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Emily just erased the memories that were disguised as Monooculus Trihornus.

This room is a blind trap and the Memories are actually hidden behind the back wall which is a very cleverly disguised Security Firewall.

The memories exist, but Corpse Witch has actually removed them and has them stored in a place only she knows while implanting a false memory about the Encryption Key.

This isn't actually the room with the locked memories - THAT is hidden elsewhere and this has been a false trail.

There is no spoon. Wait... I mean, there are no memories. It's all a bluff CW used to control Bubbles.

No wait, I know what really is going on, and I will explain all in ludicrous detail in the thread below.

[Method of Madness]

This didn't break any rules, it just reminded us that we have no idea what the rules are.

[jwhouk]

I don't think this is over by a long shot.

Sent from my Nextbook on Tapatalk

[Morituri]

It amuses me to think of CW getting some reason to go out to the quarry to talk with a mysterious criminal-underworld contact and finding creepybot there instead. 

"It's funny, but an orbital railgun strike on this location?  It would vaporize both of these chassis.  And you only have the one....  Stand here next to me and let's watch the shooting stars together."

[Zebediah]

Corpse Witch: "Oh, you want to meet at the quarry on Arthur Street in Easthampton? The one that gets an average of three orbital railgun strikes every month? At 2:00 AM? Sure, I'll be there. Absolutely nothing suspicious about that."

[Is it cold in here?]

Um...am I the only one who doesn't think "Creepybot" is an AI? I thought she was some kind of weird dream figure that lived in the minds of AIs?

Welcome, new person!

They made it sound that way on first appearance with that introduction about nightmares.

The organics could see Eminence Gris too and get paralyzed by them so I think they're real at least "for the moment and as you understand reality".

[Tova]

By "others", I meant those off panel, Mr Madness. 

Right, which is just Dora, isn't it?

Maybe it was so long ago I DON'T REMEMBER MR ARCHIVE-FU MADNESS

[thedevilissix]

  Get that lovely robot some unicorn grove tea, stat!

May this be the start of a journey towards some much happier times for Bubbles.

[Method of Madness]

By "others", I meant those off panel, Mr Madness. 

Right, which is just Dora, isn't it?

Maybe it was so long ago I DON'T REMEMBER MR ARCHIVE-FU MADNESS

(points to signature)

[mikmaxs]

I fear I find all this amateur critic stuff about bad writing a bit wearying.

I'm not a major comics fan, and don't get involved in the subculture, although I do have about 35 years issues of a UK comic called 2000Ad in the loft... And from that, an observation. In the early days 2000AD used a now deceased artist called Massimo Belardinelli. He produced to me wonderful artwork in a complex surreal style which produced often amazing images. Look him up on the net if you like. However there were those who argued that he had something of a weak poiint when it came to directly representational human anatomy. Frankly this didn't bother me, if there were some surreally positioned muscles amongst all this gorgeously imagined imagery then so damn what. But it meant that his work got a bunch of criticism from those who couldn't look past the doctrinaire position of how it should be done and just enjoy the glorious artwork. And the end result, as they now admit was a mistake, TMO (the editors) didn't commission anything like as much work from Belardinelli as he should have done.

So what's my point. Yeah, our man is going to have better arcs and less good arcs, but also he's going to try stuff, and why not. Look at the way he's transformed his artwork from the early days.  Happened by trying things and experimenting and learning. But you know, in real life people do walk in from nowhere and disappear again. One of the most influential people in my life I only met a handful of times, each widely spaced and for at most a few days at a time.  Be pretty damn boring if every comic was written to the same identikit utilitarian rules. So folks, when you criticise, think. Are you really only criticising for not following the same sad old conventions? Some of what's being said comes over like that in this head. There are lots of good reasons for not breaking too many of the rules too much of the time, but, in fiction, to try and force everyone into a procrustean bed of convention: now honest, is that how you really want things?

Who's saying that he's bad for not following the same old conventions? Nobody is saying that. We're saying that the new things he is trying aren't turning out very well. I believe I even made comments about how branching out and trying new things is good!

Let's try this the other way around, with a hypothetical: An artist (We'll say, a filmmaker) has a usual style, and then they try something new. The new thing is *awful*. They use plot stylings that they don't understand. They work with a young medium, but rely on it too much without understanding its limitations. They try ambitious ideas, but without fully working out what impact those ideas would have. As a result, their work is a mess.
But unfortunately, the people around that filmmaker don't tell him that there's a problem. They don't point out the flaws, or try and explain what went wrong.
Next thing you know, we have Star Wars: The Phantom Menace being released to theaters.

I *want* Jeph to get better at writing other story styles, genres, and arcs. I *want* him to be able to tell this kind of story well, because the concepts that lead up to this arc were really really cool, and seeing it done well would be amazing. What I don't want is for him to continue doing things poorly because nobody is willing to point out when he makes mistakes.

[Tova]

I suspect the issue here is that, while Jeph has probably been building to this development for some time, we speculative creatures envisioned from what has gone before something quite different. The result has been jarring, the reactions perhaps foreseeable. Where we were hoping for an imaginative or clever solution, it would seem that the intention was to set up an Gordian knot for the sole purpose of introducing a new character whose motives, history, and future actions could well be fascinating.

Personally, I am content enough to sit back at this point to find out where this is going to take us.

Speculation is good, but if you invest heavily in an expectation of what you'll get out of a story by the time it's over, disappointment is a very real possibility.

[Is it cold in here?]

Eminence Gris made it sound like they will not re-appear.

Corpse Witch remains to be dealt with.

[cesium133]

New comic.

Bubbles is still here. 

[jwhouk]

I heard that last line of Bubbles' in a sinister voice.

"I. Am. Still. HERE."

[davidv]

So, when confronted, CW doesn't try to deny anything or claim to have the memories stored somewhere, she just literally attempts to commit murder by triggering whatever virus was implanted in bubbles head (at least I assume that's was the glowing eyes indicated.)

And that look on Bubbles face in the last panel made me actually cackle out loud.

[Is it cold in here?]

I wonder what the legal penalty for attempted murder of an AI is. "Equal protection of the laws" presumably means the sentence would be as long as for trying to kill an organic.

Robot Jail is "horrible" but CW said there are worse places. Robot Jail may be the best outcome for her.

Will there even be anything left for Faye to make a sculpture out of?

[TheEvilDog]

*Goes to get some popcorn and a comfy chair*

Next week is going to be exciting!

[linuxthekid]

Do you feel fear android?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fsx09hDU0Sw

[Morituri]

Yeah, that was looking like CW just told the threehorned one-eyed critter to bring down the house and discovered that it was no longer in residence.

This is probably a bad thing for Corpse Witch.

I don't imagine Faye is playing no part whatsoever though; she's either part of the backup plan, or waiting outside with Officer Basilisk to get in on the arrest.

[Gyrre]

Well, that pretty much confirms that the monster was malware and not the traumatic memories.

[Wagimawr]

This is not the end

Well you got one thing right. We're not done here by a long shot.

Bubbles' face tho. Almost makes one feel bad for CW.

Almost.

[mikmaxs]

I suspect the issue here is that, while Jeph has probably been building to this development for some time, we speculative creatures envisioned from what has gone before something quite different. The result has been jarring, the reactions perhaps foreseeable. Where we were hoping for an imaginative or clever solution, it would seem that the intention was to set up an Gordian knot for the sole purpose of introducing a new character whose motives, history, and future actions could well be fascinating.

Personally, I am content enough to sit back at this point to find out where this is going to take us.

Speculation is good, but if you invest heavily in an expectation of what you'll get out of a story by the time it's over, disappointment is a very real possibility.

Who was speculating? I was just taking the story presented at face value.
"This encryption is nearly-impossible to break" very obviously sets up expectations.
"This new character might be able to break the encryption, but it will be difficult" also sets up clear expectations, even if it was a bit rushed.
"The encryption was easily broken, and the story is over" runs counter to all of the setup that we were given. It's like we got all of the buildup in the first half of Alien, and then the first guy with the flamethrower was just able to kill the monster.


As for the new development... This is gonna be neat. I'm expecting Bubbles to take the moral high ground and get CW arrested somehow, but will be pleasantly surprised if something different happens.

[JimC]

speculative creatures envisioned from what has gone before something quite different. The result has been jarring,

Good thoughts, I think. Now you make me think about that I reckon that perhaps my reading style is not so much to look ahead and imagine where the plot will go, although I do like looking around and speculating about more of the background.. Comes of being a horrendously fast reader of novels maybe...

[jheartney]

Well, I wasn't expecting to see this till next week. (Not complaining.)

Bubbles also knows that CW unsuccessfully attempted to kill her. So that should not improve her mood. Despite this, I don't expect well witness a robocide. We'll have to see if Basilisk gets involved. In any case I have a hard time seeing CW continuing as proprietor of the robot fights; I doubt she has many fans among the workforce, and she's pissed off her lieutenant in a pretty permanent way. Whether it's from the legitimate constabulary or just Station and pals, I think she's bought some alone time.

I'm noticing that the safe seems to have significant quantities of cash. I guess if it's an underground business they couldn't have a business account, at least openly. The good news it'd be enough to bridge the transition to some new management.

[NyxDarkness]

FUCK YEAH!

That is all.

[Morituri]

I'm noticing how fast Bubbles is. 

Panel 1: 8 meters away in the doorway.  Corpse witch gets about one second's worth of a sentence out, and then
Panel 2: SLAM!  Covering 8 meters in one second Bubbles cuts off the sentence.

Which just shows Jeph is very much aware of the continuity he's set up in http://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=3004  where her top running speed is listed as 30KPH.  Yep, that's just about exactly right....

[Perfectly Reasonable]

I kinda hope Bubbles manages to extract an expository lump from Corpse Witch before turning her into an example of the Cubist Period.

In the meantime, I am enjoying "Girls with Rimshots".

[Tova]

Who was speculating?

Me, I was speculating. Inaccurately, as it turned out.

[danuis]

She's still here, folks... she's still here.

[brasca]

I know it's been said many times that Alice Grove is an alternate universe from this, but I've seen that grin before and it never bodes well. 

I'm also going to drop my theory that the memories were downloaded to a secret data bank Corpse Witch controls or she'd have tried to bluff her way out of this.  It's likely impossible which is why she won't even bother to lie about it.  Although many have been disappointed by the journey into Bubble's mind it did remove the last card Corpse Witch could play against her.  Loyalty, Loss of employment, loss of memories, and finally loss of life have all been played out so Corpse Witch has no leverage left. 

While I'm sure it would be more satisfying to crush her into a cube I think Bubbles has thought things through and will probably deliver an ultimatum.  Corpse Witch will leave never to return and leave the business as well as her contacts in high places to her.  Bubble may not be interested in bringing down her business, but reforming it because even though Corpse Witch ultimately was there to exploit down on their luck AIs she was there when no one else was.  Perhaps Bubbles will take it upon herself to keep the fighting arena going without exploiting the workers and fighters.  She's still have to steer clear of Officer Basilisk, but that seems easy enough. 

[Kugai]

That grin

Bubbles is upset


Corps Witch is going to becme a Statue.

[haikupoet]

Statue my shiny metal ass. Corpse Witch is going to wind up in a Furby.

[Morituri]

I'm pretty firmly of the opinion that Bubbles doesn't actually want to be running an illegal fight ring.  And she's not the owner of the building.  And I doubt that she'll cut Corpse Witch a deal that makes her the owner of the building, because one way or another that would involve Corpse Witch remaining free.   Finally, I doubt that Corpse Witch herself is the owner of the building, so even if Bubbles were willing to cut that deal I don't think she could sign it over.

I can see Bubbles wanting to open a robo hospital or repair center, but she'll want to go legit and I doubt she has the resources to buy anything like the skate park.

She might have enough if she got her back-pay, but a suit for back pay is legally a non-starter as an action against a criminal enterprise. 

On the other hand she picked her moment when CW had the safe open.  She may just take the back pay she's owed.

[ZoeB]

CW is getting off lightly. I half expected the Eminence Gris to have shall we say, staged an intervention.

The worst thing CW can expect from here is cessation of existence, robot jail (attempted murder) or a place worse then that.

Not Nightmare. Not "please tell us what made you the way you are - voluntarily of course" from EG et al before they start their experiments.

Obviously smalltime, not expert but a scriptkiddie. Not worth their attention.

By a stroke of good fortune, the safe is open too. That simplifies things, persuading her to open it could have involved ethical dilemmas.

I'd personally still like to know what made CW what she is, but that's no longer a Big Picture concern, more along the lines of wondering if rehabilitation after penitence is possible for her personally.

We're not called on to only treat the good with kindness. Justice untempered by mercy is over rated. I think I can assume her further capacity to inflict harm is or shortly will be... Diminished. That accomplished, we can see if anything can be salvaged from this (attempted) murderer and actual extortionist. I doubt it, but worth asking. I won't lose sleep on it though, there are more important issues.

[Texanhick20]

I had to read this comic 3 times to stop giggling like a mad man. and even then while reading the comments about today's comic I kept going back and re-reading this comic.. at this point I've read it about 10 times... Man is this gooood

[brasca]

It's not just Bubbles doing the right thing by not stooping to Corpse Witch's level it's also about getting away with it.  Unless Hannelore could be the literal cleaner in all this Bubbles could be charged for murder if she were to actually snuff out Corpse Witch's spark.  However, if she agrees to disappear and leaves Bubbles to run the operation then the other AIs still have a home and Faye could return to work there.  I don't see that happening if Bubbles were turn her in to the police for attempting to kill her and all the other criminal activity.  More than likely they'd confiscate all property associated with this illegal business which would leave all the AIs homeless and jobless.  I think this outcome works the best and yes Corpse Witch gets a get out of jail card, but perhaps if she knows about Bubbles' friends in high places she might think twice tinkering with AI minds and exploiting them in the future. 

[St.Clair]

That feeling when you smugly pull the trigger of your holdout pistol (that your enemy foolishly let you draw on them) and it just goes *click*

[Is it cold in here?]

I had to read this comic 3 times to stop giggling like a mad man. and even then while reading the comments about today's comic I kept going back and re-reading this comic.. at this point I've read it about 10 times... Man is this gooood

"I'm still here."
"Shit."

Welcome, new person!

"I'm still here" is a great attitude to take toward abusers.

[DSL]

So ... what, I wonder, was CW expecting to happen right after "... nice knowing you"?

[Mordhaus]

So ... what, I wonder, was CW expecting to happen right after "... nice knowing you"?

I think the current thought on this is that she expected her failsafe (the monster) to kill Bubbles or, at the very least incapacitate her somehow. I assume the light flashing in her eyes was her attempting to activate it.

[BenRG]

I'm thinking that, previously, Corpse Witch was expecting the very worst case scenario was that Bubbles would walk out and that was it. One thing she wasn't expecting (and probably doesn't know how to deal with) is Bubbles still being around but wanting to change the parameters of their relationship and how things work around the skate park.

That said, yeah, there is a definite feel to this of: "Your big mistake wasn't to take a shot at me, it was to miss when you did it!"

[jheartney]

I'm thinking that, previously, Corpse Witch was expecting the very worst case scenario was that Bubbles would walk out and that was it. One thing she wasn't expecting (and probably doesn't know how to deal with) is Bubbles still being around but wanting to change the parameters of their relationship and how things work around the skate park.

That said, yeah, there is a definite feel to this of: "Your big mistake wasn't to take a shot at me, it was to miss when you did it!"

The old saying is, if you try to kill the King (or Queen, in this case), you'd better succeed.

But I don't see Bubbles wanting to change the parameters of the relationship. I see her wanting to terminate it. CW can choose whether she herself gets terminated along with the relationship. (Or, perhaps, set up with her own private Robot Jail in a closet at the park.)

[hitmiccs]

So ... what, I wonder, was CW expecting to happen right after "... nice knowing you"?

I think the current thought on this is that she expected her failsafe (the monster) to kill Bubbles or, at the very least incapacitate her somehow. I assume the light flashing in her eyes was her attempting to activate it.

I fully agree with this - and I'm happy that it partially turned out as I theorized ^^
Next theory: even if some of us would be happy to see CW pay for what she has done to Bubbles (and with pay I mean seeing CW disintegrated by an anime-like exaggerated blow to the head), I suspect that Bubbles morale is still stronger than her anger - it's something she build up and lived with for a lot of time. I think Bubbles will report CW to the lieutenant/robopolice and have her arrested.

[QuestionableIntentions]

Woop! Go Bubbles! Time for CorpseWitch to get her comeuppance!

Global Moderator Comment

Edited to removed gendered insult such as we do not tolerate in this forum.

[USS Martenclaire]

Gosh, it's almost though manipulatively fucking with someone's memories can end up biting you on the ass.

[BenRG]

What I would like to see next week:

MONDAY
Panel 1
EXT: Skate Park, shown from a distance - FAYE, MAY and MOMO walking towards the main enterance

MOMO: "What's that sound? It sounds like...?"

Panel 2
Close up on MOMO, MAY and FAYE; FAYE looks sort of bored whilst MOMO and MAY look shocked.

MOMO: "... Singing?"

Panel 3 - Full-Width
INT: Skate Park lobby
A tableaux that could be a steampunk version of Beauty and the Beast. Robots and AI appliances are signing and dancing in formation a Hollywood-worthy moment.

ROBOT CHORUS: "Ding-Dong! The Witch is dead! Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch! Ding-Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead!"

At the extreme right-hand side, a surprised FAYE, MAY and MOMO are being confronted by JEREMY

JEREMY: "And she is not just merely dead! She's most sincerely dead!"

Panel 4
INT: Skate Park corridor

FAYE (back to looking bored) with MAY (wearing a 'WTF?' expression) and MOMO (looking over her shoulder in alarm) are walking in fore-shot. Behind them, PUNCHBOT and another fighting robot are arm-in arm, dancing a jig.

ROBOT CHORUS: "Ding-Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead!"

Panel 5
MOMO, MAY and FAYE walking side by side

MOMO: "Does that sort of thing happen a lot here?"

FAYE: "Meh. It's Thursday. Weird shit always happens on Thursday!"


TUESDAY
Panel 1
INT - Skate Park
MOMO, MAY and FAYE (seen from behind) are standing in front of a door labelled 'Manager' (and, below, in shaky cursive: 'Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here!')

Panel 2
INT - Manager's Office
BUBBLES is sitting in a high-backed leather swivel chair, illuminated by the light from an angle-poise lamp. She is toying with an AI drive. CORPSE WITCH's chassis (sans head) is leaning against the far wall with a label pasted to the chest: 'DISASSEMBLY ORDER'

BUBBLES: "Faye. Good, you brought the librarian and the parolee. Please, come in."

Panel 3
Close up on BUBBLES, who is steepleing her hands in front of her, wearing a slightly smug and sinister smile.

BUBBLES: "As you may have noticed, the Skate Park's former owner-operator has had something of a... misadventure. As a consequence there has been a change of management and the new manager... That is me, by the way... has decided on a wide-ranging change of policy."

Panel 4
BUBBLES' right hand, extending out of shot towards a petrified-looking MOMO

BUBBLES: "But this is not a task that I can achieve alone. I need guides. I need the assistance of someone who has not just access to the most up-to-date information on business law but is also famed in the local AI community for her unshakable sense of ethics and morality to help make this both an ethical and truly joint human-AI enterprise."

Panel 4
BUBBLES' right hand, extending out of shot towards a sceptical-looking MAY

BUBBLES: "As well as one of her generation's most brilliant natural talents in book-keeping who, but for a single misstep, would have made one of the most fantastic acts of corporate embezzlement in history seem legal to help me acquire the finance for this great task."

Panel 6
A smirking FAYE, arms folded, standing behind MOMO and MAY

BUBBLES (Out of shot): "Together, my friends, we will achieve the impossible! The Ultimate Robot Fighting Championship is about to go fully legitimate and legal, in the biggest and best possible way!"

FAYE: "Buckle up, kiddies! It's gonna be one hellava ride!"

[ZoeB]

Rats. Now Jeph can't use that. Or maybe assign you co-authorship?

[BenRG]

FWIW, on Twitter, Jeph recently said that he's about 2 weeks ahead in drawing comics, so the outcome of today's confrontation is already saved to the 'Completed Strips' directory on Jeph's home PC.

[pwhodges]

As a side effect, this shows clearly that virtually every instance in which the forum wonders whether it influenced a story line is unlikely to be the case.

[Jakk Frost]

For panel 2, I honestly think a more satisfying onomatopoeia could have been used, something like "WHANG" (metal face to metal wall), or "KABAM" (Bubbles did it so hard it sounded like a gunshot).  Just me being picky though. 

Additionally, that panel put me in mind of the youtube meme of repeating an impact video to the opening beat of Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl".  Anyone care to animate it?  lol 

[WareWolf]

Statue my shiny metal ass. Corpse Witch is going to wind up in a Furby.

There are indeed worse places than Robot Jail.