Today on Quantum Vibe: Difficulty with the idea Strip 1040 - Click strip above to goto the next strip.
First Seen: Fri 2015-02-27
Story & Art: Scott Bieser - Colors: Lea Jean Badelles Sci-Fi Adventure Monday & Thursday.
Quantum Vibe
A thousand years in the future, humanity has colonized worlds in nearly
100 galaxies, thanks to Quantum Vibremonic technologies developed five
centuries earlier. Other new technologies have created various
off-shoots of humanity and extended life expectancies five-fold. The
story begins with how a mad scientist and his plucky assistant, along
with their robot friend, brought humanity to the stars, and continues
with the adventures of some unique people in fantastic places.
What Comes Next [ Mar 18, 2024 ]
The war is over, but This Means War has a ways to go. Novo Paolo/Bubbleopolis is still in a nebula/stellar nursery, no one knows what happened to the planet Sharen (center of the Intergalactic Council), and the status of the now-surrendered Invaders is yet to be resolved. What will they do when they learn their homeworld is basically destroyed? Will Alyss and Li be re-united? How about Diana (the real one) and Otto?
These questions will be resolved in the next few weeks, before This Means War part 3 wraps in late May.
After that, I plan to go BACK in time about 400 years, to when Alyss and Li left their home in the Sol System to colonize a new world on the far side of the galaxy. As one might expect, hijinks ensue. New subtitle yet to be determined, start date sometime in around the start of July. Stay tuned!
Panel 1
Nicole is lying supine on a table with her head encased in a helmet with some wires connected to a device mounted above the head of the table. Murphy is touching a control panel.
Caption: Three 10-days later:
Murphy: Upload complete.
Murphy: I'm glad you're taking this precaution.
Nicole: I should have done this when I made my sun-dive, but I was lucky enough to survive that.
Panel 2
Nicole is sitting up on the table, holding the helmet in her hands.
Nicole: This copy of 'me' in the storage matrix ...
Nicole: Does she, er, have any awareness?
Murphy: No. Completely dormant until downloaded into a working brain of some sort.
Panel 3
The girls are walking along a tube-like corridor.
Nicole: I still have my doubts about uploading – if this trip fails and my data is put into a new body, will it really be me?
Murphy: I don't see why not, but you humans always seem to have difficulty with the idea.
Panel 4
At the end of the corridor is a cockpit, inside a partially-opened dome. Nicole is pulling her Sun-Diver jacket out of her hidden belt-pack.
Murphy: What I don't understand is why you insisted on the transparent dome.
Murphy: This made shielding a lot more of a challenge.
Nicole: Another human quirk, you could say ...
Panel 5
Nicole, wearing her jacket, has settled into the pilot's chair, and is securing her straps. Murphy looks on.
Nicole: I'm going to be the first human to visit the Alpha Centauri system.
Nicole: And I want to see it directly, with my own eyes. Not on some monitor.
Murphy: I'm just glad we've tested this craft five times already.
Panel 6
The dome has closed, and Murphy walks away. They still communicate via thoughtsending.
Murphy (thoughtsend): If anything goes wrong at the other end you'll be stranded 4.5 light-years away.
Nicole (thoughtsend): Your optimism is appreciated.
Panel 7
Murphy stands alone at the monitor, tracking Nicole's craft's launch in tactical view.
Murphy: Launch successful, all systems green.
Murphy: You are go in 20 seconds for transit to Alpha Centauri …
Murphy: 10 seconds ...
Panel 8
Split panel – in the first part, Murphy is looking up at the monitor as she finishes the countdown. In the second, she looks downward solemnly.
PART ONE
Murphy: … four … three … two … one … transit.