Bolin- one of the two who found Tibor when he did what he did in the forest that time. Tatsos was where it happened. Tatsos is probably near the location where Scarlet’s family’s farmhouse was/is, which was stated to be Milik. The village where Scarlet’s father went to sell the beets was named Karsth. page 4. Tatsos was where Marik the moneylender was from, and the robbery was “A day’s march from here, near the border.” according to page 11. When the Grondian attack happened, Tibor headed to Kirkiok on page 32. A map really would help, but I found the “timeline” page https://www.sandraandwoo.com/scarlet/timeline/
Anyway, this must mean that Scarlet is heading back towards the farmhouse, though there’s a Grondian border in the way now. She still has to make one last jump when there. So, that might make Tatsios a border town- too tough to take over, but is it strong enough to double-deal with the Grondian soldiers?
She’s headed in the right direction is all. If she’s giving speeches, someone who might be willing to try the Farmhouse might be at the rally. What’s the narrative purpose of the Tatos trip? To waste time? To result in nothing? Does she have a goal related to the Machine or not? Or her dead parents? Scarlet seems more and more willing to shake other people’s bars, but not do any of the main story quest herself. But then she does things like the blindfolded border trip. She can be very off and on about it sometimes.
Are you sure Scarlet hasn’t already taken some active steps to bring them together? Or intends to do so? 😘
If you want to tell “Hey, I’m the author of this story, I guess I know!”, I warn you that in literary theory I am a follower of Roland Barthes! 😏
(Just kidding, no offense, I hope! 😉 )
Surely Laveral had binary before Scarlett came along? We’ve had binary systems since at least ancient times.
What other mathematical commonplaces are they missing? Calculus?.. Algebra?,,, Statistics?.. Topology?
Well, they do appear to have gone back in technological capabilities. Massively. Especially if the colony theory is true. I don’t think I’ve seen any computers anywhere, although that does beg the question of how they’re still able to field energy weapons (and ammo for them) in such a state. Or how they’re able to work the currency….
It’s one thing to come up with binary and a whole different thing to proof that every Turing machine is equivalent to a Turing machine which operates on a band of only 0s and 1s.
Given, the proof isn’t hard by any means, but given that Scarlet is seemingly the first to come up with Turing machines, it’s a step to take.
So, overall this stuff was first rigorously explored in the 20th century to my knowledge.
Scarlet didn’t invent the binary number system. But she’s discovering its usefulness in relation to her universal calculator (Turing machine). Her statement is of course a severely shortened and simplified version of her real work, so that Iona, and the readers, understand her main idea.
I like to think that math on Lavarel is much more focused on practical applications. So they know a lot about geometry and the foundations of calculus. But Scarlet is venturing into new, more theoretical fields of math. Her main interests, as shown in the comic, are number theory and especially computer science.
Clearly, they did at one point (since there is an existence of that machine Scarlet found in her cellar), but the knowledge appears to have been lost. No surprise, considering what everyone on the planet has gone through regarding being forced to survive on dwindling resources. Even here on Earth IRL, humanity has been constantly re-discovering the same physics and math proofs over and over as civilizations rise and fall and languages change and/or die.
And what if the White Witch uses a ternary-logic machine (like the SETUN)? It is (far) more efficient at certain tasks (of course paying a price). But in this world economies of scale seems to play a limited role.
19 thoughts on “Machine Girl 053”
Divides By Zero
My big contribution to universal calculation is realizing you only need a binary number system to generate every sort of error.
JoB
Hmmmm are you *positive* that there is only a countable number of “sorts” of errors? 😉
Vicious Sand
Bolin- one of the two who found Tibor when he did what he did in the forest that time. Tatsos was where it happened. Tatsos is probably near the location where Scarlet’s family’s farmhouse was/is, which was stated to be Milik. The village where Scarlet’s father went to sell the beets was named Karsth. page 4. Tatsos was where Marik the moneylender was from, and the robbery was “A day’s march from here, near the border.” according to page 11. When the Grondian attack happened, Tibor headed to Kirkiok on page 32. A map really would help, but I found the “timeline” page https://www.sandraandwoo.com/scarlet/timeline/
Anyway, this must mean that Scarlet is heading back towards the farmhouse, though there’s a Grondian border in the way now. She still has to make one last jump when there. So, that might make Tatsios a border town- too tough to take over, but is it strong enough to double-deal with the Grondian soldiers?
Novil
No, she’s going to Tatsos to (only) give a speech there.
She wants to extend the geographical reach of her movement.
Vicious Sand
She’s headed in the right direction is all. If she’s giving speeches, someone who might be willing to try the Farmhouse might be at the rally. What’s the narrative purpose of the Tatos trip? To waste time? To result in nothing? Does she have a goal related to the Machine or not? Or her dead parents? Scarlet seems more and more willing to shake other people’s bars, but not do any of the main story quest herself. But then she does things like the blindfolded border trip. She can be very off and on about it sometimes.
MegaJar
Dang, Scarlet really just loves playing matchmaker, doesn’t she? First Vreni and Baako, now Iona and Bolin. Who’s next?
Novil
Scarlet isn’t really playing matchmaker here.
Scarlet played no part in the first meeting between Bolin and Iona. And here she also doesn’t do anything deliberately to bring them together.
Hegel-Marx
Are you sure Scarlet hasn’t already taken some active steps to bring them together? Or intends to do so? 😘
If you want to tell “Hey, I’m the author of this story, I guess I know!”, I warn you that in literary theory I am a follower of Roland Barthes! 😏
(Just kidding, no offense, I hope! 😉 )
Scarsdale
True, she’s just teasing her about her obvious affections. I’d tease my son’s the same way 😉
Mark
Surely Laveral had binary before Scarlett came along? We’ve had binary systems since at least ancient times.
What other mathematical commonplaces are they missing? Calculus?.. Algebra?,,, Statistics?.. Topology?
FuryoftheStars
Well, they do appear to have gone back in technological capabilities. Massively. Especially if the colony theory is true. I don’t think I’ve seen any computers anywhere, although that does beg the question of how they’re still able to field energy weapons (and ammo for them) in such a state. Or how they’re able to work the currency….
Tauben
It’s one thing to come up with binary and a whole different thing to proof that every Turing machine is equivalent to a Turing machine which operates on a band of only 0s and 1s.
Given, the proof isn’t hard by any means, but given that Scarlet is seemingly the first to come up with Turing machines, it’s a step to take.
So, overall this stuff was first rigorously explored in the 20th century to my knowledge.
Novil
Scarlet didn’t invent the binary number system. But she’s discovering its usefulness in relation to her universal calculator (Turing machine). Her statement is of course a severely shortened and simplified version of her real work, so that Iona, and the readers, understand her main idea.
I like to think that math on Lavarel is much more focused on practical applications. So they know a lot about geometry and the foundations of calculus. But Scarlet is venturing into new, more theoretical fields of math. Her main interests, as shown in the comic, are number theory and especially computer science.
ToBeFree
I think that’s very well done. The entire page is. From ^that^ to the humorous hinting at a new romance, great.
Felis Dee
Clearly, they did at one point (since there is an existence of that machine Scarlet found in her cellar), but the knowledge appears to have been lost. No surprise, considering what everyone on the planet has gone through regarding being forced to survive on dwindling resources. Even here on Earth IRL, humanity has been constantly re-discovering the same physics and math proofs over and over as civilizations rise and fall and languages change and/or die.
Poyntre
And what if the White Witch uses a ternary-logic machine (like the SETUN)? It is (far) more efficient at certain tasks (of course paying a price). But in this world economies of scale seems to play a limited role.
Someone
Your website now seems to block older browsers with an Error 403.
Not nice!!
Novil
This very likely had nothing to do with using an old browser. See my news post at https://www.sandraandwoo.com/scarlet/2026/02/15/visitors-were-blocked-due-to-website-misconfiguration/ about the problem.
Melda L
she’s got Bolin all figured out. He has the same weakness as Tibor:
Ginger is Their Kryptonite…
Characters
Amos Allrick Ariana Carolus Athamas Baako Bolin Clara Graybold Cyril Darius Leyh Elwin Flammt Emelia Evelina Ferrus Gale Nenawa Gavin Carolus Iona Irvin Janos Zaisthra Jehona Shardyk Julius Mirkning Kala Silverspring Kenan Orege King Protos Lauro Levon Goldwood Leyton Wayt Ludis Graybold Luitpold Marik Marton Princess Elodie Raymond Reto Mirkning Reva Rodar Rosetta Greenleaf Scarlet Carolus Severin Silvana Mirkning Tibor Frey Vidal Viola Vreni Xaver Yerim Zach Ilkin