Pants?

[mbarker]

Hum. The elf in the ad wants to know if Schlock needs pants? And didn't Trenchcoat Monobrow use pants as a password? Are they teasing poor Schlock, just because he doesn't have legs?

[happyman]

Hum. The elf in the ad wants to know if Schlock needs pants? And didn't Trenchcoat Monobrow use pants as a password? Are they teasing poor Schlock, just because he doesn't have legs?

Ooh, good catch.  I bet they're trying to tell Schlock who they really are.

The "split police department" idea is sounding better and better.

[mbarker]

But y'a know, I'm not sure that Schlock is really ready for a spy gig. I mean, you remember how he reacted to exchanging passwords before? Yelling across the room that he'd found their contact? Subtle doesn't seem like his strong suit.

[happyman]

But y'a know, I'm not sure that Schlock is really ready for a spy gig. I mean, you remember how he reacted to exchanging passwords before? Yelling across the room that he'd found their contact? Subtle doesn't seem like his strong suit.

Oh, I'm certain he's not ready for a spy gig.  That doesn't mean he won't be able to do something worthwhile in all this.

[ryos]

AHA! The elf is Lunesby!

[mbarker]

Do you mean... yes, it's AI to the rescue! Deus ex computera rides again! (Please note that while deus ex machina often is considered poor form, since the mechanical gods ride out of the clouds at the end to rescue the hero, deus ex computera in this case seems quite properly foreshadowed and set up. No harm, no foul, play on!)

[ryos]

Heh. Whereas "Deus ex machina" means "act of God", "Deus ex computera" would mean "God's computer" (if computera were a word in Latin).

If tonight's strip is any indication, AI ex machina may not be happening either. Poor Lunesby may wind up abandoned when the circus squad gets recalled.

[mbarker]

Aha. Shows my lack of knowledge of Latin. So machina doesn't have any relationship to the mechanical gadgetry that saved the hero in the end of early plays? Just act, huh?

Lunesby may get a reprieve. If you break enough things, someone is bound to get away, right? After all, they seem to be bigger than just a crooked circus making a profit. Just who is behind the big rings, and what are they doing? Stay tuned, and watch as our own Sergeant Schlock finds answers in the sewers of the city...

[Peter Ahlstrom]

Deus ex machina means "god from the machine" so deus ex computer (I looked up the Greek word for computer but it's something like ilektronikos ipologisti) would mean "god from the computer." Which is pretty much Petey.

It refers to Greek stage plays where a crane would lower a deity down to the stage at the end in order to save the hero's life because he was noble.

[ryos]

Wow! I learn something new every day. This is especially gratifying when I find out that I didn't actually know something I thought I knew.

[mbarker]

Thanks! I thought I remembered it coming from the mechanical gadgetry used in early plays.

[happyman]

I would say that Howard has carefully balanced this to not be a deus ex machina in any sense.  Lunesby has power, but that power is apparently constrained.  This opens up all kinds of plot directions; not at all what we were expecting.

[ryos]

Yup. Turns out to be rather the opposite of AI ex machina, or whatever we're to call it. My fear now is that Lunesby will get screwed by Kerchak's call. Which is a shame, because I rather like her.

So far, I like her more than the new Tag, which struck me as being somewhat prickly and saddled with a superiority complex.

What do you think? Is there a future for Lunesby with the Toughs? Might she join the fleetmind?

[mbarker]

Oh, I think we need another flying maraca. Don't they usually come in pairs?

[happyman]

Usually.  I was about to suggest the notion of a love interest for Ennesby, but my human DNA rebelled instinctively, even though I know it would mean nothing to AI's.