We might also wonder whether Gavia is alive at all, and if so in what sort of state of health, having apparently been dropped from a couple of hundred feet up in the air with a loss of clothing and quite possibly nanotech.
*quietly pines for another comic*Have you tried mutt?
We're waiting for it to move Fjord as well.Feelin' blue...
I eudora mail client puns*quietly pines for another comic*Have you tried mutt?
Ok, long shot. What if Ardent was supposed to reboot Gavia after this incident?I SERIOUSLY doubt it. Gavia's a person, not a machine, no matter what she may of had in her. Plus it's not like she actually needs them to live, she just uses them for everything cause she's lazy. lol
I wonder how she's going to react once she fully awakens and finds she's been stripped of her Nanotech?
The nightwalker's component nanomachines - including Gavia's - are still around, somewhere. Just scattered to the winds.
I wonder how she's going to react once she fully awakens and finds she's been stripped of her Nanotech?
The full sequence of grief, I suspect:After all, Gavia pretty much used her nanotech for everything that she did. She's going to feel like she's been rendered quadriplegic at first!
- Shock or Disbelief
- Denial
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Guilt
- Depression
- Acceptance and Hope
Maybe the loon is a representation of her nanos
Regardless of dream interpretation Gavia lost her nanotech. Maybe it's permanent or perhaps in time she will be able to mentally link with her old nanos and possibly those of the Night Walker making her more powerful.As in she could, when ever she wanted, to call a swarm of old world nanos and become a night walker like super entity. Nice idea, but I kind of doubt it.
We know that she lost her ability to fly as well as telekinesis, pyrotechnics, and shield generation, but her nano technology might go beyond that. Some of her mundane abilities was shutting off noise, but perhaps her augmentation affects her ability to think and other biological processes.That goes without the saying.
It's not just potentially debilitating, but humiliating if there are things that she'll have to learn how do like basic hygiene if the nanobots were responsible for cleaning her skin or even regulating her digestive system
or for that matter reproductive system.What?! Oh.... you mean the little thingies would eat her 'troubles' away for her? I don't know if it would be cool or not if Jeph decided to drop hint about it, but how do I feel the cool space people have managed to fix the problem of overt menstruation with means other than nanomachines. Genetic therapy, as in the same stuff ardent has been taking to get his blue skin and regenarating tail.
or for that matter reproductive system.What?! Oh.... you mean the little thingies would eat her 'troubles' away for her? I don't know if it would be cool or not if Jeph decided to drop hint about it, but how do I feel the cool space people have managed to fix the problem of overt menstruation with means other than nanomachines. Genetic therapy, as in the same stuff ardent has been taking to get his blue skin and regenarating tail.
Well, yeah. That's what we do here.
She blamed Ardent for getting them marooned on Earth so if anyone is going to feel the brunt of her anger it will be him.
Yep, looks like you called it!
Edit: Gavia's irises look pale pink right now, wonder how long that will last.
it is unlikely that Gavia could have survived a coma lasting more than a week or so.
it is unlikely that Gavia could have survived a coma lasting more than a week or so.
Given that she's not hooked to a saline drip, it's unlikely she was out more than 48 hours. She'd have dehydrated.
...and speaking of which, she's from space, she's deadly pale, and she's riding in skimpy clothes, uncovered, through the hot sunshine, asleep. No nanotech. Shouldn't she have second-degree sunburns by now?
Well, at least she's awake and somewhat back to normal now :-D
I'm wondering just how much of a timeskip we actually have here.
Brasca++She blamed Ardent for getting them marooned on Earth so if anyone is going to feel the brunt of her anger it will be him.Yep, looks like you called it!
Brasca++She blamed Ardent for getting them marooned on Earth so if anyone is going to feel the brunt of her anger it will be him.Yep, looks like you called it!
I like the idea of the Loon representing nanomachines intruding into both Ardent's and Gavia's subconsciouses, but the red eyes on the loon that came to get Ardent out of his dream make me think that particular loon represented Gavia herself (?)
@brasca,
Actually, I think it's mostly hers. I also think that she isn't particularly used to physical effort without her nanobots to back her up. Like I've posted before, she's going to be very, very weak, practically a quadriplegic in some ways until she's built up her physical strength reserves.
Meanwhile, I suspect Ardent is going to have a bloody nose or lip and is going to be more worried about his sister fainting like that.
But she shouldn't be using violence.Quite in character though. Violence to intimidate the town was first resort when she appeared, violence was imminent when the children set on her, violence in cave with Struthis... Makes you wonder what sort of society they have up in space.
My sympathy for Gavia is waning. She's been dealt a shitty hand, but it really isn't Ardent's fault that she decided to follow him down to earth. Projecting a little anger is reasonable, sure, but when it gets to the point of projecting your fists onto someone else's face because of your own mistakes, that's not a quality character trait.
But she shouldn't be using violence.Quite in character though. Violence to intimidate the town was first resort when she appeared, violence was imminent when the children set on her, violence in cave with Struthis... Makes you wonder what sort of society they have up in space.
Perhaps it also says something about us, because supposing you reverse the roles and we had Ardent the violent male and Gavia the likeable sociable female, instead of vice versa, how would that play out to us?
But she shouldn't be using violence.Quite in character though. Violence to intimidate the town was first resort when she appeared, violence was imminent when the children set on her, violence in cave with Struthis... Makes you wonder what sort of society they have up in space.
Perhaps it also says something about us, because supposing you reverse the roles and we had Ardent the violent male and Gavia the likeable sociable female, instead of vice versa, how would that play out to us?
Oh good heavens yes, I'm certainly not going to argue with you there. Certainly in character. Alice Grove is in many ways an interesting foil to QC, as in QC all the characters are basically nice, and I have no doubts that is how Jeph wants people to see them. In Alice Grove, the four current characters who seem to be the protagonists aren't nice and I'm not sure Jeph wants his readers to see them as nice. Ardent is the closest, but I have my doubts sometimes about his inability to see how the pursuit of his own desires impacts on others.
Regarding the space society, it does seem to be one that is considered 'safe'. There was an earlier comic when Gavia expressed doubts about how safe it was for children to walk through the woods to Alice's home. Alice got sarcastic about her concern, but Gavia refused to be baited and said where she was from it was safe for children, but it isn't here.
I always wondered if their society was one in which people pretty much have nothing to do but pursue pleasure (probably because the Praeses do all the actual work and protection). They have no responsibilities, concerns or problems, and so they have never needed to learn skills like discipline, problem solving and coping with adversity. Thus, Ardent arrived thinking it was perfectly acceptable to disrupt the earth society because he wanted a vacation and was genuinely surprised when a girl slapped him for asking three minutes after they met if she wanted to fuck. And Gavia arrived thinking violence was the best solution for finding Ardent and getting home, and violence is the best way to express her current dissatisfaction with her life.
FWIW, it is possible that Ardent and Gavia's culture do not have nuclear families. Why shouldn't children be raised the KPAX way by the entire community? That way, you don't have any of this potentially discord-generating loyalty to clans or anyone other than the community as a whole (and the Praeses, who give them everything they think that they want).
What I'm saying is that they may have never known their parents because their parents were totally uninvolved with their upbringing because in the Praeses 'perfect society', parents are an impediment to the social order.
Quite in character though. Violence to intimidate the town was first resort when she appeared, violence was imminent when the children set on her, violence in cave with Struthis...
Well I know that happened to me once. I wasn't punching anyone, but it was January, my skin was dry, and I didn't have any gloves. As soon as I clenched a fist every crack opened up. Gavia's skin may be that brittle, but if it was I'd think she'd have a lot more bruises after Alice caught her.
Her reaction isn't helpful or fair to Ardent, but it's also hard to blame her for lashing out. She's terrified, bereft of what are to her basic functions.
I suspect that Gavia was fully and agonisingly aware of what happened to her in the Night Walker's grasp. I strongly suspect that she knows what happened to her; I suspect that it was such a traumatic experience that she has a hard time being aware of anything but what happened to her that night.
Her reaction isn't helpful or fair to Ardent, but it's also hard to blame her for lashing out. She's terrified, bereft of what are to her basic functions. People do insane things when they're scared.
She might not even KNOW she's lost her nanotech yet...I suspect that finding herself lying on a blanket rather than floating in mid air would have been a pretty solid clue.
She might not even KNOW she's lost her nanotech yet...I suspect that finding herself lying on a blanket rather than floating in mid air would have been a pretty solid clue.
Now if you want a bizarre mental picture, consider: had she still been floating in mid air, how would they have brought her along with the cart?
There's a lot we don't know about this technology. Perhaps it can be replaced and this is just a temporary inconvenience, but maybe those implants cannot be installed again if removed and her situation is permanent. There's also what happened while she was merged with the Night Walker. Perhaps she learned about its purpose and if the Praeses are involved and now knows that she and Ardent will never make it back home because of whatever scheme they have designed.
COMICIs it the punchy one? Because I'm not seeing a new one.
zomg, is Gavia going to beat Ardent to death?
More likely, she'll hit him a few times, suddenly get enormous cramps in her atrophied arm muscles (because she's too used to her nanobots doing the work) and be nearly knocked unconscious by the pain.
More likely, she'll hit him a few times, suddenly get enormous cramps in her atrophied arm muscles (because she's too used to her nanobots doing the work) and be nearly knocked unconscious by the pain.
That's a good point. Even Ardent, a nanotech minimalist, uses it to block pain out to the point that he didn't notice a severed limb until it was pointed out to him. There's a real chance that she's not felt any actual pain in years, maybe decades.
More likely, she'll hit him a few times, suddenly get enormous cramps in her atrophied arm muscles (because she's too used to her nanobots doing the work) and be nearly knocked unconscious by the pain.
That's a good point. Even Ardent, a nanotech minimalist, uses it to block pain out to the point that he didn't notice a severed limb until it was pointed out to him. There's a real chance that she's not felt any actual pain in years, maybe decades.
She looked pretty sore when Alice duffed her up at their first meeting! Still, she didn't stay that way for long..
...Ardent [blocked] pain out to the point that he didn't notice a severed limb until it was pointed out to him.Maybe, but we could also speculate about limitations of the bio-engineered tail... Where are the nerves going to end up at for instance? If the bio engineering merely extends the nerves in the coccyx then they might be pretty sparse over the whole length... I wonder if Alice went back to find Ardent's tail for him and sewed it on, or whether he grew a whole new one, and if the latter whether anyone picked up the old one and what they did with it (preserved, stuffed, and used as draught excluder?).
Sedna seems to be an extraordinarily cheerful person when she isn't shooting at Alice.
...Where are the nerves going to end up at for instance?...
...a second level to her augmentation that the Night Walker couldn't touch?Or didn't need to touch perhaps?
for that matter, why even have nerves in something that's just an ornament and is going to be banging into stuff all the time anyway'cos you need to know if you've shut your tail in the door [grin]
unless you've designed it with autotomy... then it wouldn't matter if you just caught the tail end of it :clairedoge:for that matter, why even have nerves in something that's just an ornament and is going to be banging into stuff all the time anyway'cos you need to know if you've shut your tail in the door [grin]
...a second level to her augmentation that the Night Walker couldn't touch?Or didn't need to touch perhaps?
But in http://www.alicegrove.com/post/115986771824/kids-these-days Ardent at least implies that the space population is not "baseline human" and that they are all long lived. I suggest that implies the space population are all augmented above baseline human, whatever that is, as well as having a variety of choices beyond that, where Gavia had the nano machines and Ardent apparently some kind of biological engineering.
Doesn't mean he hasn't read the forums as a "guest".Or perhaps he has a sock puppet? Can you spot a user who's maybe directing or stirring threads in a way you might think our author would want to?
This amount of lampshade hanging about "metabolic stasis" in today's page is a proof that Jeph still reads this forum and also he's trolling us pretty hard.
Doesn't mean he hasn't read the forums as a "guest".Or perhaps he has a sock puppet? Can you spot a user who's maybe directing or stirring threads in a way you might think our author would want to?
I assumed Mods would know - and also that standard moderatorial ethics would prevent you from confirming or denying... It was a speculation for us plebs...We can see IP addresses, for instance.Doesn't mean he hasn't read the forums as a "guest".Or perhaps he has a sock puppet? Can you spot a user who's maybe directing or stirring threads in a way you might think our author would want to?
Hmm, three weeks unconcious and they havenīt even changed her clothing?
I hope they have washed it (and her) regularly all this time. Otherwise Gavia will have gotten some nasty skin problems.
TM
It's also possible that a lot more time expired between Alice's "It seems so" and her query, "What have I missed?"
Incredibly white skin, pink eyes -- if her hair was white instead of black, I'd say Gavia was probably an albino.
I suppose it's possible that she has no skin pigment or iris pigment, yet for some reason still has hair pigment, for Super Science Reasons having to do with enhanced biochemistry + nanos. Come to think of it, though, if she had no skin pigment then her skin should have a kind of pinkish glow, due to blood in her capillaries actually showing through the skin.
So I'm not sure what the bone-white skin coloration is supposed to indicate about her. Any ideas?
Come to think of it, though, if she had no skin pigment then her skin should have a kind of pinkish glow, due to blood in her capillaries actually showing through the skin.
Difficult to say since I don't see how she could drink or eat while she was in metabolic stasis and yet she is not skin and bones. As such I don't think she'd sweat or expel any other waste. At least I hope not because the poor girl has gone through enough. Knowing that Alice or worse yet Ardent was giving her sponge baths while comatose would just be another grievance to add to the pile.
Difficult to say since I don't see how she could drink or eat while she was in metabolic stasis and yet she is not skin and bones. As such I don't think she'd sweat or expel any other waste. At least I hope not because the poor girl has gone through enough. Knowing that Alice or worse yet Ardent was giving her sponge baths while comatose would just be another grievance to add to the pile.
After three weeks without drinking and eating she would not only be skin and bones, but also six feet under the ground. Without drinking you die within a few days. There is no sign of intravenal nourishment, so the group must have gotten something into her. Water and soup, likely. A rather messy process with an unconcious person. And yes, there must have been some bodily waste. So cleaning her has been unevitable.
Caring for an unconcious person outside a hospital is a very difficult and unpleasant process, a fact mostly ignored by writers in fiction. A word that immediately comes to my mind here is "diapers". So I donīt blame Jeph for ignoring it too.
But the picture of Gavia crying really got me today. The pain of loss must be overwhelming for her, so I rather go for denial here.
The artwork is really impressing. Jeph made an excellent job of illustrating Gavias emotions and pain here. Billiant!
TM
Moreover, her clothes lack any dribble stains and she looks to be wearing the same shorts she had on when she lost her frock not a diaper.
Moreover, her clothes lack any dribble stains and she looks to be wearing the same shorts she had on when she lost her frock not a diaper.
Well, ardent is also sporting the same briefs he had when he came. Maybe they are self-cleaning.
Strip is up!
It would seem that in addition to her being able to physically heal Gavia has miraculously coped with her loss quickly enough. The wonders of genetic engineering.
Good for her. I wasn't really looking forward to a whole bunch of strips with her mopey and depressed. She's determined to get back home and get what she lost.
After three weeks without drinking and eating she would not only be skin and bones, but also six feet under the ground. Without drinking you die within a few days. There is no sign of intravenal nourishment, so the group must have gotten something into her. Water and soup, likely. A rather messy process with an unconcious person. And yes, there must have been some bodily waste. So cleaning her has been unevitable.
Caring for an unconcious person outside a hospital is a very difficult and unpleasant process, a fact mostly ignored by writers in fiction. A word that immediately comes to my mind here is "diapers". So I donīt blame Jeph for ignoring it too.
Come to think of it, though, if she had no skin pigment then her skin should have a kind of pinkish glow, due to blood in her capillaries actually showing through the skin.
Which is how she's shown.
Maybe on your monitor, but I'm not seeing it. She looks pure white to me.
... clearly pink.More a sort of tan colour if you ask me...
... clearly pink.More a sort of tan colour if you ask me...
... clearly pink.More a sort of tan colour if you ask me...
Very pale skin colour, not pure white, is the point - names are imprecise.
And yes, I can distinguish eyes from the rest of the face - I selected a random spot in the middle of the cheek, in the picture of her beating up Ardent (unfortunately over a third of the archive images don't load, so I couldn't use the one that triggered the discussion).
My guess is that, in the original script, Gavia was meant to be completely naked in that panel because her nanotech was all of her apparel. I suspect that Jeph changed his mind late in the creative process, maybe because he felt that he'd already pushed the envelope far enough with Sedna sleeping topless. He may have also been concerned by the general consensus that Gavia is underage.
Surely an instant tan would not be a feature you'd bother with if you anticipated spending your entire life in space,, and never being on a planet.
Of course you realise you're Posting in last months Thread don't you?