Leo's panel Q&A PREVIEW [Prep] [Background] [Cutscene]

This is a set of questions, and Leo & Otto's answers, if they went to a scifi/anime convention right now. There's stuff that hasn't been talked about in game yet (the Heart Gauge), but mostly it's just personality. <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/19eGmRz-UKZAz3kSS76C6AhurbqdH9xDV770XFlEMal0/edit?usp=sharing" rel="nofollow">https://docs.google.com/document/d/19eGmRz-UKZAz3kSS76C6AhurbqdH9xDV770XFlEMal0/edit?usp=sharing</a>

Okay, I dig this.&nbsp; The Heart Gauge totally makes me think of Drift Compatibility in Pacific Rim and whatever the sync thing was in Evangelion. Also, the idea of the attachment points and how the modular tech works totally helps with the one problem I was having with trying to conceptualize how Link and Otto (and maybe Pnuema again some day) combine.&nbsp; I was imagining something like this, but it doesn't have to be like the briefcase armor in Iron Man 2 or some&nbsp; wrap around system like in Spider-Man Homecoming or the Power Armor in Fallout 4.&nbsp; It's like a Megazord transformation from Power Rangers, the video you linked, or&nbsp; how the Golden Army reassembles itself (though definitely not as modular as Jason's nano-bots or like the T-1000).&nbsp; If what used to be part of a leg or the chest on Otto becomes say... a shoulder on the combined form with Link, that's okay.&nbsp; It just need to be power armor + robot = bigger power armor made out of the component parts. Probably not explaining it well but believe me, you helped me overcome a mental block here.

The Heart Gauge is me doing my usual reconstruction ("make the tropes not only plausible, but necessary") of a Super Robot trope, the robot that runs on willpower and the emotional/empathic bond between pilot and machine. The linked video is GaoGaiGar, which has three (!) sets of "twin combiner" robots (ChoRyuJin, GekiRyuJin, TenRyuJin), all of whom have their own emotional problems to overcome before they can do Symmetrical Docking. Eva's synchronization and Drift compatibility are definitely echoes of that same thing. I just gave it a very practical purpose. And yeah, the parts are all modular, so there's no "arm unit" that has to remain an arm across all incarnations, for example. The smallest parts are probably still visible, nowhere near the nano-meter scale of Jason's bots, but the largest aren't much bigger either. One of my favorite robots from the Transformers films was Ravage, for a bunch of reasons. But he also vomits up a bunch of marble mini-bots that turn into Reedman (clip&nbsp; here ) and you could think of Link's systems as working in kind of a similar fashion. Nowhere near that advanced, but he can "compose" regular-looking objects (cars, people, battlesuits...) from these tiny pieces in his lab. Not during combat - and he has plenty of good reasons why. But if he needed to build new robots in a hurry, he'd just have to manufacture a lot of a few key module types, then program them for a set of shapes. Individually, they're small, dumb, and easily replaced. It's how you organize them.

Apropos of nothing, if Adam really wants to play with powering up his teammates, and you dig the Super Robot/Power Ranger tropes, give Link's robots a way to use Concordance virtues' energy as a power source. :D

Questions raised / shouted out / tweeted after the session: "So is this more of a&nbsp; GaoGaiGar simple sync armor execution, or an Evangelion alignment of human and otherworldly intelligence, consciousness, intent? And, would you know the difference, Link?" "So if Otto has some human emotions (a love for motor sports) but not others (a desire for a girlfriend), how do we understand its emotional response so that feel assured that it won't simply cut our throats in the night?" "Otto, if you ever did feel the desire to procreate, would you want me to be your girlfriend?" "Link, you say you are uncommitted to creating more AI at this time, but if the AI you have choose to reproduce, would you do anything to stop them?" "Link, if this Heart Gauge indicates some sort of conflict, are you concerned that this might leave you vulnerable to matriculation by outside divisive forces? Have you revealed a fundamental weakness in your defenses?" "Who would you want to play you, Otto, and this Pneuma in a Link movie?" "You are a sinful, sinful man, Mr. Link! You have challenged the Almighty in your pride and arrogance, raising yourself to be --" [Interrupted by Con security guards] "Can I get a ride in Otto? He sounds so cool!" "Link, while some roboticists like the Great Machine or Seepeeyoo have served the interest of mankind and its institutions, others like the Greater Machine, WONK, and Rossum have challenged humanity and our societal rules. How do you see your role in realigning societal norms?" "... against the Laws of Man and God! This abomination will ..." "Are you faster than KITT on Knightrider?" '... I think you are much smarter than Marcus St. Clair, and at least as smart as Byron Quill was. Do you think your radical ideas about AI will gain any traction against the establishment politicians and their corporate backers? And if they choose to crush you, who will you ask to come to your aid?"

In 5 years, Leo might figure out how to do this:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhaoJxQpRg0" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhaoJxQpRg0</a>

*** Dave H. said: "So is this more of a&nbsp; GaoGaiGar simple sync armor execution, or an Evangelion alignment of human and otherworldly intelligence, consciousness, intent? And, would you know the difference, Link?" "Heart Gauge? It's a safety device to keep me from breaking my spine. I built it. Nobody's merging minds or anything either. If we were, I wouldn't need the Gauge." "So if Otto has some human emotions (a love for motor sports) but not others (a desire for a girlfriend), how do we understand its emotional response so that feel assured that it won't simply cut our throats in the night?" "Well that's a question isn't it. Let me ask you in return. If you're straight, or white, or male, or whatever, how do you understand the emotions of someone who doesn't share your experience?&nbsp;How do we all come to trust each other, despite our fear of the unknown? It's not an easy question! Smarter and better people than me are working on it. But personally, I think we do it the way we do it now. Get to know each other." "Otto, if you ever did feel the desire to procreate, would you want me to be your girlfriend?" "How fast can you go, 0 to 60?" "Link, you say you are uncommitted to creating more AI at this time, but if the AI you have choose to reproduce, would you do anything to stop them?" "Without knowing why I ought to in that hypothetical, no. But I made a commitment to this city and its citizens to protect them. If someone was doing something that'd cause harm, whether it's a supervillain or one of my own close friends, I'd do whatever was necessary and possible." "Link, if this Heart Gauge indicates some sort of conflict, are you concerned that this might leave you vulnerable to matriculation manipulation by outside divisive forces? Have you revealed a fundamental weakness in your defenses?" "I don't know anyone who's part of a team who isn't vulnerable to the same thing. And I don't know anyone who's worked better alone than with allies. At least I have the advantage of having a meter that shows me someone's got a problem with me." "Who would you want to play you, Otto, and this Pneuma in a Link movie?" "Pick the most handsome actor you can think of and imagine he's under this helmet right now. For Pneuma, I'd like an actress who can really act, though. She'd be the emotional heart of that story. Otto is CGI, but I'd love it if he were voiced by Phil LaMarr. That guy is amazing." "You are a sinful, sinful man, Mr. Link! You have challenged the Almighty in your pride and arrogance, raising yourself to be --" [Interrupted by Con security guards] "I haven't been called Mr. Link before. Sounds weird." "Can I get a ride in Otto? He sounds so cool!" "If you see me parked out front later, knock on the window and I'll see what I can arrange." "Link, while some roboticists like the Great Machine or Seepeeyoo have served the interest of mankind and its institutions, others like the Greater Machine, WONK, and Rossum have challenged humanity and our societal rules. How do you see your role in realigning societal norms?" "You can challenge society without hurting people. I want to put new concepts on the table, like partnerships with intelligent, free-willed robots. Let people decide what they're going to do. But if the robots can think, can feel, I want them to have a voice too, and I'll stand up for them if I need to." "... against the Laws of Man and God! This abomination will ..." "You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.&nbsp;I hope some day you'll join us and the world will be as one." "Are you faster than KITT on Knightrider?" "With or without Super Pursuit Mode?" '... I think you are much smarter than Marcus St. Clair, and at least as smart as Byron Quill was. Do you think your radical ideas about AI will gain any traction against the establishment politicians and their corporate backers? And if they choose to crush you, who will you ask to come to your aid?" "I didn't know that treating people like people was a radical idea. I'd hope you don't have to be super-smart to see that. But if someone thought it was radical, and came after me for it, I expect I'd ask for help from any people who've experienced where that kind of thinking leads."

Leo's walking down this path with some of these questions:&nbsp; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjuQRCG_sUw" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjuQRCG_sUw</a> "But your robots aren't human!" "They emerge from the legacy of humanity. Even if they aren't human, they're people. Do you treat someone well because they're biologically human.. or because they're a person? If you only respect humans, how about my teammate Ghost Girl? How about my alien-infused comrade Concord? What must they do to earn your respect? Or can they?" "They're different than us!" "I agree! But you see that as a danger. I see it as an opportunity. I think deep down, what any of us want, what all of us want, is understanding and acceptance. You may well ask why I created my AIs. To fight crime? Yeah, they help with that. But.. at bottom, I did it because I was lonely. That's all. I was lonely. Now I'm not."

"I agree! But you see that as a danger. I see it as an opportunity. I think deep down, what any of us want, what all of us want, is understanding and acceptance. You may well ask why I created my AIs. To fight crime? Yeah, they help with that. But.. at bottom, I did it because I was lonely. That's all. I was lonely. Now I'm not." "So, like, heh-heh, you like built yourself a girlfriend, like Weird Science and all that? Man, that's awesome."

*** Dave H. said: "So, like, heh-heh, you like built yourself a girlfriend, like Weird Science and all that? Man, that's awesome." "I built a girl who can decide for herself who and what she wants to be. But yeah, she is awesome."