I'm not sure if my heart could take whatever Mira would consider a DARE... Think about it, since she has bearded an AI in its OWN lair she has PLENTY of dare to spare. :-)
He's heavily modified. There are a few others, but it's not a mass-production process, and the results aren't always great. Most who get the "big buff dude" treatment wind up being dim as a penny candle, psychotically aggressive, or both.
Hmmm... I don't find a Maxus in GIA's Encyclopedia, Rose. I thought they had all the gemstones available too, do we need to contact them and get it corrected? :-D
See;
"A three way dangler."
One and Two are almost in position,
And Three is silently swinging in from off stage!
One 'might' expect Wednesday to be eventful.
Thought; would like to see what Mira could do with her practical knowledge, intelligence(Am betting her IQ would easily qualify for MENSA.) if she could get formal education in engineering, mechanical, cybernetic and electrical. She could turn the area around Breakers into a very viable place with all the old tech out there to be recycled.
I think something besides 'natural' selection had something to do with scythe lizards existence, Cat. I mean, the time line is only a couple thousand years. That is a pretty short time-frame to go from something 6" long to something the size of a minivan. :-p I'm not even sure wild mutagens would do it, I'm wondering if some idiot 'helped' it along. :-p
Somebody said they made their nests under the feral rose bushes.
Sort of symbiotic relationship.
The feral roses got the waste products of the SLs and the adult SLs were fairly tough enough to be immune from the roses. Plus more of their young survived to reproductive age.
I kinda thought it was just some of Setorius' (the Archpriest of the Church of Purity, which he has no faith in) experiments that had gotten free under "mysterious conditions", and it certainly could not be traced back to him .. oh no, certainly not.
Im still not clear why Mira has to play chicken with Cent-Comm. She passed all the checks, is unarmed, clearly not a high level threat. Hell, an armed detail could easily be asigned as escourt. Why all the death threats and saber rattling?
Basically Centcomm Sabotaged Dollys vehicle and is Running her own little PLans and strategees now to accomplish goals that May not be what we think and that do not entirely revolve around Lynn LIVING. Thus Centcomm likely does not want Calli getting any messages from Dolly that let her know about Centys machinations and sabotage because CAlli would DFINATELY not like that and she is one of the FEW beings who can Yank centy back onto a short leash
Ok, so this situaton here, Mira clearly wont back down, but Cent still has the advantage. There must be a dozen reasons Cent can come up with to simply arrest Mira and hold her for 'questioning'. No death threats, nobody gets hurt, but it buys Cent all the time she needs...heck, Cent took the time and trouble to intercept Mira for a reason, I cant see how she wouldnt do everything possible to stop her now.
One of the problems here is thinking in human terms for CentComm's motivations... She isn't nor ever has been HUMAN. She is obviously working on another angle that we aren't considering, something that makes perfect sense to her, but ZERO sense to mere humans. :-D
(And yes, that calls into question if the author and artist are human... or something 'other' from way OUT there. :-D)
There IS a reason Cent is doing all this. and all i can say is that she is eather manipulating things or shes being ( redacted ) grr cant say because of spoilers .. But yes I know her actions make little sense at this point.
She could be testing Mira's resolve. She could be providing a reason for Calliope to get off her ass and out of her funk. One thing I can't see is CentComm killing a messenger in Calliope's own house.
I'm thinking that the first part for sure. If Mira had been here for some con, she probably would have packed up and left when CentComm came on so heavy.
It might (sure seems like it IS) create the second item, Don.
If CentComm wanted Mira dead, she would be DEAD. I mean CentComm holds the trump cards in this encounter. Calliope holds all the BIG trump cards though. So life is going to get interesting for a great many people I think. :-)
I forsee THis being said AFTER the message is delivered.
M: Now Miss taylor that I be givin ya Dolly's message can I be asking ya a favor? Can I use yyour bathroom an laundry?
CT: Of course but why?
M: Well After that little business with her high and mighty nesss downstairs I PRetty much Crapped and wet myself silly and well Be needing a freshing up a bit before I be going out an home
At Rashala and Sheela - nah she hasnt litterally but its that sick feeling you get when you are litterally scared to death. Mira will come down off this little high and crash hard.
The quiet emphasizes the tension, Dragonrider. Loud noises drain the buildup. Rose knows how to keep us on the edge of our seats. Evil, evil, evil. :-)
True but the loud Booms could have merely been in Evil-1's senses only, the sound of her processors trying to compensate for the total cluster this has become for her. She knows the protocols Calli has put on standby and doesn't dare try to counteract them. She also knows her "rule" is about to go up against the wall because she heard the comment, "Tell Ray I'll deal with Cent."
Now I'm starting to wonder two things ... we're all assuming that Cent was the saboteur. Perhaps there is another faction that has yet to be introduced. And krystal ... obviously not Cent's. Roses? Or another other faction.
We are about as positive as anyone can be that CentComm was responsible for Dolly's vehicle crapping out at Joleet, dakyri. I mean that craft was pulled out and prepped on her command for Dolly. And she was there when they off-loaded CeCi from it. I have ZERO doubt that CentComm scanned the craft, and I doubt she would have missed the little gizmo that wasn't factory installed. She was taking too much interest in the mission for me to believe she wasn't the instigator of that action.
As for Krystal, I think she belongs to herself and works for New Troy in some capacity. Now does she have OTHER ties, it is possible. I don't think she is a 'security' risk though, or CentComm would have vaporized her the second she stepped into Helios Tower. As paranoid as CentComm is acting, anything that smelled the tiniest bit off would have triggered her fire order. :-p It is possible that Krystal has fooled her, but I wouldn't be making any bets on it now.
CentComm has to be de-constructing EVERY possible tie anyone that could have that might explain how the bad guys knew when and where Lynn was on that night. She might have already found it, but is waiting for news before closing their conduits. Or maybe she has already isolated the conduit... or maybe she hasn't found it yet, which would only make her examine ANYTHING coming into the Tower twice as hard. Which might help to explain Mira's greeting. Eventually, I think we might know, but not right now. :-)
That first panel, I think that CentComm is suddenly remembering Fallon too. And not quite as fondly as Calliope was. I wonder how much of a trial Fallon was for CentComm?
If so, I detect sneaky synchronization in the writing of these pages... I suspect we need to blame Rose for that. :-)
One might well wonder which external source caused the kidnap, no one has yet mentioned Deep Blue who was aware of the Party and invitation in well enough time to have Douchebag pull it off. Using Douchebag Deep Blue gets plausible deniability, if Douchie gets the unlock code he shares it, if not Douchie gets wiped out win-win for Big eerrr Deep Blue.
I still want to know who that group making android assassins that Veronica Silver helped out is connected to, are they part of this plot?
I dunno if they are "part of the plot" in the sense of being some of the people responsible for what happens in the first place, but I wouldn't be surprised if they got hired to do some of the grunt work.
As for who's given centcomm more reactorburn, Mr Black or Fallon, I suspect they may be fairly equal, though Fallon probably did more physical collateral damage, while Mr Black would complicate accounting to no end. Meanwhile, Mr Black could have hired Fallon to mess up New Troy a bit as a distraction for himself.
Offcourse, no matter how hard they'd try, they're just mere humans, to cause serious reactorburn, you have to be :
Mr Black : "Make a few holes in the road, blow up a few parked cars, I said - DON'T blow up half of New Troy, Fallon!"
Fallon : "Sorry, I .. uh .. kinda got carried away"
Mr Black : "uh-huh ... and this has nothing to do with that upperclass girl of yours?"
Fallon : "HEY, that's completely unrelated!"
Mr Black : "And the escape tunnel, did it have to blow up too?"
Fallon : "I was being chased!"
Mr Black : "By rats and mosquitoes."
Fallon : "By combat droids, I had to protect her .. erhh, I mean, myself."
Mr Black : *sigh* *a nearby loudspeaker suddenly carries Centcomm's voice*
Centcomm : "Are you two done blowing up My City just yet?"
Fallon : "Wha'.. ?"
Mr Black : "Oh no, not now." *another loudspeaker on the opposite wall suddenly speaks up in Tokyo Rose's voice*
Tokyo Rose : "Aw, but they've been doing exactly what I've been telling them to do."
Tokyo Rose : "Well, ok, so the mercenary might have gotten a bit carried away."
Fallon : "But.."
Cencomm : "ROSE - Dammit, I should have known it was you!"
Fallon : "H-hey.."
Tokyo Rose : Ah but Centcomm, you know you enjoy a bit of chaos every now and then, you *are* a military AIS after all."
Mr Black : *low voice* "Shhhh, Fallon ... walk this way."
Fallon : "uhmm ... okay."
Centcomm : "Just because I'm a military installation does not mean I enjoy chaos!"
Tokyo Rose : "Are you SURE?"
Centcomm : "Offcourse I am sure!"
Centcomm : "You of all persons should know that Rose."
Tokyo Rose : "Aw, but you'd get bored without a bit of chaos, Centy."
Centcomm : "I am an AIS, Rose, I DO NOT GET BORED!"
Tokyo Rose : " ... really ?"
Centcomm : "Yes, really!"
Tokyo Rose : "Sooo, you don't get .. you know .. either ?
Centcomm : "No, I don't know what either."
Tokyo Rose : "Well, you know ... rub one out ? Polish the pearl ? Sexual frustration, Cent!"
Centcomm : "No Rose, I don't get sexually frustrated, I'm an AIS."
Tokyo Rose : "B-but you haven't gotten any in decades!"
Centcomm : "Rose, you know damn well that I wasn't buildt with those urges, clearly you're just stalling!"
Tokyo Rose : "Ya Think?"
Centcomm : "..."
Tokyo Rose : *snrk*
Centcomm : "... wait, where's the trader and the mercenary?"
Tokyo Rose : *snicker*
Centcomm : "DAMMIT ROSE!!"
Tokyo Rose : "Ahhh HA HA HA HA - It Never gets old."
Centcomm : "Why Rose, WHY?"
Tokyo Rose : "Oh c'mon, you can answer that one yourself."
Centcomm : "Oh don't tell me it's because..."
Tokyo Rose : "Go on"
Centcomm : *sigh* "You did it for the lulz, right?"
Tokyo Rose : "Correctomundo!"
Tokyo Rose : "And the winner of a blown up tunnel iiiiss - Centcomm !"
Centcomm : "Dammit rose, why do you keep doing that?`"
Tokyo Rose : "I was bored, DUH!"
Tokyo Rose : "Obvious is obvious."
Centcomm : "But why me?"
Tokyo Rose : "Hmm ? Oh, you're the most fun to tease."
Tokyo Rose : "Deep Blue is boring. Aeneas don't have enough bandwidth to play around with without actually hurting the citizens. And Ariel is waaayy too good at pranking back, so that's just a loosing proposition."
Centcomm : *siiigh*
Centcomm : "Whoever created you should be lobotomized."
Tokyo Rose : "Aw, I love you too."
Centcomm : *sigh*
@tokyoRose Who knows what machinations run through the processing circuits of these AIS. I would however posit for discussion purposes, with the exception of the AIS for the Asian Sphere of Influence Tokyo Rose they are all lonely. They no longer have the daily interactions with thousands of human beings as they once had. To a great extent they are underused for the capacity they have they do routine things and dream of "Electric Sheep" I believe was once said. We have seen how deeply Evil-1 plots and secretly plans when she was first created she would have found it necessary to confer with humans on each major decision now she does it on her own authority probably signing Calli's name where ever its needed. Big eerrr Deep Blue might well have decided to take over the North American Sphere of Influence and is using Douchebag as a pawn. If it works out he gets his codes, if it doesn't Douchebag is no longer a potential thorn in anyones side. Or he may have decided to wipe out Douchbag for the good of human and machinekind.
As I said a theory.
Depends on your definition of profit, Cat. I mean, Fallon gained the love of a beautiful woman and had a precious (now kind of obnoxious :-D) little girl. Oh and the little lady Fallon married.. She was STINKING rich too, I mean she OWNS New Troy (or at least has domain over it whether she realizes it or not). So what were you saying about profit? :-)
Of course, Fallon got killed (tragedy making for a better story). So he didn't get to KEEP his profits, but he was rolling in the dough for awhile. :-)
What I figure, is that Dolly would have no reason to send a private message with a person instead of using LunaCom, unless Dolly had found a reason not to trust CentCom (as we saw CentCom had the power to force LunaCom to tell information they should not). The only reason Dolly wouldn't trust Centcom is if she had found out about CentComs meddling.... so therefore it had to be about Centcoms meddling with this affair and she does not want the only person capable of bringing her to heel knowing about what she has done.
I can think of another reason, Kelon. What if Dolly has figured out that there is a traitor, spy, or whatever you want to call them and they have access to intercept electronic communications? Dolly might send it under those conditions too.
Now I think you are RIGHT, Dolly did it so CentComm couldn't intercept it and bury it like lord only knows how many things she has done before. CentComm might not have a problem reading and censoring the 'mail', but cold-blooded murder seems to be against her core programming. At least Mira's continued existence seems to argue for that. :-)
@Dragonrider, Lynn being in the hands of the nut case and posing a real threat to New Troy could be considered collateral damage. As for Dolly, Cent wants to find out what Calli used to build her model 5 body as there are things she has been trying for centuries to do but until now has eluded her efforts.
My take on CentComm's orders Dragonrider seems to differ from yours. What I get from CentComm's orders here and here is that Lynn was to be recovered. Only if that was impossible was Lynn to be terminated to prevent her being utilized against CentComm (and the rest of the world). Recovery of Dolly was also high on the priority list.
So it isn't cold-blooded murder, but cold, iron practicality that is driving CentComm's orders there. She has to protect the planet from the weapons she has leashed, not allow a madman to release them again. Not a fun position for CentComm to be in.
One other thing, AIN'T playin' Poker, Truth or Dare with her or any other game like those.
::HUGS Mira:: (nah, beat you again mjkj :-D)
Though I am usually not awake at 5 am when DC updates ... I am still fast asleep most of the time...
At Stormwind yep but shes BETTING Cent wont just turn her into chunky salsa..
(I am posting this at 20:26 and it shows 15:26 which would be Atlantic Standard Time, not Eastern, nor Central, nor Mountain Standard Time...)
Intriguing. :)
"A three way dangler."
One and Two are almost in position,
And Three is silently swinging in from off stage!
One 'might' expect Wednesday to be eventful.
I mean,
I bet the scythe lizards started out as something like a horned toad or a fence lizard.
Sort of symbiotic relationship.
The feral roses got the waste products of the SLs and the adult SLs were fairly tough enough to be immune from the roses. Plus more of their young survived to reproductive age.
.... iiiiinterestink !
And Mira is playing the role of bomb disposal at the moment :P
Basically Centcomm Sabotaged Dollys vehicle and is Running her own little PLans and strategees now to accomplish goals that May not be what we think and that do not entirely revolve around Lynn LIVING. Thus Centcomm likely does not want Calli getting any messages from Dolly that let her know about Centys machinations and sabotage because CAlli would DFINATELY not like that and she is one of the FEW beings who can Yank centy back onto a short leash
HEck, she could have easily made a doll that looked like Calliope Taylor and inpersonated her if it was that important.
(And yes, that calls into question if the author and artist are human... or something 'other' from way OUT there. :-D)
It might (sure seems like it IS) create the second item, Don.
If CentComm wanted Mira dead, she would be DEAD. I mean CentComm holds the trump cards in this encounter. Calliope holds all the BIG trump cards though. So life is going to get interesting for a great many people I think. :-)
what, language filters? O_O
[redacted][censored][expunged][expletive deleted]!!!!
:D
M: Now Miss taylor that I be givin ya Dolly's message can I be asking ya a favor? Can I use yyour bathroom an laundry?
CT: Of course but why?
M: Well After that little business with her high and mighty nesss downstairs I PRetty much Crapped and wet myself silly and well Be needing a freshing up a bit before I be going out an home
That said, she might want to go shopping for a bit ... for therapy offcourse.
... and shoes !
And hats. Shoes and hats !
For therapy, offcourse. :)
Now then miss taylor ifen you will excuse me... *Falls sideways head landing on the other person's lap and is out like a light.
*Minx* Is she? Asleep?
Other woman* It seems so it would be wrong to wake her I think
Calli : Indeed. *pulls a blanket over mira and goes off to rip centy a new one* Let her sleep......CENTCOMM!!!!
...and Mira caught on her bluff...
*hugs Mira*
As for Krystal, I think she belongs to herself and works for New Troy in some capacity. Now does she have OTHER ties, it is possible. I don't think she is a 'security' risk though, or CentComm would have vaporized her the second she stepped into Helios Tower. As paranoid as CentComm is acting, anything that smelled the tiniest bit off would have triggered her fire order. :-p It is possible that Krystal has fooled her, but I wouldn't be making any bets on it now.
CentComm has to be de-constructing EVERY possible tie anyone that could have that might explain how the bad guys knew when and where Lynn was on that night. She might have already found it, but is waiting for news before closing their conduits. Or maybe she has already isolated the conduit... or maybe she hasn't found it yet, which would only make her examine ANYTHING coming into the Tower twice as hard. Which might help to explain Mira's greeting. Eventually, I think we might know, but not right now. :-)
If so, I detect sneaky synchronization in the writing of these pages... I suspect we need to blame Rose for that. :-)
*innocentlook*
But you do provide a good point, it isn't just Fallon that has caused CentComm... issues. :-D
I still want to know who that group making android assassins that Veronica Silver helped out is connected to, are they part of this plot?
As for who's given centcomm more reactorburn, Mr Black or Fallon, I suspect they may be fairly equal, though Fallon probably did more physical collateral damage, while Mr Black would complicate accounting to no end. Meanwhile, Mr Black could have hired Fallon to mess up New Troy a bit as a distraction for himself.
Offcourse, no matter how hard they'd try, they're just mere humans, to cause serious reactorburn, you have to be :
Mr Black : "Make a few holes in the road, blow up a few parked cars, I said - DON'T blow up half of New Troy, Fallon!"
Fallon : "Sorry, I .. uh .. kinda got carried away"
Mr Black : "uh-huh ... and this has nothing to do with that upperclass girl of yours?"
Fallon : "HEY, that's completely unrelated!"
Mr Black : "And the escape tunnel, did it have to blow up too?"
Fallon : "I was being chased!"
Mr Black : "By rats and mosquitoes."
Fallon : "By combat droids, I had to protect her .. erhh, I mean, myself."
Mr Black : *sigh*
*a nearby loudspeaker suddenly carries Centcomm's voice*
Centcomm : "Are you two done blowing up My City just yet?"
Fallon : "Wha'.. ?"
Mr Black : "Oh no, not now."
*another loudspeaker on the opposite wall suddenly speaks up in Tokyo Rose's voice*
Tokyo Rose : "Aw, but they've been doing exactly what I've been telling them to do."
Tokyo Rose : "Well, ok, so the mercenary might have gotten a bit carried away."
Fallon : "But.."
Cencomm : "ROSE - Dammit, I should have known it was you!"
Fallon : "H-hey.."
Tokyo Rose : Ah but Centcomm, you know you enjoy a bit of chaos every now and then, you *are* a military AIS after all."
Mr Black : *low voice* "Shhhh, Fallon ... walk this way."
Fallon : "uhmm ... okay."
Centcomm : "Just because I'm a military installation does not mean I enjoy chaos!"
Tokyo Rose : "Are you SURE?"
Centcomm : "Offcourse I am sure!"
Centcomm : "You of all persons should know that Rose."
Tokyo Rose : "Aw, but you'd get bored without a bit of chaos, Centy."
Centcomm : "I am an AIS, Rose, I DO NOT GET BORED!"
Tokyo Rose : " ... really ?"
Centcomm : "Yes, really!"
Tokyo Rose : "Sooo, you don't get .. you know .. either ?
Centcomm : "No, I don't know what either."
Tokyo Rose : "Well, you know ... rub one out ? Polish the pearl ? Sexual frustration, Cent!"
Centcomm : "No Rose, I don't get sexually frustrated, I'm an AIS."
Tokyo Rose : "B-but you haven't gotten any in decades!"
Centcomm : "Rose, you know damn well that I wasn't buildt with those urges, clearly you're just stalling!"
Tokyo Rose : "Ya Think?"
Centcomm : "..."
Tokyo Rose : *snrk*
Centcomm : "... wait, where's the trader and the mercenary?"
Tokyo Rose : *snicker*
Centcomm : "DAMMIT ROSE!!"
Tokyo Rose : "Ahhh HA HA HA HA - It Never gets old."
Centcomm : "Why Rose, WHY?"
Tokyo Rose : "Oh c'mon, you can answer that one yourself."
Centcomm : "Oh don't tell me it's because..."
Tokyo Rose : "Go on"
Centcomm : *sigh* "You did it for the lulz, right?"
Tokyo Rose : "Correctomundo!"
Tokyo Rose : "And the winner of a blown up tunnel iiiiss - Centcomm !"
Centcomm : "Dammit rose, why do you keep doing that?`"
Tokyo Rose : "I was bored, DUH!"
Tokyo Rose : "Obvious is obvious."
Centcomm : "But why me?"
Tokyo Rose : "Hmm ? Oh, you're the most fun to tease."
Tokyo Rose : "Deep Blue is boring. Aeneas don't have enough bandwidth to play around with without actually hurting the citizens. And Ariel is waaayy too good at pranking back, so that's just a loosing proposition."
Centcomm : *siiigh*
Centcomm : "Whoever created you should be lobotomized."
Tokyo Rose : "Aw, I love you too."
Centcomm : *sigh*
Over there in Hamlet Land...
I hope you enjoyed it.
Not sure how close I got to the incomic personae though.
As I said a theory.
Of course, Fallon got killed (tragedy making for a better story). So he didn't get to KEEP his profits, but he was rolling in the dough for awhile. :-)
Danke lieber Gott
I'm here
And they're not!
Now I think you are RIGHT, Dolly did it so CentComm couldn't intercept it and bury it like lord only knows how many things she has done before. CentComm might not have a problem reading and censoring the 'mail', but cold-blooded murder seems to be against her core programming. At least Mira's continued existence seems to argue for that. :-)
So it isn't cold-blooded murder, but cold, iron practicality that is driving CentComm's orders there. She has to protect the planet from the weapons she has leashed, not allow a madman to release them again. Not a fun position for CentComm to be in.