#s184

[thewertsearch]

GT: Man where IS he anyway??? GT: Is he taking one of his legendary infinite showers? TT: What can I say. TT: Dude fancies his ablutions.

We've already had an early-bird Roxy cameo, but Bro's certainly taking his sweet time.

I don't think this is actually the case, but it'd be pretty interesting if the original Kid Bro was already dead, and his AI duplicate was the 'real' Player all along. (He'd wield the Mind Aspect, obviously.)

GT: But seriously that brobot has been the bane of my existence ever since you sent it.

You as in the Responder, or you as in Kid Bro? The former is constantly posing as the latter, so it'd be pretty easy to mix them up. We really do need to get this guy his own account...

TT: I didn't send it. I sent the parts. TT: Or, correction, DS sent them.

...especially since even he's prone to blurring the lines between the two.

The question of whether he 'is' Bro is kind of debatable - but philosophy aside, viewing yourself as a shadow of someone else simply isn't good for your mental health.

GT: When hes pulling punches… GT: And taking it all easy and such… GT: And we start wrestling up a storm and whatnot… GT: Umm. TT: What. GT: Its just that the whole proceeding seems to become… GT: A bit tender for my liking.

Translation: The AR has a crush on Jake, and the only way he can express these feelings is through homoerotic combat. He can't even touch Jake, so he just sends a robot to kick his ass, and tries to live vicariously through the intricate rituals that ensue - but he'll never actually touch his skin.

...damn. This guy's getting very tragic, very fast.

TT: What does the guy have to do, Jake? TT: You want to wrestle. He's fucking game. Just a man, a machine, a secluded tropical island. Sounds like you died and went to fucking heaven, if you ask me. TT: Seriously, what does this simple, loyal brobot have to do to prove his worth to you?

Oh, you are down catastrophic, aren't you?

This... this is a disaster waiting to happen. None of this is going to go anything close to well.

TT: If the brobot's Novice setting makes you uneasy, I'm going to disable it remotely. TT: Done.

What, no!

Don't turn off the gay switch, dude! We can solve this!

Ok if he wants happy hunting you will GIVE him happy hunting. HAPPILY.

I absolutely love this expression - mostly because, despite their shared looks, you could never imagine John giving this energy.

This mood is completely unique to Jake English, and it's great.

[thewertsearch]

He's just so infuriating sometimes! Or at least his responder is. Ok, the real Strider is too. There's barely any difference between them anyway. The responder just uses a few more generic response templates. And even those you suspect the AI is savvy enough to use on purpose for the sake of irony, or to get a rise out of you or whatever. That silicon bastard knows damn well what it's doing.

Jake's clearly aware that the AI is sentient, which makes it even more of a dick move that he referred to him as a 'pretend person'.

Like, come on, English. You're fully aware that he's capable of being hurt by your remarks - and furthermore, the idea that he's 'not real' is obviously something he's going to be sensitive about. Have a heart!

Empty. The thing is out there somewhere. Waiting for you. Oh god.

So he does have a Dreambot, then - it just hasn't been linked to his bed, so he can't actually use it.

I think the AR might have hacked the thing to fuck with Jake - and if he did, I'm kind of on his side. Jake just called him fake, so let's see if he can handle something a little more 'real'.

TT: I'm just wondering, TT: If you still have your stupid old-fangled knickers in a twist. […] GT: In regard to what exactly? TT: To my proposal. Well, our proposal. […] GT: You mean making the rabbit for me? TT: No, I know you don't want that. TT: I meant my recommendation for how to go about procuring a new supply of uranium. TT: Operation U-235 Brocurement. Codename: Big Man Hass the Rock.

Someone's a fan of his big bro - or at least, his creator's big bro.

No, I think this still counts as his big bro. If Bro's really uploaded his own personality into the AR, then he arguably qualifies as a third Strider brother.

[thewertsearch]

GT: Well ive thought about it. GT: Even went downstairs to check the great vaulty doodad. GT: And predictably the infernal contraption is nowhere to be found. TT: Well yeah, Jake. TT: That's sort of the point. TT: Thrill of the hunt and all.

Ok, I think I get what's going on here.

Jake's Dreambot is probably the last remaining source of uranium on the entire island, and the AR is turning its retrieval into a game of hide-and-seek.

I'm not sure why Jake hadn't already retrieved this particular chunk of uranium, especially since he has no use for the robot himself. Maybe he was keeping it operational for sentimental reasons?

TT: I thought you liked to manicure the image of a dude who shits his pants over a good adventure. […] GT: I mean i wouldnt put it in a way like that or come out against a solid policy of clean trousers. But yes adventure is awesome. GT: I just prefer the idea of adventures which i can actually win.

Jake's picturing a LIVING GRANDSON SMACKDOWN - and, frankly, so am I. That robot's being piloted by an absurdly advanced AI, and I'm pretty sure Jake doesn't have any combat experience.

Winning, in this case, is shorthand for 'waiting for the AR to take pity on you'.

TT: It seems there is a 76.10395784% chance you are pussying out on me. Are you pussying out on me, Jake?

Now, to be fair, that one would only work if Jake had agreed to this challenge beforehand. After all, you can't pussy out of something you never pussied into.

GT: It seems it seems it seems!!! GT: It seems there is a million percent chance that you say it seems way too much and do it just to sound more like a lame robot from a movie and also probably just to piss me off! […] TT: Have you ever stopped to think that while I may be bound to processes inside the glasses of a real and incredibly cool guy, my algorithms in cognitive totality comprise a conscious entity not far short of the experiential and emotional complexity of a human being? GT: Oh malarkey. GT: YOU ARE A TIN CAN. ROBOTS DONT HAVE FEELINGS.

Jake, it's been sixty seconds since you complained about him pretending not to have feelings.

TT: I do have feelings. And you're shitting on them. TT: It sucks. GT: Oh. GT: Um. GT: Im sorry then if thats the case.

Well, that's something, at least - but I don't think Jake really understands why the AR is offended, so I'm worried it's just going to happen again in their next argument.

How long has the Responder existed for, anyway? Jake seems familiar with his schtick, so he's probably not brand-new - but at the same time, Jake's surprised apology makes it sound like the AR has only recently started to express feelings.

Maybe the AR has existed for years, but hasn't been sentient for years. Like, it really did just start as a primitive response script, but Bro kept uploading more of his personality onto it, until it slowly began to think and feel. Fascinating idea, I have to say.

GT: It can just be difficult to drum up sympathy for a program that presents itself as an impostor so often. GT: Maybe if you werent so ready to insist you were the genuine article all the time? Or didnt make it so confusing for me… GT: I think it would be best if we henceforth treated you as a totally distinct… uh… THING from my buddy.

Hey, it's not like the AR can stop imitating Bro. Even if he wanted to have his own identity, he's currently bound to the response script of someone else's Pesterchum account. When he talks, he's forced to do it through Bro's handle.

All evidence points to the Responder being a thinking, feeling being with his own inner world - which makes it a little ethically dubious to force him to be Bro's secretary. The guy shouldn't be treated as a bargain-bin Bro, the same way that Davesprite wasn't a backup Dave. We all saw how that ended, and it sure wasn't pretty.

[bloggers-secretfiles]

Story #184: May kaibigan ako, si J, ilang taon na rin kami magkakilala pero lately feeling ko nad-develop na ako sa kanya. Nung una, ayaw ko tanggapin na nad-develop na ako sa kanya dahil ayoko maging awkward kapag kasama ko sya. Isa pa, magkaklase kami ngayon at madalas kami magkasama, mapa-recess, lunch at uwian. Aaminin ko, nahulog na nga yung loob ko sa kanya. Hindi ko alam kung paano nangyare yun, isang araw bigla nalang sya naging sobrang special sakin. He makes me feel special, na dati hindi naman. Isa lang ang nakakaalam na crush ko sya, isa sa mga kabarkada naming babae. I trust her kaya sinabi ko sa kanya at para maka-hingi na din ng advice.

He helps me with everything na kailangan kong gawin. May sakit kasi ako, mahina ang katawan ko at madalas akong absent. Madalas sya na gagawa ng iba kong gawain, sya magdadala ng gamit ko at sya rin nakakapagpasaya sakin, sobrang kailangan ko kasi maging masaya. Bawal ako mapagod, ma-stress at malungkot.

Kapag free time namin, magkatabi lang kami lagi at nagkukulitan pero madalas tulog dahil antukin kami pareho. Haha. O kaya nagd-drawing lang kami pareho, hobby namin din yun, pero mas magaling sya sakin. Hays. Haha.

"Bibili ka ba sa canteen?" “Oo bakit?”  “Sasama ako sayo.”

"Baba ka ba?"  “Hindi” “Akala ko baba ka, inaantay kita eh.”

"Gets mo yung math?" “Wala nga akong sagot sa quiz.” “Akin na, sasagutan ko na.”

"Magd-dota lang kami ah." “Okay sige lang.” “Gusto mo sumama?” “Di ako pwede dun eh.” “Paggaling mo nalang kita tuturuan.”

Simpleng convos pero kinikilig ako. May nagsabi saakin na sabihin ko daw yung feelings ko para sa kanya. Pinag-iisipan ko pa eh, wala daw kasi mangyayare kung di ko sasabihin at baka nat-torpe lang daw. Paano kung maging awkward? Paano kung iwasan nya ako? Paano naman kung pareho kami ng nararamdaman? Ano ba dapat kong gawin?