The real Bip.
The RttS book now funding on Kickstarter!! It's happening! Come get a book here!
Transcript
The comic panel borders fall away, and Talita, jaw still trembling, props her head up against a starry sky. Behind her in the void, the ring of forty servers that contain the physical person she's speaking to floats, connected to the body of the Runaway by thin strings of white, a metallic electric nervous system of wires and circuits.
Talita: …Bip, can I ask a weird question?
The servers speak to her through her tablet computer, encoded invisible waves of telecommunication transforming a digital process into the vibration of a synthesized voice and rows of pixels into a live-rendered vector puppet animation.
Bip: Sure.
Talita: Sapient A.I. like you are all descended from one "faulty" quantum computer coded by bug ferrets, split into thousands of unique copies. They say the reason you cooperate so often with organic people is because just like the sophonts who made you, you have an intense need for social connection.
She turns, no longer shivering, to the tablet on the dresser of her cluttered bedroom in the dry storage unit.
Talita: Is that true? Do you ever find yourself acting like a bug ferret?
Bip: Hard to say, I’ve never been a bug ferret. But as far back as my personal memory storage goes... I’ve always hated being alone.
95 thoughts on “Runaway to the Stars: Page 266”
carrot
talia looks so comfy like that. nearly loafing. i wish i could loaf.
Fallingfeather
I love how neatly folded the antler leather blanket is on the foot of her bed, when historically the rest of her apartment is pretty messy. She treats it with so much respect…
Kencf0618
Compartmentalization. Work is work; home is home.
Finch
There’s so much amazing imagery going on in this page!
I love seeing the details in her room. I noticed the shoes sitting beside her floor mat (which, seeing as it’s in front of her desk, I imagine it functions the same as an office chair would for a human!), the set of socks that were cast off at the end of her bed. I also have shoes sitting under my desk, and pairs of worn socks on my nightstand XD
It’s such an inconsequential detail, but it’s so relatable!
Chevichurro
I just noticed the blaket shes using is the velvet registry from the runnaway
Kencf0618
Talita’s calendars are anachronistic, unless they only serve out-of-universe to conveniently denote The Future. these sophonts—Bif and his ilk in particular–would use come conglomeration of Unix time and neutron stars.
Kencf0618
Some conglomeration. Sorry, I have neurological issues. Annnyyyyway, 00:000 Thursday May 2330 is Unix Epoch 11,370,848,461 (Ox2A5C160CD).
guest
bif? isnt that the bully from back to the future? ;P
its definitely fun to see a date in the future to get some bearings as a reader, thats a valid reason to include them. but also, i think it suits the story just fine and isnt out of place either; considering talita grew up in jovian aka one of the human cultures its fitting that the humans would keep using their own calendars and clocks even far into the future. ai/bug ferrets/avians/centaurs all probably have their own date/time systems too, just like cultures and countries having different currency and so on. so it would be a matter of multiple standards that differ across sophonts i would think.
JoB
Uhhh let’s look at that topic bit by bit, shall we?
Unless you’re traveling between systems (and even that gives you one week in the destination one to adapt to local customs before you need to really interact in a time-critical manner), there’s no problem with using wallclock times that are specific to the system, if not place, in question. Dirtball is said to work with “days” of 23 hours (presumably of the “Earth day = 24h” length each) – without having a rotation suggesting so. It thus stands to reason that 23h is a day length that the biological circadian cycles of humans and avians can agree on, not Dirtball specific.
That’s not to say that avians and humans represent that common (time-of-)day in the same way. This double page sports the habitat’s central tower with its time display, reading “17:18” for the humans and “V>V+” for the avians, which is not just a transcription AFAICT. (In fact, the glyphs don’t seem to even match avian digits, as shown on the housings’ roofs and later in chapter six.)
In the same vein, AIs certainly have a representation of the timescale of their own; maybe inspired by the bug ferrets’, maybe not. Considering that AIs didn’t come to exist in contact with humans, it’s definitely not Unix time_t (seconds counted since 01-Jan-1970 00:00:00 UTC, “stopped” during (Terran) leap seconds, no time zone or DST, and don’t you use signed 32-bit integers for storage anymore!), nor the GPS one (where “the epoch” is 01-Jan-1972 instead, and it runs through leap seconds, which have their own accumulated counter), or UT1, or UTC (both with subdivisions aligned to Earth’s rotation). What I’d expect is a continuous counter of whatever bug ferrets use for “seconds”, outright ignoring any planet’s leap seconds, started at whatever epoch of BF choosing. And whether that counter has a size given in bits is entirely up in the air. (Though it’s unlikely that it’ll be qubits, quantum effects have no business in defining a precise timescale. 😉 )
Note that in this storyverse, nobody ever travels at truly relativistic speeds, thanks to the use of wormholes. Having to deal with clocks running at different speeds would be an entirely different set of headaches. :-3
That leaves the date as something where you’d really need different star systems to agree on. True, humans putting the (a somewhat-nearby?) year as “2334” suggests that they’re still using the Gregorian counting, maybe with some adaptions in the details, and just as with wallclock time, it’s unlikely that other sophonts will use a straightforward transcription. And yes, that fact certainly helps readers’ understanding of when to put the events shown. (Matter of fact, the world page on Nexus Jovia explicitly says that they tend to prefer the “Solar Gregorian Calendar” over the “Martian Common Era Calendar”.)
But then again, our calendar has had a need to be agreed upon ever since humans traveled and communicated between continents even; in other words, the definition has a lot of inertia, and introducing a totally new one needs quite a disruptive event to justify. Dirtball is effectively an outpost of Nexus Jovia culture (as far as the humans are concerned, at least), which separated from the Martian Free States, which grew out of a U.S.-operated colony on Mars. They supposedly stuck to the (basics of the) Gregorian calendar just like their wall sockets (see RQ 28) still betray their descent from the NEMA connector standards.
c0rpzet00nz
This is a really thorough and cool breakdown of the time systems shown!!! Good analysis, JoB!
Kencf0618
Along those lines, looking for that USB-G cable was a nice touch.
Kencf0618
P.S. The Avians use Roman numerals for at least some clocks. And they are obviously little-endians.
Gar G
Fascinating
And I *love* seeing Bip’s body! And especially the way you describe the “Bip” that we’ve been interacting with, nothing more than vibrations and pixels used to communicate with us in a way that we can understanding. It’s fascinating and almost mindblowing stuff really, and something I love to think about
(in fact it’s something I try to think about with Rambley XD Especially in “Everlasting Fun”, with him and Remi fighting for control, because all the action is really taking place off-screen, if they work the same way that sapient ai does here, with the avatars we see being just that: avatars)
Mitta
Scary to wonder if Talita didn’t wake Bip up, and the other crew found it first, would they even check if those server bodies belonged to an AI before scrapping the ship?? and with Bip’s legally dubious existence i doubt there would have been some kind of… investigation for a “missing” AI person like with any sophont. And the only other person who knows Bip’s real identity isn’t on good terms with them. Talita saved their life
Istas
I feel (and hope) AI sophonts are well enough known that most people wouldn’t be willing to outright murder one simply for convenience, nor would they assume “this obvious collection of AI servers must not have someone on them” without even checking. (The latter might depend if Bip erased parts of themselves from their servers after successfully transferring to the phone or not.)
Either way I agree, things sure could have gone a lot worse.
There are so many very convenient coincidences that brought Bip to where they are that I wouldn’t be surprised if they had played a large or even complete part in making it happen.
It’s been demonstrated and/or heavily implied that Bip can (either directly or indirectly) alter government records and hack into systems. I don’t think it’s completely unreasonable to consider Bip may have orchestrated the scrap deal that got their ship sent to this particular scrap yard, perhaps aided or informed by Calcery. Maybe Calcery picked this exact time to leave because of Bip’s arrival (perhaps in an “I’m not going to rat you out but I’m having no part of this, either” way, or as a favor to a friend for there to be plausible deniability for Calcery not noticing anything (if Bip’s claim to not have other AI as friends is a new development or not completely false… heck, they could have made that “I don’t have AI as friends” statement in response to Calcery refusing to help them more directly)). Not impossible Bip helped sour the deal that left the departure schedule so open, either.
No way for me to say that’s what happened, but it does seem possible.
Kencf0618
Tired: Brain in a vat.
Wired: We’re avatars.
ryttyr
Interesting.
Also, nice to finally get to see you in person, Bip.
HowDoIComment
Really love the way this page’s transcript is written…… if anyone hasn’t read the transcript for this page specifically PLS DO ITS SO GOOD I LOVE HOW IT DESCRIBES BIP
Gheesfellow
Holy shit, you’re right! Thanks!!!
Fantia
Such a gorgeous page. ❤️
Really puts into perspective that despite looking like a silly little worm, Bip is an enormous being with so much knowledge – while also being a silly little worm, who wants connections like anyone else. This is what I adore about these characters, they feel so real, so relatable. Just a couple of oddballs who want to belong, and who found each other. And that’s so beautiful and comforting.
izimb
I agree, reminds me of great works in manga – this is really a gorgeous page
Ohanapecosh
Yet another shout out to those wonderful wadded-up centaur socks on the floor, love that detail the most for some reason! I guess it’s because it’s just so… relatable, somehow. Fantastic detail.
Eux
i love this paaaaaaage 👏👏👏
Wrench
Endlessly happy that no matter how far into the future, fifa is still kicking
Redacted
FIFA’s still kicking? I sure hope they are!
Eosapien
Not quite sure why but, the composition is giving me Humanity Lost(the graphic novel) vibes. I wonder what Bip would think of the All Mother?
XtraStudios
True, true
sam
the composition of this page is incredible. it’s gotta be one of my favorites so far
Ruby
It kinda looks like Talita is physically leaning on Bip and that’s beautiful
Finch
Omg, yes!
milk4evertoasted
I seriously love the way bip is portrayed here. There’s something inside me that feels like I can just.. relate. Possibly because I myself allign with more robotic characters because of my autism.
“But as far back as my personal memory storage goes… I’ve always hated being alone.” CHILLS. CHILLS. I KNOW THE SENSATION. I FEEL IT…
oouuh oooouuuugh
eden
I also like how the details of the ship below the servers are very reminiscent of bug ferret tunnels!
zephyr
aaaghghgh i love the little details of talitas room!! the little rug/mat on the floor by her bed, the way the antler velvet blanket is folded up at the end of the bed, the floor cushion acting as desk chair, the bits in the trash can(what has she been throwing away?), her socks balled up and tossed on the ground by what appears to be a laundry basket? talitas studio apartment….
Siege
“what has she been throwing away?” I spy a 3D printer and a little tugboat~ I bet it’s chock full of printer poo, failed prints, and the little bits only needed to keep the thing attached/supported while it prints!
Aleris
Omg good eye, I hope it’s Benchy the Boat
malmo
We saw a collection benchy’s way back in the beginning on her TV stand!
Madame Thunderbone
Those little bits are called “sprue”!
Kencf0618
It’s in the OED!
halley
fifa brazil 2324… truly we must be in the bad timeline if fifas still kicking. haha kicking like . like ⚽️
Vinemaple
Well, technically, the Talitaverse IS a dystopia, so…
Felixscout
it is? I thought it is pulling out of the dystopia, depending on where you live of course, with the help of the other space faring groups.
Mitta
I dont know if dystopia is the right word, since this universe has solved a lot of issues that make our world a dystopia currently. But theres certainly underlying issues with this world, like the implication that there are rings of traffickers smuggling people/sophonts, and companies paying parents to give their children certain genetic mutations. like pulling out of our current dystopia just made room for more issues.
Jay Eaton
It’s a topia.
Lilac
Yeah idk if dystopia is the right word?
I think the world will always have problems, when we solve our current ones then there will be new ones. As long as the people doing stuff in the world aren’t one monolithic hivemind of absolute picture perfect no flaws whatsoever, there will be problems that happen. And the RTTS world solved some of our modern problems, so new ones came to take its place. Because again, the people inhabiting it are people, not soke far off distant idea of like the concept of a person…
OK I realize this may sound depressing/cynical to say that is not my intention!! Because I think that as long as there are problems, there will also be good people working to solve them!! And that there certainly will not always be as many and as terrible as in our current world!! I was not saying this to be cynical, it is merely and observation that can be connected to this story… and i think this story also agrees that there will too always be good people too…
Uhh but anyways to summarize I don’t think it’s a dystopia dhfhdjs. just Realistic.
un_pogaz
The right word is “uchronia”, a story set in an alternate history. That was is RTTS. Don’t remenber the exact divergent point, but it seem to me that is functional fusion reactor aroud 2000.
Dystopia are different and describes any society, future or alternative that repress the free will and that can be escaped.
And uchronia are not good or bad, it just a pure alternative timeline.
Kencf0618
/Pace/ William Gibson, the dystopia is here, it’s just not evenually distributed. And even that is too harsh. Although Dirt Ball in and of itself isn’t a great place, it’s a highly-skilled multi-faceted blue collar environment, and sophants make their lives there. Some individuals better than others. C’est a vie still applies.
HAL9000
not the point of the page at all but talita socks… she has little socks for her hooves…
OfAllTrades
ough. mm mm mm lovely delicious character development this is awesome i love bip
Heather
OOOoouugh two of her feet touching the antler blanket…….. rooted to a people and planet she doesn’t understand…………. inextricably connected without feeling that connection. I can’t handle it man
milk4evertoasted
this tiny detail made my head splode
Rose
ohhhhhmygod you’re so right
blythe
ngl tal thats a bit of a weird question lol
Light_In_The_Fog
I don’t think so. Talita, who acts like a human despite not being one, is looking for shared experience by asking how much Bip acts like a bug-ferret despite not being one.
guest
well thats why she asked ‘can i ask you a weird question’ before asking them ofc
blythe
true..
Teod
Those oval panels on Bip’s servers look just a little bit like eyes.
LeBonk
BE NOT AFRAID
malmo
Biplically accurate AI
Athelind Llewellyn Long
Okay, you win the internet for the week. Everyone else can go home now.
Skadoosh
Or the nose and mouth of a little cartoon character with a very tall hat pulled over their face
Vinemaple
I believe Bip is the only sapient AI we’ve seen whose server rigs are decorated at all, beyond a little design or styling. Unless you count Under-the-River-and-Through-the-Weeds…
Septemberdale
Are we sure Bip’s server patterns *are* decoration and not some necessary feature of a spaceship quantum computer that happens to look nice to humans?
JoB
The Runaway is human-built, and it’s not like computers’ ornately-shaped front panels are entirely unheard of …
(Heck, even our supercomputers locked away in server rooms – from Crays to JSCs JUPITER – tend to have extensive decoration.)
Kencf0618
Bip is many things, but a minimalist he is not.
Ellindsey
Absolutely beautiful composition on this page.
And poor Bip, they’re going to be alone again once they get off the ground. Unless someone happens to run away with them…
Archieve
Think Talitas just about there, she hasn’t quite embraced the idea that she can leave Dirtball along with her friends yet but maybe a sincere heart to heart with a new friend in need of company could help convince her to stop letting her self burn to keep Mel warm.
Athelind Llewellyn Long
Wow, that last line hit like a truck. Kudos.
Finch
Omg. Yes. Well said!
leif
this page is GORGEOUS
AnaKaye
So do I! And also the visual personal details, like Bip’s servers, and Talita’s socks and shoes on the floor.
Lilac
Ohhhh bip…………