July 13th, 2021
13 Jul 2021 · page 1069 of 1306
fzzt.
Cast: Lei Feng, Patience Rattaker, Pemberton Pryce, Thea Pryce, Tim Chiang, Verity Cunningham
Comments (86)
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I think not telling people what the machine they're on does fully is a Very good business model. Unless people know? No. No, surely not.
This will go well! I am excited.
The trick is getting the investors' money before you put yourself somewhere said investors damn well won't be getting at you.
They wouldn’t be anywhere near Philadelphia by any chance?
Oh God, you went there too, huh?
And they named it the "Good Intentions." This can only be worse.
You mean they’ve crossed an Event Horizon?
It seemed pretty cross already
Morally? Yep
I think I said it at the time, but we know where that road leads.
Is there really anybody else who remembers the "Philadelphia Experience"? We loved it!
Have you noticed the name of the ship that popped into "Loki" ?
Philadelphia Experiment. And which one of the three movies: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Experiment#In_popular_culture "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philadelphia_Experiment#In_popular_culture")
Well it is about 70 years too soon to be the USS Eldridge.
Let's just hope there wasn't any version of Doctor Sally Grissom on board.
"We can fix that." - Office of Naval Research, probably
Brace yourselves, we're headed to the Shadow Realm
Then they pop out in orbit around the Balun Warp Gate!
Ah nothing like teleporting your ship ahead of schedule just to prove a point in a discussion!
Oh, Aperture Science has gone too far this time
At least we'll get to see where the Borealis went!
Roar a roar for Nora?
Is that a Songs of the Pogo reference? Oh roar a roar for Nora, Borealis burning bright?
yep
How very lovely to find a Pogo fan here. We had an album of that when I was a child, as well as a songbook.
Do you think she's the same Nora who was freezin' on the trolley, swaller dollar cauliflower alleygaroo?
I did not expect that.
And thus the legend of the Bermuda Triangle was born....
no no no. The Bermuda Triangle is the site of Themyscira, aka Paradise Island.
First try!
I'm hearing this...
wheeeeee~
"The heck? Calais...?"
Whoops....
[https://64.media.tumblr.com...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/97638044859b978800cfafaa6cebd4f0/tumblr_nbz5juDlnI1qcwhkeo1_500.gifv "https://64.media.tumblr.com/97638044859b978800cfafaa6cebd4f0/tumblr_nbz5juDlnI1qcwhkeo1_500.gifv")
(click the link to see the gif. Disquis is being cranky and won't let me load it.)
That small fzzzt, with a definite full stop behind it. Invisible action at its best!
Well, this chapter was surprisingly short.
So there's where most of the passengers think they're going, where the owner thinks they're going, and where they actually end up. Do any two of those match up?
I'll go with "What's 'No', Alex?"
WILDLY accurate, i laughed out loud
Brilliant.
OH SHIT ?
(also, doesn't the ship requires those pylones for normal moving energy ? At this rate they'll be as good as stranded immobile on the other side)
It still has sails and steam engines...
Those are for FAST motion
You're surprised it literally went off the rails? With a name like that?
Yeah, okay, Pemberton Pryce might have too much political juice to tangle with lightly, Verity.
I love the guy in the green coat and top hat totally unconcerned with what might be going on. This ship is state-of-the-art, and he is too wealthy for anything to possibly go wrong around him.
And the captain (I assume that's who the man leaning on the rail is) obviously does know what's happening, and isn't too sure about it...
He's fueling like half of the certanty drive himself
Move right along, now. Nothing to see here (any more)
um. wasn't expecting that.
Wait... what?
Does this mean they can no longer benefit from those pylons? Don't they need those to get home?
If the ship depended on those for all its motive power, it wouldn't be able to cross the Atlantic...
Was it going to cross the Atlantic? I though the 4th Anchor was also in the Americas somewhere.
Well, they're starting from England...
No, they arrived in America on a different ship at the beginning of the story. [https://www.widdershinscomi...](https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/november-27th-2020 "https://www.widdershinscomic.com/wdshn/november-27th-2020")
Missed that. Huh.
quick, team - sow some doubt! try this: people are mostly terrible self-centered narcissists, the world will surely end due to mankind's thoughtlessness, there is nothing you can do about it!
unless...this is about to become an Atlantis crossover story, in which case - bring it on! We are powerful and we can do ANYTHING!
It IS the Infinite Improbability Drive.
Somewhere, out of sight, there's a very hot cup of really good tea.
Bistromathics is more economical in my experience.
Well, there is no possible way this can go horribly wrong.
I can neither confirm nor deny any sarcasm.
Wait, is this the reverse uncertainty drive?
It channels the certainty that they will arive to force them to be at their destination right now
I can't quite tell who the speech bubble in panel 2 belongs to. It sounds like a continuation of what Pryce was saying in panel 1, but the tail looks to be pointing at Patience.
Maybe they both said the same thing at the same time?
yeah this. not the same precise words but the sentiment is the same so it reads nicely to have them follow on from each other
Ok, so...what, you just become so Certain that you're actually somewhere else that you just ...pop over there?
While Sloth is just ...what, too tired to actually bother moving over the intervening distance?
You missed an incredible opportunity to make the sound effect "boink".
Still fun.
Well that doesn't look good for the boat.
ah fuck not again lads
Pfft, magic act?
Probably just some mirror trick.
Scientific progress goes 'fzzt'?
Occasionally. Usually it's more of a, "Wait, what?"
In this case, yes. Otherwise it goes 'Boink'.
I always thought that was shattering noises accompanied by screams.
Isaac Asimov once said {approximately}:
This remind anyone else of that old joke about the magician and the parrot?
Love that one.
Scientific progress goes "Fsst."
Exploring the unknown with a fuel source known to evaporate in the face of the unknown.
...and thus ends the maiden voyage of the first - and last - self-disintegrating ship
Okay, Pemberton has every right to be as smug as he is; high speed or teleport magitech at this period will make him unimaginably rich.
Well I guess you better be effing certain before you do something like that.
We do what we must because we can.
Rattaker would never go on to invent "The arrogance Drive"
(OR WOULD SHE)
But...what if, wherever they end up, the passengers all look out the windows and say, "Omigod, we can't POSSIBLY be here! I'm certain of it!"?
uhm, nobody is fazed by that?? NOBODY?!?!?!
It's largely hidden by the flash and crack of imploding air, but you can just make out a faint, weary, "Oh no, not again.", followed by a 'ploonk' sound, as if a large bowl of petunias had suddenly appeared in place of the ship and then fell some distance before striking the water and disappearing into the murky depths.
Rather like Dirk Gently