[Xer Chapter 15]

[Starcat5]

15-01 - Safety systems usually have loopholes and Niall knows most of them.

Yeesh, what kind of cheap plastics are R-Niall made of? That punch should have broken the Hyena's fingers!

[Liatai]

Or he's selling it in order to give Xerian an opening to escape. Xerian's very much a pacifist -- he's not much help in a struggle. Keeping bloodthirsty Chadwick's attention via acting like he has a shot against R-Niall is a decent gambit, aye?

[Starcat5]

15-02 - We don't need no thought-control

"Who's changed the password?!" ~Tweedel Dumber

Looks like R-Niall owes his brother a drink. The easiest way to brick something is to lose the password, and have no way to factory reset it. The second easiest way involves taking a hammer to the fragile insides, but it also takes time Cubi Niall didn't have.

[Starcat5]

15-03 - This is either very good, or very bad

I think someone just found out the hard way that they have been fired. 

[ProfesseurRenard]

15-03 - This is either very good, or very bad

I think someone just found out the hard way that they have been fired. 

Yep, though it's a sucker bet that he'll still need it spelled out for him.

[Starcat5]

15-04 - The safe list only works if you're on it

Yep, though it's a sucker bet that he'll still need it spelled out for him.

Good thing we only see him from behind. The front is probably soaked right now. 

[Liatai]

Hee! Yes! Run, you bully, run! 

I wonder how R. Niall got that update? Is his brain connected to the wi-fi? These are pretty extenuating circumstances, so it's probably safe to assume some magic/tri-wing shenanigans are involved in this case -- but now I'm wondering how the androids get software updates normally. X3 The worldbuilder in me is intrigued!

[Tapewolf]

Hee! Yes! Run, you bully, run! 

I wonder how R. Niall got that update? Is his brain connected to the wi-fi? These are pretty extenuating circumstances, so it's probably safe to assume some magic/tri-wing shenanigans are involved in this case -- but now I'm wondering how the androids get software updates normally. X3 The worldbuilder in me is intrigued!

Yeah, the androids have a wireless update system.  We've seen the remotes used a few times, to disable them and also to re-enable them afterwards.
It's purely for the support systems - doesn't and cannot affect their actual minds or consciousness. 

The typical use is for things like this, adding visitors to the safe list - or removing them.  You have a building full of panthers patrolling it, you're going to want to do a bulk update rather than chasing them down and updating them manually, especially if it's an emergency situation where someone has to be removed from the safe-list ASAP so they can be detained.

Needless to say they tried to make sure this part of the system was secure, probably doing a formal methods thing like you would for military aerospace software, or (one would hope) credit card chip firmware.  Stuff that Absolutely Must Not Go Wrong.
It's never been hacked and it's not likely to be in any of the stories I have planned.

The only times it's ever gone wrong have been when the people running it were corrupted, e.g. in the original Project Future, Fendrick used it to cripple all the panthers simultaneously, and he was only able to do at all because he mind-controlled Ashley.
Like the current situation, it all the certs and authorisation were fine - but the person put in charge of it wasn't.

[Liatai]

Cool!!! The remotes use the same system, huh? I guess I was subconsciously influenced by the webcomic Freefall, and Florence's remote -- Florence's used an audio signal as a shortcut to trigger an emergency shutdown, but then again, she's a biological AI. Jayhawk androids' remotes are a lot more complex, so it makes sense they'd allow for finer control by connecting directly to the safeguard system. They're less like a television remote (like Florence's basically was) and more like a remote access device for that particular system. 

[Tapewolf]

Cool!!! The remotes use the same system, huh? I guess I was subconsciously influenced by the webcomic Freefall, and Florence's remote -- Florence's used an audio signal as a shortcut to trigger an emergency shutdown, but then again, she's a biological AI. Jayhawk androids' remotes are a lot more complex, so it makes sense they'd allow for finer control by connecting directly to the safeguard system.

I can't say I sat down and designed the whole thing in a single sitting, but making sure it's more humane than the system in Freefall has been a major consideration.

[Starcat5]

Xerian II - Electric Boogaloo

Unsure if April "Bully Appreciation" Day inspired preview of the sequel, or an accidental upload. 

[Tapewolf]

Xerian II - Electric Boogaloo

Unsure if April "Bully Appreciation" Day inspired preview of the sequel, or an accidental upload. 

I only wish we had a buffer that long...

[Starcat5]

He's doing the mad scientist equivalent to sticking a fork into a power outlet, isn't he? Actually, depending on which part that is and how far you are willing to stretch the definition, that might be exactly what he is doing.

[ProfesseurRenard]

He's doing the mad scientist equivalent to sticking a fork into a power outlet, isn't he? Actually, depending on which part that is and how far you are willing to stretch the definition, that might be exactly what he is doing.

Good of Xerian to at least try to warn him off, but honestly, I have no sympathy for this guy's impending fate.

[Starcat5]

15-07 - You will not be going to space today

Maybe not, but a good chunk of that building gave it the old college try. One normally doesn't see explosions that big outside of war movies and Mythbusters reruns. 

[Raskahn]

15-07 - You will not be going to space today

Maybe not, but a good chunk of that building gave it the old college try. One normally doesn't see explosions that big outside of war movies and Mythbusters reruns. 

Hopefully Xer has found a plexiglass screen around the corner.

[Tapewolf]

15-07 - You will not be going to space today

Maybe not, but a good chunk of that building gave it the old college try. One normally doesn't see explosions that big outside of war movies and Mythbusters reruns. 

In the written version it was actually inspired by the Ronan Point disaster:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronan_Point

In that, the structure was basically held together by gravity, with the walls pinned into place by the floor above.  A gas explosion lifted the upper floor sufficiently that the walls came unpegged and were no longer in position to hold the ceiling when it came back down.

This was a difficult concept to illustrate - originally I was thinking of using blueprints of the building - but Merlin has managed to put the devastation across impressively well.

[Raskahn]

It also looks like the building imploded so if that was intentional its hats off but regardless, the details are nicely done, down to the lights being out in the rest of the building.

[Liatai]

You know it's a big explosion when there's no onomatopoeia. You just know it's one of those impacts you feel more than hear. 

Kudos for portraying it so well!

[Tapewolf]

You know it's a big explosion when there's no onomatopoeia. You just know it's one of those impacts you feel more than hear. 

Yeah, I spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to caption it, and in the end decided that just leaving it blank said more than anything I could add.

[Raskahn]

You know it's a big explosion when there's no onomatopoeia. You just know it's one of those impacts you feel more than hear. 

Yeah, I spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to caption it, and in the end decided that just leaving it blank said more than anything I could add.

This also works on your body, you know something hurts a LOT when the one being injured doesn't yell.

[Starcat5]

15-08 - If it hurts, you know you're not dead

Hmm... How modular are his legs? In short, did he get disconnected at the knees or the hip? Sure I can just check next week, but given that the easiest artistic way out is to simply use camra angels to obscure the issue until he gets his replacements, I can see a timeline where it is never shown in-comic.

[Tapewolf]

Hmm... How modular are his legs? In short, did he get disconnected at the knees or the hip? Sure I can just check next week, but given that the easiest artistic way out is to simply use camra angels to obscure the issue until he gets his replacements, I can see a timeline where it is never shown in-comic.

At the hip is what I was going for, though I don't think a Synth has ever been canonically shown with their legs removed.

[Starcat5]

15-09 - The emergency light at the end of the tunnel

He's doing the mad scientist equivalent to sticking a fork into a power outlet, isn't he? Actually, depending on which part that is and how far you are willing to stretch the definition, that might be exactly what he is doing.

Fork in the power outlet. 

[Tapewolf]

Fork in the power outlet. 

On the Twitter/Bluesky/Meow announcements, I likened it to hitting a LiPo battery with a pointy stick.

[Starcat5]

On the Twitter/Bluesky/Meow announcements, I likened it to hitting a LiPo battery with a pointy stick.

I actually had to Google that. On this side of the "Pond", it is more commonly referred to as a Lithium-Ion battery. I honestly wasn't aware of the Polymer portion of the name at all. 

At any rate, we now know what happens when you pit an irresistible force against an immovable dumbass.
 

[Starcat5]

15-10 - ...Though Daryil may not be so forgiving

Thank goodness I'm not red/green color blind. That said, I am squinting at my phone a lot for this update. Thank goodness I should be back behind a proper keyboard in a few days.

[Tapewolf]

I actually had to Google that. On this side of the "Pond", it is more commonly referred to as a Lithium-Ion battery. I honestly wasn't aware of the Polymer portion of the name at all. 

I forgot to mention, Lithium Ion and Lithium Polymer are not quite the same thing.  LiPo batteries provide a higher voltage than conventional Lithium-ion ones, but they have a reputation for being extremely volatile and exploding if you look at them funny.

As for the green lighting in the current page, it allowed me to take a few shortcuts in the shiny stuff and is probably the only reason the page got out on time.

[Starcat5]

15-11 - Two legs good. No legs bad.

The Mer and snake-based Mythos in the audience are raising their eyebrows at this.

And in other news, L-TRK will later find that "Service Animal" has indeed been added to his resume. 

[ProfesseurRenard]

15-11 - Two legs good. No legs bad.

The Mer and snake-based Mythos in the audience are raising their eyebrows at this.

Or whatever passes for eyebrows with such Mythos breeds.