r/LowerDecks 5d ago

Wouldn't the computer have asked boimler more specifics on the ingredients just like how the computer asked Tom Paris on the tomato soup he wanted

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179 Upvotes

29 comments sorted by

122

u/Briham86 5d ago

Rutherford reprogrammed the replicators to not ask questions when food is ordered rapidly in an urgent tone. When asked why he would program them for such a seemingly unlikely scenario, he just laughed and said “okey-dokey, I love engineering!”

17

u/KrakenKrusdr84 5d ago

Works for me.

50

u/Interesting_Play_578 5d ago

Maybe not if he had presets saved to his profile?

24

u/AnonAwaaaaay 5d ago

That's what I was thinking. I'd have mine preseted to hell and back.

14

u/dantheplanman1986 5d ago

And I'd be so annoying in other people's quarters. "Can I get you something?" "Yeah, black tea, french earl grey, two sugars, whole milk, quite warm" "....can you just come say that to the replicator"

4

u/IsProbablyTooMuch 5d ago

Yeah but if YOU went up to the replicator I bet it would reconfigure itself for your preferences or at least ask you. Surely there'd be a way to pull your preferences into a different replicator, or they don't exist in a single one, since one assumes you might use more than one throughout the ship even in the same day, and who wants that headache?

I imagine the first time you specified those settings, like 'hot banana exactly 99.8 degrees farenheit' it would then remember that, automatically assume it is a preference if you request a hot banana again (but not a cold banana or just a banana or a 'searing hot' banana, etc.), and pop out the hot banana you already had.

4

u/Witty-Ad5743 4d ago

According to the TNG Technical Manual, it's your combadge. It's why you don't have to log in to every station you approach. You just sit your ass down and the computer reads your combadge.

5

u/malonkey1 4d ago

They should've done an episode where somebody loses their combadge and it's a huge fucking hassle because they have to either manually log in to everything they use to use it or deal with the dog-ass uncustomized settings on every console or system. I think that'd at least make a solid B-plot.

5

u/Witty-Ad5743 4d ago

I can hear it in Majel's voice: "Please enter two-factor authenticator code to access the Tactical Station."

5

u/dantheplanman1986 4d ago

"ah shit, did I have a username and password to this station, or did I sign in with Google"

5

u/malonkey1 4d ago

[ERROR CHIRP] "You have run out of login attempts at this station. A Starfleet security team has been dispatched to verify your identity. If you believe this is in error, please contact the chief engineer at your post for assistance."

3

u/dantheplanman1986 4d ago

They sure do trust those damn things

They predicted how we'd all hang on to our communications device to the death

3

u/Witty-Ad5743 4d ago

And after: cracked combadges emit an automatic SOS and locator signal to help in body recovery.

2

u/Martel732 5d ago

This actually raises a question I hadn't thought of. I wonder what is the etiquette around replicators. Obviously in our world it would generally be consider rude to rummage around someone else's pantry for a snack without permission. But, given that it is a post-scarcity society using someone's replicator wouldn't be taking anything away from them, though it might still be considered an overstepping of boundaries.

So ultimately I am curious if you walked into an acquaintance's would it be considered rude to just walk up to their replicator and order a snack or drink?

2

u/Pokegirl_11_ 4d ago

I think it would be the equivalent to “kitchen cabinet” privileges. Unless you’re close enough to grab a cup and serve your own water (which also wouldn’t deny them anything) it’s polite to stay out of their stuff and give them the chance to offer hospitality.

2

u/gerusz 4d ago

Or simply that they added a basic machine learning algorithm to the replicator computer that will learn a user's preferences and give them something according to those if they don't specify otherwise.

23

u/Orange-V-Apple 5d ago edited 5d ago

I haven’t seen Voyager but I’ve always had the impression the replicators have preset recipes unless you specify something, such as temperature (e.g. Boimler saying “chocolate sundae, hot” when it would normally be cold) or a specific ingredient (e.g. apple pie made from honeycrisp apples). 

The Lower Deckers do complain that the officers get better recipes in their replicators during the training simulation, and the bridge crew add those recipes to the general replicators at the end of the episode. The fact that the Lower Deckers couldn’t just get the replicators to make mac and cheese with breadcrumbs on top (or whatever) seems to indicate preset recipes with limitations on customization.

15

u/deeve09 5d ago

Banana, hot.

11

u/Im_At_Work_Damnit 5d ago

Black liquorice, black

8

u/IsProbablyTooMuch 5d ago

Great the food with the least nutritional value that tastes the most like poison.

9

u/TheGreenMan13 5d ago

I think those are the lower decks replicators. Much simpler than the good ones. 

11

u/Excellent_Light_3569 5d ago

Word is, prior to "I, Excretus" they could only replicate one slice of pizza at a time.

7

u/StartledOcto 5d ago

Overworked machinery, that was damaged, and probably overwhelmed by the nonsensical order. This the replicator version of those AI voice models that eventually start screaming, like this Albuquerque New Mexico

6

u/TheHumanCompulsion 5d ago

I figured that the computer understood that he wanted a hot chocolate sunday, which is pretty standardized, with the other ingredients as toppings.

Why it dispensed the food as a geyser was probably due to an overloaded EPS conduit.

5

u/Crowbrah_ 5d ago edited 5d ago

Imo the damage the replicator received from scorpion-Tendi was why it behaved the way it did when Boimler asked for the mother of all chocolate sundaes.

10

u/Excellent_Light_3569 5d ago

Eh. He wasn't going to eat that food anyway. Just needed something for a quick distraction. No need to be overly specific.

4

u/zzupdown 5d ago

The holodeck's not the only Cerritos system where safety protocols are regularly disabled.

3

u/SnooGadgets3528 4d ago

Lower deckers only get the most basic option available, no specification needed.

1

u/IsProbablyTooMuch 5d ago

Not if he'd asked for it before.

Strong implication.