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Juicy Stalking

8 (12.5%)

Clintemily? Clintelore? Clintaye? Can any of this be good?

24 (37.5%)

Robot Roommate Hijinx?

15 (23.4%)

Claireten Squee?

10 (15.6%)

Clairetenmom Conspiracy?

7 (10.9%)

Total Members Voted: 58

[Indicible]

The colour out of space is indeed more likely...

[vforvancouver]

Now I want to know more about Emily's project.

[jheartney]

If you remember, Clinton was introduced as an interviewer asking Marten about his AnthroPC, Pintsize. Remember also that Pintsize has a "military chassis." Was the interview really just part of an academic study, or might it have had national security implications? Clinton may have more to him than it appears; if he's part of clandestine services of some sort, his protective attitude toward his sister may be based on knowledge of secret threats.

I was wondering what "NRO" could be. (Obviously not "National Review Online.") Given Clinton's involvement with robotics (his hand, and his part in AnthroPC research), it could be "National Robotics Office." As to "EMPing" her project, if it's supposed to mean "electromagnetic pulse," that seems a pretty blunt instrument to use if you just want to bork a student's project. It would likely destroy lots of surrounding electronics and call attention to itself. Further, it wouldn't do something amusing like replace text with eldritch runes; it'd fry her logic board and wipe her hard drive. Instead, I'm guessing EMP is some sort of targeted virus.

In the flashback, Emily has her long hair, so that must be before the trip out to the lake house. Clinton would have to have known about Emily at that time, so I don't know why he is acting surprised now.

[Lubricus]

In the flashback, Emily has her long hair, so that must be before the trip out to the lake house. Clinton would have to have known about Emily at that time, so I don't know why he is acting surprised now.

Yeah, there's a bit of handwaving about that in the last few strips - we have seen Emily and Clinton interact a few times earlier, and Clinton KNOWS Marten and Emily work together, so why the surprise? Make little sense.

[Zandin]

I was wondering what "NRO" could be. (Obviously not "National Review Online.") Given Clinton's involvement with robotics (his hand, and his part in AnthroPC research), it could be "National Robotics Office." As to "EMPing" her project, if it's supposed to mean "electromagnetic pulse," that seems a pretty blunt instrument to use if you just want to bork a student's project. It would likely destroy lots of surrounding electronics and call attention to itself. Further, it wouldn't do something amusing like replace text with eldritch runes; it'd fry her logic board and wipe her hard drive. Instead, I'm guessing EMP is some sort of targeted virus.

I'm almost positive NRO means National Reconnaissance Office, one of the USA's intelligence divisions. As for the EMP, I think the runes were BEFORE they EMP'ed her. She created a dangerous AI and they fried it in response. Since Clinton knows about it, it obviously was not meant to be secretive. Which begs the question of how Emily created something so dangerous the US government decided it necessary to launch a very public, very messy attack on it?

[Lubricus]

Good luck employing an EMP to take out a single computer... I guess the whole class lost their data that day. At the very least.

[Platypodes]

I will GLADLY pretend that Clinton and Emily have never interacted on-screen before.  Anything to allow this arc to continue unimpeded because it is already FUNNY AS HELL.

[Zandin]

Good luck employing an EMP to take out a single computer... I guess the whole class lost their data that day. At the very least.

Assuming they hit the whole class. It could also have been a tactical hit. Bust in the doors, grab the laptop, put a dome over it and *zap*. Given the technology seen in QC, a small EMP device, maybe a grenade, with a few feet of range is totally plausible as well.

[Zemyla]

So there is someone who is more screwed-up with technology than Raven "time-traveling espressosaur" Pritchard is?

Also, I am sad that Gabby is no longer with the interns.

[BenRG]

Ah! So there's some history here, then! Interesting that Clinton didn't know that "the crazy one" was Emily. I wonder what the other students called her? Certainly, it explains why Marten's circle are her only friends; students tend to be unforgiving of walking, talking disasters in their class. In any case, it's an unexpected wrinkle and a serious speed hump; it looks like that Clinton is scared of Emily!

"Types of Frogs?"

Probably research that she's doing for the next time that she meets Sam.

[Stoon]

Yes, that's something that would happen to Emily all right.

As for EMP, maybe that's just slang for magnetic degaussing.   We use powerful electromagnets in electronics and when I was in the army for clearing the data off of certain secure mediums...

[hedgie]

The colour out of space is indeed more likely...

One must be careful when using Cthubuntu, lest these things happen.

[jheartney]

I was wondering what "NRO" could be. (Obviously not "National Review Online.") Given Clinton's involvement with robotics (his hand, and his part in AnthroPC research), it could be "National Robotics Office." As to "EMPing" her project, if it's supposed to mean "electromagnetic pulse," that seems a pretty blunt instrument to use if you just want to bork a student's project. It would likely destroy lots of surrounding electronics and call attention to itself. Further, it wouldn't do something amusing like replace text with eldritch runes; it'd fry her logic board and wipe her hard drive. Instead, I'm guessing EMP is some sort of targeted virus.

I'm almost positive NRO means National Reconnaissance Office, one of the USA's intelligence divisions. As for the EMP, I think the runes were BEFORE they EMP'ed her. She created a dangerous AI and they fried it in response. Since Clinton knows about it, it obviously was not meant to be secretive. Which begs the question of how Emily created something so dangerous the US government decided it necessary to launch a very public, very messy attack on it?

From the National Reconnaissance Office website: "The NRO is the U.S. Government agency in charge of designing, building, launching, and maintaining America’s intelligence satellites. " This is not an agency that would launch an open enforcement action inside U.S. borders. For that you would see the FBI.

[BenRG]

Y'know, I really want to know what that final project was that it was classified as an immediate threat to national security! It looks to me that the forum member that called Emily an idiot-savant was right. She's quite possibly a genius but without common sense!

This fits into an idea that I had yesterday: I think that, tomorrow, Marten will persuade Clinton to at least talk to Emily. Next week will be entirely this otherworldly dialogue between them. At the end of this, Clinton will realise what the rest of us already know - that Emily is weird but nice. It isn't guaranteed that they'll immediately get together but they will become friends.

[jheartney]

Good luck employing an EMP to take out a single computer... I guess the whole class lost their data that day. At the very least.

Assuming they hit the whole class. It could also have been a tactical hit. Bust in the doors, grab the laptop, put a dome over it and *zap*. Given the technology seen in QC, a small EMP device, maybe a grenade, with a few feet of range is totally plausible as well.

Why in the world would they do that? In the U.S. you'd need a warrant at the very least, and afterwards they'd need to arrest Emily to justify the break-in. Much more likely you'd send a worm to quietly corrupt the project data. This would stop it from compiling and show junk data if you opened the project.

Of course the fictional "National Robotics Office" might not even be part of  the U.S. government. If they're hiring the likes of Clinton, they're probably not.

[osaka]

Man, the last time I tried to import cthulhu.h into my projects they just segfaulted.

I like where this whole story is going. Maybe Emily can get Clinton to chill, since if she didn't she could always use her evil powers or something.

[hedgie]

The code will only run when the stars are right.

[Akima]

In the U.S. you'd need a warrant at the very least

Just the same way you would for tapping people's phone calls! Oh wait...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrantless_searches_in_the_United_States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NSA_warrantless_surveillance_(2001%E2%80%9307)

If warrantless intervention is justified by mere espionage and terrorism, would the USA baulk at it to preserve the structure of reality from a potential portal to unimaginable horrors from beyond?

That brown dress does nothing for Emily.

[Zandin]

From the National Reconnaissance Office website: "The NRO is the U.S. Government agency in charge of designing, building, launching, and maintaining America’s intelligence satellites. " This is not an agency that would launch an open enforcement action inside U.S. borders. For that you would see the FBI.

Jeph would not use an already existing acronym for a new agency. It makes zero sense, and he puts too much effort into these for something that lazy. The NRO is an intelligence agency that uses satellites to spy, so we can either assume they were watching Emily, or that her AI tried to access the network. That would make it an NRO matter, no matter who they worked with to execute the shutdown order.

Why in the world would they do that? In the U.S. you'd need a warrant at the very least, and afterwards they'd need to arrest Emily to justify the break-in. Much more likely you'd send a worm to quietly corrupt the project data. This would stop it from compiling and show junk data if you opened the project.

Of course the fictional "National Robotics Office" might not even be part of  the U.S. government. If they're hiring the likes of Clinton, they're probably not.

Absolutely zero evidence Clinton works for them at all, and a warrant is absolutely not needed for anything considered a national security threat or that infiltrates their system first. It clearly was not a virus or worm since Jeph said an EMP was used, ergo one was used. The title of the strip is "From Orbit, No less" so there's your satellite link if you need it. I'll admit that the tactical squad thing was mostly for my own headcanon, since I like the idea of big scary men ruining a science project, but the evidence obviously disproves that.

[Natswash]

The code will only run when the stars are right.

Gibbous! GIBBOUS I SAY! THE MOON WAS GIBBOUS UPON THE EVE OF THE PROJECT!

[jheartney]

From the National Reconnaissance Office website: "The NRO is the U.S. Government agency in charge of designing, building, launching, and maintaining America’s intelligence satellites. " This is not an agency that would launch an open enforcement action inside U.S. borders. For that you would see the FBI.

Jeph would not use an already existing acronym for a new agency. It makes zero sense, and he puts too much effort into these for something that lazy. The NRO is an intelligence agency that uses satellites to spy, so we can either assume they were watching Emily, or that her AI tried to access the network. That would make it an NRO matter, no matter who they worked with to execute the shutdown order.

The NRO is a satellite launch and maintenance agency, not an intelligence gathering operation. They send the hardware up and make sure it's running smoothly. CIA and NSA actually run intelligence gathering operations. The NRO is a glorified trucking company.

Why in the world would they do that? In the U.S. you'd need a warrant at the very least, and afterwards they'd need to arrest Emily to justify the break-in. Much more likely you'd send a worm to quietly corrupt the project data. This would stop it from compiling and show junk data if you opened the project.

Of course the fictional "National Robotics Office" might not even be part of  the U.S. government. If they're hiring the likes of Clinton, they're probably not.

Absolutely zero evidence Clinton works for them at all, and a warrant is absolutely not needed for anything considered a national security threat or that infiltrates their system first. It clearly was not a virus or worm since Jeph said an EMP was used, ergo one was used. The title of the strip is "From Orbit, No less" so there's your satellite link if you need it. I'll admit that the tactical squad thing was mostly for my own headcanon, since I like the idea of big scary men ruining a science project, but the evidence obviously disproves that.

If Clinton doesn't work for them, how did he know about the attack? Was it in the papers? WRT an EMP from orbit, that wouldn't just take out all the electronics in the class; it'd take out the whole eastern seaboard.

[osaka]

If Clinton doesn't work for them, how did he know about the attack? Was it in the papers? WRT an EMP from orbit, that wouldn't just take out all the electronics in the class; it'd take out the whole eastern seaboard.

Maybe his hand went fuck all. Seems the most plausible explanation.

[Loki]

If Clinton doesn't work for them, how did he know about the attack?

Clinton: "So how was your weekend?"
Emily: "Some men from NRO came and EMPed my final project ^_^"
Clinton: "...uh".
Emily: "I also learned some new facts about bunnies!"
Clinton: "..."

[BenRG]

If Clinton doesn't work for them, how did he know about the attack? Was it in the papers? WRT an EMP from orbit, that wouldn't just take out all the electronics in the class; it'd take out the whole eastern seaboard.

Maybe his hand went fuck all. Seems the most plausible explanation.

To me, the simplest explanation is that the merry, merry funny men from the [Classified Alphabet Agency] burst into the lecture hall and used some kind of small-radius man-carried computer-killer (possibly a weapon designed originally to kill runaway military AIs) in front of everyone. Then, they apologised to Emily with a bogus-sounding explanation regarding 'national security', gave her a replacement laptop (which, mysteriously, had the same image as her last cloud backup, minus the class project) and everyone was informed "This never happened".

I'm hoping that, when Clinton is chivvied over to Emily (probably tomorrow), she'll call him "Mega Man". She'll then remind him of her question many months ago as to whether Robo-hand can shoot death rays and explain that this is how she remembers him. Clinton will then admit that this is the most complimentary nickname that he has ever had and the conversation will move forward from there next week.

I'm also predicting that Clinton will make a stuttering, stumbling mess out of asking Emily to a lunch date. Emily will say "Yes, please!" and Marten will tell Claire that Clinton did better than he did with his first GF back in California.

[hedgie]

If Clinton doesn't work for them, how did he know about the attack?

Clinton: "So how was your weekend?"
Emily: "Some men from NRO came and EMPed my final project ^_^"
Clinton: "...uh".
Emily: "I also learned some new facts about bunnies!"
Clinton: "..."

I've got a theory, it must be bunnies. </Anya>

[Zandin]

The NRO is a satellite launch and maintenance agency, not an intelligence gathering operation. They send the hardware up and make sure it's running smoothly. CIA and NSA actually run intelligence gathering operations. The NRO is a glorified trucking company.

"It designs, builds, and operates the spy satellites of the United States government, and provides satellite intelligence to several government agencies, particularly signals intelligence (SIGINT) to the NSA, imagery intelligence (IMINT) to the NGA, and measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) to the DIA." Doesn't sound like a trucking company. Sounds like they actually run the satellites for every government agency in the USA. Makes them pretty damn important.

If Clinton doesn't work for them, how did he know about the attack? Was it in the papers? WRT an EMP from orbit, that wouldn't just take out all the electronics in the class; it'd take out the whole eastern seaboard.

He was probably in class when she was visited by agents. Even if they hit her from orbit someone would need to come visit her for a debrief. This is a universe where a laser powerful enough to cut through steel fit in a tube the size of a laser pointer in our world. A directed EMP from space is far from the least far fetched thing in this universe. Occam's Razor says that the simplest explanation is most likely correct, and arguing that the comic is straight up wrong about its own canon is far from the simplest explanation.

[ZoeB]

I hope that Emily and Clinton hit it off, even if only as friends. Neither seem to grasp many social concepts - boundaries for one thing. Emily is quirky but nice, Clinton inept but gallant.

Ah.
NRO.
Upgrade "Quirky" to "Weird". But in the nicest possible way. The way Steven Hawking, Einstein, etc are weird. Only more so.
It's entirely possible that the greater AIs might be very interested in her.

I know some people like her. They don't actually inhabit this world, or at least, don't fully participate in the consensual picture we call "reality". They have better things to do with their time, more interesting things.  Often it's not so much intelligence as talent, thinking that happens without conscious awareness, there's no need for self-aware monitoring of the process.

Of course it's a comic strip, so this might be taken to extremes.

[ZoeB]

Well, non-Euclidean geometry does have practical applications! Really! Ftaghn.

[KOK]

Now I want to know more about Emily's project.

No you don't. Trust me on this: you do not want to know anout Emily's project.

[Undrneath]

What if Emily's project turned out to be May and she somehow escaped the EMPing. Regardless of truth this is now my headcannon.

[jwhouk]

Noodle Incident, anyone?

[osaka]

Headcannon accepted, although she's surprisingly cute and harmless for an eldritch horror then.

[Zebediah]

Yeah, they all start out that way. And then, just when they have you off guard, WHAM! Out come the tentacles.

[osaka]

For some reason I now want to stay away from you Zeb. I mean, you seen your avatar?

[cesium133]

For future reference, if you accidentally create an Eldritch horror with Mathematica, the correct command to use is:

Code: [Select]

Off[Cthulhu::ftaghn]

[zmeiat_joro]

Why isn't Emily now working for the Black Chamber, and why weren't her classmates put under a geas? Is this story taking place after CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN maybe?

[Zebediah]

For some reason I now want to stay away from you Zeb. I mean, you seen your avatar?

What, you think I might be a demon bandicoot from beyond time and space?

(click to show/hide)

[allanjm]

If this strip isn't a reference to Charles Stross' Laundry file series it really should be.

For anyone who doesn't know it the Laundry Files is basically a cross between Len Deighton  an HP Lovecraft. It is set in a universe where magic and math are the same thing and the wrong fractal screen saver can blow Wolverhampton off the map, zombies make great night watchmen, and the old one are awakening.

The hero, Bob Howard, is a systems administrator / supernatural spy working in a British bureaucratic spy agencies. 

“Saving the world is Bob Howard’s job. There are a surprising number of meetings involved.”

"The name is Howard. Bob Howard. Please don't hurt me..."

edit: I see zmeiat_joro got it too.

[BenRG]

For some reason I now want to stay away from you Zeb. I mean, you seen your avatar?

What, you think I might be a demon bandicoot from beyond time and space?

(click to show/hide)

Those 'palate cleanser' comics were fascinating in their own way. I think that was Jeph trying to develop another, completely separate continuity but still published under the 'Questionable Content' name so he could take a breather from the main characters and plot. Tim Buckley on Ctrl+Alt+Del has tried the same thing with varying levels of success.

[TransAmber]

Wasn't SMIF a women's only college? Why are there males in the classroom?

[Half Empty Coffee Cup]

Along a similar vein: Doesn't Clinton go to UMass?

Maybe Emily transferred after that incident.

[osaka]

For some reason I now want to stay away from you Zeb. I mean, you seen your avatar?

What, you think I might be a demon bandicoot from beyond time and space?

(click to show/hide)

Those 'palate cleanser' comics were fascinating in their own way. I think that was Jeph trying to develop another, completely separate continuity but still published under the 'Questionable Content' name so he could take a breather from the main characters and plot. Tim Buckley on Ctrl+Alt+Del has tried the same thing with varying levels of success.

I think he might. Hasn't he had other sweet tits Harriett breaks for christmas times?

[Case]

If this strip isn't a reference to Charles Stross' Laundry file series it really should be.

For anyone who doesn't know it the Laundry Files is basically a cross between Len Deighton  an HP Lovecraft. It is set in a universe where magic and math are the same thing and the wrong fractal screen saver can blow Wolverhampton off the map, zombies make great night watchmen, and the old one are awakening.

The hero, Bob Howard, is a systems administrator / supernatural spy working in a British bureaucratic spy agencies. 

“Saving the world is Bob Howard’s job. There are a surprising number of meetings involved.”

"The name is Howard. Bob Howard. Please don't hurt me..."

edit: I see zmeiat_joro got it too.

The "computational Demonology"-concept is definately a reference to the Laundry series (mathematics is actually magic, and doing the right wrong type of computations, you can open gates to parallel dimensions and summon the denizens of those planes to do your bidding. Or, more likely, eat parts of your brain. If you're lucky, that is ...).

Makes me wonder though: In the Laundry-Universe, people who accidentally stumble upon "Turing's last theorem", or other "weaponizable math" will immediately be spotted and drafted by the local variant of the MiB.
In Great Britain, this is the last surviving branch of the Special Operations Department of WW-II fame, who are all kinds of bad news. Drafting you for life and slapping a geas onto you that will squeeze your brain out of your ears as soon as you even think about telling somebody about the existence of your security clearance is just the start of it.
Given that most of their older staff hold ranks like DSS ("Deeply Scary Sorcerer" in Laundry-speak) while most of the younger hold degrees in computer science, maths or theoretical physics and were drafted while unwittingly attempting to release the taumaturgical equivalent of a mid-sized nuke onto Manchester, that does make some sense.
Service in the Laundry does not end with death, though - most of the on-site security staff are actually zombified former employees ...

In the US, the MiB's are called the Black Chamber, and they do the kind of stuff the Laundry considers highly unethical.

Poor Emily ...

[cesium133]

Wasn't SMIF a women's only college? Why are there males in the classroom?

Is Clinton a graduate student? I don't know specifically about Smif, but I know some women's colleges do accept male graduate students.

[Half Empty Coffee Cup]

Clinton's 21. A little on the young side for graduate study. Not unheard of, though.

[cesium133]

I was 21 when I started grad school. If he is a graduate student, then he's almost certainly in his first year.

[BenRG]

Clinton's 21. A little on the young side for graduate study. Not unheard of, though.

I think the point is that Clinton wasn't the only guy there. That makes it likely that it was a post-grad class; even more likely if we assume Emily is about the same age as Claire.

[Bologna]

As others have brought up, I'm not really digging this whole 'wait THAT Emily?' thing. 

I mean, how could his knowing her from (what I'm assuming to be their) classes together not have come up before? It's not likely that there's any real confusion as to Emily the library intern that he's already met a few times = Emily the girl who summoned Cthulhu via computer programming. 

To start, Marten listed Emily as a setup possibility right after he talked about how Gabby left the library internship, so it's kind of inferred that Emily is also a library intern, the one that he's already met. A bit of a stretch, I know, but we're working backwards here, so deal with me. Previously, Clinton must have guessed that Emily was a library intern back when she wanted to interview him about his robot hand at the library. Surely, at the very least, he must have known that she was a library intern when Claire brought him to Emily's party?  For example:

Claire:  Hey Clinton, want to come to a lake house party? 
Clinton :  Maybe.  Who's hosting?
Claire:  Emily.
Clinton:  Emily?
Claire:  One of my co-interns.

In any case, at the end of the day, he's met her a few times already. Why weren't his reservations about Emily brought up at any time before now? 

I know that Jeph initially forgot that they had met, and has already corrected that previous comic to account for that, kind of, but this doesn't really jive.

I also know I'm not exactly a regular on the forum, so I must look like some complaining noob, but I've been following this comic for a long while now and this is looking a little lazy. 

[sitnspin]

He was never being set up with her until now. He never had cause for reservations before.

[BenRG]

As others have brought up, I'm not really digging this whole 'wait THAT Emily?' thing. 

Some counter-points, take them or leave them as you like.

1) The party - You're only guessing that Clinton asked who was hosting. He may have gone along "to protect his sister" (a rationalisation - he just wanted to go to the party). He would have seen Emily 'The Dark Lady of Spaghetti Logic' Azuma there but he didn't interact with her much and his laptop was a long way away from her so he wouldn't have minded; anyway, he got to look at lots of cute girls, get free booze and keep Claire out of trouble;

2) The library - Once again, this is first aid, not computer programming. In any case, he was hurting and probably would have welcomed aid from anyone; You could also retcon his clear surprise at Emily's line of questioning as nervousness about what exactly she was planning to do with Robo-hand;

3) THAT Emily? - So, Marten and Claire say they're going to set him up with their friend, Emily. He doesn't know who that is; it could be anyone (although, given how they're talking about her with diabolical grins, it probably isn't good). He arrives and Marten confirms that they expect him to spend a considerable length of time with... even date... Emily Azuma! This is not being in the same house as her, answering a few weird-ass questions about Robo-hand (which he sort of expects from her) or borrowing her 'lunch' (Frozen peas? WTF?) to bring down the egg on his forehead. This is serious interaction! He's not sure that this is safe!

He was never being set up with her until now. He never had cause for reservations before.

Dang! Ninja'd! And with such a far more efficient way of phrasing the argument!