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Post by imaginaryfriend on Jun 15, 2022 7:05:15 GMT
Antimony apparently won't try to infiltrate the meeting, in favor of just waiting for Kat to report back. Meanwhile, there's something happening that will take her mind off the wait. |
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Post by theonethatgotaway on Jun 15, 2022 7:07:03 GMT
Maybe she and the Browman just need two extra players for a game of cards?
edit: to, two, too.
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Post by madjack on Jun 15, 2022 7:07:55 GMT
Mmm, no time to snoop when they might have to deal with Loup.
Kat looking a little down that nobody she's closest to got an invite.
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Post by philman on Jun 15, 2022 7:26:16 GMT
Surprised me that neither Donald and Anja didn't get invites, but maybe they are too "free spirited" or sympathetic to the ether side of things.
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Post by madjack on Jun 15, 2022 7:36:52 GMT
Why bother inviting Donald when he'd never leave Anja behind?
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Jun 15, 2022 7:51:18 GMT
It's too much to hope for, but if the next comic features Antimony in an industrial suit while holding a drink tray, and Renard with a small hat and similar drink tray strapped to his back, I will laugh my @ss off.
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Post by worldsong on Jun 15, 2022 7:56:18 GMT
Surprised me that neither Donald and Anja didn't get invites, but maybe they are too "free spirited" or sympathetic to the ether side of things. Anja is a confirmed ether user, so her not being invited is not strange. Donald probably is considered too attached to Anja. Either the Court isn't aware just how deeply Kat is involved with the ether by this point, or they consider her too valuable and hope she can still be disconnected. |
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Post by bicarbonat on Jun 15, 2022 8:11:29 GMT
Random thought 1: so folks like the groundskeepers, Basil† the minotaur... Anybody want to say anything at all to them? The dryad groundskeeper will likely not care much as long as she has her trees, though. Wonder if Loup's crisis wreaked any ruination.
Random thought 2: what (if anything) would happen if Smitty's organized luck intersected with the Omega probability prediction machine?
†I guess I mention Basil because it seems a wild straddling point: he's definitely not human – he's mythological, even – but we've never seen (IIRC) any etheric propensity. If he gets left behind: awkward. If he gets taken: awkward. I mean, it seems like the Court is skewing toward "heavily human, heavily non-woowoo" population control.
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Post by shadow3 on Jun 15, 2022 8:16:44 GMT
"Come with me if you want to live!"
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Post by blahzor on Jun 15, 2022 8:16:47 GMT
Maybe she and the Browman just need to extra players for a game of cards? Pick up basketball game and they don't got enough players against the robot cult |
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Post by arf on Jun 15, 2022 9:33:01 GMT
As many have already commented, Kat's parents didn't get an invite.
Anje, because she's one of those witchy things (*and* she has a questionable computer). Donald, because he'd see straight through the bs.
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Post by merry76 on Jun 15, 2022 10:05:06 GMT
"Come with me if you want to live!" It IS starting to look like the Istvaan III Atrocity in the making... Just in reverse. Invite everyone you want to keep, discard the rest.
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Post by Jelly Jellybean on Jun 15, 2022 11:15:57 GMT
Surprised me that neither Donald and Anja didn't get invites, but maybe they are too "free spirited" or sympathetic to the ether side of things. Anja is a confirmed ether user, so her not being invited is not strange. Donald probably is considered too attached to Anja. Either the Court isn't aware just how deeply Kat is involved with the ether by this point, or they consider her too valuable and hope she can still be disconnected. My guess is your last bit, they want Kat bad enough to try. We should see soon if they are giving the invitees a choice in the matter. The Chapter title is "Snare". |
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Post by noone3 on Jun 15, 2022 11:26:07 GMT
Aaah yes, the steroid lady.
I wondered what she is up to these days.
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Post by Igniz on Jun 15, 2022 11:29:32 GMT
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Post by netherdan on Jun 15, 2022 12:40:14 GMT
What if everyone is forcibly teleported away (or a similar outcome) during this reunion and Kat won't have a chance to say goodbye to everyone else?
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Post by TBeholder on Jun 15, 2022 13:23:24 GMT
Meanwhile, there's something happening that will take her mind off the wait. Which is likely to be the entire point. Eglamore, Parley and the snooping kids are distracted for a while. This also may backfire: if they need to report or clarify something, Parley will just teleports in without prior notice. Why bother inviting Donald when he'd never leave Anja behind? The same could be said about Kat and presumably most of the rest. Maybe Donald is not invited because the interface tattoo (at very least) disqualifies him. Or maybe age is among the criteria. Either the Court isn't aware just how deeply Kat is involved with the ether by this point, or they consider her too valuable and hope she can still be disconnected. More likely her opinion simply will not matter. Invite everyone you want to keep, discard the rest. Yes. If the secret was kept before, why would this suddenly change, unless it becomes a moot point? And in this particular case, the only way to pull it at all. |
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Post by saardvark on Jun 15, 2022 13:29:53 GMT
Random thought 2: what (if anything) would happen if Smitty's organized luck intersected with the Omega probability prediction machine? Interesting idea... Im guessing either: (A) nothing, because Omega is shielded from etheric influences (his threads couldn't attach); or (B) he'd make it work better, by improving probabilities of correct predictions. EDIT: or (C) he'd make it work much worse, because his abilities are outside of predictive science, he could make highly improbable things anytime wanted. Well, that covers all the major possibiities! Smitts could probably choose to do (B) or (C) depending on his mood... |
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Post by ctso74 on Jun 15, 2022 13:41:56 GMT
If she does this too often, then she's bipped to someone while they were pooping.
Σ ((Bidet ownership)-(Toilet paper sales))2 / (Critcal Role Jester Reference) Yeah, the math checks out. It's only a matter of time.
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Post by saardvark on Jun 15, 2022 13:57:27 GMT
If she does this too often, then she's bipped to someone while they were pooping. Σ ((Bidet ownership)-(Toilet paper sales)) 2 / (Critcal Role Jester Reference) Yeah, the math checks out. It's only a matter of time. and the probabilities are distributed in a Loo^2 (or Loup^2 !) distribution? |
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Post by pyradonis on Jun 15, 2022 14:23:11 GMT
† I guess I mention Basil because it seems a wild straddling point: he's definitely not human – he's mythological, even – but we've never seen (IIRC) any etheric propensity. If he gets left behind: awkward. If he gets taken: awkward. I mean, it seems like the Court is skewing toward "heavily human, heavily non-woowoo" population control.Eh, Basil just has a time share on that labyrinth, and doesn't seem to come out of it often. I don't think he has had much interaction with the anti-Ether fraction. He probably won't even notice if they are gone. And if he's evicted, then he's still not homeless.
Anja is a confirmed ether user, so her not being invited is not strange. Donald probably is considered too attached to Anja. Either the Court isn't aware just how deeply Kat is involved with the ether by this point, or they consider her too valuable and hope she can still be disconnected. My guess is your last bit, they want Kat bad enough to try. We should see soon if they are giving the invitees a choice in the matter. The Chapter title is "Snare". I just can't help picturing them all being scooped up by a giant excavator shovel and dropped into a ship bound for ether-free lands...
Or maybe age is among the criteria. Oh, that would backfire badly for that leathery bag of bones. |
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Post by Gemminie on Jun 15, 2022 14:55:59 GMT
After the previous page's establishing shot, here we see Kat saying goodbye to Annie and Renard at the now-familiar door to the Carver house. Either Kat and Annie came here together just now, or Kat came over to tell Annie she was going to the meeting. But Annie is leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed, not looking terribly pleased. I may be reading into it, but she may suspect that there's a danger that Kat will decide to go with the Court. (And if they take her against her will, the Court probably wouldn't be beyond telling Annie that Kat "decided" to go with them.) Annie waves, and Kat takes her leave. The expression on Kat's face doesn't look pleased either. She doesn't like being presented with this choice. Renard looks at Annie, perhaps concerned about her feelings.
We now know for certain that Kat's parents didn't get invitations, and neither did Annie or Paz. (What about Annie's dad?) This seems to suggest that, first of all, the meeting isn't just for the students, and second, these aren't just invitations to the meeting. Kat really is going to have to decide between leaving everyone she knows behind and giving up her research (or at least the Court-supported part of it). And she'll probably have to make that decision tonight – assuming the Court doesn't take her attendance at the meeting as consent.
And then, BIP, Parley pops in, waiting until the moment after Kat departed. With an urgent expression on her face, she tells Annie and Renard that "we" need both of them. Who exactly is "we?" Parley and Smitty? Or some larger group? I'm guessing it's not just Parley and Smitty. Something terrible has happened, is happening, or is about to happen. Think it's related to the meeting? How could it not be?
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Post by Corvo on Jun 15, 2022 15:38:02 GMT
Random thought 2: what (if anything) would happen if Smitty's organized luck intersected with the Omega probability prediction machine? Interesting idea... Im guessing either: (A) nothing, because Omega is shielded from etheric influences (his threads couldn't attach); or (B) he'd make it work better, by improving probabilities of correct predictions. EDIT: or (C) he'd make it work much worse, because his abilities are outside of predictive science, he could make highly improbable things anytime wanted. Well, that covers all the major possibiities! Smitts could probably choose to do (B) or (C) depending on his mood... (D) - He is the Omega Device! He and Parley (because time-space) amalgamated much like Other Spink and Other Forcible, kept in a vat tank connected to many, many computers. From the future. I want to throw some aliens there too, and maybe a ninja. |
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Post by mglvna on Jun 15, 2022 16:04:18 GMT
I don't buy the idea that they aren't inviting Donald because he's considered too attached to Anja. Surely Kat, a high schooler, would also be considered very attached to her parents? More likely that Donny's also involved with the ether. He's been shown to use Anja's ether-computer, and he has at least one magic tattoo.I know the court tends to be pretty hands-off, considering it's a boarding school and most of the kids aren't directly supervised, but it's odd to me that they would offer Kat a chance to run off wherever they're going if its predicated on leaving her parents behind. I guess they are pretty late teenagers at this point. I'd hope for at least a permission slip. |
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Post by drmemory on Jun 15, 2022 16:24:25 GMT
This is shaping up to be a two-part trap (at least). 1. Those invited will be moved right then, during or at the end of the meeting. 2. Those most likely to object to step 1 will be distracted, and possibly kept captive, until it is too late to interfere. Also, a theory I don't remember seeing about what could happen with Kat - what if they try to convince her to go, and she objects, using the same arguments Renard used with her? Somehow I don't think that would go over well... I'd like to think Parley wouldn't help do anything bad to Annie and Renard, but maybe she doesn't realize she's taking them to have their ether extracted.  Which in turn, may be used to help power step 1, thinking about it. |
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Post by bedinsis on Jun 15, 2022 17:22:51 GMT
Oh hey, Parley, long time no see.
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Post by TBeholder on Jun 15, 2022 18:46:16 GMT
Or maybe age is among the criteria. Oh, that would backfire badly for that leathery bag of bones. The kids can be feisty, but the plan presumably does not allow them any time to notice anything happens at all before it’s over. Of course, it can still go hilariously pear-shaped, but right now the greatest possible snags are unassuming “Jerrek” walking in or their own super-soldier appearing from thin air in a very inconvenient time and place. |
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Post by saardvark on Jun 15, 2022 19:09:15 GMT
And then, BIP, Parley pops in, waiting until the moment after Kat departed. With an urgent expression on her face, she tells Annie and Renard that "we" need both of them. Who exactly is "we?" Parley and Smitty? Or some larger group? I'm guessing it's not just Parley and Smitty. Something terrible has happened, is happening, or is about to happen. Think it's related to the meeting? How could it not be? We = Parley and Eggs? Some security matter relating to the Forest or Loup? Or is she representing (maybe without knowing) We = the Court here? An unwitting part of their plans in plans...? |
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Post by saardvark on Jun 15, 2022 19:18:06 GMT
One way this could play out: The Court zaps away everyone at the meeting to Court II, taking Kat with them. Annie, Rey, Paz, some NPs, uncrabbed robots + Robot king, Parley & Smitts, maybe Anya & Donald & Eggs all launch a search for them. Maybe Jerroup comes too, following after Omega and his new lerv, Annie. Complications and comedy ensue... and we get lots of new adventure and scenery!
(Robot & shadow might stay behind to make more NPs....)
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Post by worldsong on Jun 15, 2022 23:11:21 GMT
Anja is a confirmed ether user, so her not being invited is not strange. Donald probably is considered too attached to Anja. Either the Court isn't aware just how deeply Kat is involved with the ether by this point, or they consider her too valuable and hope she can still be disconnected. My guess is your last bit, they want Kat bad enough to try. We should see soon if they are giving the invitees a choice in the matter. The Chapter title is "Snare". It wouldn't surprise me. Of course, a snare can either be something which can't be escaped or something the target doesn't want to escape. |
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Which in turn, may be used to help power step 1, thinking about it.