Page 158.
Machine Man (serial)
One time in university, I failed to buy a pack of Doritos from a hallway vending machine. I fed my bills into the slot, pressed C and 4, and nothing happened. So I pressed the buttons again, with more authority, then CANCEL, then as many buttons as I could at the same time. I cursed and slapped it, because I was 19 and there were people watching, and said, “Stupid machine.”
Hours later, I was passing by on my way to class and another guy was there, staring at it. I opened my mouth to tell him it was busted, but he glanced at me and slapped its side, right where I had, muttering, “Stupid machine!”
I felt shaken. I guess it’s always uncomfortable to discover you are not quite as individual as you thought. What bothered me, though, wasn’t my similarity to this guy, but to the vending machine. I began to wonder why I should be considered the independent entity in this situation, exerting my free will to elicit predictable, mechanical reactions from the vending machine, and not the other way around. A truly objective observor, I suspected, would find it equally likely that the vending machine was choosing to withhold snacks in order to extract mechanical responses (a slap, a curse) from complex but fundamentally predictable humans.
Once, during a floor party, I tried to raise this with a Philosophy major. “You’re a determinist.” Her tone implied this was kind of cute, like believing in the Tooth Fairy. “Shock. A determinist science geek.” We argued about free will for a while, which was frustrating because people from Humanities only want to play word games, then she went to make out with a guy I didn’t know. I left the party and went down to the vending machine. I sat on the floor in front of it, watching. I wasn’t sure what I hoped to see. I just felt we had a lot in common.
158.
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Location: NZ
Quote: "I'm naked underneath my clothes"
Posted: 6159 days ago
Location: Cambridge, UK
Quote: "On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog"
Posted: 6159 days ago
You know, Max, I don't like to criticise. Well, not to people who are bigger then me, or the boss of me, or related to me (the wife, for example). Otherwise, actually, yeah, I do like to criticise and you are in Australia and I am not, so physically this is safe ground for me. Where was I? Oh, yeah!
I DO like to criticise and so far I haven't had to but today's page is a bit of a let down to be honest. It's not so much the content, the content is good, we're getting another look into Charlie's psyche, what makes him tick etc... and that's cool. It's just that all week there has been this great build up to some serious cyborg ass kicking and then suddenly we get the Charlie/Vending machine introspection and now the momentum is all gone. Where's the Friffhanger?
Maybe this page would be better off somewhere else in the story.
BUT your the Author and I have to assume you know what your doing. No pressure, but Monday's page had better be awesome (and it usually is).
Location: Sydney, Australia
Quote: "Why are the pretty ones always insane?"
Posted: 6159 days ago
Location: Cambridge, UK
Quote: "On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog"
Posted: 6159 days ago
(Man, I'm on a roll today!)
Location: Toronto
Posted: 6159 days ago
Anyway! I liked this page, personally. It feels like it is preparing us for something that is about to happen. I'm a huge fan of the action pages, and found the ones in the house a little slow-paced, but this one is not really like that.
Also, after yesterday's page, we can infer that he thinks that machines do in fact think for themselves, since he's hearing his own mechanical parts talking back to him.
Posted: 6159 days ago
He knows he'll get a reaction from a Humanist, when he suggests 'free will' in a machine. ( quite an interesting perspective also should his limbs start doing as they desire independently of his own free well ). So we have foreshadowing and analogy, since he's expecting a 'slap' from the Humanist, based on his own actions/comments.
Note to self{ Comments on the novel are interesting, but might spoil the writer's plan? }
Now, Pev, you obviously love 'action sequences', maybe you should be reading comic books? You can't accept a page of the main character's introspection? LOL
All in good fun.
Location: Spokane, Washington
Quote: "Corgis are like potato chips"
Posted: 6159 days ago
Although maybe not quite enough drama. Maybe Carl can be Charlie's long lost brother, or Lola is Carl's sister, or ... hey, why is it the drama is always around family ... anyway, yeah, comic books are soap operas.
Location: St. Louis
Posted: 6158 days ago
For some reason, I'm perfectly happy to be left trembling with excitement for a few days, wondering... waiting...
:D
Location: Sydney
Quote: "vote with your wallet"
Posted: 6158 days ago
i'll consider myself friffed.
Location: Alberta, Canada
Quote: "I don't wanna ride the elevator."
Posted: 6158 days ago
@Pev, good to see your still with us. Personally though I like my food with seasoning. My point is if something becomes too consistently the same in any way, it is bland. The only constant is change as they say but even consistent change is bland. I think this page was well executed. It is more real this way because in a situation where your gf is dying and kidnapped by a psycho cyborg with crazy ass gear and you have just been turned into terminator, you reflect on your life. Have you never been in a similar situation?
Location: Cambridge, UK
Quote: "On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog"
Posted: 6156 days ago
"It is more real this way because in a situation where your gf is dying and kidnapped by a psycho cyborg with crazy ass gear and you have just been turned into terminator, you reflect on your life. Have you never been in a similar situation?"
I can honestly say that I haven't.
BTW: LMAO at that one - thanks, Ben!
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