Ocean Swell

Whereas I'm convinced that Pintsize has already been permanently banned from the AI's island because of the sheer goblinry he's already committed! Just because he isn't in the narrative all the time doesn't mean he isn't doing simply *terrible* things offpanel.

VoxOrbisBrad

Why would anyone do that to Nova Scotia?

OldGoat

I can't imagine any answer but 'yes', which doesn't mean he wouldn't actually come along.

Ursus Ridens

@joe velsher: If you buy a set of professional clippers and you greatly undervalue your own expenditure of time (Hey, I'm the customer here, therefore not getting paid for this is expected!) you can probably get a haircut for less than $0.25. That said, I strongly recommend having someone else even everything out after, because it's really tough to get everything exactly right when you are your own barber. Professional clippers come with a set of hair guides which are super helpful (I could never get evenly the same length without them), but that doesn't help nearly as much with the back of the neck. Of course, if you choose to wear your hair long, the back of the neck is less of an issue and now you just need a pair of really sharp scissors and an understanding of how to cut your hair evenly without having the right perspective to do so.

Some Ed

@David Durant: It's my guess that Jeph has multiple PoV characters. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that they all are his PoV characters.

Some Ed

@Todd Ellner: codependency is about supporting the bad habits of ones partner. Those bad habits don't need to be addictive substances for it to be harmful. It just tends to be super-bad when those bad habits are addictive substances. That said, I'm not sure that Claire and Marten necessarily do support each other's bad habits. Also, while many of the drugs on our strictly illegal lists are very harmful, I recognize that our drug companies have a lot of influence on what goes on that list. I know some couples who have been declared to be codependent because they have both decided that a particular one of those drugs shouldn't be on the list and feel it's actually the best drug to treat a medical condition one of them has. (Yes, that happens to be one of those things that MommyMilkers420 would probably agree with them about.) I'm not sure I agree with calling them codependent when they do note when each other engage in practices that are actually harmful. I mean, I recognize that smoking in general is harmful, but when one has a medical condition, one needs to balance the harm that comes from the various treatment modalities and the harm that comes from not treating the condition. In the particular cases that I'm talking about, the long term harm for the drug they're using is actually less than the long term harm for the drug cocktail they've been proscribed to use to treat the condition and the unwanted effects of the primary drug and the unwanted effects of the secondary drug and so forth. In one case, all of the drugs they've been proscribed supposedly came from the same single plant (I did not verify this, I just have their word on it. But it sounds so much like something a corporation would love to do.)

Some Ed

@Hekiryuu: We're talking about the same AIs who decided that one of the jobs they were collectively interested in doing was being a Companion?

Some Ed

@Miyaa: 1. In our world, yes. In QC, whenever an AI wants to read something that hasn't been digitized, they digitize it, fundamentally. This doesn't, however, mean that digitized copy makes its way to the library. Even if it does, without a librarian, it wouldn't be organized in the library. I think that when people imagine an automated library for AIs, they tend to implicitly assume an AI librarian whenever they don't think about how many librarians it would need to function. There might be one or more AIs in Cubetown's library, but I suspect that they probably understand the need for diversity in library staff to collect and maintain an optimal collection. 2. Yes. We are a social species and the QC AIs clearly are as well. Virtual will probably be an initial option, allowing Claire to begin work immediately on getting an offer and accepting it, before they've worked out the logistics of moving. But there will be a desire for her to go to the actual library eventually.

Some Ed

If Claire gets this job, and they go out to off Nova Scotia, will they bring Pintsize? And has Pintsize done something in his, um, "adventurous" past which would prevent him from crossing the USA/CAN border?

ValdVin

No. No need for vitriol. To me, both statements are true. She is portrayed most beautifully and she is, I think, deliberately, shielded from what would be our reality’s challenges by Jeph. And I do very much like it that way.

Ísabel Pirsic

Be chill dude - perhaps explain rather than just pointing fingers

David Durant

I love Martin but he hasn't been a central character in the strip for many years. He might be Jeph's PoV character though which *may* make him harder to write out. I'd personally be perfectly happy to see him and Claire turn into "whenever they happen to be in town" characters as we have lots of new folks to focus on. Even Faye's not been in it much recently.

David Durant

2 bits of a bitcoin nowadays, of course

Ísabel Pirsic

Where can you still get a haircut for $0.25‽

joe velsher

So glad you shared that you missed the point completely.

dcy665 .

I mean, when you're drawing someone you aren't really limited by normal physical constraints that might add challenge. As far as the strip is concerned, Claire has -always- been a girl. It would have been far more challenging to have a character go through transition on the strip than just start off that way like Claire has.

Shawn Spencer

I feel like it's obvious Claire won't move unless this is a precursor to ending the strip forever. I mean Martin is a central character so I doubt he'd be effectively removed from the strip.

Shawn Spencer

Ya know it's entirely possible that a lot of the AI's may prefer face-to-face interaction the same way a lot of people do. Also, people can process information in ways that even massive search engines like Google can't. Like recommending books, or finding that one book based on a very vague description.

Shawn Spencer

Claire's huge smile was wonderful to see. It's very inspiring to me, as was Martin's wise response.

Darla Donahue

Seems like most of the AIs wouldn't have humanoid bodies. Artifacts optimized for use by humans might not be the best way to store information.

Todd Ellner

I know our Jeph is special, but how many artists would treat Claire right. She is such a girl. A cute, womanly person that is finally able to be who she always was on the inside.

dcy665 .

true

Bagge

That's not codependency which involves an addict, an addictive substance (the dependency) and the partner whose life revolves around the addiction (the codependency). What you're describing is a normal healthy relationship. Nothing pathological about it

Todd Ellner

Andrew - library and information science is a complex, multifaceted thing these days. Cubetown would have unprecedented data and information needs for a new sort of client. It would be very challenging work

Todd Ellner

🎶change and a haircut, two biiits 🎶 🔃💇 🤖🎩

Ísabel Pirsic

I want to say his new stylist is a manga fan, but I really have no idea what I’m talking about…

A. J. Alfieri-Crispin

If they have spaceplanes like the one used to get to Station, the commute would be easy.

Hugh Eckert

Marten needs a haircut

orange slice

Claire is always adorable

dragonkittyrawr

This is fine

Bagge

Claire is adorable here

Bagge

This is what I meant by healthily codependent. They're simply better together than they would be apart.

Ruth Merriam

Alternatively, she DOES get the job, but doesn't end up having to move to Cubetown full-time to take it?

Taellosse

So THIS is the end-game! Jeph, realizing that he has created an ensemble cast of hundreds, slowly starts shifting them off to space, Canada, etc. The last hundred strips is just Pintsize on a rampage, Winslow trying to restrain him, and them both ending up on an alternative Morning Talk Show / Demolition Derby called "Morning Cup of OH NO!"

JourneymanWizard

I know that putting them in a new location without everyone else is probably not what is gonna happen, but i want her to get the job so bad.

Prediction: Everyone mentally prepares for them to leave, then Claire doesn't actually get the job (which is entirely plausible, she's a strong candidate but I'm sure all the other interviewees are too!)

Solomon Garland

Why does a town of AI's want a human to experiment on.... er interact with?

Hekiryuu

1. Not everything has been digitized. You still need physical artifacts in most cases. 2. Even when like in “Star Trek Discovery” where everything has been condensed into their virtual workspace, you still need them to physically meet. Just because people will be more likely to work from home and work with digital documents doesn’t mean that a business office & paper (let alone books) will go away.

Miyaa

If you're going to have a digital collection, you need people to collect works, to incorporate them into the collection, to organise the collection, to make the collection accessible to users, and any number of other duties that keep the whole system working. Those all fall within library sciences - and/or a number of adjacent professions with overlapping skillsets.

Diptych

There's a lot more to Information Sciences than just being a librarian. They're the experts on storage, indexing, searching, and manipulating data.

Chris Crowther

My first thought was why would they even need a librarian at all? you'd think they would just have a digital archive that everyone can download what they need from

Andrew Wade

In panel 3, I love Claire's adoring eyes, big smile, and her little finger reaching for the zipper of Marten's hoodie. Marten is a very lucky guy who loves Claire, accepts her as she is, and is willing to flow with the opportunities presented to her. And Claire is very thankful for that.

Wayne Farmer

Why would a Cubetown librarian even need to be in Cubetown? Any originally-physical books would have been digitized.

Todd Ellner