You wait for your moment. When Ziegler begins describing the technical details of how Joyeuse V rolls, you raise your hand.
"Ah, my old student, Isaac," Professor Ziegler says. "You're about five years late for class."
The audience chuckles at this.
You press on: "Wasn't the kind of PID controller you're describing basically going out of style already five years ago? Wouldn't a more natural, energy-minimizing motion in the style of human motion both look better and be more efficient?"
Though you're quite certain the correct answer is "Yes, I'm a fool who hasn't really read a scientific paper with attention in years," Professor Ziegler is unfortunately very used to academic combat. "I think you'll find that in this particular situation, the PID controller is superior," he says coolly. "See King 2010, Bennett 1986, and Yang 2015."
When you're about to object that it is a non sequitur to cite old papers in response to an accusation that his work is out of date, he preempts you with, "And I'll take further questions about this offline."
The audience is looking at you like you're the crazy one, and you realize that they really have no way of judging the scientific merit of what the two of you are saying; they're just trying to read the story being played out, which looks to them like "crazy person in the audience won't shut up."
Frustrated, you sit out the rest of the talk, having achieved little besides annoying Professor Ziegler.
When the talk adjourns, Major Rogers pulls you and Josh aside into a small conference room with an elaborate lock. With practiced ease, she hits a small button as she closes the door, and the room is bathed in green light, a signal that what you are about to say to each other should be unclassified.
"Man, the government is really cheap when it comes to entertaining business guests," Josh says, looking forlornly at the barren table. "No snacky things?"
"You can see the predicament we're in," Major Rogers says. "It's apparent to me, anyway, that the robots we're about to deploy on the battlefield that use Professor Ziegler's technology are inferior to your own robots. While somehow, probably through cyberespionage, the Chinese have stolen your designs and are using the technology against us.
"So I'm begging you to help us," Major Rogers says. "This war is only just beginning. I argued against adopting Professor Ziegler's robots, but he plays the salesman better than I play the prosecutor. My superiors say that unless I have a viable alternative, sending robots into battle is always politically preferable to sending real people, and we'll send his robots. And if we do…" Major Rogers shakes her head. "I don't think it will go well for us."
You exchange a glance with Josh, who shrugs, conceding Major Rogers's point.
"You need to start developing a line of military robots," Major Rogers says. "Your robots are impressive, but they're not going to win this war for us."
1) "What's the catch?"
2) "Aren't you being awfully trusting? What if I betray you?"
3) "Uh uh. No way. This is not something I want to be involved in."
Year: 2025
30-year-old Isaac Tesla
Humanity: 91%
Gender: male
Fame: 8 (Nationally Famous)
Wealth: 1 (Getting By)
Romance: none
Joyeuse
Autonomy: 15 (Good)
Military: 14 (Stable)
Empathy: 11 (Stable)
Grace: 14 (Stable)
Relationships
Professor Ziegler (Bad): 19%
Elly (Very Good): 67%
Josh (Good): 54%
Mark (Bad): 32%
Juliet: 50%
Tammy (Bad): 17%
President Irons (Bad): 44%
?: 50%
World Power Balance
China: 57% U.S.: 43%
Author
Topic: Let's Choose in Choice of Robots (Read 87619 times)