Topic: Alice Grove MCDLT - July 2016 (Read 69437 times)

katsmeat · « **Reply #50 on:** 12 Jul 2016, 04:57 »

"Please leave me alone"

Translation - the true nature of the Praeses is a big fat surprise that we're not due to know about yet.

JimC · « **Reply #51 on:** 12 Jul 2016, 05:10 »

Quote from: brasca on 12 Jul 2016, 03:29

...Not surprised that the one that wants all the attention is ignored ...

Maybe if Ardent wasn't radiating an aura of "I'll say whatever you want to hear if it gets me into your..." it would help. Still, I guess with that name its inevitable.

Kugai · « **Reply #52 on:** 12 Jul 2016, 16:21 »

He's just overeager and needs slapping down every so often

brasca · « **Reply #53 on:** 12 Jul 2016, 17:09 »

Quote from: JimC on 12 Jul 2016, 05:10

Quote from: brasca on 12 Jul 2016, 03:29
...Not surprised that the one that wants all the attention is ignored ...
Maybe if Ardent wasn't radiating an aura of "I'll say whatever you want to hear if it gets me into your..." it would help. Still, I guess with that name its inevitable.

And he might be barking up the wrong tree although we don't know enough about Ellie yet.

Tova · « **Reply #54 on:** 12 Jul 2016, 17:39 »

I love it when the best punchline is actually underneath the comic.

BenRG · « **Reply #55 on:** 13 Jul 2016, 00:11 »

Something tells me that Ellie has a high 'enthusiasm' rating but that 'common sense' isn't such a strong point. I'm not so hot with interactions but even I can read the 'go away and leave me alone' in Gavia's posture. Meanwhile, I suspect that Ardent has found his ideal woman!

Wildroses · « **Reply #56 on:** 13 Jul 2016, 00:55 »

Ellie, on behalf of everyone in the forums I beg you, take Ardent up on that offer to tell you about the Praeses!

retrosteve · « **Reply #57 on:** 13 Jul 2016, 05:51 »

Have we ever seen Sedna without that crazy gleam in her eyes? I don't know how Jeph does it with the eyes, but she always looks more than a little insane. I worry about her.

sitnspin · « **Reply #58 on:** 13 Jul 2016, 07:02 »

You try living thousands of years and not going a little loopy. Some of us can't get through a normal human life span with out being off kilter.

JimC · « **Reply #59 on:** 13 Jul 2016, 07:14 »

Quote from: BenRG on 13 Jul 2016, 00:11

...even I can read the 'go away and leave me alone' in Gavia's posture.

Can't help thinking though, if Ellie's rocket hunting provides the best opportunity for Gavia to get back into orbit then our spacegirl would be well advised to be less sulky and unco-operative.

sitnspin · « **Reply #60 on:** 13 Jul 2016, 07:53 »

A privileged teenage girl not being sulky? Might as well ask the sun to rise in the west (assuming it doesn't do that now in AG).

Zebediah · « **Reply #61 on:** 13 Jul 2016, 13:54 »

It was rising in the north for a while but they fixed that. [/obscureminecraftjoke]

blt · « **Reply #62 on:** 13 Jul 2016, 15:12 »

Quote from: retrosteve on 13 Jul 2016, 05:51

Have we ever seen Sedna without that crazy gleam in her eyes? I don't know how Jeph does it with the eyes, but she always looks more than a little insane. I worry about her.

Her interaction with Alice in her home before bed she doesn't have it, I think she's too busy scowling. But I know what you mean, I think the crazy gleam comes from her eyes being just a little too wide most of the time.

brasca · « **Reply #63 on:** 13 Jul 2016, 16:57 »

Quote from: JimC on 13 Jul 2016, 07:14

Quote from: BenRG on 13 Jul 2016, 00:11
...even I can read the 'go away and leave me alone' in Gavia's posture.
Can't help thinking though, if Ellie's rocket hunting provides the best opportunity for Gavia to get back into orbit then our spacegirl would be well advised to be less sulky and unco-operative.

True, but she's gone through a pretty traumatic event and now she has a wild eyed over eager archaeophile bombarding her with questions that remind her of what she's lost. Moreover, Ellie may be the best lead too finding a way home, but that does not guarantee any of their efforts will work.. Gavia might be curbing her enthusiasm to avoid even more disappointment.

Carl-E · « **Reply #64 on:** 14 Jul 2016, 00:46 »

Quote from: Kugai on 12 Jul 2016, 16:21

He's just overeager and needs slapping down every so often

Careful, he might actually enjoy that...

Storel · « **Reply #65 on:** 15 Jul 2016, 15:58 »

Quote from: blt on 13 Jul 2016, 15:12

Quote from: retrosteve on 13 Jul 2016, 05:51
Have we ever seen Sedna without that crazy gleam in her eyes? I don't know how Jeph does it with the eyes, but she always looks more than a little insane. I worry about her.

Her interaction with Alice in her home before bed she doesn't have it, I think she's too busy scowling. But I know what you mean, I think the crazy gleam comes from her eyes being just a little too wide most of the time.

Her eyes look a little crossed to me, at least in the current strip. Maybe that gives her a crazy air?

brasca · « **Reply #66 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 04:07 »

Strip is up!

Thank you Ellie for asking many of the questions a lot of us have been posing.

Even with Ardent's ability to upgrade old technology and Alice and/or Sedna knowing how to pilot a rocket ship there is the matter of fuel unless Ardent can upgrade a refinery.

BenRG · « **Reply #67 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 04:15 »

Here's my gut feelings on this:

Yes, Ellie, Alice and Sedna know something you don't; more than you can imagine;
They have a walking, talking Upgrade generator with an elegant tail; getting infrastructure will merely be a case of pointing out the right scrap and forbidding him from touching it;
I strongly suspect that Alice and Sedna may have done this before; that's why they know so much.

Zebediah · « **Reply #68 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 04:18 »

Ellie is a very practical person.

And that look that Alice and Sedna exchange in the last panel is clearly an "Oh shit, why didn't we think of that?" look. Yes, they do know way more than Ellie does. But not about rockets. Ellie is the rocket scientist here.

pwhodges · « **Reply #69 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 04:32 »

Quote from: Zebediah on 18 Jul 2016, 04:18

And that look that Alice and Sedna exchange in the last panel is clearly an "Oh shit, why didn't we think of that?" look.

Or it could be a "how much shall we tell her?" look.

JimC · « **Reply #70 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 04:33 »

"Hush Ellie, we just need to get them off earth. If the folk in orbit and the Praeses don't rescue them from there that's not our problem..."

TinPenguin · « **Reply #71 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 05:03 »

"...and if it explodes on launch, well, that's another solution."

brasca · « **Reply #72 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 05:43 »

Perhaps, but that all seems like a roundabout way of killing them.

JimC · « **Reply #73 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 06:58 »

Quote from: brasca on 18 Jul 2016, 05:43

Perhaps, but that all seems like a roundabout way of killing them.

Don't forget the space habitats have a technology, so far unexplained, which managed to put Ardent and Gavia on earth without apparently any vehicle at all, and Gavia expected it also to retrieve them as well, tho' it hasn't. Not unreasonable, I submit, to assume they could be retrieved from a rocket in random orbit.

jheartney · « **Reply #74 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 08:19 »

Quote from: JimC on 18 Jul 2016, 06:58

Don't forget the space habitats have a technology, so far unexplained, which managed to put Ardent and Gavia on earth without apparently any vehicle at all, and Gavia expected it also to retrieve them as well, tho' it hasn't. Not unreasonable, I submit, to assume they could be retrieved from a rocket in random orbit.

My impression is that the twins were sent down to Earth to do a mission, and if they can't get that mission done, there's no reason for the Praeses to go to any effort to retrieve them.

This would be true even if there were a working rocket system. Since it seems unlikely that transport between orbital habitats uses anything a crude as shuttles, there probably are no docking ports on them that the rocket could interface with. So unless the Praeses have hitherto-unseen warm fuzzies for their two spaceborn tools, there's still no getting back even if you could put the pair into a compatible orbit.

A word about orbit. It's not really that difficult to get up past most of the atmosphere; all you need is a large enough helium balloon. But to get to orbit, you have to go really fast, usually in the same direction as the Earth's spin. That's why they generally use rockets to get up there.

hedgie · « **Reply #75 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 10:11 »

https://youtu.be/2p_8gx-XHJo

brasca · « **Reply #76 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 12:22 »

Quote from: jheartney on 18 Jul 2016, 08:19

Quote from: JimC on 18 Jul 2016, 06:58
Don't forget the space habitats have a technology, so far unexplained, which managed to put Ardent and Gavia on earth without apparently any vehicle at all, and Gavia expected it also to retrieve them as well, tho' it hasn't. Not unreasonable, I submit, to assume they could be retrieved from a rocket in random orbit.

My impression is that the twins were sent down to Earth to do a mission, and if they can't get that mission done, there's no reason for the Praeses to go to any effort to retrieve them.

This would be true even if there were a working rocket system. Since it seems unlikely that transport between orbital habitats uses anything a crude as shuttles, there probably are no docking ports on them that the rocket could interface with. So unless the Praeses have hitherto-unseen warm fuzzies for their two spaceborn tools, there's still no getting back even if you could put the pair into a compatible orbit.

A word about orbit. It's not really that difficult to get up past most of the atmosphere; all you need is a large enough helium balloon. But to get to orbit, you have to go really fast, usually in the same direction as the Earth's spin. That's why they generally use rockets to get up there.

If there is a mission then neither of them were ever informed about it so whatever was the Praeses intention by marooning them on Earth it doesn't seem like they care what happens to their people or Earth's. And that is what I think is really motivating Alice, to figure out what the Praeses are plotting and if it's detrimental to her people stop it.

Kugai · « **Reply #77 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 13:23 »

Alice and Sedna: (simultaneously) "Leave that to us." (Glance to right)

Ardent: (after a moment of confused silence) "What?"

jheartney · « **Reply #78 on:** 18 Jul 2016, 19:18 »

Given Ellie's truthful comment that finding the remains of a 5000 year old rocket isn't likely to do much to help you get back to orbit, this whole trip (going to see Sedna, weeks of travel to get to the dig site) seems a bit of a wild goose chase. I'm guessing Jeph has something else in mind than a "quest to get back to the orbital habitats" for the long term story arc. We've had story elements - meeting two local immortals, Ardent the Insta-Upgrader, the Nightwalker, not to mention these Praeses everyone's all on about - which provide glimpses of where the story may be going. But for now Ellie and her peeps seem like a dead end. Something better happen to justify all this story time spent going to meet them.

Neko_Ali · « **Reply #79 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 05:58 »

The next question to ask is probably 'what is actually in that vault they found?' So far they haven't been able to crack it. But they didn't have two super powerful immortals or a guy who can upgrade machinery before.

BenRG · « **Reply #80 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 06:04 »

Maybe The Truth? One of the old AIs who has been waiting patiently for the chance to tell its story? An equivalent of the Prothean Beacon in Mass Effect ready to pass on the warning of what really caused the Blink, why and what the future holds?

Method of Madness · « **Reply #81 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 07:30 »

I don't think getting the siblings back is the endgame, especially if Alice goes with them and takes the fight to the Praeses.

Kugai · « **Reply #82 on:** 19 Jul 2016, 14:49 »

Quote from: BenRG on 19 Jul 2016, 06:04

Maybe The Truth? One of the old AIs who has been waiting patiently for the chance to tell its story? An equivalent of the Prothean Beacon in Mass Effect ready to pass on the warning of what really caused the Blink, why and what the future holds?

Or simply a Brass plaque with the words 'We appologise for the inconvenience' engraved on it.

I get the feeling that there is a reason they're there at the dig site that Jeph will slowly reveal to us in the next few strips.

brasca · « **Reply #83 on:** 20 Jul 2016, 21:02 »

Here's a crazy theory. They located the underground remains of the infamous Deep Thirteen laboratory where there is a rocketship, but unfortunately once launched it will strand Alice, Gavia, and Ardent in space and subject them to cheesy movies on a weekly basis.

Method of Madness · « **Reply #84 on:** 20 Jul 2016, 21:16 »

But how would they eat and breathe and other science facts?

Tova · « **Reply #85 on:** 20 Jul 2016, 21:27 »

It's just a comic, you should really just relax.

JimC · « **Reply #86 on:** 21 Jul 2016, 01:43 »

Quote from: Method of Madness on 20 Jul 2016, 21:16

But how would they eat and breathe and other science facts?

Science. [gdr]

Zebediah · « **Reply #87 on:** 21 Jul 2016, 05:02 »

They would science the shit out of it.

jwhouk · « **Reply #88 on:** 21 Jul 2016, 05:57 »

...aaaaaand there are the two people who don't get the joke.

Neko_Ali · « **Reply #89 on:** 21 Jul 2016, 07:12 »

We've got comic sign!

Dyspayr · « **Reply #90 on:** 21 Jul 2016, 07:46 »

Perhaps the side look is because Ellie just tipped her hand? How does someone at a late 19th/early 20th century technological level know so much about space flight and manned rockets? Even assuming added knowledge from Sedna, one would think details would be vague or job oriented - finding the tech, not using it.

She starts covering her tracks by stumbling over "crew capsule" but then launches into fuel degradation, control center, gantries, the level of navigation equipment for orbital maneuvering (something a lot of people today don't even comprehend). All pretty detailed for someone who's vehicular knowledge should end at the horse/bird and buggy level.

BenRG · « **Reply #91 on:** 21 Jul 2016, 07:52 »

Yeah, Ellie may be special in the same way that Sedna and Alice are special. You wonder just how many of Alice's sister super-soldiers are still running around, either trying not to be found or trying to help as best as they can.

cesium133 · « **Reply #92 on:** 21 Jul 2016, 08:02 »

My guess is that Ellie is immortal, like Alice and Sedna, and the reason she knows so much about rocketry is that they've tried -- and failed. But, with a little intervention from a blue boy with a knack for magically fixing machines...

sitnspin · « **Reply #93 on:** 21 Jul 2016, 08:07 »

Don't forget that these people are archaeologists. They specialize in uncovering the past, specifically technology. Who knows how much information they've uncovered over the years. Even if they can't yet make it work, they could know all kinds of academic knowledge about it.

Neko_Ali · « **Reply #94 on:** 21 Jul 2016, 08:31 »

Saying she knows some things about how rockets work, so therefore she must be an immortal is like saying "Wow, engineering student. You know Ohm's Law. You must be a wizard!" It is literally her job to find out things about rockets and space flight. That's what they are doing here. She doesn't need to be a super human immortal to know about what she's probably been studying for years.

cesium133 · « **Reply #95 on:** 21 Jul 2016, 08:39 »

In our society, yes, you don't have to be a wizard to understand rocketry, but this is a society where the common people are deliberately kept in the dark, and the only people we've seen so far who aren't are the "witches".

sitnspin · « **Reply #96 on:** 21 Jul 2016, 08:56 »

You are assuming that Alice's community is representative of ALL communities in the world. Even in our society the average person doesn't know how rockets work, but we have specialists, it would be the same in a 19th century tech level society. To make it a more accurate comparison, think of what an archaeologist knows about ancient cultures versus what the average uneducated person does.

brasca · « **Reply #97 on:** 21 Jul 2016, 14:36 »

After the blink a lot of technology was either lost or ceased to function and presumably text saved on a data device would be included, however, this does not mean that mankind on Earth would be completely thrust back into the stoneage. They would still have knowledge from books to fall back on. Presumably a lot would still be lost in the years that followed, but enough was retained so that 5000 years later a woman living in an era that resembles the 19th century knows more about how rockets work than someone from that actual century.

jwhouk · « **Reply #98 on:** 21 Jul 2016, 15:32 »

Case in point - do you understand how Roman viaducts work?

brasca · « **Reply #99 on:** 21 Jul 2016, 23:15 »

The blink was certainly a technological setback, but at worst humanity reverted back to the iron age and at best the middle ages, however, in 5,000 years the world has only reached a pre industrial age level of development. You would think humanity would rebound and be more advanced than the current era we're living in, but they haven't. Alice mentioned that Earth's resources still haven't recovered since the great war so perhaps that is why development has stunted.

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Author Topic: Alice Grove MCDLT - July 2016 (Read 69437 times)