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Post by imaginaryfriend on Apr 17, 2024 7:06:49 GMT
Long-awaited Zoob reveal next update? Man can only dream. Note that she said "Zeta" not "Zimmy" so I still think I'm right about Zoob being Shell (or possibly Jenny) which was my third choice of three in the poll. (poll is now locked) Man, if those barnacles are edible and tasty they'd be worth hundreds of USD each at a wet market, maybe much more. Just sayin'
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Post by blauelf on Apr 17, 2024 7:14:41 GMT
Wild theory - she likes Greek letters, could she be Omega?
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Post by silicondream on Apr 17, 2024 7:27:22 GMT
Long-awaited Zoob reveal next update? Man can only dream. Note that she said "Zeta" not "Zimmy" so I still think I'm right about Zoob being Shell (or possibly Jenny) which was my third choice of three in the poll. (poll is now locked) Man, if those barnacles are edible and tasty they'd be worth hundreds of USD each at a wet market, maybe much more. Just sayin' Don't people usually eat the gooseneck kind, and only the neck part? I'm not sure what you'd do with the rest of it, huge or not. Soup?
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Apr 17, 2024 8:27:32 GMT
Long-awaited Zoob reveal next update? Man can only dream. Note that she said "Zeta" not "Zimmy" so I still think I'm right about Zoob being Shell (or possibly Jenny) which was my third choice of three in the poll. (poll is now locked) Man, if those barnacles are edible and tasty they'd be worth hundreds of USD each at a wet market, maybe much more. Just sayin' Don't people usually eat the gooseneck kind, and only the neck part? I'm not sure what you'd do with the rest of it, huge or not. Soup? I did a quick google to refresh my memory and the consensus of the common knowledge is that rock and gooseneck are the only ones humans should eat but if memory serves I believe there's a big edible barnacle species in South America (which I may or may not have had in some sort of dish some years ago) that's going extinct, maybe another in Southeast Asia I heard of but haven't eaten, and it is said many more species are edible but impractical because of their size. Another issue is contamination, you shouldn't eat barnacles (or anything else) off the hulls of ships these days, or off anything where you can't eat the fish. You also shouldn't eat them raw for at least two reasons though in some traditional cooking I have heard that yes small can ones can be eaten and they can be eaten raw. btw This is not dietary advice, do your own research thoroughly before you consume at your own risk. However, a big edible barnacle on dry land solves those issues. The only contamination in the reality distortion is ideological, I guess, and might be part of the kick. Sure, the percentage of overall mass of edible adductor is less than* if it was something like a scallop but they're still huge and there may be roe. Come to think of it, there may be pearls. I wonder what the properties of a pearl grown in a guilt and self-loathing barnacle would be. So what do? Well, probably break away shell and cut away the fan, harvest any roe, then either cut out adductor muscles or, if the majority of the tissue looks potentially edible, clean them (remove digestive tract and organs). Avoid contact with your skin as much as possible just to be safe.** Transport the meat quickly back to Kat for testing. If good, then proceed to cooking. Assuming the meat is like a scallop the size would be a problem since the exterior would be overcooked and rubbery before the inside reached a safe temperature. The grain of the tissue would run lengthwise so cutting them horizontally into steaks about the size of your hand and maybe 0.5-0.75in thick or less would maximize tenderness (provided you don't overcook). Seasoning is a matter of taste and I probably couldn't make a decision until I smell it cooking but I'm thinking these would have less salt than the marine versions therefore rock salt and Old Bay would probably be best. If not, then Red Boat sauce because it is good with most things seafood though perhaps better with some things than others. If not that either, then perhaps the worst of shire sauces. [edit] Should also mention that even if the barnacles are sentient like etheric bugs they'd probably be more than fine with being eaten so it's ethical. There's also an issue with just leaving them be, since I'm unsure what would happen if a clump of these things was just left in the Court. Final thot: Rare and exotic foodstuff is worth mucho bucks to foodies even if there's no psychic effects from eating them so it might be sinfully profitable to see of they can be cultivated from the roe. [/edit] *That is an assumption I'm making. If they're less sessile there may be more meat. **They're probably not contagious but there are rare cases of barnacles or other sea life that can infect humans irl so one shouldn't take unnecessary risks. In fact, if someone did a bump of roe in the comic they'd probably be even more screwed than if they'd been captured by one of Zeta's spooders.
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Post by blahzor on Apr 17, 2024 8:37:24 GMT
Zimmy gonna be big mad when they find out herself was there
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Post by rafk on Apr 17, 2024 8:42:54 GMT
Next page one big splash panel with one speech bubble "I'm Omega", BAM, make it happen.
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Post by guntherkrieg on Apr 17, 2024 8:54:56 GMT
Man, if those barnacles are edible and tasty they'd be worth hundreds of USD each at a wet market, maybe much more. Just sayin' Okay.
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Post by yellowb on Apr 17, 2024 11:50:12 GMT
Long-awaited Zoob reveal next update? Man can only dream. Note that she said "Zeta" not "Zimmy" so I still think I'm right about Zoob being Shell (or possibly Jenny) which was my third choice of three in the poll. (poll is now locked) Jenny would call her Zimmy, though. I still think it's noteworthy that MNP's speech bubbles are regular NP speech bubbles. We shall see... But at least I was right about the whole Zimmy thing being a misdirection. And I never bought the "amalgamation of (parts of) Coyote, Loup, and Zimmy" thing. My guess is that nobody has guessed correctly yet.
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Post by jasmijn on Apr 17, 2024 11:58:36 GMT
DENIED
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Apr 17, 2024 12:16:25 GMT
My guess is that nobody has guessed correctly yet. She's probably on the poll list somewhere. One thing I'd do differently now is break Anja out of the pack and give her her own individual entry.
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Post by gpvos on Apr 17, 2024 12:43:15 GMT
I think she is an actual (former) robot (now NP). We actually haven't met many named robots before. Assuming that we have met her before, and since she's so shy about revealing her identity, I think it's actually quite likely that she's Boxbot.
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morrahadesigns
Full Member
Skinamarinky dinky-dink. Skinamarinky doo.
Posts: 223
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Post by morrahadesigns on Apr 17, 2024 12:53:05 GMT
The title Zeta definitely points to this NP being attached to the court admin more than to the students/Kat.
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Post by ctso74 on Apr 17, 2024 13:20:06 GMT
Zeta: Worrisome Program? Her chakram is a flying degausser.
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Post by silicondream on Apr 17, 2024 14:04:55 GMT
Don't people usually eat the gooseneck kind, and only the neck part? I'm not sure what you'd do with the rest of it, huge or not. Soup? I did a quick google to refresh my memory and the consensus of the common knowledge is that rock and gooseneck are the only ones humans should eat but if memory serves I believe there's a big edible barnacle species in South America (which I may or may not have had in some sort of dish some years ago) that's going extinct, maybe another in Southeast Asia I heard of but haven't eaten, and it is said many more species are edible but impractical because of their size. Thanks! I should have realized that assorted indigenous cultures would have figured out how to eat rock barnacles. I'll ask my housemate about it, she's Coast Salish and her family fishes for a living. Apparently the Wampanoag ate rock barnacles "with eggs," which sounds...painfully crunchy. Unless there are residual contaminants from Robot's undistorted body. Machine oil and battery acid just add complexity to the flavor! Well, they're crustaceans, remember. No pearls, because their shells are made of calcified chitin instead of aragonite. And instead of one giant adductor muscle there's a medium-sized interscutal adductor, plus several small muscles along the inside of the shell. Since the outermost shell plates are fixed and fused together, barnacles don't need the muscle power that bivalves have to keep their shells closed; they're only opening and closing the operculum plates at the tip. Goose barnacles have muscles and an ovary in the "neck" part, which is what people are mostly eating. Barnacle meat is like lobster but sweeter, apparently. I don't think the muscles would be larger than a lobster tail so they can probably be cooked identically. Plus their closest relatives that we've met would be Wisps, and Wisps have no civil rights. Ask Idra. I think she is an actual (former) robot (now NP). We actually haven't met many named robots before. Assuming that we have met her before, and since she's so shy about revealing her identity, I think it's actually quite likely that she's Boxbot. I'm not sure why Boxbot would attack Shadow on sight though....
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Post by pyradonis on Apr 17, 2024 15:01:32 GMT
"Zeta", huh? So either an actual robot/NP, or a Court employee. Omega would even be both.
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Post by phantaskippy on Apr 17, 2024 15:12:56 GMT
I still think it's Lana. The eyes, the way she says things, it just screams Lana to me.
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Apr 17, 2024 15:24:25 GMT
Sure, the percentage of overall mass of edible adductor is less than* if it was something like a scallop but they're still huge and there may be roe. Come to think of it, there may be pearls. Well, they're crustaceans, remember. No pearls, because their shells are made of calcified chitin instead of aragonite. And instead of one giant adductor muscle there's a medium-sized interscutal adductor, plus several small muscles along the inside of the shell. Since the outermost shell plates are fixed and fused together, barnacles don't need the muscle power that bivalves have to keep their shells closed; they're only opening and closing the operculum plates at the tip. Memory may be betraying me but I'm pretty sure that pretty much wherever there's tissue rubbing against shell that a "pearl" can form and that's something to keep in mind when cleaning and eating... though not an iridescent gem, more like a kidney stone in appearance, and there shouldn't be any particles to start the irritation in this case. All that said, you never know. A divergent idea or suppressed intrusive thought might cause one here. Assuming the meat is like a scallop the size would be a problem since the exterior would be overcooked and rubbery before the inside reached a safe temperature. Barnacle meat is like lobster but sweeter, apparently. I don't think the muscles would be larger than a lobster tail so they can probably be cooked identically. I'm straining to remember back a couple decades here so I'm not going to make assertions I can't back up but lobster-taste isn't what I recall and it probably varies from species to species anyway. The only thing I do remember for sure is thinking that it wasn't worth the money. Of course, if oversized barnacles for free suddenly appeared I'd be very excited to see what I could do with them. My foremost thought is go light on the salt and other seasonings and avoid vinegar or wine (except as a pairing). Alternatively, I could email the auctioneer at a big seafood market and see if I can get an estimate on them. About size of the edible flesh: You may be right about the little ones. I dunno what's going on here but I'm inclined to say those aren't cirri. I'm thinking the barnacles aren't filter feeders and are instead parasitic and that fan is some sort of reproductive structure. That'd fit with the story. However, it occurs to me that one of the things not yet addressed in the comic is why the Forest residents ripped off Robot's wings when he wandered over the bridge. We never learned what those things on the Seraph class do. It may be the case that they're some sort of antenna that allows them to interact with the ether (thus transforming into bird-like whatsits and maybe other stuff like use magic charms) and so were offensive to whoever Robot met. Maybe the barnacles actually are filter feeders and they're gathering ether to grow when that fan is deployed, or perhaps they're omnivores that both filter and extend into Robot's body. Either way, that structure may contain edible tissue. Also: The adductors on the biggest ones are probably as thick as Antimony's leg. Those are probably going to have to be cut into pieces one way or another... or, perhaps stuffed with breadcrumbs and citrus fruit.
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Post by Gemminie on Apr 17, 2024 15:58:26 GMT
Well, now that Robot's in good hands, Annie turns to Mystery New Person, who is in fact still here and hasn't run off to do shenanigans, and thanks her for helping them help Robot. But then she gets right to the point and asks MNP whether she's Zimmy, or a part of her. But the only answer we get on this page is "No, I'm not Zeta." The Seraphs are still milling about in the background, presumably deciding how they're going to make their plea for forgiveness to Kat as creepy as they can possibly make it.
Now, that doesn't mean we won't get more answers from MNP on the next page, but on this page she seems pretty surprised when Annie asks if she's Zimmy (all or part). And she calls her "Zeta." The only people who have called Zimmy that in the comic are the Seraphs and certain Court personnel. It's plausible that other robots called her Zeta if the Seraphs did, so MNP could just be a random New Person we didn't know before, or she could be the NP version of a robot we've seen, such as Sky Watcher (as some have mentioned), the Robot King, the Administrator, or the Doorbot. Other robots are pretty much known, like Arthur, and Piter the hair stylist robot. Can't think of any other specific robots right now. I don't think she's a Seraph, as all the Seraphs seem to be acting as a group. But the rule seems to be that this distortion is changing places and things but not people. If she's somebody we used to know who looks different, she must be an ex-robot NP. Otherwise she could be the personification of a place or object, I suppose, but I don't know what, and it would have to be someplace or something that got changed into a NP, dialog balloon and all. And then there's the possibility that she's simply a new character. Still plenty of possibilities.
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Post by Runningflame on Apr 17, 2024 16:32:57 GMT
"You knew just what to ask" sounds like a hint pointing toward a certain infallible (?) prediction machine (?) we've been hearing about. But it could be a misdirection, of course.
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Post by silicondream on Apr 17, 2024 17:51:28 GMT
Well, they're crustaceans, remember. No pearls, because their shells are made of calcified chitin instead of aragonite. And instead of one giant adductor muscle there's a medium-sized interscutal adductor, plus several small muscles along the inside of the shell. Since the outermost shell plates are fixed and fused together, barnacles don't need the muscle power that bivalves have to keep their shells closed; they're only opening and closing the operculum plates at the tip. Memory may be betraying me but I'm pretty sure that pretty much wherever there's tissue rubbing against shell that a "pearl" can form and that's something to keep in mind when cleaning and eating... though not an iridescent gem, more like a kidney stone in appearance, and there shouldn't be any particles to start the irritation in this case. Nope, that's just in mollusks and the extinct conulariids. Crustaceans are arthropods, and don't generate pearls any more than insects do. In fact, if you stuck a pearl into crustacean body tissues, it would probably dissolve over time; crustaceans are the only animal phylum that periodically forms and resorbs calcium deposits. If you put an irritant into a barnacle, it would either simply pump it out of the mantle cavity, or expel it along with its exoskeleton when it molts. (Barnacles do molt like other crustaceans, they just do it internally.) Symbolic loss of innocence? He came back as literal damaged goods. Well, they're shame barnacles, so I imagine they're gathering anything that amplifies Robot's misery. Subtle criticisms, the resentment of the other Seraphs, undeserved praise from Kat, that sort of thing. You can see the relative size of the adductor muscle in this cross-sectional diagram (taken from Lander University). It's the dark oval just below the upper shell plates, left of center: It's really not that large. OTOH, barnacles have the proportionately longest penises of any animal, eight times their own body length. Giant shame barnacle pizzle could be an unexplored delicacy.
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Post by novia on Apr 17, 2024 20:54:48 GMT
She's boxbot. Calling it now.
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Post by Igniz on Apr 17, 2024 20:56:25 GMT
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Post by Gemini Jim on Apr 18, 2024 0:47:23 GMT
Not like Tom to forget a "You are, Number Six" comma.
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Apr 18, 2024 5:04:58 GMT
Nope, that's just in mollusks and the extinct conulariids. Crustaceans are arthropods, and don't generate pearls any more than insects do. In fact, if you stuck a pearl into crustacean body tissues, it would probably dissolve over time; crustaceans are the only animal phylum that periodically forms and resorbs calcium deposits. If you put an irritant into a barnacle, it would either simply pump it out of the mantle cavity, or expel it along with its exoskeleton when it molts. (Barnacles do molt like other crustaceans, they just do it internally.) Thanks for setting me straight on that! One thing that I did remember when eating barnacles was that the waiter cautioned me to beware of pearls, which I now suspect was just a classy way of saying look out for shell fragments. I guess that's the culinary version of "I talked to a guy behind a counter" syndrome. Let me return the favor by letting you in on some off-the-hook cooking that people have heard of but not many have actually done. I used to do a lot of hiking and outdoor activities and once got separated from the rest of my party by a lake in the middle of nowhere. I decided to stay put where I last saw them instead of wandering around looking for them, and since I was here catch some fish and eat those instead of depleting my supplies. While gathering some firewood I stumbled on a source of potters clay where part of a hill eroded and, lacking proper cooking tools, decided to try cooking the cleaned fish by wrapping them in clay and putting them into the coals. I thought I had dug down far enough to get clay with zero humus in it but I in fact didn't and the fish wound up tasting like sh1t. Other than that they were perfectly edible and I suffered no ill effects; the texture was actually very good and removing the clay once it cooled a bit was reasonably fast and easy. 3/10, would do again in the same circumstances, but absolutely would dig down much deeper for pristine clay (the fish will still probably taste strongly of clay but hopefully not like sh1t). You can see the relative size of the adductor muscle in this cross-sectional diagram (taken from Lander University). It's the dark oval just below the upper shell plates, left of center. It's really not that large. Hmm, I think that's just a cross section or something because I don't see the attachment points but let's go with this and BOTE it. So guesstimating Antimony's about five feet tall (1524mm) that barnacle she's standing on in panel 2 should be roughly 508mm across the aperture. That would indeed make the circle on the diagram (the adductor) only about 72.5mm (2.8 inches) in diameter. That seems a bit wonky from a mechanical perspective, but that's not all that's involved in opening and closing the aperture. I see there's a scutal abductor muscle notation at 1 and a much bigger scutal depressor on the left. Those bad boys are a bit less than half the diameter of the aperture in length (maybe ten inches long). OTOH, barnacles have the proportionately longest penises of any animal, eight times their own body length. Giant shame barnacle pizzle could be an unexplored delicacy. It might indeed be, though if that thing's parasitical that's probably the most dangerous part.
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morrahadesigns
Full Member
Skinamarinky dinky-dink. Skinamarinky doo.
Posts: 223
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Post by morrahadesigns on Apr 18, 2024 11:27:55 GMT
"Memory is the key."
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Post by silicondream on Apr 18, 2024 12:52:00 GMT
I thought I had dug down far enough to get clay with zero humus in it but I in fact didn't and the fish wound up tasting like sh1t. Other than that they were perfectly edible and I suffered no ill effects. This sounds like a line from Mary Todd Lincoln's Cookbook. Can you eyeball the humus level by the color of the clay? I'll buy it. I wasn't looking carefully enough at that panel; the barnacles are certainly bigger than I thought relative to Antimony. Well, in the real world, the parasitic barnacle species don't have penises. Instead, a living cell mass leaves the male's body, invades the body of the female (who is herself living inside a crab host), and then grows into a sperm-producing gonad inside her. Just for maximum Cronenbergiosity.
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Post by imaginaryfriend on Apr 18, 2024 14:21:43 GMT
I thought I had dug down far enough to get clay with zero humus in it but I in fact didn't and the fish wound up tasting like sh1t. Other than that they were perfectly edible and I suffered no ill effects. This sounds like a line from Mary Todd Lincoln's Cookbook. Can you eyeball the humus level by the color of the clay? Sadly, no, especially in wooded uneven terrain when you're losing daylight. Out of my usual abundance of caution (some say paranoia) I removed about eighteen inches deep to dig the clay I actually used and it all appeared perfectly uniform and undisturbed yet clearly some humus had diffused in (just enough to taste) to that depth. If I had it to do over I'd at least double that depth. [edit] I should clarify. I dug down about eighteen inches past any visible contamination into the crumbly nearly-white gray potters clay. This was at a slight angle since the deposit was exposed on the side of a hill where erosion had uncovered it. The fact that water had cut into the deposit no doubt increased the depth that water-soluble contaminants could infiltrate but if not for that I'd have no idea it was there. Ideally I should have gone to the top of the hill and used a machete to cut through the roots and topsoil, and dug three feet or more into the deposit from somewhere there was never any flowing water (relatively speaking) but time was an issue. The clay would still have made the fish taste strongly of clay but unless the whole deposit wicks water (which does happen) it shouldn't make the fish taste like I'd caught them in a sewer instead of a pristine lake.[/edit] I'll buy it. I wasn't looking carefully enough at that panel; the barnacles are certainly bigger than I thought relative to Antimony. Not sure about guilt barnacle meat but for cooking scallops anything over maybe 1.5 inches I have to be careful with or I'll overcook. I've taken to chunkifying larger ones to match the size of the smaller which helps, but there just seems to be some inconsistency in the cooking time so staring at it while poking helps. I'm guessing for guilt barnacles I should assume a judgmental facial expression as well, maybe while telling them how they deserve worse. Well, in the real world, the parasitic barnacle species don't have penises. Instead, a living cell mass leaves the male's body, invades the body of the female (who is herself living inside a crab host), and then grows into a sperm-producing gonad inside her. Just for maximum Cronenbergiosity. Yeah, like I said I'm not sure what's going on with that thing. The fan structure looks reproductive but being parasitical would make more sense unless magic etheric extractor (penis?) or maybe it's dual purpose. Or something else entirely.
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Post by Nnelg on Apr 18, 2024 20:33:19 GMT
Next page one big splash panel with one speech bubble "I'm Omega", BAM, make it happen. Or "I'm the Seed Bismuth."
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tibert
Junior Member
Posts: 65
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Post by tibert on Apr 19, 2024 0:28:46 GMT
At this late time of the night, maybe a few hours from the reveal, I feel too tired to elaborate on tiny similitudes between ≠ζ and whoever. The similitude: The three stars I feel just in the mood to ponder that Annie may have singled out ≠ζ for all the wrong reasons + Being the first to notice the way forward? NPs are individuals with their own individual traits, which may include being observant. + Looking a little like Zimmy? As I said before, who doesn't? + Her surprised " What!? I didn't see anything? Annie just said Kat was here. One expects to be able to see people who are in one's immediate vicinity. (I don't list having a late first appearance since I'm talking about Annie and Renard's perceptions, and they don't mention being sure ≠ζ wasn't there before.) + pouting when everyone else is in awe? And, pray, what forbids NPs to develop their own secular point of view of the creator, and an allergy to blind faith? + excited in the NP camp? She's recently awakened, new to the concept of belonging to a NP community, and may have excitable as a personality trait. Now, the events after Shadow appeared are a little harder to explain mundanely. Bwip! *** The title Zeta definitely points to this NP being attached to the court admin more than to the students/Kat. She's the mole from the court!
And she knows where Robot is because the Court endowed her with seraph-locating abilities ... that somehow stayed functional after her transfer in her new body! And she thought Shadow was about to attack Annie because the Court's knowledge of Annie's interactions with shadow people stops with the attack on the bridge... somehow missing the fact she must have met plenty as a Forest Medium, if not before!(Why can't I just stop and wait for the next update?) *** How to pass for a genius in Annie's eyes: Ask the question everyone is asking themselves directly to the person concerned, and get new information in the process. Was it basic common sense or pure unadultered nosiness from ≠ζ ?
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Post by Igniz on Apr 19, 2024 5:21:57 GMT
"Memory is the key."
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