Timewaster's Guide Archive
Local Authors => Howard Tayler => Topic started by: mbarker on November 11, 2009, 05:19:41 AM
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Here it comes again. And... wait a minute, let's eat first.
Any theories? Either about why Credomar was built the way it was, or how long Howard is going to keep tantalizing us with dark hints and suspicions before... the big revelation!
It's not really a habitat, it's a... humongous bazooka? Nah, that would be silly.
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I'm thinking the reveal will come up pretty soon. Sunday, maybe? It sounds like that kind of thing. So we've got scant time to plot.
It seems most likely that it was meant for something else, and became an emergency habitat that became permanent. Maybe it's the result of a war, or some other shameful secret?
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What was that comment about the annieplants on Credomar? If it is overpowered for a habitat, that might mean that it has extra power for whatever the purpose was?
I wonder if the residents are the crew, passengers, or...?
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I was looking back at the recent strips, and I realized we have more hints than we've explored. The key phrase is this bit of dialogue (http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20091029.html):
"You want Nimock's account of the pinkhippist plowshare project, 'Peethree'."
with the notes that
"The term "pinkohippist" has a long history, beginning with its origins as an longer, multi-word ideological slur. The shortened word quickly became taboo, was legislated as "hate speech," and then re-emerged in casual conversation after a sesquicentury or so of obscurity. Its use in the above account refers to one of the several political movements that adopted the term as an official name. "
I'm not at all certain what the term pinkohippist is supposed to refer to exactly, but it seems likely that it is a derogatory term for some sort of hippie movement. Combine this with 'plowshare project', which in context may be a reference to "Beat your swords into plowshares", Isaiah 2:4, and we have the distinct possibility that Credomar was indeed a weapon of some sort, with the inhabitants deliberately being placed on it simply to stop it from being used, or perhaps to make a better use of it.
The question that follows is why Credomar is ashamed of their past. Either (a) they have become more militant, and don't want to be descended from a bunch of hippies, or (b) said ancestors were ashamed of the militarized past and the current occupants are therefore simply unaware of this part of life, despite apparently being all gunh-ho about violence again.
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Or maybe the history was hushed up so that nobody knows about the weapon...
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Or maybe the history was hushed up so that nobody knows about the weapon...
You'd think they'd have destroyed the actual weapon proper, then. Not having destroyed it would admittedly make for a better story, though.
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What if destroying the weapon meant destroying their home? Perhaps you can't have one without the other.
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Why waste those billions of credits that went into its construction, if you could make a peaceful use of it?
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Now I'm wondering whether Lota's apparent hidden location may be tied in? I mean, there's the public infosphere that Ennesby tried checking, but suppose there is a separate infoworld for the other Credomar? Military systems often run independent from the civilian stuff, right? So perhaps Lota transferred to the real Credomar systems?
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My bet is that the key lies in the time LOTA said (http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20091106.html), "LOTA is the Crodmaran infosphere." In other words, the Credomaran infosphere is a part of LOTA. Ennesby went looking for an AI in the infosphere; he didn't even consider the possibility that the infosphere is in the AI, despite what LOTA told him..
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Could be. After all, if you look closely at me, for instance, you'll see a bunch of blood vessels doing their thing, some neurons firing, and other stuff like that. But you won't see me. You need a little distance -- to see the forest for the trees? So Lota now is the infosphere, with all that gunk as part of himself? Oh, no, spam and goldphishes inside... interesting idea.
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All this speculation is very plausible.
So far, we have:
(1) A potential superweapon lying around that has probably been deliberately hidden
(2) An AI that has possibly eaten an entire infosphere so thoroughly, you can't see it
(3) An evacuation plan from said possible superweapon.
And I still have no idea where the plot is going!
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Does it matter where Lota is planning on putting the inhabitants (along with the rest of the infrastructure)? I think Kevyn asked about that, and Lota just said something like "I'm working on it" without any further details.
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Does it matter where Lota is planning on putting the inhabitants (along with the rest of the infrastructure)? I think Kevyn asked about that, and Lota just said something like "I'm working on it" without any further details.
Presumably, he needs to negotiate a planet to make the drop to. This is probably the least mysterious part of the swarming questions.
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Ah, but which planet? Putting them among the teeming hordes on Mars, or the neverending priaries of Texarcana, or what about the mystics of Tybuddha? And then...
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I think I'm more worried about that fact that Pi is going to take an interest in what may turn out to be a superweapon. Unintended consequences, anybody?
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I could definitely see that happening :)
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Big red trigger button somewhere? And Pi is just the guy to find it... and push it!
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So Lota's brain is in the Annie plants. Seems like just the place a superweapon would get its power from.
Well, at least the questions are now being answered rather than asked. The biggest question is who will take the brunt of the damage when the paranoia (from Kevyn to Lota) and insanity (Pi, and how) touch.
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It looks as if they've pulled Pi off the architectural research into making weaponized french fries... maybe he'll pursue it in his spare time?
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It looks as if they've pulled Pi off the architectural research into making weaponized french fries... maybe he'll pursue it in his spare time?
Looks to me like he's already tried that one in his spare time.
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Sorry, dangling reference, I meant may be Pi will continue digging into the history.
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Sorry, dangling reference, I meant may be Pi will continue digging into the history.
OK, that is a scary thought.
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Brace for revelation! I think Pi just said something that led Ebby to figure out what's going on. The keywords are "empty inside" and "distraction" -- now what's the question?
(http://www.schlockmercenary.com/comics/schlock20091202.jpg)
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Sorry, dangling reference, I meant may be Pi will continue digging into the history.
I guess not. Even a superweapon couldn't distract Pi from things he could blow up on his own.
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Darn, darn... we came close, but still don't quite know what Credomar, the superweapon, is... and soon, we'll be at the Mall! Do you think we'll ever find out just what the mysterious origin of Credomar is? Will Lota pull the trigger? Will Pi push it, accidentally? Stay tuned...
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Howard would be a fool not to use this setup to great effect in the future. I fully expect LOTA the ninja-pirate-robot-cowboy to ride in at a key moment with his Giant Exploding Cigar of Doom to save the day (or royally mess some stuff up, or get pwned by Petey, or join the fleetmind, or...)
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This had better be Checkov's gun. Gun the size of a planet, but a gun nonetheless!
I cannot imagine this setup being wasted!
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I'll bet this is, at least, a setup for Part 5 of this story arc. Howard is carefully setting the stage... for something!
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Oh, definitely. Lunesby and Tagioalisi will surely also play roles in the story to come.
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Let's see. We've got a ship that isn't quite finished with our friendly AI Tagioalisi, Lunesby with Jud Shafter and his Shifters, and now we've got Lota with the dread secret superweapon. I wonder what we'll get shopping at the Mall?
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Bang!
OK, surely we deserve a little exposition now? Pretty please?
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I just had the thought that all those teraport thingies they build could be used to teraport more dangerous stuff. Of course now I can't remember exactly what was special about the teraport things they built here, or if anything was special at all.
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A giant death-ray that fires through hyperspace? Just because Pi said it with a grin, doesn't mean it isn't true, does it? Ah... we have to go to the mall first, then find out what the big bad we've been waiting for is... and then we'll get the payoff for all this buildup? Wow... patience, Grasshopper, patience.
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A giant death-ray that fires through hyperspace? Just because Pi said it with a grin, doesn't mean it isn't true, does it? Ah... we have to go to the mall first, then find out what the big bad we've been waiting for is... and then we'll get the payoff for all this buildup? Wow... patience, Grasshopper, patience.
Howard never should have read the Wheel of Time...
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HA! I'd hoped Pi was right. ;D
You know, I didn't used to like Pi, but he's really come into his own in this sequence. In fact, he's the best part of it, by far.
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Pi's right about more than one thing. I want to see Lota fire it, too.
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I wonder what's with the target looking thing in the last panel (http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20091213.html)...
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I wonder what's with the target looking thing in the last panel (http://www.schlockmercenary.com/d/20091213.html)...
Seriously, you need to ask? :)
Anyway, I wish I'd said it earlier, but Pi was actually sounding extremely rational and well-reasoned when he deduced the hyperspatial death ray. Pre-teraport + too big for wormgates + no local enemies = aiming a weapon at something through hyperspace makes a scary amount of sense. With Lota practically confirming it...
Well, this ought to be interesting. I wonder how it actually works. Maybe it slingshots something through hyperspace at relativistic speeds? Maybe it's a predecessor to the teraport, but one that is inherently destructive rather than neutral (like the teraport)? Whatever it is, I expect that rock to get the full brunt of the demonstration. And Pi will be happy.
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You asked for it, you got it! And even Pi is blinded by the light!
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OK, so does anybody want to speculate on *why* Lota is doing all this?
We've managed to deduce an absurd amount correctly in this plot arc, but character motivations are still a complete mystery to me. Was Lota really interested in keeping the people of Credomar safe? What's the next step?
Stay tuned.
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Oh, I didn't have to ask. I figured what was going to happen, but...yes.
Also, I want Kevyn's glasses. They seem so much cooler than mine. :)
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OK, so does anybody want to speculate on *why* Lota is doing all this?
We've managed to deduce an absurd amount correctly in this plot arc, but character motivations are still a complete mystery to me. Was Lota really interested in keeping the people of Credomar safe? What's the next step?
Just guessing. Let's say Lota transferred himself (itself?) into the annie plant control systems, and discovered just what the system was. Now, what do you do? First, get the people out of the way -- they've already tried to blow up the system once, and aren't particularly safe to have around something with this kind of power. Having done that, if you are Lota, perhaps you plan to sit back and provide a safe repository for the power -- after all, the one entity that Lota can trust with this is... Lota. But... like most strategic superweapons, I have to wonder about MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction) and other terminal scenarios.
Hum. Does Lota want to keep the existence of this weapon a secret or not?
Intriguing questions.
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Remember how Lota became king? He used the power he had to say, "This stops here. I will no longer allow you to stupidly fight each other instead of sucking it up and getting to work. I know you will choose me to fix all your problems because I can obviously do what I say."
The question then becomes, why? The only time we've seen inside Lota's head is the sequence where he catches several thousand falling boxes at once. At the end of that sequence, Lota laments, "Maybe one day Lota will find something interesting to do." Becoming king of Credomar was fun, solving Credomar's problems was fun, but now Lota is ready for grander things. How many wars can he end with the power he possesses?
What is the most important struggle going on in the Galaxy? IMO, Petey's war with the dark matter buggers in Andromeda. The Weapon Formerly Known as Credomar would probably come in handy there. Perhaps Lota simply means to join the fleetmind.
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Hum. Does Lota want to keep the existence of this weapon a secret or not?
Intriguing questions.
I think I'm going to go with "No" on this one. Lota seems to have gone out of his (what the heck, his) way to have witnesses present able to say exactly what they saw. Frankly, the whole thing seems like a carefully orchestrated presentation designed to intimidate others without actually saying the threats outright. The implications are quite clear without using extra words and without directly destroying anything anybody cares about.
I'm tending towards the idea that Lota is trying to control the weapon now that he has found it. Of course, one wonders why he simply didn't destroy it outright. How hard could it be?
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I think I'm going to go with "No" on this one. Lota seems to have gone out of his (what the heck, his) way to have witnesses present able to say exactly what they saw. Frankly, the whole thing seems like a carefully orchestrated presentation designed to intimidate others without actually saying the threats outright. The implications are quite clear without using extra words and without directly destroying anything anybody cares about.
I'm tending towards the idea that Lota is trying to control the weapon now that he has found it. Of course, one wonders why he simply didn't destroy it outright. How hard could it be?
I agree. He's demonstrating what he's got, but what's he planning to do with it?
As for destroying it -- right now, he's part of the weapon (the ghost in the control systems). So he would need another place to live if he destroyed it. Perhaps as part of the Fleetmind? Hum, we've got Tag (I forgot how to spell the current name -- tagioloosa?) and Lunesby and now Lota all probably headed for the same crisis in the near future -- how many AIs does it take to screw up a catastrophe? We're probably headed for a critical mass of AIs, anyway. And we haven't even been shopping yet!
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At least Kevyn's finally gotten to the point now.
Lota could probably conquer an awfully large chunk of the galaxy with this weapon, although I'm not certain what he would do with it when he got it. Yet somehow he was ambitious enough to decide to rule Credomar.
And AI's running amok does seem to have developed into a bit of a theme. Perhaps the fabber-bot will also achieve transcendence in the mall-cop storyline?
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Perhaps the Pax Lota? Since you meat people don't seem to be able to run things well, I shall help you. Emperor Lota the First declares the Pax Lota?
One scene that I'm looking forward to is Kevyn talking to Ventura, asking whether those simulations that she ran on Lota included Lota having a 200-year-old superweapon to hold the galaxy hostage with -- and if she remembered just what the outcome of that simulation was?
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Perhaps the Pax Lota? Since you meat people don't seem to be able to run things well, I shall help you. Emperor Lota the First declares the Pax Lota?
One scene that I'm looking forward to is Kevyn talking to Ventura, asking whether those simulations that she ran on Lota included Lota having a 200-year-old superweapon to hold the galaxy hostage with -- and if she remembered just what the outcome of that simulation was?
If she did, that would say an awful lot about Ventura.
I'm pretty sure Lota is well past the point where pre-creation simulations have any validity. Too many unexpected environmental factors have come into play.
Of course, it seems to me that this weapon could be useful in Andromeda. Petey may have orders of magnitude more energy, but if he needs to hire mercenaries, Credomar would probably be considered a resource worth keeping.
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Build a really big wormgate and gate-clone Credomar many, many times, and have Petey use it to kick Andromeda's butt.
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If she did, that would say an awful lot about Ventura.
I'm pretty sure Lota is well past the point where pre-creation simulations have any validity. Too many unexpected environmental factors have come into play.
Oh, I agree. But remember how proud Ventura was of her simulation testing? It seems like a good opportunity for Kevyn to remind her that simulations aren't the real world.
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Oh, I agree. But remember how proud Ventura was of her simulation testing? It seems like a good opportunity for Kevyn to remind her that simulations aren't the real world.
Ooh, yeah. That would be a good scene! A little sarcasm can go a long way. And it's a lesson a lot of real scientists and engineers could learn as well.