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Gavias Exorcism

They talk to The Night Walker and ..... learn things

Gavia becomes the Sauron of the Aliceverse

The Praeses appear.  This has been their plan all along

Ardent grabs Gaiva - Chaos ensues

This is where things get REALLY interesting

Naked Sedna Butts

Purple Monkey Dishwasher FROM SPAAAAAAAAACE!!!!!!!

[Kugai]

Happy April Fools Day! 

[Carl-E]

The joke is, it's still before midnight in the US!

[Kugai]

What's even more of a joke is that it's actually 16:45 here on April 1st in Kiwiland

[Loki]

New comic!





So, it's nice to see Ardent not getting distracted by Malice's apparel.

[BenRG]

SEDNA: "I'm going to need a bigger gun. A much bigger gun."

P.S.: Well, Sedna is human enough that her breasts look like breasts rather than a shaped body shell, as was the case with May.

[Kugai]

She's gonna need a BFG alright.

Pulse EMP Cannon?

[TinPenguin]

She's gonna need a BFG alright.

What, to steal the Night Walker's dreams?

[Welu]

Dang, these last few have been fantastic on the art and creep factor.

[Neko_Ali]

We're going to need something bigger than I have to take out the Night Walker.

Ardent... Touch her gun.

[Detachable Felix]

Boobies!

Now now, let's be civil, folks. Let us keep abreast of the topic and not make a tit out of ourselves 

In all seriousness though, let's not be like Tyler from GwS.

[Y]

At least she has her priorities straight, unlike some tv shows where they take time to get dressed when confronted with an emergency. It's the same for people that are confronted with a bear while peeing, they finish their business first and zip up because they don't want to be caught dead with their dick out, instead of fleeing or whatever you're supposed to do when seeing a bear.

[President Peaches]

Pfffft, casuals. A true badass would piss on the bear.

[Channelore HellicottAtham]

P.S.: Well, Sedna is human enough that her breasts look like breasts rather than a shaped body shell, as was the case with May.

So long as Ardent keeps his mystery magical auto-upgrade paws off them, at least..... 

[Is it cold in here?]

Sedna didn't mind being in her underpants around a horny adolescent.

Alice, in contrast, sleeps in her armor. (Did the armor destroy her regular clothes?)

[BenRG]

That's probably just a personal preference. She sleeps in a t-shirt and pants at home too. That said, I suppose that it is possible that sleeping in her armour rather than begging a shirt off of Sedna might reflect a sense of personal vulnerability.

[FunkyTuba]

Guessing we'll get to see Sedna's final form at some point

[War Sparrow]

At least she has her priorities straight, unlike some tv shows where they take time to get dressed when confronted with an emergency. It's the same for people that are confronted with a bear while peeing, they finish their business first and zip up because they don't want to be caught dead with their dick out, instead of fleeing or whatever you're supposed to do when seeing a bear.

Never run from a bear. Back away very slowly, and it will likely wander away. If not, and it looks about to attack you, make yourself as large as possible, make lots of noise, try to scare it.Fight the bear..you want to be as troublesome of a meal as possible. If that doesn't work, curl up in the crouch position. Your back will get ripped up, but your vital organs will stay in your soft, squishy torso.

[katsmeat]

At least she has her priorities straight, unlike some tv shows where they take time to get dressed when confronted with an emergency. It's the same for people that are confronted with a bear while peeing, they finish their business first and zip up because they don't want to be caught dead with their dick out, instead of fleeing or whatever you're supposed to do when seeing a bear.

Never run from a bear. Back away very slowly, and it will likely wander away. If not, and it looks about to attack you, make yourself as large as possible, make lots of noise, try to scare it.Fight the bear..you want to be as troublesome of a meal as possible. If that doesn't work, curl up in the crouch position. Your back will get ripped up, but your vital organs will stay in your soft, squishy torso.

To sum up... you keep your (for me,. hypothetical) dick out  and  spread open the  flaps of your coat, in the classic flasher-in-a-dirty-trechcoat  manner, to look bigger and badder while  shouting like hell.

Undeniably scary.

Though probably a bit  embarrassing if the snapped twig noise you thought was a bear turned out to be another hiker.

[mr.jacob]

At least she has her priorities straight, unlike some tv shows where they take time to get dressed when confronted with an emergency. It's the same for people that are confronted with a bear while peeing, they finish their business first and zip up because they don't want to be caught dead with their dick out, instead of fleeing or whatever you're supposed to do when seeing a bear.

Never run from a bear. Back away very slowly, and it will likely wander away. If not, and it looks about to attack you, make yourself as large as possible, make lots of noise, try to scare it.Fight the bear..you want to be as troublesome of a meal as possible. If that doesn't work, curl up in the crouch position. Your back will get ripped up, but your vital organs will stay in your soft, squishy torso.

To sum up... you keep your (for me,. hypothetical) dick out  and  spread open the  flaps of your coat, in the classic flasher-in-a-dirty-trechcoat  manner, to look bigger and badder while  shouting like hell.

Undeniably scary.

Though probably a bit  embarrassing if the snapped twig noise you thought was a bear turned out to be another hiker.

"leave your dick out, you'll look bigger by comparison"

[Is it cold in here?]

Why design a weapon that needs to sleep?

[BenRG]

Why design a weapon that needs to sleep?

A limit of the technology, perhaps? Note that, in QC, Bubbles (a weapon) still has to sleep; it seems to be a limitation of the AI processor that it needs downtime to recompile or something. Not knowing what Alice and Sedna are, apart from the fact they are nearly indistinguishable from human women to the naked eye, we can only guess why their brains/processors/whatever need 'sleep periods'.

[Dagoonite]

Why design a weapon that needs to sleep?

Self maintenance cycle, a memory reallocation cycle, to make the weapon more human so that it can more easily associate with humans, a way to help jump the final uncanny valley hurdle, a low power usage mode due to the presence of people who need to sleep in the same building, ancient technology has encountered bugs over prolonged usage beyond warranty, some dorky designer decided that it was a character flaw and nobody is complete without a character flaw, they were originally flesh and blood people who volunteered for upgrades and it's a holdover from their mental patterns...

I could go on with possibilities all day!

[Loki]

How are they powered anyway? Have we ever seen either of them eat?
Then again, Alice has an outhouse...

[BenRG]

How are they powered anyway? Have we ever seen either of them eat?

We saw Alice having breakfast with Ardent and Gavia (she likes her porridge plain). She also is partial to a foamy beer at the local pub. So at the very least, her body can store food without it coming into contact with sensitive systems until excretion. However, I find it more likely that they can process food into energy, most likely organically.

FWIW, my view of Alice has long been that she is an extremely-augmented vat-grown bio-bot. This may include high-strength composite bones, cybernetically augmented senses and brain and a nearly-indestructible synthetic skin. Underneath this, she has better-than-human meat and organs (including snap-reflex tendons and muscle fibres, vastly accelerating her movements). Overall, she's really a true bio-synthetic hybrid rather than a cybernetically-augmented human.

This raises the question about which faction made her. The use of genetic enhancements and biological material would lend itself towards the bio-tech faction. However, the clear possibility of synthetic components of some sort to increase her durability is an inconsistency. Is she the result of some attempt to find a 'third way'? Or (and this is much more likely) were the bio-tech faction more than willing to ignore their ideology's rejection of synthetic means when it came to building weapons?

[Zebediah]

I'm still of the opinion that she was originally a normal human who got upgraded. Perhaps involuntarily.

[TinPenguin]

At least she has her priorities straight, unlike some tv shows where they take time to get dressed when confronted with an emergency. It's the same for people that are confronted with a bear while peeing, they finish their business first and zip up because they don't want to be caught dead with their dick out, instead of fleeing or whatever you're supposed to do when seeing a bear.

Never run from a bear. Back away very slowly, and it will likely wander away. If not, and it looks about to attack you, make yourself as large as possible, make lots of noise, try to scare it.Fight the bear..you want to be as troublesome of a meal as possible. If that doesn't work, curl up in the crouch position. Your back will get ripped up, but your vital organs will stay in your soft, squishy torso.

[Dagoonite]

Snip!

I hate being a geek some days because my mind whirls and analyzes things, especially with the evidence that we're given.

Like how Alice (admittedly in armor) soaks an antimaterial round to the face.  A round like that can severely deform over an inch and a half of titanium.  That's nasty.  (Okay, we don't know what kind of round Sedna was firing while in combat mode, or...  Yeah.)  Or how Alice tanks that fall from the wind turbine.  While both of these are kinetic damage, they're very different.

Now, I won't lynch Jeff if he says nanomachines in the end despite how that makes me twitch uncomfortably.  It's his story, not mine, and he's entitled to use whatever explanations he wants to give, if he chooses to give any.  The story is solid, and that's the most important thing, right?

Failing that, if I were to hazard a guess, I'd go ahead and suggest that their skin has either a technological or biological high shear non-Newtonian fluid that operates down to a near-molecular level along with some other mechanism to spread out impacts over a greater range.  The armor behaves like cloth, but appears to offer more protection.  I would randomly guess that it behaves on a similar principle as the skin, along with some sort of super-dense crystalline latticework going on at a molecular level that...  Okay, you know what, let's skip this unless people want more and just fast forward.

I'm torn on if Alice is more biotech or.... normal tech?  Non-biotech?  I'll just call it tech for now.  On one hand, it's implied that her hair grows by Sedna.  That seems silly to have on non-biotech units.  On the other hand, summoning armor like that, or deploying it somehow, would require a degree of tech that would be hard to reproduce with biotech.  But Sedna illustrates that they're probably anatomically correct, which seems weird and mildly fetishy for tech, but more plausible for a biotech unit made off a human pattern.  But on the other hand...

...What's this about "MST3K Mantra?"  Just shut up and enjoy the ride?  B-but my geek cred demands that I figure this out and show everybody that I'm smart!  I...  Fine, I'll go sit in the corner and write "nobody wants to read fifteen pages of technobabble but me, even if Jeff seems to put thought into his" a thousand times.  Sorry.  I promise not to do it in public again.

[bhtooefr]

I'm just surprised Jeph didn't use carefully placed arms or jumping felines as censor bars.

[Is it cold in here?]

Welcome, analytical new person!

Whatever the explanation, it has to cover the deduction that they are self-repairing. We haven't seen anything remotely like a facility that could repair Alice, and she's lasted longer than any machine humanity has ever built. That points to something biological or to handwavium.

[FunkyTuba]

...What's this about "MST3K Mantra?"

Spoilered so as to preserve your productivity if necessary:

(click to show/hide)

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MST3KMantra

[Y]

This raises the question about which faction made her. The use of genetic enhancements and biological material would lend itself towards the bio-tech faction. However, the clear possibility of synthetic components of some sort to increase her durability is an inconsistency. Is she the result of some attempt to find a 'third way'? Or (and this is much more likely) were the bio-tech faction more than willing to ignore their ideology's rejection of synthetic means when it came to building weapons?

That makes me wonder if there might be a small 'Divergent' contingent, people that favors both faction's goals (or none). And therefor are shunned or even hunted by both factions. Then a combination of both technology trees would theoretically be more superior than each one on itself.

[FunkyTuba]

Feeling pleasantly whipsawed at the "oh shit" moment of Alice admitting that she's not invincible and then the ludicrous vision of Ardent and Sedna in their dramatic butt underwear poses.

[pwhodges]

If it kills Alice, the name of the comic will have to be changed, I guess...

[Welu]

I think that if Gavia survives this, the process may destroy all their nanobots and that will be interesting to deal with for her. Although that's getting a bit far ahead.

[Pilchard123]

If it kills Alice, the name of the comic will have to be changed, I guess...

Unless the wooded area they're in is (re-)named in her memory.

[BenRG]

One definition of a hero is a person willing to go to their death for someone they don't even like, simply because it is the right thing to do. This truth probably irritates the hell out of Alice who, if what Sedna says is accurate, probably simply would never believe someone such as her could ever be a hero.

Prediction:
Alice takes such a lot of hits that she blacks out after knocking Gavia out of the Night Walker's... er... grasp. She wakes up with her head in the lap of a tearful Sedna.

[FunkyTuba]

Alice has had millennia to figure out how to use whatever her enhancements are. I'd expect her to fare better against the Night Walter than Gavia, who may not fully understand her tech.

I'm curious if it steal Gavia's nanobots what enhancement that'll give it and what that will mean for our little party

[Zebediah]

It just occurred to me that Alice's instructions to Sedna could be interpreted a couple of different ways. "Take care of Ardent" could mean exactly that, or it could be interpreted as "Eliminate the danger that Ardent represents."

I'm sure that Alice meant the first, but Sedna might interpret it differently. For that matter, she might deliberately choose to interpret it differently while knowing full well it's not what Alice meant.

Probably moot as Alice is almost certain to survive this.

[Kugai]

This is gonna be ugly

[Channelore HellicottAtham]

Lucky she left her armour on, I guess. Unless of course she has multiple armour reactivations hidden up her sleeve, in which case we might see her helmet suddenly reappear.

[mr.jacob]

I think the EM rifle quip is confirmation that Sedna was also alive before the blink

[Is it cold in here?]

Is the Night Walker sentient? It's capable of goal-directed action but there was no idea of trying to talk to it, as Alice tried (once) when Gavia was setting off explosions.

Sedna did not activate any sort of armor. Wonder what that implies.

What happens if Ardent touches Sedna?

Is Alice some kind of idealist who believes in protecting the (arguably) innocent, or is there a strategic reason for saving Gavia?

[mr.jacob]

Is Alice some kind of idealist who believes in protecting the (arguably) innocent, or is there a strategic reason for saving Gavia?

I think she's just grown fond of the kids, ever since her flashback when she tried to kill Ardent she's felt maternal to them

[hedgie]

And what parent *hasn't* thought of it with regard to their own offspring?

[BenRG]

Is Alice some kind of idealist who believes in protecting the (arguably) innocent, or is there a strategic reason for saving Gavia?

She was a weapon once; a perfect weapon - merciless, amoral and ultra-efficient at killing. I think that she realised a long time ago that she despises that creature and has been trying to be a better person. Furthermore, I wouldn't be surprised if there is an element of seeking redemption about it. Every life she saves and every threat to the helpless she stops, then she's wiped another red mark off of the ledger of her conscience.

Finally... I suspect that she and Gavia are developing a bond analogous to that between siblings. Gavia is the bratty little sister to whom Alice is trying to be a good example of how to use your great power with great responsibility. Alice is the accomplished and poised adult exemplar whom Gavia (at least on a certain subconscious level) has been increasingly trying to emulate. Yes, I am suggesting that Gavia may end up the Robin to Alice's Batman.

Oh and Alice being able to fly confirmed, IMO at least.

Also, to re-emphasise, I'm thinking that this volume will end with Alice tearing Gavia from the Night Walker's grasp before being hit by a huge electrostatic blast and blacking out. We'll then have a few weeks of tension trying to predict how badly she and Gavia have been hurt. Personally, I'd like for Gavia to lose all of her powers, at least for an extended period. Her learning to live as a baseline human might make for some nice character growth, especially if I'm right about how Alice views her.

[JimC]

I suspect a radically enhanced ability to jump rather than flight.  The image doesn't seem inconsistent with some sort of leap rather than Gavia style flight.

[Loki]

I, too, suspect it's rather http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/InASingleBound.

[Pilchard123]

TV Tropes?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfsTk5i7mPw

[improvnerd]

BTW, it just occurred to me: Congratulations to everyone who voted for "Night Walker: 'Hey, guys! Wait up!'" in November's poll. A winner is you.

[DSL]

If it kills Alice, the name of the comic will have to be changed, I guess...

Alice Grave?