Sonja wrote:As for the next few episodes, based on this one's Ann-only OP and the preview for the next episode I want to make the guess:

Episode 9 - Lene episode
Episode 10 - Ines episode
Episode 11 - Hina episode
Episodes 12 and 13 - series finale events.

Most likely. The sequence is just about right

Anyways, i got a new opinion for episode 8. What if, this whole episode is a de javu just before the episode end? Episode 8 starts with Ann and Hina playing a game with Lene while Ines carries a bottle of a supposed growth formula. The episode ends with Ines carrying the exact same bottle which freaks Ann out.

Nice idea, but Lene's dialogue is different.
My thought is, its later, Ines is using the other three's distraction to try the mushroom food again, and thanks to the .virus//dream Ann is now phobic of it.

*reads various comments*
I'd note Ann already had a hamster pack, she just lost it, which ties into my commentary...

Yeah, it's all just her processing various things and putting them into her dream state. I figure the phone call was her picking up the actual phone conversation and incorporating that too. And what kind of sick bastard crafts Shinki viruses? I'm guessing they managed to get the part they needed for Ann. I'm guessing they saved her memories, reformated, and did a reinstall.

Even though it looked like the shinki store was closed Hina probably just snuck her way in there and got it. I find it interesting that they couldn't just turn her off to stop the spread of the virus. Surely shinkis must have the ability to turn off without damaging them.

Caterwaul wrote:And what kind of sick bastard crafts Shinki viruses?

This does seem even beyond Planelegs-level. But yeah, the only thing I can think of for the reason of the virus existing is just for someone's kicks.

Sonja wrote:Even though it looked like the shinki store was closed Hina probably just snuck her way in there and got it. I find it interesting that they couldn't just turn her off to stop the spread of the virus. Surely shinkis must have the ability to turn off without damaging them.

We don't know what type of memory Shinkis use. To get the sort of speed and power required to create such vibrant, complex personalities, they likely store data in some form of volatile memory. This turned up in the discussion of episode 5; I still think that Shinki's "brains" are FPGAs, not ASICs, so they lose their state when they lose power. If so, that means that while a Shinki's memories could be archived in solid-state NVM, their personalities would disappear and would have to be reset (to factory default if a backup hadn't been made). While it would be possible to send a Shinki into stasis, doing so would require a complex diagnostic to do it without hurting their personality, memories, or mannerisms; the kind of diagnostic a virus likely would screw up. Under normal conditions, Shinki never actually lose power; they sleep on their recharging cradles. They probably just aren't made to be shut down on a regular basis like a computer.

As for the virus itself, while it could just be for kicks, Shinki have built-in wireless (pretty powerful, at that), a large chunk of processing power, and the ability to learn and adapt. If you harnessed those abilities, you could create a truly frightening botnet. That, or you could just use the virus to steal personal information. How many Shinkis know their master's social security number, credit card number, or password, do you think?

Klinkin wrote: We don't know what type of memory Shinkis use. To get the sort of speed and power required to create such vibrant, complex personalities, they likely store data in some form of volatile memory. This turned up in the discussion of episode 5; I still think that Shinki's "brains" are FPGAs, not ASICs, so they lose their state when they lose power.

Hmm. I'm not so sure. For one, in episode 7 we learn that Fuki the Clumsy Ninja did run out of power in those mountains and when she came to at Zelnograd's place she still had her memories and her personality.
Besides, I think that by the time Shinkis appear the very concept of "volatile" memory will have gone the way of 5.25 floppy disks. In fact, with proliferation of tablets and such we might see this transition happen fairly soon.

This is not to say there could be no other (perhaps ethical?) reasons why Shinkis might not have an easily accessible Off switch.

Judging by the description, Fuki went into emergency hibernation of some sort; if left in that state, it's likely a Shinki will lose power, but they don't instantly "die." Also, it'll take a paradigm shift to see volatile memory lapse into obsolescence; over the course of computing history, RAM's done a good job keeping up with NVM, both in terms of speed and storage. That, and I still maintain that Shinkis use an FPGA-based processor to allow for sentience; a non-volatile ASICs wouldn't allow for the same degree of learning and personalization.

*Reads everyone's analysis on near-future processor technology*

You learn something new everyday.

And I knew it! Reminds me of that Lotus Eater Machine-ish virus from a certain Stargate series, though I guess this one's a bit more dramatic.

I think perhaps the problem was that with a virus she could not properly back up to be shut down.

Even with a volatile memory type nightly backups while charging in the cradle would solve most of the problems that would happen if a shinki were to completely lose power rather than just be in sleep mode.

Shutting down would be necessary for complex repairs or in the event of a hardware malfunction, but the only time we've ever seen a shinki malfunction like that was in Moon Angel and since her CSC cabinet was damaged Kaguya lost many of her memories. Also that was a different continuity and the canon between the two shows seems quite different.