Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts

[GeoffWatson]

Just an accident.

I suspected Helix had intentionally turned the lights off, but that would require more intelligence than he normally displays.

[Rockphed]

Just an accident.

I suspected Helix had intentionally turned the lights off, but that would require more intelligence than he normally displays.

Helix would have found some way to project his memories of naked Sam in the darkness.

[halfeye]

Three Mile Island or Chernobyl?

[Willie the Duck]

Three Mile Island or Chernobyl?

Catastrophe Florence has to fix (and either Sam or the station manager he's trying to outmaneuver use to their advantage).

[sihnfahl]

And here comes the hammer.

That wonderful "Humans are in danger!" safeguard results in an influx of robots who're going to try to fix everything ... for free.

[Fyraltari]

Wait they made the bombs sentient? Why?

[Willie the Duck]

Wait they made the bombs sentient? Why?

Doylist: For the joke, of course.
Holmesian: because they were created before robots were deemed anything more than expendable and it is advantageous for them to be sentient because...
Okay, I'm mostly stumped there. I'd say so they can't be spoofed or something, but we've seen that robots aren't always that bright. Plus these aren't weaponry nukes, but nuclear pulse rocket nukes, making them effectively sentient fuel which... nope, not seeing a good reason.

[Radar]

Doylist: For the joke, of course.
Holmesian: because they were created before robots were deemed anything more than expendable and it is advantageous for them to be sentient because...
Okay, I'm mostly stumped there. I'd say so they can't be spoofed or something, but we've seen that robots aren't always that bright. Plus these aren't weaponry nukes, but nuclear pulse rocket nukes, making them effectively sentient fuel which... nope, not seeing a good reason.

I'd say it's the same reason why in our world companies put microcomputers with some standard operating system in things, where a dedicated microcontroller would do the same or better work. Those AI brains can do any job, are mass-produced and maybe the AI calibration process for such simple tasks is easier than programming a non-AI circuit.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Wait they made the bombs sentient? Why?

Appropriate XKCD matching Radar's comment:

(Link)

Also, Schlock Mercenary also had quasi-aware missiles, IIRC. The concept was explored relatively early in the run, though, which means it is more than a decade ago, and I hesitate to locate the actual set of strips.

GW

[Manga Shoggoth]

Wait they made the bombs sentient? Why?

Appropriate XKCD matching Radar's comment:
Also, Schlock Mercenary also had quasi-aware missiles, IIRC. The concept was explored relatively early in the run, though, which means it is more than a decade ago, and I hesitate to locate the actual set of strips.

And before that, Dark Star had sentient bombs. In fact I'm inclined to believe that it's a Dark Star reference.

[Fyraltari]

And GNNM had mortar shells with human still-leaving heads grafted on them, for some reason. The idea of a sentient weapon is kind of old bit it rarely makes any sense.

[theangelJean]

And here comes the hammer.

That wonderful "Humans are in danger!" safeguard results in an influx of robots who're going to try to fix everything ... for free.

Yes, and ... They also have someone (a robot) with an interest in the accounting side of things.

Okay, they may not be a mobile unit being deployed this minute. They may not have the oversight to rein in the rest of the robots during the fix-it free-for-all, especially as the robots are in safeguard mode. I'm guessing at the very least, though, at the end De Morel will be presented with a very large bill. Maybe even a full analysis of the station accounting, eliminating his position.

Or Also we can see what goes horribly and hilariously wrong when a routine reactor restart and a horde of over-protective robots collide. Because I bet that's not in the emergency procedures manual.

[sihnfahl]

Yes, and ... They also have someone (a robot) with an interest in the accounting side of things.

Which one?

at the end De Morel will be presented with a very large bill. Maybe even a full analysis of the station accounting, eliminating his position.

His plan that he's kicking off ends with things in the black, so... seeing as he's not Kornada-level, he may have some justification in his belief.

lso we can see what goes horribly and hilariously wrong when a routine reactor restart and a horde of over-protective robots collide. Because I bet that's not in the emergency procedures manual.

No, we get to see what happens with a bunch of robots with a lot of tools come to a breaking-down station that's putting humans at risk...

[Kornaki]

No, we get to see what happens with a bunch of robots with a lot of tools come to a breaking-down station that's putting humans at risk...

If his entire plan was to trick the factory robots into fixing everything..... that would be amazing.

[theangelJean]

Which one?

This one. Named "Accounting". On the next strip, after some prompting, it gives Florence a nonzero (albeit unaffordable, and therefore I assume accurate) price for the new reactor. Doesn't look mobile, but has access to long range communications, at least.

His plan that he's kicking off ends with things in the black, so... seeing as he's not Kornada-level, he may have some justification in his belief.

Yes, but that assumes he doesn't have to pay the robots as much as he would have to pay human workers. Robot salary is currently maintenance costs only, right? It might even be paid by EU and not come from his budget.
But I'm more thinking that Accounting may do a cost benefit analysis of running the station "properly" i.e. in a way that doesn't risk endangering humans, and find that De Morel has been losing the station money unnecessarily.

No, we get to see what happens with a bunch of robots with a lot of tools come to a breaking-down station that's putting humans at risk...

This is true, but that's a chronic situation; the immediate event is a reactor shutdown and start-up while the other is out for maintenance (although that might just be to explain why the emergency reactors aren't being started up). Which is not routine, and I'm thinking it might go differently when you add robots shouting "emergency!" into the mix.

[Fyraltari]

This one. Named "Accounting". On the next strip, after some prompting, it gives Florence a nonzero (albeit unaffordable, and therefore I assume accurate) price for the new reactor. Doesn't look mobile, but has access to long range communications, at least.

Accounting isn't the name of a robot, it's short for "accounting department". Also the robot speaking isn't shown on-panel, they're on the phone through the computer rovert was talking to in the previous strips. Which is why they begin with "this is accounting".

[sihnfahl]

This one. Named "Accounting".

As Fyraltari said, that's the accounting department, not a robot that's suddenly interested in accounting. Their job is to handle the expenditure, revenue and balance sheets.

And don't forget, that's the whole reason why Sam and Co are out there... because news from the station indicated there WAS a financial problem.

But that assumes he doesn't have to pay the robots as much as he would have to pay human workers. Robot salary is currently maintenance costs only, right? It might even be paid by EU and not come from his budget.

That was the idea.
He literally does NOT have to pay them as much.

And it would come from his budget. Budgets are REALLY broken out by department...

although that might just be to explain why the emergency reactors aren't being started up

Starting up a reactor isn't just flipping a switch. There's a startup sequence that also requires a bit of an energy investment to kick off. And time. And resources. And the paperwork explaining WHY they had to Spend Money.

[halfeye]

Starting up a reactor isn't just flipping a switch. There's a startup sequence that also requires a bit of an energy investment to kick off. And time. And resources. And the paperwork explaining WHY they had to Spend Money.

Stopping a shutdown isn't simple either, Chernobyl was <oversimlifies wildly> an attempt at stopping a shutdown that went wrong.

[sihnfahl]

Stopping a shutdown isn't simple either, Chernobyl was <oversimlifies wildly> an attempt at stopping a shutdown that went wrong.

Well, it was a sequence of issues, yeah. Some human error, some design flaw that wasn't rectified.

[theangelJean]

As Fyraltari said, that's the accounting department, not a robot that's suddenly interested in accounting. Their job is to handle the expenditure, revenue and balance sheets.

And don't forget, that's the whole reason why Sam and Co are out there... because news from the station indicated there WAS a financial problem.

Ahh, maybe I misread that. Although I did wonder if it was accounting specific to the bomb factory, rather than also including the station. After all, the station specifically does not have robots in its budget due to industrial dispute, while the bomb factory now has no human staff.

Also, while I get that Accounting was on the phone now, I'm not convinced yet that they're human. The first thing they looked at was Florence's credit with the robot community, and they seem to be happy for the reactor to be paid for from there rather than "show me the money". In particular EU no longer owns all the robots' assets and runtime, so they can't use that as part of their budget.

That was the idea.
He literally does NOT have to pay them as much.

And it would come from his budget. Budgets are REALLY broken out by department...

Sure, but your original comment was that the robots would want to fix everything for free. So we've got several points of view on how much the robots should be paid, and I was maybe adding one more to the mix:

Robots in safeguard mode: just do it
De Morel: robots are cheap!
Worker's union: robots get equal to human wages
Accounting, whoever they are: ??
Sam, maybe with input from Florence, Helix, Naomi: ??

Starting up a reactor isn't just flipping a switch. There's a startup sequence that also requires a bit of an energy investment to kick off. And time. And resources. And the paperwork explaining WHY they had to Spend Money.

Oh, definitely. But I linked that comic to point out that the current procedure is a reactor restart due to a known error, and everything is currently "under control", and while they might not have followed this procedure in this situation, the procedure is at least known and documented. In other words, there is currently no danger or emergency - although they are at much higher risk - and shouting robots might make things worse rather that better. And that's before you get to the robots discovering the sorry state of the maintenance.

Maybe I'm wrong about that, and maybe the technicians are also wrong - there's already plenty of room for human error. And maybe the narrative purpose of the strip was just to establish that the previously mentioned emergency reactors would not be started up automatically, as Florence is expecting, and that in this instance it isn't happening. The "why" is as you describe.

[Rockphed]

Over on the Freefall forum the author said that whether to try catching a reactor on the way down or start up the back-up should be the operator's decision. I am operating under the assumption that any problems they have with restarting the operating reactor will be no more life threatening than if they had started the back-up reactor.

[halfeye]

Over on the Freefall forum the author said that whether to try catching a reactor on the way down or start up the back-up should be the operator's decision.

That might be the case. and in the comic clearly is. Whether it ought to be the case might be another matter.

I am operating under the assumption that any problems they have with restarting the operating reactor will be no more life threatening than if they had started the back-up reactor.

The lack of paperwork involved suggests they are off-script, with reactors that can be bad.

The fact that the reactor appears in the comic suggests it's going to be a problem.

[Radar]

The lack of paperwork involved suggests they are off-script, with reactors that can be bad.

The fact that the reactor appears in the comic suggests it's going to be a problem.

Either the reactor itself, or the fallout from the situation with all the robots flocking in to save humans. With repair work like that, you do not want a mob running on their base instincts even if they are actually competent people.

[Rockphed]

Either the reactor itself, or the fallout from the situation with all the robots flocking in to save humans. With repair work like that, you do not want a mob running on their base instincts even if they are actually competent people.

And we definitely haven't seen robots almost hurt people while running on "save the humans" protocols.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

The lack of paperwork involved suggests they are off-script

The entire station is operating off-script and has been doing so for a long time. It's a jury-rigged mess, where they ha to canibilize a third of the station to keep the other two thirds going. This is just the latest example of it, but it is nothing new.

GW

[Rockphed]

The lack of paperwork involved suggests they are off-script, with reactors that can be bad.

My personal thought is that having uneven paperwork depending on how they do their job is a problem. Frankly I think that any time they have to do something stressful on their shift they should have the same amount of paperwork. So "tripped the reactor by accident and catch it on the way down" should have the same amount of paperwork as "tripped the reactor by accident, shut it down all the way, and brought the spare online". Then you actually see how common "repairman turned off the wrong box and tripped the reactor" actually is and you can do improvements to make it less common. You don't have engineers who are primed to neglect reporting problems because it just makes more work than fixing the problem the sneaky way.

[halfeye]

My personal thought is that having uneven paperwork depending on how they do their job is a problem. Frankly I think that any time they have to do something stressful on their shift they should have the same amount of paperwork. So "tripped the reactor by accident and catch it on the way down" should have the same amount of paperwork as "tripped the reactor by accident, shut it down all the way, and brought the spare online". Then you actually see how common "repairman turned off the wrong box and tripped the reactor" actually is and you can do improvements to make it less common. You don't have engineers who are primed to neglect reporting problems because it just makes more work than fixing the problem the sneaky way.

That isn't itself the problem though. Reactors are finicky.

During a planned decrease of reactor power in preparation for the test, the power output unexpectedly dropped to near-zero. The operators were unable to restore the power level specified by the test program, which put the reactor in an unstable condition.

I expect the day will be saved, but I think it will get risky before that happens.

[Pax1138]

Just realized today that there are very faint outlines of what's going on in the dark. Guess we have Florence vision too.

[Rockphed]

Just realized today that there are very faint outlines of what's going on in the dark. Guess we have Florence vision too.

Friday's strip also had faint outlines. Near as I can tell the previous strip with naked Sam in the darkness did not.

[halfeye]

I like the "The Streak" shoutout.