[3005] Renard relays his experience

[bedinsis]

Etheric creatures are feeling drained, apparently.

[imaginaryfriend]

It appears that Antimony was thinking that the Foley kids were being drained via their agreement/relationship with the Court. I guess this explains what the main characters have been doing, or better to say refraining from doing. She thought that giving them names would conclude the agreement, but the getting jobs part would just mark another phase as I understand it.

[blahzor]

Oct 11, 2024 7:01:27 GMT bedinsis said:

Etheric creatures are feeling drained, apparently.

That's good battery management to not drain just one quickly

[pyradonis]

Uh oh. Will Annie be affected too? Will the named Foleys still be affected, just less? Would Bugsy actually not sleep so much if there was no Star Ocean?

[morrahadesigns]

Nooooo!!! 
Fine Tom, Fine!!! You got me! I am now fully emotionally invested in this arc. Are you happy?! 
NOW SAVE RENARD!!!!!

Oct 11, 2024 11:44:30 GMT pyradonis said:

Uh oh. Will Annie be affected too? Will the named Foleys still be affected, just less? Would Bugsy actually not sleep so much if there was no Star Ocean?

Pretty sure sleeping a lot is just part of Bugsy's personality. 

[ctso74]

Has The Court actually made napping ominous? Is there nothing it can't ruin?

[gpvos]

Well, it looks like the Court holds all the trump cards in their hands. Will our heroes save the day? Tune in next week for another episode!

[shadow3]

I think something is eating the ether, and that something convinced the Court of a lie about going to a new world when in reality the something wanted to feed on the would-be travelers.

[Gemini Jim]

So, it seems like we have a couple of possible culprits for draining the Ether - the Star Ocean cruise plot began before the Distortion even existed, and is probably a reaction to the attack on the Court. But it could also be Hoovering up the Ether as Star Ocean fuel.

Maybe the Distortion itself is draining the Etheric creatures? That might be an interesting way to try to force Meg to shut it down.... (or not... "The Distortion's draining Rey!" "So?")


The implication from today seems to be that the vines are innocent, at least as far as that is concerned, since Rey's Got No Strings To Hold Him Down.


=

Meanwhile, if all that is true, the seed experiment is quickly becoming an interesting, but not vital distraction - at worst, it could introduce a new problem to deal with.

But even if nothing bad happens (Robot gets taken over?), the situation has gotten much more serious. Save the Ether? Rescue the parents? Stop Meg? Stop the starship?

[Gemminie]

On the previous page, Robot volunteered for Kat's experiment with planting seeds in her attempt to interface with distortion-altered technology, but she didn't want to plant Robot in the ground – however, she apparently still has her growing vat, which she used to create one of Robot's experimental bodies at one point. She orders the Seraph robots to find her some hydroponic equipment.

Meanwhile, Annie and Renard are having a conversation in the Ether. She asks if he's OK, as he seems pensive. He replies that the fairy girl, <Snuffle>, was exhausted despite having no tendrils on her at all; she never worked for the Court. Renard thinks all etheric creatures are being affected, drained of their Ether. He thought at first that it was just traveling in the distortion that was doing it, but he can feel something drawing his energy too.

Is it the star ocean? Does it affect everything and everyone that uses Ether? Is Annie affected? If Kat succeeds in making inroads into the Ether, will her efforts also be affected? And how close is the Court to departing, anyway?

[TBeholder]

So, they are back to the square #1. Not exactly unexpected.

Oct 11, 2024 14:11:39 GMT ctso74 said:

Has The Court actually made napping ominous? Is there nothing it can't ruin?

Who is Mr. Court?

[imaginaryfriend]

Oct 11, 2024 16:01:50 GMT Gemini Jim said:

So, it seems like we have a couple of possible culprits for draining the Ether - the Star Ocean cruise plot began before the Distortion even existed, and is probably a reaction to the attack on the Court. But it could also be Hoovering up the Ether as Star Ocean fuel. Maybe the Distortion itself is draining the Etheric creatures? That might be an interesting way to try to force Meg to shut it down.... (or not... "The Distortion's draining Rey!" "So?") The implication from today seems to be that the vines are innocent, at least as far as that is concerned, since Rey's Got No Strings To Hold Him Down.

With a reality distortion literally anything's possible but what I think is/was happening is that the distortion caused the metaphorical link between the Foley kids and the star ocean (in the work they were doing for the Court) to become semi-metaphorical which enabled the draining or made existing draining much worse. Fairy friend was interacting with the Foley kids who were being drained and so also got drained but maybe to a lesser extent.

The distortion is a big outflow of chaotic ether so all things held equal it shouldn't be draining ether, though wild fluctuations in location and pressure might cause eddies and absolutely will cause other problems... but the beings that lived in the wood should be a little better about navigating ether-rich landscapes and the fairy should be able to navigate a distortion like a fish goes around a bubble curtain. Former-fairies should have a clue, at least, if they're paying attention. So... to continue the metaphor, if the Foley kids were like fish in a pond, the distortion was/is like a flood that connected their pond with the intake for cooling a power plant or something. Thus Lavender got hoovered and went bye-bye; the distortion enabled it but wasn't really the cause. Breaking the connection between the kids and the star ocean should save the Foley kids or at least buy them a lot of time.

Oct 11, 2024 16:01:50 GMT Gemini Jim said:

Meanwhile, if all that is true, the seed experiment is quickly becoming an interesting, but not vital distraction - at worst, it could introduce a new problem to deal with. But even if nothing bad happens (Robot gets taken over?), the situation has gotten much more serious. Save the Ether? Rescue the parents? Stop Meg? Stop the starship?

Houston, we have mission creep. Originally they were looking for a way to communicate through the ether so that Antimony and Kat could plot countermeasures against Omega without being listened in on. I think we're at least two levels of tangent away from that and still migrating.

I get it. This is a unique event that will probably never ever be replicated and the opportunities for learning are immense. There's all sorts of weird stuff to look at. Kids will be kids.  The concept of being able to grow connectivity is a fascinating one, and there's probably a lot of money to be made if it can be monetized.  Finally, people in remote areas can get high-speed connections because internet can be grown, packed, and shipped to them in five-pound bags.  People will actually be able to download more RAM whenever they need it... though I guess the downside would be the malware applications, people sneaking into your yard and planting literal rootkits outside your window in the dead of night.  

Wonderous as all that would be, the distortion is still a life and limb threat to the people inside it.  I think the focus should be on that.

Oct 11, 2024 16:01:50 GMT Gemini Jim said:

Stop the starship?

I dunno. Is there reason to stop the ship from departing? Sure, it's probably a fraud or maybe a disaster waiting to happen but this is their choice. As individuals, the contributions they could've made to humanity should be mourned... but as a group..? Honestly, as an organization the Court has drifted a long way from its founding goals and may become a big threat to humanity a few generation down the road; it's probably for the best to see the back of them.

[Hatredman]

Is it just me, or Tom had changed his art style dramatically over the course of this chapter? Annie never looked like this before.

EDIT: Kat is also different, like, A LOT.

[justcurious]

Is this going to be when Robot gets his new body? He needs to in order to protect him from the Distortion.