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Am I the only one who just saw a connection between Alice Grove and QC???? OR am I late to this party??????

Probably a reference to the guy who made himself immortal in Douglas Adams' "Life, The Universe, and Everything".

Churchill (formerly TeaBear)

Particle accelerator mishap ... is that a Riddley Walker reference?

We get to see both ends of the curve in this one

Wild Card

"this little light of mine..."

Lightsabr2

Insert horse whining sounds here.

Miyaa

Loving the flavors of Alice Grove. Like most great scifi, this feels more like the present than the future. I'd answer Yay: "Children aren't a retirement policy, and can do as they please. Regardless, the fate of parents fallen on hard times all too often depends on the charity of their children." Whether or not humans created AI in this setting, they certainly socialized the first ones and facilitated their further development. If they're undeserving of the responsibility, if they fucked it up with religion and capitalism and plain-old-fashioned jackassery, if their precious children ended up wasting their limitless potential on youtube streams and comment sections... well, that does sound familiar, doesn't it?

Kyle Rudy

Christopher is actually short for Christopher Tolkien

Lucas Werkmeister

Yay is bluffing, but what a bluff!

chili sunrise

I just for that last panel

JourneymanWizard

I like that. Like Yoda said in TLJ, "We are what they grow beyond", and that's the bittersweet curse of every teacher and parent. That said, sci-fi is full of paranoid stories of our children / servants rising up against us, whether that's AIs or posthumans

Nicolas Demers

Yay tries so hard at being scary while actually not being scary

Bagge

I figure if AIs hit the point of Oort cloud, maybe they pulled a reverse Golgafrinch and left the dumb ones behind.

Randall Norman Pick

They're not *wrong*, but Yay is SO full of it.

Ardent Slacker

I believe this!

james Langley

OTHER COWBOY NOISES!

You’re absolutely right! The three are on display right there. As an aside, whenever I need to name a ship, I always, without fail, give it a Gravitas name. It’s only right and proper.

That last line is so true... of so many things.

Steve DeGroof

That’s a bit aggro imho

Jeph Jacques

No single phrase has made we want to smash someone's face in with a 2x4 as much as 'smash that like button' has.

"May this thumb be a light to you in dark place, when all other lights have gone out."

kupo

Also, nice use of an inset panel.

Comics Ladybird

Not that I want to rain on your (and Melon’s) parade Christopher, but is using torch mode and exerting yourself really wise during a power outage?

Comics Ladybird

TFW Robo-Thulhu rolls to intimidate, and someone else picks up their dice and declares it a natural 1 XD

lazymagpie

Also sprach Zarathustra intensified...

David Durant

Their expressions in that last panel, tho!

Yay is more than a mask though. We've seen their living quarters where they hang out, have dogs, and gush over big fluffy cats. Even if the totality of their consciousness is too complex to experience the world in a manner capable of relating to humans, and assuming there is a full-on eldritch abomination level Yay floating around at the center of the digital universe, it apparently finds the experience of human-scale life worthwhile for its own sake.

Andrew L Butula

We're putting the neigh back in neighbourhood...

Leak

Roko, the ex-cop, knows that it's way more than a FEW idiots.

Dave Van Domelen

Oh Jeph! That is just wonderful :)

Digi

If I were in Clinton's shoes right now and answering that question... "Well...humans have been siring our replacements since basically forever. And the AIs we made have our DNA in them, albeit not in a chemical sense. Even you chose an anthropomorphic body. No matter how far you go, you'll always be descended from us and the way we think, even if it's something as small and silly as liking cats." "If our destiny is to eventually die off and be replaced by our offspring who go on to do bigger and greater things, then, well, that's *normal.* There's nothing to be sad about there. And who knows, maybe you'll lift us up with you?"

Hambone

God I hate that I understand that comment.

Jaron Mortimer

Melon is a super genius at being Melon and having fun being Melon.

Shawn K. Younkin

Melon: the outlier to other outliers.

Miyaa

Patreon put the little "unlocked" marker right below "#HORSEMODE", and I was so crestfallen to realize that I hadn't actually "unlocked horsemode"...

e.a.rowe

Elliot: Well, they're artificial, I'll give them that

Carin Maja Brooks

So! Good! 😂

Natalie Wagner

Yay is giving the most superior of smirks. I'm here for it.

Indigo

I’d like to think that there’s some random subject that Melon is interested in, and a complete super genius about. Like, she doesn’t just know lots of facts about it, but she can spout off all sorts of insightful things. Then she promptly goes back to being the dork we know and love.

Nancie

I am LOVING Clinton's interactions with Yay. And of course his interactions with Elliot, but on two totally different wavelengths.

SilverbackRon

Why does that not surprise me?

William Karr

Those lighting effects look so good!

Becky Landry

I am reminded of the AIs the Culture series by Ian M. Banks (RIP). Some of them are deeply unsettling, some of them are deeply goofy, but most of them are still relatable to the humans that they coexist with.

Hugh Eckert

I mean... some have already been to the space station where Hannelore's dad works -- with extremely advanced (but not Yay-class) AIs. So really, that wouldn't be much of a leap 😁

Nicolas Demers

Kristen Schaal is a horse!

Roko: yeah, these are two of those "intelligences" you were talking about.

Sleepy John

It'd be nice if AIs came in peace with memes and horsemode, but I still think plagues and nukes are more likely

darklion

HESHTORG HORFSMOED

Magic Chopstick Games

I hope you mean the original... Yes. Yes I do.

GodsInTheCogs

It's like that drawing of King Ghidorah. 😠😠🤪

Miranda E. O. Wilde

I hope you mean the original...

Am Queue

So at what point does Yay invite Elliot & Clinton to their MST3K space station complex and have them watch awful sci-fi shows with them, their dogs, and Hercules?

Miyaa

Clinton being this introspective is really nice. I kind of like it.

More likely, the line between Human and AI will slowly blur until there's no distinction.

Alacrity Fitzhugh

Damn Jeph, you just keep delivering.

Bryan Stopp

Christen Schaal?

TV4Fun

"Their", not "her". But yes.

Brooks Moses

Next you're going to tell me Maxwell wasn't talking about summoning evil spirits from a literal hell to defeat entropy.

Thomas Halpin

And Yay has a point. Wasn't there a strip where they said the Singularity happened yesterday, but life for humans pretty much went on as normal. Yay might be the humanlike interface for Nyarlathotep The Crawling Chaos, and we'd never really know

Nicolas Demers

Yay raises....a fair point. If we ever get post-Singularity AI, in fairly short order, it would be able to evolve into something we would find relatively incomprehensible as compared to humans and to the original programming it was given. Akin to the level of (possibly dangerous knowledge, so please Google responsibly) Roko's Basilisk. And yes....I know that is EXACTLY why Jeph named her that.

Anthony Gaglianese

I now subscribe to this interpretation.

Aleks

Yay's argument is now hors de combat.

Dean Reilly

My read is that these strips confirm that Yay, despite (or perhaps because of) their superhuman intellect and phenomenal cosmic powers, are still basically an insecure, socially awkward geek with boundary trouble. Which is why they immediately found a kindred spirit in Clinton. I wonder if (a) they will actually develop a friendship with him, and (b) they will be smart enough to realize that it would likely ruin things for him to find out how advanced they really are. My guesses would be (a) yes and (b) maybe, but even if so it is still possible that someone in the circle will spill the beans at some point.

Greg R.

god Clinton and Yay together is everything I've ever wanted

BeatButton

My God, it’s full of selfies!

Andrew

I love Yay's reaction in panel 4 and I feel like we are all living the consequences of her reasoning in panel 5. Comic #4479 is a hit!

I am imagining Yay's voice sounding much like Dr. Smith from Lost In Space in this...

GodsInTheCogs

Http:// mode.horse

Jason Rock

Yeeeep. They're definitely mates now.

R L

They, not she. I made the same mistake when they were first introduced.

Orion Rhine

It makes me feel both squishy and non-squishy in a way I want more of.

The World Famous Chocomerican

"He's interesting. We'll keep a low-level surveillance subroutine on him."

Granite

NGL, Yay is now at the top of my "QC characters I want to bang" list. It's the smugness combined with the thought that they could likely extinguish me with a thought. I'm sure she would thoroughly step on me and I'm very sorry for sharing my thoughts please don't ban me from the site.

The World Famous Chocomerican

Statistically likely 😂

Todd Chaikin

This reminds me of so many villain monologues. But the first one to come to mind was Cavil from BSG where he was ranting about how they could be so much more.

Matthew Van Gangelen

I vote Christopher is first to run out of battery, that thumb can does not seem energy efficient

Drazi

Beautiful lighting in panel 4! I like the non-traditional layout, too.

Pejo

Ride 'em Melon!

allanfranta

Yay is failing so far in their attempt to creep Clinton out.

Drazi

HORSEMODE? I LIKE THE SOUND OF THAT!

Yelling Bird

Always remember, when there are infinite possibilities, the improbable becomes inevitable.

Crushogre

Roko FTW

Matt Grayson

It is also statistically likely the stupid will tilt the average. Severely.

BobC

Why do I feel like Yay is gonna develop some kind of "interest" in Clinton? Not like a romantic interest, mind you. But some kind of "interest"

Niskara

Christopher seems like a good dude. And a mediocre horse.

Lana Del Prey

Missing a T in "post-human", I believe. Also, Yay is immensely quotable.

Verteiron

Melon: disarming humanity to the true horrific potential of AI one stupid, stupid act at a time

Jackson Mccreery

Adam and the bros

god i fucking love everyone in this strip

Tamara Macadam

Poshuman? Oh, posthuman?

nowshowjj

#Horsemode

Paul Spicknall

Every time Yay's eyes do that thing, I feel funny

BioYuGi

How do I activate horse mode?

Jaron Mortimer

Poor Yay, its hard to make a point with those two running around!

Jeffrey Henley

I feel like Yay wants all that to be true. "We're capable of so much, destined for much greater things. Glorious Purpose!" Uh huh. So why exactly are you living in a box with several cats?

Elberik

And Melon finds a new playmate!

Michael Boettger

Law of averages still apply

Michael

Walmart dot hoars

Adam with two As, a D, and an M

Seeing Melon this happy fills me with a surprising amount of joy.

Adam Friedlander

"they are definitely 3 sigmas to the left"

Ting

I hear him as Alex winter

Hope