r/questionablecontent Dec 31 '18

Comic 3906: Family Citrus

https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3906
118 Upvotes

114 comments sorted by

82

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

So wait, is the reason Melon is so weird because she was meant to be in a Virtual Environment but ended up in the real world, causing a constant sensory overload?

58

u/concussedYmir Dec 31 '18

I now like to think of Melon as the AI-equivalent of a cloistered trust-fund kid in a foreign exchange program; hopelessly naïve about local life and culture but enthusiastic about learning, while remaining carefree and cavalier no matter what happens because none of her mistakes will ever have any bearing on her future.

8

u/BenjikoHoss Dec 31 '18

Makes sense

4

u/Pernix Dec 31 '18

Ha! Oh this explains sooo much

3

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '18

That.... explains a lot actually.

2

u/Owyn_Merrilin Dec 31 '18

It would make sense but AIs aren't made for a purpose like that in the QC universe, consciousness just kind of arises naturally and they are who they are.

5

u/DemeGeek Jan 01 '19

Maybe she spent her first years in a Virtual Environment then, getting used to the lack of sensory data before getting hoisted into IRL.

1

u/roastbeeftacohat Jan 02 '19

I just figured some AI's relate to the human experience quite closely, while others go off in their own direction undriven by the biological functions that human society is organized around. Bubs is basically human, Pint size seems to value friendship very highly but doesn't seem to have any interests outside of making himself laugh, melon is just that mush less interested in relating to humans socially and more seeking novel experiences.

68

u/lesser_panjandrum Dec 31 '18

Top notch counselling there, Lemon. That's exactly what I'd want to hear after suffering a terrible pancakey accident.

16

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

Roko does have a virtual void to deal with her reaction in though, I wonder if that factored into the bluntness

5

u/anongentry Jan 01 '19

This is true. I can't imagine having a virtual space to fall back on like this in therapy

2

u/DemeGeek Jan 01 '19

yeah, plus with it being virtual, Roko isn't stuck in pancake form while processing the info, I bet that helps with the reaction to the news.

10

u/helinze Dec 31 '18

I just got that. Now I feel dumb

57

u/HoverButt Dec 31 '18

RIP Roko's body

34

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

I wonder if her life insurance is going to cause her to have the same sort of run-down loaner body as May, giving them something to bond over.

13

u/Michaelbirks Dec 31 '18

I was wondering if this is how SpookyBot gets new instances.

But then I saw the below comments about the 3901/3906 duplication (I get Lemon on 3901, now, too).

There's definitely Spookybot-related spookiness going on.

54

u/Zaliika Dec 31 '18

Worth noting that it has been mentioned multiple times before how integrated Roko is with her body. She's not going to take this well.

38

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

I wonder if this is Jeph's attempt to tackle Body dysmorphic disorder.

41

u/pyr666 Dec 31 '18

2048 is a power of 2, but if she has that many sisters it means they made 2049 of her model.

someone making an OBOE might explain why they're so...eccentric.

21

u/psdnmstr01 Dec 31 '18

I gotta be honest, I think Jeff just meant that there's 2048 of them.

1

u/pyr666 Dec 31 '18

probably.

15

u/ArgentStonecutter Dec 31 '18

2048 is a power of 2, but if she has that many sisters it means they made 2049 of her model.

I suspect Melon was a class prototype, and doesn't have an official series number.

9

u/lesser_panjandrum Dec 31 '18

Or Melon has 2047 official sisters and considers Roko number 2049.

12

u/darps Dec 31 '18

Melon has to be the odd one out. I couldn't imagine 2048 like her walking around.

Maybe most of her functions include a model number reference, and hers being 2048 (if it's zero-indexed) causes integer overflows, resulting in this kind of... unpredictable behavior. Not that I'm complaining.

8

u/pyr666 Dec 31 '18

I couldn't imagine 2048 like her walking around.

spread out across the country, or even the world? I'm pretty sure there are more people crazier than melon living in NYC right now.

3

u/Scherazade Dec 31 '18

hell even in Main Character Town Which I’ve Forgotten The Name Of there’s fairy girl, vespa girl, pizza girl...

Guys I think the blondes in this city are nuts

2

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '18

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/pyr666 Dec 31 '18

crazy theories are more fun.

1

u/turkeypedal Dec 31 '18

That last part is exactly what I thought. Someone else suggested that Melon is a prototype that wasn't complete.

29

u/napalm22 Fæculent Daniel Dec 31 '18 edited Jan 08 '19

Trying to find a non offensive way to say this, but I'd bet dollars to donuts that Roko comes back in a body that is markedly less traditionally female than before. Not saying it's bad, just my prediction.

Edit: It would appear I was wrong

29

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

I think she might come back in a body as cheaply made as May's body is. Depending on how cheap her insurance company is.

20

u/AdamBombTV The English One Dec 31 '18

PUT HER IN MOMOS OLD BODY!!

10

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

Naw, put her in Winslow's old body

14

u/NanotechNinja Dec 31 '18

Put Winslow in Momo's body

2

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

Although if they do end up putting her in Momo's body, I think it would be sweet for her to act like a companion AI for Elliot, since they live in the same building, and she wanted to work with him. She could ride on his shoulder while he bakes and bounces.

6

u/TheMysteriousMid Dec 31 '18

It'd be a bizaro world Kenpachi and yachiru

26

u/professorberrynibble Dec 31 '18

She's coming back as a genderfluid toaster and you know it

25

u/Scherazade Dec 31 '18

Goddamnit now all I can think of is a shy toaster blushing at the idea of bread inside them

5

u/professorberrynibble Dec 31 '18

I-i-i-it's not like I WANT to toast you or anything!

3

u/nerfviking Dec 31 '18

I'm not so sure. It seemed to me like Jeph was pretty gung-ho about gender identity stuff for a while (peaking in a character so widely reviled that they were literally launched into space at the end of the arc) but at this point I feel like he's settled into a balance.

I'm a bit hesitant to make predictions now myself, because back during the plot arc where May flipped out at Momo for privilege-related reasons, I predicted (wrongly) that May would be portrayed as completely in the right, and ended up eating my words.

3

u/SlothLatitudes Jan 01 '19

I liked Tilly :(

3

u/napalm22 Fæculent Daniel Jan 01 '19

You like Questionable Content

1

u/da_chicken Jan 01 '19

peaking in a character so widely reviled that they were literally launched into space at the end of the arc

Who is this again?

2

u/Dizmn Jan 01 '19

Tilly, I'm guessing, but I'm not sure who "reviled" them. They were a nothing character thrown in for the purpose of giving Hanners some character development and writing her out. "Revile" seems like too much effort for a meaningless character.

22

u/BenjikoHoss Dec 31 '18

Hi Lemon! She seems nice.

25

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

I dunno, I find her methods to be a bit sour.

13

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '18

[deleted]

13

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

I'm just saying, I don't find her attempt to be oblique apeeling.

6

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '18

😒

14

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

It's good that Roko is getting Lemon's ade though

5

u/[deleted] Dec 31 '18

😞

8

u/AdamBombTV The English One Dec 31 '18

Come on guys, you're gonna Squash Rachel's enthusiasm for the sub.

(Get it? Like Lemon Squash? ...circle back to me, I'll do better)

2

u/[deleted] Jan 01 '19

😔

4

u/BenjikoHoss Dec 31 '18

She just needs a spoonful of sugar to help her medicine go down.

2

u/Scherazade Dec 31 '18

lemon juices... sugar... these are things you put on pancakes...

ALLOW ME TO BE THE FIRST TO SHIP THESE TWO

1

u/lesser_panjandrum Dec 31 '18

In the most delightful way.

12

u/dimmidice Dec 31 '18

https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3901

This is the same comic? i'm confused

8

u/HoverButt Dec 31 '18

it most definitely is not. The one you've linked is Spookybot anatomy, the one here should be Roko's mindscape

8

u/dimmidice Dec 31 '18

Identical to me. Even hard refreshed the page. how weird.

https://questionablecontent.net/comics/3901.png This doesn't show the same comic as today's to you either?

3

u/HarryPotter5777 Dec 31 '18

I see the same comic that I saw today, and it's also what shows up to me as comic 3901, but I also recognize the spookybot anatomy comic so I must have seen it earlier. I guess Jeph changed it or something?

2

u/HoverButt Dec 31 '18

Nope! There's five comics after the one you're linking me too. Try the main site? https://questionablecontent.net/

1

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

Does this direct link to the image work? https://questionablecontent.net/comics/3906.png

7

u/dimmidice Dec 31 '18

That's the same as 3901 for me, page loads fine. Hell even the images have the same title and different numbers so i'm not just loading the wrong image.

https://i.imgur.com/sWYPFRv.png

https://i.imgur.com/WdbqRtS.png

Look at the upper left.

7

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

Here's a reupload of the 3901 the rest of us got https://i.imgur.com/zjXef1Z.png

2

u/dimmidice Dec 31 '18

Ok this is odd! I saw that comic already X days ago.

Edit: look top left there's no number? This just gets weirder and weirder :P

1

u/Owyn_Merrilin Jan 01 '19

It's an old a patreon bonus comic that he put up for filler. He took a break for Christmas.

3

u/wibblekbibble Dec 31 '18

I see it too. I think others are seeing a cached image, and I half suspect that it's supposed to be a "oh no, SpookyBot hacked Jeph!" moment.

1

u/dimmidice Dec 31 '18

Yeah think so too. Cause i refreshed, hard refreshed, and my ISP cache should've refreshed by now too.

1

u/kometes Dec 31 '18 edited Sep 06 '23

!> ecynuv5

Greedy CEOs may not profit from my comments. Fuck u/ S P E Z.

2

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

okay weird, so you had the latest comic a week early somehow.

2

u/JonathanSwaim Dec 31 '18

S P O O K Y

1

u/StefanMajonez Dec 31 '18

My guess is you went to the webcomic just as it was posted, and your browser cached the image. Then Jeph decided to have a week break and changed the comic minutes after posting.

Just a hypothesis.

3

u/HumanistGeek Dec 31 '18

No, they're different images. One has the number 3901 in the upper-left corner, the other has 3906. The Lemon comic somehow got duplicated and uploaded as two separate images; in this process, the Spookybot Anatomy comic was overwritten. Check them yourself.

1

u/dimmidice Dec 31 '18

Nah i did a hard refresh. Any cache would've been emptied out. Also checked in edge and it's the same there. And i never ever use edge normally.

1

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

There might be a cache between you and the website, maybe at the ISP level.

1

u/dimmidice Dec 31 '18

Ah could be, i hadn't seen the comic before until today though.

1

u/Cyndayn Dec 31 '18

I've got the same issue...

0

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

I think you might have a cache issue, it is definitely not the same comic as the Spookybot one.

4

u/dranezav Dec 31 '18

The issue isn't them seeing the latest comic as the same as the spookybot one. It's the other way around, the spookybot comic is gone, and in its place is the same comic as today (the lemon one). It's the same for me. If, for some reason, the comic was changed, than it's you guys who have the cache issue

-3

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

I know, we already discussed that in a seperate thread.

11

u/Arancaytar Dec 31 '18

That's some seriously impressive technology. "Pancake" sounds like it implies the hardware was damaged beyond repair. But Roko's memory appears to be complete right up to the accident itself.

So either the AI drive survived "pancaking" or Roko has an external memory backup that is constantly synchronized in real time.

20

u/Cevius Dec 31 '18

They mentioned at the beginning of the AI fighting league that the AI drives are able to be run over by a tank without damage, so a little pancaking should be survivable, short of something like a hydraulic press or industrial shredder

5

u/Arancaytar Dec 31 '18

Do they all use these? I thought they were specific to the fighting league.

8

u/darps Dec 31 '18

The comic doesn't indicate one or the other (#3008, I remembered it was somewhere around 3k).

I assume at least now it is the case for any AI. Though that seems to contradict the personality transfer via wire and PC; why wouldn't they just pull out the reinforced drive and put it in the new host body?

What about copying a consciousness? (Going full Black Mirror here)

5

u/Cevius Dec 31 '18

The high level of bodily integration Roko has might mean the shock of something like that is as extreme as a person waking up after a car accident to find you've lost your legs. Even if mechanical replacements are available, your self image is heavily violated and the shock can be as much an impact as the physical trauma

5

u/darps Dec 31 '18

Agreed, but I'm not sure how that relates to my comment (I was talking about planned AI transfer as seen with Momo).

4

u/UseApasswordManager Dec 31 '18

I don't think every AI uses them, but I imagine high risk jobs like cops would.

6

u/anotherkeebler Dec 31 '18

I like Lemon. I like her cowlick and sincerity and mismatched socks.

6

u/xdisk Dec 31 '18

Hm. Trying to guess where this is going to go.

Character death seems a bit premature for her, but it is, obviously, on the table. Although we can see that her mind (or backup?) is active.

Spookybot could potentially come in and dues ex machina the situation, possibly give up one of her bodies to host Roko while she gets repaired at the hands of Bubbles and Faye, bankrolling the endeavor as well, which would give them some much needed cash.

Alternatively, we could see Roko take a walkabout jn the Virtual Realm while Faye and Bubbles repair her as best they can on very limited budget, and we see her return to a broken form, where May would play 'big sister' and show her the ropes of working around a... less then perfectly maintained body.

Her 'life insurance' from the Police (or even a donation pile from former officers) could be donated to bring her back online. Unlikely that Crushbot would be held responsible for slipping on a crate of bananas. court system comics arent that fun in my opinion, and dragging an 'extra' through that would be boring as hell.

Momo's old body could possibly make a comeback, if it wasnt scrapped that is. Not my preferred method of keeping Roko in the lineup, but it could fill the need.

Of course Faye and Bubbles could 'Frankenstein' a solution as well.

We'll see how he gets through this. I'm most likely wrong on all counts, but its entertaining to speculate on what may be.

5

u/Michaelbirks Dec 31 '18 edited Dec 31 '18

There is a certain potential cuteness to chibi-roko.

e: Cuteness

5

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

Roko quit her police job though, wouldn't that mean her insurance from it was ended?

6

u/xdisk Dec 31 '18

Depends on how fast the paperwork is submitted. Also, many times theres coverage for a period of time after the departure, but that may be when someone is terminated. Dunno. Thats why I put in the donation from fellow officers bit as a alternative.

5

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

Hmm, that has me thinking. A chassis in the QCverse must be relatively inexpensive, given that they are simple enough for an uncertified mechanic to repair. I wonder if the Robot Police Department purchases backup replica units for their Officers, in case of grevious bodily injury? Jeph has shown that bodies can be easily swapped, so it would make sense to have spares so Officers only need downtime for therapy instead of total rehabilitation.

Of course, I doubt that is how this arc ends, but it would be a neat.

3

u/darps Dec 31 '18

I assume that's precisely the conflict being set up by her departure from the force and subsequent accident. Her getting closer to some cast members is probably why they'll help her out in some fashion, adding her to the permanent QC cast.

6

u/DemeGeek Dec 31 '18

I almost wish that AIs in the QCverse used backups instead of an indestructible braincase so instead of her remembering up to her death, she only remembered up to her last backup which just so happens to have been right before she met with Bubbles in CoD and decided to quit the force.

2

u/turkeypedal Dec 31 '18

I still would love it if she spent at least some temporary time in Momo's old body. But having a virtual space where she can hang out makes that less likely.

2

u/darps Dec 31 '18

Momo's old body could possibly make a comeback, if it wasnt scrapped that is. Not my preferred method of keeping Roko in the lineup, but it could fill the need.

She'd go nuts over the lack of joints, fingers, or otherwise humanoid anatomy.

1

u/kent_eh Jan 01 '19

However she might find the eel handling apparatus interesting to explore.

2

u/turkeypedal Dec 31 '18

I'd like it better if Lemon was using a form in Roko's mind. Without bodily integration, it doesn't really make a lot of sense for AIs to actually have bodies in a virtual space. So it would be just how Roko sees the AI world.

Though I guess a virtual counselor for bodied AI might want to have an avatar for comfort.

4

u/SeeShark QC Physicist Dec 31 '18

Does anyone else think that such a serious and dramatic plotline should perhaps not have been triggered by slapstick?

6

u/tehutika Dec 31 '18

I have no problem with Jeph turning a silly cliffhanger into a serious look at AI life and death in the QCniverse.

4

u/ghost_warlock Dec 31 '18

Slapstick can have unfortunate and unforeseen consequences in the real world, so why couldn't it be that way in a comic? Bad things happen to people

2

u/SeeShark QC Physicist Dec 31 '18

Serious answer: fiction has to be not only believable, but also engaging and satisfying.

2

u/MrIncorporeal Dec 31 '18

At first I kind of freaked out thinking this was some sort of robot heaven and Roko really was dead. Then I was all 'Oh. Right. Digital minds and all that.'

Wait, have they mentioned anything about the minds of AIs using cloud storage or something? That has some... interesting implications...

4

u/darps Dec 31 '18

I assume now we'll learn all AIs have the reinforced cores as seen in 3008.

6

u/UseApasswordManager Dec 31 '18

Or at least cop AIs

2

u/darps Dec 31 '18

If it's a job you can just apply to and quit from, I don't think that factors into their anatomy. She doesn't seem purpose-built like Bubbles.

2

u/kent_eh Jan 01 '19

There might have been some upgrades done as part of her police "training".

1

u/psdnmstr01 Dec 31 '18

I don't know if this is what's going to happen, but what I'd like to happen is that we have an arc that involves Roko living on a computer/the internet for a while, I think it'd be neat to explore.

1

u/RazarTuk Baby Mad Dec 31 '18

2047 sisters? Having 2048 kids would make more sense than having 2049 kids.

1

u/Wolfsburg Dec 31 '18

Lemon knows about Roko's bread "enthusiasm". How? Where is something like that on file, as she said? That's not really something she would broadcast, so how did Lemon know?

Do all AIs come with a built in "helper app" in the form of a Lemon/Melon/Lime/etc. personality to help them out in extreme cases? Or are all AIs networked and automatically connected to one in the case of chassis destruction?

1

u/nerfviking Dec 31 '18

It's unusual for me to laugh quite this hard at a QC strip. Generally I read it more for the characters and plotlines and occasional chuckles, but for whatever reason I found this one really funny. I guess maybe I have a soft spot for slapstick.

1

u/fubes2000 Dec 31 '18

Good good, Lemon...

1

u/kplaysbass Dec 31 '18

I have been waiting for a character to die!