Issue 20, Page 4
Transcript
1: A trail of deep blue/purple blood streaks across the concrete floor.
2: Vidali, tearful, drags the mumbling, disabled Xijo across the floor as he coughs into his respirator.
3: Xijo thuds down against a bed.
4: We see the medical center: a small room with an adjustable bed and various medical equipment and cabinets of gear. Vidali hastily runs to a phone in the corner as Xijo groans on the bed.
5: Vidali, mashes the phone console quickly.
Xijo (off-panel): [Untranslated Martian]
Vidali: I’m getting someone down here. Security or something, anyone. This is a containment breach, and we need a team immediately.
Xijo (off-panel): No…
Practicality ho! Smart girl!
Yeah 🙂
And I kinda expect her to remain professional once she figures out how doomed they are. Send a final report or something, to help prevent the same happening at another facility.
I swear i saw this page before, was it posted out of order?
It’s not just you. This… looks older. The styling and color work looks and feels like several years ago.
I accidentally posted this page early to FurAffinity and InkBunny, maybe you saw it there?
NUCLEAR WARHEAD ACTIVATED
THE UNDERGROUND PORTION OF THE FACILITY WILL BE DESTROYED IN T-90 SECONDS
awww man again? why does this keep happening when i start a new classified job!?
Hee, hee!
Oh Yeah!
Getting caught under that atomic bomb, + then picking up my atoms [from] the floor, and then
reassembling myself, like Dr. Manhattan does…, That’s just work, work, WORK, all the time! 😀 ;D
It’s their fault for working at Site 17.
Uh-oh, looks like someone triggered Operation Cautery. Now, who the hell has the deactivation key?
Perhaps the situation is not as dire?
Taking Julia as a reference, it is possible Specimen Sedjet cannot shapeshift outside of the cancellation chamber, and can be wounded.
In fact, I wonder if he could even merge with Julia at all, were they to physically meet.
“Operation Cautery” comes from “The Andromeda Strain”, which I believe Nick was referencing. In the event of a containment breach, a nuclear device was to be detonated to prevent the release of a dangerous pathogen, unless overridden by whoever had the key.
“Situation is not as dire” is meaningless to a dumb computer not programmed for that possibility.
“Not as dire”?
I’d have to consult the handbook but this is a possible XK end of the world scenario. (Not to be confused with an XKCD end of the world scenario, which results from little Bobby Tables getting hired on.)
Oh yes. Possible. But might not be.
Everything else seems to be working. Comms with outside likely operational. Thus, just as “Operation Cautery” had a grace period for the override to be used in, the nuking (or rather, not nuking) is subject to a decision.
We’re properly paranoid, but quipment, samples and talent are too valuable.
Perhaps the breach can be contained (with a facility-wide quarantine afterward) – they wouldn’t bother with a spinning lasershow (previous page) if the boom had been a certainty. They’d just boom instead.
“No…” Just wow. XD She’s on her own now.
And then there was one… Also, if Julia and Sedjet merge or both end up freed, Dr. Dara ends up totally outgunned!