Comic for Thursday, April 5th, 2018
Buffer still under control. Status normal. Etc. Next page will be uploaded to Patreon as soon as I’m down uploading this page to here. ‘Tis a special page, that next page, I must admit, though for a bit of a peculiar reason, so don’t think too much about it 😉
I updated the cast height chart I’ve been doing, you can see the updated version here, but it’s just +4 characters. Part three will be the MSB Characters and maybe some extra Levenworth characters (Magnolia, Maia… mostly because they are respectively the tallest and shortest characters I think).
A new vote incentive is still on the ‘to-do’ list. It hasn’t escaped the radar yet. But… uh… the radar can sometimes pick stuff up a long way off. Soon*.
As for the page, well, Miko. That’s pretty much all I got to say there.
*I would like to submit that the word ‘soon’ is generally understood to mean any of the following: ‘soon’, ‘not soon’, ‘maybe never’, ‘tomorrow’, ‘soonish’ and ‘maybe’.
Loading ...
Computers and humans are good at complementary and opposite skills. There’s also an metaphysical dimension to humanity that we do not know how to recreate (except by creating more humans…) How does one create a supercomputer that is good at what computers are good at as well as what humans are good at? You find a way to combine a human, a traditional piece of deterministic SW, and a piece of SW based on non deterministic code into 1 being => Mium= Taki/Miko + Query + MYM (who I suspect is an Autocaster with scary amounts of computing power added)= A distributed computing entity that can manipulate Eidos.
And then you discover There Are Problems because of the Law of Unintended Consequences … wonderful comic.
Well Mium was right, so far it has been a fairly one sided “conversation”.
Holy shit Miko, I thought Arron and Mium talking was awesome….this page alone is probably at least 2/3 as awesome as their whole conversation…..
Curious if this is going to have Arron thinking things over for a while then giving Peter a “Whatever you need” slip. Leaning against, based on Miko’s depictions of him there, but never know. (Though that “you can’t win, pick how you lose” makes me wonder if he’ll throw in by the end of this conversation rephrasing Miko’s own words.)
Still…soooo many questions….most of which won’t even form properly because I’m too busy going “Ooooooo I like the dialogue oooooo…” (and admiring the verbal asskicking, and the like, six times she’s lapped him on with that Reason You Suck Speech.)
That is one bitter and angry and hurt girl. Who adores her cousin and has more faith in him than in anything else in the world. I suspect her faith in Mium is even tied into that.
Now, did SHE write Mium, or did Peter? Or is Mium their joint effort?
It does sound like his 100% highest priority is protecting Miko, above all other priorities, though. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be saying “nothing can hurt me,” because Mium’s resources are not infinite, despite the probable truth of stating that anything Mium is paying attention to protecting is perfectly safe.
It is really hard to say with Mium. Query probably predates the integration with Miko, so Query is probably almost entirely written by Peter.
MYM as far as I know was the Avon lab AI that Peter stole and integrated with Query. He might have written MYM (“Mium”) as well, but I don’t think so.
Mium is not entirely integrated with Miko always (when Acalia tried to shoot her, he did fully integrate for a second to give her his power of bullet zapping), but she is clearly somewhat connected to him at all times. We see her talking to him and listening to him pretty much at all times.
There is another interesting scene of note, back when Kally gets kidnapped, Mium says that he can’t really find her unless Peter either gives him more processing power or lowers the priority of protecting Miko. This is while Rovak is blowing his way into the lab. Peter opts to give him more power and hacks into the traffic control and finds Kally, but this implies that he has at least that much power dedicated to ensuring Miko can’t be killed.
Interesting stuff. But I wanted to point out that there is considerable speculation that Peter not only used to work for Avon, but he was probably that (now) missing scientist who ran that secret research division, with Dr. Mir working under him. (It would certainly explain why she hates Peter so much.) So, instead of saying that MYM was the AI that Avon developed and which Peter stole, it may be more accurate to say that MYM was the AI which Peter developed (probably reverse-engineering Kor’s world stuff) while working at Avon. MYM’s integration with Query may have occurred after he left Avon, but I’m thinking it was probably before. Heck, for all we know, MYM might have been based around Query at it’s core.
As for Mium’s highest priority being the protection of Miko: I agree that this seems to be the case. But, in my mind, Peter is the one with the highest amount of control over MYM. (He even has specific protocols for Mium to act upon based upon certain conditions, as we’ve seen him issue such.) So, if Miko’s safety is Mium’s high priority, it’s probably because Peter set it that way. Obviously, Peter cares about Miko and worrying about her would detract from his plans for changing both worlds in major ways. Also, Miko seems just as smart as Peter and, likely, is an important part of his plans…
It is almost certain that Peter has a higher access than Miko. In fact we know that Mium removed most of Miko’s overrides, that was their first interaction and part of why she is annoyed with him. She threatened she could have Peter make Mium give her server back, but she does not seem to have ever actually done that, which is interesting.
We also know that Miko is pretty jealous of Mium’s attention, given that her main problem with Naomi is that Mium is hanging out with Naomi too much (and listening to her too much), which is a little ridiculous given that Mium can pay attention two places at once without any real issue.
I am personally of the camp that Peter is probably not Doctor Martin, due to the timeline, but it definitely suggested that he could be. The most notable being that Peter clearly stopped Ila from saying a name when they first met and Ila was elaborating how badly Mir wants to kill Peter. I think it mostly hinges on that Mium seems too complicated for the amount of time Peter was missing from the IDS, but it is possible he was working for Avon and the IDS at the same time.
The other missing piece of the timeline is when Miko showed up. She may only be in this dimension for a few months, as Kyle and Arron just noticed she was gone, though it seems they discovered this late, likely because Miko hates seeing people face to face, and could easily fake being home otherwise.
I am really curious to Miko’s backstory. If @PastUtopia puts it up as a bonus comic option again, I am voting for that as much as I can vote (I know, only once). I do want to see more of Minus Years, but there has been too many open questions on Miko at this point, and it is becoming very clear there is a story there.
We know “Taki” was trapped in some sort of coma or something similar. Probably due to implants. Peter would eventually use Mium to fix whatever the issue was and allow “Taki” mobility again? Up until that point, the implants may have allowed a digital existence, explaining some of the computer affinity. Possibly watching through Query for a while? Unknown.
Hypothesis. Peter found a way to wake “Taki” up but it was risky. Arron had originally approved of whatever procedure “Taki” underwent and refused the risky option as he had promised to keep her “Safe.” Peter did it anyway which is why she has such loyalty to him and anger to Arron perhaps?
You may be correct about Peter going ahead with some plan for Taki’s sake, which Arron may have been against. And I love your idea of Miko having a digital existence while in a coma. That might explain some things. But I think there’s more depth to whatever happened.
I seem to recall a hint somewhere – a reference to Central “weaponizing” their children – which suggested that Taki’s implant was part of a Central plan to either fight off Kor’s World or to be prepared for when they invade again. Something like that would require parental consent.
Hypothesis: Perhaps Taki either had a fatal condition (perhaps a brain tumor?) or brain damage from a near fatal accident? Perhaps the implant was an experimental procedure which offered the possibility of giving her a somewhat normal life, except it did not quite work as planned – i.e., she was stuck in a coma – until Peter found a way to fix it and wake her up?
What does seem rather clear is that – whatever happened to Taki involving the implant – it affected Peter. It seems central to some of his motivations, such as getting Miko involved in his current plans. Maybe Peter suggested the experimental procedure, so he felt responsible? Maybe he was involved in the development of the implant?
It is also under my impression that Taki was unable to walk. Was wheel chair bound because of it. That is my take on part of the shocked eye reaction that Aaron has. Peter, now through whatever means, has her acting as an independent agent
That seems to be the case, but there was also a period of time where Miko was in a coma it sounds like. So, coma > wheelchair bound > fully armed and operational Miko. Or perhaps she was wheelchair bound before the coma? Either way, it seems like Peter used Query to fix the implant.
The question becomes how much does that do? Mium can regenerate his body to a fairly ridiculous extent. Presumably Miko is more human, but how much more human at this point? I look forward to seeing more answers (or more likely more questions…)
I dont want to be rud but:
Your drawing has someting weird… someting annoying
I think thats because face shapes… they are hard to read emotions… making reading comic even harder to read than long texts :/
Well, probably not rud, but maybe a little rude.
I am perhaps biased as I have read this comic since the art was actually a little rough, but I have to disagree. At this point the art in no way hinders my enjoyment of the “long texts”.
Did you get here reading the archive? If you go back you can see exactly how much the art has improved, and probably also get a better understanding why emotions would be hard to read in this scene in particular. Neither of these characters are expressive, and they both have pretty severely conflicted emotions at this point in time. I get that from the art, but I also know the characters.
It’s cool. I have long sense resigned myself to that comic is not for everyone! It has a lot of words, and frankly, I sometimes not sure why anyone reads them all, but people seem to enjoy so I keep doing it. 😉
I am not an artist. If you go look at the first page I drew, it would be an insult to elementary school kids to call it elementary. I’ve gotten better, but it’s not like I do this for a living or anything, I’m no artist.
That said, as @Ferrus notes, roughly half the characters have a range of motion from ‘expressionless’ to ‘enigmatic’ which really makes nothing easier. I think I once claimed half the design of Naomi was so that some character in the comic would actually have expressions 😉
I don’t mind critique, but I also don’t want to place high expectations on it; I’m not going to magically get better at stuff.
… I read this because of the large amount of words. Pictures barely matter to me as long as I get what is trying to be portrayed. I read and greatly enjoyed Another Gaming Comic, despite its lackluster graphics after all. But words… words give me insight and clues into the world. So long as it is interesting, bring on all the walls of text!
…that barking mad little girl.
The opinion that many hold, but few dare to say… least wherever they think Miko may be able to hear ’em… 😉
Yep. Posting it on the internet might not be the wisest thing.
I wonder if “Miko” was, legally, her middle name? I’ve heard of people going by their middle name. Did she cast off her given name as a way to cast off her old life? Did the implant change her on a fundamental level? Or maybe she had a major falling out with her parental units?
BTW: In Japanese, the name translates to “red truth” or “crimson truth”. But, it is also found as a Slavic name, where it is a form of Michael. This name is from the Hebrew mīkhā’ē‘l (as in, the archangel), which means ‘Who is like God’.
P.S.: Miko reminds me somewhat of Alice the ‘NEET Detective’ in Heaven’s Memo Pad (Kami-sama no Memo-chō). She’s short, pale white and has black hair. And she’s a young NEET who manipulates via computers and who hates the idea of leaving her room, for any reason. Also, like Alice, she’s wicked smart and has a sharp tongue.
I think “Miko” is something Taki chose for herself. It’s a little weird, since this in’t Earth, and “Miko” is a Japanese religious title. (see HERE), but her avatar and her clothing choices on this page (white top, red skirt/wrap) match a Miko’s uniform.
Personally, I don’t try to reconcile all of it, I just enjoy the result. 🙂
Ah! Good catch.
While Palindra is not Earth-As-We-Know-It (as per word of author), we do not really know how much Central reflects Earth-As-We-Know-It. There are more than a few references to ancient Earth, particularly in their swearing vocabulary. Plus, “Taki” itself is a Japanese name, so all evidence points to Miko being half Japanese.
Or it could “translated for your convenience”, as they are not really speaking “English” for the most part. Miko is sort of a loan word as “Priest” would not really mean the same thing.
That said, every time I have started to dig into the naming in the comic, there is almost always threads to follow, and if you look at both of the definitions the @xpacetrue has pulled up, I think it is fair to say he might be onto something; there are definitely ways to read Miko’s roll that would start down that path.
She is a human partially integrated into an AI with several indicators she is going to end up more integrated into that AI as time goes on – Mium has already considered backing her brain up, as he finds it disconcerting that she seems to need it to live.
Love the dialog on this page!
“And if someone ever kills Peter… Mium… He’s going to learn something about hate… from me.”
😮 Those are powerful words, made all the stronger by how they’re from Miko talking about Peter. I just knew that Miko felt a sort of sisterly love for Peter. But we’ve never seen her admit as much or even talk like this before. I’ve got chills…
There’s definitely a strong cousin-sibling rivalry between them, but she does care for Peter. And we know that, deep down, Miko adores Mium, even though she nags and complains towards him constantly. Perhaps the higher the nag level the more she cares?
“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference.” – Elie Wiesel
Sometimes it seems like all of Peter’s relationships are somewhat dysfunctional.
Peter clearly does care about Miko though, he was annoyed when Acalia tried to kill Miko instead of him, despite that (according to Miko here and when she was talking to Peter) she is harder to kill than Peter. He also got annoyed when Arron brought up Miko previously, she is at least part of whatever bad blood exists there (as they seem to otherwise have a marginal working relationship).
I am curious about more of Peter and Miko’s backstory though.
It is especially ominously interesting when you consider it in the context of this:
“I have not yet gained the capacity for hate, doctor. After all, who would be foolish enough to create something capable of hate or anger and then keep it locked in a box?”