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Yes

13 (46.4%)

No

15 (53.6%)

Total Members Voted: 21

[blueturtle1134]

Makes sense.

Just to make sure what I'm saying isn't misinterpreted though: rather than lawful evil and chaotic good, I want lawful and chaotic neutral. Reality can't have a clear "good guy" then, and either the rebels lose plot armor or some of our guys gain it.

Yup, grey and gray. One shade of gray is in power, and is thus trying to be "lawful" to preserve itself; the other is shaking the boat. But that's all it's doing, there's no good or bad, just two neutrals fighting it out.

[Paxiecrunchle]

I am a fan of whichever neutrals sport the better beards then.

[blueturtle1134]

I am a fan of whichever neutrals sport the better beards then.

Beards? Nobody in this story has a beard.

While we're talking about characters - the other day I come upon the Bechdel and Mako Mori tests for misogyny in fiction and my first though is, wow, SPAMOVERLORD doesn't pass either of them. Anna Drimoxi and Armen DeMarco never meet, and both could be considered (with a serious stretch) as accessory arcs to Jacob Eldin's.

Now, I know that neither is absolute, and it's kinda justified because:

• I'm parodying mainstream action movies, which feature male protagonists
• I'm a boy and have no delusions about understanding girls

Still, though... remind me to develop Anna's motivations a bit later on...

[blueturtle1134]

The fluff must flow.

@Glass - the full experiment notes have already been leaked. They take issue with the fact that Uplift Dogs are genetically programmed to be loyal.

Their complaint makes sense, if you think about it. “Ooh, we’re going to give you sentience - except your minds don’t even have a concept of authority being wrong, .” The dogs never have had the capability to doubt the Republic, so their assurances that they’re doing it out of free will ring awfully hollow to ARC (Animal Rights Cooperative).

It’s really not a problem, however. Firstly, we have no control over the process. Hitting the Horizon immediately causes fallback onto genetic personality and there’s nothing we can do about it. Secondly, the dogs aren’t just a total “obedience is good”. It’s more of a “don’t bite the hand that feeds you” and they can clearly see that the Republic is better for the overall stability of the world. Lastly, they can change! They start out with a loyal personality, but if there was any evidence against the Republic they do have free will and they can decide differently.

Omada suggests the following.

• Track down source of leak
• Investigate + discredit leaders
• Point out upsides of canine intelligence
• Spread the dog's opinion
• Note that gruesome surgeries happen all the time
• Deflect Cherub evidence onto rebel groups

We have had plane and blimp tech for a while now, but it’s still primitive as Antarctica’s high winds are unfriendly to air travelers. Robotics and subs are a while off.

On deflecting Cherub evidence - there are obvious notes, and equipment + evidence if you know where to look, that show that we were creating lobotomized child soldiers, not just studying them.

Soo…

About that caller.

“Tick. Tock. Tick. Three hours to pay up 100 million or your pretty little Cherub secret is BOOM!”

Your response?

A: Pay up! Pay up!
B: Trace the call, try to figure out who it is!
C: Pay up but stake the place out.

Also, any debate with Omada's plan?

[Glass]

Show them uplifted dog DNA. Show them the exceedingly common piece of normal dog DNA. Highlight the areas in both that cause natural high loyalty. Tell the idiots to please stop wasting our time, we're busy trying to stop the rebels.

[blueturtle1134]

Show them uplifted dog DNA. Show them the exceedingly common piece of normal dog DNA. Highlight the areas in both that cause natural high loyalty. Tell the idiots to please stop wasting our time, we're busy trying to stop the rebels.

It's subtler than that. Predisposition to loyalty is the result of many genes, some of which we don't know, and the public won't appreciate a DNA test result.

Besides, they know already. They know that baseline dogs have loyalty too. They are just mad that we blew it up so much, making them think that loyalty is of their own free will while it's just a genetic trait.

Now that, I realize, is ridiculous. They're suggesting that we should have made dogs disloyal before making them smart. That we should have shattered the very core of their being in the name of giving them a clean slate.

But such is PR.

[blueturtle1134]

Alright, I came up with a better way to explain their complaints. The Plato Allegory of the Cave. They accuse us of putting the dogs in an environment with a limited range of expression, only the shadows of sentience cast in the light of loyalty. Thus confined, they now believe the limited sentience to be true free will, and wrap their thoughts around the Republic to justify it.

[Glass]

...did we ever say that it wasn't due to genetics?

[blueturtle1134]

...did we ever say that it wasn't due to genetics?

To who? The people or the dogs?

About what? The loyalty or sentience?

[Glass]

The former on both counts.

[blueturtle1134]

Uh, no. We've made it clear that our dogs are extremely loyal because all dogs are extremely loyal; ours are just smarter.

We haven't modified their genetic code much either. It's mostly hormonal therapy that we use to boost their brainpower up to sentient-being levels.

[Glass]

*facepalm*

So there's literally nothing we can do other than wait out this idiocy. Grand.

[Paxiecrunchle]

D, COMBINE ALL THREE OF THE FORMER OPTIONS.

[blueturtle1134]

*facepalm*

So there's literally nothing we can do other than wait out this idiocy. Grand.

It was meant as an undodgeble first strike by the anonymous caller.

Glass, I'd like your vote on how to deal with the blackmail.

And a while ago you suggested Cherubizing all the parents of the Cherubs, so I have to ask - do you still want to do this?

[Glass]

And a while ago you suggested Cherubizing all the parents of the Cherubs, so I have to ask - do you still want to do this?

Fuck no.

But yeah, combining B and C sounds good. We'll pay honestly; we just want to make sure that our opposite number keep up their end of the deal.