Pay Phone (Part 1)

Man going thru these episodes again gives me a picture that I can already guess that this neighborhood has its local economy go to ruins and it’s why the big a$& house that Darcy and Dennis lives in is so decrepit because this neighborhood has been on the lower end of real-estate for a LONG time 🤔 It can be implied that lots of unlucky bots with no owners moved to neighborhoods like this to escape the junkyard

Dr. Rodin

are we going to see dennis in the future?

Dr. Rodin, I recommend researching the history of Phreakers and Captain Crunch,

Alan-Michael White

What you said about the auto phone systems with using sounds for filing to specific numbers/departments via a call, I’d never thought the system was that old I figured it was more applied around the 80s or 90s as I thought it was a tad more modern system than what the 60s-70s can do. I never knew that 🤔

Dr. Rodin

Exactly!

Dominic Cellini

Btw, my compliments for drawing them in the same position also in 3/4 view @ panel 8! That's attention to details!

s_semper

According to the tags written over the phone case, this is the area of Papo, Drugson and Robot!

s_semper

Yes, beware of not to get dismantled for this too..

s_semper

@Dominic Cellini…OHHHH ok I get it, kinda. Now that I think about it, it’s kinda also like the setting of the Incredibles movies where it seems like the fashion, tech, & architecture are like roughly between the 50s and the 70s but there was no definite year canonically announced 🤯😅🤔

Dr. Rodin

Loving the telephone booth. That pulled me back to my teenage years X^D Also, glad Emmy thought about the implications of getting in touch with Sterling's. I'm proud of our runaway robot! ^-^

J R

Oh yeah they can’t keep what Emmy has been labeled as defective by the public or else the family will be pressured to kick her out (the Dad will most likely lose his high-paying job if he through Emmy jeopardizes the company’s reputation and the mom will feel conflicted between morally obligated to help Emmy in some way due to being a lawyer and the social pressures of their high-class neighbors ousting them in their own community or ban their children to be friends with Madeline that will make their daughter a social outcast in school)

Dr. Rodin

If it helps, in the chronology of this world, I sorta see it as the early 90s but again, in the way that movies like Babe or Tim Burton’s Batman take place in that era. Not the real world version of it.

Dominic Cellini

@Dominic Cellini, oh fine. I’ll take what I can get. My money is still on the 70s-early 80s, but fine. Thank you regardless for creating this wonderful world that captured my retro-sci-fi loving heart 🥰

Dr. Rodin

Since this doesn’t take place in the real world, I want the setting to have a somewhat timeless feel. You’ll eventually get a sense of where this sits in the comparatively to the real world. A lot of the mid century aesthetics remain and the tech is anachronistic.

Dominic Cellini

Space out - that happens to me sometimes, too. It is a relief that perfect robots have the same problems as imperfect me.

kplunder171

Now Emmy starts to remember what she overheard back at Sterling Robotics? Also, nice touch with the payphones. At least in this world, they didn't die out.

Anthony LoGatto

That year number like WHA???? 🥲

Dr. Rodin

in another post he said it was 1960708090

Alan-Michael White

That's a good point.

Alan-Michael White

@Dominic Cellini, PLEASE put in an actual year to this story I am BEGGING I’m going bonkers theorizing all over this!!! 😤😤😤😤😤😤

Dr. Rodin

That’s why there’s a safety certification nandroids need to care for kids officially.

Dominic Cellini

Legally speaking they may have to actually.

Dominic Cellini

You could have called the Delaires, Emmy, They don't have to say anything.

Alan-Michael White

Trust me, they don't care. I worked for DirecTV and if a call dropped and you didn't tell us to call you back, we didn't.

Alan-Michael White

These kinds of systems basically immediately came about with the advent of dial tone phones. I couldn't tell you how widely they were adopted but the ability to use sounds to file phone calls was just amazing. Same technology made modems and the internet work so, y'know, it's a mixed bag.

Alan-Michael White

Awesome as always.

Systematic

The existential fear for one's self preservation is a hoot, ain't it Emmy?

wwwJam

I’m curious if Sterling will trace the call

Genie

Probably don’t want it. Not a great street.

Dominic Cellini

Need to see that full number, I could use some commercial space.

Connor Garrett

Something’s telling me that a simple phone call isn’t going to end this story.

ShotgunBlast848

Yep indeed 😬

Dr. Rodin

Also half expecting Darcy connects a thin string to that coin so she always have a coin in hand to make calls like Mr Crabs in SpongeBob 😅

Dr. Rodin

But also yeesh Emmy you’ve just realized the mess that you’re in. You can’t return to Sterling like THAT or they’ll scrap you 😱😭😅

Dr. Rodin

That is the face of a robot that just discovered the emotion of mortal fear.

Orpheus

Oh my lord of course Sterling has those auto systems for connecting to different departments by phone. Did they come up with this system or was this adopted by everyone already around this time 🤔

Dr. Rodin