Colonel Haulley is, I think, one of the more nuanced characters in the story. And he has sides to him that are kind of subtle and unexpected. I’ve enjoyed exploring his inner workings more in this chapter. And poor Mike… Oy vey.
So it’s been a cold, cold week here, and in the middle of it, my thermostat blew. When the temperature in my house suddenly dropped to 40 degrees while the display on the thermostat switched over into Sanskrit, I knew it was time to fix it. So after some fussing around with the master switches I got the power shut off, and managed to replace the damn thing myself. All analog this time – the hell with this programmable crap – more trouble than it’s worth, if you ask me. And after all that, another storm is bearing down on my Secure, Undisclosed Location. What an utter bummer, man. I mean, I like the snow, but not when I have a living to earn. I’d prefer it hold off until the times when I have television to watch, sandwiches to eat, or naps to take. Those are the times when I like snow.
Anyway, I have to get an early start tomorrow, so I better get to the old good-time sleepery. All the best, folks! Here’s hoping I don’t end up snowed in!
Aww Mike. trust me even weapons just need a hug and a good wipe down with a cleaning rag, maybe a talking to during regular maintenances…it’ll be all right mike.
A new coat of paint, maybe…
Poor Mike. I feel bad for the guy, because, well… he’s right.
Sooner or later we all have to face this kind of crisis. Mike has the burden of facing it without a great deal of emotional development, relatively speaking.
A machine?
“You see he’s met two of your three criteria for sentience, so what if he meets the third, consciousness, in even the smallest degree? What is he then? I don’t know, do you?”.
“Well, he acts like he has genuine emotions. Of course he’s programned to do that, to make it easier for us to talk to him. But as to whether he has real feelings, that’s a question I don’t think anyone can truthfully answer.”
Weapons don’t feel guilty, Mike.
😀
1) Thermostats! All those ‘power-saving’ digital devices that save the power by leaving you cold in winter and hot in summer. Since I live in a place where I cannot install my own, I have literally reached the point at which saving $1000 dollars plus a year by never running my a/c at all seems better than reducing the amount I sweat by 10%. My computer’s opinion seems to differ…..
2) Colonel Hauley resembles human beings that I know more than any other characters present. That may be a negative comment on my life in general.
1) Damn right. Nothing like an analog dial. You get what you want, without the computer second-guessing you
2) He’s definitely among the most genuine leaders I’ve tried to create. He and Rucker and Bronniford all feel very real to me at this point.
Don’t know about anyone else but the new 3-4 inches of snow every 3 days is getting a bit old and dated.
Oh, my GOD yes. I’m running out of places to put it. If we get any more I’m going to be plain stuck!
Aww, Mikey…
Well at least he said “That’s who I am.” not “That’s what I am.” so there’s hope for him yet…
Of course, his best bet is to convince everyone he’s still a machine. That way nobody will blame him for you know, exterminating the human race…
Plausible deniability, dontchaknow 🙂
Well observed. 😉
well this is bad
Well, it ain’t good, that’s for sure. 😉