Detonatress

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 3 [Page 7]

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Here we have a look at how an A.I. entity is set up and where its memories are stored. Yes, that is a single artificial brain that has to host all of these beings.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 3 [Page 6]

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I'll probably never create creatures that have tons of small moving parts again. But I do like how these scenes came out.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 3 [Page 5]

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Smells like pot here.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 3 [Page 4]

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You can't just keep dodging forever. I've built a new PC and have acquired a touchscreen by the point this page was finished. Working on these scenes with many tiny objects got easier.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 3 [Page 3]

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Scorpius can produce a sound similar to a rattlesnake's tail with his mouth for some reason. I had to do a bit of Blender camera focal length experimenting to get the view of Vulpis' landing panel to contain both her and the Moon and stars in full. Then I drew over the shot in Inkscape. Those darn stars and the dust clouds around them are eating up my computer's resources.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 3 [Page 2]

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Not the most realistic Moon crater. Thanks to my friend The Ninja Scout for suggesting to add the panel that shows Joe's expression just before the fireball swoops in.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 3 [Page 1]

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The sound of clattering porcelain dishes is one of the sounds I hate the most. So I made it this thing's roar. I got inspired for the chapter name because of the song Never Let It Go by Story of the Year.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 2 [Page 11]

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Time runs slower at night in this simulation. I came up with the night sky scene after listening to the song "Stay Alive" by Richy Nix (specifically the part of the song about lighting up the sky while that somewhat scary, deep guitar plays). The 3D moon model from NASA is very useful for drawing the moon from different angles.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 2 [Page 10]

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I don't think those are tests meant to be passed. More stereoscopic memories and effects that took me a long time to model.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 2 [Page 9]

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Back with more stereoscopic views and Joe's traumatic memories. The A.I. were given cyan glowing blood and flesh to further make them seem not alive to the viewers of the stream. Getting devoured by acid-regurgitating plants doesn't hurt them any less than it would a human though.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 2 [Page 8]

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Joe and Ganjai recall their traumatic experiences. Those framed pictures on the walls were put there by Final Boss to remind the A.I. about every painful or shameful event they went through. Botanophobia is the fear of plants. Joe's memory video was recorded in stereoscopic view, so his depth perception is shown through doubling of objects based on how far they were from what he was looking at. The plant seen there is some kind of periwinkle with 6 petals. Ganjai doesn't have depth perception, and his memories are tinted green from his chlorophyll.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 2 [Page 7]

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A short discussion that shows how some people view A.I. in this world. Asmee's name is of Indian origin and means "self-confident". Hua's name is of Chinese origin and means "flower". The reporter's name, Raluca, is of Romanian origin (in its current form), and her family name comes from the city Sydney from Australia. Thanks to my friend The Ninja Scout for the suggestion for the expression in 2nd panel.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 2 [Page 6]

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A short discussion that shows how some people view A.I. in this world. Asmee's name is of Indian origin and means "self-confident". Hua's name is of Chinese origin and means "flower". The reporter's name, Raluca, is of Romanian origin (in its current form), and her family name comes from the city Sydney from Australia. Thanks to my friend The Ninja Scout for the suggestion for the expression in 2nd panel.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 2 [Page 5]

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On the screen in the background, there is a glimpse into the professor's neural network. The software focuses more on functionality than on graphics. One of the A.I. characters is using a helmet that allows a virtual entity to interact with the outside world via a cable connected from the computer to a material body. The news' top scrolling banner talks about Territory A attempting to purchase the B5 island from Territory B. A has done this before with an island that used to be B6, now known as A13.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 2 [Page 4]

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Jabu's name is based on Jabulani, a name of Zulu origin meaning "rejoice" or "joy". His family name Zalău is based on the Romanian city of the same name. His stream channel's mascot is a paper wasp, from which he has inspired his dressing style and mechanical arm design. Thanks to my friend The Ninja Scout for suggesting to add an underscored name to the chat, and for the irREGular chat name suggestion. Chatter Fernando's family name, Akureyri, is based on a town from Iceland.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 2 [Page 3]

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Some more info about Shanti's organization. The I.D.T.'s armored officers are not to be confused with our world's armor officers (who lead armored vehicles in the military). They wear armored exosuits and usually play the role of hired bodyguards for the detectives who go after the suspects behind the crimes. Should things escalate, the armored officers attempt to immobilize the suspects while avoiding causing harm. Should an armored officer cause any physical harm to anyone, Territory A's government prohibits that officer from ever working in any jobs related to law enforcement.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 2 [Page 2]

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A bit of backstory on Territory X. Humans can be born with piebaldism in real life too. It is caused by the absence of melanocytes (pigment cells) in some areas of their skin and hair. Not to be confused with the vitiligo condition, which appears later in life and has white patches that increase in size. The human world of this webcomic has a different past than ours, but it still had its similar dark times and horrible ideas subscribed to by people back then.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 2 [Page 1]

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The detective is coding a program to assist her in finding out where Final Boss is located. Many of the symbols used in the compiler are actually Webdings symbols and one Wingdings symbol (the file). I kept trying to come up with a company name for the electronics shop Shanti's boyfriend discovered, but most fancy names were taken. In the end I settled for Swirltronix. I named the candy Molluskandy because I like snails, and I wanted a cute mascot for candy that's a spiral. It also fits within Swirltronix's brand.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 1 [Page 26]

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Now we are in Detective Shanti Cervada's office. Shanti is a name of Indian origin, and it means "peace". Her surname comes from a stream in Italy. Professor Adam Lowell's surname comes from a city in the United States of America. The symbol on the professor's chest and the ones in the framed picture's screen background were made with Inkscape's sketch / roughen path effects. They're meant to simulate those older AI-generated images where they look kind of familiar but not completely. However, these shapes were morphed from a vector model I've drawn myself, within a vector drawing software, so they are not AI-generated. The font on the futuristic instrument is Square Sans Serif 7 by Style-7. www.dafont.com/square-sans-serif-7.font

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 1 [Page 25]

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The final torture of the stream happens.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 1 [Page 24]

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A look into the life of stream viewer BloodyMary. She and her brother are albinic. Thanks to my former friend Tristen for helping with the phrasing of the brother's dialogue lines about their parents.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 1 [Page 23]

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The smoke is getting way too thick.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 1 [Page 22]

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Time to distribute the blunts.

Machined World: Facsimile

Chapter 1 [Page 21]

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My friend The Ninja Scout suggested that Ganjai's thing should be plant-based puns. He contributed with the "leaf me alone" and "smoke my grass".