Schlock Mercenary IV: Chrome and Punishment

[ChowGuy]

Up next on schlock mercenary, camera eyes and other quasi-legal nanite enhancements!

Quasi-legal? Because we've never seen "camera eyes" used by a civilian reporter? And what about Kevyn openly walking around with glasses that give him a heads-up display across the whole EM spectrum? Or Shep's "symbol of oats" that let him see through solid doors?

Or is it just known thugs, thieves, and extortionists that can spy on you, not the people charged with protecting you from them? Yeah. I've heard that one bother.

Tell us again, Ambassador Breya, how Petey had "no right" to stop the Tohdfraugs from wiping out Qlaviql, or replace the Tricameral Assembly, just because that Assembly couldn't be bothered to tend to their own defenses.

[Boring McReader]

Even if it all fits at once, you'll still want open space to move around it. And besides, do you really want to have your bedroom, bathroom, mini-gym, and sitting room all crammed into the same space, at the same time? A typical efficiency/studio apartment will run about 325-550 sq ft (30-50 sq meters) and that room is nowhere near that size.

This is very relevant.

http://youtu.be/pZabKeSHmW0?t=14m47s

Figuring out the right order is way more irritating than he makes it look. Thus, funnier.

After Oisri, I'd expect the Toughs to be even more paranoid about everything remotely related to UNS. Do you think they'll try to screen Sorlie for Laz'r'us before too long?

[ChowGuy]

Figuring out the right order is way more irritating than he makes it look. Thus, funnier.

I think that was Schlock's point. For certain values of "funny"

I also think some Japanese hotel rooms are headed that way

[andrewas]

Quasi-legal? Because we've never seen "camera eyes" used by a civilian reporter? And what about Kevyn openly walking around with glasses that give him a heads-up display across the whole EM spectrum? Or Shep's "symbol of oats" that let him see through solid doors?

Or is it just known thugs, thieves, and extortionists that can spy on you, not the people charged with protecting you from them? Yeah. I've heard that one bother.

The illegality comes from implanting them without consent. Sorlie was never asked whether she wanted q-crypt eyes or a bone phone. True, that's probably standard equipment for her new job, but I bet you those goggles are installing less pleasant hardware along with it.

[sihnfahl]

The illegality comes from implanting them without consent.

Always, ALWAYS read the fine print of your employment contract.

She's working for the UNS. Consent was given when she signed up.

[Fjolnir]

Specialized Contact Lenses, as well as eyeglasses, Shep's "Symbol of Oats" is something completely different. I assumed it was going to be military nanite mods, which are illegal for civilians hence several of the early arcs making mention of that.

[sum1won]

Always, ALWAYS read the fine print of your employment contract.

She's working for the UNS. Consent was given when she signed up.

Something being in a contract doesn't make it enforceable. I'd be willing to wager that a general contractual provision for mandated unspecified surgery would not be enforceable in the modern U.S., especially if her original job didn't have anything to do with it, in which case she could not have reasonably expected it would come up.

What this arc really needs is Massie helping Sorlie sue the U.N.S.'s pants off.

Additionally, Chowguy's post cites to a wide range of events, most of which were noninvasive (apart from Shep - and he certainly has no qualms about illegal enhancement), many of which occurred in different jurisdictions with different enforceable laws. Further, it's pretty well established that elements of the UNS have no qualms about illegally modifications, so it's hardly an unreasonable position to take.

the rest of that post is just inflammatory hyperbole.

Note: Edited due to confusion of post authors.

[Marnath]

Something being in a contract doesn't make it enforceable. I'd be willing to wager that a general contractual provision for mandated unspecified surgery would not be enforceable in the modern U.S., especially if her original job didn't have anything to do with it, in which case she could not have reasonably expected it would come up.

What this arc really needs is Massie helping Sorlie sue the U.N.S.'s pants off.

Haha, sue a government Black Ops agency? Good luck with that one. People go missing all the time in real life, it probably happens even more across hundreds of worlds.

[sihnfahl]

I'd be willing to wager that a general contractual provision for mandated unspecified surgery would not be enforceable in the modern U.S., especially if her original job didn't have anything to do with it, in which case she could not have reasonably expected it would come up.

No, it wouldn't, but remember ... this is the UNS, not the US.

What this arc really needs is Massie helping Sorlie sue the U.N.S.'s pants off

Here's another thing to ponder. What compels Sorlie to acquiesce in this case? She noticed the surgical gel in the black goggles yesterday.

She knew exactly what was going to happen. They were going to do some sort of modification to her. If this was truly illegal, what compelled her to actually put the goggles on, knowing it would result in a surgical procedure?

[Spamotron]

What is the UNS playing at? Bugging your "guest," rooms predates space flight to say nothing of starships that are the body to an AI that knows everything that occurs within it. Ennesby has to know about Sorlie's modifications and the UNS has to know that he knows. Also the UNS knows that Ennesby is a viral AI that excels in hacking and a fancy black ops handbrain is still just a handbrain and no match for him. I'd guess Sorlie is a decoy but she's an obvious decoy. So again, what is the UNS playing at?

[sum1won]

No, it wouldn't, but remember ... this is the UNS, not the US.


Here's another thing to ponder. What compels Sorlie to acquiesce in this case? She noticed the surgical gel in the black goggles yesterday.

She knew exactly what was going to happen. They were going to do some sort of modification to her. If this was truly illegal, what compelled her to actually put the goggles on, knowing it would result in a surgical procedure?

Yeah, the US thing was more in response to the contract comment. I don't think contracts come into this - I think there are two things at play.

First, the UNS appears to be a relatively unconstrained organization that doesn't care about legal restrictions that much, just about public perception.

Second, Sorlie was pretty much just stranded. Complying is her only way out - she can't even switch sides, because the ship is still pretty much at the mercy of the UNS.

[Cikomyr]

I wonder what's this big secret that would mean the USN destroying them over it.

And i wonder if the people who bought the fleet from Tagon are in on it.

[factotum]

I wonder what's this big secret that would mean the USN destroying them over it.

And i wonder if the people who bought the fleet from Tagon are in on it.

It depends. If the big secret is something fundamental to the design of the Oafan ships, then I can't see the people who bought the fleet *not* knowing about it--they're not going to buy ships without a very careful look-over. However, I think the more likely explanation for Kathryn's comment is that, if Sorlie figures out the design of the ship, she'll also figure out any possible hiding places aboard, and that would be somewhat problematic given that we know there's something hidden aboard that the Toughs don't want the UNS to find out about.

[Radar]

I wonder what's this big secret that would mean the USN destroying them over it.

And i wonder if the people who bought the fleet from Tagon are in on it.

Maybe it's the tiny little detail, that the whole hull is made out of transuranic alloys. Nobody in known space has enough of those to spend them on anything else then annie plants.

[Discus-Spinner]

It's hard to imagine that wouldn't be picked up by the most basic scans, though. Or at least, that the weirdness of the scan results wouldn't be a huge hint to a sufficiently smart analyst.

[Radar]

It's hard to imagine that wouldn't be picked up by the most basic scans, though. Or at least, that the weirdness of the scan results wouldn't be a huge hint to a sufficiently smart analyst.

Maybe, but I'm not sure, if any analyst would consider such an impossibility. Plus, they didn't get good scan results, so they don't have hard evidence. The only thing they picked up, is that the hull is unusualy dense - nothing more.

[factotum]

Maybe it's the tiny little detail, that the whole hull is made out of transuranic alloys. Nobody in known space has enough of those to spend them on anything else then annie plants.

So the UNS will kill them because they happen to be rich? Seems like insufficient reason to me. (Also, while we know that it would take an unfeasibly long time to produce enough alloys to build something the size of Eina-Afa, there's a vast gulf between that amount of material and the amount required to build a smallish corvette like Neosynchronicity; that might be more reasonable).

[Cikomyr]

the USN hasn't been able to scan the ship stealthily in the first place...

Probably has something to do with the ship's power source? Some sort of non-annie methods that allow to be stealthy to the Paanuri?

[Mobius Twist]

Maybe, but I'm not sure, if any analyst would consider such an impossibility. Plus, they didn't get good scan results, so they don't have hard evidence. The only thing they picked up, is that the hull is unusually dense - nothing more.

Actually, check out the third frame from the end. Lieutenant Sorlie clearly says that the neutrino shadow indicated the hull's PTU composition, which (along with not being able to take accurate readings, I'm sure) is one of the many things that kicked off their curiosity.

I'm pretty sure we don't know what's being obscured as yet. Howard may have slipped a hint in, but I'd need a bigger brain to make that connection.

Also, why aren't we calling all tablets "handbrain" now? It's such a apt term, what with the internet being a virtual extension of our brains as it is.

[factotum]

OK, I'm a bit puzzled about today's strip. All the original Oafa have been dead and gone for ten million years, right? So how would Utchi-Skafatka be "among the only *natural* heirs" to the wealth of the original Oafans?

[ChowGuy]

OK, I'm a bit puzzled about today's strip. All the original Oafa have been dead and gone for ten million years, right? So how would Utchi-Skafatka be "among the only *natural* heirs" to the wealth of the original Oafans?

Utchi-Skafatka is a hive-mind. Now think - what possible "hive mind" have we seen that's descended from Eina-Afa's original biosphere?

[factotum]

Utchi-Skafatka is a hive-mind. Now think - what possible "hive mind" have we seen that's descended from Eina-Afa's original biosphere?

The nano-whatsits they injected into the Oafans? Surely, if all the Oafans have those now, they'd all be part of that hive-mind without needing a special "meld minister" to do the job? (Also, Utchi-Skafatka was referred to as a "she", which seems an odd designation for a hive mind).

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Utchi-Skafatka is a hive-mind. Now think - what possible "hive mind" have we seen that's descended from Eina-Afa's original biosphere?

Er... Oh. OH

[Radar]

The nano-whatsits they injected into the Oafans? Surely, if all the Oafans have those now, they'd all be part of that hive-mind without needing a special "meld minister" to do the job? (Also, Utchi-Skafatka was referred to as a "she", which seems an odd designation for a hive mind).

I think that not all of the nanobots created hive-minds, since they were prevelant in all creatures in the can of sky. As for the gender designation, mayby the hive-mind is not above puny pronouns and simply picked one of the two most common?

[ChowGuy]

I think that not all of the nanobots created hive-minds, since they were prevelant in all creatures in the can of sky. As for the gender designation, mayby the hive-mind is not above puny pronouns and simply picked one of the two most common?

T'kkkuts referred to herself as... uhm... herself... as well. Not everyone lives in a patriarchal society.

And it is a big can of sky. There could be more then one hive. Also, did you know almost all bees are biologically female, though undeveloped. S'true. Ants and wasps too. Only a relatively few males are produced, and their only job is to fertilize the new queen on her maiden flight. Who only gets to be be fertile because she's fed royal jelly as a larva.

So, if such a colony had a hive mind and had to pick a puny pronoun, how would it refer to itself?

Er... Oh. OH

I recall many complaints upthread about how His Malevolence seemed to have included them for no real reason ;) Howard thinks way ahead, and he always has a reason. It's not like we haven't seen both hive-minds and insectoids infected with "make-me-smart" bugs before. They are the clean-up crew, scavenging all the dead/dying metalacyte rich carcasses after all.

[Radar]

T'kkkuts referred to herself as... uhm... herself... as well. Not everyone lives in a patriarchal society.

And it is a big can of sky. There could be more then one hive. Also, did you know almost all bees are biologically female, though undeveloped. S'true. Ants and wasps too. Only a relatively few males are produced, and their only job is to fertilize the new queen on her maiden flight. Who only gets to be be fertile because she's fed royal jelly as a larva.

So, if such a colony had a hive mind and had to pick a puny pronoun, how would it refer to itself?

In a way, yes. On the other hand, the metalocyte hive-mind doesn't need a concept of gender at all. Even a sentient bee hive wouldn't have it, since it's one mind governing over hundrets of tiny bodies made for specific purposes. You don't associate gender to your liver or teeth, so why would a hive-mind do that with workers or drones? Thinking about patriarchal or matriarchal societies doesn't even come into it, when all hive-minds of a given species (for lack of a better word) will have the same composition.

A choice of pronoun would only come up, when the hive-mind contacts some other sentient species with a language, which requires one to choose a gender-specific pronoun. For a gender-less being it would hardly make a difference, unless it would first study the traits culturally associated with specific genders and pick whatever suited it more.

[TheStranger]

Well, some languages do assign a "gender" to body parts, simply because all nouns are gendered. While everybody in the comic is speaking some version of Galstandard (read: English) for our convenience, it still seems like every species should have one or more of its own linguistic traditions. So if Oafan is a language with gendered nouns, it makes perfect sense for Utchi-Skafatka to have a gender for itself. And if it's a hive mind of mostly female organisms, female is a pretty reasonable choice.

Of course, it's kind of a leap to assume that every alien species reproduces sexually in a way such that "male" and "female" are relevant terms.

[ChowGuy]

Of course, it's kind of a leap to assume that every alien species reproduces sexually in a way such that "male" and "female" are relevant terms.

Not to go all hyper-politically correct on you, but what does "reproduction" have to do with "identity" - gender or otherwise? For purposes of interaction interacting with others, the hive-mind personality chooses to self-identify as "she" and is identified by them as such in turn. Is that not her privilege as a sentient entity?

Should we refer to Ennesby or Bristlecone as "it" because they have no sexual organs at all? What about Tagii, who was specifically grown to have a female persona?

[Cikomyr]

Not to go all hyper-politically correct on you, but what does "reproduction" have to do with "identity" - gender or otherwise? For purposes of interaction interacting with others, the hive-mind personality chooses to self-identify as "she" and is identified by them as such in turn. Is that not her privilege as a sentient entity?

It just doesn't make sense that there is identification as such in the first place.

If an alien specie came up to you and asked if you identified more as a "Zhod", "Chowka" or "Matril", which would it be?

Our psychology and sense of self are heavily reliant on the core biological principles that govern our being. We may have evolved past it, sure, but it's still comes from it.

A specie with no male or female won't bother with gender identification.

edit: AI can have a sense of sexual identity, since the ones we've seen so far have been built by beings who HAVE sexual identity in the sense that we understand it. There's still a very normal point of origin, and the bias of the people who designed these AIs is what led to such.. idiosyncracy (i.e. genderized non-reproductive AIs)

[memnarch]

Not to go all hyper-politically correct on you, but what does "reproduction" have to do with "identity" - gender or otherwise? For purposes of interaction interacting with others, the hive-mind personality chooses to self-identify as "she" and is identified by them as such in turn. Is that not her privilege as a sentient entity?

I took it to mean that TheStranger is saying that there might be alien species that don't have male/female genders to start with. Amoeba, for an earth example, reproduce asexually so male/female is meaningless to them.