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Dr. Bernadette Case

0 (0%)

Practicing medicine is fun and all

0 (0%)

Compared to LASERS? No Contest.

1 (2.3%)

This is my room!

0 (0%)

It's really, uh, minimal.

0 (0%)

Spend days adjusting bedsheets, curtains...

0 (0%)

And those were my FUNCTIONAL days.

0 (0%)

Wanna see pictures? I have a photo album!

1 (2.3%)

Dad? Dad? Hellooooo!

1 (2.3%)

Doctor John Ellicott-Chatham

7 (15.9%)

Not sure since the divorce.

1 (2.3%)

Can't rely on the AI for everything

1 (2.3%)

Lt. Potter's room

1 (2.3%)

"Friggin' A-hole AI..."

1 (2.3%)

AIM HIGH or ELSE

1 (2.3%)

I wanted to apologize...

0 (0%)

The doc's kid put you up to this.

0 (0%)

Some apology. Why don't you go fu-

0 (0%)

.76% of Ellicott-Chatham Technologies.

1 (2.3%)

Holdings worth US$4.6 million.

6 (13.6%)

Blink once/blink twice...

13 (29.5%)

Read it in an Alastair Reynolds novel.

0 (0%)

Ms. Farmer? Our head of security would like to have a word with you.

4 (9.1%)

Just come along quietly, Ms. Farmer.

3 (6.8%)

Wait, where'd Marigold go?

0 (0%)

Looking for the ladies' room.

2 (4.5%)

Total Members Voted: 41

[DSL]

The concept of someone, AI or meatware, who is both rich enough and devious enough to destroy someone simply by giving them a lot of money ... it boggles.

[jwhouk]

Without reading other responses, here's my take:

• I suspect Station has the big $ because the "Big Cheese" on the station (namely, John Ellicott) trademarked/patented the iDoru humanoid APC's that are now for sale - and, like a certain other computer company's stock went through the roof when it introduced a certain product that started the "iEverything" revolution.
• I love the "AIM HIGH OR ELSE" poster. She's definitely NOT the serious AF lifer. I like that.
• It appears our Lieutenant was wearing a flight-suit, not a full-fledged uniform. If memory serves, I believe they are pretty devoid of rank markings or anything of that kind. The beret was just a little off, but that's minor in the scheme of things.
• Hopefully I'm not the first to notice this: the Lieutenant looks a lot like a Georgia Peach we all know and love. And given what we know about how Jeph draws people (Faye is his template), if he's intentionally drawing her to look like Faye... well, I'll leave it with the famous quote, "Fasten your seat belts. It's going to be a bumpy night."

[St.Clair]

I'm reminded of a scene in Bicentennial Man where it's revealed that Andrew actually has an income and/or net worth higher than the CEO of the company that built him.

[SomeCanadianWeirdo]

LOVE the hairsplosion.

Art speculation:  That little photo to the right of Lt. Potter's calendar -- a younger Sam?  If so, perhaps she's the Lieutenant's favorite niece or something.  The situation doesn't fit Potter being Sam's mother.

We all know how small details can come back to be plot points later...

D

More likely to be another appearance of redhead everyone thinks is Sweet Tits.

As for why Station would want money don't forget that AIs have been shown to be able to change careers, and bodies. So he might find being a multi millionaire quite handy if he decides to retire and get a body on the ground.

[jwhouk]

@dreed: Hodgson's Law and Bellisario's Maxim, ok?  

Seriously: I suspect that the party pictures that she put up on FB probably torpedoed her AF career. However, since she is required (as are all service academy graduates) to serve her country for several years, they probably put her up on SS-ECT as a "dregs" assignment.

And if it came down to it, I think I would be less worried about John Ellicott's lawyers and more fearful of Beatrice Chatham's legal squad. And her pool of whale sharks wearing friggin' LASERS.


EDIT: I just noticed something, and this seems to cement it - he is Doctor John Ellicott-Chatham.

[NotsoAverageJoe]

She is definitely going to get in trouble for that.  She is military and now just received a money from someone who she supposed to monitor.  even 1000 extra dollars on her account would be hard to explain.

this
will not only end her military career but can result in USA taking all those shares back from her resulting in her being a)completely broke with debts b)without job c)no pension of any kind d) a possibility of a jail time in military prison

at the very least she will lose her security clearance (gotta be pretty high to be even just be in space, let alone assigned to an important defense contractor's security).

even if there are no legal charges, she'll never advance past the rank of captain.  the investigation alone is a big black mark on her record now... kinda like how if an officer's wife is caught having an affair while he's on deployment, his career will suffer as a result.

[Swedish Chef]

Have you considered that we don't know if she has accepted the apology or if she even gets anything. Station could easily trick her.

Station: "Blink once for 'go fuck yourself', twice for 'apology accepted'."
.
.
.
Station: "Alright, so you want me to 'fuck myself' twice."

Lt Potter blinks thrice

Station : "..."
.
.
.
Lt Potter " I wanna have your virtual baby"

[NotsoAverageJoe]

@Delator @Andy147

You are concentrating on a wrong thing.  It is not important what is exactly her job on the station (although she was supposed to monitor incoming guests to the station)
she, as a military person, who just received millions of dollars while on duty as a member of american military force.  That is definitely not going to be seen as innocent gesture by her superiors as you seem to believe.

If she had been given that money by a human while Earthside, you'd have a point.

She was given the money by an AI while in orbit...and off duty, i might add, unless being half dressed in your own quarters counts as on-duty these days.

I'm pretty sure her CO is not so daft as to assume that the AI upon which all their lives depend is for some reason going to subvert station operations via bribery to a low ranking officer. Considering their physical autonomy, it probably never gets farther up the chain than that.

Hell, for all we know, Station already told him about it and received approval.

Military can probably take all that money away from her probably while at the same time kicking her out (or worse) from the service. 

My guess is Station himself has probably set things up in such a way as for that to be impossible. They might kick her out of the service (not bloody likely...pretty sure Jeph doesn't give two shits about this notion), but the money's probably untouchable in a legal sense.

the military, at least the US military looks at things completely differently.

first, you are never "off-duty".

you may not be actively standing watch, or in uniform at a certain moment... but you're still on duty.  that's why there no such thing as double jeopardy for service members.  you can be in a barfight on a staurday night, while on leave, and not only have to deal with the legal ramifications in civilian court, but you also face charges for violating the ucmj... no matter what the outcome of your civilian trial is.

2nd, anytime you hold a security clearance, money becomes a very particular subject of concern.  also, its not just the military watching, the FBI gets involved and approves and monitors people with clearances as well.

when i was in, i knew a guy who lost his clearance just for winning big at a casino.  why?  because it, and i quote his letter of reprimand here, which went in his service record, "showed a predilection for a potentially destructive behavior that in the future could place him a position where he may compromise national security through the disclosure of classified information."  in other words he lost his clearance, which also meant he lost his job, which he'd had guaranteed in his initial enlistment contract, because it required a clearance... just because he might, someday, be tempted to sell national security secrets.

3rd, as an officer, you are held to an even higher standard than enlisted folks.  you can be prevented from ever reaching flag rank, never being allowed past the rank of captain in the navy, or colonel in the other branches, even if you yourself aren't at fault for something, but someone you are intimately acquainted with does something wrong.  

your wife cheats on you while you're deployed?  your kid goes to court for a felony?  military politics reads that as "you can't control your own family... how can we trust you to command men in battle if you can't even control your own flesh and blood?"

[Carl-E]

I'd like to point out that Station didn't dump cash into the Lieutenent's account.  He shifted control of some of his stock to her, probably had to set up an account o do it.  Could have made it a blind trust, for all we know.  I'm sure all the paperwork's fine and legal - you don't apologize to someone by torpedoing their carreer!  

Also, jwhouk, Doctor John?  With a soul patch?  

I wonder if he plays piano?  

[Milesb]

While your points are all very valid in our world, in the QC universe it all comes down to what Jeph decides to do with his arcs. Unless he likes Lt. Potter so much that he wants to write her in as an earth-side character, I doubt the monetary gift is going to be an issue causing her to get kicked off the station, it'd distract from the key plot lines of our dynamic trio too much to write in if he has no intention of showing us her ever again...

Also, the politics and informatics involved in space banking (which we know nothing of in the QC universe) make this all pretty moot, if the money is in an offshore tax haven then how would Lt. Potter's employers have any idea what had happened, never mind track the money down?

[dreed]

we are just harmlessly nitpicking stuff... this is the thread for that isn't it? 

I would like for Pintsize to be present in this storyline. How he would react to the Doctor and vice versa...  He might be too dangerous tough to be allowed on a space station.

[ink slinger]

Also, boob mole!

For some reason, I really appreciated that little detail.

[Omega Entity]

Where was a boob mole? I didn't see one in either of those comics...

[ChaosWolf]

Top-left area of the right breast.

Exactly where Faye's scar is! Cue inane conspiracy mode!

You mean the scar Jeph constantly forgets to draw?

[Is it cold in here?]

I like the offshore account idea. Also, that could legally be positioned as a settlement for a potential sexual harassment claim.

[Carl-E]

Preemptive settlement = payoff. 


Not that I have any problem with that...

[Omega Entity]

Top-left area of the right breast.

Exactly where Faye's scar is! Cue inane conspiracy mode!

That's not a mole, it's the barely-visible outline of Sven's index finger, most of which is obscured by his middle finger.

[Throg]

Yeesh, there's nitpicking speculation and then there's the QC forums.  

Lt. Potter related / connected somehow to Samantha, the daughter of the owner of Secret Bakery, based on a barely-visible detail?  Well, the other picture in that room looks like a picture of Samara from the Ring cycle, the japanese horror movies = OMG, the AI's are going to download the Ring virus and take over teh world!  

And as for "why does an AI need money" -- well, how the heck else does one recompense a sentient being with arguably no physical needs?

//thinking about it even a little bit is going down a rabbit hole of philsophical questions, ain't gonna go there. 

[DSL]

I won't speak for anyone else on here, but I don't take everything I post seriously.

Hmmm. Ring virus, ring-shaped space station ... COULD IT BE?

[Matheyus]

I'm wondering if we'll get to see some fun roommate interactions.  After all, the comic does show a second bunk with what appears to be folded clothing on its shelf, and considering the limited art angles there could be more on the other side of the room that we're not seeing. 

As for the picture next to the calendar that some people have mentioned, I interpreted it as most likely being a parent or grandparent, maybe because the hair looks gray to me (not that it's easy to tell, considering the size.)

[Method of Madness]

kinda like how if an officer's wife is caught having an affair while he's on deployment, his career will suffer as a result.

Being punished because your wife cheats on you?  If that's actually happened, how the hell has it not created a huge scandal?  That is all sorts of horrible.

[Omega Entity]

Top-left area of the right breast.

Exactly where Faye's scar is! Cue inane conspiracy mode!

That's not a mole, it's the barely-visible outline of Sven's index finger, most of which is obscured by his middle finger.

Oh god, just realized my giant HERP A DERP moment. I thought they were referring to the comics they linked, not today's. Boy do I feel dumb.

[Welu]

I'm liking Station a lot for the last panel's line. The hairsplosion is pretty nice.

[Sorflakne]

It occurred to me, and I had to look it up to confirm it, bit Station nearly screwed Lt Potter over by giving her that much money (unintentionally, sure...maybe...).  This is because of 'monetary influence', where if you have that kind of money, you will be discharged for the protection of yourself, fellow soldiers and the military, since it might cause people (including foreign nationals) to try take advantage of you.  Then there's also the danger of bribes (happens in the military) or distraction from duty because of your wealth.  So a discharge is in the best interests of all parties.

Think that about covers it.  If she was discharged for this, though, she could still transfer to the Reserves and serve a career there.  From personal experience and seeing her party photo, though, she'd fit right in XD


Edit:  ok it seems the content of my post has been hashed to death already.  Carry on, chaps!

[Renewman]

Good to know my fellow mil-bros jumped on Lt. Potter getting that large sum of money before I did.

[jwhouk]

This whole thing about "wife cheats on AF spouse" is news to me. Of course, my step-brother wasn't exactly Mr. Angel himself when he was working on F-111's, but...

Long story short - unfortunately, I have pretty empirical evidence that if there's a case of spousal adultery in the service, it doesn't result in the service member being kicked out the door. They might find a nice, quiet, out of the way place for said service member to be stationed for a while until their date of discharge. But you don't get court-martialed and dishonorably discharged because your spouse nailed the civilian housing repairman and ran off with your three kids in tow.*

I suspect that the USAF assigned her to the Station for the express purpose of having her finish her five-year commitment after her Academy graduation. What would be interesting is how long she is into said five-year stint.

EDIT: Oh, and one other little thing for our ex-Military types - remember that this is an AI who's giving her the stocks. An AI that operates a very large space station. One that has LASERS.



* - In real life, it didn't actually happen that way, and I never really did ask (or want to know) how it happened.

[jmucchiello]

There are two simple explanations for the "damage" the station may have done to the fair lieutenant:
1) Jeph had no idea what the mil-types are talking about and was just going for the laugh: nothing will come of it
2) Jeph had an idea what the mil-types are talking about and the complications are part of a "space won't just be ponies and puppies" story line.

We'll probably know tomorrow since Friday is generally shocker day.

EDIT: Oh, and my first strip was about a month ago. And it took me about 5 semi-sleepless days to archive binge the 2100+ prior comics.

[Akima]

kinda like how if an officer's wife is caught having an affair while he's on deployment, his career will suffer as a result.

Being punished because your wife cheats on you?  If that's actually happened, how the hell has it not created a huge scandal?  That is all sorts of horrible.

Oh, I'm sure the unfortunate officer would not be punished in the sense of being thrown into the stockade, but they might find promotion hard to find. This is far from being restricted to the military, incidentally, particularly at the "pointy end" of corporate hierarchies (which is what flag/field rank would be in the military, yes?). Typically there are many, highly-qualified, bums and only a few seats. Promotion decisions are often made on the basis of very subjective judgements of people's "soundness". Having a kid with a drug conviction? Having a marriage partner who is not "people like us"? Having a child with special needs who might "distract" you? Any of these can derail a career. There is no scandal, because it is normal and routine.

The "never off duty" thing applies to civilians too in practice. Civilans do not face the UCMJ (or its equivalent in other countries) but they do face "double jeopardy" in that they can certainly find their careers affected by things that happen outside the office. As is well known, embarrassing photos and opinions posted on Facebook, Youtube etc. can come back to bite you. Recruitment firms routinely trawl that stuff nowadays. Getting drunk at the company Christmas party was a Career Limiting Move for decades before the internet.

As the old sergeant in the cop-show said: "Be careful out there!"

[Kugai]

Blink twice girl, blink twice.     


Of course, such a thing would depend on how the Military would see it, and whether se would want to keep it, and that also depends on how seriously she takes her career in the Air Force.

[FunkyTuba]

Jeph seems interested in exploring AI vs human ethics here... not The Consequences of the UCMJ For Potter

Station may or may not be trying to bribe her. My sense is that it's just an inappropriately-sized token of apology. Like flowers, only much more so (though the "blink once or twice" panel might show he's more clued in to the real size of the token than I'm describing).

I find it a little ironic that he was goaded into an attempt to correct a human-context social faux pas by Hannelore who's just come back to the station having learned how to do things like that from our buddies in Northhampton.

Consequences for Potter are still TBD because her reaction is as important as the fact of the situation in terms of how she'd be judged. We haven't seen the Lt's actual reaction yet, either, other than the exploding hair. Jeph may or may not go there depending on what he wants to say.

If she takes a "come clean immediately" approach then it'd be hard to justify making her responsible for what someone else did.
If she covers it up or somehow goes all conspiratorial, then yeah, game on for whatever consequences the qcverse has in store--the coverup is usually worse than the crime.

I think the more interesting question for the comic (and I hope Jeph explores this) is the ethical dynamic between Station and Potter... does it change their relationship? how will that affect the way either of them perform their duties, and if so what are the consequences there?

[jwhouk]

What's in store for us THIS Week?

HannerDad is a Holographic Avatar!    - 11 (12.5%)
Lt. Potter becomes Chekov's Love Interest!    - 10 (11.4%)
Hannelore doesn't want to leave.    - 2 (2.3%)
Marigold doesn't want to leave.    - 10 (11.4%)
MARTEN doesn't want to leave.    - 4 (4.5%)
All three return to Earth - to CHAOS!    - 6 (6.8%)
The Birthday Party - which is really funny!    - 13 (14.8%)
The Birthday Party - which is a real downer.    - 6 (6.8%)
Waffles.    - 1 (1.1%)
Something else.    - 3 (3.4%)
MOAR SPACE STATION!    - 22 (25%)

Total Voters: 88

[gprimr1]

I am really enjoying this story arc a lot.

[vsonics]

Oh gosh what an easy decision on the poll...I moved last year from a place where there were more Waffle Houses than I can count on my fingers in as many miles from me to a place where the nearest one is 160 miles away. When I realized this there was a Moment of Silence.

As for Potter, I feel like it's probably not going to be a problem. Whatever happens I'm sure she'll land on her feet. And let's be honest - worst comes to worst and she accepts the money and promptly gets kicked off of Station. She's still  a MULTIMILLIONAIRE.

Going back to the My First Comic discussion, I'm not entirely sure. It's been...at least four years now and I do know that it took place in the coffee shop but that's hardly very helpful. As a person that always has to start from the very beginning, though, my most distinct memory is the shock of going back to the first one and seeing how much the art had evolved.

[cesariojpn]

I dont get todays Comic.

Why does an AI hold money ?

Why does an AI give THAT much money away ?

It all doesnt make sense.

Hannerdad suddenly dies. Having an AI holding the reins is a good idea till all the shit get's sorted out in probate.

[RyanW1019]

Holy hell, double comic night. Was browsing random strips, wanted to check to see if it got updated, hit latest instead of the home site and it went straight to 2121. I then clicked on the home page in confusion and it went to 2120.

Now, onto the actual comic(s) :

//REDACTED BECAUSE THE SECOND COMIC GOT TAKEN DOWN//

[morrigan]

Ten bucks says the head of security is Dale.

[RyanW1019]

Hm. The second comic got taken down. Now I don't know whether to take a screenshot of it and post it so we can discuss it or if that would anger the mighty Jeph. Advice?

[DSL]

Don't.

[RyanW1019]

Dang. Now I have to sit on the second comic all weekend with nobody to talk about it with. Damn you curiosity and/or chance! /shakes fist

...anyway, to discuss this as if I haven't seen the second comic, who is Dale?

[Arancaytar]

...anyway, to discuss this as if I haven't seen the second comic, who is Dale?

A better question would be whose appearance in the next comic you just heavily hinted at.

[RyanW1019]

...anyway, to discuss this as if I haven't seen the second comic, who is Dale?

A better question would be whose appearance in the next comic you just heavily hinted at.

No, I'm asking because somebody on the last page bet the security chief is Dale, and because I don't know who Dale is. No hinting intended, my apologies.

[slydon]

Willy Wonkott-Chatham is going to send Marigold home for eating the prototype space pocky.

[DSL]

Dale is a pizza delivery guy and Marigold's World of Warcraft nemesis. Hanners is of the opinion Dale flirts with Marigold when he taunts her in face-to-face meetings, and more than a few forumites would like to see Dale and Marigold "level-up"  their relationship.

Dale's mentioned having three jobs at once; being head of security on the station would involve one hell of a commute to deliver pies. Perhaps he is allowed to use EC-101.

[RyanW1019]

Dale is a pizza delivery guy and Marigold's World of Warcraft nemesis. Hanners is of the opinion Dale flirts with Marigold when he taunts her in face-to-face meetings, and more than a few forumites would like to see Dale and Marigold "level-up"  their relationship.

Oh, the "This one has potential" guy...

Yeah, it's not him. I won't confirm any speculations, but I can definitely shoot down some of the crazier ones.

[NotsoAverageJoe]

kinda like how if an officer's wife is caught having an affair while he's on deployment, his career will suffer as a result.

Being punished because your wife cheats on you?  If that's actually happened, how the hell has it not created a huge scandal?  That is all sorts of horrible.

Oh, I'm sure the unfortunate officer would not be punished in the sense of being thrown into the stockade, but they might find promotion hard to find. This is far from being restricted to the military, incidentally, particularly at the "pointy end" of corporate hierarchies (which is what flag/field rank would be in the military, yes?). Typically there are many, highly-qualified, bums and only a few seats. Promotion decisions are often made on the basis of very subjective judgements of people's "soundness". Having a kid with a drug conviction? Having a marriage partner who is not "people like us"? Having a child with special needs who might "distract" you? Any of these can derail a career. There is no scandal, because it is normal and routine.

The "never off duty" thing applies to civilians too in practice. Civilans do not face the UCMJ (or its equivalent in other countries) but they do face "double jeopardy" in that they can certainly find their careers affected by things that happen outside the office. As is well known, embarrassing photos and opinions posted on Facebook, Youtube etc. can come back to bite you. Recruitment firms routinely trawl that stuff nowadays. Getting drunk at the company Christmas party was a Career Limiting Move for decades before the internet.

As the old sergeant in the cop-show said: "Be careful out there!"

yep, pretty much this.  fortunately for civies, there's the option of fighting back with legal action.  the whole chain of command (they take it really seriously and have it, and the consequences of bucking it, written down in incredibly boring and annoying detail) thing in the service makes just raising the issue almost as big a black mark against you as whatever it was that got you black balled in the first place.

i actually expected today's comic to be Potter repeating her graduation mistake in celebration... now im wondering whats up with Marigold.  hmmm, could her creepy-glasses gaming arch nemesis be involved somehow?  

meh, doubt it, but good for a chuckle to think about.

[ducktape]

Maybe the head of security is just a major anime nerd and wants another fan to talk to?

[Akima]

It looks like military police (or whatever they're called in the USAF) have the same lack of a sense of humour everywhere. I wonder what the problem is? Biologically hazardous vintage pocky?

[WAYF]

... Golly, I actually don't have a theory for this. :shocked:

Seems like we're going to meet the aforementioned Major.

[Mad Cat]

My call... Her WoW Guild turned out to be mostly al-Qaeda sleeper agents and now they're all being busted by Homeland Security.

[Method of Madness]

Interesting that they escorted away a guest of the station's owner without even acknowledging him.  Puts the military/ECT relationship in a new light.