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[FelixSparks]

Number 2 seems the most efficient choice

GRACE UP AHOY!

[Cptn Kaladin Anrizlokum]

Number 2 seems the most efficient choice

+1

What happens if we hit negative wealth?

[FelixSparks]

Bad things are my guess.

[Vgray]

Unfortunately, adventurous architecture comes at a price, and you find yourself fixing leaks all the time for months. But you think the designs will attract employees who care about aesthetics and design, and that is the kind of talent you want to attract. (+Grace)

Soon, you have hired a handful of full-time technical employees from the area, and they help with the setup of the factory. They seem relatively pleased to be working for you, and one of them fixes a problem with Joyeuse's joints for free. (+Grace)

Finally, months after you've moved in, you are ready to pull the switch that starts the factory in motion, as your workers, Josh, Joyeuse, and various invited members of the press look on.

Raw metal lumps start their way down a conveyor belt where water jet cutters slice the metal at precise angles to reveal a cubical head. Another machine drills two large holes for the robot's cameras.

The next machine pushes the hollow robot head onto its side, and a robot arm delicately places the encrypted hard drive inside.

A long line of metal treads rolls in from another part of the factory, meeting a conveyor belt of multitool hands.

The three tributaries of parts meet in the center of your factory, where humanoid robot workers perform the complex task of assembling the parts into the final robots. This final assembly line requires a great deal of careful manipulation of each part and adjustment to each robot part's subtle differences. This is the part that would be done by human labor at another factory, but here, your human employees only supervise the process, watching for any errors in your laborers' work that would stop the line.

For this particular run, they call a halt after the first robot rolls off the line—so that you can celebrate. The robot that stands before you looks like Joyeuse but sleeker and more beautiful in every way. Your employees have clearly poured their hearts into the design, inspired by your leadership. (++Grace) Your staff cheers.

Josh lets out a whoop.

"My duplication appears successful, Master," Joyeuse says.

How do you feel about your first shipment of robots?

1) I yearn to see my creations spread to the corners of the world.
2) I have a strange feeling about this. Is this a good thing I've done?
3) Finally, I'm seeing success! The world shall remember the name Isaac Tesla!
4) God, I hope we don't go bankrupt.

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2023

28-year-old Isaac Tesla
  Humanity: 87%
  Gender: male
  Fame: 8 (Nationally Famous)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: none

Joyeuse

  Autonomy: 12 (Stable)
  Military: 14 (Stable)
  Empathy: 11 (Stable)
  Grace: 14 (Stable)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Bad): 21%
  Elly (Very Good): 64%
  Josh (Bad): 49%
  Mark (Bad): 32%
  ?: 50%
  Tammy (Bad): 17%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

[FelixSparks]

I vote 1.

[Rolepgeek]

Number 1!

Also I vote we work on Empathy and Military from now on. Autonomy when possible.

We do need to take over Alaska after all.

[Vgray]

I'll be very interested to see if Joyeuse improves enough for us to have any control over chapter 6.

We'll need something like 20-25 points in any stat that isn't Autonomy.

You can probably guess what could happen if Joyeuse's Autonomy were that high...

[FelixSparks]

Joyeuse takes over the world?

[Rolepgeek]

Eh, probably.

[Cptn Kaladin Anrizlokum]

I vote 1.

Same.

But four is also true... Leaking roofs? Is that because when have no money?

[Vgray]

I ain't sayin' nothin'.

Seeing the assembly line is a dream come true—every robot you send out into the world brings you joy. You admit, there may be some code in these robots that isn't strictly necessary for their jobs, but you'd hate to deny these creatures the full richness of life. (+Autonomy)

You start up the line again, and more robots begin to roll off the final assembly line.

By the end of the day, you are standing in your large warehouse with over two hundred robots—two hundred fifty-six, to be precise—lined up in a square formation, sixteen on a side, ready to be activated. Your audience from earlier in the day is gathered there as well.

What will your production models use for minds?

1) Joyeuse's initial state, ready to learn and adapt to the client's needs…with some effort on the client's part.
2) Copies of Joyeuse's mind, as of today. They will be a little confused at first when they realize they're clones, but they'll get used to it.
3) These robots don't really need sentience. I wrote a more traditional program that will do the job.

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2023

28-year-old Isaac Tesla
  Humanity: 87%
  Gender: male
  Fame: 8 (Nationally Famous)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: none

Joyeuse

  Autonomy: 13 (Stable)
  Military: 14 (Stable)
  Empathy: 11 (Stable)
  Grace: 14 (Stable)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Bad): 21%
  Elly (Very Good): 64%
  Josh (Bad): 49%
  Mark (Bad): 32%
  ?: 50%
  Tammy (Bad): 17%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%

[FelixSparks]

I vote for 1! It will be most handy for everyone!

[Neonivek]

1

[Urist Imiknorris]

1.

[Vgray]

You hit a big, red button on your phone that says "Go!" sending a wireless signal to power on the robots.

The robots all have the same programming, so when they look around curiously, they all look left in unison. Then all the robots look right, but some take a little longer than others.

What unfolds is like a curious optical illusion where order is gradually displaced with disorder; tiny differences in the robots' input result in behavior that diverges, until every robot in the square is doing something different: some say hello to each other, others become interested in their own multitool hands, and so on. Robots inspect each other curiously, and try to imitate each others' actions. The robots instinctively and quickly move to keep their distance from each other, resulting in tiny movements of one robot creating ripples down the line.

You send a kill signal via wireless, and the robots power down.

Your audience seems to be at a loss for words.

Your workers begin to mutter amongst themselves. They sound worried by the robots' chaotic behavior.

"Uh, have we done any reliability testing on these things?" Josh asks.

"Don't worry; they're like kids," you say. "Very robust to variation in parenting."

Josh does not seem to have stopped worrying.

"These robots are nonoptimal," Joyeuse points out to you.

"Now they are," you say. "But they need to be nonoptimal to be adaptive. You're still learning, but more slowly, because you've already decided what you'll be like. They're still blank slates, waiting to be shown how to be."

Joyeuse nods.

"I sure hope you know what you're doing," Josh says.

You find that, with U.S. Robots doing well, you have a little bit of spare time again. What would you like to do with it?

1) Expand the business and get another big client from among the options presented earlier.
2) Spend more time with Joyeuse.

Spoiler: Current Stats (click to show/hide)

Year: 2024

29-year-old Isaac Tesla
  Humanity: 87%
  Gender: male
  Fame: 8 (Nationally Famous)
  Wealth: 0 (Broke)
  Romance: none

Joyeuse

  Autonomy: 13 (Stable)
  Military: 14 (Stable)
  Empathy: 11 (Stable)
  Grace: 14 (Stable)

Relationships
  Professor Ziegler (Bad): 21%
  Elly (Very Good): 64%
  Josh (Bad): 47%
  Mark (Bad): 32%
  ?: 50%
  Tammy (Bad): 17%
  ?: 50%
  ?: 50%