I wonder, did Nick foolishly just reach out and pick up Camazotz on his own initiative? Or did Cammy mind-control Nick into making it easier for Cammy to FEED?
NB: “life-force-sucking vampire machine”: not a metaphor nor hyperbole.
Another thought: Do most machines have “life force” to suck, or was Nick set up to go down in round 1 by Mistycorn?
” Do most machines have “life force” to suck, or was Nick set up to go down in round 1 by Mistycorn?”
I think in this case the relevant facts here are:
1. It doesn’t look like Cammy would be much of a threat if Nick were to attack him physically.
2. No secret was made of the fact that Cammy is a soul drinker who is dangerous if not taken out immediately and who does not deserve kindness or mercy.
So if anything Mistycorn has set Nick up for an easy victory. Which accords with my own theory of the moment which goes something like this:
1. Unmentioned by the Baron is that there has been a lover’s spat or something between himself and Aimee and she has locked herself away so that there is no communication between them.
2. This tournament is actually his attempt to draw her out. (Think Susanoo and Amaterasu, and the way Amaterasu was lured out of sulking). Yeah, she’ll probably let him have it if he does draw her out but he’s desperate enough to have her back in his life again that even negative attention is better then none.
3. Nick might represent a better chance. But not if Aimee thinks that Nick has sent her. Hence this seemingly passive-aggressive way of letting him through “if” he can win the tournament like everyone else. Now that Cammy has shown his true nature he should be easy for Nick to take down. ^_^
One could argue that the Tamagotchies’ sole purpose, originally, was to suck out their “owners'” souls. For full disclosure, in the 90’s I had a step-kid, and she had one of those.
Man you ever see what a wall display of furbies get up to when left to their own devices? It’s horrifying. Like robotic babies drowning, transitioning into a horrid mechanical echo that slowly fades.
Somewhere on the internet is a web page about a furbie autopsy. It’s possible that it’s no longer up and only available through an archive now. It was quite awesome.
Three questions:
Don’t all machines have to “suck life force” in some way, since none are perfectly efficient and need energy input to keep going/resist entropy?
Is this the end this encounter, or has Cammy just drawn “first blood” and given Nick a chance to seriously engage?
Wouldn’t Nick’s best solution be to isolate and ignore the pink stinker, thereby denying the energy needed to keep going?
I’d recommend the 3-wood, but I don’t know what he actually has available as an implement. I don’t recall whether Nick even has shoes to protect his feet if he wanted to just kick Cammy really hard.
That would be awesome! Nick interfaces to Cammy, plays back the sensory experience of a Snapple, leaving Cammy with no will to live since nothing will ever again satisfy in comparison…
I’ve been wondering about the “unfair advantage” that Nick supposedly has, per Dr. Lee. It could still be that he can automatically interface with and reprogram any electronics that interacts with him (is that what “machine empath” means, mentioned in the comment thread for that strip?). So as long as the first strike itself doesn’t kill him, he can always shut down his opponents.
The thing is, there’s been no sign of this yet. I expected him to unconsciously connect to the Annex One internal network to say “hi” to Moustachio or something, but there was nothing like that. Or maybe that’s because Moustachio didn’t try to communicate that way with him, first?
Still, if he does have that power, we may yet see that as much as Camazotz sucks, Nick can suck even more back! *snerk*
Another thought that occurred to me about the “unfair advantage” is the Clone-o-mat. Assuming it can generate as many bodies as necessary, and that Nick’s brain remains intact, he can have indefinite respawns . . .
IIRC, Annex One didn’t have an internal network back when it was an office (I’m not sure they even had an intercom system), and nobody’s installed one since. Possibly the lack of networking is for security reasons, given these folks work in a world with AIs and robots running around.
Moustachio was connected to something that let him set off alarums and make pronouncements over the building PA system. And Nick did write in his journal about talking to Moustachio when Nick was parked on the roof. Even if it was just by phone, that means that Moustachio is connected to the phone system (how was he supposed to pick up and hold a receiver before, or even after, Tigerlily gave him tiny useless little hands?).
That speaker must have also had a video camera (as well as microphone), since Nick was able to see things, like the customers who came to the desk when Moustachio was offline at the beginning of “Once and Future”. Maybe it was a webcam?
I just recently realized, though, that I have been neglecting the fact that the building was mostly abandoned after the Very Bad Day. It might well be that Moustachio still has the cabling connected to him, but the switches and routers and servers and exchanges and so on that make networks work were almost certainly removed and sold or repurposed.
Or were they? Was Ira seen using a telephone and/or computer that connected to the Internet? He did seem to be using a computer, at least. Clearly there was power for the lights and so on, and Shelby was still there, maintaining something.
When Nick came back for a visit, he was still able to communicate with M via the speaker on the desk – when M got his “new badge”: the salvage sticker.
Likely their “intercom” was something cobbled together with a bit of mad science. Given there’s a mad scientist in residence, if it hasn’t been updated for the new conditions, that can be done when needed.
(“Hitty, the cell tower you just stepped on was the one we were getting Internet through!”)
I doubt there was any Mad science involved. Judging from some of the other archaic technologies in the building (e.g. the pneumatic tubes that have been out of service since 1972), I’d say rather that intercom system was cobbled together simply from any number of previous systems.
Any addition of Mad science since Tigerlily’s arrival would be a dramatic improvement.
Here’s some mood music for this one. ^_~
I can’t claim I didn’t half-expect something along those lines.
How would a Tamagotcha know that?
Good question, I wouldn’t have thought of that.
I wonder, did Nick foolishly just reach out and pick up Camazotz on his own initiative? Or did Cammy mind-control Nick into making it easier for Cammy to FEED?
NB: “life-force-sucking vampire machine”: not a metaphor nor hyperbole.
Another thought: Do most machines have “life force” to suck, or was Nick set up to go down in round 1 by Mistycorn?
” Do most machines have “life force” to suck, or was Nick set up to go down in round 1 by Mistycorn?”
I think in this case the relevant facts here are:
1. It doesn’t look like Cammy would be much of a threat if Nick were to attack him physically.
2. No secret was made of the fact that Cammy is a soul drinker who is dangerous if not taken out immediately and who does not deserve kindness or mercy.
So if anything Mistycorn has set Nick up for an easy victory. Which accords with my own theory of the moment which goes something like this:
1. Unmentioned by the Baron is that there has been a lover’s spat or something between himself and Aimee and she has locked herself away so that there is no communication between them.
2. This tournament is actually his attempt to draw her out. (Think Susanoo and Amaterasu, and the way Amaterasu was lured out of sulking). Yeah, she’ll probably let him have it if he does draw her out but he’s desperate enough to have her back in his life again that even negative attention is better then none.
3. Nick might represent a better chance. But not if Aimee thinks that Nick has sent her. Hence this seemingly passive-aggressive way of letting him through “if” he can win the tournament like everyone else. Now that Cammy has shown his true nature he should be easy for Nick to take down. ^_^
One could argue that the Tamagotchies’ sole purpose, originally, was to suck out their “owners'” souls. For full disclosure, in the 90’s I had a step-kid, and she had one of those.
That’s quite a glitch. Was Bandai employing a lot of evil spirits as assembly line workers back in the 90s?
Most assembly line workers willingly sell their souls to dark masters, so all in all, this isn’t in the least bit surprising. Next up: Furbies.
Man you ever see what a wall display of furbies get up to when left to their own devices? It’s horrifying. Like robotic babies drowning, transitioning into a horrid mechanical echo that slowly fades.
Somewhere on the internet is a web page about a furbie autopsy. It’s possible that it’s no longer up and only available through an archive now. It was quite awesome.
A paycheck is a paycheck.
Cammy’s first speech bubble is uncolored. Do I get a check, or just report for extirpation?
It can be both…
Check! A no-prize for you.
Yaaay
Yuck. (For soul-sucking) GREAT! Of course his soul would taste like where his bod came from. Soft-drink machine, with a tiny hint of Mad Sci.
Three questions:
Don’t all machines have to “suck life force” in some way, since none are perfectly efficient and need energy input to keep going/resist entropy?
Is this the end this encounter, or has Cammy just drawn “first blood” and given Nick a chance to seriously engage?
Wouldn’t Nick’s best solution be to isolate and ignore the pink stinker, thereby denying the energy needed to keep going?
I’d recommend the 3-wood, but I don’t know what he actually has available as an implement. I don’t recall whether Nick even has shoes to protect his feet if he wanted to just kick Cammy really hard.
My soul tastes like hot roofing tar, payday lending and surf rock. How about yours?
Nick, you had literally one job. Prevent it from eating your soul.
I’m pretty sure that wasn’t anywhere in the fight club parameters as presented by Baron Mistycorn at the beginning of this.
Wait. How does it know what a Snapple tastes like?
…..
In the best of all possible universes, Nick wins this fight by showing it what a Snapple tastes like.
By drowning it in Snapple? He should get bonus points for that move.
That would be awesome! Nick interfaces to Cammy, plays back the sensory experience of a Snapple, leaving Cammy with no will to live since nothing will ever again satisfy in comparison…
Nick loves retro games. If he can truly love Cammy, perhaps it will shrivel up and die?
Well, that escalated quickly.
Gladiatorial contests tend to do that.
But I’ll bet Nick wants to fight Cammy now.
..or just fix the glitch of immortality!
I’ve been wondering about the “unfair advantage” that Nick supposedly has, per Dr. Lee. It could still be that he can automatically interface with and reprogram any electronics that interacts with him (is that what “machine empath” means, mentioned in the comment thread for that strip?). So as long as the first strike itself doesn’t kill him, he can always shut down his opponents.
The thing is, there’s been no sign of this yet. I expected him to unconsciously connect to the Annex One internal network to say “hi” to Moustachio or something, but there was nothing like that. Or maybe that’s because Moustachio didn’t try to communicate that way with him, first?
Still, if he does have that power, we may yet see that as much as Camazotz sucks, Nick can suck even more back! *snerk*
Another thought that occurred to me about the “unfair advantage” is the Clone-o-mat. Assuming it can generate as many bodies as necessary, and that Nick’s brain remains intact, he can have indefinite respawns . . .
IIRC, Annex One didn’t have an internal network back when it was an office (I’m not sure they even had an intercom system), and nobody’s installed one since. Possibly the lack of networking is for security reasons, given these folks work in a world with AIs and robots running around.
Moustachio was connected to something that let him set off alarums and make pronouncements over the building PA system. And Nick did write in his journal about talking to Moustachio when Nick was parked on the roof. Even if it was just by phone, that means that Moustachio is connected to the phone system (how was he supposed to pick up and hold a receiver before, or even after, Tigerlily gave him tiny useless little hands?).
There was a speaker on M’s desk that Nick used to communicate with the people inside.
That speaker must have also had a video camera (as well as microphone), since Nick was able to see things, like the customers who came to the desk when Moustachio was offline at the beginning of “Once and Future”. Maybe it was a webcam?
I just recently realized, though, that I have been neglecting the fact that the building was mostly abandoned after the Very Bad Day. It might well be that Moustachio still has the cabling connected to him, but the switches and routers and servers and exchanges and so on that make networks work were almost certainly removed and sold or repurposed.
Or were they? Was Ira seen using a telephone and/or computer that connected to the Internet? He did seem to be using a computer, at least. Clearly there was power for the lights and so on, and Shelby was still there, maintaining something.
Eh, I dunno.
When Nick came back for a visit, he was still able to communicate with M via the speaker on the desk – when M got his “new badge”: the salvage sticker.
Maybe in addition to being a webcam, it also had a wifi interface that Nick could just connect to directly?
(With a pretty strong radio, if Nick could reach it from the roof)
Also, too, Nick says that he called Moustachio when he was in evil mode (and the speaker/webcam was not on his desk).
Ah, here’s the explicit line I was thinking of:
http://skin-horse.com/comic/very-oddly-shaped/
“Moustachio, you have a phone installed in your head.”
Likely their “intercom” was something cobbled together with a bit of mad science. Given there’s a mad scientist in residence, if it hasn’t been updated for the new conditions, that can be done when needed.
(“Hitty, the cell tower you just stepped on was the one we were getting Internet through!”)
I doubt there was any Mad science involved. Judging from some of the other archaic technologies in the building (e.g. the pneumatic tubes that have been out of service since 1972), I’d say rather that intercom system was cobbled together simply from any number of previous systems.
Any addition of Mad science since Tigerlily’s arrival would be a dramatic improvement.