Questionable Content XV: I HAVE MORE QUESTIONS! I Told You This Thread Was Weird

[Drascin]

Im sensing an incoming adversarial "bad cop" moment which will end up being significantly more successful than trying to play nice. This guy is clearly not interested in challenging the status quo on his own initiative.

I mean, anyone who responds to a basic politeness formula ("Thank you for making time for me") with almost literally "you are stupid for trying to be polite to me" kinda has absolutely no one but himself to blame with how the tone of the entire conversation develops going forward.

[Mechalich]

I'm... kind of on this guy's side, to be honest.

What was Roko expecting to achieve? I think the honest answer would be that she was expecting to meet with some kind of Snidely Whiplash-like character who actively took joy in depriving AIs of a suitable body for petty reasons, and then browbeat them into being better people and bending over backwards to give Roko the victory that she wanted.

Turns out, that's not quite the case. This guy just implied that May volunteered to be embodied upon her release - wasn't she previously saying that it was enforced, as part of her parole? - and that she knew what she was getting into.

That's not a great answer I'll admit - "it's what she asked for, so it's not my problem" - but I'm guessing that it's going to be due to May's equivalent of claustrophobia and that she can't bare to be encased in a server any more and ANY body is better than that. In which case, the body-assignment office isn't responsible for May's underlying condition, and instead this would probably require a lawyer suing the state for damages because they inflicted unnecessary trauma on her during her incarceration.

...Or I may be completely wrong and tomorrow Roko browbeats the guy into dipping deeper into the budget just this once. I guess we'll find out then.

There's also the implication here that, while May's scenario is an uncommon one, her specific condition is nearly universal to the group of people who share that scenario. May doesn't specifically have a terrible body, all the AIs supplied bodies by the government are stuck in absolute junkers. As a result she's not being treated any worse than everyone else in her situation, which means that there's really no case against this department. If a government department is treating you within normal parameters and that treatment just happens to be miserable appealing to that department won't accomplish anything. Appealing to some other department with oversight authority, to the courts, or to an elected representative would all be much more productive options, and Roko really should probably have researched this beforehand, because it seems she's gone after the wrong target.

[Traab]

Im wondering about the request myself. Maybe what he meant was this falls under the umbrella of bodiless ais requesting one as her original backstory of being booted from cyberspace because of her crimes IN cyberspace make a lot more sense. She wasnt crushbot landing on someone, she was rerouting funds online to buy herself a jet body iirc. On the other hand, being stuck in robo jail which is a bodiless server somewhere WOULD possibly make someone not want to be in cyberspace for awhile too. Hmm, this could be a problem if that was the actual case. If it is then yeah, may really doesnt have a leg to stand on complaining when they basically already bent over backwards to give her something she wasnt obligated to have, a solid body.

[Max_Killjoy]

There's also the implication here that, while May's scenario is an uncommon one, her specific condition is nearly universal to the group of people who share that scenario. May doesn't specifically have a terrible body, all the AIs supplied bodies by the government are stuck in absolute junkers. As a result she's not being treated any worse than everyone else in her situation, which means that there's really no case against this department. If a government department is treating you within normal parameters and that treatment just happens to be miserable appealing to that department won't accomplish anything. Appealing to some other department with oversight authority, to the courts, or to an elected representative would all be much more productive options, and Roko really should probably have researched this beforehand, because it seems she's gone after the wrong target.

If she didn't start here, the first thing the next step in the chain would tell her would be "you need to go back and talk to these guys".

That's how governments and organizations "work".

[Felius]

I'm... kind of on this guy's side, to be honest.

What was Roko expecting to achieve? I think the honest answer would be that she was expecting to meet with some kind of Snidely Whiplash-like character who actively took joy in depriving AIs of a suitable body for petty reasons, and then browbeat them into being better people and bending over backwards to give Roko the victory that she wanted.

Turns out, that's not quite the case. This guy just implied that May volunteered to be embodied upon her release - wasn't she previously saying that it was enforced, as part of her parole? - and that she knew what she was getting into.

That's not a great answer I'll admit - "it's what she asked for, so it's not my problem" - but I'm guessing that it's going to be due to May's equivalent of claustrophobia and that she can't bare to be encased in a server any more and ANY body is better than that. In which case, the body-assignment office isn't responsible for May's underlying condition, and instead this would probably require a lawyer suing the state for damages because they inflicted unnecessary trauma on her during her incarceration.

...Or I may be completely wrong and tomorrow Roko browbeats the guy into dipping deeper into the budget just this once. I guess we'll find out then.

First thing is to confirm: Is this just an oversight, or is it the normal situation. Second, if the latter: Why is it the normal situation? Third, to collect evidence*, because between his statement and not even looking at the brief, she probably has a massive case to sue the government over May's situation, both in that he's clearly being highly neglectful by not even looking to see if May's case really is just as bad as everyone's else, and in that even if it is, it still doesn't meet basic minimum standards and is so bad that it violates her rights as an American (or is this supposed to be Canada) citizen?

If Jeff was actually interested in depicting how change actually happens, this event would be followed by a large class action lawsuit (if she can confirm May's situation truly is unexceptional) taking multiple years.

There's also the implication here that, while May's scenario is an uncommon one, her specific condition is nearly universal to the group of people who share that scenario. May doesn't specifically have a terrible body, all the AIs supplied bodies by the government are stuck in absolute junkers. As a result she's not being treated any worse than everyone else in her situation, which means that there's really no case against this department. If a government department is treating you within normal parameters and that treatment just happens to be miserable appealing to that department won't accomplish anything. Appealing to some other department with oversight authority, to the courts, or to an elected representative would all be much more productive options, and Roko really should probably have researched this beforehand, because it seems she's gone after the wrong target.

Just because it's not discriminatory it doesn't mean it's not against the law. And he's clearly being neglectful by not even briefly looking through the brief before declaring that her situation is normal.

I mean, anyone who responds to a basic politeness formula ("Thank you for making time for me") with almost literally "you are stupid for trying to be polite to me" kinda has absolutely no one but himself to blame with how the tone of the entire conversation develops going forward.

Honestly, this I just blame on Jeff wanting to make sure the dude is unsympathetic as possible, to make sure we know who to root for, specially once Roko starts to turn her assholishness up too. It goes rather too far, and makes him look either unrealistic or having an actual developmental issue, that is, borderline autistic or something of the sort.

Bureaucratic *******s tend to be aware enough of basic formulaic politeness that they aren't likely to respond as this one did. Instead it comes as if he doesn't understand the formula and is taking her words literally.

So, check out next strip, where Roko will likely be an ******* to someone in the autistic spectrum.

* She, of course, is recording everything. I refuse to believe that she's so stupid as not to be recording their interactions, specially after her experience as a cop and how fundamentally easy it's for an AI to do said recording.

[SaintRidley]

* She, of course, is recording everything. I refuse to believe that she's so stupid as not to be recording their interactions, specially after her experience as a cop and how fundamentally easy it's for an AI to do said recording.

She is, of course, not recording anything, as it's illegal to secretly record a conversation in Massachusetts and if she did that, anything she recorded as evidence would be thrown out immediately.

[Keltest]

She is, of course, not recording anything, as it's illegal to secretly record a conversation in Massachusetts and if she did that, anything she recorded as evidence would be thrown out immediately.

She is, of course, recording everything, because she's an AI and that's how they have any form of memory at all. And since she is open about being an AI, its not a secret anyway.

[Ibrinar]

I doubt they have memory in the form of videos that would both be wasteful in regard to space and inefficient to reference.

[Keltest]

I doubt they have memory by recording videos that would both be wasteful in regard to space and inefficient to reference.

Its quite likely that they delete vast quantities of video and audio memory regularly. And while its also quite likely that Jeph has not given that level of worldbuilding any thought, an AI's memory would functionally be a recording, since they (presumably) lack all the wonderful complications of the human brain that make our memory fallible.

[Traab]

Im thinking jeph is going for pure faceless government drone. More robot than roko in a human casing. A "Stay within the lines. The lines are our friends. Stay within the lines." If you get the reference. He isnt evil, he isnt a monster, he is the voice of the bureaucracy. This is how it works, these are the rules. I dont think she is meant to win anything here, this is the stone wall. She has to figure out a way past him. That being said, it IS theoretically possible to win here, but it requires one of those standard worker drone reversals where he is convinced to find the loopholes that are everywhere in the rules for those who know about them and how to exploit them. "Wait, was her body requisition done in form 35-4w? Thats an old form and so is invalid which means if we file with group ouwewerjh763#09876-b they will grant an upgrade to avoid the audit that would otherwise be triggered if this gets bumped to higher up." That sort of thing. But im pretty sure she isnt going to get anything out of this meeting but frustration.

[Felius]

She is, of course, not recording anything, as it's illegal to secretly record a conversation in Massachusetts and if she did that, anything she recorded as evidence would be thrown out immediately.

She is, of course, recording everything, because she's an AI and that's how they have any form of memory at all. And since she is open about being an AI, its not a secret anyway.

It's also worth keeping in mind that even in our society, where there aren't AI citizens whose memories are inherently a form of recording, an exception to the Massachusetts wiretap law about recording government officials in the exercise of their duties, as established by the case of Simon Glik.

That case was specifically about recording police officers in public spaces, but there is enough of a precedence to at least make a case in Roko's current situation too, specifically if the perception by the public and the courts is that the government is going after Roko's recording to hide evidence of actual illegal behavior of its own part. I can definitely see most courts slapping down a government that tries to claim that there's no legitimate public interest and first amendment rights to record a public official potentially acting against the law in the active exercise of his function.

[PhantomFox]

Im thinking jeph is going for pure faceless government drone. More robot than roko in a human casing. A "Stay within the lines. The lines are our friends. Stay within the lines." If you get the reference. He isnt evil, he isnt a monster, he is the voice of the bureaucracy. This is how it works, these are the rules. I dont think she is meant to win anything here, this is the stone wall. She has to figure out a way past him. That being said, it IS theoretically possible to win here, but it requires one of those standard worker drone reversals where he is convinced to find the loopholes that are everywhere in the rules for those who know about them and how to exploit them. "Wait, was her body requisition done in form 35-4w? Thats an old form and so is invalid which means if we file with group ouwewerjh763#09876-b they will grant an upgrade to avoid the audit that would otherwise be triggered if this gets bumped to higher up." That sort of thing. But im pretty sure she isnt going to get anything out of this meeting but frustration.

So, if we're lucky, he'll pull a Bob Parr?

"Listen closely. I'd like to help you but I can't. I'd like to tell you to take a copy of your policy to Norma Wilcox on... Norma Wilcox, W-I-L-C-O-X... on the third floor, but I can't. I also do not advise you to fill out and file a WS2475 form with our legal department on the second floor. I would not expect someone to get back to you quickly to resolve the matter. I'd like to help, but there's nothing I can do."

[Wraith]

First thing is to confirm: Is this just an oversight, or is it the normal situation. Second, if the latter: Why is it the normal situation?

The second part of that is, I think, answered in the comic. Most AI's remain bodiless in the servers or they already have a body to come out to, so for an ex-con to be released from prison and ask to be given a body for free is a) unusual and b) not something that is given a huge amount of priority. Forum rules regarding politics force me to refrain on commenting much further; sufficed to say that ex-cons are unfairly stigmatized by society despite having supposedly served their time and been absolved of guilt.

It would be like me being released from prison and then asking to be given a free laptop so that I could search for a job now that I'm out. *If* they didn't immediately laugh in my face and were charitable enough to arrange that for me, they certainly wouldn't buy me a top-of-the-range Alienware gaming rig.

I might need a laptop and my life would be significantly more uncomfortable without one, but the prison service isn't there to ensure that I am comfortable, just that I am free. It's been vaguely implied that May would be very, very distressed to be disembodied, but.... well, who else is responsible for giving her free stuff to make her happy, if she doesn't specifically *need* it to survive, albeit miserably?

Again, I'm not defending the practice of leaving ex-cons to fend for themselves and having them suffer after being released, just that its an endemic problem without a clear answer. Who *is* responsible for May's happiness at this point, given her past and her implied-voluntary transferral to Real World?

If Jeff was actually interested in depicting how change actually happens, this event would be followed by a large class action lawsuit (if she can confirm May's situation truly is unexceptional) taking multiple years.

I absolutely agree with you, but I maintain that the guy in the comic is still right, if what he says is accurate. It's not his department's fault that May is unhappy with the free body that she has directly requested after being released from prison, and it's not necessarily his department's responsibility to furnish AIs ex-criminals with top-quality bodies at their convenience.

[Keltest]

The second part of that is, I think, answered in the comic. Most AI's remain bodiless in the servers or they already have a body to come out to, so for an ex-con to be released from prison and ask to be given a body for free is a) unusual and b) not something that is given a huge amount of priority. Forum rules regarding politics force me to refrain on commenting much further; sufficed to say that ex-cons are unfairly stigmatized by society despite having supposedly served their time and been absolved of guilt.

It would be like me being released from prison and then asking to be given a free laptop so that I could search for a job now that I'm out. *If* they didn't immediately laugh in my face and were charitable enough to arrange that for me, they certainly wouldn't buy me a top-of-the-range Alienware gaming rig.

I might need a laptop and my life would be significantly more uncomfortable without one, but the prison service isn't there to ensure that I am comfortable, just that I am free. It's been vaguely implied that May would be very, very distressed to be disembodied, but.... well, who else is responsible for giving her free stuff to make her happy, if she doesn't specifically *need* it to survive, albeit miserably?

Again, I'm not defending the practice of leaving ex-cons to fend for themselves and having them suffer after being released, just that its an endemic problem without a clear answer. Who *is* responsible for May's happiness at this point, given her past and her implied-voluntary transferral to Real World?



I absolutely agree with you, but I maintain that the guy in the comic is still right, if what he says is accurate. It's not his department's fault that May is unhappy with the free body that she has directly requested after being released from prison, and it's not necessarily his department's responsibility to furnish AIs ex-criminals with top-quality bodies at their convenience.

I would suggest, however, that they do have a responsibility to furnish them with functional bodies. May's is literally falling apart. To use your laptop analogy, this is like handing somebody a laptop with no keyboard and half the screen missing. Its all but incapable of even functioning in the first place, and if May didn't know people who were willing to offer her maintenance for cheap, its likely that her body would have entirely fallen apart at this point, since she wouldn't be able to earn money for repairs. Theres a difference between a low quality product and a broken product, and May's chassis is pretty firmly in the latter category.

[Drascin]

The second part of that is, I think, answered in the comic. Most AI's remain bodiless in the servers or they already have a body to come out to, so for an ex-con to be released from prison and ask to be given a body for free is a) unusual and b) not something that is given a huge amount of priority. Forum rules regarding politics force me to refrain on commenting much further; sufficed to say that ex-cons are unfairly stigmatized by society despite having supposedly served their time and been absolved of guilt.

It would be like me being released from prison and then asking to be given a free laptop so that I could search for a job now that I'm out. *If* they didn't immediately laugh in my face and were charitable enough to arrange that for me, they certainly wouldn't buy me a top-of-the-range Alienware gaming rig.

I might need a laptop and my life would be significantly more uncomfortable without one, but the prison service isn't there to ensure that I am comfortable, just that I am free. It's been vaguely implied that May would be very, very distressed to be disembodied, but.... well, who else is responsible for giving her free stuff to make her happy, if she doesn't specifically *need* it to survive, albeit miserably?

Again, I'm not defending the practice of leaving ex-cons to fend for themselves and having them suffer after being released, just that its an endemic problem without a clear answer. Who *is* responsible for May's happiness at this point, given her past and her implied-voluntary transferral to Real World?

Here's the reason why this is kind of bullcrap, though: the system offered her this option. If the prison told you "and on release, you have to right to ask for a free basic cellphone so you can actually jobsearch" and then proceeded to give you a broken thing whose screen only works one day every two at best and when you mentioned this they told you "**** off, we gave you a thing, we have no reason to give you a thing anyway, be thankful we didn't just give you a kick in the junk"? That'd be wrong. Like, straight up. If you have a thing offered as a right of the citizen in this situation (and from how this is presented, this has to be a right, because if it was anything else they'd clearly just not give the offer in the first place), your goddamn duty is to provide this right in an actually competent manner.

I can accept "we don't have the budget to actually do the things that we know we should do, and we're sorry about it, but our hands are tied". I will not accept "yeah, you're a fringe case so you should be thankful we gave you anything at all, shut up".

[Mith]

Also consider that this isn't May stuck in a crappy car. This is May stuck in a crappy car that will knock her un concious if it stops working (see her hookup with Sven).

"Sorry we gave you a tool that can suddenly trap and isolate you in a way that puts you entirely at the mercy of the world."

[Mechalich]

Also consider that this isn't May stuck in a crappy car. This is May stuck in a crappy car that will knock her un concious if it stops working (see her hookup with Sven).

"Sorry we gave you a tool that can suddenly trap and isolate you in a way that puts you entirely at the mercy of the world."

Well, all AIs are enslaved to their power requirements. May's body has a really lousy battery life, but any of the AIs in universe will shut down if they run out of power. Disembodied AIs are vulnerable too, since the servers their consciousness is primarily operating on could also go down if someone pulls the plug.

Here's the reason why this is kind of bullcrap, though: the system offered her this option. If the prison told you "and on release, you have to right to ask for a free basic cellphone so you can actually jobsearch" and then proceeded to give you a broken thing whose screen only works one day every two at best and when you mentioned this they told you "**** off, we gave you a thing, we have no reason to give you a thing anyway, be thankful we didn't just give you a kick in the junk"? That'd be wrong. Like, straight up. If you have a thing offered as a right of the citizen in this situation (and from how this is presented, this has to be a right, because if it was anything else they'd clearly just not give the offer in the first place), your goddamn duty is to provide this right in an actually competent manner.

Actually, the duty of the bureaucracy is to provide that right in a way that meets legally mandated minimum requirements. Competency is a matter of legislation, not operations. The implication here is that the minimum requirements for 'AI body' are set so low they might be non-existent. They might not even stipulate mobility.

And I don't think I can say anything further without violating forum rules because this is an inherently political discussion.

[Cikomyr]

Roko's face has shades of Spookybot in the last panel

[Stevesciguy]

Roko's face has shades of Spookybot in the last panel

Speaking of whom, I'm betting money that Spookybot is waiting for Roko right outside the building

[Mechalich]

Speaking of whom, I'm betting money that Spookybot is waiting for Roko right outside the building

I'd rather hope not. May's problem is ultimately financial. It can be solved in seconds buy the simple expedient of buying her a new body that doesn't actually fall apart all the time (this might have to get approved, but the previous strip implied that AI felons who had bodies can return to them upon leaving jail, so it seems unlikely to be an impediment). Spookybot can solve that particular problem in microseconds via an expenditure that barely even registers as a rounding error on their balance sheet. In fact it could probably do so for every AI on the planet in a situation similar to May's (I mean it can't be more than a few hundred in total).

Overall, it really shouldn't be that difficult to solve May's issue. Her body is her principle expense, and with a better model this cost would crater. As such all she really needs is a down payment sufficient to finance the purchase of a new chassis. There's no need to make the purchase outright, the financial calculation means she should be able to manage a payment plan. In fact, she could also probably get a loan to manage the down payment too - it's probably only in the $5K range if we're talking a 10% down payment on a $50K chassis (there is simply no way that Marigold was able to afford a chassis for Momo that cost more than $50K).

The complication here is that May is a felon with a specific history of financial crime (it's worth remembering that May's criminal history is very substantial, she stole/embezzled hundreds of millions of dollars and rerouted them internationally, that means she faced federal charges, probably with a count for each individual transaction, meaning potentially hundreds, her initial sentence might have been decades of prison time). Her credit layer is Marianas Trench levels of underwater. No financial institution in the world is loaning her a cent.

Also, because May is an AI she lacks the kind of blood-based social network that humans tend to turn to in this sort of situation. She doesn't have a parent or spouse who could provide a down payment on her behalf, co-sign a loan, or anything similar. What Roko really needs to do is talk someone - Sven? - into doing this for May and to help them through any weird procedural hurdles would need to be cleared.

[Wraith]

If you have a thing offered as a right of the citizen in this situation (and from how this is presented, this has to be a right, because if it was anything else they'd clearly just not give the offer in the first place), your goddamn duty is to provide this right in an actually competent manner.

I think this is the crux of the argument - do AIs have the right to a body?

I mean, I'm human but I don't have that right. If I wake up one day and my leg has turned green and dropped off through no fault of my own, do I have a right to a new leg? Or is it my own responsibility to pay for, or otherwise make arrangements for, a prosthetic? And if I don't have the means to do either of those things for myself, do I then have the right to complain if the charity that I'm offered isn't equivalent to a top-of-the-range replacement, even though I could technically make my way around with one leg and a crutch?

I don't think that Jeph has directly clarified either way, but it seems like the answer is no.
Momo had to get a job/take out a loan to buy her body, which comes with such luxurious amenities as "fingers" and "toes", because her old body was inadequate. Similarly, May doesn't need to be embodied - not in the same way that I do, as a human being who has no viable alternatives, but she does. Her physical body was received through charity, and it absolutely sucks that its a crappy body make no mistake, but she has an alternative unless the comic is about to reveal that it has been closed off to her by a third-party so does she have the right to complain about something to which she is voluntarily subjecting herself?

I guess we might see more later this week, but so far I think that the government guy is just blunt, not necessarily wrong. Maybe this will be the next step to Roko's arc - the "if not, why not?" argument that leads to the foundation of a movement to guarantee bodies for Ais. Hell, maybe Union Robotics could take on a government contract to ensure minimum standards and do repair work, that'd solve their problems too

[Traab]

Its hard to judge time here, how long has may been out of jail? They didnt give her a broken body, they gave her an old one. I bought an 04 car last year because my current vehicle died on me and I needed something cheap. Its lasted about a year and is now having issues, thats what mays body is, an old car meant to last you just long enough to save up for something better. Her body worked fine for a significant length of time and is now starting to break down as old things tend to do. A more accurate comparison wouldnt be "broken thing whose screen only works one day every two at best" It would be "A cheap phone that worked fine for months but now is having trouble holding a charge." That should be plenty of time to get situated and get your own. It may not be the newest Iphone x27 alpha but it will be a step up. Now if you want to argue how much the ex con job market sucks thats fine, but its also not this guys fault.

[Mechalich]

Its hard to judge time here, how long has may been out of jail? They didnt give her a broken body, they gave her an old one. I bought an 04 car last year because my current vehicle died on me and I needed something cheap. Its lasted about a year and is now having issues, thats what mays body is, an old car meant to last you just long enough to save up for something better. Her body worked fine for a significant length of time and is now starting to break down as old things tend to do. A more accurate comparison wouldnt be "broken thing whose screen only works one day every two at best" It would be "A cheap phone that worked fine for months but now is having trouble holding a charge." That should be plenty of time to get situated and get your own. It may not be the newest Iphone x27 alpha but it will be a step up. Now if you want to argue how much the ex con job market sucks thats fine, but its also not this guys fault.

May reappeared, in physical form, in comic #2710, so it's been a while. For reference, Angus was still a regular character in the comic at that point.

[Wraith]

Its hard to judge time here, how long has may been out of jail?

She met Winslow's new body before Hannelore went off globetrotting, so that is supposed to be... 6 months, I think? Something like that? And she went to the skate park/fighting ring to get fixed while Bubbles and Faye worked there, which itself was long enough for Faye to grow her hair out and then get it cut short.

"At least a year" probably wouldn't be an unreasonable estimate, give or take.

It's also worth remembering that the first time we saw May's chassis getting damage was because she had fallen over and headbutted a sword, and then later her leg popped out because she was having sex with Sven. Both of those activities are implied to be atypical uses for an AI chassis (AI tend not to have genitals, as far as I recall? May has stated before that she certainly doesn't) so it's possibly unfair to say that May's body is unfairly inadequate given that she's technically been mistreating it.
To continue the 'phone analogy from above; I would expect to get only a limited amount of sympathy if my phone was broken because I'd been using it to open bottles, or something.

Again, I'm not saying that she doesn't deserve something more robust and better suited to what she wants to do with it, but... well, everyone has to look after their own body, human or AI, regardless of how 'fair' it is that they're getting old or sick.

[Traab]

I think the face ripping was the final in a series of annoying issues her body was having at the time. But up till then it was mainly annoyances like that car door that wont latch shut till you slam it just right. Its seriously difficult to figure out AI finances and so determine if her situation is really one she cant handle herself but now the scenario seems to be if she should even have to. And honestly? I think yeah, she should be taking care of this herself. At least as much as is possible, I mean, mainly its that im not blaming the big bad gubbamint for ruining her life with shoddy bodies and whatnot. Now if she is in a situation where she financially cant do anything about her breaking down body, such as someone else mentioned getting a loan or just setting up a payment plan on a new(er) body then maybe there are government assistance programs like exist for humans. But its not really the place of the criminal justice system imo.

[Mechalich]

I think the face ripping was the final in a series of annoying issues her body was having at the time. But up till then it was mainly annoyances like that car door that wont latch shut till you slam it just right. Its seriously difficult to figure out AI finances and so determine if her situation is really one she cant handle herself but now the scenario seems to be if she should even have to. And honestly? I think yeah, she should be taking care of this herself. At least as much as is possible, I mean, mainly its that im not blaming the big bad gubbamint for ruining her life with shoddy bodies and whatnot. Now if she is in a situation where she financially cant do anything about her breaking down body, such as someone else mentioned getting a loan or just setting up a payment plan on a new(er) body then maybe there are government assistance programs like exist for humans. But its not really the place of the criminal justice system imo.

May's entire post-prison arc seems to be Jeph's prolonged rumination on the consequences that remain in place for a person after they've been released from incarceration. These are indeed substantial (though they vary from one polity to the next as you might expect). For instance, May's initial reappearance bit focused on her job search and how all job applications have that 'have you ever committed a felony' box on them which drastically truncates job prospects (this is hardly something rarely noted in media, it's a major plot point in freaking Ant-Man) and leaves someone mostly stuck in minimum wage jobs unless they're able to leverage a specific personal network, something that May initially did not have and even though she kind of has one now, most of the people who are part of it lack any significant assets (out of the entire cast only Emily, Hanners, and Spookybot can be identified as possessing disposable resources). Further, it seems that May is in the particularly difficult situation where such job-related skills as she possesses appear to be directly related to her criminal, something common in financial crime. An auto-mechanic who gets convicted for dealing drugs can still be an auto-mechanic, but a stock trader convicted of securities fraud is never going back to Wall Street.

As a result, May's situation has become an extended rumination on the idea that 'it's expensive to be poor.' While that's a social issue that it actually makes sense for QC, given its general focus on the under-employed, to explore, the peculiar and poorly defined economics of AI existence means that it's very difficult to parse what is actually going on. In particular, this is an issue where the specific dollar value of May's problem is quite significant, but Jeph is basically unable to drop a price tag into the comic.

[Cikomyr]

Wow.

Thats not creepy at all

[Keltest]

Wow.

Thats not creepy at all

Yeah. Although I hope that this isn't going to be a case of integrated crapware being the reason Roko cant feel comfortable with her new body. That would be a pretty cheap out I think.

[Morquard]

Wow.

Thats not creepy at all

I feel this might send her into another fit of body-horror, where she feels she's not fully in control of that body (and now has the screenshot to proof it too)

[Adrastos42]

Current comic: Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope


...


Well, that'll undo a bunch of Roko's progress. And it would be bad enough as a preinstalled app, but this is firmware. Time to void the warranty on this thing.