03

Nov 2016

Chapter 11: Page 15 - Holo-HAL Appears

Posted by / in Comic / 40 comments

Hmm, have any of my readers actually seen what this page is visually referencing? I certainly wasn’t born yet when the original was created XD

Advanced notice that in January we’ll be doing a short hiatus while Seba takes a much deserved vacation, so, I’ll be asking for fanfics, fanart, guest strips and the like, if any of you feel like contributing :)

  • Adriano

    I’d say Terminator but I’m not sure

  • The keypad that appears in front of her looks like an Ipod, but those aren’t 50 years old that I’m aware of.

    • Hornet

      Thanks, I usually don’t read the page titles. Course this means there are three dead men walking, they just don’t know it yet.

      • And after ALL the work I spend to come up with snappy titles. ;P

        Seconds and SECONDS, WASTED.

        • Hornet

          Sorry.

  • T.R.

    Well, looks like the higher-ups want the information badly enough that a tragic accident is allowd Definitely seems like M is the Senior Goon on this job. Wonder how quickly they can make it look like an accident?

    It’s possible they want to destroy the information on the Deathbots - I can’t discount the possibility that the current job comes from the group controlling the Deathbots. (The Deathbot that got the Kelleres in Chaps 2-3 disappeared, so someone is trying to keep Minerva from studying the wreckage)

  • T.R.

    Oh yeah! New month, new voting totals at TWC. Click the blue TWC banner above and vote daily! When I checked this morning, 2 more votes would jump us 10 places up in the rankings.

    • Delta-v

      Voted, both here and in the US election. One may have been more important, and one may have been more satisfying, but I’ll leave it to you guys to guess how I came down on those two statements. ^^

      • TWC voting is the only voting I want to hear about ;P

        • Delta-v

          Oh, darn, you guessed. :)

  • Matt [in Middletown]

    “I’m sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

    • T.R.

      Open the lab door, HAL. :)

  • T.R.

    Seba,

    I think panel 3 is fantastic. Great sense of menace and the perspective just works.

    • And hopefully the words are ok too ;)

      • T.R.

        They’re all right - they don’t detract from the artwork. :P

        • :P

          Although, really, in a comic, that’s high praise ;)

  • Oh, and I updated the site top menu. Thoughts?

    • T.R.

      Is it that the menu transitions are now fuzzy? That’s the only change that I’m noticing…

      • Nah I made some new sections, moved things around. The software behind it shouldn’t have changed.

    • Adriano

      it’s nice!

  • Forget HAL, I think it’s time we sic AM on these guys. Who’s with me?

    • No one deserves that. Plus, if they have no mouths, how can we hear them scream? ;)

    • Be careful what you wish for…

  • Amberlight

    It seems that the branch of Oculus those goons belong to really want to shoot themselves in the leg, figuratively speaking. Minerva is going to have a major setback on several fields of applied science without Angeline.

    • T.R.

      But what if they aren’t working on behalf of Oculus, but are working on behalf of the Conspiracy?

      I’ve previously speculated that N, M, and the Oculus VP were not part of the Conspiracy, since they didn’t have details on Tenzin’s new suit. But it may simply be that the Conspiracy needed more time to get that info, and decided that faster and more…direct…methods were worth the risk.

      They ones behind this operation definitely want something that would not be normally available to Oculus via summary reports. What do they want? (if it involves info on the Deathbots, do they want to collect or destroy that info? Or are they still trying for info on Tenzin’s suit?) And who’s pulling their strings? It may turn out that M and T are part of Aegis rather than Oculus, which would indicate that it’s not Oculus per se behind their actions.

      • Amberlight

        Still the Conspiracy are a part of Minerva. Setting back it’s technology would be a shot in the leg for them, ‘less they are agents of some completely external force.

        • T.R.

          I expect that even an external entity would want access to the technology. But their thinking could be that a diminished Minerva under their control is preferable to a fully-staffed, independent Minerva.

          Also, the Conspriacy may see work like Angeline’s as tangential to their long-term goals. We have no details on their agenda. (maybe a little, if the Okane faction from Essence of Nightshade is involved)

          Of course, the Goon Squad may be on a course to fall out of the running for “Goons of the Year” if their bosses disapprove of harm to a highly productive researcher like Angeline.

  • Delta-v

    Isn’t it about time for a certain overeager, augmented puppy to show up? Perhaps Hal could steer him to a useful position. :)

    Rick/Randy Ex Machina. ^^

    • T.R.

      He’d best be careful. M strikes me as a guy who’s *quite* competent with using his weapon. IIRC, Randy’s just wearing a strength exoskeleton - probably not designed for protecting the wearer from projectiles. Plus, I think N has a grudge to settle.

      I wonder if Jane will notice what’s going on. She has significant autonomy, and her core matrix is in Tenzin’s suit - so she’s probably not affected by whatever is restricting the others.

      And what will Lilly do if Hal was cut off mid-sentence of the story? Will she head down to the lab looking for Angeline?

      • Such interesting theories. And the assumptiosn that presupose them ;)

  • Ian Brown

    and now its time for the mech stampede, courtesy of tenzin and the mechanic (Whom;s name is constantly revised by the fans)

    • Adriano

      You mean Randy?

  • T.R.

    Dan, will the January hiatus line up with a chapter break? Or is Seva going on (a well deserved) summer vacation while we’re in the middle of the action?

    Suggestion: We all recommend one other comic that we’re following that we think is interesting. It could keep things happening here during the break. And if you can get another Nightshade story, that would be sweet, too. :)

    • Yeah it’ll be over a chapter break, pretty sure.

      I’ll have to see on a Nightshade story, see how the author for them is doing time wise ;)

    • And RE your comic recommendation idea, I DO have the “Why I Read” webcomic review section of the blog, that is basically expressly for that purpose :)

      • T.R.

        If I have that page right (Blogs | Comics Spotlight?), it looks like your recommendations. I was thinking of the community making recommendations on a peer basis. (Or is that page somewhere in the forums?) We all read DA, so we all have excellent taste, so we’d be interested in knowing what else others like to read. (except for Matt - I’m not sure I want to know what else he reads. :) )

  • reynard61

    I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey a couple of years after it first came out. It wasn’t until I saw 2010: The Year We Make Contact that I finally figured out what it was about. (Gimme a break! I was only 8 or 9 when I saw it!)

  • Honza Prchal

    Two observations:
    1. One never says, out loud, that a captive is headed for “an accident”. It removes the incentive to comply, especially if the captive is more rational than emotional.
    2. The ipod looking holo also looks like a video-game controller … you know, like a remote first person shooter control or heavy machinery control of some kind? Welcome to virtual Pong with real heavy machinery, namelessly threatening goons …

  • RTM

    Oh for f***s sake Sunglasses…