"Hearth's Warming By The Numbers": The Title, 001's Inner Voice, and 002's "Science" · 4:34am Jan 3rd, 2019
As a follow-up to my most recent story, I thought I'd expand a bit on some aspects of the story that folks have been asking about. Join me after the break, won't you? 
Still here? Well, then let's get started!
1. Conceptualization
For a while, I've wanted to write a short anthology about Turing Test and her family. I tentatively called it "Siblings," in my head, but I hadn't come up with a particular reason for all the robots to come together. Then, as the holidays approached, it hit me: what better occasion for a family to come together than to celebrate a major holiday like Christmas Hearth's Warming!
I re-imagined the story as 2018's annual holiday special and then got to work putting it together. But calling it "Siblings" sounded generic and not, well, festive enough. Eventually, I figured something out. This leads me into the next topic...
2. What's with that title?
First, here's a funny story:
When my mother decided to read the story, she was grumbling while looking at her tablet. I said "Uh, Mom, what's wrong?"
"I can't figure out what's wrong, but the story isn't loading right for me. It keeps loading the chapters out of order."
I peeked over her shoulder. "Uh, what do you mean?"
"It starts with chapter 'Three,' then goes 'One,' and then 'Four!' I can't even find 'Two!'"
I stifled a chuckle. "Those are just the titles, Mom," I said. "They're not out of order; the first chapter is called 'Three.' The second is called 'One,' etc."
She blinked. "Oh, okay then. Well, I guess the site isn't glitching." She smiled. "That's a relief! So, why the weird titles?"
It occurs to me that others might not have figured out the answer to that question as well, though I believe many have.
When I was trying to think of a good title, I wanted something memorable but not cliched. I was originally thinking of "Everything's EVEN MERRIER With Robots!" as a nod to the first "Iron Horse" holiday story. I then considered calling it "Home For Hearth's Warming," but that sounded a little too ordinary.
Then I realized that each of the chapters, especially the early ones, were centered around one of the robots: Unit 003 (Turing Test), Unit 001, Unit 004... and then the title jumped out at me: name each chapter after the main character of it for a mathematical theme!
Thus we get:
- Three (Turing Test's story, aka Unit 003)
- One (Unit 001)
- Four (Unit 004)
- Eight (the sum of 1, 3, and 4, since this is when the three of them come together)
- Seven (because it's shared between Turing and 004)
- Minus One (Georgia Peach, since, due to her premature death, she's been "subtracted" from a gathering she'd normally love to be part of)
- Addition (the sum of the family coming together)
- Division (showing the separation of the one robot whose separated herself from the rest, 002 [note: I had originally wanted to call it "Two" or even "Negative Two" {because 002's a fairly negative person} but worried that it would spoil the surprise of her showing up])
Put it all together and you have a literal Hearth's Warming by the numbers. This is also intended as a joke because typically doing something "by the numbers" means going by the book and doing things in a very rote and mundane way, when, ironically, a Hearth's Warming among robots is anything but.
Speaking of unconventional robots...
3. An Explanation of 001's Inner Thoughts
Quite a few folks have commented on 001's inner monologues in her standalone chapter. For instance:
Huh. I had no idea 001 was so erudite inside her own head. Shame she can't express herself so clearly.
She doesn't seem to realize that she is not as clear as she think she is , which remind me of a disorder a once read about , but can't seem to remember.
Still proof that she is certainly not dumb.
Sounds like aphasia. Where you believe you're speaking clearly when it's actually all gibberish.
There's also a variant where you experience "I can't remember this common word, it's on the tip of my tongue" for basically 3/4 of every sentence.
001 is a precious, beautiful cinnamon roll, and I'm delighted to get a chapter from her perspective. She was my personal most beloved character from the main story. Her fluid transitions from ridiculous antics to genuinely affecting pathos and back again must have been tough to write, but I found it all very endearing.
Note: This is very sweet and yes, 001 can be tricky to get right to achieve a balance of silliness without making her into a complete joke.
And one more from >>JazzyWaffles
There were so many peaches before. The branches were once so laden with the fruit that they bent and drooped under their weight. The great machines piloted by our family’s workers swept through the lanes to harvest them by the thousands. Auntie would always save some to use in her recipes… but now they are gone. I cannot imagine why.
......001's inner thoughts? Holy shit. She's... she's actually incredibly articulate on the inside. And yet she's still an adorable cinnamon roll. God I love her.
Hm... note to self: find a way to make "cinnamon roll" 001's official nickname.
Well, it's really great that people have taken to 001. I was a bit worried when I first started writing her that people might find her a little too random or cutesy and just get annoyed, but it looks like most readers still find her an engaging character.
It's because of this that I wanted to try something different with this story and give them a look at what goes through her head. I've been wanting to try this for a long time, but figured this was an ideal time to do so.
Now, a lot of folks have compared 001 to a child with some form of mental disorder or something. Drider's comment in particular is a good descriptor for what is mostly going on with 001. Now, it's been said in the original story that 001 was basically a copy and paste job from Georgia Peach's original brain scan, but that it didn't seem to translate well into a functional brain. Later, an attempt was made via 002 to try and give some structure and order to her thoughts, and her current state is about as good as they could get. Future robots would have much more complex and intricate artificial brains, and that means that 001 simply isn't as smart as her other siblings.
However, I wanted this chapter to show that 001 is definitely not stupid. Childish and naive, perhaps, but not dumb. From her own perspective, her thoughts make perfect sense and she's not really aware of how odd she sounds to others, only that her words are sometimes seen as confusing. In contrast, she sometimes has trouble understanding what others tell her and figuring out things that others would take for granted (like the fact that sandwiches do not make good pie filling just because they are food, for example).
Still, I personally don't want to label 001 as having a particular disorder or even outright say that she is disabled. Rather, she's just a silly little robot who sees things a different way and doesn't mind if the world is a bit confusing and confused by her in turn. She's a sweet girl who really loves her friends and family and that's about all that matters.
Maybe someday she'll find a way to express herself more clearly, but consider the following: 001 is the only robot who seems to have direct compatibility with ancient technology, including the ability to perfectly understand Unit Zero (the golem) and the Tree of Harmony (er, before it could project itself in the shape of Shiny!Twilight in Season 8 to communicate). So, in her own way, her brain might simply be better at talking to other machines than it is at talking to regular ponies.
4. What kind of "science" has 002 been doing?
"By The Numbers" marks the first time we've seen 002 since she disappeared at the end of Everything's Better With Robots. I've been keeping her whereabouts a secret for a long time to build up some speculation about where she was and what, exactly, she's been doing. In this story, she only tells Turing that she's been doing "science." I don't intend to reveal too much here, but if you've made it this far, how about some insider info? 
As we can see at the end of "By The Numbers," 002 has been hard at work building herself a veritable army of drones, thus recreating the swarm she commanded back in TechQuestria. After leaving her family behind at the end of Better With Robots, she traveled back to TechQuestria and basically stole a lot of tech with the help of her remaining drones and sought out a new place far from nosy organics to construct her own research facility. Her first goal: build more drones, better than the ones she commanded before.
While I won't say where she is, exactly, let's just say she found a secluded spot that nopony had visited for a long time and decided to make herself at home. What sort of science is she doing there? Well...
To answer that, let's examine 002 as a character. For starters, some of her most defining traits are her resentment at the way she was treated and her bitter inferiority complex. She's the only robot to spend a prolonged amount of time as a slave, she thought of herself as being a successful creation after the failure that was 001 only to be cast aside when 003 and 004 were both built with far more strength and powerful abilities than she, and is unmistakably defined by her singular, glowing eye while all the other robots received two.
She's got a lot to prove to the world, as far as she's concerned. For starters, no one is pulling her strings, which means she's no longer a simple drone... she's the queen of her own hive. A hive of little machines that all bow to her will alone.
For her next phase, she's looking to go beyond the innovations TechQuestria managed to create. She wants to expand what can be done with technology, and that might just mean finding new ways to go beyond her own limitations. It's hard to guess what she's working on specifically, but suffice it to say, she's looking into ways to change the world - and possibly herself - in a way that will prove her superiority.
Once and for all.
"See you soon, meatbags..."
I wonder if 002 is going to build herself into an underground complex and begin begin running... tests... in the name of "science".
Cake anypony?
Thank you for sharing this. This was a wonderful insight into the story.
I actually basically understood the chapter titles even before I read it and I fully understood after I read it. I don't know if that says something about me...
As for your Unit 001 points, I hope my comment on your story made sense. I did not mean to imply in any way that she was dumb or not intelligent. I simply meant she has a disconnect between what happens on the inside and what happens on the outside, which is still a form of mental disability. There is nothing wrong with it, as she gets her ideas across clearly enough, and there is nothing wrong with being mentally different. In fact, like many mentally different people, she is better at some things and worse at others. In her case, communication with machines and older technologies vs communication with ponies.
Also, yes. You need a way to nickname her "Cinnamon Roll".
As for your Unit 002 points, I think they're solid.
Signing out, VShuffler42
4990345
Oh, I didn't think that at all! I was only saying that others (both some readers and other characters in the story's universe) might be tempted to see her as nothing more than a goofy simpleton, but that is just scratching the surface of her character. So don't worry about it.
4990341
002 is GLaDOS with a touch of Bender.
Heh, nice; thanks for the additional information. :)
4990346
That's wonderful news to me!
Just curious, what did you think of my ideas I shared in my comment on your story?
Also, I found out a way that you could officially nickname Unit 001 "Cinnamon Roll". Have her be baking with Auntie Bellum and then the comparison between the sweet and her personality. Simple as that. I'll let you figure the rest. (If you want to)
Singing out, VShuffler42
P.S. I saw those tags, I read those tags! And I laughed! If your subliminal messages were to make me follow you and read all your stories, then Haha! You're too late! I have already done so! They have no effect on me!!! HAhahaHahahaHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHA!!!!!!!!
One day another adventure story. We depend on you.
With her drone command ability, 002 Actually reminds me a little of the android Reese from Stargate SG1 (the one who originally created the Replicators, as a toy no less), only main difference being that her drones cannot self-replicate so it's not really likely 002's swarm would grow to large for her to control.