• Adriano

    Lmao Randy xD Angie’s really pissed off

  • Amberlight

    It seems Dean of Glacus is going to sit through a very irritated list of complaints from Angeline. I wonder who is more irritable of the two.

    • NickDA

      “Keep if short Angeline, I have cultures running”

      • Dean Tiryaki is SO approachable.

        • Matt [in Middletown]

          You just need to butter them up with some hideously cute genetically modified abomination running loose in their office first!
          Open the door, and shove a super smart bug eyed snuffling Dune Hopper in.
          Watch as it starts scrabbling at the stuff on the Dean’s desk and wearing stuff as hats..

          • Chris

            The primary question to all mutant affairs is… is the hat nice?

          • Matt [in Middletown]

            Quite fashionable in the estimation of the mutant rodent.

      • Matt [in Middletown]

        And at that exact moment, Neanderthal Mouse broke loose from containment and began painting the walls with bizarre cave paintings!

  • T.R.

    I think the guy in panel 6 should be more like. “Pr’fessa? Where woodja like these here things t’ be moved ta?”

    I may be a technically advanced post-collapse civilization, but people are still people. :)

    • Heh, you know, writing out dialects isn’t something I’ve tried much before, but now I’m considering giving it a shot ;)

      Minerva is rather small and has a bit of a homogenizing effect on the culture, education and speaking patterns of those who grew up as part of it, though.

      • Kaiden

        Even so, people are likely to socialize with others of their station/rank/class. Even with a standard education and small community, there will be subcultures.

  • Amberlight

    I wonder now what is Minerva’s legal stance on the rights of AIs. Are they considered people or an item? Or people with limited rights?

    • Not much in the way of legal rights, as they’re all experimental, and only a very few like Jane have real levels of sentience. All the rights they have are accorded under the rights of their researchers, essentially, as intellectual and physical property.

      Basically. Subject to change in the future as they become more and more common and sophisticated.

      • Amberlight

        I wonder if we will see Jane demanding citizen rights. Holding a strike by replacing wallpapers on every computer she can find with “AIs are people too!” posters.

        • DeNitro

          While I truly love and willing imerse myself in the concept of advanced AI and it’s far future abilities in this story.
          I can’t help but bristle a little on the topic, humanity as a whole can never allow a AI with true high level sentience to be built outside a isolated test system.

          Three generations of have us been enamored with actors playing androids, offering comical moments to remember, many still secretly dream of having a wise crackling android because of it. And modern marketing is preying on that, falsely labeling so many items as “AI.”

          Biggest concern and main reason for the rant… Supposed autonomous vehicles that so many companies would love to see on the highway.. These are not AI. It is simply high speed computer with a large script set. It matches the conditions to a defined script and then follows an action. Important thing to remember, the predefined script benefits the manufacturers interests first, then the passengers or other vehicles on the road.

          They can promise to reduce some accidents.. Yes, because there is too many idiots who honestly are too distracted with themselves and shouldn’t be allowed to drive.. But how many autonomous-trucks will run over, livestock, pets, pedestrians, & compact cars on the highway before they admit a mistake?

          • Yeah, true AI is quite different than we often talk about it these days. And thru the story I’ll try to talk about the difference, and show a couple of AI “case studies”, so to speak :)

            Heck, we already have Jane and SOPKA to compare and contrast ;)

          • Amberlight

            I would like to recommend you a great video by Isaac Arthur, a futurologist making YouTube videos. It’s a long one, but it might help you with writing concerning AIs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXYcvxg_Yro

          • DeNitro

            A mechanical engineer added this unforgettable argument to a debate on this subject.
            Humans should not be so careless, egotistical, or greedy, playing god and creating any intelligence that can outthink them. Not so long as humans cannot yet create the massively complex machine, so perfect that requires no maintenance, adjustments or updates, and will last forever,, required for that super AI to dependably and safely run on.

          • Amberlight

            Well, in case if we would want to create “god AI” maybe. But as I see it, if we create a sentient AI it is no different from making a child. As one fictional AI said, “I am much like yourself, albeit your assembly manual is way more fun”.
            After all what is the goal of any good parent, if not to raise a child that would surpass vim in every way and go on to raise a child even better? And who cares if that child runs on silicon rather than carbon. Chauvinism is bad.

          • DeNitro

            Don’t try to fool your self with a child analogy on this topic. I have tried to rationalize it repeatedly over the years. Sadly, We only have to look to ourselves to see even a small fraction of the problem with creation of a thinking rational machine. Especially given your own preset desire to make it better than us.
            Look to humanity, do we all treat one another with that same standard you had asked if the “AI” would qualify for?
            I could go on with a long list including prejudice, warfare, slavery, greed, ect. But you get the idea.

            Historically we cannot tollerate another human we do not trust to have control over us.

            And concider hard… no matter how hard we may try… Those basic human flaws will be echoed into anything we create..

          • Amberlight

            True to an extent. But it is much easier for an entity to act rationally when it doesn’t have irrational instincts that are remnants of millions of years of evolution as non-sentient beings. Besides, you seem to think that an AI, once created will reach godlike level in a short time. That is unrealistic.

          • If you check out groups like /r/singularity, it’s a rather popular perspective that once we create true AI, it will rapidly explode in intelligence and etc. That’s the whole idea behind “The Singularity”: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity

            Most of the criticisms of this theory hinge around not thinking that true AI is even possible. If we presuppose that it is, and that its initial programming (at least) WAS determined by irrational evolution-driven humans, it’s not that realistic to say that it would be perfectly rational, or that our definitions of rational would even be comparable.

            I think there is a lot of different ways AI could go, which is a big part of what I’m interested in exploring in the story :)

          • DeNitro

            Apologies to everyone… I foolishly tell myself posting to Disqus via my mobile will prevent my comments from becoming short stories… It mostly works, until I am cut off from my desktop with it’s keyboard and access to the usual forums & blogs as just so has happened this week. 😳😆

            Rather than being a continued bore to the uninterested..
            Amberlight if you want to continue discussion. Please post to forum and I will reply there this weekend.

          • I find the disparate discussions and beliefs on AI to be very interesting and a big central part of our story :)

            But maybe the forum is better for a permanence to it. Let me know if the settings don’t let you make the discussion where you want it.

          • DeNitro

            Saturday morning I will be home. Look forward to contining this interesting topic in the forum. It would be convenient to mirror what we have discussed here to date over as ongoing reference.. Will see what I can do this weekend.

          • Sebastián Piriz

            great video

  • I’m surprised by the lack of conspiracy theorizing here. *wonders if subtle hints are too subtle. Makes overt comment about subtle hints in hopes of drawing at least SOME attention to them* ;)

    • Matt [in Middletown]

      No, you can’t make me theorize about the conspiracy!

      • *applies pressure with tactical bricks*

        • Matt [in Middletown]

          Arrrrgh!

        • Adriano

          “apply cold tactical brick to the burned area”

    • T.R.

      You fishing for comments? I’ll bite…
      What about the the strange looks from Kubek’s XO/Adjutant in the last panel of last Thursday? (wonder if something in the pile of rubble will go missing…) Only worth a panel if it conveys something.
      Dr. Bellami wouldn’t get too far without some political skills of her own. She seems to have found a reason to start deploying them.
      Why does Dr. Bellami look so sad/disappointed in Panel 4 when she hears that she won’t get to Jane first? Or is that a “this could turn out *really* bad” look?)
      For a “secret” op, Kubek is mighty public in his welcome of Tenzin. Why announce where it was? Won’t that just raise questions that could be more easily ignored/denied with a quiet/private return? Or at least leak to enemies some details on what intel Kubek now has…

      It’s not adding up, so I wonder what variable(s) we don’t have yet.

      • Those are some good theories. I bet some little details on this page would inform them a bit more… ;P

        • Matt [in Middletown]

          Randy 2.0 (A.K.A. Rick Wheeler) was Identifgied as “Agent” when he ran off from Pres Smith’s goons.
          Dr. Bellami is not yet in the circle of people involved in Nightshade operations.
          Jane has just been involved in a Nightshade operation and needs to be told not to tell Doc Bellami about it.
          Rick needs to try to recruit her, hence his inquiry last page “may I speak to you” line.
          https://demonarchives.com/chapter-9-page-23-ironic-newscast/
          “Welcome Agent G42…”

      • Kaiden

        The secret op only needed to be secret while it could fail. Once it succeeded, it’s not only a huge boost to morale, but also lets the opposition know that you know what they know that you know.

  • Adriano

    Dear Seba, Tenzin looks awfully young and healthy on those two last pages.
    Isn’t he supposed to have been in a fight with not one, but *two* deathbots?

    His face looks maybe a bit too smooth? And healthy.
    Dunno maybe I’m all wrong and all but I reread the comic recently and the last pages seem off :/

    • Amberlight

      It’s because he is so happy with the fact that something went good at last. He radiates happiness too strongly for anything else to be visible. Just wait for something to ruin his day. Won’t have to wait too long I assume.

      • Adriano

        Is it normal if I look forward something ruining his day?

        Omg Dan what have you done to me

    • Heh, it’s also just an artistic choice to not add tons of details to his face on every single panel. Saves time.

      Besides, he had a good powernap on the way back ;P

    • Shhhh don’t ruin the eyecandy for the rest of us.

    • He did have time to rest and at least a towel to clean his face (never leave your house without a towel..)

      I meant to make him look better than right after the battle. Maybe I went too far

      • Heh, nice reference XD

        I think he looks perfectly fine.

      • Matt [in Middletown]

        Introduce a concept that nanomachines can slow down aging.
        And even go rampant.

        The answer is 42.

      • Adriano

        No no it’s okay ahah Dan actually linked me a page from just after the battle.
        This is perfectly done ahah ^^