Idrisah is wrathful but protective.
Transcript
Talita walks to the plant door, arriving at the same time as Idrisah.
Talita: Morning, Idrisah.
Idrisah: ...Hi.
Idrisah looks angry. She taps her phone again the access point and puts it back in her pocket.
Idrisah: Did that A.I. contact you yesterday?
Talita: (nervously) Y... Yes...
Idrisah: And you told them no, right?
They stare at each other. The plant door finishes and Talita walks inside.
Idrisah: Really!?
Talita: Look, I'll report them later, but. I'm gonna at least reconnect their servers...
Idrisah: THEY'RE MANIPULATING YOU!
Talita: I just want them out of my apartment. And I mean... Being a bunch of phones... Seems like an existential nightmare...
54 thoughts on “Runaway to the Stars: Page 101”
Chunderous Fritz
Oddly enough, there’s a ZX Spectrum game called “Vinnie Vole’s Existential Nightmare” that has a protagonist who looks somewhat similar to Bip. Coincidence? Probably. At least the outlook here isn’t quite as grim for Bip as it was for poor Vinnie…
Eldermage1
I love how Idrisah is so much smaller than Talita, but her sheer (justified) anger has her dominate the physical space
Claire
I love those panoramic ahots that get squeezed in… theres so much context for the setting in a single panel! I especially love the little wall lights with just enough of a dithered light patch below them that you can tell that theyre lights, decently bright and yet not bright enough.
Gar G
The expressions are just so perfect
Hunter
I’ve noticed that whenever Talita seems particularly nervous she curls her trunk up under her face.
Gar G
Oh such a neat detail!
And it makes sense, either one of those things where you make yourself appear small and submissive, or subconsciously trying to protect a vulnerable part of her body
Origamigryphon
It has been mentioned in Jay’s Tumblr that one of Talita’s bad habits is mumbling into her lower jaw/lip.
Pathfinder
I think it means a lot that Talita is telling the truth outright. She’s willing to help a stranger but isn’t going to muddle the trust with her friends to do so.
JoB
… I just had a troubling thought. Please skip the rest of this comment if you don’t like to read descriptions of outright murder …
…
…
I’ve asked myself how the Runaway *actually would* commit deeds of (space) piracy. There seems not to be any capital gun installed, the only means of transfer is a couple *very short* tube-shaped airlocks and one “emergency boat”, and the only way to approach for docking without having the torch engines kill everyone on the other vessel is to have a tow or similar auxiliaries help out:
https://64.media.tumblr.com/94c44dcbef19f9ac70e666858a52b201/2eeb03bd33ff9f7b-a5/s1280x1920/486f9473b50595791e73aa299eb10416ac612bd3.png
*How* do you bring up and board another vessel with that? (And where do you stow the loot unless the attacked ship happens to have external freight containers compatible to reattaching to the Runaway’s spine?) Even if the pirates were operating in a *fleet*, what would Bips role in that have been?
I suppose that what the (fast!) Runaway *could* do is to close up to the target from behind, flip around, make a brake boost, thus killing *everyone* aboard the attacked ship, AI probably included, then dock and pilfer what’s still usable after the radiation bath. Is *that* what the Runaway’s former crew did for a living … ?
JoB
Then again … while the info page on AIs confirms that Bip “has already become mostly known for *piracy*,” their *character* page
https://jayeaton.site/RunawayToTheStars/Characters/Bip
reads “They used to work as a *smuggling* ship with a crew of 10 centaurs” …
Varyon
Maybe the piracy was actually stealing software? We already know they’re well-versed in hacking into systems. Or maybe they’re sufficiently good at that they’re able to pull up close to another vessel and remotely hack it to shut it down, allowing for boarding. Some other options, in addition to your suggested application of the Kzinti Lesson:
The ship used to have (concealed) weapons, but the centaurs saw these as drawing too much suspicion and removed them. Or they were all located where that unfortunate hole is now. Or perhaps it still does have such, it just hasn’t been combed through thoroughly enough for anyone to find them.
Bip used kamikaze drones. Ejecting drones while heading toward an intercept with a target turns them into missiles with limited maneuverability. At sufficiently-high relative velocity, you don’t need a very large projectile to cause catastrophic damage.
Specious intimidation – you don’t necessarily need to have the means (or inclination) to readily destroy a target in order to convince them you do. The threat of violence may be enough for the target crew to eject some cargo to keep you happy, allow you to dock and raid their cargo hold, or whatever – particularly if they are themselves unarmed.
JoB
Hmmm, I like the concept of the weapons being missiles/drones, nanites, or entirely digital; the first would attach to rather inconspicuous mounting brackets or get chucked out an airlock, and it wouldn’t be surprising that they’re all gone after the Runaway had (and lost) a space battle.
:
> Maybe the piracy was actually stealing software?
That would raise the question what the crew of ten centaurs was for – other than limiting the g-forces the Runaway can ac-/decelerate with.
:
> Or they were all located where that unfortunate hole is now.
All in *one* place right on the habitat’s outer wall … ? Note that even the bow maneuvering thrusters are instead attached to an extra pair of rings around the module.
evileeyore
I think “pirate” is just a fanciful term, a romanticized term, and that all Bip is actually ‘guilty’ of is smuggling and occasionally bad punning.
0xabad1dea
I suspect Bip and their crew were stealing things from loading docks and, well, running away really fast – hence the ship’s name. The only places to find several hundred extremely expensive phones in one spot would be the factory, the loading dock, and the cargo ship. And it’s true that they don’t seem equipped to overpower a cargo ship mid-flight. But forging paperwork to get permission to park right next to the cargo ship…
JoB
Hmmm I pondered that concept for a while, but …
At first. it sounded great because it answered a *second* open question: *Where* would pirates attack another spaceship? In RttS, hauling freight through deep space means that you spend one week getting to the nearest wormhole station, pass through a wormhole specifically opened for you, then another week to match the orbit of your actual destination. There’s no indication that a vessel can set up camp *inside* a (specific) wormhole / “the wormhole dimension”, much less start naval battle with a passer-by. However, attacking a ship *outside* the wormhole means that you’re within some solar system, and depend on its wormhole stations to get anywhere else. And keeping tabs on just *one system* is something even *we* can try. One “A(la)rrrr(m)!” on the radio, and local law enforcement can have the gates shut down and requisition however many ships to go hunting the lone pirate. Much better to secretly loot the warehouse, isn’t it?
Except that that still doesn’t get you out of Dodge. You *still* need the heist to remain undetected (= the scheduled freighter to remain absent) for a week so that you can get to a wormhole station , and you *still* can’t just ask them to open one “to Tortuga, pretty please”. If you don’t want the cops to immediately know where to go looking for you, you need to hack the wormhole station as well.
And once you can do *that* … you can line up behind a freighter about to leave the system and hack the gate to “throw” a wormhole to a suitable¹ location for *both* of you, and *then* play the “we’re faster than you
https://jayrockin.tumblr.com/post/660973257329131520/commissioned-art-from-the-wonderful-jacob-vett-on
and you have nowhere (near) to run *to* anymore!” card.
¹ It’d need to be far enough from an inhabited system to prevent your mark calling for help from there, but still close enough to one² that you didn’t get yourself marooned for years. (The problem of their wormhole gate crews going “wait, how’d *you* get to this system in the first place?” can be solved by more hacking.)
² … wait, can you *steal* wormhole stations, or build your own illicit one in your pirate hideout … ?
Michi
When did we learn that Bip is a criminal? So far all I’ve seen is circumstantial evidence at best.
JoB
Bip basically admitted to being a pirate around page 65, and the background info on AIs
https://jayeaton.site/RunawayToTheStars/Sophonts/SapientAI
says that they “has already become mostly known for piracy, under a few different names.”
(Although … hmmm, continued above.)
Michi
I can’t find anything substantial on pages 62.-70. In the background it may say so, but no one in the story knows anything of that (yet). I can’t judge characters based on knowledge they don’t have.
As far as the act of pirating is concerned, the Runaway sounds more like a blockade runner to me than a bona fide pirate ship that robs freighters of their cargo. Although, pirates going for low volume high value items are still a valid cargo to steal. Only question is how do you do that without too much murder as pointed out in the wall o text above.
Also pirate can be applied rather loosely by authorities that don’t want their trade monopoly challenged.
AnormalADN
Talita looks cute in that outfit
Ruby
Idrisah is being the “tough” one here PRECISELY because she’s usually the softie. She probably knows the pain of being taken advantage of because of her good nature.
$ilverspoon
to be fair, after being treated as a dangerous beast by bigots, i’d help a criminal AI too
Ruby
Yeah, empathising with the “worst of society” is that much easier when you’re treated similarly just by existing. Funny thing that.
Lilac
Panel 5 is so funny fhfjs like she didn’t know what to say and didn’t want to say no so she jsut stared awkwardly and yet answered the question anyway
Joysweeper
Talita’s excurrent nostrils are so close to face height! I bet she’s self-conscious about breathing too hard on people.
Mr. Skeleton
Talita’s facial expressions are great!
Translunary_Animus
Oh Talita looks so guilty, wonder how/if Idrisah is going to agree to the plan?
Gheesfellow
Glad Talita seems to appreciate the weight of Bip’s situation.
holly...!
i mean, if an organic person who was clearly a criminal and wanted to keep doing crimes showed up on your doorstep needing medical attention, you’d at least get them to a hospital before turning them in! makes sense that bip should get the same treatment.
Mica
That’s what I was thinking, too!
evileeyore
Except… as a non-organic, Bip is fine with the servers shutdown until the authorities show up to … do whatever the authorities would do with an AI smuggler. Bip ‘s existence isn’t in any danger being confined to the phones.
Talita is in the “making excuses” phase of “doing stuff because I wanna, but it’s illegal so I need a good excuse to do it.” She hasn’t decided completely to just commit tot he bit and she’s just anxious enough about upsetting Idrisah that she’s making excuses for it..
JoB
Is it really *just* an excuse? If we were to find a badly injured criminal on our doorstep, we’d call 911 and let the experts handle the situation – most likely paramedics first. Million JVD question: With Calcery gone and no bug ferrets around, who *is* Dirtballs resident AI expert? In a universe where, apparently, the most popular employment for AIs is to serve as functional part of a *spaceship* … ?
evileeyore
Except Bip isn’t badly injured. Bip is shut down. Bip is sleeping the long sleep if no one ever turns Bip back back on, but depending on how well the servers a can hold data, Bip could remain in a coma indefinitely until the authorities arrived to handle the situation.
Bip’s truncated clone is 841 phones and would really like to avoid any authorities and get Bip turned back on so the Bip Clone can be reintegrated and Bip can wiggle out from under this situation.
The actual Bip is in no danger, as long as no one damages those servers. The Bip Clone may not even be a legal entity (whole nother ball of philosophical wax), but is likewise in no danger as long as no one starts wiping those Q-phones.
This isn’t an “injured criminal needs medical attention before you call the cops” situation, this is a “criminal’s vehicle is out of commission and they want your help to repair it using parts you steal from your company so they can get back on their way and continue being a criminal” situation.
JoB
@evileeyore
> depending on how well the servers a can hold data
The hardware part said to be absolutely necessary to run an AI is a “quantum” core – that’s why it had to be *quantum* phones to run even a mini-Bip. The quantum computers we’ve gotten operational today are prone to having the quantum entanglement collapse, the consequence being that they have to do error correction all the time *while in normal operation* to counter such mishaps, not to mention the requirement to cool them *way* down. And, to our best knowledge, you can create entangled Qubits anew, but *not* restore a specific quantum state (coding for whatever data) from whatever backup. (Or even *create* a backup thereof.) Combine that with the working theory that the very *personality* of an AI somehow resides in the quantum states – after all, “copying” Nabi-Nabu resulted in Bip, with all the differences in their personalities – and yes, a prolonged shutdown *does* promise to erase the person in question.
Yes, if the entanglements in their quantum hardware were as fickle as in ours, if would have been impossible to move Calcery out of Shikaviil Port and onto the bug ferret ship. But note how the bug ferrets moving the racks apparently worked with a schedule elaborated down to the “ninute” …
Chairman of the Borg
Even a pirate shouldn’t have to live with their brain splintered into 800 too-small pieces.
Varyon
Bip is essentially working with only a portion of their “brain” functioning (Phones!Bip is only a fraction of the real Bip). So the scenario is that you have a criminal who is suffering from temporary brain damage, for whom life may be currently hellish. Your options are to either let them continue living through a personal hell of sorts, fix them so they can actually properly think again, or force them into a comatose state. You’re reasonably certain they won’t be able to do anything bad to you in any case. Which one do you take? The most humane and empathetic option seems like the middle one to me.
Whether or not you turn in said criminal is a different question, independent of the first. There are pros and cons (heh) to each option there. My guess is Talita will either opt against turning them in or will try but – whoops! – turns out Bip has no criminal record and there’s no evidence that ties them to any unsolved crimes. Honestly, I suspect Bip has a better chance of becoming reformed and a contributing member of society with Talita and her friends as crew than in whatever passes for jail for AI, but I’m not sure.
Chrysalis
All of Talita’s facial expressions are the best, but her Innocent Face is especially the best.
holly...!
it’s very 😐
Apollo235
I love how Jay makes some panels go ‘off the edge’ of the page. Especially panel 7 to emphasize Talita’s height, its really good
Tyrone the Miner
Panel 5 is like me when the missus ask if I finally called and made the long overdue appointment with my dentist…..
Sen
I am pretty sure since AI are counted as intelligent life, they have the same rights and protections as the other sophonts. And being split over several mobile devices is probably a life threatening situation as they lack the security of proper server racks.
the Packbats
…*are* they manipulating Talita?
Like, genuine question. We don’t have a good grasp on this, but rereading from page 58, Bip was clearly turning on the charm and clearly eavesdropped and snooped about to get to know these three, but they were also being honest about their circumstances and needs. Honest to the point of admitting stuff that no-one would know if they didn’t just say it. And every time Talita made a specific request (“can everyone please leave my apartment”, “get off my tablet”, “can I get back to you on that on Monday”, “turn your passive mic recording off after this”), they did their best to comply.
I dunno. I think it makes sense for Idrisah to react this way but now we’re distracted by the ethics question.
Common Handle
I don’t really think so? If they are, it’s not obvious. I think they’re just trying to survive.
the Packbats
Yeah, we feel similarly? I wonder how much of Idrisah’s reaction is that she doesn’t want to be charmed by a pirate AI.
evileeyore
Yes… but…
It’s not the same sort of manipulation one thinks of of when one thinks of being manipulated. Bip isn’t being some fly-by night huckster, shyster, or sleazeball. He’s not selling what anyone but Idrisah is refusing to buy. Bip’s not looking to harm anyone (except some corporate assets, and who cares about Ixiom’s bottom line but absent CEo’s?) and genuinely //seems// to just want to get themself back together and get back to being their best self… which is a smuggling ship, so sure, any law abiders might have issues with that.
In this case Bip is being manipulating because they have discerned every button they need to push to get what they want, and they are pushing them. Because it’s a delicate, subtle manipulation, they being gentle with the pushes, slightly belligerent when necessary (“I don’t even get the dignity of a refusal?”), and trying to be low key charming, witty, and (this is the most important lever on Talita’s personality) treating these ladies like they’re highly competent, highly capable, but highly under-challenged individuals, who deserve respect and a challenge.
These are the same sorts of manipulations you’d accept from a friend, and Bip is worming his way in, as an outsider //who just showed up//.
the Packbats
I’m so sorry, but you’ve mixed up Bip’s pronouns a *ton* in this post – it’s super distracting and it makes it impossible to figure out what point you’re trying to make.
Tiny_Toilet_Man
Does Bip even have pronouns?
the Packbats
@Tiny_Toilet_Man the Characters page says “English pronouns: any default neutral pronouns (they/them/theirs in Jovian English, xey/xem/xiers in Martian English)” – I think in 2024-era US American English that’s probably they/them/their.
evileeyore
Once is not a ‘ton’.
the Packbats
@evileeyore I’m sorry. I still couldn’t read it.
Calcifer
I wonder if Idrisah is angry with Gillie because Gillie wants to help Bip, aaand now she just found out that Talita feels the same way. But, I think Talita has a point- at the VERY LEAST you gotta help a person if their brain is split up into a bunch of little pieces. I wonder how we’re going to get our dear Idrisah on board.
creetur
It would be unethical to just leave a sentient being to be scrapped, pirate or not. Maybe they’ll try to convince Idrisah on that regard?
evileeyore
The “ethical and law-abiding” course would be to call the authorities in to deal with Bip via Bip’s servers on the Runaway and Bip’s clone on 841 smuggled phones. Not reconnect Bip to the servers… and then start repairing the Runaway so Bip can continue their life of crime.
But then there’d be no comic, so that’s no fun.
Beestlyeep
honestly i dont mean to be rude at all but ur constant snarky contrarian comments about bip are starting to get grating
Stitcher
Talita brings up a very good point in the last panel.
It is a sapients rights issue.