#roland the AI

[holyshonks]

As Potluck2024 draws to a close, I dedicate this to @poisonheadcrabsalesman. May I present: my stick figure. Thanks for organizing this, Stumpy!

[fablepatron]

My half of an art trade with @poisonheadcrabsalesman :3c

Comms | kofi

[radiantrookie]

RvB Characters in Halo 4 Spartan Ops

Note: Some of the subtitles are messed up

[bloodgulchblog]

"hi welcome to mcdonalds what can i get for you?”

“yeah can i get a deluxe quarter pounder with cheese?”

“absolutely, do you want the meal or just the sandwich?’

“uuuuuh hold on”

*fishes something out of my pocket*

“roland what do i do?”

“get the meal, miller. you'll need the soda to keep your throat from drying out when you say incoming phantoms”

*stuffs it back in my pocket*

“uhh yes please the meal would be great”

[doom-dreaming]

take my humble offering of various low-quality halo character textpost memes

Ferrets under the cut

and as a gift for @poisonheadcrabsalesman

[poisonheadcrabsalesman]

ROLAND MENTION - ALIVE AND ONBOARD INFINITY IN SEPTEMBER 2559

HE'S BEEN MENTIONED FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS! This is still before SoR and OPERATION: WOLFE but he was mentioned and that's all that matters. He takes notes.... :o)

Source here from the latest short story on waypoint - Halo: Venezian Sonata

[raptor-one]

Lasky definitely sent him a png of a piece of cake for his bday

[empresskadia]

This has me gigging like crazy still

[filamints]

happy birthday roland, may you grow up big and strong.

[superintendent-b]

And Roland's there

[lemniscate-graphics]

Recent commission for 1hellcat as a Christmas gift for his wife @katwylderart!

I've actually had this vinyl sitting around for about 4 years waiting for an excuse to use it because the color shift encompasses the full spectrum of Roland's hologram perfectly!

Hand-cut red iridescent vinyl on cotton, graphic originally designed by @ladywolvesbayne who kindly gave me permission to use her design for this!

[bluehoodedmousebane]

Why is the self-perception the thing I keep going back to for halo characters. What. This is all hand wavy headcanon except for Roland’s normal model being based on a real-life guy. That one’s true.

Anyways hi Roland. And Roland. And Roland.

[fablepatron]

Babies first animation (does this count. As animation)

[infinityactual]

Could Roland pass a captcha? Not even like, could he read and input the correct whatever, but morally. Could he lie about being a human?

Oh he could absolutely lie about being human to bypass a captcha, because in his mind he's not lying, he's bypassing a comically simple security measure, one that trips up *actual humans* on a hilariously regular basis.

And he will not hesitate to sign Spartan Miller or Tom Lasky (or really anyone who annoys him) up for SO much spam.

[authortobenamedlater]

More funny things from Infinite, also taken from comment threads on AO3 speculating on where Roland is.

—

Lasky: You have Roland, right?

Palmer: 😳

Lasky: Sarah.

Palmer: I thought you had him.

Lasky: What?!

Palmer: You’re the captain!

Lasky: We were both on the bridge!

Palmer: It’s really your job—

Lasky: I told you to yank him!

Palmer: I never heard that.

Lasky: You said “yes, sir” and everything!

Palmer: When’s the last time I “yes, sir”-ed you?

Lasky: Hold on. You mean to tell me we are crash-landed on a half-destroyed Halo, our ship is up there getting ripped apart like tin foil, and we just FORGOT OUR AI?!?!

Both, looking at the sky, hands on faces Home Alone-style: ROLAND!!!!!

(Roland, stranded aboard Infinity, is going full Kevin McAllister on the Banished.)

—

I have other ideas about Roland but they’re all sad.

[poisonheadcrabsalesman]

roland and linda in cahoots on something

Thank you. Athos and Linda got along, I think Roland and Linda would get along like a housefire no one suspected.

-

"Roland."

"Something I can help you with, Spartan?"

Linda 058, the quietest member of Blue Team, is asking for his attention.

"How much nuance do you allow when it comes to personnel in potentially off-limit areas?" She asks while staring straight ahead, not bothering to look at the ceiling or a camera. Her voice is low and even.

He can't get a read on her in comparing her tone and body language to his wealth of readings from his crew. IIs were sarcastic, but also had a habit of malicious compliance and going right up to the point of rule breaking before stopping. It gave his captain and the admirals headaches but fascinated Roland all the more. Despite being a Ship AI and not having the experience of partnering with a Spartan, he found a kind of kinship in their creative problem-solving. What files were available to him painted a relatable picture. Linda had worked with an AI, receiving a glowing review, but Roland could read between the lines. Nuance, huh?

They were so interesting. Roland found himself struggling to balance his desire to see where this led and his ingrained purpose of maintaining order and function on the Infinity.

"That's an interesting question." He can't help the chuckle that follows. "Potentially, if someone was where they shouldn't be and I caught them, they'd get a warning to leave before I contact whoever's necessary to remove them."

"So you have to catch them."

Oh, this is fun.

"I see everything on this ship, Spartan. You may have the clearance, but I can't let you climb around the engine room."

A muscle twitches on her face. Roland counts that as a victory.

IIs were so much fun. 15 minutes after he's thrown down the gauntlet, Linda 058 disappears into a blind spot in a major hub of hallways. Roland notes it down for security and then leaves several threads around to ping when she reappears.

She does not reappear. He gets no ping. AI can't sweat, but the invigorating exercise of hunting for her sours when it's 4 hours later and the Captain is frowning at him.

"Roland, where's Linda?" Captain Lasky asks in front of three quarters of Blue Team.

"I may have chosen my words poorly." Roland says, his avatar slouching in defeat.

"Sir, she doesn't have her armor, so we can assume she's inside the ship." Kelly supplies.

Captain Lasky pales as he considers the thought. Roland hadn't considered that. "She would do that?" Lasky's voice is stricken. Roland feels a bit guilty as he watches his captain's blood pressure spike.

Fred is the only one who grimaces as they all nod once.

"You might have to admit defeat before she reappears." The Master Chief says to Roland. "Linda's competitive."

"What?" Roland gapes in shock. He doesn't want to give up so easily, surely there are ways to track the NI or IFF tag even if she's not in armor.

He stops himself from answering when his captain looks dolefully at him.

"Do I make a shipwide announcement and hope she hears it?"

He does.

180 painful seconds tick by and Linda 058 materializes out of a different blind spot halfway across the ship. Her ready gear has dust on the knees and elbows. The vents then? She walks into the meeting more relaxed than Roland's seen her.

Linda nods to the captain and Roland as she takes her place beside her team.

"Do I want to know where you've been, Spartan?" The captain sighs. His face and his biosigns are pointing towards no.

"Finding gaps in security, sir." Linda replies.

"Great." Lasky looks like he does not think it's great. Roland is just glad it's over. "You can help Roland with that when we don't have scheduled meetings."

Or not.