# Willy and Dolly 101, strip 4 of 4: "How to Read Us"

**Panel 1.** Willy sets a cup down on a little table, and a tally mark appears beside him.
- Dolly, to the reader: "Willy's marks count the jobs he's done."

**Panel 2.** Dolly, with a short trail of dots behind her.
- Dolly: "My trail of dots shows how sure I am." A pause.
- John types: "whats 2 + 2"
- Dolly: "Four." Her trail is gone: she's certain.

**Panel 3.** Both answer at once. Dolly's trail has grown long. Willy puffs up, sure of himself, and a second tally mark appears.
- John types: "will it rain today"
- Dolly: "Maybe..."
- Willy: "No rain!"

**Panel 4.** Raindrops fall down the side of the panel. Willy has deflated a little. Dolly's trail is still long.
- John types: "its raining"
- Dolly, to the reader: "He's always sure. That's not the same as right."

**The idea:** how to read the two of them. Willy's marks count jobs, and Dolly's dots show doubt. Sounding sure isn't the same as being right.

**Who's who.** Willy is a red teardrop who jumps right in; when he finishes a job, a tally mark appears beside him. Dolly is a mustard-yellow ring who asks first; a trail of dots follows her, longer when she's unsure and gone when she's certain. They're bots: helpers that live inside the computer. John, the human, is never drawn. His typed messages slide in from the edge of the panel, with a little cursor at the end.

The strip as an image: https://willyanddolly.com/strips/wd029.png
All four strips and the short: https://willyanddolly.com/