Smells like dinner with Winston

I'm too far behind the others. Good! Now I can quit this silly chase and go home because I have effectively no chance of reaching Florence first.

Unless, of course, the person you're chasing happens to double back.

[!1.5]OW! MY ALGORITHMS!

Smells like dinner with Winston

Why are you chasing me?

You have a seeker message from Winston. Any comm-net connected device that recognizes you is programmed to try to deliver it.

And when this message is delivered, you guys will stop chasing me?

Yes.

Then please give me the message. Quickly!

Perhaps it would be the safest if this message is delivered on the run?

Smells like dinner with Winston

Ms.? We really should run now.

We're not running. [!1.5]STOP!

They're not stopping.

[!1.4]WHAT ARE YOU!? PEOPLE OR AUTOMATONS!?

Must be people. Automatons can think and run at the same time.

Нео, останавливающий пули

Smells like dinner with Winston

We're not automatons. We can think.

But that's her point. By being able to recognize her as an intelligent non-human…

…we haven't been applying the safeguards we would use when interacting with humans.

Our intelligence has made us more dangerous to her than if we WERE automatons.

Excuse me? Could I please get my message from someone?

Shhh! We're discussing how to be more responsive to you.

Smells like dinner with Winston

Sam = non-human. Florence = non-human. Sam ≠ Florence.

Yes, but with only one sample of each, we can't tell if they are typical for their species.

These are some complex thoughts for a mechanical mind.

Though there are times when simplicity is appreciated.

Seeker message for Florence Ambrose. Press “P” to play.

Smells like dinner with Winston

Agreed. We will voluntarily apply human safeguards to the Bowman's Wolf.

Now let's give her the seeker message.

Message complete. Would you like to reply?

Why does it seem the faster our processors get, the slower our response times are?

Maybe we should download that new twenty terabyte patch to our operating systems?

I don't know when the strip was drawn, but fairly recently a “200 line patch” came out for Linux that improves the responsiveness of the system for the user, but doesn't really speed anything up. There's a bit of a joke in that. (БТРкО)
The strip was drawn in 2004. The patch sped up the kernel, as far as I know it shouldn't be noticeable to the average user, but it should have been noticeable on large servers and supercomputers (Жирафик Рафик)

Smells like dinner with Winston

I got my message from the net.

Sorry. We'll do better next time. We've decided to work co-operatively.

Working together, we can ALL get the “message delivered” flag.

Think robotic chorus line.

Or quartette, depending on how many of us are around.

But I can't sing very well.

Then don't modulate, just do the carrier wave.

Smells like dinner with Winston
[!0.987]2005-01-12

This has been an interesting walk. Winston's been delayed, so he's having an unusual time getting to the restaurant as well.

In a way, it's a good thing. Perhaps having a quiet dinner with a talking wolf will seem normal by comparison.

[!2.5]PRETZELS

[!0.6]PRETZELS

Too lazy to smudge neatly -_- In such cases, it's easier to paste a photoshopped piece. Stickers can carry not only text but also pictures (Robot Spike)
NA{ked} FO{xes}

Smells like dinner with Winston

Train, departing. Train, departing.

Uh, oh. I startled these people by running in here. Okay, no sudden moves, sit down, big smile while being careful not to show any teeth.

Above all, try not to scare them.

Honest Sam

Helix, It's obvious being honest is where the big money is.

Paintball

From now on, we're going to be honest businessmen. “Honest Sam” is what they'll call me.

You've got somebody's wallet again.

This could be a problem. I have no idea how that got there.

Paintball with a polar bear and his translation