[703] How to stay hidden

Yes, Jack, there are evil tracking bugs in the food. Here, how about a roll of tinfoil to keep out the mind control beams?

Okay, it feels like we're taking a few steps into Ender's Shadow.

Clothes are better for tracking devices than food.

He hasn't eaten in days, days during which he built a bridge, ran around leaping out of windows, and rowed another student and her large wolf across a lake? Jack's running on pure crazy at this point. I think that's the only possible explanation.



I wouldn't be surprised if the students were being tracked, or if some students had trackers on them (keeping track of Zimmy and Gamma despite their tendency to wander, for example) but I doubt they're doing it with food. You'd have to keep replacing the little dots, for one. Clothes would be a more efficient way of doing it, not to mention that it'd be easier to attach a name to a dot ("All right, so Dot 78/C was in a blazer that was handed out to Paz Pazzington, QN...") as opposed to "Yeah so now we've got lots of little dots in the refectory. Uh what do we do now?"

I think it's Jack. Rey's not given to raucous laughter (in noble wolf mode) and Annie doesn't laugh much.

They got through the first trip fine despite being in close proximity to two people the Court would have every reason to keep an eye on. Maybe the Court's hypothetical tracking people just aren't very good at their job?

Whoa, someone's been listening to too much Coast to Coast AM.

Poor kid is further gone than he initially seemed; potentially unstable. He is displaying symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and appears to be approaching the point where he'll have a stress breakdown.

I imagine this will probably happen soon. He needs professional care or at least some kind of supportive, safe environment. Moreover, if he is indeed being affected by some kind of paranormal phenomenon from zimmyland (as we've speculated on over the past few months), a fix or treatment for that is necessary also.

Well, looks like Jack's oscillated back into psycho-mode. "There's...things! In the food! Watching us! And plotting their insidious...thing-related plots!"

Also, the Rey-head in panel 5 is strangely hilarious.

In literary terms, this is how I see him: (EDIT: 3rd try. This MS Paint thing is too hard!)

Lack of food makes you stupid. Lack of sleep makes you paranoid. Way to go Jack!


I doubt it considering how the court feels about etheric science. It's probably some sort of mechanical way.

Whoever mentioned PTSD above nailed it. I'd imagine that Jack's etheric "companion" is inhibiting his sleep. Between that and the nightmare scenario into which he found himself immersed, it's no surprise that Jack is freaking out.

I don't think he's my favorite character. I think he's kind of pitiful at this point. God only knows what he found down in the power station, but I'm sure he wasn't in a good place mentally to handle it.

Jack in panel 7 makes me laugh!

Jack == Fox Mulder

Also, he keeps changing expression, but the one is panel 7 is priceless :3

Next we'll see the food has arms coming out of it...

I think Annie was hurt quite badly by Jack's "dad ditched you" on the previous page. What I mean is that Annie rarely cares if someone's in trouble and she seems to make a point quantifying exactly how much trouble Jack is in on panel one.

Edit: Todd I think you're right, Reynardine does act rather fatherly in his full wolf form. Also I think he's probably keenly aware of how quickly stuffed toys sink once they become waterlogged (probably not fatal, but he'd spend a good few days trying to find his way out of that lake.)

Gah! beat me to it!