monarchy than anything else, there's a "senate" type body but the king has the final say, however a wise king listens very carefully to what the senate and by extension his subjects, have to say
Things are looking up all around, and TeeDee even agreed to see the specialist!
They're looking up for Kelly too, (I'm glad) and there's an android representative on the council! Actually, now that I think about it, I'm kind of surprised that in NT there hasn't been until now.
I would imagine having a doll shot in the face would be like breaking a pair of reading glasses to Cent-Comm. She doesn't need them all the time, and has LOTS of spares within easy reach. Very expensive reading glasses, though, regardless of the fact she can afford it.
Centcomm probably knows that making TeeDee go to a cyber-shrink is a much more effective punishment / deterrent than making her pay for a replacement doll.
There's (almost) no way TeeDee will shoot another doll, if she knows she'll have to do another round of therapy. But, if she only had to pay for the replacement, she'd probably do a quick check of her bank balance, every time she got mad at Centcomm.
This way of handling it also makes Centcomm look good. It appears that Centcomm is being merciful, when really she's tightening the thumbscrews.
I buy my reading glasses cheap at "The Dollar Tree" because it's just $1.00 for the glasses and $1.00 for the holding cases.They work just as good as the High Dollar ones my Mom gave me,and if I break or loose them I can replace them dirt cheap.Frugal? Yeah,I'm a cheap skate when it comes to those.
New Troy (presumably) has publically available news channels, which means Nova Roma (presumably) has access to their content. Elections for Council seats would (presumably) be covered, including candidate biographies and current poll data. Noctis has already shown an interest in current New Troy events, since New Troy is Nova Roma's biggest rival (threat). Seems likely she would have already processed this possible outcome and be prepared for it.
I don't really think Noctis would be surprised exactly, and by extension, Acantha. I would think Noctis would keep her informed, and as Gilrandir notes, Noctis should be aware. Rather than surprise, there may be a comment by Acantha, and a brief thought balloon acknowledgement by Noctis upon gaining any firsthand information beyond that.
I think they were probably surprised, when they first heard about it. Noctis probably heard about it before New Troy's news media did, if New Rome's spy network is half decent.
I think they'll both be in awe, when they meet Hypatia. I'm guessing that she is the first android to be elected(?) to the highest(?) level of office.
Even though Acantha's best friend is New Troy's A.I., I believe that at some level, she still thought of androids as property. I think that meeting Hypatia will be another important step in Acantha's journey towards accepting androids as people and true equals.
I think her recent experiences and the time she spends in New Troy will eventually influence Acantha to abolish android and human slavery in New Rome, and to work toward both human and android equality.
Noctis will probably be wonderstruck, meeting an android who was elected to such a high level of power. It's one thing, seeing an intelligence report that an android won a seat on New Troy's Council, but it's another thing entirely, meeting the first person like you to be elected to a top level government position.
It'd have to be inspiring, realizing that humans could consider someone like her as something much more than an intelligent weapon, a high tech tool, or a toy.
Funds are on the way, Centcomm. :) Not sure how much you need, but if you get down to the wire please drop me a line and I'll see what I can do to help; email address should be in my donation, but if not post here and let me know.
I wonder what the balance of power is going to be like now that Hypatia is on the council? Will there be any noteworthy changes? The androids in this story are probably the best I've ever read, balancing delicately between idealized robots and what basically amounts just a human with mechanical parts, which is not an easy feat to accomplish. Keep on truckin', ladies. ;)
"Get out there and vote, everyone!" is terrible advice. Try this:
"Educate yourself on who the candidates are and how you believe about the issues, then vote if you see one of them as noticeably better than the other."
Everybody voting just because it's the thing to do is what happens in high school, and what you get is whoever is POPULAR, not competent or useful in the position (luckily, in high school, that doesn't really matter).
"American Idol For President" is not a good way to get someone who does a good job as President! Or any position (Congress-critter, mayor, dog-catcher...), really.
The current President, for instance, is really not liked, personally, by... well, much of anyone (a small but vocal minority), but there are a LOT of people who voted for him (and even more who will vote for him again next time, barring pretty radical changes between now and then) based on how well he has been doing the actual job (whether you or I agree with these people is not relevant to the discussion). I don't hire an exterminator or a home-builder or a pilot based on anything other than how well they can do the job - why should President or Senator or Congresscritter be any different?
The more "everybody get out and vote" people actually do, the more it resembles a popularity contest than an election to an important governing position, the more "vacuous-but-pretty" (or even "evil-incarnate-but-pretty") is likely to win. Let's try to choose someone who will actually do a good job at the job we are hiring them for.
"then vote if you see one of them as noticeably better than the other."
Or, as is more often the case, one is slightly less undesirable than the other.
Without comment on the current political landscape, I will add to the statement "Get out there and vote, everyone!", the caveat that one should, by all possible means, become familiar with the issues; understand them, and then go out and vote. I do not think KarToon12 is wrong. Voting is, after all, a civic duty.
It isn't always easy to get accurate information to educate oneself on who the candidates are. It is sometimes like trying to nail jelly to a tree. I think time is better spent getting an understanding of the issues, and determine which policies might best address them.
"I think time is better spent getting an understanding of the issues, and determine which policies might best address them."
I certainly agree that is time well spent. I have spent a lot of time over the years thinking about what policies would actually accomplish the good things so many of us agree on.
Sadly, "good policies" are usually mutually exclusive with "policies that provide lots of opportunities for graft", and it's *politicians* who are supposed to pass this stuff, so...
It looks like Ada is still all "Humaned" up from the mods made for the mission. O would guess she is going to enjoy looking that way for her boy friend(s) as long as possible. I am sure Cent or some police unit will eventually make her change her eyes back, but until then she will enjoy this minor infraction.
About android mods; see comic 880 in the current series, Ada and Teedee got 'natural' eye pupils, and voice mods to disguise the over precise android intonation. Teedee is in a new frame so probably has original style eye pupils and voice intonation, Ada still has the mission mods.
I do wonder... if the laws about android appearance will slowly fall into abeyance.. if Ada stays as she is, and nobody makes a fuss, if Dolly simply is, then time will erode the necessity of stirring the pot. And with an android on the Council, lobbying for actual android equality this could indeed happen.
That said, I agree with you on the impression the Taylors are probably the same visibility level, more or less. How well you know them depends on your level of political interest, but it's a few orders of magnitude less critical than who the president is.
Things are looking up all around, and TeeDee even agreed to see the specialist!
They're looking up for Kelly too, (I'm glad) and there's an android representative on the council! Actually, now that I think about it, I'm kind of surprised that in NT there hasn't been until now.
First, they get sub-person rights. (Android abuse being a crime like animal abuse.)
Then, they become persons--capable of entering into contracts, and suing/being sued if the contracts are not fulfilled.
Then, they get the right to vote. Then hold office.
But if you're wise, you don't press these in any hurry.
There's (almost) no way TeeDee will shoot another doll, if she knows she'll have to do another round of therapy. But, if she only had to pay for the replacement, she'd probably do a quick check of her bank balance, every time she got mad at Centcomm.
This way of handling it also makes Centcomm look good. It appears that Centcomm is being merciful, when really she's tightening the thumbscrews.
...and go! Ada!!! ♡
@alt text: ...yeah, I can see the meaning changing for the androids and in that timespan...
Though .. imagine Noctis' surprise ?
yeah both is gonna be surprised..
..tho Noctis will show it for all of a split second...
New Troy (presumably) has publically available news channels, which means Nova Roma (presumably) has access to their content. Elections for Council seats would (presumably) be covered, including candidate biographies and current poll data. Noctis has already shown an interest in current New Troy events, since New Troy is Nova Roma's biggest rival (threat). Seems likely she would have already processed this possible outcome and be prepared for it.
I think they'll both be in awe, when they meet Hypatia. I'm guessing that she is the first android to be elected(?) to the highest(?) level of office.
Even though Acantha's best friend is New Troy's A.I., I believe that at some level, she still thought of androids as property. I think that meeting Hypatia will be another important step in Acantha's journey towards accepting androids as people and true equals.
I think her recent experiences and the time she spends in New Troy will eventually influence Acantha to abolish android and human slavery in New Rome, and to work toward both human and android equality.
Noctis will probably be wonderstruck, meeting an android who was elected to such a high level of power. It's one thing, seeing an intelligence report that an android won a seat on New Troy's Council, but it's another thing entirely, meeting the first person like you to be elected to a top level government position.
It'd have to be inspiring, realizing that humans could consider someone like her as something much more than an intelligent weapon, a high tech tool, or a toy.
I wonder what the balance of power is going to be like now that Hypatia is on the council? Will there be any noteworthy changes? The androids in this story are probably the best I've ever read, balancing delicately between idealized robots and what basically amounts just a human with mechanical parts, which is not an easy feat to accomplish. Keep on truckin', ladies. ;)
"Educate yourself on who the candidates are and how you believe about the issues, then vote if you see one of them as noticeably better than the other."
Everybody voting just because it's the thing to do is what happens in high school, and what you get is whoever is POPULAR, not competent or useful in the position (luckily, in high school, that doesn't really matter).
"American Idol For President" is not a good way to get someone who does a good job as President! Or any position (Congress-critter, mayor, dog-catcher...), really.
The current President, for instance, is really not liked, personally, by... well, much of anyone (a small but vocal minority), but there are a LOT of people who voted for him (and even more who will vote for him again next time, barring pretty radical changes between now and then) based on how well he has been doing the actual job (whether you or I agree with these people is not relevant to the discussion). I don't hire an exterminator or a home-builder or a pilot based on anything other than how well they can do the job - why should President or Senator or Congresscritter be any different?
The more "everybody get out and vote" people actually do, the more it resembles a popularity contest than an election to an important governing position, the more "vacuous-but-pretty" (or even "evil-incarnate-but-pretty") is likely to win. Let's try to choose someone who will actually do a good job at the job we are hiring them for.
Or, as is more often the case, one is slightly less undesirable than the other.
Sadly, I completely agree, but "less undesirable" still meets the definition of "better".
It isn't always easy to get accurate information to educate oneself on who the candidates are. It is sometimes like trying to nail jelly to a tree. I think time is better spent getting an understanding of the issues, and determine which policies might best address them.
I certainly agree that is time well spent. I have spent a lot of time over the years thinking about what policies would actually accomplish the good things so many of us agree on.
Sadly, "good policies" are usually mutually exclusive with "policies that provide lots of opportunities for graft", and it's *politicians* who are supposed to pass this stuff, so...
I do wonder... if the laws about android appearance will slowly fall into abeyance.. if Ada stays as she is, and nobody makes a fuss, if Dolly simply is, then time will erode the necessity of stirring the pot. And with an android on the Council, lobbying for actual android equality this could indeed happen.