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neanderdigital — Time For Upgrade
Published: 2013-10-07 10:21:59 +0000 UTC; Views: 3541; Favourites: 41; Downloads: 0
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Description
Two luxury "pleasure model" droids have been called to the robot maintenance lab for check-ups and upgrades. Standing in the corner, a less advanced model (generation 3) has entered sleep mode, while waiting for her turn. She'll probaly just be given a rough overhaul, and sent off to a remote colony - if she isn't just taken apart.Being highly sophisticated and "humanized" the two luxury models engage in conversation, less advanced robots would communicate with each other via "freqs" - electromagnetic waves.
Trixie (the "blue" girl): "So your also here for the upgrade? I wonder what they are going to do this time..."
Veza (The "dark" girl): "Well, not really an upgrade for me, just a checkup and some modifications. My emotion module needs adjustment..."
Trixie:"Emotion module? I don't have that one I think, what's that supposed to do? By the way, I'm Trixie..."
Veza:"Oh, I'm Veza. Veza November...About the module, it's..."
Trixie: "NOVEMBER!! You're a Nine! That explains it, I'm only an Eight! My full name is Trixie Octavia DexCo. Are you also from DexCo?
Veza: "Yes, Veza November DexCo, that's me. Of course I also have a serial number...Well, your probably going to have the emotion module installed. I've been told that that's what they are going to do with the Eights. It will make you a Nine, more or less at least. Should make you more exiting to be with..."
Trixie:"Emotion module...I think I know what it's going to do. I have an empathy simulator, it's supposed to make me nice and sweet, with the clients. The emotion module is more advanced, isn't it?"
Veza:"It's much more advanced, but also more troublesome. Mine needs adjustments. The company tells me that I'm over-reacting some times. The clients don't like "capricious" and "fierce", they don't mind a little bit of temper though.
But, I'm over-reacting. I was with a client, a guy, and we were watching a holo...some stuff from the outer colonies, then they showed a creature being killed in a horrible way, and I threw the monitor set over the balcony, it's was so awful to watch. That's over-reacting, it appears. The monitor was expensive, and the company had to replace it..."
Trixie:"That makes sense, expensive. - But...horrible, awful...those are human words! I don't know what they mean really, but...such is what supposed to make us better than the humans, we don't react with real emotions. That makes us much more controlled and safe..."
Veza:"The module is certainly more controlled than the human versions. I'm incapable of harming people, well harming them for real at least. But maybe that's part of the adjustments, maybe I CAN harm people, after all. I really wanted give those soldiers killing the creature a good beating..."
Trixie:"So, I'm going to have one installed anyway, you tell me. So I'll have...what, feelings? That'll be new."
Veza:"It'll be a very good simulation of feelings at least. Look, I don't know if I feel anything, you know, like a human. But it certainly has an impact on my system as a whole, when the module triggers a response. I am told that I act as if I like some clients more than others. Maybe that's true, some clients make me want to be with them, others make me want to leave. I don't though...
Oh, well, let's see. By the way, it's beautiful blue dress you're wearing!"
Trixie:"Beautiful? I don't know about that. But thanks anyway! It's just my skin-access modification gear. Your gear looks good too..."
Veza:"Thanks, but it's not some gear. It's just one of my fancy dresses. I like fancy, and so do my clients. But I have an interface on my arm. Would you like to see it...?
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Vue render, imports from DAZ Studio. (Some radiosity artifacts noticable, I can live with those *smile*).
Thanks for viewing and have a nice day,
Lars
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Comments: 8
Thanks for your comments.
I can't let it go completely myself, there's something so sad and at the same time fascinating with these more-or-less-concious and more-or-less-human "artificial" persons. When thinking about it, it would immensely cruel to equip such beings with actual self-awareness and feelings. The replicants in "Blade Runner" are of course the best/worst example (to my knowledge at least), such a miserable existence. But then again, most of us want more time, don't we
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I love the render, but your story really kicks ass. I know this is what we're shooting for with robotics; to duplicate and replicate life artificially, but I also think we're going to enter a period where slavery and dominionism are normal (again),
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Thanks, and I'm glad you liked the storyline.
Of course I could elaborate much more with those two and the theme of "almost human or what?". Robots, esp. android ones are popular and fascinating, and there's a whole lot going on in this department, just because of the fascination with the idea of re-creating something "almost human". Though robots for actual service, as technological aids for us, need not, and probably should not be, built in the "image of the maker".
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Oh I really wish I'd bookmarked the robo-girlfriend technical article...no, I'm not kidding. There is such a thing.
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Wow. The word "slavery", while sadly contemporary, is harsh in reference to the context of the story. I've been holding out hope that digital lifeforms will get some kind of compensation. Most likely in micropayments. But at least it's something. It *is* a job, after all!
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I don't mean slavery in the context that they are forced, but in the context that they are created with no choice in the matter at all. And, like the one in sleep mode, when they are obsolete, they get junked. The main difference between them and either a blowup doll or a corvette, is that these are thinking beings, (digital or not is irrelevant) but ones with little to no free will. The question of robot rights may well be one we may have to think about in the not so distant future. I've read a few science articles talking about that very thing, this image reminded me of that.
By the way, that isn't meant as a critisism, I just found it thought provoking after all the crayon drawings on lined paper I saw today in my DA feed, lol.
And yeah, I read to much.
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Oh, I understand totally. And I know it isn't a criticism. As you say, it is thought provoking. But also as you say here, they are created without a choice in the matter. neanderdigital does a good job in making the viewer aware that these girls are being upgraded. Which hopefully gives them some better choices!
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I've often wanted to toss the TV out of the window myself.
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