Comic for Thursday, October 19th
Oct19
Talking to Peter is like walking through a cactus maze, where the floor is also cactuses. Cacti? Apparently it’s actually cacti. Interesting.
Look a Peter, being all diligent with his new job. That’s definitely not ominous or suspicious.
We still have a buffer comic, so that’s like… comic riches, there. Another Minus Years page should be up tonight folk Patreon folks – that’ll be running probably at the end of November for everyone. Getting close to wrapping up Part II, then we’ll finally be able to throw up a new goal… or maybe just vote on the next one, probably, since we’ve gotten so many new folks since the last one we’ve probably already hit the next goal. Really appreciate it folks.
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Obvious Costume Suggestions if you still need more:
Wonderwoman Naomi
Magic Girl Ila
Zombie Emmi Esk
The last is a bad joke. Sorry. Too soon?
Just checking that I understood. Translating all of this to English:
Peter: Hi Uncle. I have class soon. Too soon, so I’d like to stretch this out so I have an excuse to be a little late.
Aaron: Hi Nephew. Absolutely. I’m always happy to yammer pointlessly.
Peter: I’ll accept some of the help you want to give me. I don’t want to accept anyone who will just get killed
Aaron: But you’re in danger.
Peter: Yup. My job to fix that. By the way, I can pay the help you send me that I am willing to accept.
It is basically a game of who is in charge of how they are going to do the operation. They have a common enemy, but are not on the same side.
Arron wants to negotiate with both Malsa and Peter from the position of strength of being a military presence, maybe even using Operation Smash Atter To Small Pieces to make it clear that he is not screwing around. Peter is having none of that, but wants to have more toys in his toy box, namely Kally probably.
Peter wants Arron (or at least Kally) close, but he does not want them be in a good negotiating position. He would rather be paying them so they work for him rather than them working for free for themselves.
Arron knows this, but he is also probably the only person in the comic that does not underestimate Peter, so he is to figure out how bad an idea letting Peter have more control over the situation is.
That is my take anyway. This is a “Kepler^2” conversation, so we are on the basement level below the subtext here.
Damn, Peter makes some good hidden points here.
Sophie unleashes Atter while not forbidding killing. She as much admitted that she expected him to kill people in his goal. Since his goal is focused on Arron, that means he’ll likely kill people near Arron and Nathan.
Logically, their next move is to remove Atter.
If you are going to unleash such a weapon and you can think logically, then clearly you know they will do that. Its the only logical response. This makes them predictable, which leads to your next attack. Beats me what that attack will be, but it should be on the line to get rid of Arron Kepler.
Follow the politics, Arron; the difference is mostly symbolic, but that symbolic difference gives power to Malsa, meeting Peter’s ends. If you want your goal, play the politics, don’t force your way around them to minimal benefit.
I really hope that Peter and Arron can end up working together, but I am worried. Repeatedly we’ve just seen Arron bark instead of bite, and I think the reason is that he really is military. He has two settings, following rules, and smashing things with a hammer.
Sophie’s exhausted his patience with these games (debatably intentionally), and he just wants to retaliate, but he’s being drawn into doing it where Sophie and Biana have already started a war.
I wonder about the phrase: “placing a requisition for skilled contractors out on this matter.”
In just stumble over the word “out”, and the sentence seems complete without it. “Putting out a requisition”, “making out a requisition”, or just dropping “out” sound better to me. But I don’t deal with creating job reqs, so maybe this works as is.
Feel free to delete this comment once you’ve decided which way you want it. It’s too nit picky and distracting for future readers whether the phrase is changed or not.
That’s more or less the precise wording used for requisitioning/advertising for independent contractors. It’s business English, and doesn’t make much sense to outsiders.
I believe the most-correct version would be “placing out a requisition for skilled contractors”. The current version is a bit hard to follow because it splits the verb phrase.
I would go with “placing a requisition out for skill contractors” or “placing a requisition for skill contractors out” as the awkward but formal way of saying “putting out[or up] a requisition for skilled contractors” for a less formal usage. All of these are valid though, as Delta-v notes it is business-speak, and that is sub-dialect of English at best (and I work in business-speak).
I do have to go to school pretty soon though…
Does he need to continue at Levenworth? Originally, he registered in order to be considered a citizen of Malsa and, hence, theoretically untouchable to IDS in terms of them securing what they consider a rogue agent. But, if he is the Interim MSB Bureau Chief, does he still need that protection? Wouldn’t his position, alone, make him untouchable?
Maybe the school fits into his plans? He does have a lot of connections to the school, such as Naomi, Mium, Kallisto and a bunch of other students.
Maybe he genuinely wants to graduate from Levenworth? Maybe Peter is the sort of person who likes to finish what he’s started?
You can already guess who on your list I’ll approve and who I wont…
At least he’s willing to compromise. Has Peter already considered Arron making such a request? We’ve already seen him acting like a chess player, planning moves many steps ahead of the game and planning for contingencies.
I know where your ultimate loyalty lays…
Translation: Arron’s first loyalty is to Central. Family (such as Peter) comes second.
…and that’s not a risk that makes sense right now.
Translation: If I let yoo bring your army buddies over, then there’s a good chance that you’ll use them to fight Malsa’s forces and/or topple their government. (That, or they might try to grab Peter and drag him back in handcuffs.)
There will come a time when this could be reconsidered…
Again, he’s willing to compromise. He is thinking long-term, too. Biana and Sophie are his real enemies, while Arron and his friends are not. (They aren’t exactly close allies, either, though.)
But I don’t want them in the crossfire right now.
Sounds like genuine concern for Central/IDS personel to me.
Even I can’t control this entirely.
Controlling such situations at all is darned impressive. Sounds like he has a big ego to go with that big, impressive head of his. But he does admit that he’s not infallable.
The biggest loser of you two getting into a pissing contest is wherever you have it.
Is this concern for those who may be caught in the crossfire? Is it concern over property damage? Or is it concern over his new job and how he would be in some hot water in letting it happen? Maybe all three?
…I believe you may have some resources that’d match that need?
Peter’s willing to compromise and, basically, give you want you want – under conditions. He’s clever that way. Question is: Do you think that Peter will insist on a joint MSB/Arron operation to take down Atter?
Of course Peter is going to continue at Levenworth:
1- He is only the temporary head of MSB.
2- He strikes me as the type of person who always has a back-up plan.
3- The comment is also a great way for his snarky personality to come out even if he does want to go to school.
4- It is a great way to avoid appointments/petitioners.
Peter is like a plot-cat. No matter how things twist and spin, he always lands on his feet. He’s already spinning and scheming how his going to come out ahead of Atter trying to kill him, being forced into a job he didn’t want, and having the country he’s in go to war.
Peter is playing all the sides. He probably is trying to make his MSB Handlers (the Consul, Tyler) know that they are really just one of his many options.
Though now that you say it, he could be trying to move Kally into the MSB. This would be perfect for him as it would basically allow him to reestablish utility of his second most useful Minion (I reckon Mium is still Minion Prime) without trying to get her to break from her Lawful alignment, since she would still be a “Cop”. He could sell this as a “Joint Taskforce Integration”, and it would also insinuate him from MSB repercussions because she would be more loyal to him than the MSB.
Thinking about, I see a future where Peter could have Arron to taking over the MSB once he has accomplished what he wants with it, though I suspect that would be trickier as Arron’s final loyalty seems to be to Central Military/the IDS.
PS: The top of this comment is the test of “blockquote” in html tags. Slowly working through which html tags work in these comments.
If you don’t like the rules, change the game. Play it Peter’s way, Aaron. He has intel you don’t, and you know by now he doesn’t like to share.
Panel 1 – Arron 1: “Why would join” should be “Why would YOU join”
Panel 2 – Peter: “ultimate loyalty lays” should be “ultimate loyalty LIES”, I think; “lay” is past tense, “lies” is present tense.
Sweet.
Peter’s dressing in an outfit similar to Weber’s, rather than something more comfortable, which seems like the sort of thing he’d prefer to wear, and did wear when he was at IDS, and does wear whenever he’s not at or on the way to/from Levenworth. Does the new job come with a dress code?
Fixed, thanks 🙂
Transitive versus intransitive: nothing tense about it.
wow. and i didn’t see 1 misspelled word.
ok, ok, so i spoke too soon.
Oh, and if you’ve missed it there’s a new costume sketch up… a sneak peak back at what was…
Click for fullsize and story snippet (it’s on Patreon, but it’s public).
😉
awwwwwwww. now we need a bonus comic series for Mari…. ;_;
Is the “Sherlock Prop” supposed to be the pipe, or Peter? (Heh…)