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The Nanotech didn't quite leave Gavia...

There's trouble at the spaceport: it's no longer there.

Ardent supplies some nanotech for Gavia - it's not compatible.

Something Completely Different

Purple Monkey Dishwasher Harpoons (oops, wait, wrong comic...)

Back in Alice's village, Jack hits the Big Red Button

Detachable Felix invariably adds another poll option like they always do..

Hey, YOU try coming up with poll options on the fly.

I usually do, jwhouk

[SubaruStephen]

So far it seems that there is no skin based prejudiced 5000 years into the future even on Earth.

When everyone can change their skin color at will, it just isn't worth the effort even thinking about superiority/inferiority of different races, because everyone is malleable now and can be whatever color they feel like being at that particular moment.  (At least in Spaaaace!)

There's a lot we don't know about the world beyond Alice's town which seems free of a lot of the old prejudices, but that's likely due to Alice's will. 

Since Alices' town is probably not the only human settlement left on earth, I'm willing to bet that there are many places that still hold onto old prejudices. In Alicetown, Ardent being blue was met with curiosity, but some other place he might have been met with outright hostility as not being "Pure Human" or having too much hair, or not being human at all because he has a tail,  or some other sh*t.

[Method of Madness]

because he has a delightful tail, or some other shit.

Fixed that for ya

[JimC]

it seems making 21st-century estimates of someone else's ability to use photosynthesis as an energy source would be right out, yeah?

Estimates of the efficiency are essentially meaningless, agreed, but estimates of the amount of energy available from sunlight falling on a given surface area are reasonably valid. And we can still happily speculate about stasis, and all the rest of it. The sums suggest that Sedna cannot possibly get enough energy from photosynthesis to sustain normal movement and metabolism, and the text suggests that its an emergency only option.  Not incompatible perhaps?

[Morituri]

It could support movement at intervals.  I think she could be awake (maybe with a slower brain so having perception of time reduced) at normal cycles, but might be able to store enough energy from sunlight for about two hours of normal activity per day.  That's enough, eventually, to get to someplace where there are adequate supplies that you can stop doing it.

[KOK]

New fan theory

Sedna is 5000 year old May, and Alice is 5000 year old Bubbles.

This actually makes a surprising amount of sense.

[retrosteve]

New fan theory

Sedna is 5000 year old May, and Alice is 5000 year old Bubbles.

This actually makes a surprising amount of sense.

I like it as a metaphor, like "All men are sons of Adam". As a literal theory, it's pretty hard to match to the facts.
1. The Blink removed all machines higher-tech than a pump, so how would Alice and Sedna be around if they were machines?
2. The Praesides say that AI isn't possible, and Alice disagrees, but says that any AIs on Earth vanished in the Blink. So Alice and Sedna can't be that. (Unless she's lying)
3. May and Momo don't sleep. But Alice and Sedna do. And they're not just faking it, or they would have noticed Gavia's abduction.

Alice and Sedna show every sign of being from the "enhanced biology" faction of the Pre-Blink society.

But yeah, personality-wise, they do bear a little resemblance to Bubbles and May.

P.S. I think the Praesides are also enhanced biology, as are Ardent and Gavia. There are no AI's left around, except for  (I think) the big one that caused the Blink and eliminated all its rivals and creators, to remove competition.

[DSL]

Random thoughts from today's comic:

Given the political fumduckery that bubbled uo in the states over trans people and bathrooms, I wonder what the immediate social ramifications today would be....

So far it seems that there is no skin based prejudiced 5000 years into the future even on Earth ...

I was wondering about today.

[brasca]

Random thoughts from today's comic:

Given the political fumduckery that bubbled uo in the states over trans people and bathrooms, I wonder what the immediate social ramifications today would be....

So far it seems that there is no skin based prejudiced 5000 years into the future even on Earth ...

I was wondering about today.

I could see a lot of people taking advantage of such an ability.  Racial profiling would become very difficult and while it would certainly be convenient as well as fun to get one over on racists the novelty would wear off when you couldn't be certain if people were being nice or polite to you because of your skin color as well as being too afraid to revert back to your default skin color to find out for sure.   

In addition to how we perceive race there is also a matter of what we think is attractive based on societal norms.  I wonder how many think Gavia is now more attractive since she lost her red eyes, slicked back hair, and ghostly white pallor.  Even though this story takes 5000 years into the future I wouldn't be surprised if Earth dwellers find her attractive.  We now know she had the ability to make herself look more conventional at any time, but chose to define herself with technology without any concern for appearance.  Even in her current state she's very utilitarian which is one of the reasons I like her so much.     

[JimC]

Roll on little weird dogs, roll on, roll on...

[cesium133]

They're playing Oregon Trail! Watch out for the dysentery...

[BenRG]

"The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say!"

[JimC]

So far it seems that there is no skin based prejudiced 5000 years into the future even on Earth.

When everyone can change their skin color at will, it just isn't worth the effort even thinking about superiority/inferiority of different races,

Seems to me that if you have a small town with radically different skin tones evident, and no international travel, then it must be the case that there is at best very limited mixing between different racial groups.

And it does seem rather naive to think that variable skin tone would mean no identification of racial groups.  I once had to deal with email content filtering at my place of work, and it was considered necessary for us to filter out racist material, jokes and the like. It was quite evident that the most prolific passers on of offensive jokes were people of Indian extraction forwarding racist jokes about folk of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin and vice versa. Often the same jokes with the roles reversed...

[KOK]

"The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say!"

How long until they switch to Frodo's version?

[USS Martenclaire]

How many times did Ardent get eaten over those two days?

PLACE YOUR BETS NOW.

[brasca]

So far it seems that there is no skin based prejudiced 5000 years into the future even on Earth.

When everyone can change their skin color at will, it just isn't worth the effort even thinking about superiority/inferiority of different races,

Seems to me that if you have a small town with radically different skin tones evident, and no international travel, then it must be the case that there is at best very limited mixing between different racial groups.

And it does seem rather naive to think that variable skin tone would mean no identification of racial groups.  I once had to deal with email content filtering at my place of work, and it was considered necessary for us to filter out racist material, jokes and the like. It was quite evident that the most prolific passers on of offensive jokes were people of Indian extraction forwarding racist jokes about folk of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin and vice versa. Often the same jokes with the roles reversed...

Perhaps, but society might have been racially mixed on account of catastrophic war.  It would be very plausible for massive migration into refugee camps and then once the blink happened those camps might have turned into the first post war settlements and towns.  As such the old differences between the various races would likely become irrelevant.  That being said there could be the usual mistrust of foreigners and people who look radically different like Ardent.  However, he's traveling with 2 former super soldiers so I don't think he'll have a problem with any neo neo nazis. 

According to Sedna they were 3 days away from the nearest settlement after Gavia woke up and now 2 days have passed so they should be arriving at the next settlement soon. 

[Zebediah]

How many times did Ardent get eaten over those two days?

PLACE YOUR BETS NOW.

None.  But he died of dysentery three times.

[Wildroses]

I just loved the night time art on the latest strip.

[freeman]

How many times did Ardent get eaten over those two days?

PLACE YOUR BETS NOW.

None.  But he died of dysentery three times.

And they had a fire in the wagon and lost all their clothes and most of their food, they broke their wagon wheels, axles and lips six times in 10 mile stretch of trail and finally they lost two Struthios while fording a river 1.5 foot deep and after that a thief took the rest.

[Kugai]

Happy trails

[brasca]

How many times did Ardent get eaten over those two days?

PLACE YOUR BETS NOW.

None.  But he died of dysentery three times.

And they had a fire in the wagon and lost all their clothes and most of their food, they broke their wagon wheels, axles and lips six times in 10 mile stretch of trail and finally they lost two Struthios while fording a river 1.5 foot deep and after that a thief took the rest.

And I'm sure Alice will blame herself for it all.

[DSL]

Rollin' rollin' rollin'
To where, we're just not knowin'
Keep them horse-birds rollin'
Blue-hide!

Keep your eyeballs in your sockets
And maybe we'll find rockets
To where? Find 'em; we'll decide.

And maybe then your sister
will see if Praeses missed her
while she changes color of
her hide!

Losr your tail
grow it back
Touch a gadget
turn it on!
Shoot the moon
movin' on!
Blue-hide!


The loon, she lost her nano
the girls are out of ammo
We got a crazy plan, so
we ride!

[DSL]

... and it looks like they're just about where they're going.

[BenRG]

For some reason, I expect them to be greeted by a laser-toting Robbie the Robot wannabe and be told that the place is called 'Megaton'.

So long as there isn't a crazy hardware store owner who wants Gavia and Ardent to help her write a book...

[Neko_Ali]

Please. Come. Inside. The. Bomb. Is. Perfectly. Safe.

[Zebediah]

Wait - the town is inside an open-pit mine? Granted, it's just a little tiny open-pit mine, but still, that's a bit like living inside a little tiny toxic waste dump. They aren't renowned for being especially conducive to healthy living.

[FunkyTuba]

Lots and LOTS of technology easily distinguishable from magic for Ardent to touch!

[JimC]

Wait - the town is inside an open-pit mine? ... aren't renowned for being especially conducive to healthy living.

Maybe so, but you must admit it makes a great image...

[Roborat]

So, how are they digging that hole, and how are they removing the excavated dirt?

[brasca]

Wait - the town is inside an open-pit mine? Granted, it's just a little tiny open-pit mine, but still, that's a bit like living inside a little tiny toxic waste dump. They aren't renowned for being especially conducive to healthy living.

If it were a mine then yes, but this appears to be where the archaeolphiles Sedna mentioned lived.  As such they're there to dig out ancient technology not minerals and more than likely it frequently moves to a different location once they dig down as far as they can.

[zeimusu]

More Ghibli references? Pejite unearthing the warrior, or the robots of Laputa. There are already something very like horseclaws and a daidarabotchi from mononoke.

[JimC]

So is that a pile of random rocks at 1 o'clock or a giant dismembered robot?

[Kugai]

Looks like a Mech of some sort, though it seems awfully blocky - Unless it's what's left of a GitS style 'Think Tank'

It shall be interesting to see what the Archaeologists have dug up at that site.

[brasca]

Looks like a Mech of some sort, though it seems awfully blocky - Unless it's what's left of a GitS style 'Think Tank'

It shall be interesting to see what the Archaeologists have dug up at that site.

Probably a mech since all the AIs disappeared.  Looks too small to be mobile suit or mega deus. 

[freeman]

Looks like a Mech of some sort, though it seems awfully blocky - Unless it's what's left of a GitS style 'Think Tank'

It shall be interesting to see what the Archaeologists have dug up at that site.

Speaking of blocky, Ardent seems to have some sort of color space conversion artefacts or something on his face.

About the site, I have a feeling this will be not so much about the site itself but how Sedna interacts with people who know her, to act as a contract to what we have seen about Alice and her town.

[TinPenguin]

Wait - the town is inside an open-pit mine? Granted, it's just a little tiny open-pit mine, but still, that's a bit like living inside a little tiny toxic waste dump. They aren't renowned for being especially conducive to healthy living.

If it were a mine then yes, but this appears to be where the archaeolphiles Sedna mentioned lived.  As such they're there to dig out ancient technology not minerals and more than likely it frequently moves to a different location once they dig down as far as they can.

That is not how you archeology.

[BenRG]

If it were a mine then yes, but this appears to be where the archaeolphiles Sedna mentioned lived.  As such they're there to dig out ancient technology not minerals and more than likely it frequently moves to a different location once they dig down as far as they can.

That is not how you archeology.

It's how this community is doing it. This isn't about forensic exploration, it's about digging up and resurrecting as much tech as they can as quickly as they can!

[TinPenguin]

They presumably know exactly what they are looking for. You can't just dig down and hope to find something. There's something down there and they want it.

[pwhodges]

I can't see the latest comic; I also can't see about half the archive comics.  I'm very likely the only person here with this problem.  The reason is that I use IPv6, and access to Tumblr images by IPv6 is broken.

I had to look at it on my phone instead.

[jheartney]

Nitpick: Shouldn't Gavia be able to see the big honking water tower? She claims not to see anything.

[Channelore HellicottAtham]

Love that Gavia's hair continues to grow, it's almost a yardstick for her evolution from entitled, life-inexperienced, and possibly quite shallow spacegirl to a more lively and alive young woman who actually touches and engages with the living world around her (as opposed to having nanotech do her walking, dirty work, her everything for her).

The tan is pretty cute, too. 

[brasca]

Love that Gavia's hair continues to grow, it's almost a yardstick for her evolution from entitled, life-inexperienced, and possibly quite shallow spacegirl to a more lively and alive young woman who actually touches and engages with the living world around her (as opposed to having nanotech do her walking, dirty work, her everything for her).

The tan is pretty cute, too. 

I'll agree with the life-inexperienced, but she's really as entitled as anyone who is born into a world where genes are augmented possibly at conception and life is free of many of the problems humans have to deal with.  I cannot begrudge her for being born into that especially when there seems to be rules about cultural contamination which keeps the space dwellers and planet dwellers separate.  It's not like she wanted to go there anyway.   Moreover, she only knows what the Praesides have told her and their version is probably not all that honest.  As for being shallow she doesn't seem to put much value on appearance since she's more upset with the loss of her abilities instead of how she looks and I think she truly believes that technological modification is the highest form of evolution and not just a means to avoid hard work.  Perhaps she was such a workaholic (or whatever counts as such on the space habitat) that she never had any friends.  She's not whining about building fires or cooking breakfast so perhaps she considered her nanotechnology a means to accomplish more with her time which isn't all that different than contemporary people using appliances for sake of convenience.  She certainly has made the most of her situation which is more than I can say for people living in the 21st century who lose their wifi connection for more than an hour.  Ironically she may enjoy her time on Earth more than Ardent, but that remains to be seen.     

[FunkyTuba]

Poll: Sedna will be...

A) Greeted with open arms. "Hello fellow archaeophile, can you help us dig again? we made much better progress when you were here"

B) Fought tooth and nail until the diggers succumb. "Dammit you stole all the guns we dug up last time, you're back to take more of our stuff?"

C) Welcomed but Alice and the rest of the crew will be shunned. "You brought Her back? and not just one, but TWO non-baseline non-earthborns?"

D) Other?

[BenRG]

D) Something freaky happens - Sedna passes Alice and the two Spacebourne off as her wife and kids. For some reason this is accepted without question. When Gavia queries Sedna about this, she mutters something about "in their field, they're quite smart" and "tunnel vision".

[Zebediah]

E) "Hey, we need workers! How much would you ask to sell us the blue boy?"

I doubt Jeph will go there. Just be glad I'm not writing this.

[Method of Madness]

Sure, it's a different town than the one we've seen, but what gives any indication that slavery exists in this world?

[sitnspin]

Even a passing acquaintance with human history?

[lawoot]

Wait - the town is inside an open-pit mine? Granted, it's just a little tiny open-pit mine, but still, that's a bit like living inside a little tiny toxic waste dump. They aren't renowned for being especially conducive to healthy living.

If it were a mine then yes, but this appears to be where the archaeolphiles Sedna mentioned lived.  As such they're there to dig out ancient technology not minerals and more than likely it frequently moves to a different location once they dig down as far as they can.

That is not how you archeology.

Maybe they are trying to keep the dig hidden from prying eyes, although...

Nitpick: Shouldn't Gavia be able to see the big honking water tower? She claims not to see anything.

...would seem like a huge "Here we are! Come raid us!" sign.

[jheartney]

Maybe they are trying to keep the dig hidden from prying eyes, although...

Nitpick: Shouldn't Gavia be able to see the big honking water tower? She claims not to see anything.

...would seem like a huge "Here we are! Come raid us!" sign.

If they've had much success unearthing working weapons (a la Sedna), they might be in a good position to defend themselves regardless.

[freeman]

Sure, it's a different town than the one we've seen, but what gives any indication that slavery exists in this world?

This reminds me of: I've been wondering for a while what sort of government exists in this world. They seem to be living in relatively complex society so it would be hard to believe it would be just town-to-town basis.

Also, assuming the society has been on lower state previously and 5000 years have passed, the English language in north America should have split into a whole language family with language differences as big as between modern English and Russian today. Jeph really should give this a nudge by giving the hole people really thick accents.

That said, in pre 1800s society national borders really didn't exists in the modern sense. On major trade routes there might have been a toll to enter, but elsewhere people lived their lives with little regard on the matter.

If they've had much success unearthing working weapons (a la Sedna), they might be in a good position to defend themselves regardless.

There should be some trench formations around the hole for that though.

[DSL]

I rather like how Left Horse-bird is side-eyeing the apparently asleep Right Horse-bird.