Comic.
This page would have actually been on time, but as you can probably guess by the time you’ve gotten to this comment box, it’s sort of a page and half… or I guess more like a full page comic instead of a half page. Originally it was going to continue a little past the end of the ‘normal’ page with the first Peter image, but I felt like that was sort of ending on a ‘cliff hanger’ twice in a row, which didn’t feel great on the every-other-week schedule. Not that the end of this page resolves everything, but it’s a little different than ending on the first Peter image would have been.
I wouldn’t think too deeply about the exact effects of the end of the page; I debated for a bit how to represent Peter being outside of a normal dimension, and having him ‘outside of the comic boxes’ was the effect I settled on being something that both worked and I could artistically do.
This image is actually so big it sort of broke my image editor, so I had to do some odd steps to make a comic out of it. Hopefully that works because my comic page software doesn’t really support multi-image pages.
Next page should be May 13th.
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Its always interesting what Mium is capable of. It’s not a surprise how tightly that is kept secret. Especially since it’s Peter.
What is interesting is Peter doesn’t feel comfortable fully unshackling Mium. Some of this is obviously to keep him from going insane. Like the processing cap an not taking over other systems. Similarly, the AA system was noted as allowing him to behave in a non-standard manner and that could also result in insanity.
However, I’m starting to wonder if there are other reasons. Something that might actually scare Peter. Possibly because he doesn’t understand it.
For example. He doesn’t know how the edios cards work. We know they allow for real-time communication, but aren’t limited to just talking to each other. As evidenced by this version of Mium, who has an edios key being able to have data updated in real time while not being in the pod.
Also, this answers the question of if Peter was bluffing or meant to cause the ship to blow up. He’s supremely lucky. Well prepared with Mium, but still lucky.
I’m not sure Peter got lucky, it is more that he has layers of fallbacks. My impression was that he was trying to buy time, and the Kor’s World AI realized that, detonating the ship immediately as it concluded that was its best chance to kill Peter.
That was a bad outcome from Peter’s point of view who just wanted to give Kally or Mium time to break into the ship after him, but still acceptable, since he knew Mium would intervene. Unfortunately for him, with the dimension collapsing, it seems all Mium really could do was shove him out of the way.
Peter probably already accomplished his goal of stealing/observing what he needed from the Kor’s World ship. That they so decisively blew up the ship when they realized they couldn’t track him shows probably why he did in the first place. If Kally beat them up and forced her way onto the ship, they’d just blow it up or wipe the data before she could get it.
Vium returns!
Well I guess that answers a few questions: clearly the Sky Carrier blowing up was low on the prediction list (Mium had to act above his authorisation, Peter is alone and clearly unsure what the plan is); but high enough that Mium clearly planned a backup plan in the form of Vium being in the dimension he has pushed Peter into.
Peter is aware of Vium:
https://pastutopia.com/comic/comic-for-monday-november-2nd-2020/
so I am not quite sure what he means by “this thing could be a bit dangerous”… perhaps Vium being Mium’s brother????? I mean with Ila being Mium’s sister, it would only be logical… and probably totally dangerous.
Peter probably assumed Vium would still refer to himself as Mium. That he views himself as Mium’s ‘brother’ seems dangerous, since unlike Ila, Vium is an actual (partial) copy of Mium.
Ila does not have Mium’s restrictions, so Vium might be an actual unrestricted copy of Mium, something Peter would obviously view as dangerous.
Past, no apologies for a “late” comic are needed. However, this looks more like a two page comic than a one and a half page comic. Definitely worth the wait.
The gap after Naomi’s last appearance fooled me for a bit. I scrolled down expecting to see comments and was pleasantly surprised with much more comic content. Well done.
Did… Did Peter just get *punched through the fourth wall* to get him out of the explosion? Oh, this is getting *weird.*
Ha! I kind of read it as Peter is in a blank dimension, so his thoughts give it form (or take form??) in the shape of speech bubbles. But the direct comic comparison is really cool too!!!
Peter’s comment about his feet disappearing because he doesn’t think about them suggests (a) Peter has experience with blank dimensions (b) thoughts have the power to shape reality in a blank dimension (c) the energy/field/substance of a blank dimension erodes away anything without the power to “stay whole”
Ehh, less so when you look at it from a different perspective. Think of it as a combination of the world being a simulation and the “Observer effect” you see in bad anime and movies about quantum mechanics, like “Noein”.
Another way is to look at what Edios is. There are obviously data constructs in this comic, and the more sophisticated ones can become self sustaining without degrading. We also know that destructive interference can break down said constructs. The kicker is the same interference can break down matter. We saw it when mium stopped the assasin’s bullets. He didn’t vaporize them, he straight deleted them. Like they’re a file being overwritten.
So if matter is really just data, what keeps it from breaking down, and makes physics work? The answer seems to be related to the stability of the world/plane. We know the further you get from stability the more data “leaks.” It’s not too hard to imagine that the harder it is for something not designed for stability to stay stable.
In this case, it’s all about mental self image. Matrix style, but taken up a notch.
At this point the pages are verging on a what other comics I read call a whole chapter.
Curious what Peter’s ‘ripcord’ would be. He seems pretty casual about being dissolved by a void of nothingness, and confident that he could get out of he had to, but reluctant enough to use whatever it is that he hesitated.
Maybe reactivating his implant? Kally previously implied (or stated, I don’t remember) that he had one.
I think we are seeing the closest this world/multiverse has to an actual god.
At least he seems like a nice polite one? But the casualness of fishing a person out of non-space like that speaks of great power, though not necessarily infinite power. And he has a brother (sort of). So a pantheonic-level deity. Or at least, an avatar there of.
Pretty sure that’s Mium (of a sort). There was another copy of Mium created when he ran on Ila’s prototype that one time. He was placed into a prototype, but ran away, ate ice cream, and then made a deal with the assassin that tried to kill Nathan.
Of course, from the little we have seen of that copy of Mium, the statement might still hold true. In Ila’s body he casually curbstomped a mech.
Looks like Ice Cream Mium to me also.
We’ll look forward to the next page, Past.
Lots of questions embedded in today’s comic. Peter’s observation of thought/speech bubbles is pretty funny!
Thank you, again, for your story telliing.