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Post by thedoctor on Oct 31, 2014 23:22:24 GMT
- which suggests to me that 13 is the model number I understand your reasoning, but why not the simple solution: S1 was a prototype, the other seraphs are "production-models" numbered 2 to whatever. S13 calls them brothers. They were build by Diego, and modelled after him. (no wonder they're bonkers) S13 is special, because of his Prophesy Coprocessor®, which got him scrapped by the others before the comic started. He showed the same obsessiveness as the others, hopefully his relationship with Shadow has made him a bit more sane. I think it may have been his jaunt in the forest that (ironically) made him more sane. Or at least less obsessive. Also, does anyone else think that "bloom" is a really weird sound effect? |
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Nov 1, 2014 4:45:55 GMT
The Love Boat does seem to have a grasp on the reality of the situation so while he may be desperate and gambling on a longshot I can't agree he's deluded. He'd only be deluded if it was completely impossible that his plan would be a success and while improbable (maybe extremely so) it does rest on one nonhuman being's reaction to all this. Females have fallen for a Hail Mary play before, even when it fumbled. (shrug) Also, cross-linky. Also given that Loveboat thinks that he's going to win Lindsey's heart by endangering her students, I would disagree that he has a grasp on the reality of the situation. Assumption your part that the Love Boat thinks his plan is a lock cinch and that the students are in gross danger. The danger is etheric/psychological since the robots are programmed not to harm the blighters, the spiders are reversible if known about (and the Seraphs are demonstrating a knowledge of what to do with/about etheric tech) and the robots have demonstrated that they keep pressing forward with crushes until thoroughly defeated (see robot handling manual). Also, does anyone else think that "bloom" is a really weird sound effect? Aye. We're probably supposed to take the events around the three times it was used in the comic as taking place simultaneously. But I couldn't help making fun of it anyway. |
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Post by Sauzels on Nov 1, 2014 7:21:25 GMT
Speaking of Diego, now I'm thinking that this entire chapter could be the result of some of his mentality being passed down through the robot AI. If that's the case, then we should probably be concerned with the safety of Bud... and possibly Lindsey if things progress enough.
(Also, new member, hello.)
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Post by stef1987 on Nov 1, 2014 8:12:50 GMT
Also, not sure if the 'bloom' and dust/debris explosion is due to the siphon being destroyed or if it's just the ship smacking something out of frustration. I think that the bloom is that Annie is blowing up the vingers I'm pretty sure it's the same "bloom" every time (so it's the first syphons being torpedoed), Tom uses it to show these events are happening simultaneously, that's why it's such a weird word, so that it is recognizable. |
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Post by todd on Nov 1, 2014 10:39:07 GMT
Speaking of Diego, now I'm thinking that this entire chapter could be the result of some of his mentality being passed down through the robot AI. If that's the case, then we should probably be concerned with the safety of Bud... and possibly Lindsey if things progress enough. Lots of people have already noticed this possible connection. (And, yes, if Lindsey rejects the ship, I suspect it'll turn on her; lust masquerading as love can easily degenerate into hate.) |
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Post by sidhekin on Nov 1, 2014 11:14:59 GMT
Actually, Annie asked for "number 13". It was the receptionist that called him S13: "S13 is quite sought after, not least for the trouble he causes." That's an individual "S13", a "he". Of course, that doesn't mean that S2-S12 were not different models. It may well be only one of each model has been made.  It's hard to tell, given that we do see multiples of what appear to be the same model, but I've always thought that the "S" numbers were kind of like generations rather than individuals. The reception bot actually asks Annie for the "Make, model number, serial number, or name" on this page. When she replied, "His name is Robot!" she got nowhere, of course. And even when she offered "Number 13?" the reception bot had to ask for clarifying physical descriptions -- which suggests to me that 13 is the model number (since there are probably several makes which have reached that milestone of development.) The make is of course Seraph, which is where we get S13 from. As for the whole individual bit and the "he" and all that, at first I thought that was a problem. But now I realize he determined which robot she was looking for among all the S13s out there simply because they just had one come in. Look at it from his perspective. Here is this weird-looking robot asking for an S13. She seems to think there's only one, doesn't even understand names or serial numbers, and he has to talk simply and slowly to her (even using voice synthesis!) so she's obviously slow or broken. Given that, once he figures out she's looking for an S13 he decides to refer to the recent detainee as the "he" that she's looking for to see if it's a match. (She's the one who started out using gender pronouns for some reason, so he goes with it.) He says he "left the facility grounds" and she confirms that's the bot she's looking for. Sure enough, his educated guess* was right: she did in fact come looking for the S13 that most recently went "off the grid" as far as the general robot population was concerned. Problem solved on his end. *I'm not using educated guess as a bit of hand-waving here; we use Bayesian probability and heuristics all the time in programming already, not just in complex fields like AI but in everything from antivirus detection to SPAM filtering to autocorrect. It's a great way to handle unknowns. I'd say you're reaching. :-P However, we have later confirmation, from the Seraphs themselves, that S13 designates this particular individual: |
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Nov 1, 2014 11:54:14 GMT
Speaking of Diego, now I'm thinking that this entire chapter could be the result of some of his mentality being passed down through the robot AI. If that's the case, then we should probably be concerned with the safety of Bud... and possibly Lindsey if things progress enough. (Also, new member, hello.) Bud's a faculty member so the programming should prevent him from being harmed barring major malfunction. And yes, I also think that Diego probably used his own personality as a template for the robots' original programming and even though they've been programming themselves over time something of him remains in there, thus the "she died and we did nothing" bit, even though the later models are all electronic. And welcome to the forums, Sauzels! Speaking of Diego, now I'm thinking that this entire chapter could be the result of some of his mentality being passed down through the robot AI. If that's the case, then we should probably be concerned with the safety of Bud... and possibly Lindsey if things progress enough. Lots of people have already noticed this possible connection. (And, yes, if Lindsey rejects the ship, I suspect it'll turn on her; lust masquerading as love can easily degenerate into hate.) Meh. The other robots seem to take rejection well. Besides, the Seraphs probably are helping because they don't care if he succeeds or not; they're actually hoping for a robot in flesh to die to help the whole cause eleb thing along. The story of the robot ship that became a whale(?) to woo his beloved will help that, win or lose... even if it turns out she eats whales. |
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Post by todd on Nov 1, 2014 22:01:41 GMT
Bud's a faculty member so the programming should prevent him from being harmed barring major malfunction. In light of how things are going, I wouldn't be too surprised if the Seraphs have overcome those restrictions (they seemed ready to threaten Paz on the previous page). By now, they might have even decided that they might as well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb. |
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Post by todd on Nov 1, 2014 22:04:08 GMT
It's hard to tell, given that we do see multiples of what appear to be the same model, but I've always thought that the "S" numbers were kind of like generations rather than individuals. The reception bot actually asks Annie for the "Make, model number, serial number, or name" on this page. When she replied, "His name is Robot!" she got nowhere, of course. And even when she offered "Number 13?" the reception bot had to ask for clarifying physical descriptions -- which suggests to me that 13 is the model number (since there are probably several makes which have reached that milestone of development.) The make is of course Seraph, which is where we get S13 from. As for the whole individual bit and the "he" and all that, at first I thought that was a problem. But now I realize he determined which robot she was looking for among all the S13s out there simply because they just had one come in. Look at it from his perspective. Here is this weird-looking robot asking for an S13. She seems to think there's only one, doesn't even understand names or serial numbers, and he has to talk simply and slowly to her (even using voice synthesis!) so she's obviously slow or broken. Given that, once he figures out she's looking for an S13 he decides to refer to the recent detainee as the "he" that she's looking for to see if it's a match. (She's the one who started out using gender pronouns for some reason, so he goes with it.) He says he "left the facility grounds" and she confirms that's the bot she's looking for. Sure enough, his educated guess* was right: she did in fact come looking for the S13 that most recently went "off the grid" as far as the general robot population was concerned. Problem solved on his end. *I'm not using educated guess as a bit of hand-waving here; we use Bayesian probability and heuristics all the time in programming already, not just in complex fields like AI but in everything from antivirus detection to SPAM filtering to autocorrect. It's a great way to handle unknowns. I'd say you're reaching. :-P However, we have later confirmation, from the Seraphs themselves, that S13 designates this particular individual: I wonder how many people remember that this discussion on whether S13 is Robot's name or not began with the question over whether some of the Seraphs stayed behind to continue serving as "the devil on the ship's shoulder". |
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Post by keef on Nov 2, 2014 17:31:40 GMT
But I'm curious; do you think he named them just called them "Seraph" and "Horse" and whatnot? He did call them his children so he probably did have names for them, but then again he's a bit of an engineer too so maybe the model names were sufficient. Diego was an inventor, alchemist, engineer (and as he used socketed CPU's maybe a psychic or time-traveller) and all-round creep, not the kind of guy to become too friendly with his inventions. It's in character for a guy like him not to care much about names. Makes me think of that other great (fictional) inventor, and his famous lack of inventiveness when it comes to naming his creations, although he is actually a nice guy. There may come a point in their development; until 60 years ago, in most of Europe children were named after their grandparents, uncles and aunts and a handful religious folks. Since then everything is possible, more names have been dreamed up in the last years then in the centuries before. If this comic goes on for another century or so... |
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Post by Sauzels on Nov 2, 2014 23:26:16 GMT
Speaking of Diego, now I'm thinking that this entire chapter could be the result of some of his mentality being passed down through the robot AI. If that's the case, then we should probably be concerned with the safety of Bud... and possibly Lindsey if things progress enough. Lots of people have already noticed this possible connection. (And, yes, if Lindsey rejects the ship, I suspect it'll turn on her; lust masquerading as love can easily degenerate into hate.) In fact, the inclusion of the robot king makes me suspect a callback to this page. |
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Post by todd on Nov 3, 2014 0:06:37 GMT
I wonder whether Reynardine might be a better candidate to reason with the ship than Paz is, in light of his past - he knows from personal experience that the kind of thing the ship tried to do didn't work out. Though even he might have a hard time of it as long as the Seraphs are manipulating the ship. And I don't think there's any way of getting through to them. (Unless our heroes try the Gilbert & Sullivan approach and tell the Seraphs to surrender in the name of the Robot King.)
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Post by TBeholder on Nov 3, 2014 1:05:14 GMT
Diego was an inventor, alchemist, engineer (and as he used socketed CPU's When he did? maybe a psychic or time-traveller One of transgendred clones of Annie's mom sent back in time to act as spies?  |
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Post by sidhekin on Nov 3, 2014 7:51:08 GMT
Diego was an inventor, alchemist, engineer (and as he used socketed CPU's When he did? They put S13's chip in the S1's socket, triggering the robotic danse macabre. |
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Post by TBeholder on Nov 3, 2014 9:23:51 GMT
They put S13's chip in the S1's socket, triggering the robotic danse macabre. That was Kat, not Diego. They are easy to tell apart, even if Zimmy calls her "nose". |
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Post by sidhekin on Nov 3, 2014 9:42:38 GMT
They put S13's chip in the S1's socket, triggering the robotic danse macabre. That was Kat, not Diego. They are easy to tell apart, even if Zimmy calls her "nose". Um, the point is that S1 had that socket.  |
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Post by TBeholder on Nov 3, 2014 10:28:01 GMT
That was Kat, not Diego. They are easy to tell apart, even if Zimmy calls her "nose". Um, the point is that S1 had that socket. And? I'd bet the Eiffel Tower got some RJ-45 on it, too.  Those original golems developed later generations for unspecified time, until they were sure enough to shut down. |
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Post by aaroncampbell on Nov 3, 2014 15:49:33 GMT
I wonder how many people remember that this discussion on whether S13 is Robot's name or not began with the question over whether some of the Seraphs stayed behind to continue serving as "the devil on the ship's shoulder". Not me, actually. :-) I'm just trying to figure out how the robots in general organize themselves. It seems that, whatever they've come up with, it's not any better than the tangle of ridiculous model names/numbers that we have in the real world, which is complicated with mergers and buyouts and whatnot. As for S13, it seems he could easily hide himself from most of the robot population if he so chose simply by putting a sign on himself that says, "Not S13". |
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Post by thedoctor on Nov 4, 2014 6:25:40 GMT
I wonder how many people remember that this discussion on whether S13 is Robot's name or not began with the question over whether some of the Seraphs stayed behind to continue serving as "the devil on the ship's shoulder". Not me, actually. :-) I'm just trying to figure out how the robots in general organize themselves. It seems that, whatever they've come up with, it's not any better than the tangle of ridiculous model names/numbers that we have in the real world, which is complicated with mergers and buyouts and whatnot. As for S13, it seems he could easily hide himself from most of the robot population if he so chose simply by putting a sign on himself that says, "Not S13". Ah, but since he wishes to spread the good news of the Angel, I doubt he'd want to hide. |
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Post by todd on Nov 4, 2014 12:08:30 GMT
Not me, actually. :-) I'm just trying to figure out how the robots in general organize themselves. It seems that, whatever they've come up with, it's not any better than the tangle of ridiculous model names/numbers that we have in the real world, which is complicated with mergers and buyouts and whatnot. As for S13, it seems he could easily hide himself from most of the robot population if he so chose simply by putting a sign on himself that says, "Not S13". Ah, but since he wishes to spread the good news of the Angel, I doubt he'd want to hide. And if he'd only kept quiet abut it, Kat wouldn't have been brought to the Seraphs' attention, and none of this trouble would have happened. But this seems like the kind of situation that seems to have proceeded from so many things that one could equally say "If the Court hadn't brought Zimmy and Gamma in/ If it had been keeping a closer watch on its supplies so that it might have noticed the Seraphs stealing the syphons and paper talismans/ If the ship hadn't been accompanied by Lindsey on all those cruises and built up an infatuation for her/ If Annie had approached the grown-ups about Shadow2's problem instead of repairing Robot and sending him across the bridge/ If the Court had never even been founded.... etc." |
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Post by OrzBrain on Nov 4, 2014 21:36:13 GMT
Did anybody else think of the Orz when you read the 'my fingers cannot stop them' bit? Are *campers* *spitting* the fun words about me? Would you like to pop *bubbles* *together*? Then lets be *dancing*! No more *sad* *lonely* *bubbles*. |
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Post by TBeholder on Nov 5, 2014 8:03:52 GMT
Right. Speak of the Orz and... |
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