- Petey has one Ultimate Weapon (which harnesses the energy of the galactic core), LOTA has the other. And though LOTA has no target as of yet, LOTA says "every weapon advance, no matter how horrible, is inevitably followed by a situation in which that weapon must be employed." LOTA's got the galaxy's largest Chekhov's Gun, and LOTA knows it.
- One problem (for Petey at least); all of the galactic core's power is currently getting thrown at the Paa'nuri in Andromeda.
- And the Chekhov's Gun has since been fired. Of course, there's nothing to say it isn't actually a Chekhov's Boomerang...
- Unlikely. They both seem smart enough to know that a galaxy-wide war between A.I.s could only have one conceivable outcome: the beginning of the reign of Empress Para Ventura.
- More seriously, they know that a war between them will wind in the inevitable victory of Dark Matter.
- Petey is a massively distributed and exceptionally powerful mind with substantial military experience and a vast manufacturing capability. Lota can only shoot what Lota knows about, and Petey is only currently limited by his need to fight the Paanuri. My money is on the fuzzy one.
- One problem (for Petey at least); all of the galactic core's power is currently getting thrown at the Paa'nuri in Andromeda.
- Book 18 ("Mandatory Failure") has had both Petey AND Lota targeted by Chinook, and it looks like war; they possibly go to war on the same side.
- In Book 20 they go to war, together, against Pa'anuri.
- It was briefly mentioned that his corpse was missing bits when Doythaban recovered it. And there had to be some way that he uploaded his memories into the magic cryokit.
- The old doctor coming back? That would... actually be plausible, plus a huge mindfuck.
- During the short arc where the Tough's were fighting the Ob'enn for him he said that POWs were being taken to a multi-species resort habitat to try and form a less xenophobic culture.
- He was hijacked by a group of Ob'enn who wanted to stop the war of the Tause system a few centuries ago, maybe he gave their ideology a few thoughts between simulations of the probability that he was haunted.
- Brad is either alive right now or will be revived sometime in the future, since Petey used the immortality nannies on Tagon's crew.
- Jossed apparently, but it was not likely. During Sharp End of the Stick, Petey did give Kevyn very powerful soldier boosts that sustained his brain activity and healed major trauma, but they weren't the "immortality" nannies we saw later (not able to regenerate brain damage), and the rest of the crew (eg Pronto) did not have them at all. As the Toughs were captive on Morokweng when Petey got the technology, and didn't have contact with Petey until after Massively Parallel, there was no opportunity to give it to them before Credomar.
- Except that Petey did not need to give them the new Laz R Us nannies, the UNS did of their own volition - they needed to to edit their memories. The only reason Brad didn't wake up is because the UNS were smart enough not to let that happen accidentally. A visit to Credomar may (may!) allow Brad to wake up, if anyone figures out the timeline.
- Jossed apparently, but it was not likely. During Sharp End of the Stick, Petey did give Kevyn very powerful soldier boosts that sustained his brain activity and healed major trauma, but they weren't the "immortality" nannies we saw later (not able to regenerate brain damage), and the rest of the crew (eg Pronto) did not have them at all. As the Toughs were captive on Morokweng when Petey got the technology, and didn't have contact with Petey until after Massively Parallel, there was no opportunity to give it to them before Credomar.
- Because there's not enough dry sarcasm yet!
- Confirmed
- Given that his corpse was tossed into space that may not be a good thing. Though Petey may have retrieved him before sending the Toughs after Xinchub (which would explain how he developed those non-human nannies so quickly).
- Fairly Jossed. It would take a massive shift for her to become an archenemy now.
- Word of God was that we'd meet Tagon's wife in the current arc...
- Which arc was this?
- If it was this arc, almost certainly Jossed by the 7/24 update.
- Depending on which arc this was about, could is have been a reference to Karl Tagon's wife? Because we met her...
- Kathryn ends up together with Karl Tagon, so this theory seems like a near miss. As for Murtaugh, virtual mind-clones of her and Kaff Tagon become a couple, but not their prime selves.
- See the above strip.
- As of book 15, they do have the same rank...
- Confirmed, in a way. The Kaff Tagon and Alexia Murtaugh in the cyberspace hold of the Pursuing Dinosaurs now seem to be engaged in some kind of long term romantic or sexual relationship. However, the Tagon and Murtaugh who until recently remained in their home galaxy haven't done the same (presumably because, while compatible, they haven't yet spent the necessary "processing cycles" to form such a relationship, whereas the extragalactic Tagon and Murtaugh have been thinking much faster in cyberspace to prepare for their meeting with the dinosaur worldship - and, quote unquote, realizing secret ambitions in the virtual realm).
- Definitely confirmed, at least to a common-law-or-whatsit-in-the-future definition, by the very last strip of the whole comic for the Pursuing Dinosaurs copy of the two.
- Or rather an ancestor. (Para is around eighteen years old, and the scale was mentioned many years ago.)
- Not that many years ago, and it's entirely possible that a prodigy with such skill in robotics would be renowned since at least 2 years ago, if not longer.
- Given the amount of brain-overwriting in the current story-line (Random Access Memorabilia), I see no reason that Para couldn't be the brain of the (presumably) famous person for whom the scale is named, written into the body of a teenage girl to make it easier for her to get into the Toughs and thereby investigate the faction of the UNS that is causing the Toughs such heartburn.
- Word of God said no, but whatever she was, she did claim to have enjoyed some of the more...stereotypical entertainment of the demographic she apparently once belonged to, obvious disclaimers concerning memory modification notwithstanding.
- This would also explain the behavior of the Morokweng ship-bot — the exchange was scripted so as to make hiring Para appeal to Tagon's mercenary instincts.
- More confirmation: Max Haluska suborned Tarfeather with nanites hidden in a tooth. Later, Para comes up short one tooth. She probably used the same trick to suborn Bristlecone, albeit with better nanites that wouldn't wipe their personality.
- Para's "friend" who had the pull to grant citizenship to the Tarnation probably just so happens to be Admiral Emm.
- How is this even WMG? She clearly works for the UNS.
- Para's friend can't be Admiral Emm - Int-Aff-Int had an agent on Morokweng, and when he was offered the a promotion to intelligence chief, Int-Aff-Int were pleased he turned it down, as it would increase his risk of exposure.
- Para, though working with at least one UNS faction, will end up liking the Toughs enough that she colours her reports and only reports enough information to keep her UNS employers from guessing her new allegiance.
- Although Para is working for the UNS, there are multiple factions within the UNS, and the faction she's working for is opposed to the one the Toughs are fighting. "The enemy of my enemy" and all that.
- "..is my enemy's enemy, no more no less." Come on dude, it's a maxim and everything!
- Finally, officially, confirmed in-strip. She says she works for the "UNS Internal Affairs Intelligence Corps."
- And now she's a fugitive from her previous employers, just like all the Toughs.
- Part of the original joke prior to the Franklin Covey-induced retcon was that although the book was called the "7 H*bits" there were clearly far more than 7 rules included. Having more than 70 maxims would maintain the original joke.
- If the author continues to release Maxim-themed calendars, and stops at 70, this would leave two blank pages in the 2017 calendar. Being famous for planning ahead, I'm sure that this is something that has crossed Howard's mind at some point, and having more than 70 maxims would be one possible work-around.
- Alternately, there could turn out to be fewer than 70 maxims, inverting the original joke. The highest-numbered rule revealed in canon is #37.
- It's gone higher since.
- All Maxims are published now, Quotes has a copy.
- ... and he's working for the UNS Int-Aff-Int. He's one of those people always talking under Europa, but that we never see directly.
- Makes sense because he has a lot of experience with nannytech, and it's unlikely that he's died because if he were likely to be executed after his arrest, Haban would've figured that out. But he went willingly, even though Ennesby told him he could evade capture if he wanted to.
- This is why we never actually see the Int-Aff-Int people talking, it'd ruin the big reveal!
- Makes sense because he has a lot of experience with nannytech, and it's unlikely that he's died because if he were likely to be executed after his arrest, Haban would've figured that out. But he went willingly, even though Ennesby told him he could evade capture if he wanted to.
- The Real Life world didn't reach its "darkest hour", and the 12/21/2012 strip not only didn't feature anything bad happening to Tagon's Toughs, but it featured something that should be good for them, at least on average (assuming "high-level UNS operative who is actively trying to kill them dies" outweighs "higher-level UNS operative who is sick of dealing with their messes probably survives").
- Doesn't one of the INT-AFF-INT officers in this strip look familiar?
- Zig-Zagged, because while one of the INT-AFF-INT personnel is a Gav, it's not known if he was responsible for subverting the Osiri base.
- Int-Aff-Int were clearly a separate faction from those based on Morokweng, and the command staff of the Morokweng are clearly the ones who planted the genocidal nanotech.
- Given their methods, Admiral Emm and her subordinates could kidnap and forcibly brainwash one of the Gavs. And it's Oisri, for Petey's sake! Pronounced like 'oyster', just in Old Icelandic.
- Frankly, they wouldn't even have to do that: Gavcorps could have bought the tech from the UNS, and all the nanotech involved was folded into the Laz'R'Us project. In other words, the Gavs may very well have paid for the privilege of having their supply chain suborned.
- Now that the dust has settled, let's see what we know:
- It's shown very early in the comic, that it is possible to grow completely new human bodies as standard medical procedure even before RED-REO longevity, whether as simple replacement (oh so many times for just about everyone), or for body modification (most notably Elf), or even made-up decoy in a body-snatching ops (Xinchub). You don't even need a viable brain for the last one, and for that matter you could grow replacement brains too - but it'd come out blank as happened to gate-clone Haban.
- Albeit less readily available, technologies for synthesized memory up to whole replacement personality also existed, as the Toughs personally found out right before recruiting Para, and later in Dom Atlantis.
- Para Ventura, an UNS Int-Aff-Int agent whose family and previous engagements never came into scope unlike most other major characters (except for apparently being an ex-New Sync Boys groupie), joined the Toughs while under deep-cover around a rival intelligence agency, and was preternaturally talented for her age and station.
- Para Ventura had a hypernet-connected shaped-charge as a remote kill switch for her 4th cervical vertebra.
- Therefore, the simplest explanation would be... She just woke up one day somewhere uninteresting, with a plausible set of life experience and history complete with exquisitely-manufactured paper and electronic trails, a very employable skill set suitable for deep cover and subversion, an appearance that evokes parenting instincts and lowers guards yet a personality so spoiled and abrasive that one might not expect many significant connections from the past, an undying loyalty to her cause and agency, and really didn't know better than anyone else about her own origins... Oh yeah, there's something je ne sais quoi about the setting when -that- would be the simplest explanation.
- It was important enough to be a Pearl Harbour type target in the Terraforming wars, so its coming back up again is likely.
- I always understood the Terraforming Wars to be specific to the Celeschul system, which has at least three habitable planets, and at least two indigenous species. Then the Humans came along and settled one planet (the planet with the aquatic aborigines), but didn't hit it off too well with the land-dwelling aborigines from the other inhabited planet (Borthwogs, IIRC). The third habitable planet was terraformed by Human settlers, and contested by the Borthwogs, hence the Terraforming Wars. Or something...
- The only time I can recall a reference to other inhabited parts of the Celeschul system was when Petey bombarded Celeschul, Elltoo, and Ellfive, and previously in that arc Elltoo was shown to be a space habitat so presumably Ellfive is as well.
- Elltoo and Ellfive are almost certainly space stations sitting at the L2 and L5 Lagrange points around Celeschul.
- I always understood the Terraforming Wars to be specific to the Celeschul system, which has at least three habitable planets, and at least two indigenous species. Then the Humans came along and settled one planet (the planet with the aquatic aborigines), but didn't hit it off too well with the land-dwelling aborigines from the other inhabited planet (Borthwogs, IIRC). The third habitable planet was terraformed by Human settlers, and contested by the Borthwogs, hence the Terraforming Wars. Or something...
- More or less confirmed: Schuul are planning on overthrowing Earthian government.
- Since the Pa'anuri had probably been there from the beginning it had probably been the plan all along. Also, they needed it to be up and running so that they could use it, because as with a nuke, you need the system to go critical (in this case self-sustaining) before it can actually explode.
Furthermore, this could explain the existence of the habitat itself. If there is a faction of Pa'anuri who do not wish to harm Baryonic life, they could very well have built the habitat to preserve Andromedan life from the machinations of the more violent Pa'anuri.
- Partly confirmed, in that the Pa'anuri are involved. The "mastermind" is an ancient AI formerly known as Synthetic Wind, now Broken Wind. She was tasked with hiding the Oafan station from the Pa'anuri, who the ancient Oafa were at war with. Fast forward to the comic, Broken Wind is simply continuing her task of hiding from Pa'anuri, by removing annie plants, teraports and artificial gravity. After being informed of the true situation, she ceases all attacks, restores gravity and stops jamming comms and teraports.
- Breya doesn't get to play Pandora, she has to bring Pandora. Pandora could be Haban, for his experience with both the cryokit and the old doctor.
- Confirmed in general, jossed in details: Pandora's box is a life-preservation and logevity treatment based on that cryokit. Breya plays Pandora, deciding whether to make this information public and technology itself available to masses now, while Haban is unrelated and mostly offers moral and fire support.
- There have been an increasing number of moments in this storyline like this where Mako has made unguarded statements — statements that are detrimental to her guise as a member of the Jurisindependent Security Covenant — suggesting that she (or he, possibly) is unhappy with her/his life. And, importantly, the current situation is such a clusterstrophe that Mako might actually be able to maneuver into a situation where Kowalski's handlers don't kill her/him off. (Or escape into Petey space, either one.)
- Jossed; she pulls a Heroic Sacrifice in a later strip.
- Zig-Zagged. Tagon did die, but his brain was backed up forty minutes before his death. It takes a few weeks to arrange for a new body to be grown, we are currently (2017-01-04) seeing what pieces moved and where.
- Mooted: alt-Sorlie from Boloceade arrives in the next strip to intercept such an outcome before anyone can think about anything stupid.
The F'Sherl-Ganni were maintaining their gate network for millennia, for the express purpose of suppressing the teraport and keep the truce with the Pa'anuri. They went so far as to clone and interrogate trillions of people just to catch any hint of the teraport possibly being reinvented. Surely they could have caught wind of a publicly traded company like Andreyasn Interstellar/Intergalactic Enterprises advertising an "alternative hyperdrive" before it was too late to stop them?
Unless someone on the inside subverted the project, and deliberately allowed the technology to slip through.
In 2004-02-29, Xinchub has Tunguska force Tagon to shoot Jaksmouth in the head. He then explains that Jaksmouth and he were UNS intelligence and both immune to mindripping. Later, we learn that the reason Xinchub is immune is that he has blood nanites that back up his brain contents into the rest of his body and can survive even total destruction of his head.
In other words, a headshot shouldn't have even come close to killing Jaksmouth. Xinchub would know this, so he was possibly actually helping Jaksmouth fake his death and disappear.
- Jaksmouth was later given a space burial inside a "coffinpedo" in 2004-03-14. If the blood-nanites kept him alive until he suffocated/starved to death, this theory turns into Fridge Horror. Of course, it is not implausible that Jaksmouth was still carrying his emergency personal transponder (mentioned in 2016-10-24, but already standard issue on the UNS Tunguska), which might have allowed him to call for help via hypernet.