Post by imaginaryfriend on Jun 10, 2024 7:28:57 GMT
So back when they were in their pre-Kat bodies the robots had mythic-level complexity in their code yet didn't interest the 'pomps. They were complex enough to make mistakes, have delusions, and experience romantic attraction, yet they presumably didn't produce ether nor intake/exude or circulate it any more than an electrical appliance. Why not?
I think the key point was that while their minds were complex enough their bodies weren't. There were sensors, sure, but even if some robot somewhere had an analog pain receptor it wasn't enough. Now the robots have complex bodies and minds, a budding religion with a goddess and a candidate for 'pomp, and additionally they're part of a long-running story the ether is interested in. One Noob even died and went into the ether.
We're sorta leaning on a reality distortion to get some of those things, though. Is it possible that complexity of body and mind isn't enough, and a naturally-evolved nervous system is required to be a true being in the GCU? I think an argument can be made for "yes" by looking at things through a literary critic perspective and seeing the distortion as a cheat needed to get the Noobs across the finish line and move the plot forward.
That's not necessarily the case, though. It could just be a kick in the ass to bring the story to a climax.
[edit] I should add that I think the distortion is necessary to plug the Noobs into THIS ether. If they were alone on their own world and Kat gave them the ability to reproduce they'd probably be enough to make their own etheric realm(s) eventually, but they're not. They're on a world full of humans with a deep and ancient biosphere. Their ether would be competing with a vast and entrenched ether, and it'd get quashed. [/edit]
I think the key point was that while their minds were complex enough their bodies weren't. There were sensors, sure, but even if some robot somewhere had an analog pain receptor it wasn't enough. Now the robots have complex bodies and minds, a budding religion with a goddess and a candidate for 'pomp, and additionally they're part of a long-running story the ether is interested in. One Noob even died and went into the ether.
We're sorta leaning on a reality distortion to get some of those things, though. Is it possible that complexity of body and mind isn't enough, and a naturally-evolved nervous system is required to be a true being in the GCU? I think an argument can be made for "yes" by looking at things through a literary critic perspective and seeing the distortion as a cheat needed to get the Noobs across the finish line and move the plot forward.
That's not necessarily the case, though. It could just be a kick in the ass to bring the story to a climax.
[edit] I should add that I think the distortion is necessary to plug the Noobs into THIS ether. If they were alone on their own world and Kat gave them the ability to reproduce they'd probably be enough to make their own etheric realm(s) eventually, but they're not. They're on a world full of humans with a deep and ancient biosphere. Their ether would be competing with a vast and entrenched ether, and it'd get quashed. [/edit]