Lieutenant Fusilier in The Farthest Reaches

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Another update! And good thing, too, I had horrible nightmares and need it. :D

open_sketch said:
This was cause of some concern: while we'd encountered automatons and such with similar body plans to our own, and there was no particular reason to believe they'd be generally more or less likely to be independently intelligent than other forms of alien life, anthropomorphization was a powerful force.
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Literally! Dynamic stability means you can intentionally destabilize yourself to rapidly convert stored energy into movement or work. Humans are about sixty kilograms of water about a meter and a half off the ground, for example, and throwing that weight around is a fantastic way to get things done. Like, if you went to move a sofa across the room, you wouldn't pick it up, get under it perfectly, and then waddle around with it, right? You'd push it, and you'd do that by leaning against it to turn your weight into force. Humans can develop absurd peak forces by taking advantage of this effect. When you want to start running, you do it by pitching forward, starting to fall, and then accelerating to catch up; humans win races against things like horses across short distances because dynamic stability means we are, in a way, already accelerating that much anyway and we just have to direct it instead of putting it against itself. My entire work in grad school was about teaching humanoid robots to do this kind of thing.
open_sketch said:
"Oh my God." Kennedy said, a look I could only imagine was horror crossing her face.
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That's not horror, Fusie. That's awe. Or perhaps dumbstruck excitation.

That's "Oh my God, she's going to break my hips." :p
 
open_sketch said:
i imagine nobody involved exactly knew that was the outcome when the machine started telling them how to put the parts together for another machine.
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That's more or less how I pictured it. Sure, humans got the ball rolling, but it quickly grew beyond our capacity to understand. We just got really lucky that our AI overlords like us.

Also, Beckham's low-lying misanthropy reminds me of a movie I saw once as a kid. I forget the name, but (IRCC) the plot was that humans had invented intelligent robots who were better people than humans. With robots gaining more and more power, the setting was on its way to a utopia. But there was a small group of human radical robot-supremacists. They believed that humans needed to get out of the way of robots, and since robots were too caring to commit genocide, the humans had a duty to wipe themselves out.

Huh... looking back on it as an adult, that was kind of messed up.

open_sketch said:
I could see Sergeant Theda glaring at me from her position at the line, the look in her eyes saying it all.
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Agh. Like, I'm 99% certain that Lieutenant Fusilier will eventually prove that she is a capable officer. But I am still genuinely worried that she'll realize that she just isn't cut out for it (like the human in the recruitment office said in the beginning).
 
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okay starting on part 2. also considering sketchy portraits of more cast members ... should i do machines or fellow officers first?
 
open_sketch said:
okay starting on part 2. also considering sketchy portraits of more cast members ... should i do machines or fellow officers first?
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Ooh! If you're taking requests... Maybe Miriam, so we can see the differences between her and Marie and how she wears the uniform differently than the Lieutenants? Or some of the robots that're a bit less standard or that highlight larger differences between different versions/models of the same make, like the absolutely bloody ancient Theo or Tessa and all her customizations? Alternatively, you could draw some of the higher human officers and we could spend a bunch of time nerding out about insignia and allowable customizations in the uniform and equipment and suchlike. :D
 
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Beatrice has a specialized limb, no? I'd be certainly interested in that.

I also wouldn't mind seeing some of the older (or actually brand new) Theodoras, and for that matter whether Theda has a distinct look.
 
Maybe we could get a look at Paul (Bunyan :V) the canadian robot lumberjack. :V

Hmm. Now I'm wondering about robot naming schemes, particularly for highly-multifunctional models like a hypothetical "laborer" chassis that's basically good at operating hand tools, not breaking when it gets dirty, and picking heavy things up and putting them down. Were letters assigned in any particular order, like the tailors/seamstresses (B names) being designed before the fusiliers (T names) or the Lady's Maids (M names)? That'd make a lot of sense; fabric-processing factories were IIRC some of the worst places, while social stations like ladies' maid would have been one of the later professions humans would have held, and giving guns to robots can't have been an early development. Would mechanics have been designed first, as direct outputs of the intelligence explosion, or last, because robots might have replaced humans last in highly skilled labor like engineering? They seem to have D names. Not going to try to deadname Tessa, but the mechanics that Fusie went to to get cleaned up were named Dorothea and Dotty. That... might suggest early designs. If letters were assigned sequentially, who has the A names? Are robots designed by humans, or is there an Adam line out there that focuses on robot R&D?
 
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robot names 2
  • Informational
    • The letters are assigned basically based on what the creators thought fit, I think. We played around with them being acronyms early but we dropped that. I do like the idea that factory workers, a very early set of bots indeed, are Adams and Eves though.

    Tessa is actually of a different model of bot than the Dorothys, as she's not properly an engineer, she's a handy(wo)man. She's just lived a long time and branched out a lot.

    Engineers are D-names because they're robot doctors and we wanted to have the linguistic rhythm hinting at that.

    Names we've done for sure.

    - Maria: Ladies Maids
    - Beatrice/Benjamin: Seamstresses/Taylors
    - Abigail: Maids of All Work
    - Matthew/Mark: Butlers
    - James: Valets
    - Thomas: Handymen
    - Dorothy/Unknown D Name: Engineers
    - William: Sailors
    - Theodore/Theodora: Soldiers
    - John: Messengers/Postmen
    - Sarah/Unknown S name: Secretaries/Clerks
    - Peter/Pollyanna: Kitchen workers
    - Gladys: Governess
    - Jeanette: Nurses
    - Adam/Eve: Factory/Manual Labourers

    I can only imagine there's no rhyme or reason to them, and this informal scheme emerged from the first robots having some kind of collective nickname, resulting in them taking on other collective nicknames as they took on different tasks. A lot of them still reflect gendered labour divides of the time they were built and indeed resemble their archetypes: the messengers are all kinda small and boyish because they were replacing teenaged (or younger) post boys (this is also why Hans has heelies built into his feet), and James and Maries are essentially genderflipped versions of each other but were initially designed very differently so as not to draw an impolite equivalence.
     
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  • Informational
    • open_sketch said:
    - Sarah/Unknown S name: Secretaries/Clerks
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    Simon? Etymology from Hebrew, "He has heard".
    open_sketch said:
    Engineers are D-names because they're robot doctors and we wanted to have the linguistic rhythm hinting at that.
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    I missed that! I like it. :D

    It occurs to me that the ancient robots appear to be no more or less intelligent than new-build robots. Much more experience, but apparently no substantial difference in, say, working memory or anything. Is that the result of an extremely careful upgrade program, have the robots upgraded themselves to the limits of the available physics (which actually isn't implausible - IIRC human brains are limited partially by thermal characteristics!), or did the robots intentionally halt the bootstrap process at parity with humans? If it was intentional or a thermal limit or something, are there, like, a very limited line of "architect" robots with super-brains that're kept around Just In Case? Is there any fundamental AI research going on, or has it mostly been pointed at physical upgrades like the better eyes?

    edit: Or, hm, if it's slow but steady progress, are humans being upgraded in parallel?
     
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    cute robots
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    • Alright, here's some robits!

    So, the maids are weirdly Victorian maids despite the universe's Regency trappings, so I decided to make Miriam's uniform inspired more by Victorian uniforms to match!

    Beatrice is just great. No commentary she's just the best.

    And my hand kinda started hurting a bit when I drew Sergeant Theda but god, imagine how uncomfortable she is at all times in a red jacket. Just savour it.
     
  • Media
    • open_sketch said:
    Beatrice is just great. No commentary she's just the best.
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    On one hand, yes.
    On the other hand, she's probably not going to blow up time itself, so we have to deduct some points for that.


    open_sketch said:
    And my hand kinda started hurting a bit when I drew Sergeant Theda but god, imagine how uncomfortable she is at all times in a red jacket. Just savour it.
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    Don't be mean.
    She's only single handedly saving us from the Robot apocalypse by being really passive agressive about it.
     
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    The dress really does go well with Beatrice's arm. And, as mentioned, the whole-head smile. Dora is a lucky, lucky girl. :p

    I like how Miriam and Marie have the same face and hairstyle but use them so differently. Miriam's grey hair and realistically-sized eyes are all composed and thoughtful, while Marie's huge expressive anime eyes perfectly convey how new she is to everything and how excited she is about it. :)
     
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    I like the sketches.

    But I have an ethics question. This is an important ethical question.

    [looks at Theda]

    Now, I've always held that it was unfair, derogatory, or both, that the phrase "resting bitchface" came into being to describe women who look a bit grumpy with their face in its default state.

    But is it, or is it not, unethical to use it to describe a woman who specifically had her face forged out of steel to look that way?
     
    Simon_Jester said:
    I like the sketches.

    But I have an ethics question. This is an important ethical question.

    [looks at Theda]

    Now, I've always held that it was unfair, derogatory, or both, that the phrase "resting bitchface" came into being to describe women who look a bit grumpy with their face in its default state.

    But is it, or is it not, unethical to use it to describe a woman who specifically had her face forged out of steel to look that way?
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    Theda got promoted to sergeant and celebrated by spending her new pay making her face look meaner and her speaker louder.

    After filling out the proper permits to apply for it and having them approved, of course.
     
    Honestly, the art is just so good. It's so evocative and in an interesting style.
     
    open_sketch said:
    Theda got promoted to sergeant and celebrated by spending her new pay making her face look meaner and her speaker louder.

    After filling out the proper permits to apply for it and having them approved, of course.
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    Celebrated is an interesting word, I'd imagine the onlookers would torture themselves trying to figure out an equivalent without the connotations of enjoyment.

    This isn't a decoration or an affectation after all, this is a solemn token of professional responsibility.

    (She just doesn't seem the type to let herself understand satisfaction as fun)
     
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    My favorite part of Theda's portrait is the glowing eyes. Imagine her stalking you, looming out of the darkness, to give you...a piece of equipment that you forgot on the range, and a stern warning about leaving your things lying about.
     
    open_sketch said:
    "I'm not sure you should be trying to picture it, old boy. At least not in public." Beckham said, and Sumner broke down into loud laughter of such intensity she sank from view, slipping out of her chair.
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    Beckham is space!future!regency!Hienrich, isn't he? :V
    "You'd think that, yes, but you would be very much surprised." Beckham said, and I suddenly rather wished this conversation would end and we could get back to fleecing me of my pay. He leaned close to Turner to whisper 'discreetly', but I quite clearly heard him say "They customize."
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    Is it just me, or are we getting hints that Beckham has a very interesting personal life?
    open_sketch said:
    Unknown D Name: Engineers
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    Donnovan, perhaps? Same syllable count
     
    veteranMortal said:
    wayyyy ahead of u

    uwu mommy theda loom at me uwu
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    Now I just have to wonder whether poor Theda has fled to the British Army to escape *ahem* soldier(s) who don't seem to be dissuaded by discipline.

    samdamandias said:
    Is it just me, or are we getting hints that Beckham has a very interesting personal life?
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    Speaking of idealizing the other side of the robot/human divide, I would be almost surprised if Beckham doesn't have a bit of a preference in that regard.
     
    I'm now imagining Beckham hitting on Theda. Usually when I say things like that I actually mean "I'm imagining a short scene which features Beckham hitting on Theda", but in this case it's literal - my simulations diverge sharply a second or two after that. Does she even understand the words? Does her head explode immediately? Does she just shoot him down like an Iowa idly swatting a Sopwith Camel? I have no idea!

    edit:
    <insert crude joke here about Beckham borrowing the stick up her ass>
     
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    Vebyast said:
    I'm now imagining Beckham hitting on Theda. Usually when I say things like that I actually mean "I'm imagining a short scene which features Beckham hitting on Theda", but in this case it's literal - my simulations diverge sharply a second or two after that. Does she even understand the words? Does her head explode immediately? Does she just shoot him down like an Iowa idly swatting a Sopwith Camel? I have no idea!

    edit:
    <insert crude joke here about Beckham borrowing the stick up her ass>
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    Machines don't have digestive tracts. So, uh... that's actually a load-bearing structural element and comes with all Prussian Theo-bots. :D
     
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