I can imagine... though, last time one of us managed to get through the fog, we were able to find someone they met a little later. Maybe we'll be able to come back for you, too!
We've met Florence, but if there are supposed to be others, we haven't seen them. If they can go through that fog, though, then maybe they could find you, too...
There's a whole team assigned to this, but I don't really know who's who in it... Need-to-know basis and all that.
[ He scratches his head, trying to produce another name for them, but fails miserably. ]
As for 'Florence', if that's the name they go by now... there's a bunch of almost-Florences laying around Camelia. Development for them took a while and they went through a good amount of prototypes before settling on this one. I always felt it was a waste, you know? So many almost-finished bodies, just tossed into storage.
But they were made for a rather specific purpose, so I guess those bodies just didn't cut it. They're an emotion experiment.
Hey now young miss, don't make that face! It's a pretty neat experiment actually!
They were made to try and figure out how to replicate emotions on an AI until they are indistinguishable from the real deal and could thus be considered 'genuine'. It'd be huge if that worked out, what a marvel of science!
[ So the smile news are actually pretty cool to him, if nothing else. ]
No clue why they loaned Florence to Lorelei for this specifically though.
[ Gregory pauses for a moment at Shizuku's concern. ]
I mean... they were discarded because they failed to produce emotion, I'd guess? So they probably don't care much about the closet they're in right now, right?
[ ... yeah, he's not very good at making people feel better. ]
Though I dunno how well Florence is performing either. Beyond the materials, it's kinda got nothing to do with me.
But the idea is that by emulating accurate emotion in an observable form like an AI's mind, it'll be easier to understand how emotions work generally. Since like... that'd be kind of useful.
[ Gregory has to pause and thinks for a second here. ]
Suppression chips..? I... dunno? Did they finish developing those? Seems a little drastic to me to implant a chip, I guess? Got no clue what precisely they even do though...
Camelia's a big company, dude. If I knew about everything in every department, my head would probably explode.
[ He gives a wide shrug. ]
Honestly, just having worked for Camelia at all is gonna give me a massive boost on any future job applications - that's the only reason I stayed in Estelline after college, even when there's not much else going on.
[ He does think the suppression sounds cruel, but he can understand why someone would voluntarily get one too. So while he gives Shizuku a sympathetic look, he doesn’t say anything because otherwise he would cause her to worry.
Anyway. ]
In a small town like this, I suppose that’s all there really is here anyway. But that also makes it sound like they run the show!
Yeah, totally! Camelia does top-of-the-line research! Gets a lot of grands from the government and stuff.
The HQ being in Estelline is basically just how it wound up - the company was founded here and the more it grew, it just kind of became the main employer in town. Estelline's always been a sleepy little place, mostly a college town.
Nah. It's been a long-ass time. It's changed hands since. The OG founder is probably already dead - never asked about it though.
[ It's then that their conversation is interrupted by the store radio getting some static. Fai and Shizuku may be feeling some of that dizziness again, too. But for now, they are still firmly planted in the store at least. ]
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[ Anyway! No signal and no server… that’s expected, he thinks. ]
The robot-things?
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That would be nice...
[ He's never going grocery shopping again, it's delivery only from here on! ]
And the robots, like... Have you met Lorelei's assistant? They gave the final version to her, so I figured you'd have seen them.
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[ Seems like everyone is aware of them! ]
What exactly do these robots do? Is it a variety of things or do they serve a specific purpose?
I HAD THIS OPEN IN ANOTHER TAB FOR LIKE AN HOUR I AM SO SORRY
Who else is working on this project, exactly?
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[ He scratches his head, trying to produce another name for them, but fails miserably. ]
As for 'Florence', if that's the name they go by now... there's a bunch of almost-Florences laying around Camelia. Development for them took a while and they went through a good amount of prototypes before settling on this one. I always felt it was a waste, you know? So many almost-finished bodies, just tossed into storage.
But they were made for a rather specific purpose, so I guess those bodies just didn't cut it. They're an emotion experiment.
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I see. I believe Florence has been learning. My partner mentioned that he got them to smile recently.
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What are they supposed to do?
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They were made to try and figure out how to replicate emotions on an AI until they are indistinguishable from the real deal and could thus be considered 'genuine'. It'd be huge if that worked out, what a marvel of science!
[ So the smile news are actually pretty cool to him, if nothing else. ]
No clue why they loaned Florence to Lorelei for this specifically though.
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[ Sure, it's a marvel of science, but still.
There has to be reason. ]
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( ahem.
anyways. )
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I mean... they were discarded because they failed to produce emotion, I'd guess? So they probably don't care much about the closet they're in right now, right?
[ ... yeah, he's not very good at making people feel better. ]
Though I dunno how well Florence is performing either. Beyond the materials, it's kinda got nothing to do with me.
But the idea is that by emulating accurate emotion in an observable form like an AI's mind, it'll be easier to understand how emotions work generally. Since like... that'd be kind of useful.
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I was wondering if that might be why you were creating AI… the environment being effected by the whims of emotion must be troubling at times.
[ To say the very least! ]
Are you trying to find ways to balance emotions and the environment? I know your organization is doing work with suppression chips too.
[ It makes the most sense to him, but he wouldn’t be surprised if there were other reasons too. ]
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... How do you feel about those chips?
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[ Gregory has to pause and thinks for a second here. ]
Suppression chips..? I... dunno? Did they finish developing those? Seems a little drastic to me to implant a chip, I guess? Got no clue what precisely they even do though...
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You aren’t let in on a whole lot of top secret information, are you?
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[ He gives a wide shrug. ]
Honestly, just having worked for Camelia at all is gonna give me a massive boost on any future job applications - that's the only reason I stayed in Estelline after college, even when there's not much else going on.
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Anyway. ]
In a small town like this, I suppose that’s all there really is here anyway. But that also makes it sound like they run the show!
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( why would they set up in a small town sort of thing then? wouldn't a big one be better? )
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Yeah, totally! Camelia does top-of-the-line research! Gets a lot of grands from the government and stuff.
The HQ being in Estelline is basically just how it wound up - the company was founded here and the more it grew, it just kind of became the main employer in town. Estelline's always been a sleepy little place, mostly a college town.
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Hyuu, how impressive~ Is the founder still around?
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[ It's then that their conversation is interrupted by the store radio getting some static. Fai and Shizuku may be feeling some of that dizziness again, too. But for now, they are still firmly planted in the store at least. ]
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Ah… I’m feeling that strange dizziness again.
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Oh... you too?
( don't mind her casually bracing herself on the cart. after a moment, she looks over to gregory. )
We might vanish soon. I don't know how it looks from the other side of things... But don't worry, we'll be sure to find you as soon as we can.
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