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One Steps Out, Two Step In

🕑 Added 2025-04-16 01:13:20 +0000 UTC

Comments

legobil

Make some kind of generative AI sing it!

Joseph Bonnar

My very sincere condolences, Carl.

Joseph Bonnar

All four, Valdvin.'

Stephen Wells

It's the coffee equivalent of a second hand bookshop, in which Marten is attempting to enjoy a comfortable retirement disguised as a career.

Carl G Knoblock

We rode that ride at least twice on our honeymoon, 53 years ago. We would have reached our fiftieth, if Covid had not happened.

SilverbackRon

Violence rides on the shoulders of Regret. Or is it the other way around?

legobil

The two things who stepped in!

Sean Kinlin

"I like the sound of that: Marten Reed, Suuuper Genius!"

ValdVin

Um, I'm a little lost here: Liz & Moray or Violence & Regret?

Joe

BookBeard I'd pay to watch it.

Joe

I'm picturing an exchange between Marten and Sy (the AI sign) resembling the exchange between Wile E. Coyote and the sheepdog in the old cartoons ...

Clifton Royston

Ugh, you're right but that made me go back and factor 2047 (23 x 89) as well as 2049 (3 x 683, easier because of the sum-of-digits rule.)

Clifton Royston

Moray's love language.

Joseph Bonnar

PERFECT for the Wacky Hijinks Department!

Hugh Eckert

You know the law.

Hugh Eckert

"You know the law: Two men enter, one man leaves. "

M. Lampi

Marten doesn't actually want customers. He just wants a place to make coffee and chill.

Aaron Burt

I always like the gag that Yay is _plural_ they/them.

Raymond Dannelly

Ahw, he called them 'goofy'! That's practically term of endearment!

Charles Hirst

Reminds me of : - A: "How many Performance Poets does it take to change a light-bulb? B: "I don't know." A: "Neither do I. - I had to leave after 4 hours!"

Phil_M

Given the scale of Alpha Ralpha Boulevard, that would require some Tardis-level dimensional engineering.

Claudia D.

🎼 "And so, there’s no Moray."

Joshua

Too many syllables. Hello violence, hi/hey/and regret would work.

BookBeard

I'm imagining it as a sort of "Yakko Warner sings all the words in the English language"-style montage where I make it all the way to hour ten then finally collapse on the final verse. "Th-That's... A... Mor*faceplant*"

CaseyAEC

There are days where that life seems appealing. So long as i could somehow perceive the drama in the shop.

Summer

I wonder if there is an AI somewhere that would enjoy the quiet life of a coffee shop open/closed sign. It's only duty would be to flip to the correct side depending on the status of the shop.

Cullam

Plot twist: both sides say "closed".

Opus the Poet

You mean like when the Doom music kicks in episode of the Simpsons?

Opus the Poet

I've never been to Disneyland and I've still heard that song too many times.

Richard Frangiamore

Next official QC merch: The Sign 💰

Charles Hirst

"Some languages borrow words from other languages. English follows them down dark alleys and mugs them!" [anon - always acknowledge your sources (I used to write Library Systems).] {apparently it is a paraphrase of a remark in a Usenet article <1990May15.155309.8892@watdragon.waterloo.edu> (1990), updated in Usenet article (2003) Found in https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Nicoll } Also - https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/mug

Rich Holmes

Nor is + the correct sign of 1 for a Mersenne prime.

Bagge

I LOVE running gags. The flipping the sign thing just keeps giving

Joseph Bonnar

Could somebody map Cubetown? I think Alpha Ralpha Boulevard is there.

enchantedsleeper

Liz sure does know how to sweet-talk a goo gal xD

enchantedsleeper

It will take 10 hours to perform in full

Shannon Woodbury

Oooppss! Thanks for that, well spotted. 🤣🤣

Ursus Ridens

So far, we really haven't seen much of it. Not a complaint, but perhaps some posters? Something along the lines of xkcd #730 for the clientele to ponder?

Ursus Ridens

2049? ERROR_OUT_OF_COFFEE.

Clifton Royston

Alas, 11 is not the correct power for a Mersenne prime.

legobil

I would rather see violent regret to be honest.

legobil

Unless they are now friends: yes or no

legobil

Oh, these two nerds!

Am Queue

.... I suppose it's better than It's A Small World...

Am Queue

I can totally commit violence without regret. Oh wait, that's BDSM.

Kith penDragon

I'm waiting for the payoff where Regret doesn't show up.

Alex Rahr

If so the third act is coming...about 2040 at the earliest, assuming that the first act ends soon and that the second act is about the same length.

Sarah

I saw the sign, and it opened up my mind…

Paul Johnson

If marten drinks coffee whenever he is not busy, that could lead to a bit of excess.

Nessi505

Please tell me you’ve been capturing all these stanzas and will weave them into a whole song!

Michael Steamweed

Well, he IS the Prime Consort for The Librarian. The effort of keeping Marten adjacent to one or more AIs (besides the Moray units, which are highly suspect for all the obvious reasons) is totally worth having to constantly update the communal spreadsheet.

Michael Steamweed

Given that this is Cubetown, yeah, I totally buy the "closed on both sides" AND "mobius sign" aspects.

Michael Steamweed

We have yet to see them in action. I'm-a get the popcorn ready.

Michael Steamweed

To be fair, were Yay to in fact be hiding in Cubetown, no one would think to look for them there. Pretty much the last place anyone would consider. The one kink in this logic: The Director. Methinks Yay might _not_ want to be that close.

Claudia D.

Replying to Rich: Brilliant!

BookBeard

Yep, they appeared briefly in 5118. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5118

Sean Kinlin

Soon there will be a menu item called The Master Blaster.

Rich Holmes

It's a Möbius sign. It only has one side.

Sean Kinlin

There are some important problems involving 2^p + 1.

BookBeard

ValdVin is correct actually. Lemon said she had 2048 sisters which would make a total of 2049. Truly maddening for a computer nerd, but in fairness "just a little bit off" is pretty on-brand for the Melon family. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3906

Yelling Bird

Fair enough.

BookBeard

I dunno, I think the race between Northampton and Cubetown for "most AI shenanigans" is still a toss up. I mean, Melon alone surely has to be equivalent to the entire Wacky Hijinks Research Group.

William Cole

I love Violence and Regret! And also these two robots. 🥁

William Cole

You assume we aren't still in the first act.

Simon Green

I was thinking more to the tune of The Sound of Silence when I read "Hello Violence, Hello Regret" :-D

BookBeard

Indeed they did. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5118

BookBeard

When a girl made of gel Has a sushi bar smell That's A Moray!

Ailadi

^^ We’re diligently learning another language and our grammar is getting fubar’d in English (which is a ridiculous language anyway).

alphanor

They also showed up when Martin and Liz were out looking for a location to be a coffee shop.

Simon Green

We've come to you for coffee get

Mad Marie

The sign says closed on both sides.

Mad Marie

2046

Sean Kinlin

Also miss Yay (who goes by 'they')

ValdVin

Don't Lemon and Melon have 2047 other sisters? Because that's where this math is going.

Miyaa

When Elliot and Clinton comes to Cubetown to start their bakery and Texas Roadhouse style bbq joint, they will hire an AI unit named BookBread… who becomes Roko’s new friend.

Rich Holmes

My current theory: Yay is hiding out in Alice Grove.

Miyaa

So… Double Dare 2000?

Shannon Woodbury

If this keeps up, martin is going to risk either straining something or else loosing his unflappable cool (death by goof). On the plus side, we are also starting to realize what Yay was on about with this place, and we can be 1000% sure Cubeworld is *not* where she (oops... They! Sorry Yay 😂) are currently hiding out - Yay trying to live in this kind of environment would be downright apoplectic in 5 minutes (see aforementioned death by goof). I miss Yay 😟

Joseph Houk

The truth: there is no sign to flip. Liz just tells him he didn't flip it to mess with him.

Daryl Sawyer

I think he's nostalgic for only having to deal with one extremely goofy AI.

MikeT

These two are just teases. I am yet to see enough regretful violence #chekovsbrutality

Sean Kinlin

The real trouble happens when these two leave, and four more come in. Then when they leave, another eight arrive, and then...

Rich Holmes

And 28 whole seconds without checking his phone

Joseph Bonnar

The Watchmen used the song.

Vilinda

Greetings!

Yelling Bird

You know, if Marten is bothered by the shenanigans of goofy AI's he couldn't have picked a worse place to move to.

Amelia Lewis

You can't commit Violence without Regret. Even in an asylum, they're a matched set.

Jack Foy

In a trenchcoat

Rich Holmes

Have we seen them since 5035? Which was [checks notes] TWO YEARS AGO? (They aren't in QC Extensions.)

Sean Kinlin

Panel 2: Moray amore

Captain Button

Inert Explosives Festival might be a good name for a band...

Miyaa

I seriously doubt Liz has actually been in a sushi bar. Unless that bar is right along the Atlantic coast next to the Dildo Newfoundland battery manufacturing facilities.

Wooly50

When is Marten gonna flip that damn sign? Also I want to poke Moray's stomach for science 🧐

Shinymelon Fearnow

That checks out

Sean Kinlin

Various AIs work together to make sure there's always at least one near Marten. The 30 seconds was the time it took for Moray to tag these two in.

Mad Marie

Is there a film scene with heavy violence to that track? Something rings a bell about that...

Keith Steiger

Another appearance of theirs: https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5035

Mad Marie

She did try once, but the sign wasn't flipped to open.

Bill Silvia

In an alternate universe, Faye inflicted violence on Anh, who them regretted her actions, and something inexplicably started beeping in Marten's shop.

Mad Marie

Yeah my brain keeps toggling that too.

Mad Marie

Reconciliation also goes by the nickname "Dare"

djellafine

BookBeard: the QC librarian

Mad Marie

https://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5009

Joseph Bonnar

I'm sure we've seen them before. This is a job for... BOOKBEARD!

Joseph Bonnar

Jeph, you gave me an earworm dating back to 1971! Sign, sign, everywhere a sign Blockin' out the scenery Breakin' my mind Do this, don't do that Can't you read the sign? FIve man electrical band.

alphanor

https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5009 They show up several times later too. https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=5035

Scott Haley

I want Dora to visit Marten and see the coffee shop that he's made.

SpookyPenguin

Iris's cousins

Shawn K. Younkin

My only regret is that I haven't committed enough violence!

Mad Marie

Later, Regret: "I just looked it up..."

Stephen B.

One steps out, two step in vs One step out, two steps in 😁

ValdVin

♫Hello Violence my old friend...♫

SilverbackRon

I like these two! I hope they come bringing new shenanigans into Marten's life.

Simpin4Holo

Their other twins are Truth and Reconciliation.

SilverbackRon

They have been around for a while. They appeared the day Claire decided to take the Librarian position. Book Beard will be along shortly with the link to their first appearance.