Arron’s thought process is a little extraneous, but I decided to include it. He was definitely aware that one of the bigger threats of Peter running around is just how much information he could leak if he set his mind to it, and this has probably played a roll in his reluctance to try too hard to pin Peter down – unless you are confident you can catch the whole plot in one go, the plot fragments left behind could be more dangerous than whatever he was doing in the first place.
That, and it’s fair to say he has his own concerns about the IDS considering whose currently standing across the hall from him… 😐
Of course, it is also important to note that Arron, while fairly clever, is an imperfect narrator. He’s operating on more than a few assumptions, especially his previous epiphany that Peter has access to a interdimensional gate, something that troubles him greatly but we’ve seen only circumstantial evidence of (Kyle’s drone being the primary one).
Anyway, I’m unfortunately pretty sick. I think it’s just a stupid cold or something, but have a fever and a headache all day. Blarg.
Since I was behind on my various tasks, I decided that I’d make the next Patreon incentive up to you guys – the votes determined that’s going to be a plot based expansion of the story (like minus years), but I’ll put up another vote when we hit about what part of the timeline it should expand – we could do more prequel minus years with Kally and Peter, meeting some more of the IDS CI staff and following their early exploits and how they ended up like they are (…eventually) or we can explore a different piece of the timeline. It’ll be the same deal where it’ll be weekly to Patreon, but they will probably be smaller pages – maybe more comic strip like, so it’s something that can actually be delivered weekly 🙂
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Well, she should know. She’s an expert on making up things in front of everyone.
Haha 😀
I love panels 3 & 4. “I love the sound of your bullshit. Please, continue. Oh, and by the way, to anyone else listening, that’s now the official story.”
It makes sense from her perspective I think to let Avon tie themselves to the technology. Avon is likely one of the most powerful corporations outside of PACT, and there’s been the subtext from the beginning that corporations are in some cases more powerful than nations.
Considering that she still has the technology, any negotiations between them are still heavily weighted in Malsa’s favor.
That said, plotwise this is going to have very interesting ramifications, as we are seeing who I have viewed as “the good guys”, Malsa, teaming up with people that definitely started in the “the bad guys” column, Avon. Anyone that employs Mir and probably not easy to redeem, even if the current leadership is more stupid than evil.
You know Biana you just passed up a really good opportunity to blow this open, asking Ryn how they managed to get this working.
“Avon is not required to dispense trade secrets to anyone who asks, particularly not in an open setting.”
I do not believe Biana has any technical knowledge about how it works.
Most people who are good at talking, like Biana, have no technical understanding.
So, Ryn could bullshit his way through with no problems.
Okay it may not be the best of plans. But its still a better one.
It is also possible Peter gave him enough rope to work with, as I think it is very likely Peter’s hand is in this. Combine the fact that being bullshit artist of technology is literally Ryn’s day job, Biana may have been able to assess that attack plan would do more harm than good. Or she is just not clever enough to think of it, definitely possible.
Don’t imagine for a second that Arron’s thought process is extraneous! That is the highlight of today’s episode. It reminds you how big the power players are here, and gives us a better sense of both Arron, Peter, and their relationship. Great work.
Is it wrong that I think Binaca is coming off like Theresa May in the recent referendum, agressively shifting blame on everyone else (e.g. Crobyn for may, Malsa for Bianca) to defelct from her own failings.
Biana does seem to be digging a bigger hole for herself. By claiming a security breach, she claims that this is IDS technology. Whether or not the technology originated with them, it proves that IDS has this technology. And that (a) confirms the authenticity of the Consul’s claims and (b) begs the question of why IDS isn’t doing more to stop illegal traffic. The more Biana protests, the more convincing the evidence is against IDS that they’re not upholding their promises. Also, she lost her cool and is starting to make a fool of herself.
Arron’s inner dialog is interesting, if only to illustrate how much of the current situation he’s unaware of. Also interesting that he considered this move to be Peter’s “bargaining chip” or “nuclear option”. I guess Arron really does not know the depths that Biana has been going to – and how far she’s willing to go – for her agendas. Has he even considered that Biana would intentionally set other countries to war against Malsa?
I think he knows both about how far Biana is willing to go and about the state conflict. What makes Arron so interesting is we the readers don’t know much more than he does.
We know that everyone was shocked when Peter showed them how many unauthorized gates there were. He was sending them to gates that met very specific criterion. It could be that whatever was being smuggled through those gates is bad enough that the IDS’s refusal to stop it is worth a possible war.
Here we see Ryn being a shrewd political mastermind. Avon needs something big (that doesn’t involve AIs), and this is his big break. Everyone knows whats going on bu Biana is definately digging herself and the IDS a hole.
I hope you feel better. Panel 4 – you put “Person” twice. Panel 5 – “Director..” Panel 6 – “you left HIM in charge?” Panel 7 – “what does he have to gain?”
I left the “you left that in charge” as it’s intentionally, if perhaps odd. Biana is referring to the Ambassador as a distasteful thing, rather a person. Biana is not impressed by the Ambassador. I also left the panel 7 one, I think I need to ponder the wording on that on when more wakeful.
Fixed the other ones. Thanks! 🙂
you’re welcome. and like i said, I hope you feel better.
And also, you probably only want to “play a roll” if you’re using dice, otherwise you want someone to “play a role”, as in “I hope you have someone to play the role of nurse, and get well soon!”.
Yeah, sorry to hear that you’ve been under the weather. Hope you’re feeling better.