Comic for Monday, March 11th, 2019
Mar11
Yeah… sorry this is a tad late. We are buffer zero again, unfortunately. Was hoping I’d get time this weekend to get ahead of schedules, but schedules got ahead of me.
Should be fine for Thursday, but we may need to take a day off at some point. The work problem is either sorting itself out or heading further down the shitter, not really sure yet.
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Is it a safe bet that “Control” is a SMAI?
I read that same way as US astronauts in movies as HQ/base/ops room/etc.
Thursday’s comic will be up tomorrow; just wanted to give a heads up. Sorry for the delay.
Anyone notice that commander mage seems to know who Naomi is? It seems Naomi is sort of famous.
Especially to recognize, out of context, on a first name alone. Last name, I could see, depending on how unique the names are, but even a rare first name recognition is surprising.
E.g., if I say “Cumberbatch,” despite not having any connection, you would plausibly know who I was talking about; if I said “Benedict,” you would be suitably confused, despite the name being similarly uncommon (so you probably know no other “Benedict”s other than “eggs”).
You say Benedict, I say Arnold.
Hey, Arnold!
I do not find it all that surprising.
First, the Consul recognized Naomi on sight, despite her hair being dyed at the time, and it was implied the Consul had met Naomi before (an event Naomi found less notable than Consul, it would seem). The Consul further implied that should Naomi appear on Television, should be easily identified.
Second, this guy clearly knows Arkady, and Arkady is friends with Naomi. It is fairly reasonable to assume that it would be newsworthy (or at least gossip worthy) that he is friends with Naomi given them both being semi public figures.
Third, this guys looks about the target demographic for magical sports. It is implied a few places Naomi made more than a bit of a splash, which makes sense as Naomi was likely winning against Kally before Kally cheated at airball.
Fourth, one gets the impression that the higher ups watch Levenworth maybe a bit closer than the people at Levenworth fully grasp. I would be sort of shocked if this guy does not know a bit more about Naomi than he is letting on (such as her leave of absence) but is trying to get Arkady to clarify due to the fact that Arkady has been keeping his cards pretty close to his chest with his allies here.
The consul also recognized Mium and knew there was no “Itai Filiar” at Levenworth, in spite of records saying there was. “We actually know all the people in the school,” she said. And it makes sense. “Special academy” indeed; of course they’ll be familiar with them.
Naomi would naturally be included. I suspect we just got the wrong impression because Tyler Weber, a central viewpoint character and something of a Malsa VIP, didn’t know Naomi. But he arrived at Levenworth (and perhaps Malsa) after Naomi first left, so among the Malsa leadership figures, he’s likely the exception.
Well, the actor that played “Phoenix” in the original A-Team was called Benedict, it I recall it correctly. Yes, Dirk Benedict.
Whereas I first thought of the pope emeritus. (No, I’m not a Catholic.) Context is king.
I think the two are the beast that Atter has and the other one is Kally’s red dragon. It looks like one of the wings of Kally’s dragon in the last panel.
late? your perfectly on time.
tho it is interesting about Kor’s world…picking up 2? so… MYM and Atter? to them 2 sides for the same poisoned coin? or maybe this time its just Adder being his usual mess with everyone?
I doubt that Kor’s World can pick up MYM as long as MYM is keeping a low profile. Back when Kor’s World invaded Levenworth and launched an HVW, they detected MYM because he was actively interfering with Kor’s World’s attempt to utilize Malsa’s computer systems.
Rather, now that I think about it, I believe Sigmund may be correct in that the two they detect here are Atter and Kally’s dragon. Earlier, we saw that Kor’s World soldier ask Naomi if she’s seen red magic before and it’s pretty clear that they consider this type of magic a threat (as they clearly deem MYM a threat).
“Stage Three,” as this soldier calls it, may be referring to Atter’s effective immortality and weird ability to “infect” a person. Remember how Atter infected Arron with a magic “listening device”? Remember how Arron ended up amputating his whole arm as someone recommended? Atter is a magic virus, much like MYM is a computer virus…
Is this the primary motivation of Kor’s World? Is everything they’re doing all to fight against red goo scenarios? But if so, that would mean that the red goo scenario can happen…
Kally! Quick! Give everyone a pet dragon!
That leads to a question, can red constructs be handed off by other than After virus takeover?
We know they are somewhat stable, but how do you give them instructions?
Atter has shown us that they’re extremely stable. In fact, so stable that MYM recommended amputation rather than magic nullification on Arron’s arm. So stable that today’s comic is hinting that Kor’s World is terrified of them.
I think what you’re trying to ask is: can you give red magic constructs a level of instruction that will prevent Atter from taking them over. Based off the fact that Kally doesn’t fear Atter, (and some cutsy behavior between Kally and her dragon) I’m guessing that her dragon is immune. In fact, I have a suspicion that Kally has subconsciously programmed her dragon into self-awareness.
I’m of the opinion that there isn’t a lot of difference between red (and better?) constructs and general purpose SMAI, at least where Kor’s World’s experience lies.
Different origins? Absolutely. One is a derivation of computer science, one of thaumaturgical science. Think of it as a convergent evolution sort of thing. Two different sets of forces applied to similar problems resulting in end products that are remarkably similar despite being created from very different materials.
But WHAT are they considering as two examples? Elaina’s beast? Ila? Kally’s red dragon? Atter himself? Mium is back in action, a chassis he is inhabiting might be en route?
My money is on the red constructs themselves, the spirit beast Atter is possessing and Kally’s red dragon should both be in the area by now. However this is just about the time for Past to pull a switch up.
This is definitely an interesting theory, and you really have to wonder if the origin of Atter is not perhaps an SMAI that has long lost it’s sanity and purpose.
People in the comic call Atter a “demon” but what would really be the origin of a demon? Given that we have recently seen Mium download himself onto Ila (who is fairly human) and Miko (who is a human), he definitely can hop between people.
I do not think Mium can take control of a red construct, but depending on their nature, it does not seem impossible.
Maybe a “demon” is just an SMAI that has gotten an Eidos Key and fully overwritten its original purpose (or so abstracted it that it cannot be easily determined). It is implied that SMAI have a lifespan where their purpose decays, so that seems plausible.
I have nothing but theories, but I am intensely interested to see more on this.
I don’t think Atter has lost his sanity or purpose. In fact, I think Atter is exactly what I’d expect if an SMAI were created to be a weapon of mass destruction. He’s constantly looking for ways to maximize harm and destruction caused.
Perhaps we need to approach purpose and sanity from a point-of-view scenario:
A SMAI has a purpose programmed into it (for arguments sake, lets consider this part of it’s core ‘being’, and thus not able to be changed). BUT a SMAI evolves and changes: so eventually the SMAI’s interpretation of it’s purpose will probably no longer match the creator’s intent. So from the creator’s point-of-view the SMAI has outgrown it’s usefulness: if the SMAI acts in a way the creator didn’t intend, then the creator says “the SMAI has gone insane”. BUT from the SMAI’s point-of-view: it’s creator is the insane one, because they clearly no longer comprehend the SMAI’s usefulness!
Atter… well from his point-of-view, he believes he still serves his purpose. As for sanity… well that is relative too.
I can agree that there are some striking similarities between Atter and SMAI. I suppose, for all we know, they may be different sides of the same coin, just – as you say – one being a result of computer science and the other of magical research.
However, I have to disagree with this take on Atter’s origin. It seems implied that Atter was never human and that his entire being was an artificial personality inside a magical construct from the beginning.
I will admit that this possibility is intriguing. And I have considered this. But I think that there is enough evidence to suggest otherwise. Unlike M.Y.M. and even Ila, Atter talks and acts way too human, especially in how his ego is supersized. This also seems reinforced by how Peter and others talk about Atter. They talk about him as someone who was at least human at one time.
If you think about it, a more likely scenario is that Atter or magic researchers found a way to bypass mortality through imprinting a human’s consciousness (and/or their Eidos key) onto a magical lattice or something that can “infect” and take over either a human host or a magical construct.
Isn’t this concept very similar to the notion in science fiction of attaining immortality – of mapping and copying a human’s brain pattern and memories and then either imprinting these on a clone body or simulating these inside a computer or robot/android brain?
Also, think about how similar Atter is to Rovak. Both are insane. Both are very full of themselves and self-justified in killing and doing pretty much whatever they want. Both think of themselves as immortal, indestructible supermen that can’t be stopped. How they came to believe these things is almost understandable, considering that they pretty much are immortal, indestructible supermen who can get away with doing whatever they want. Who’s going to stop them?
Is it any wonder that they look down on mere mortals? Is it any wonder that Rovak wanted to recruit Mium or Ila, who are effectively immortal and every bit the bada** he is? Rovak obviously wants friends or companions who can keep up with him and who won’t die on him.
Think about MYM’s personality, or even Ila’s. I think MYM is incapable of gaining an Atter or Rovak-sized ego. And Ila’s temperament and personality is more like that of an innocent child.
I’m just saying: I think it makes more sense that Atter was, at one time, merely a very powerful magically-empowered human very similar to Rovak. But then, that begs the question: If Rovak continues down the path he has chosen, does that mean that he will one day end up almost indistinguishable from Atter – even more insane and ruthless and even more immortal?