Fractale

[Buffalobiian]

UTW - Episode 04

[Kraco]

Quite a dilemma for Clain with those two girls hating each other. Of course fundamentally Clain's main problem was his decision to label both sides crazy and refuse to take a stand, even with the world crumbling around him. Traditionally I suppose it would be his place to find the middle road, but who knows with this series.

At least I'm getting used to his voice. The level of violence pleases me as well. Despite the grand warrior's funeral it feels a bit unreal, though. Like Clain said, it feels strangely plasticky.

[Buffalobiian]

UTW - Episode 05



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I dunno guys, I thought those legs + t-bag was pretty girlish myself. Whatever pleases those crazy ladies though. I'd much more welcome their form of harassment than the freckle girl's. (though it's scary how they can't get enough of his "manliness" and decided to change his underwear for him as well.)

It's as if Phryne has an on/off switch or something. She's likable sometimes, and a complete shut-out at others.

[Buffalobiian]

UTW - Episode 06



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Ecchi radar - wouldn't it be nice.

[RyougaZell]

So the old man was Clain's father? Does this mean the Doppel's of his parents are bogus?

[Buffalobiian]

So the old man was Clain's father? Does this mean the Doppel's of his parents are bogus?

It would seem so. That old guy's as hung up on being grounded to his house as Clain is.

[Kraco]

How about his mother? Since freedom is in such high demand in that world, it would seem likely lifelong marriages could be unusual. Having a stepfather or stepmother would seem more than a common occurrence. Maybe his mom moved on to an active zone, leaving the antenna building dad behind.

[KitKat]

I tend to agree that it's his father as well. Maybe Fractale has AI for the doppels that keeps them animated once the human controllers lose contact or die. It would keep up the illusion that everything is fine while in reality balloons are dropping everywhere and dead zones are spreading.

Edit: Comparing the photo with the projector feed from ep 1 definitely seems to confirm that it's his father. Taken on the same day even, with the same outfits and the same grandfather clock in the background. Which seems to confirm also that 'doppel father' is a fake.

[Buffalobiian]

I wonder of Doppels appear as random shapes to the inhabitants of that universe, or if they appear as whoever they're intended to appear as. Nessa's the only one that looks real, and no one seems to be surprised about it.

[Ryllharu]

As I recall, everyone is surprised at, "how detailed," Nessa is, many of them mentioned they've never seen one like her before. She is abnormal a doppel as they come.

Is it weird that the first thing I thought about when Clain was given the camera was, "how is he going to print those out?"

I think the point was made about the Lost Millennium folks. They may do a lot of good things, be self-reliant, and even may be good people, but they take away choice as just as easily as the Fractale system enforces its own order. Alabaster steals it from people and then conscripts them, Granitz takes it away from their own. One is certainly better than the other, but neither could ever be described as "good."

edit: Now that I think about it, there is a large possibility that doppels are designed to be simplistic. It helps Fractale users disengage from their respective "hosts." Clain barely had any attachment to his "parents'" doppels, and dismissed them frequently. Nessa on the other hand, being so detailed and emotive, causes a lot of people to get attached to her quite quickly. She makes friends very easily and people enjoy her company, even the more militant of the Granite family.

[Buffalobiian]

UTW - Episode 07



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Ah.. so much that I enjoyed this episode, from how Doppels and Fractale are supposed to function (Doppels were indeed meant to look like real people, with the funky shapes being results of the breakdown - that makes so much more sense), to the two inhabitants. The vast difference between the real and virtual selves are really explored here - much of which I would say us forum members could very well relate to. I know I could.

What I thought was weird was how you can "have a Doppel work for you". That meant:

1) Fractale wasn't "free" like what we thought. At least not in that city
2) One can detach themselves from their operating Doppel.

That makes it less of a virtual representation of yourself, and more like your character in WoW that you can either manually control or monitor with a bot.

[MasterOfMoogles]

I'm still trying to figure out how he got shot by a virtual gun.

I suppose there are a couple obvious options:
1) He was virtually cloaking it, and had it the whole time.
2) Something similar to the virtual virus, though it certainly looked a whole lot more real.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm still trying to figure out how he got shot by a virtual gun.

I suppose there are a couple obvious options:
1) He was virtually cloaking it, and had it the whole time.
2) Something similar to the virtual virus, though it certainly looked a whole lot more real.

It was a real gun, as far as I was concerned. Nessa could stuff up anything that runs or requires the Fractale system (such as those electronics that she touched back in episode 2 or 3), but since this robot ran on a standalone system, she could do nothing but watch as Clain got shot.

[Ryllharu]

So Nessa is root. She can't touch isolated stand-alone systems (not being root within them, maybe his system was like a VM), but she maintains complete dominance over the Fractale system. I wonder how that would really "fix" the Fractale system where it doesn't work properly. I was under the impression it was less of a bug/virus/fragmentation issue, and more of a signal issue. The balloons being too far out, falling from the sky, etc. Places with weak signal can't handle the load. We saw how Nessa can remote wipe everything, but I'm not seeing how she is meant to fix the system where it isn't fully functional.

It didn't have to be a real gun, it could have been dolled-up equipment like a rivet gun or some other kind of pneumatic tool.

What I thought was weird was how you can "have a Doppel work for you". That meant:

1) Fractale wasn't "free" like what we thought. At least not in that city
2) One can detach themselves from their operating Doppel.

That makes it less of a virtual representation of yourself, and more like your character in WoW that you can either manually control or monitor with a bot.

It sounded like the inhabitants of Xanadu were paying Monay for premium access. They need to pay for better connection, higher bandwidth, or lower pings. They probably can't maintain that high level of detail comparable to Nessa without it. Perhaps there is too much lag in the system like the rest of the world. I can't help but wonder if the residents of Xanadu were traveling to pick up fallen balloons and refurbish and install them into the city to maintain that level of detail. That would take a lot of effort, so that may be why the members need to pay for premium access. They're free to flit around nonchalantly and earn their Monay the artist's way, while the scavengers get to get paid for doing the grunt work.

I think we always knew that a doppel could earn currency if left on autopilot (Clain mentioned it early on), but what confuses me is why the "nomad" Xanadu real-life people would want to walk around like that, and not spend most of the time in Xanadu as the guy who shot Clain does (while hooked up to life support). With terminals, can the body run on autopilot while the "ghost" controls the doppel? It doesn't seem that way, so what would be the benefit of having a doppel you would never gain any escapist enjoyment out of? Perhaps the memories and experiences are returned, like two personalities that share a unified set of memories. A split consciousness.

note: Was a bit disappointed that we did not see Meegan's real body. Maybe next time?

[Buffalobiian]

note: Was a bit disappointed that we did not see Meegan's real body. Maybe next time?

Meegan? The artist? She was the old guy who tried to rape Phryne.

[animus]

Meegan? The artist? She was the old guy who tried to rape Phryne.

Really? I figured there was just a lot of those artist types living in Xanadu, and they were separate people. You might be right as they were both air sculptors or whatever, but a bit weird nonetheless.


Anyways, who carried Clain's unconscious body to that bed when he finally woke up to Meegan's doppel. The doppel couldn't touch him, and basically no one in Xanadu had a real body and were all doppels. The guy with the stand-alone robot didn't even know Clain was in the city until Meegan brought him to his place.

[shinta|hikari]

I thought Meegan was the old guy as well.

[Buffalobiian]

Really? I figured there was just a lot of those artist types living in Xanadu, and they were separate people. You might be right as they were both air sculptors or whatever, but a bit weird nonetheless.

The guy woke up to check on Clain/Nessa's status and found an empty couch - immediately following, Meegan also discovered (without needing to look) that the two had escaped.

Anyways, who carried Clain's unconscious body to that bed when he finally woke up to Meegan's doppel.

The old guy did. aka Meegan. The guy from Lost Millennium said Gale (the old guy beyondpervert) found a boy.

I thought Meegan was the old guy as well.

I liked the contrast between the old guy and the life support fellow. Fractale makes sense for those that are physically stuck and provides a means to a second life, but in the case of Meegan it becomes less tolerable.

/eyes all the girl-avatar GWers with suspicion

[shinta|hikari]

What if it's a two-girl avatar?

[Buffalobiian]

What if it's a two-girl avatar?

Then you've got taste, and even more suspicion.