Topic: Alice Grove MCDT - January 2015 (Read 115033 times)

Kugai · « **on:** 30 Dec 2014, 13:22 »

HAP-PY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!

ysth · « **Reply #1 on:** 30 Dec 2014, 13:44 »

'Tisn't January anywhere in the world yet.

Kugai · « **Reply #2 on:** 30 Dec 2014, 13:54 »

10:53am, 31 December 2014

BenRG · « **Reply #3 on:** 30 Dec 2014, 14:16 »

My call? Ardent and his sister become the audience POVs (at least for the rest of this part of the story). Alice decides to 'educate' them so they won't treat 'primitives' so badly for the lulz in future. Through their eyes, we come to understand the nature of this region and Alice's own role therein.

KOK · « **Reply #4 on:** 31 Dec 2014, 06:41 »

Happy new year everybody. 8 1/4 hours still to go.

Does anybody know why so much of the western EU runs on Bornholm time, BTW?

ysth · « **Reply #5 on:** 31 Dec 2014, 07:08 »

It was 2015 on Kiritimati 5 hours ago.

BenRG · « **Reply #6 on:** 31 Dec 2014, 07:48 »

Quote from: ysth on 31 Dec 2014, 07:08

It was 2015 on Kiritimati 5 hours ago.

More proof that, between this and general relativity, it is impossible to know with any objective certainty precisely when you are.

Kugai · « **Reply #7 on:** 31 Dec 2014, 14:35 »

HAPPY NEW YEAR FOLKSIES

*Since it's 11:35, heads off to make New Years Day Lunch*

ReindeerFlotilla · « **Reply #8 on:** 31 Dec 2014, 15:06 »

Still Last year, here. Enjoy the future! Send winning lottery numbers.

ysth · « **Reply #9 on:** 31 Dec 2014, 17:06 »

Quote from: ReindeerFlotilla on 31 Dec 2014, 15:06

Still Last year, here. Enjoy the future! Send winning lottery numbers.

It's no use, it's fifteens all the way down.

Method of Madness · « **Reply #10 on:** 01 Jan 2015, 06:18 »

Quote from: ysth on 31 Dec 2014, 07:08

It was 2015 on Kiritimati 5 hours ago.

Still weird to me that it can be January 1 in one place and December 30 in another. Fucking crooked International Date Line

Uniquitous · « **Reply #11 on:** 01 Jan 2015, 11:36 »

I'm wondering if Ardent and his sis from the Culture. Ardent sure acts like one of them.

Method of Madness · « **Reply #12 on:** 01 Jan 2015, 11:54 »

I think someone's made that reference before, but I don't remember what that means.

BenRG · « **Reply #13 on:** 01 Jan 2015, 12:13 »

Quote from: Method of Madness on 01 Jan 2015, 11:54

I think someone's made that reference before, but I don't remember what that means.

The Culture, created by the late Iain M Banks, are a massively powerful star-spanning empire possessed of god-tier technologies and with AIs (often the minds of planet-sized starships) managing most of the day-to-day affairs of their empire. They are characterised as having a 'post-scarcity' society. Simply put, no-one has to do without anything they want. Their fantastically advanced technology means that almost anything that a citizen wants, they can have, very nearly on demand.

The AIs (who seem to basically run things) can identify and counter a threat to their nation so rapidly that they are basically unbeatable except against a Necron-level civilisation.

The Culture will let its citizens do pretty much whatever they want so long as they cause no harm to each other. Sex with whoever you want or even whatever you want. Go wherever you want and do whatever you want so long as you don't hurt anyone except in the absolute extreme of self-defence. Indeed this taboo against harming or forcing anything on others is one of the few moral taboos of The Culture's society. 'No', is an absolute and the body and mind of another is their absolute property over which you cannot and must not think you have any claim or control.

I'm sure that it was the use of 'scarcity' that made a lot of readers think that Ardent and his sister are from a Culture-like society and, to a certain degree, I agree. Indeed, it would explain why Ardent didn't think he'd have to pay for anything (or even understand what that really meant) and why he expected people to be generally sexually receptive unless they were busy. Additionally, the fact that Ardent's sister seems to have not directly caused any injuries to anyone in her attack would strongly suggest that she is following something like The Culture's absolute and inviolable 'thou shalt do no harm' taboo.

Kugai · « **Reply #14 on:** 01 Jan 2015, 12:50 »

[BonesMcCoyVoice]"Dammit Alice, I'm a Doctor, not a bystander. Now move aside goddamit!!"[/BonesMcCoyVoice]

Kugai · « **Reply #15 on:** 01 Jan 2015, 18:50 »

Hmmm

I wonder if it's bigger on the inside?

It's going to be interesting to see what it looks like inside Alices home - and what she wants from ArdentSis.

osaka · « **Reply #16 on:** 01 Jan 2015, 18:52 »

"Ok, ArdentSis, explain this to me. WHY DID YOU THINK THAT BLOWING SHIT THE FUCK UP WAS THE BEST IDEA TO PRESENT YOURSELF"

Quote from: Kugai on 01 Jan 2015, 18:50

Hmmm

I wonder if it's bigger on the inside?

Would be interesting wouldn't it. I think we'd need a companion tho, would that role be filled by Jack?

Kugai · « **Reply #17 on:** 01 Jan 2015, 18:53 »

Either that or Ardent is about to step into the role

jwhouk · « **Reply #18 on:** 01 Jan 2015, 18:53 »

Quote from: Kugai on 01 Jan 2015, 18:50

Hmmm

I wonder if it's bigger on the inside?

It's going to be interesting to see what it looks like inside Alices home - and what she wants from ArdentSis.

As cliche as it sounds, I suspect that it is much bigger on the inside.

hedgie · « **Reply #19 on:** 01 Jan 2015, 18:58 »

I'm half-surprised that it doesn't have chicken legs and isn't a tesseract inside.

Neko_Ali · « **Reply #20 on:** 01 Jan 2015, 19:45 »

The house is sitting down right now. Nesting, as it were.

Half Empty Coffee Cup · « **Reply #21 on:** 01 Jan 2015, 19:47 »

It would be amusing to see Baba Yaga in this, though, hedgie.

Neko_Ali · « **Reply #22 on:** 01 Jan 2015, 20:24 »

Well, Alice does seem to be heading into 'bad witch' territory here. It doesn't get much worse that old Dame Baba.

BenRG · « **Reply #23 on:** 01 Jan 2015, 23:34 »

Well, it's not exactly a creepy cottage in the woods but I think that it's as close as someone with Alice 's pragmatic personality would get. It has the general feel of "My First Minecraft Hut". It covers the basics but seems to indicate someone without the time or patience for something more elaborate.

I'm just wondering why she needs Jack's help! Or does she want to ensure that Ardent didn't tell him anything significant about 'Outside' and erase his memory if he did? Does she not want him running around until she's found out why he followed Ardent into the fight zone?

Or perhaps, and this was an early fear of mine, she needs help digging two unmarked graves because there is only one punishment under law for unauthorised access of a Preserve.

I've got the feeling that Jack's presence will save lives.

BTW - I think that the questions Alice want answered are: "What the hell did you think you were doing and how did the squirrels in your head convince you that it was a good idea?!?"

KOK · « **Reply #24 on:** 01 Jan 2015, 23:44 »

Quote from: hedgie on 01 Jan 2015, 18:58

I'm half-surprised that it doesn't have chicken legs and isn't a tesseract inside.

How do you know it isn't?

ysth · « **Reply #25 on:** 01 Jan 2015, 23:49 »

At least it has the traditional witch's cottage well. I note that it isn't electric.

Loki · « **Reply #26 on:** 02 Jan 2015, 02:33 »

Spoiler for the Night Watch series by Lukyanenko, wherein the protagonist and narrator discovers a woman in a similar cottage and suspects she may be a witch:

(click to show/hide)

SubaruStephen · « **Reply #27 on:** 02 Jan 2015, 02:50 »

Quote from: Kugai on 01 Jan 2015, 18:50

It's going to be interesting to see what it looks like inside Alices home

The house probably just hides the entrance to her real home, which is under ground and has lots of computer screens

BenRG · « **Reply #28 on:** 02 Jan 2015, 04:26 »

Quote from: SubaruStephen on 02 Jan 2015, 02:50

Quote from: Kugai on 01 Jan 2015, 18:50
It's going to be interesting to see what it looks like inside Alices home

The house probably just hides the entrance to her real home, which is under ground and has lots of computer screens

JACK is standing in a pool of light from a spotlight at the bottom of the ladder. There is nothing else visible in the pitch black.

ALICE: "Watch your step."

ALICE throws a switch to turn on floodlights and JACK jumps back, suddenly realising that he has been standing next to a bottomless pit. There is a chattering and squeaking from above.

JACK: "Bats...?"

ALICE: "They're great survivors."

de_la_Nae · « **Reply #29 on:** 02 Jan 2015, 18:16 »

Alright, the prisoner is being moved to the only lockup that has any chance of holding her. That's a (non-execution) start.

Rghfrgl · « **Reply #30 on:** 02 Jan 2015, 21:13 »

Quote from: de_la_Nae on 02 Jan 2015, 18:16

That's a (non-execution) start.

Or maybe she has a disintegration chamber. Or maybe she has a roomba!

FunkyTuba · « **Reply #31 on:** 03 Jan 2015, 12:50 »

She's probably better at healing than Dr Streaks-a-lot and doesn't want to embarrass him.

de_la_Nae · « **Reply #32 on:** 03 Jan 2015, 14:15 »

What?

FunkyTuba · « **Reply #33 on:** 03 Jan 2015, 23:33 »

I was suggesting that in addition to her abilities to a) fall unharmed from great heights and b) render bellicose visitors' nanotech useless and c) all the stuff the villagers thanked her for, Alice might also d) have access to healing tech that's better/different/more suited to LEJ's physiology and she may not want to let on to "Doc" just exactly what she's got.

"Doc" has three white things in his hair. I just called him Dr Streaks-a-lot in an attempt to be funny.

Method of Madness · « **Reply #34 on:** 04 Jan 2015, 04:24 »

Oh. You were talking about his hair? Well that's disappointing

Kugai · « **Reply #35 on:** 04 Jan 2015, 12:00 »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxUfg3uCBbg

Pilchard123 · « **Reply #36 on:** 04 Jan 2015, 13:15 »

Don't look, Ethel!

de_la_Nae · « **Reply #37 on:** 04 Jan 2015, 18:12 »

Gotcha.

Maybe, the reasoning isn't bad now that I'm listening to it.

I sincerely doubt she cares too much about 'showing him up', though. :p

Zebediah · « **Reply #38 on:** 05 Jan 2015, 06:45 »

I'm getting a definite "Welcome to Alice's House of Waterboarding" vibe from this.

Kugai · « **Reply #39 on:** 05 Jan 2015, 13:01 »

This could be the beginning of a beutiful friendship

BenRG · « **Reply #40 on:** 05 Jan 2015, 13:06 »

Quote from: Kugai on 05 Jan 2015, 13:01

This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship

Well, maybe. One thing is certain though: The one thing Ardent never expected to be was that he'd be the token sane one in the group!

I'm still expecting Gavia to say it was all some kind of weird practical joke. Alice, of course, isn't laughing. At least she wasn't until panel 4. Something tells me that she's one of those slightly alarming personalities that enjoys having people living in terror of their very proximity.

P.S.: Notice that Gavia is all nice and healed; it looks like I was right to expect that her nanobots would fix her up as good as new so long as Alice didn't permanently kill her!

larn · « **Reply #41 on:** 05 Jan 2015, 13:11 »

So why did Ardent's delightful tail get amputated to that sad looking stump? Given how proud of his tail he was, it seems unlikely that he would voluntarily discard it. Perhaps the tail got blown up in one of Gavia's explosions?

SomeCanadianWeirdo · « **Reply #42 on:** 05 Jan 2015, 13:32 »

Alice's face in panel 4 of the latest comic, scary but appealing at the same time.

It seems Alice is committed to the local lifestyle. Her home looks like it's about what you'd imagine the homes of other locals are like. Of course she may press a button next strip and reveal her starship hidden below the floorboards.

vforvancouver · « **Reply #43 on:** 05 Jan 2015, 13:43 »

Quote from: larn on 05 Jan 2015, 13:11

So why did Ardent's delightful tail get amputated to that sad looking stump?

I was just gonna ask that.

Kugai · « **Reply #44 on:** 05 Jan 2015, 13:46 »

I just noticed that myself.

Maybe it's retractable?

BenRG · « **Reply #45 on:** 05 Jan 2015, 13:51 »

Quote from: Kugai on 05 Jan 2015, 13:46

Maybe it's retractable?

I'm pretty sure that Gavia's baseline-humanoid form proves that Arden's tail is artificial. My guess is that it is either a prosthetic or some kind of body restructuring via his own nanobots. My guess is that he has a pre-programmed protocol in place that when they detect he is under stress (and thus in danger where the tail would just get in the way), they'll disassemble it. Now he's calming down, they're starting to reassemble it.

Zebediah · « **Reply #46 on:** 05 Jan 2015, 13:54 »

Oh god. I just realized it's not a tail.

osaka · « **Reply #47 on:** 05 Jan 2015, 15:32 »

What exactly do you mean Zeb?

Also, Gavia is a beautiful name and there should be more people called like that. On the topic of her healing via nanobots, would make sense. It would also make sense if Alice had patched her up, but that's beyond the point. What I do not know is how can she have the nerve to call Ardent a prick after trying to blow up a city.

Neko_Ali · « **Reply #48 on:** 05 Jan 2015, 15:57 »

To be fair, it wasn't so much a city as a town....

ysth · « **Reply #49 on:** 05 Jan 2015, 17:04 »

Quote from: SomeCanadianWeirdo on 05 Jan 2015, 13:32

It seems Alice is committed to the local lifestyle. Her home looks like it's about what you'd imagine the homes of other locals are like.

No, I'm pretty sure I see eyes of newt in one of those jars on the shelf.

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Author Topic: Alice Grove MCDT - January 2015 (Read 115033 times)