Ooh, I was wondering if the "Kali: Send a team to do mean things!" uttered by pre-toast Decimus happened or not.
So we've got a team of Cassians + agents that never received a stand down order. Or Acantha is secretly a ventriloquist and is about to demand a bathrobe.
I am honestly kind of surprised she bothered even trying that one on. Would it's brevity not have been fairly apparent even on the "hanger" (or whatever monstrosity such a tiny thing would be kept upon)?
Who CAN give her orders? That should be a VERY VERY short list.
If Joe Randomperson walked up and said "Directive - blah blah blah", I'd give it 50/50 odds that she did the Noctic equivalent of laughing in his face, with the rest being instant execution.
So, this is somebody with some authority, which means someone from Nova Roma. She would recognize Max's voice... who else has the authority to give directives to the ranking Cassian?!?
Even more: Who can give her orders,in a voice she does not recognize? Without first having their bona fides questioned and verified. That might argue for a delayed upload, ala 'Liberrtatem'. Or not. Guess we have to wait and see. Maybe it is a member of the secret cyberpath underground here to recruit her to their cause?
Since it doesn't seem as though Cella, nor any of the others can hear it, it might also be logical to surmise that it is coming through a (Nova Roman?) (Cassian?) comm channel. At the point where she says "Who -", all she has heard is her name, so I can't be sure she doesn't or won't recognize the voice, and I don't see how any order can be valid if she can't ascertain the source. It could be followed by "If you want no harm to come to Acantha. . ."
What you've got here is a white speech balloon using the font normally indicating human speech, communicating directly with Noctis and apparently silently. Without being heard by either of the actual humans present (meaning not audio) and without being heard by Cella (meaning not ultrasonic android-talk and not any of the bands normally used by androids).
What remains? A human able to communicate with, and give commands to, Noctis by some channel other than those. Some channel that isn't normally even monitored by androids.
What does that sound like to you? I'm seeing only one possible answer. And the Princess' bodyguard seems like the highest-priority or highest-potential-payoff target to arrive in New Troy in a long time, so this might be the time a cyberpath picks to try an attack they've never dared try before.
i have to agree with you. prolly a cyberpather..
but what most DON'T know... her deep rooted fear / loathing of pathers.!!! that's gonna give her a bonus to resist .. at least get a warning out...
an IF wen all said an dun.. an she is still functional ..no one is gonna stop her,, not even Centcom.!
It may be noteworthy that Aeneas seems to be the only non-biological who speaks with a white word balloon, has a voice Noctis may not immediately recognize, and may have 'Directive' authority over the Cassians
I was thnking it might be Aeneas myself, but whomever it may be, it seems to have been triggered by the New Troy ID chip with Acantha's financial information tied to it.
My wife confirms purple. sorry for the confusion. ... Note to artist: about 10% of men are somewhat color blind. That purple is black to my eyes. I love your work but low contrast color change are beyond me.
I'm going to categorically state that that speech bubble is bordered in the color black. I turned up the brightness on my monitor until it's nearly washed out, and there is not a trace of purple there.
So whos giving Noctis orders ? is it centcom, rose, Aeneas or her worst nightmare ? and what will these orders be ? but on a more important note will we get a better look at that cute little nothing Acanthe is wearing ?
I agree, It's really confusing having more than one people talking with the same colour and the same font...
When heard, you almost always know how talks... I personally don't like this confusion. some author likes it, I don't.
Who is giving Noctis these orders? This is ominous indeed. Some kind of surreptitious communication? It's worrisome, especially given Acantha's remarks to Cella.
It seems Acantha has a more mature sense of style than Lynn does. :D
Minor nitpick: It looks like some of the image is left in the border between panel 3 and panel 5. Panel 3 doesn't extend all the way over it?
If they weren't thinking of it before, now that we're all fixated on who is giving Noctis orders, they are sure to turn this into a major cliffhanger and switch scenes.
Noctis's thought in these scenes . that garment is inadequate protection for my charge. And then i do not run amok I merely creatively solve problems with extreme prejudice... There is a difference.
Centcom mentioned a leak when discussing why Lynn was kidnapped,http://datachasers.thecomicseries.com/comics/983
so who ever that was is still out there. If they could get info from Cent and not be detected, and have ties to New Rome, they would have any information they wanted about Cassians.
I am beginning to think Decimus was just a pawn and thing are about to get much more interesting.
There is also the issue of the rogue(?) combat drone wandering around in the New Rome 'sphere of influence' doing it's business. From where? How many more? Who released it. Why?
So we've got a team of Cassians + agents that never received a stand down order. Or Acantha is secretly a ventriloquist and is about to demand a bathrobe.
Unless that's Tokyo Rose butting in, this is REALLY bad. But... if it IS Tokyo Rose butting in... this is REALLY, REALLY bad.
Conclusion: This is bad. REALLY bad.
If Joe Randomperson walked up and said "Directive - blah blah blah", I'd give it 50/50 odds that she did the Noctic equivalent of laughing in his face, with the rest being instant execution.
So, this is somebody with some authority, which means someone from Nova Roma. She would recognize Max's voice... who else has the authority to give directives to the ranking Cassian?!?
The thought of a cyberpath is scary? Maybe their control can’t control her but can control the inhibitor by activating the authorised system?
{edit}
Or she was asked by Centcomm to see if the inhibitor posed a security threat?
What you've got here is a white speech balloon using the font normally indicating human speech, communicating directly with Noctis and apparently silently. Without being heard by either of the actual humans present (meaning not audio) and without being heard by Cella (meaning not ultrasonic android-talk and not any of the bands normally used by androids).
What remains? A human able to communicate with, and give commands to, Noctis by some channel other than those. Some channel that isn't normally even monitored by androids.
What does that sound like to you? I'm seeing only one possible answer. And the Princess' bodyguard seems like the highest-priority or highest-potential-payoff target to arrive in New Troy in a long time, so this might be the time a cyberpath picks to try an attack they've never dared try before.
but what most DON'T know... her deep rooted fear / loathing of pathers.!!! that's gonna give her a bonus to resist .. at least get a warning out...
an IF wen all said an dun.. an she is still functional ..no one is gonna stop her,, not even Centcom.!
When heard, you almost always know how talks... I personally don't like this confusion. some author likes it, I don't.
It seems Acantha has a more mature sense of style than Lynn does. :D
Minor nitpick: It looks like some of the image is left in the border between panel 3 and panel 5. Panel 3 doesn't extend all the way over it?
Re: A/N 2, that's indeed great news! Grats!
He is currently indisposed.
would they?
(did I miss anything?) XD
I think you summed them up quite well.
If they weren't thinking of it before, now that we're all fixated on who is giving Noctis orders, they are sure to turn this into a major cliffhanger and switch scenes.
...and as soon as Noctis has the official bodyguard status she gets mysterious orders??? :o
...I just hope no (permanent) harm comes to Noctis, Acantha and Lynn...
...or maybe midgets?
DOOOMED! 😨
(I hate when that happens)
so who ever that was is still out there. If they could get info from Cent and not be detected, and have ties to New Rome, they would have any information they wanted about Cassians.
I am beginning to think Decimus was just a pawn and thing are about to get much more interesting.