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Post by imaginaryfriend on Oct 27, 2021 7:04:31 GMT
Could it be that Omega is a person? Or perhaps a sophisticated computer? |
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Post by madjack on Oct 27, 2021 7:07:28 GMT
Could it be that Omega is a person? Or perhaps a sophisticated computer? Por que no los dos? Still leaning towards either direct time viewer or some kind of prediction engine, but the idea of it being based off a person/creature/being's prophecies or statements which the machine then interprets is an interesting one. |
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Post by jda on Oct 27, 2021 7:07:43 GMT
For once (or thrice thrice) I would have loved Annie remaining in silence.
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Post by jda on Oct 27, 2021 7:08:19 GMT
Could it be that Omega is a person? Or perhaps a sophisticated computer? Por que no los dos? Ah, refresca los ojos leer español en este foro. |
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Post by philman on Oct 27, 2021 7:09:37 GMT
Could it be that Omega is a person? Or perhaps a sophisticated computer? The fact that Shell mentions readouts and numbers makes me think some sort of etheric computer AI or something. Probably something that will be impossible to work properly until Kat the robo-goddess has a fiddle with it and "fixes" it for the Court. |
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Oct 27, 2021 7:13:42 GMT
Also of note in today's comic is a rare instance of telling an upset person that they can't be upset that actually makes them not be upset. I think I've only seen that happen once In Real Life and that was telling a then-gf that she couldn't get upset with me for doing something that she asked me to do. I've seen it not work or make things worse many times, though.
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Post by madjack on Oct 27, 2021 7:15:07 GMT
Could it be that Omega is a person? Or perhaps a sophisticated computer? The fact that Shell mentions readouts and numbers makes me think some sort of etheric computer AI or something. Probably something that will be impossible to work properly until Kat the robo-goddess has a fiddle with it and "fixes" it for the Court. The other side to this though is we already have one etheric computer the Court " sees as a useless system" so while the Donlans have built them anyway, there has to be more to it than that. |
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Post by theonethatgotaway on Oct 27, 2021 7:30:19 GMT
Ah, refresca los ojos leer español en este foro. Dos cervesas, por favor! I bet they'd go good with the revelations that Omega is CLEARLY A GODLEVEL A.I.! Wouldn't that be funny? The Court going: "nono, we didn't create a god through imagining it and letting the aether do the rest! We BUILT a god with our own bare hands!... after imagining it, BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT! Also, we don't know how it actually works, 40k orc-magic?" |
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Post by basser on Oct 27, 2021 7:40:44 GMT
Omega is straight-up just Tony crunching numbers in Excel spreadsheets.
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Post by taothegreat on Oct 27, 2021 8:23:59 GMT
At first I thought that Zimmy was responding to Loup, but looking at this page a second time, to me it looks like she's turning around, seeing someone, and recognizing them. Asking their name to confirm, because maybe she hasn't seen them in a while. I'm definitely on board with the "Omega is a person" theory. Maybe someone we already know. With that in mind, I had the sudden thought that maybe Tony, with his mysterious background and poorly developed emotions, is Alpha. At first I thought no, because his name starts with a T - but that's short for Anthony, so... throw that on the wildspec heap, I guess? I would like my cookie for that first guess. The second guess... Remains to be seen! Shell is extremely endearing despite all the reasons I have to dislike them. |
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Post by Druplesnubb on Oct 27, 2021 8:26:13 GMT
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Post by pyradonis on Oct 27, 2021 8:52:32 GMT
Omega is straight-up just Tony crunching numbers in Excel spreadsheets. I want to like this post, but it's just too funny letting "Anthony likes this" stand there on its own.
The fact that Shell mentions readouts and numbers makes me think some sort of etheric computer AI or something. Probably something that will be impossible to work properly until Kat the robo-goddess has a fiddle with it and "fixes" it for the Court. The other side to this though is we already have one etheric computer the Court " sees as a useless system" so while the Donlans have built them anyway, there has to be more to it than that. As we have seen with the secret appropriation of Anja's tech to make the robot shield, or their collecting of students with supernatural abilities which are not explainable either, such claims by "the Court" (which likely has several factions with different opinions anyway) don't mean much. |
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Post by shadow3 on Oct 27, 2021 8:55:25 GMT
If Omega is an artificial intelligence designed to analyze and manipulate the ether, one wonders how long it will be before she decides that humanity's survival is dependent on being controlled by her superior algorithms...
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Post by davidm on Oct 27, 2021 10:40:06 GMT
Could it be that Omega is a person? Or perhaps a sophisticated computer? It could be a computer, and a person named coyote (court doesn't realise this), who never lies but that is the danger. Would help explain how Coyote will have Loup agree it is a wonderful plan. Or it could be something left by Diego, something like his most advanced robots but instead a super computer, a much bigger version of that special chip modification that made Robot special. |
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Post by Druplesnubb on Oct 27, 2021 11:29:55 GMT
I wonder if this is related to Annie's thoughts about Surma's death.
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Post by ohthatone on Oct 27, 2021 11:44:02 GMT
Omega is kat from the alternate timeline where Annie died. Yes.
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Post by ohthatone on Oct 27, 2021 11:49:30 GMT
Kinda wishing annie pushed a littler harder on the omega statement instead of just accepting Shell's answer. The plan failed (or did it?), she's heard of omega before, etc.
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Post by blahzor on Oct 27, 2021 14:38:18 GMT
Omega is botbox's super computer he uses to figure out how to make perfect toast...he doesn't even eat toast
the court highjacked it with hidden subroutines under the name "Global Thermal Nuclear War"
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Post by drmemory on Oct 27, 2021 15:17:52 GMT
I'm just glad someone finally mentioned Omega, that didn't just hear about it supernaturally. Maybe we'll get another clue next year?
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Post by drmemory on Oct 27, 2021 15:41:36 GMT
Yet another analysis/theory:
What do we know about Omega?
"But now they made some kinda machine. No, Not a machine... It's like... a way of looking into the unseen world." Reference Interestingly, the graphic accompanying this shows machinery. So it's not exactly a machine, but perhaps it started as one?
We know from various sources that they've been trying to collect etheric energy. The power station system, for example. I've always just assumed this was to be used to power something. Omega, presumably. Or maybe they need a little of it to power or make robots? Unclear.
Who can make a computer that can use the ether? Or anything that can use or be powered by the ether, for that matter? Only three obvious candidates: Anja, Kat, and Diego. Diego is dead and was taken into the ether - we saw his final testimony. The other two are around. I remain concerned about what Anja actually does for the court. Don is also a possibility, and we know he also works for the court directly - he seems to be at least partially an unbeliever, but really he's pretty accepting of his wife's computer and activities, so perhaps that is dated information.
If we assume that Omega is an ether-powered computer or robot, or at least started out as one, that would seem reasonable. But! That doesn't necessarily mean it is entirely a slave of the court! What if Omega doesn't really want to see Coyote sucked of all his energy, or just doesn't want to see the court have so much of it? Then his plans may be a little suspect. Like, perhaps he knew this current one might fail. Or, perhaps he just isn't quite as clever as Coyote. I mean, who is???
I'm running out of steam here and don't feel like digging up the reference, but I remember seeing the shadow men doing something with some sort of interface and a huge monitor or screen recently. Perhaps that was them talking to Omega? Tom likes to drop stuff like that in, without comment.  |
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Post by drmemory on Oct 27, 2021 16:02:14 GMT
I should have started a new thread for all of this, but was just too darned excited to see someone in-comic actually mention Omega!
One last thing:
Have we seen anything that can access or use the ether, that isn't in some sense alive? Or once alive at least, like Mort.
If we assume that Omega has to be alive, and yes that's an assumption, I don't really know, but it seems plausible... Then the question is, was Omega always alive (meaning, it is an entity either captured by the court or voluntarily working for them) or did they actually manage to create life?
This loops around to Kat and her robots. Were they alive in their old bodies? They certainly seem to be now! I bring this up because I feel like we're really touching on some of the fundamental questions about Tom's universe here.
It almost seems like humans can create life, powered by belief and the ether. Coyote said outright that he doesn't exist... Jones pointed out some of the scary implications to Annie. If that is all correct, then maybe Omega really is a created entity, created by the court's need for their own pocket god. Even Loup has realized the court is up to something bad, and Coyote already knew this, probably long ago.
Have we seen any supernatural entities that couldn't have been created as a result of human belief? Coyote and Ysengrin both had stories about them, which even Annie was aware of. The psychopomps? I've looked up several of the names, and they really do seem to be rooted in mythology (loosely at least). Interesting reading, BTW. Um, the various forest critters also seem to have some basis in myths or fairy tales. The fairies? Literally fairy tales.
The only things we've seen that I can think of that don't seem rooted in stories or myths are the robots. We already know that they have some sort of etheric roots - Diego made the original ones, as well as the arrow. Perhaps this is really his big sin - stealing energy from the ether, which is supposed to be used to keep the world turning, to power his little toys.
The only one that has even figured out what he did at all (that we know of) is Kat. Actually, perhaps Anja as well, to a lesser extent (her computer), but I've always assumed she did her stuff a different way - more direct. She never figured out how Diego did his stuff, right? She never got to see the puppet show...
Looping back around to Omega, I have to assume that Omega is alive, at least in some sense. If so, which honestly seems likely, it may be acting out of fear. I'm sure it wants to continue to exist (just as Loup does). What that means exactly? We'll just have to wait for Tom to tell us. I'm sure it'll be cool. |
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Post by Gemminie on Oct 27, 2021 16:43:16 GMT
Having sent Cvet away, Annie's alone with Shell now, and rather than being comforting to Shell, she presses her about the plan to steal Coyote's power.
Shell maintains that all the data looked good before letting slip two very important words before stopping herself: "Omega said …" This implies that Omega exists and can communicate.
First there's the question of whether this "Omega" is the same thing as the "Omega Device." Occam's Razor, though; we've got no reason to believe that there's a person and a device both named Omega. Let's go on the assumption that there's only one Omega, lacking evidence to the contrary.
Omega exists – it's not some long-term end-goal that will eventually be reached. It's here now. It may still be a work in progress; they may still be improving it. But it works when they run it. I don't think they run it all the time, because there are only certain times when Loup saw that thing in the Court that he couldn't get a better look at. But it's functional and in use.
Omega communicates – now, this might be "said" in the same sense that the output of a computer program or the results of a scientific study can say something. Statistics can say something. Or this might literally mean it spoke (or produced words on a screen, or carved a message on a wooden ball that rolled down a tube, or whatever). This could mean that it's programmed to respond in verbal form, as many computers can do right now, or it could mean it's an artificial intelligence.
And finally, it said something specifically about this plan, most likely that the plan would work. This means that it's capable of error, unless they worded the question wrong. I mean, a "yes" answer to a question like "Will this plan to steal Coyote's power result in the success of the program?" doesn't necessarily mean that the plan to steal Coyote's power will itself succeed.
Then Annie seems to realize she's gotten all she's going to get out of Shell and turns toward actually comforting her, pointing out that if Aata sacrificed everything to save her, she must mean more to him than the Program. Shell doesn't have much to say about that, but she blushes more. Then she goes back to being all business, which probably means that Annie comforted her enough.
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Post by drmemory on Oct 27, 2021 16:48:30 GMT
Found the possible picture of shadow men talking to Omega: 2nd panel |
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Post by Gemminie on Oct 27, 2021 17:30:47 GMT
Found the possible picture of shadow men talking to Omega: 2nd panelHmm, maybe? But it's used as an illustration behind Aata while he's saying that the Shadow Men installed the shielding protocol in the robots over the years. On the other hand, where is there a robot in that image? |
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Post by bicarbonat on Oct 27, 2021 17:31:23 GMT
Ah, "Just following orders," the lead balloon and ominous cough of slogans.
So, we have Γ, Z, and Ω. I wonder whether Omega was just viewed as a human(oid?) resource to be mined - like Zeta - and considered otherwise inert, like Gamma.
It would be fantastic if ol' Megs screwed them over on purpose.
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Post by ctso74 on Oct 27, 2021 18:17:27 GMT
*Receives a dollop of delicious lore*
"Please, sir, I want some more."
Tom: "Whaaat? You'll have two chapters of Anthony and Reynard sorting socks and like it." Bizarrely, I'd probably like that chapter. Colorful socks. Strained and odd conversation.
Still not enough to do more than guess. Omega must be/have been alive. Or worse, the Court has created something unalive, capable of Etheric action. How would Coyote and others see such a thing?
Etheric undead?
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Post by hnau on Oct 27, 2021 18:42:31 GMT
"The numbers were good. Omega said... 42."
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Post by Bandolute on Oct 27, 2021 18:48:38 GMT
Omega is kat from the alternate timeline where Annie died. Yes. I was going to say "then surely there would be no risk of Annie ever 'being expelled from the program,'" but there's no reason they couldn't have just lied about that to Tony to reel him back in. So I'm all for it, but let's say it's an immortal brain upload of Kat in a supercomputer so she can project a big head hologram ala the wizard of oz |
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Post by blazingstar on Oct 27, 2021 19:22:33 GMT
Could it be that Omega is a person? Or perhaps a sophisticated computer? The fact that Shell mentions readouts and numbers makes me think some sort of etheric computer AI or something. Probably something that will be impossible to work properly until Kat the robo-goddess has a fiddle with it and "fixes" it for the Court. I think we're forgetting that there's already been mention of an Omega Device, with experiments and readouts going back decades, and predictions that seem to stretch further than a single human lifespan, including possibly the union of Anthony and Surma. "Omega" is a device, one that's been in the works for such a long time, that Shell has started thinking of it as a person. If anything, it could be Aata who is the very old person who's behind the program's inception. Omega is straight-up just Tony crunching numbers in Excel spreadsheets. We know that Tony is just one of the Shadow Men working on the Omega project, so he's not in charge. As much fun as it would be to imagine that the Omega Mastermind is Tony crunching Excel spreadsheets. |
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Post by warrl on Oct 27, 2021 19:31:06 GMT
First there's the question of whether this "Omega" is the same thing as the "Omega Device." A thought with unlikely implications, that flashed in my head: When Tony was not around, they talked about an "Omega device". Now that he's there, they talk about "Omega". |
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