Page 112

[cacambo43]

Honestly, I'm having a bit of trouble parsing the top row of panels. It's not clear to me what Tempo is doing (cringing? collapsing? getting a migraine?) or what Alex's look is about.

The rest of it is very well drawn and funny. Poor Alex! heh heh.

CJSF

[Mackus]

It is odd how much effort Tempo appears to be putting in what should be simple "show him starmaps, but nothing intel-worthy" message. I think Alex noticed something odd too, and not just being unused to seeing other people use telepathy: Look at his expression in third panel.

[sunphoenix]

It is odd how much effort Tempo appears to be putting in what should be simple "show him starmaps, but nothing intel-worthy" message. I think Alex noticed something odd too, and not just being unused to seeing other people use telepathy: Look at his expression in third panel.

Yeah, imagine being a man amoung a bunch of women talking about YOU but unable to hear what exactly their discussing.. but clearly you KNOW their talking about you! Would make me nervous too...

And yeah Alex is not stupid he knows the silence means they are using telepathy and he can't know what their saying... makes one uneasy to say the least!

[raistlin34]

It is odd how much effort Tempo appears to be putting in what should be simple "show him starmaps, but nothing intel-worthy" message. I think Alex noticed something odd too, and not just being unused to seeing other people use telepathy: Look at his expression in third panel.

Yeah, imagine being a man amoung a bunch of women talking about YOU but unable to hear what exactly their discussing.. but clearly you KNOW their talking about you! Would make me nervous too...

And yeah Alex is not stupid he knows the silence means they are using telepathy and he can't know what their saying... makes one uneasy to say the least!

There is also the detail of those women having the power to break his arms and legs with a thought , and being trapped in their territory.

[Rookie17]

Oh hell YES-S-S!!!
Gotta grab some beer.

[Karst45]

Possibly she is flirting with him.
As member of the strong gender she sets his position back, thus allowing her to "get access" to him in a socially acceptable manner.

After this small interchange he has lost enough face to not be considered equal to the captain anymore, so the lower ranks can get access to this strange male.

I wonder what happens if this shuttle comes to Seren and the Doranzers find out some women are pregnant?

That would make some interesting research, and the ambassador may have made a very bad impression....

he is not James T Kirk

[SVlad]

The inscription on the door - why is it mirrored?

[Arioch]

The inscription on the door - why is it mirrored?

It's using the same texture as the outside of the door. I'll fix it.

[kclcmdr]

Great update.

Saaay.. Did thee post an alert on your Patreon site alerting folks that you did a recent update?

[Krulle]

On twitter he did.
But a patreon sign for the paying club would be a nice addition.
But they'll see it on their bank account.

[GeoModder]

But they'll see it on their bank account.

It's a trap!

[thicket]

But they'll see it on their bank account.

Arioch did update his March 1st posts notifying that 112 is up, but (as promised) he didn't post a new page--so no double charge for 112

[htabdoolb]

As for Tempo holding her face in her hand, I don't think that some of you realize just how large of an impact the fact of Alex and the rest humanity's existence is going to have on Loroi civilization.

Imagine the scenario from Tempo's point of view: The Loroi are fighting the most deadly enemy they have ever come across, their entire civilization has been on a total war footing for a quarter of a century. Their species, and by extension the other members of the union, are at real risk of not just losing the war, but being completely exterminated by an enemy that seems to universally hate them. They have no way of knowing how much of a strain the enemy's economy is under due to the fighting because they don't even know how large their enemy's empire and industrial capacity is!

Their one advantage, with which they have been holding on by the barest of margins, is their ability to know when and where the enemy is going to attack. This absolutely critical advantage has now apparently been nullified by the enemy, who seem are able to field ships and crew that are invisible to the Loroi. The enemy, when communicated with, even went so far as to brag about their new ability, apparently completely confident that the Loroi can do nothing to defend themselves against it.

This very dire situation is what Alex and humanity has stepped into. For the Loroi, even the very best case scenario: that Alex is exactly what and who he says he is, is going to be a civilization shaking event. Humanity's existence is going to contradict thousands, tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of years of Loroi belief and dogma. And remember, this is a species whose members can live for nearly half a millenia. For them, social change is probably measured in terms of thousands of years. They are not going to be accustomed to rapid changes in thought or beliefs. Imagine if an alien appeared out of nowhere on modern day earth, with incontrovertible scientific proof that not only are all religions completely false, but that our species are the descendents of an extinct empire's uplifted janitorial slave race. Many people, most people, would simply refuse to accept it, no matter how convincing and true the evidence might be.

Now imagine the worst case scenario: fleets of Umiak ships crewed by "humans", genetically modified Loroi males, both telepathically mute and invisible to farsensing. I imagine that to Loroi females, protecting males, who are smaller, weaker, and make up barely more that an tenth of the population, is so engrained that many Loroi, soldier or civilian, might not even be able entertain the idea of hurting one no matter the circumstances. Imagine ordering a group of modern day human soldiers to fire on enemy vehicles, aircraft, and ships that they knew to be crewed by deaf mute ten year old girls. Many would simply refuse, no matter how their own lives were threatened. Regardless of how many of those theoretical soldiers actually complied with the orders to fire, moral would collapse. I think that regardless of facts, Alex faces a very real chance of simply "disappearing" after he and his escorts get to wherever they're going and those in power realize what he is, simply in order to avoid to possibility of such an event happening to Loroi soldiers.

Tempo probably realizes this, and is probably wondering if this naive, uncanny alien is going to be the straw that broke her people's back. If his existence to going to sow disruption and discord precisely when the Loroi most need unity. I think her face palm is a sign of just how much strain, worry, and fear that last week or two have placed upon her. She knows that she may be literally holding the fate of her species in her hands.

[Grayhome]

I'm sure they'll be fine. I mean really, what's the worst that could happen?

Besides the Loroi discovering spiders for the first time, of course.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qvo04nctio

[Mr Bojangles]

First, I just need to say that not only am I glad to see a new page, I'm glad to see that Talon is something of a wiseass. Brought a smile to my face.

As for Tempo holding her face in her hand, I don't think that some of you realize just how large of an impact the fact of Alex and the rest humanity's existence is going to have on Loroi civilization.

I think most of us realize this, actually.

Imagine the scenario from Tempo's point of view: The Loroi are fighting the most deadly enemy they have ever come across, their entire civilization has been on a total war footing for a quarter of a century. Their species, and by extension the other members of the union, are at real risk of not just losing the war, but being completely exterminated by an enemy that seems to universally hate them. They have no way of knowing how much of a strain the enemy's economy is under due to the fighting because they don't even know how large their enemy's empire and industrial capacity is!

Their one advantage, with which they have been holding on by the barest of margins, is their ability to know when and where the enemy is going to attack. This absolutely critical advantage has now apparently been nullified by the enemy, who seem are able to field ships and crew that are invisible to the Loroi. The enemy, when communicated with, even went so far as to brag about their new ability, apparently completely confident that the Loroi can do nothing to defend themselves against it.

Yep. Pretty dire straits for the Loroi.

This very dire situation is what Alex and humanity has stepped into. For the Loroi, even the very best case scenario: that Alex is exactly what and who he says he is, is going to be a civilization shaking event. Humanity's existence is going to contradict thousands, tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of years of Loroi belief and dogma. And remember, this is a species whose members can live for nearly half a millenia. For them, social change is probably measured in terms of thousands of years. They are not going to be accustomed to rapid changes in thought or beliefs. Imagine if an alien appeared out of nowhere on modern day earth, with incontrovertible scientific proof that not only are all religions completely false, but that our species are the descendents of an extinct empire's uplifted janitorial slave race. Many people, most people, would simply refuse to accept it, no matter how convincing and true the evidence might be.

Humanity is caught between a rock and a hard place. That's why the Scout Corps was sent out in the first place. Humanity needed knowledge yesterday. As for Loroi dogma getting thrown out the window, I'd say there was a good chance of that happening no matter what. Human space isn't quite that far from the ever-expanding war front.

Now imagine the worst case scenario: fleets of Umiak ships crewed by "humans", genetically modified Loroi males, both telepathically mute and invisible to farsensing. I imagine that to Loroi females, protecting males, who are smaller, weaker, and make up barely more that an tenth of the population, is so engrained that many Loroi, soldier or civilian, might not even be able entertain the idea of hurting one no matter the circumstances. Imagine ordering a group of modern day human soldiers to fire on enemy vehicles, aircraft, and ships that they knew to be crewed by deaf mute ten year old girls. Many would simply refuse, no matter how their own lives were threatened. Regardless of how many of those theoretical soldiers actually complied with the orders to fire, moral would collapse. I think that regardless of facts, Alex faces a very real chance of simply "disappearing" after he and his escorts get to wherever they're going and those in power realize what he is, simply in order to avoid to possibility of such an event happening to Loroi soldiers.

We don't yet know how the Umiak have managed to nullify Farsense, but I don't think that would be the worst-case scenario. Nullification of Farsense is already the worst case. If your method turned out to be how it was achieved, I don't think Loroi warriors would have too much trouble pulling the trigger. It might also have the opposite effect of what you're suggesting: it could galvanize the Loroi to burn out the corruption the Umiak have unleashed. That is, rather than breaking morale, it just really pisses off a people that are already on the back foot. All bets are off, then.

And, there's little doubt that Alex is in danger, even from the Loroi. He represents something bigger than Humanity is aware of.

Tempo probably realizes this, and is probably wondering if this naive, uncanny alien is going to be the straw that broke her people's back. If his existence to going to sow disruption and discord precisely when the Loroi most need unity. I think her face palm is a sign of just how much strain, worry, and fear that last week or two have placed upon her. She knows that she may be literally holding the fate of her species in her hands.

No disagreement here. To say Tempo is "stressed" is like saying "space is pretty empty" or "hey, this water is kind of wet."

I'm sure they'll be fine. I mean really, what's the worst that could happen?

Besides the Loroi discovering spiders for the first time, of course.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qvo04nctio

Well, the Loroi have Wave-Loom Devices and a willingness to "kill it with fire!" So, yeah, I don't see how anything bad could happen!

[rewik]

Besides the Loroi discovering spiders for the first time, of course.

Spiders.... spiders... doesn't ring a bell.... OH! You mean those little Umiak-bred spy species?

[SVlad]

The word on the door is lorodezol - what does it mean?

[rogueleaderx]

Just wanted to say ... so happy to see updates. Read this back when it first came out and despaired of ever seeing how the story turned out. I hope we get to see what happens with the war and the human race

[Arioch]

The word on the door is lorodezol - what does it mean?

It actually reads nozedorol (trade being read from right to left), which isn't a word in the lexicon. It may simply be gibberish, or I may have meant lorodezon (which I guess would be "Loroi only") and forgot to reverse the letters.

[Hālian]

Why is final -i elided in compound words? and what exactly is the environment in which that elision occurs?

More to the point, why is it loroi-only, and what did they do to the poor schlub who painted it backwards?