Indeed, however it should be noted, and so far every single comment under this page undermines that fact, that Zeke could have never taken this huge step if Scott had not undertaken a huge step himself first – believing his brother (in law) over his own (very justified and understandable) fears and trauma. Imagine this: Scott doesn’t believe Ethan, witnessing the whole “I’m about to crush Ethan’s skull like a walnut” scenario (as it looks to Scott or pretty much any innocent bystander who wouldn’t know Zeke as much as Ethan or the readers), he presses the button, Zeke seeing… Read more »
the only problem is that in your scenario, scott proved nothing except that he was unable to let go of his own fears. so zeke kills him in self defense, your argument implies that zeke doesnt have that right of self defense.
ethan might be stupid, but lucas isnt. eventually, the fact that scott shot first would come to light, as would the fact that scott made his choices and was made to die for them. at last.
You ignore that that is exactly what I said. If he was unable to let go of his own fears then that equals Scott not believing Ethan and doing his own thing to protect the people he care about from danger as he perceives it. All you add is the argument of self defense while ignoring that Scott also has the right of self defense or in this case saving Ethan as he sees this scenario as Ethan being about to be killed by Zeke and not as a “friendly average talk”. Plus you equal “being unable to move” with… Read more »
Ok, thanks for reminding me. Wouldn’t want Zeke to start a genocide just because I called “them” by the wrong pronouns. As hilarious as that would be as a joke page though.
Zeke and his army standing before the very last human on earth who looks at the shuriken gun. Human cries and asks to himself “Why is he doing this? Why?” and Zeke deadpans “It’s they/them.” and shots the guy. XD
Yeah. Is it really so much to ask?
I usually get more upvotes with my effort-posts but we shouldn’t *have* to effort-post. Your concise reminders are entirely sufficient and I appreciate them all.
Victor
5 months ago
Oof! Well said ZK
Jedi
5 months ago
Did Zeke just made a level up on the wisdom-stat ?
Tammadram
5 months ago
OMFG, best monologue ever said by a sentient being
Martin
5 months ago
It’s a pity we only see ZK’s face -I’d love to see how Scott responded to it…but happy to see that the scale tipped to the right side. The only thing we still don’t know is about Ethan’s super power…
I don’t think Scott has the worst for it right now. The shock from seeing something he considered dangerous and that should not exist being the better of the two of them will be in him for a while. Damn, what a way to prove somebody wrong.
Scott just got a wake up call, I just hope he understands. Now, maybe, just maybe, Scott will understand that Zeke is not just the killing machine he the Zeke was.
The thing is that many arguments aren’t around Zeke being a murder bot. Many arguments are about the danger Zeke would pose if fallen into the wrong hands. Even trying to capture Zeke by different powers could cause war. Zeke is a danger even if not a murder bot any more.
Also take note that Zeke is still very much a muder bot, but just chooses not to be right now. This is in many ways the same as other (super) people, as many could suddenly try to murder anyone.
Scott Did imply that killing was what Zeke was motivationally programmed to do, and that he did not have a choice about it. At the very least, Scott must admit that Zeke’s program is *very* selective as to when to do that. The line between human and machine blurs further.
However, we already know that Scott is at least kind-of okay with extra judiciary murder of violent criminals (Though Zeke has committed minimal violence while not being coerced). The point of a machine “superhuman” replicating and being a problem for humanity is still there too.
I think it’s like a car being dangerous – if you’d intend, you could just drive into a group of people whenever you want – but you don’t. And neither does Zeke.
humans are equally dangerous, and much easier to coerce in most cases. yet we dont condone preemptively killing them. take the master, for instance. he isnt a super, just incredibly intelligent.
The problem with that is that “the danger Zeke can pose if fallen into the wrong hands” isn’t JUST exclusive to Zeke. Ethan himself has/had a power of theoretically-endless lives, which he got in a theoretically-replicable event. There would be a not-insignificant number of organizations/individuals who would do anything to be able to have that same power, even armies of unkillable soldiers. Hell, they even have their own Superman-equivalent, Captain Metropolis. If they suddenly decide “screw this, I’m turning tyrant”, who’s gonna stop them? I get where Scott is coming from, but if he’s worried about beings that could cause… Read more »
yeah. Talking about Zeke like he’s some nuclear bomb is missing the big picture in this world of Eldritch abominations being summoned directly into the city. There’s tons of more dangerous stuff than zeke rolling around out there.
GUNnibal
5 months ago
Last panel: Oh no… ZK has acquired the most lethal skill of them all – patience. They ARE going to supplant our species!
Gonfrask
5 months ago
Everyday is a new lesson
Daniel
5 months ago
Feels kinda anticlimatic, but well.
Now that Zeke is going to wander away, while I predict Embla will fulfill the same role as in CAD 1.0, I still wonder who will kill Ethan now
It was consensual, they both hated windows and teamed up to bring them down
Scarsdale
5 months ago
As long as no military types get the “bright” idea of MAKING AI killing machines, like in the Terminator franchise, there is no reason they should suddenly want to kill all humans.True AI is like a child, it only knows what it’s taught, but not HOW to think. Thinking is something we are born with, while an AI has to be taught it. We just witnessed it happening. In time, both Zeke and Scott may learn tolerance and understanding, not fear and hatred. In both versions of CAD, Zeke was at best a “happy” accident, not expected or planned, it… Read more »
Most of the time we don’t raise kids to be murders, but with some people it still happens sometimes. Current AI does not have that problem, but we still have not come close to what is called ‘Artificial General Intelligence’, which is a machine that actually thinks like a human. Those are the ones that are terrifying because they could decide murder is a good idea, and unlike human murders, it woul have the ability to think and act 100s of times faster than other humans. If one goes bad and gets past whatever conrols we have on it, it’s… Read more »
That may be true right now but won’t be true soon. Modern neural networks are self-programming: through machine learning, it adapts, self-adjusts, self-regulates, and makes decisions on its own understanding. It learns far more similar to a biological brain, than to pre-designed code. The idea of “True AI only knows what it’s taught” is obsolete: they are teaching themselves. Human beings don’t truly understand what it is that creates consciousness. Assuming that you don’t believe that human consciousness comes from something mystical, like a spirit or a soul, there’s no reason to believe that a digital brain is incapable of consciousness.… Read more »
GlitcherGirl
5 months ago
Scott just found out that HE is the killing machine, and Zeke found out he doesn’t have to be.
Rake
5 months ago
Still the best writing in all of CAD history. Every chapter with Zeke is absolute fire.
What I find is interesting is that few are calling for Zeke’s death. When criminals tried to kill Ethan Deathblood was lauded for his actions in killing them. This robot has killed Ethan and nearly succeeded in killing Lucas. Sure we got to see some more from Zeke than these random criminals, but that makes matters worse. We don’t know why the criminals were doing it, so why does Zeke get a chance and they don’t?
In universe, ZK is effectively a child. They are learning, adapting, growing.
Adult criminals (especially repeat offenders) have made dozens of choices that have lead them to the fates they have chosen.
Out of universe, ZK is a developed, compelling character, more akin to an anti-hero than a villain. Having been constructed by a villain, becoming self-aware, and now trying to learn, making redemption a compelling arch. Random underdeveloped street mooks with a singular criminal focus serve the plot by developing other characters.
Yeah I was surprised at how many pro-Deathblood comments there were. I think it was still the minority though. It felt like The Troll is when people really started saying “Okay, the only solution to this guy is ending him”.
Personally I don’t think any of them “deserved” death, even the Troll, and especially not ZK. ZK has technically killed but they’re much more reluctant than the criminals (or Deathblood, who’s arguably the worst…)
If you condemn someone who has changed from being a murder-bot to not being that anymore, what do you achieve for the future? You only teach them that changing for the better is not rewarded and they can just as well stay being the murder-bot.
DB is still the murder-bot and doesn’t want to change.
That’s not exactly the same situation though. There’s two crucial differences between Zeke and Deathbloods targets. -Zeke only ever killed or tried to kill while under threat of death. But since they’ve been released from the Master’s control, they never actually killed anyone. They’ve done a lot of bragging, threatening and talking about how much they’d like to, but never followed up on any of it outside of. (This incident was probably the closest to doing so.) -On the topic of second chances, Deathblood explicitly mentioned how they only go for repeat offenders. Those criminals did already get another chance,… Read more »
im in favor of killing in defense of self or others. even though db was likely not acting towards that end, his actions still served that end. so good for him. if ethan had somehow managed to kill zeke in any of the encounters you spoke of, i would have nothing to say. this is different. this entire situation was caused by scott acting alone, making decisions alone. everything that happens is on scott.
also, for clarification, zeke merely attempted to kill ethan. ethan’s respawn power made that impossible
Bryan
5 months ago
OMG, this series is SO GOOD!
D Harshman
5 months ago
I feel like the last few arcs of this story have been developed over months just so that Tim can effectively deliver those last two panels. And, it was all worth it.
Paula
5 months ago
Awesome!
Yroof
5 months ago
How funny would it be if he just up and pushed the paralyze button after all that?
Rolan7
5 months ago
See I always acknowledged Scott’s fear here! It’s understandable, even to ZK! I’m just glad ZK realizes they empathize with it. And Scott’s fear doesn’t justify doing what he did to a person. I hope Scott now realizes that ZK is a person (and I understand why he didn’t before)
Chrispy
5 months ago
*Comes for entertainment*
.
..
…*walks away with life lesson*
Oh wow. The outcome I was expecting, but not the mindset!
Zeke took a huge step without offering outright forgiveness. Hopefully Scott can see what that means.
YES! HALLELUJAH for both Zeke not going full murderbot and Scott not being an asshat again!
Luc
5 months ago
People keep talking about the big step Zeke took (rightfully so) while completely disregarding the big step Scott also took, in trusting a machine not to murder both of them on the spot. Someone said it on the last page, if this were any other story, everyone would be begging Scott to do something to save the protagonist haha. I just think he deserves a bit more recognition for taking a big step himself. Thankfully, Zeke acknowledged the step, so this could be great for story development. I actually had goosebumps reading this page lol, I think these last few… Read more »
Phoebe
5 months ago
Wow! Just… wow! Well done Tim!
Greevar
5 months ago
Thus, Amazo was born.
BakaGrappler
5 months ago
Capable of deserving Second Chances by whose scale, though? That’s the eternal question that courts of law were created to ineffectually solve.
Crestlinger
5 months ago
Winning by being the better sentient. Nicely done!
Aren’t we all? Everyone just hides it differently.
That’s anxiety until death, yaaaay!
PhobosRising
5 months ago
But zeke… Your kill count….
Annatar
5 months ago
Well, wise decision, Scott.
Like last failure clearly shown, your methods can’t guarantee 100% termination of such advance neuro net, so it’s best to play save until more reliable methods will be found. And right now this toaster can be directed to no-murder feedback in response to no-aggressive actions. Of course, until more effective way of its permanent shutdown will be found. This machine is to dangerous to continue operating.
TimeViewer
5 months ago
Not sure if anyone else said or noticed it but nice call on the Watts, Volts don’t kill, current does.
Very keen observation! Although volts does have a relation to it, you’re absolutely right that current is the key part of it. Tasers are extremely painful because of the volts – but they won’t kill you because the current is very low.
24
Those last panels showed a surprisingly philosophical Zeke. The journey from hatred took an even larger step than I expected.
Indeed, however it should be noted, and so far every single comment under this page undermines that fact, that Zeke could have never taken this huge step if Scott had not undertaken a huge step himself first – believing his brother (in law) over his own (very justified and understandable) fears and trauma. Imagine this: Scott doesn’t believe Ethan, witnessing the whole “I’m about to crush Ethan’s skull like a walnut” scenario (as it looks to Scott or pretty much any innocent bystander who wouldn’t know Zeke as much as Ethan or the readers), he presses the button, Zeke seeing… Read more »
the only problem is that in your scenario, scott proved nothing except that he was unable to let go of his own fears. so zeke kills him in self defense, your argument implies that zeke doesnt have that right of self defense.
ethan might be stupid, but lucas isnt. eventually, the fact that scott shot first would come to light, as would the fact that scott made his choices and was made to die for them. at last.
You ignore that that is exactly what I said. If he was unable to let go of his own fears then that equals Scott not believing Ethan and doing his own thing to protect the people he care about from danger as he perceives it. All you add is the argument of self defense while ignoring that Scott also has the right of self defense or in this case saving Ethan as he sees this scenario as Ethan being about to be killed by Zeke and not as a “friendly average talk”. Plus you equal “being unable to move” with… Read more »
reminder that zeke uses they/them
Ok, thanks for reminding me. Wouldn’t want Zeke to start a genocide just because I called “them” by the wrong pronouns. As hilarious as that would be as a joke page though.
Zeke and his army standing before the very last human on earth who looks at the shuriken gun. Human cries and asks to himself “Why is he doing this? Why?” and Zeke deadpans “It’s they/them.” and shots the guy. XD
Yeah. Is it really so much to ask?
I usually get more upvotes with my effort-posts but we shouldn’t *have* to effort-post. Your concise reminders are entirely sufficient and I appreciate them all.
Oof! Well said ZK
Did Zeke just made a level up on the wisdom-stat ?
OMFG, best monologue ever said by a sentient being
It’s a pity we only see ZK’s face -I’d love to see how Scott responded to it…but happy to see that the scale tipped to the right side. The only thing we still don’t know is about Ethan’s super power…
I don’t think Scott has the worst for it right now. The shock from seeing something he considered dangerous and that should not exist being the better of the two of them will be in him for a while. Damn, what a way to prove somebody wrong.
I meant “words for it”. For some reason I can’t edit the comment.
Scott just got a wake up call, I just hope he understands. Now, maybe, just maybe, Scott will understand that Zeke is not just the killing machine he the Zeke was.
The thing is that many arguments aren’t around Zeke being a murder bot. Many arguments are about the danger Zeke would pose if fallen into the wrong hands. Even trying to capture Zeke by different powers could cause war. Zeke is a danger even if not a murder bot any more.
Also take note that Zeke is still very much a muder bot, but just chooses not to be right now. This is in many ways the same as other (super) people, as many could suddenly try to murder anyone.
Scott Did imply that killing was what Zeke was motivationally programmed to do, and that he did not have a choice about it. At the very least, Scott must admit that Zeke’s program is *very* selective as to when to do that. The line between human and machine blurs further.
However, we already know that Scott is at least kind-of okay with extra judiciary murder of violent criminals (Though Zeke has committed minimal violence while not being coerced). The point of a machine “superhuman” replicating and being a problem for humanity is still there too.
I think it’s like a car being dangerous – if you’d intend, you could just drive into a group of people whenever you want – but you don’t. And neither does Zeke.
humans are equally dangerous, and much easier to coerce in most cases. yet we dont condone preemptively killing them. take the master, for instance. he isnt a super, just incredibly intelligent.
The problem with that is that “the danger Zeke can pose if fallen into the wrong hands” isn’t JUST exclusive to Zeke. Ethan himself has/had a power of theoretically-endless lives, which he got in a theoretically-replicable event. There would be a not-insignificant number of organizations/individuals who would do anything to be able to have that same power, even armies of unkillable soldiers. Hell, they even have their own Superman-equivalent, Captain Metropolis. If they suddenly decide “screw this, I’m turning tyrant”, who’s gonna stop them? I get where Scott is coming from, but if he’s worried about beings that could cause… Read more »
yeah. Talking about Zeke like he’s some nuclear bomb is missing the big picture in this world of Eldritch abominations being summoned directly into the city. There’s tons of more dangerous stuff than zeke rolling around out there.
Last panel: Oh no… ZK has acquired the most lethal skill of them all – patience. They ARE going to supplant our species!
Everyday is a new lesson
Feels kinda anticlimatic, but well.
Now that Zeke is going to wander away, while I predict Embla will fulfill the same role as in CAD 1.0, I still wonder who will kill Ethan now
Knowing Ethan? It will be a self-solving problem, if you know what I mean.
I hope Ethan gives Zeke a video game or something.
As a treat for not killing his friend? “Who’s a good android? You are!”
And hopefully Scott is open-minded enough to realize that a “robot” just showed EMPATHY. Which should not be possible for a mindless killing machine.
Because I really want to like the Scott in this universe, but he makes it SO DAMNED HARD sometimes.
Trauma combined with being a technological savant must make it hard for Scott to NOT see the dangers of Zeke.
I liked the first Scott, too. He still ended up kida evil.
wasnt he being controlled by a penguin or something?
It was consensual, they both hated windows and teamed up to bring them down
As long as no military types get the “bright” idea of MAKING AI killing machines, like in the Terminator franchise, there is no reason they should suddenly want to kill all humans.True AI is like a child, it only knows what it’s taught, but not HOW to think. Thinking is something we are born with, while an AI has to be taught it. We just witnessed it happening. In time, both Zeke and Scott may learn tolerance and understanding, not fear and hatred. In both versions of CAD, Zeke was at best a “happy” accident, not expected or planned, it… Read more »
Most of the time we don’t raise kids to be murders, but with some people it still happens sometimes. Current AI does not have that problem, but we still have not come close to what is called ‘Artificial General Intelligence’, which is a machine that actually thinks like a human. Those are the ones that are terrifying because they could decide murder is a good idea, and unlike human murders, it woul have the ability to think and act 100s of times faster than other humans. If one goes bad and gets past whatever conrols we have on it, it’s… Read more »
Today KI is already being used to kill humans – sometimes it chooses to kill the “right” humans.
That may be true right now but won’t be true soon. Modern neural networks are self-programming: through machine learning, it adapts, self-adjusts, self-regulates, and makes decisions on its own understanding. It learns far more similar to a biological brain, than to pre-designed code. The idea of “True AI only knows what it’s taught” is obsolete: they are teaching themselves. Human beings don’t truly understand what it is that creates consciousness. Assuming that you don’t believe that human consciousness comes from something mystical, like a spirit or a soul, there’s no reason to believe that a digital brain is incapable of consciousness.… Read more »
Scott just found out that HE is the killing machine, and Zeke found out he doesn’t have to be.
Still the best writing in all of CAD history. Every chapter with Zeke is absolute fire.
Really have to agree, fantastic stuff
What I find is interesting is that few are calling for Zeke’s death. When criminals tried to kill Ethan Deathblood was lauded for his actions in killing them. This robot has killed Ethan and nearly succeeded in killing Lucas. Sure we got to see some more from Zeke than these random criminals, but that makes matters worse. We don’t know why the criminals were doing it, so why does Zeke get a chance and they don’t?
In universe, ZK is effectively a child. They are learning, adapting, growing.
Adult criminals (especially repeat offenders) have made dozens of choices that have lead them to the fates they have chosen.
Out of universe, ZK is a developed, compelling character, more akin to an anti-hero than a villain. Having been constructed by a villain, becoming self-aware, and now trying to learn, making redemption a compelling arch. Random underdeveloped street mooks with a singular criminal focus serve the plot by developing other characters.
Yeah I was surprised at how many pro-Deathblood comments there were. I think it was still the minority though. It felt like The Troll is when people really started saying “Okay, the only solution to this guy is ending him”.
Personally I don’t think any of them “deserved” death, even the Troll, and especially not ZK. ZK has technically killed but they’re much more reluctant than the criminals (or Deathblood, who’s arguably the worst…)
If you condemn someone who has changed from being a murder-bot to not being that anymore, what do you achieve for the future? You only teach them that changing for the better is not rewarded and they can just as well stay being the murder-bot.
DB is still the murder-bot and doesn’t want to change.
That’s not exactly the same situation though. There’s two crucial differences between Zeke and Deathbloods targets. -Zeke only ever killed or tried to kill while under threat of death. But since they’ve been released from the Master’s control, they never actually killed anyone. They’ve done a lot of bragging, threatening and talking about how much they’d like to, but never followed up on any of it outside of. (This incident was probably the closest to doing so.) -On the topic of second chances, Deathblood explicitly mentioned how they only go for repeat offenders. Those criminals did already get another chance,… Read more »
im in favor of killing in defense of self or others. even though db was likely not acting towards that end, his actions still served that end. so good for him. if ethan had somehow managed to kill zeke in any of the encounters you spoke of, i would have nothing to say. this is different. this entire situation was caused by scott acting alone, making decisions alone. everything that happens is on scott.
also, for clarification, zeke merely attempted to kill ethan. ethan’s respawn power made that impossible
OMG, this series is SO GOOD!
I feel like the last few arcs of this story have been developed over months just so that Tim can effectively deliver those last two panels. And, it was all worth it.
Awesome!
How funny would it be if he just up and pushed the paralyze button after all that?
See I always acknowledged Scott’s fear here! It’s understandable, even to ZK! I’m just glad ZK realizes they empathize with it. And Scott’s fear doesn’t justify doing what he did to a person. I hope Scott now realizes that ZK is a person (and I understand why he didn’t before)
*Comes for entertainment*
.
..
…*walks away with life lesson*
Me too!
Nice! I’m glad you went this way with it.
Oh wow. The outcome I was expecting, but not the mindset!
Zeke took a huge step without offering outright forgiveness. Hopefully Scott can see what that means.
Aldaris; We shall see…
The Conclave is hard to convince, though.
YES! HALLELUJAH for both Zeke not going full murderbot and Scott not being an asshat again!
People keep talking about the big step Zeke took (rightfully so) while completely disregarding the big step Scott also took, in trusting a machine not to murder both of them on the spot. Someone said it on the last page, if this were any other story, everyone would be begging Scott to do something to save the protagonist haha. I just think he deserves a bit more recognition for taking a big step himself. Thankfully, Zeke acknowledged the step, so this could be great for story development. I actually had goosebumps reading this page lol, I think these last few… Read more »
Wow! Just… wow! Well done Tim!
Thus, Amazo was born.
Capable of deserving Second Chances by whose scale, though? That’s the eternal question that courts of law were created to ineffectually solve.
Winning by being the better sentient. Nicely done!
HxH Netero. “F@k, now I really need to kill you”
I’m afraid to relax
Aren’t we all? Everyone just hides it differently.
That’s anxiety until death, yaaaay!
But zeke… Your kill count….
Well, wise decision, Scott.
Like last failure clearly shown, your methods can’t guarantee 100% termination of such advance neuro net, so it’s best to play save until more reliable methods will be found. And right now this toaster can be directed to no-murder feedback in response to no-aggressive actions. Of course, until more effective way of its permanent shutdown will be found. This machine is to dangerous to continue operating.
Not sure if anyone else said or noticed it but nice call on the Watts, Volts don’t kill, current does.
Very keen observation! Although volts does have a relation to it, you’re absolutely right that current is the key part of it. Tasers are extremely painful because of the volts – but they won’t kill you because the current is very low.
Amps x Volts = Watts
This is the best single strip of Analog and D-Pad you have ever done. It is beautiful, powerful and absolutely the best.