Grrl Power # 1229 – Half-napped
The lizard guy is Garamm, from the fight with the space mercs that took place in NYC, and it should be obvious by now that the one running Tenri’s body is Lapha.
You can’t just grab an Ætholith off of their own head and just balance it on the nearest cylindrical object. Well, first off, you can’t grab them at all. You need special magical wand-caliper thingies, and if you’re caught with those things and no license for them, it’s assumed you’re up to nefarious intent. There are a few legitimate reasons to have them, and every other reason is criminal. One you’ve plucked your Ætholith, you can’t just stick it in your bag or leave them floating over a tabletop. They need a sort of external life-support system, which is the function their bodies perform. Their bodies need oxygen and food just like normal organics, but the Ætholith itself doesn’t. It does need a mana source and a kind of data feed which might be explained later on in the comic. Hence the Ætholith-mate, which just happens to look suspiciously like a certain dark tower from a unnamed movie franchise (Admittedly the “Ætholith-mate” text on the base of the tower is way too small to read. I’m not even sure it’s legible in the double sized Patreon version.)
Lapha has some ethical shortcomings, what with the, you know, kidnapping and impersonation and identity theft and all that, but as an Ætholith herself, she wasn’t about to snip Tenri off from her body and chuck her in the bin to slowly burn out. That’s the line for her. Though it might have been Garamm that insisted they get a deluxe Ætholith-mate so Tenri would at least be, well, as comfortable as an Ætholith can be when disembodied. Granted, most of the advanced features aren’t available if it’s not connected to Gal-Net, but he’s not about to hook up his kidnapping victim with about 600 ways to contact the authorities.
I do wonder how long Garamm’s been sitting there. Glibph complained that “Tenri” had been acting weird ever since Brelx announced they were going to retrieve Parfait, and Parfait hasn’t been away from Thothogoth for very long, (and Brelx definitely didn’t want to tangle with Tom.) But Sydney summoned Parfait last evening, then stayed the night and now it’s just past lunch? Maybe 1-2 pm? Still, maybe time flows a little different on other planets because of relativity and their positions in the Milky Way, or, Brelx has been waiting for Parfait to be “in the open” for some time, which means Garamm might have been hiding in Tenri’s dorm room for… well… Hmm. Parfait wasn’t collared by Tom until after his encounter with Dabbler at the quarry… Uh, let’s say a week, tops. Probably less than that, a few days at most while Lapha went and attended Tenri’s classes to maintain the ruse. Whether or not she took good notes for Tenri is yet to be revealed.
In any case, the sudden uptick of PortalDash food orders to Tenri’s dorm room that include space-reptilian fare might get someone suspicious if they were looking in the right place. Not to say that an Ætholith can’t or won’t eat from the Insect-and-Grub-Garden, or McCrawlies, but the sudden palate-shift could cause an alien-equivalent of an eyebrow to quirk.
So you might think it’s weird that they’re having this conversation just as Lapha makes her move back on Earth, so let’s just assume this is actually a mini-flashback to like 10 minutes after Lapha pilots Tenri’s body out the door for her Space Accounting 201 class.
The new vote incentive is up! Crimson and Scarlett have a present for Ingsol!
It’s them, they’re the present. They’ve decided that “Sire-versaries” are a thing and Ingsol has to be convinced this is a good idea each time. Everyone thinks his pair of names-that-are-synonyms-with-red sirelings who are both women and who were both turned in that age range that ensure peak hotness means he’s a dirty old man, but he actually isn’t. It just worked out that way. And don’t forget that while it looks like there’s a 25 year age gap between the girls and him, it’s actually much worse, as he is 700 years old, while Scarlett is something like 180 and Crimson is only 40. But at the same time it’s meaningless as they were both fully adults when they got turned, so it’s all copacetic.
As usual, Patreon has the pair of them in various states of undress.
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I wonder how much actual control they are going to have over the body, especially in her chaos brain.
I am also curious if the orbs are going to have a reaction, potentially like “You dare try and take control” sort of things.
What if the orbs are connected to Sidney and not her meat body?
from the understanding of the mechanics last time, they don’t swap just co-habit. So Sydney is getting an univited house guests, that is going to try and move her body without permission. As I recall the Lizard guy was able to still talk and interact with the flame entity. Their bodies appear to just be… containers, unless they can swap by force also.
Perhaps she has a way to incapacitate Sydney’s mind, leaving herself in sole control.
The implication from last time was actually that some CAN take over completely as well, but it takes effort and not all aetholiths can do it. Plus it’s apparently very illegal.
https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-931-escape-from-new-york/
“For legal reasons, let us avoid the word ‘possession.’ For some unfathomable reason, other sapient races are severely uncool with ‘autonomy cooption.'” – Lapha to Garamm
“So, is she possessing him? And if so, why didn’t she just toss herself onto Maxima’s head?
The answer is… kind of, but not really. Basically, she’s not “high level” enough to straight up possess someone. Right now, she’s somewhere between a Trill symbiont, sharing knowledge and memories, and Steve-Martin-bonked-on-the-head-by-a-mystic-bowl. They’re still separate entities, and both have control if the other one doesn’t object. She, and most of her species are relegated to passenger if the host doesn’t want to play along. (important part follows) The more advanced members of her species have increasing levels of primacy, but as Lapha alludes to, other races aren’t copasetic with being possessed, so her people have adapted to be artisanal meat jockeys.” – DaveB in the blurb below that comic.
True, but this explicitly says Lapha specifically can’t do it (unless she levelled up in the few weeks since then), so for our current purposes we should assume she can’t overpower Sydney’s mind.
Where does it say she explicitly cant do it?
As someone with ADHD I can attest its hard enough to control my own mind sometimes, can’t imagine something used to piloting a mindless meat mech with no known experience with the chaos in my head is going to do a better job of it.
Lapha doesnt have ADHD though – Sydney does. She might just be capable of shunting Sydney’s mind to the background, and just doesnt normally do stuff like that because it’s highly illegal and the Xevoarchy would probably frown upon it (not to mention her own people, from what Tenri is saying).
And thus the question of whether ADHD is a product of the mind, or the brain. Does Sydney really have ADHD? Or just her brain?
I’m confused by what you mean.
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder, not a personality trait. There are differences in the brains of people who have ADHD. Parts of their brains tend to be smaller, but they have more connections between various parts of their brains.
So the question is if someone’s mind were transferred to a different brain, how would their personality or behavior change? There’s also the separate question of whether Ætholiths control a body through the brain, or whether it’s more direct puppetry, but I think what we’ve previously been shown suggests the former. Thus, Lapha may experience ADHD were she to possess Sydney’s brain, and while she would benefit from the medication Sydney takes to ameliorate her symptoms, she may not have the learned adaptive coping strategies, and thus find Sydney’s body difficult to control.
I think the replies have gone too deep, it won’t let me reply to the ACTUAL post of yours to which I’d like to reply, but WOW that’d be a VERY FUNNY (and clever) way for Sydney (and the Author) to get out of this actually-pretty-dangerous situation. Aethoface had trouble controlling lizard guy’s body just due to minor stuff like having a tail and male genitals. Her becoming more easily distractable due to hardwired neuron pathways which leads to the plan failing is a FANTASTIC idea. Also very comic-booky while still probably being somewhat likely if such a thing were to actually occur.
By the very quote you yourself have linked to Lapha who was specifically who DaveB was referring to did not have the skills to completly take over a mind; their species in general can only control mindless bioframe meat puppets, and usually can only cohabitate with a mind.
When taking over a body, you generally have two options regardless of it being biological/mechanical or metaphysical, that is either you inhabit the brain and control it as a consciousness, which is usually why conflict can occur and a host can resist, or you bypass the brain entirely and take control of the motorskills (living nightmare for the host if kept conscious during this).
if you have to work through the brain its self, then it is reasonable to theorize that any biochemical imbalances that affect the brain may also affect your ability to control the brain. Its like the old bit of a demon possessing someone and instantly being hit by all their anxiety and stress.
It would be nice to know which mechanism this species actually uses, but the fact they can’t just puppet string a host would imply they have to work through the body’s natural means of control.
which may be what Torabi means. Of all the mysteries of consciousness, how much is freewill and how much is controlled by our biology. If your memories and consciousness were transferred to a different body would your personality shift if you no longer had the stress levels, sugar imbalances, hormones, etc…of your original body, and the reverse if a mind is transferred from a “healthy” body to one with mental problems of any kind just how second party do you think you could remain…honestly it could be worse realizing how you should behave and did but now finding your behavior augmented by mood swings and distractions and intrusive thoughts you never had before all because the biology of the new body is wired that way.
its the classical mind and body philosophical turned neuro science debate.
The “she” in the author blurb you quoted refers to Lapha.
“Basically, she’s not “high level” enough to straight up possess someone.”
“She, and most of her species are relegated to passenger if the host doesn’t want to play along”
Good point. Presumably she has since learned how to, I guess?
“Increasing levels of primacy” seems to imply there are multiple steps to it. So even if she leveled up in the few weeks since then, already a convenient coincidence, she shouldn’t be able to just suppress Sydney.
If she gets the chance, Sydney should disconnect the body napper and let her wither away.
That doesn’t really seem to match with Sydney’s ethics so far, at least, as I’ve seen them. She’ll fight lethally if she has to (as when she was stranded on an alien world with Kaiju hunting her), but she’s worked to avoid killing when she can.
True. But mind rape is pretty severe.
Not every form of mind control is mind rape
I dunno, the very concept of taking over someone’s bodily(or mental) autonomy only to make it do things is pretty sus. Surr it might not be sexual but it’s still pretty damn morally dubious.
According to my ethical compass, not every form of supernatural mental manipulation is the equivalent of enslavement. The ones that are broadly similar to mundane means of persuasion and influence (e.g. exceptional charisma and/or social skills, extreme attractiveness, high social status and/or wealth, etc.) should be classified the same way.
However, full-blown mind control, possession, or extreme emotional manipulation that thoroughly override one’s agency and free will should reckon as enslavement (or in case of permanent body theft, murder). I much prefer to use the comparison with enslavement rather than the one with rape, mind or otherwise, for various reasons: it is a more precise and all-encompassing gauge of the issue at hand that completely sidesteps the IMO irrelevant and misleading issue of whether an act is sexual or not; in my book enslavement, and of course murder, are much worse violations than rape; sex is not and should not be treated as special or sacred.
I’d say that temporary possession without consent of the body owner to make them do acts they would absolutely object to certainly qualifies as enslavement. Use of lethal force to fight off an attempt to enslave you or a third person is surely legitimate and ethical for all but the most extreme pacifists in most circumstances I can think of.
It’s more like vehicular theft and false imprisonment, isn’t it?
Sure but it’s more like doctor who trying to control a dalek vehicle after climbing inside and throwing out the organic ugly. Stealing a personal mobility prosthetic is greatly different from a car. We spend a lot of time per day not driving cars, without those mobility prosthetics they can’t do anything unlike a carless human.
There was an actual episode of Doctor Who with his own body fighting him for control by Cybermen. Sydney is probably going to do the same thing.
Probably while making references to said episode.
another chess game. with a similar end.
Oh no no no no no no no no no no no they did NOT just try that did they?
I can imagine that Lapha’s attempt to bodyjack Sydney is going to backfire spectacularly. There is that unknown brown orb after all.
Exactly my thought.
Also, I return to my initial position. Lapha is a dead woman.
No appeal, no clemency.
But death is so final and there are MUCH better ways to make such beings suffer than death. According to D&D lore, demons know a lot of those ways.
I wonder if Sydney does too.
If I was an Evil Emperor : Rule #1. Death is NOT to good for my enemies.
^This guy gets it^
The objective is not “suffering.”
The objective is permanently sealing an intel breach and removing a demonstrated mortal threat to the species, not to mention an ongoing threat to the safety, well-being, and freedom of specific US (and more broadly speaking Terran) citizens.
Lapha goes on the KoS list, and if there anything such as could be called remains, they will be disposed of anonymously and without ceremony or marker. Maybe ask Corra to set up a series of buoys around the perimeter of the system that transmit, “Now entering Sol System. Do not fuck with the monkeys, they _WILL_ kill you, and your next of kin will not be notified, nor your remains founds.”
Depends on who you talk to, tbh.
SOME people think it is suffering IS the objective. Personally, I do not see that as sustainable.
I do know that there are people who ‘need killing’.
Bah, like someone who could develop a multi part device that can open a gate across interstellar distances, glass a desert, either transmute, conjure and/or control portions of the atmosphere, pierce illusion, teleport, fly, shield from devastating attacks, incorporate defense against possession and/or mind control…
It’s not multipart, it’s one gadget, it’s just that most of it is sitting outside 3 dimensional space, except for the control orb interface.
That’s why they can only get so far apart/away from Halo: The device is centered on her, and the orbs can only exist inside the boundaries of the device, as they’re just bits of it extruded into 3D space.
You know, I think we’ve seen something like that haven’t we? Anyone remember where?
Krona got an interesting view of the orbs when they were in upgrade mode, in which they appear to be connected to more pieces that aren’t normally visible or tangible.
With that breakdown, telepathic protection may be a thematic function of the comm ball (Also with illusions and tele projection, and really should include a translation application)
I love that the Ætholith-mate appears to be powered by a USB cable.
I’m confused with the names here:
What does Graham mean “once Lapha returns”? Isn’t she lying on the floor?
Also who has stolen whose identity?
And who is wearing Tenri’s underwear? Isn’t Tenri the stone thingy that doesn’t have a body to put underwear on?
Is Lapha’s body unconscious because she’s possessing Sydney right now? If so, how did the body end up here from the last panel? How did they make their escape while being in the presence of who knows how many supers, and why isn’t Sydney with them is she’s to be kidnapped?
Lapha is currently possesing Tenri’s body, trying to switch to Sidney.
And Lapha is wearing Tenris’s body, including all the underwear.
Alpha hijacked Tenri’s body in what appears to be a less-than-clever attempt to make a second run at kidnapping Max.
In less important but more fun observations, I love that the band in called “No,” andi have the album that cover is based on! ^_^
Ok, so let me get this straight:
– Lapha (the flame thing atop the body that kissed Sydney) is pretending to be Tenri (the flame thing Graham is currently talking to),
– the body that kissed Sydney is Glibph
– and the identical-looking body that’s lying unconsciously in the room right now is not named yet.
And Lapha is only mentioned in the tags because they’re talking about her and not because she actually appeared in this comic.
Did I get the names correctly?
Did the comic show at some point that Tenri got her body stolen by Lapha? I don’t remember there ever being more than one “fire-head girl” in the comic.
The bodies themselves are just meatsuits specifically built for Ætholiths to inhabit: https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-932-designing-women/.
The unconscious body in the room is Lapha’s regular body (which Lapha was customizing in the linked strip), who is currently inhabiting Tenri’s body and pretending to be her, so Lapha in Tenri’s body is kissing Sydney.
Glibph is a separate person, seen on panel 1 in https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-1227/.
Glibph is the one still in the comic shop, I believe. Lapha lost her old body during the whole “kidnap Max” plot and piggybacked on Garamm for a bit, during which time she commissioned/purchased a new body, which Garamm convinced her to add on a tail to. That’s the empty body on the bed. She’s currently in Tenri’s body (and trying to possess Sydney’s), and Tenri is the one imprisoned in the Ætholith-mate. The two look identical to you because you’re racist (more seriously, I think the two are just using fairly similar designs; Lapha complained about having to downgrade to a more basic model when she lost her old body, and as a college student Tenria probably isn’t rolling in credits to be able to get a more advanced one either).
Not quite.
– Lapha and the lizard tried to kidnap Max many many comics ago. Lapha’s body was destroyed in the attempt, and when we last saw her she was working on getting a new body with a tail. Which is how we know Lapha’s body is one laying down in this panel.
– Glibph is the one, two comics ago, still in the comic shop, saying that Tenri has been acting weird for the past few days. No flame, just bio-armor.
– Tenri is the flame consciousness on the desk today, complaining about being kidnapped. Lapha’s consciousness is currently possessing Tenri’s body.
– Lapha wanted to kidnap Max, but since Max isn’t available she’s making an attempt for Sidney.
Thanks for the explanations, everyone! Now I finally understood.
As someone who’s way overdue for an archive dive it’s rather difficult to see what’s going on when characters from years ago re-appear, whose names I forgot (and can’t look up on the cast page *hint* *hint* *nudge* *nudge* Dave, so I have to map the tags below the pages to the characters, which is harder when there’s like 5+ new ones because you have to scour the pages for introductions) and to top it all off one even switched bodies with someone who has a similar-looking body.
Yes, I was thinking the flaming eye was some sort of interplanar communications device and Tenri sitting in a public booth.
Thanks for the explanations, everyone! Now I finally got it.
For someone who is way overdue for an archive dive it’s rather difficult to remember names of minor characters whose last appearance was years ago, so if one of these characters is even switching bodies (and between to similar bodies no less) then for me it’s not so much “What a twist!” and more like “I’m even more confused now.”
An up-to-date cast page would be really helpful there (*wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge* Dave). :-) I mean, most of the time I can use tags for mapping names and people, but when 5+ new characters are introduced and when Lapha is tagged on this page while Graham and Tenry are saying she’s away (because her body is there and her soul isn’t), plus I wasn’t aware that she can just possess people, then I’m simply lost.
Sorry for posting twice, but I didn’t see my response above until literally right after I posted this one 12h later, because I didn’t realize I had to refresh.
It’s not about refreshing, it’s the chat system being funky (and not in a cool way) about when it decides to post things
Refreshing often helps, but sometimes you have to cler the cache.
Really… A mini-sauron tower. Also Alpha plugging into Disney’s brain would be the psychic equivalent of sticking a fork into an outlet.
So,what’s happened to Parfait and the others,did Harem report back to Max?!?
Also will Sydney have to make a decision on Core’s future as the comic shop’s security staff???
I don’t see why his future at the shop would be in question. I mean, yeah, normally leaving one’s post to bang someone would be a problem, particularly if said post is security and there’s a security issue while you’re indisposed. But there are significant contributing factors here. First off, Parfait is a succubus, and it would require an iron will for about any heterosexual male to say “No” to her – arguably, this is more akin to being indisposed because someone clubbed you over the head or spiked your drink (with a succubus’ seduction abilities, actual consent is always in question). Secondly, Sydney specifically brought Parfait with her so she could find a non-ARCHON target to zonk to recharge and top up (summoned succubi are required to return with more energy than they left with), and Parfait made no secret of her intent to go after Core, meaning that Sydney doing nothing to prevent them from hooking up was implicit permission. It would be wrong of her to fire him over that. He also demonstrated dedication to the job in attempting to settle things himself despite being unable to walk at the time, so it would also be stupid of her to fire him as well (kinda odd that he’s so dedicated to a job where he was presumably assigned to be a spy, but maybe he’s just got good work ethic… or Deus actually has him there to protect Sydney, if only because he knows Max would be upset if she got hurt).
He is going to need some time off to recuperate, however.
I’m sure Sydney initially thought that by bringing Parfait to the comic shop that some nerdy/needy customer would be the beneficiary.
She wasn’t thinking Parfait would incapacitate her security guard.
Yes, but when she declared her intent, Sydney did nothing to intervene. “Boss said it’s okay to shag that hot demon chick” is pretty solid justification, here.
“Not intervening” is different than “completely happy with”.
Parfait already doesn’t really understand human complexities involved with sex. Trying to explain that “she can’t have sex with the paid help while the help is on duty” would be difficult to explain and awkward as hell.
Especially when Sydney got to the part where she was expecting Parfait to bang one of the nerdy customers in front of the nerdy customers.
Just a case of enthusiastic customer service.
Next time we see Core,he’ll probably be wearing an ARCSwat uniform with an MP armband and helmet….!
(Working undercover for Deus most likely!!)
Wait the cute “make with the Space Lobster duo”? I was hoping they’d show up again. Maybe they’ll eventually be Halo’s Team Rocket…
I figured that it was those two, once I saw what race it was Sydney was talking to. I think she’s going to find out just how much of a handful Sydney really is! Plus I’m sure everyone that knows Syd would notice the flame on her head or the change in personality. Or her sudden change in her ability to use the orbs!
IF she succeeds in the possession, and IF doing so gives her access to Halo’s memories, not just her body, and IF the orbs actually permit all this…
She could just open a causeway and abscond with Halo, right then and there. So, no real time for others to notice anything.
You mean, other than Abby who is standing right next to them?
The station is also aware of Sydney’s visits, and it would call the security of the station to investigate it. Either way, no one is getting away with this, even if they think they are.
Doesn’t mean they’ll catch her (or even try to). They didn’t catch Sydney the last times, and Lapha probably knows how to lay low there.
Also, there’s nothing saying Lapha has to go the station as opposed to any of the other destinations stored in the orb. There’s even a good chance she can set her own destination.
She can also have another getaway prepared, like getting back the same way she came.
She wants to kidnap Sydney’ not impersonate her.
I had mentioned it before, but it’s a fair chance that the Orbs have a resistance to magical attacks, so the “soul” eye could just try to attach, and just fall off. Lapha might just have a sad/mad eye while the dust settles on her flaming “eye.”
I was specifically addressing the “everybody would notice” part.
F*CKING CALLED IT!
I really do wonder what it is with those extreterrestial ne’er-do-wells believing that messing with people they know can take down fel carriers and lovecraftian planet-destroyers is a good idea? Anyway, this might be a good opportunity to find out whether the orbs are tethered to Sidney’s body or mind.
High risk, high reward. Once they get paid for the kidnapping, dealing with a pissed-off Max/Sidney is the buyer’s problem.
Just remember: Superman is vulnerable to magic and mind-control
High-risk, high reward – and there’s no indication Sydney wouldn’t be vulnerable to a surprise bodyjacking.
The short-sighted high risk – high reward” approach might be fitting for upper management, but not the healthiest option for (regular) criminals. The issue is not being able to “acquire” Sidney, the issue is dealing with the retaliation if even the slightest thing goes wrong, which includes being identified as being the culprits. And with such shoddy research and preparation, not to mention a semi-reluctant partner in crime, thing are practically bound to go wrong.
“High risk, high reward” =/= short-sighted.
“issue is dealing with the retaliation if even the slightest thing goes wrong, which includes being identified as being the culprits.”
Lapha only needs to get off earth, and she’ll basically be safe from retribution, because Archon has very little in the way of off-world contacts, and whatever little they have will be invested into getting Sydney back, so she only needs to sell her off and lay low. And she’s just a little flame on top a stolen body, so it will be difficult to identify her to begin with. Unless either Tenri knows who she is or Garamm gets caught and sings (but a clean getaway should be very easy for him), all anyone will know is her species.
“And with such shoddy research and preparation”
We haven’t seen anything about her research and preparation yet. We don’t know what she knows, we haven’t seen what contingencies she might have prepared …
Thus far we doi not even know whether they actually manage to “acquire” her. As for the lack of extraterresitial contacts – we have seen that proven otherwise, mostly due to the fact that Sydney is not exactly inconspiuous herself. Btw, when they attempted to obtain Maxima in NYC, they obviously did not know the extend of her capablities and even the terrestial circle of those who know the full extend of Sidney’s is extremely limited.
Even if they they invested time and effort into intel, which is not indicated at all, they are still acting on assumptions while taking a tremendous risk. Even body-switching does not guarantee getting away with magic users and hypertech being around.
> As for the lack of extraterresitial contacts – we have seen that proven otherwise, mostly due to the fact that Sydney is not exactly inconspiuous herself.
Can you expand? I don’t remember it being proven or suggested, much less in a way that implies Lapha should reasonably know, nor do I see what Sydney being conspicuous has do to with it. There is Cora, but we haven’t seen an implication that she has contacts who can help her hunt down someone who doesn’t want to be found on Fracture Station or elsewhere.
> Even if they they invested time and effort into intel, which is not indicated at all
We don’t know either way, but you made the unsupported claim it was shoddy.
We don’t know what her plan is, or what kind of capabilities she has available, so we can’t say. Maybe she completely blundered into this as a Hail Mary, or maybe she has accounted for many contingencies. If she can’t take over Sydney, she can probably still jump back and try to retreat.
Yes, the risk is high, but again, so is the reward. If she can do this, she’s probably made it for life. As a mercenary, she probably took bigger risks (death in combat, whereas Archon will probably just lock her up) for a lower paycheck before.
They’re mercs doing a kidnapping. They are not regular criminals.
“I really do wonder what it is with those extreterrestial ne’er-do-wells believing that messing with people they know can take down fel carriers and lovecraftian planet-destroyers is a good idea?”
They already knew tbat Maxima can take down a Fel Carrier – I think that’s the whole reason there was a bounty out on capturing her in the first place. As for the Lovecraftian Kaiju horrors, I don’t think anyone knows about that at all, other than ARCHON, as it’s not public knowledge.
Lapha’s probably still wanting the bounty for capturing at least SOME human with powers, if she can’t get Maxima (she was willing to capture any human with powers, like Hench Wench, last time, but Garamm talked her out of trying and into escape instead since they did not have good intel). Plus also it might be a bit of wounded pride on her part that she failed on her first bounty attempt – Garamm on the other hand seems to only be involved because he has a thing for Lapha. I still really like this couple, despite the ne-er-do-well status they’re occupying.
I’m assuming that this time, they’ve gotten some better intel though, which explains the less straightforward attack-and-capture.
My vote is on the unknown orb kicking in! Way too many co-habitator species out in that universe for someone on N’th tier to have not considered it!
Ditto. Bet it’s meant as computer system. Cyber security, psychic defense, and if more fully leveled will be a full virtual intelligences assistant.
I agree, was also thinking about the unknown orb function.
I wonder if the orbs go stationary if they are not controlled by Sydney to move, i doubt they have something as crude as body only biometric to identify their owner.
The question is, are they bound to the body? Or to the mind/soul?
Because if it’s the latter, someone is in for a surprise.
Considering the orbs use her palms as a required interface as opposed to just letting her mentally control all of their functions, it’s fairly likely they’re bound to the body.
Honestly, there’s too many variables right now to predict.
Heh, now I’m thinking back to comments on previous pages… “Guys, that clearly isn’t Lapha, she doesn’t have a tail”… man, we got played DO hard.
Digging the “Yes” album cover/poster with the word “No” on it.
Ikr? X’D
My favorite thing about this page, ekshewally.^_^
I’m just really happy to see these two again <3
We may see that the orbs just won’t work at all for Lapha in Sydney’s body. Which means she’ll be just a regular human. And surely Harem will see the flame on Sydney’s head, plus suspicious behavior, and take her into custody.
At the very least all of the other Harems are yelling for the cavalry.
Wait…so are they still trying to kidnap Max? And just using Sydney as a vehicle to get to her? Or have they switched targets to try and kidnap Sydney? I mean, this plot is still poorly thought out regardless of the target. Even if the orbs don’t create a situation that makes taking over Sydney impossible, Lapha’s doing this right in front of Harem…who can intervene in ways that other members of the team couldn’t by virtue of her teleporting and multi-body skills.
I’m very interested in seeing how this plays out…especially if Lapha’s plan actually works somehow.
Harem doesn’t have much in the way of firepower – if Lapha can control the orbs, Harem can’t stop her other than calling in reinforcements – but no reinforcements capable of taking on Halo are available.
Maxima is available. And won’t get into kissing range.
Maxima is currently away getting chili for Dabbler. She can fly over, but that will take a bit of time. (Especially as WoG suggests she’s flying halfway over Texas to get the best possible chili for Dabbler.
Harem has two brain cells to rub together and Sydney had nothing in her hands when the body snatch occurred, this is actually a one sided fight given Sydney’s performance in physical challenges unless Lapha can batter her with the orbs but there was a vote incentive that showed Sydney operating a showroom body like those used by this species (Sydney was in a glass tank unconscious) and the orbs orbited the body she was operating so if we can treat that as instructive Lapha won’t be able to do that.
“Harem has two brain cells to rub together and Sydney had nothing in her hands when the body snatch occurred, this is actually a one sided fight given Sydney’s performance in physical challenges unless Lapha can batter her with the orbs”
Hence why I said “if Lapha can control the orbs, Harem can’t stop her”.
I’m not even confident Harem would win otherwise, because while Sydney might be uncoordinated, Lapha is a hardcore mercenary who surely has some melee skills. And while Harem likely has a strength advantage, there’s also the possibility that the possession gives Sydney’s body extra strength. She also might have another attack option prepared.
“there was a vote incentive that showed Sydney operating a showroom body like those used by this species (Sydney was in a glass tank unconscious) and the orbs orbited the body she was operating so if we can treat that as instructive Lapha won’t be able to do that.”
I don’t think the vote incentives are canon, so I would hesitate to make that assumption.
Harem has a MASSIVE Strength Advantage.
You do remember she’s literally super strong if she’s combined, right?
I do, which is why I said she likely has a strength advantage. We know too little about Ætholiths to be certain though.
I was mostly thinking that Harem’s ability to teleport into the shield (can she bring other people with her? I had it in my head that she could, but now I can’t remember) and the fact that she could use one of her other bodies to communicate the situation to others without having to resort to coms (reducing the likelihood of trickery being successful) might muck things up a bit even if she couldn’t physically beat Lapha-as-Sydney in hand-to-hand combat.
But there are certainly many ways that this could play out that haven’t even occurred to me…and a lot of this will boil down to how the orbs operate in a mind swap.
Harem very specifically cannot teleport into or out of Sydney’s shield, which she finds “unsettling“. She also cannot teleport other people, with the sole exception of Varia, because Varia’s power allows her to ride along.
I am totally confused…
Lapha from the Alien Tourist Arc took over one of Parafaits school friends to take over Maxima. But settled for Sydney in a pinch.
I don’t think Lapha thought this one through.
-Will the orbs let her possess Halo?
-Will Lapha even be able to use the orbs if they let her possess Halo’s body?
-Will Lapha remember to grab Tenri’s body before she leaves? Does she care? Graham probably does…
Hmm…
Unless you knew details about the orbs that are probably highly classified, as far as anybody outside Arcon or Sydney’s immediate acquaintance knows, they’re just a manifestation of your ordinary “superpower”. Which do sometime involve extraneous stuff being around the super, like the ‘bargain basement Halo” we saw in the parking lot battle.
So she’s got no reason to suppose they’re technological devices that might take exception to a possession attempt.
Curious how long Lapha’s body can lay around un-used. I guess if Lapha is switching back each night after returning to the dorm room, or something…
At worst she is damaging her own property. She probably can afford a new one afterwards.
That body is a commercial product, logically it would be designed for the owners convenience.
Oh hey, one of my comments last chapter turned out to be a call [Wonder if they are the same person], even though I was mistaken [names and such].
I didn’t think this was what was happening because it feels a bit…unlikely. So need some backstory, like how does Lapha know Tenri, how does Lapha know she has some connection to Earth, or knew that she was going to go to Earth with Brelix…just how short before this event did this switch occur as it feels like Parfait being at the comic shop and the demon friends crew showing up was the same day.
if there was some connection and this was a serendipitous moment of opportunity to get to Earth to get close to Sidney, then its a less thought out plan by Lapha than their previous mercenary attempt.
-As I can concede that as Parfait advertised her location that Lapha could as easily as anyone seen that and known…but it also does still require a prior connection to Tenri to know that she personally would be going and have access to her to perform this switch.
They probably looked for any connection.
And taking over a school friend of Parafait was deemed safer then messing with Tom directly.
Lapha and Tenri could easily be relatives or something like that.
The conversation today does imply that Tenri knows Lapha. Same species, maybe even an older relative.
I imagine it went like:
* Parfait is in regular contact with her school friends she *just* left a week or so ago.
* She texted to one of them either last night (probably) or early this morning about getting summoned by and hanging with “The Mighty Halo” and the other Supers, who are probably still in the regular demon-news since they are so new and powerful. Possibly messaging Lulu to brag about succu-controlling an entire building of supers.
* Whoever she told informed Brelx, who immediately hatched a “retrieval” plan and sent out a call for a war party. It would have mentioned a fight with Supers (including TMH and possibly Max), but no mention of Parfait to keep the news from getting back to Tom.
* Lapha heard in one of two ways. Either Lapha has a news/media scanner that picked up the war-party call (possibly even a scanner that can search private messages). Or if Tenri really does know Lapha, she bragged to Lapha about a cool fight she was going to be in.
* Lapha shows up with Lizard-guy, forcefully steals Tenri’s body, and now we’re caught up.
Not a 100% perfect explanation, but it beats anything else I’ve seen.
oh.. i bet she will try to jump into sydney body.. but she will get bonked out bcs of.. Sydney being Sydney
Hmmm… Lets see… I would assume Arc-Swat would have implimented some kind of magical protections in their chokers to block mind control, but I am going to assume they haven’t.
Also, Sydney’s orbs could have a passive defence measure built into them to repel attempted “boarders” and the like…
Either way, this could be an interesting story arc
If you guys are Patrons you would know he did a skit were where Halo got really hurt so they put her in a temp body and the orbs moved over to the temp body, so i think are fiery friend is in for a rude awakening!
How long has Tenri been at base?
Lotta variables that might get sorted out here….:
1: Does Ætholithic possession leave the host-body’s mind ‘conscious’ and aware of what’s happening, or do they just go for a long nap until the occupier leaves?
2: On the flipside, how much access does an Ætholith have to their host’s memories? Given the rather… ignorant status of most alien races about human supers, she may not even know how the orbs work, let alone what each one can do.
3: How much of the ability to control the orbs is tied to Sydney’s body, and how much to her ‘mind’? If the latter is the main determinant, then the orbs could fall to the ground, or just orbit her head but not be active in any way. If the former, then it’s possible that the Ætholith could control them–but I would wonder, then, if they would be the current version, or if they would only be the baseline version (ie, with no ‘pips’ popped). I will say to this point that I kind of half remember the vote incentive of Sydney in a ‘loaner’ body, with the orbs, while her regular body rests in a tank. If canon, that art indicates that the orbs are, indeed, responsive to Sydney’s mind.
4: The unidentified orb is absolutely a wild card in this scenario, and it’ll be interesting to see if it comes into play, and if so, to what effect.
I will say, the “Sydney conscious, and in control of the orbs” scenario is the most amusing in my mind, as her possess-or has to cope with the orbs running wild (and Sydney learns that disabling her body by breaking a shin with the orb was effective, it might not have been full three moves ahead level strategic thinking), while “Ætholith controls the orbs, Sydney is unaware of her surroundings” is the most dramatically dire, especially if coupled with, “The Ætholith can access her memories”.
“Does Ætholithic possession leave the host-body’s mind ‘conscious’ and aware of what’s happening, or do they just go for a long nap until the occupier leaves?”
We know that: The owner stays conscious and mostly has shared/contested control of the body.
“[Lapha], and most of her species are relegated to passenger if the host doesn’t want to play along. The more advanced members of her species have increasing levels of primacy” https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-931-escape-from-new-york/
I assume Lapha has a plan for how to deal with this though. Perhaps something that separately makes Sydney’s mind unconscious so she doesn’t interfere?
considering their strategy last time was to sneak to Earth via a tour bus and presumably hijack it out, and this time was a less than a day to plan spur of the moment infiltrate and she is trying to pull something with no weapons in front of a teleporter in a crowded lot…I don’t think she’s the best at planning things out.
Last time she and Garamm got away in an escape pod of Ray Comfort’s ship, even after losing most of their crew. It seems like their plan would have worked if not for underestimating earth supers (which aliens in this story are rather susceptible to in general.)
You haven’t seen her current plan yet, so you can’t judge it. But it’s definitely not going to be something obviously pointless like “ride as a passenger in Sydney’s body”. She definitely knows how her possession works, and she has to have a reason to expect it to work.
Took me a bit to realize that’s Syd. Although now we know the orbs are tied to her body and nothing else and none of the orbs help against bodysnatching unless that’s an upgrade.
Sidney is not on this page. That little flame is Tenri, the mercenary slaver Lapha from the times square supers and aliens battle took Tenri’s body to infiltrate Parfait’s friend group to be disguised as her to get close to a super like Maxima or Sidney to kidnap one.
It’s not Sydney
The consciousness in the eye of Sauron thing is Parfait’s friend
The body on the bed is the artificial alien who’s possessing the artificial body of Parfait’s friend
This is a long way away from Sydney
Hoo boy! Lapha doesn’t know what she’s getting into trying to jack into the Queen of ADHD…
Makes you wonder how much of ADHD is hardwired into the brain itself and how much of it is instead the software.
Can anyone make out the small text on the Mount Infernus poster?
You know…. considering Sydney is on ADHD meds… I don’t think Lapha is going to have a good time, at least not in the way she expects. I mean, the only reason those meds let Sydney behave normally is because of her ADHD. For anyone else, it would cause a drug trip.
Halo: Look I JUST rejected the idea of solving my problems with poison gas. I am NOT doing a NegaSydney arc, you Coast-to-Coast Pyretic Carnage Knockoff!
Lapha: I’m inside your head. How do I not understand what you’re talking about?
Portal Dash “Look, you stupid portal dash deriver (because I mistyped driver and thought it looked better as deriver) the order says 2 mystic burgers and a side of crying. not 3 murkburgers and pickle” “That’s not what the order screen says.” “Take it up with the customer”
Wait so the aetholith from before is… in high school? Her being friends with the other highschoolers implies she’s also in highschool. Were ALL the mercenaries in that chapter in highschool? I thought they were like… adventuring scallywag mercenaries. Was visiting earth to kidnap a human… THEIR VERSION OF A FIELDTRIP??
Also her being in highschool makes the flirting and body-sharing with Lizard Guy pretty sketchy. Is he… ALSO in highschool? This is a weird callback. I’m fine seeing the characters again, but retroactively making them highschoolers is weird.
No, the mercenary (Lapha) is impersonating the highschooler* (Tenri).
Lapha, with the help of Garamm, stole Tenri’s body and locked her into the Aetholith-mate, then in Tenri’s body, pretending to be her, accompanied the demon college kids to earth to get a shot at kidnapping Sydney.
*Actually in college.
Right college, sorry, I forgot the other succubus was wearing the Letterman for jock-reliving-glorydays reasons. That’s… slightly better, I guess. Still basically children though. But, ok, I think I understand. So Lapha only just RECENTLY stole Tenri’s body, visited Earth using her own (adult) body, and Lapha and Garamm shared Garamm’s body, and Tenri wasn’t involved at all during that first visit? But how did the mercenaries know that a random group of college kids were going to go to Earth, with enough time to kidnap and impersonate one, if they don’t already all know each other?
“But how did the mercenaries know that a random group of college kids were going to go to Earth, with enough time to kidnap and impersonate one, if they don’t already all know each other?”
We don’t know. The most likely hypothesis is that Lapha and Tenri are related or otherwise acquainted.
rip, I wrote a whole reply to this, but apparently it doesn’t seem to have posted. I don’t remember exactly what I said, but essentially “oh yeah, it’s college I forgot, she’s wearing the letterman because of “jock reliving glory-days” reasons” and “if the mercenaries aren’t in college with the college kids, how did they know this random group of college kids was going to Earth?”
I knew it, the kiss was nefarious, I knew it as soon as I saw the floating sigil thingy.
Aren’t you still able to speak when they possess you?
“Harem, knock me out and put me in a cell.” Hell, even if Sydney can’t, it’s not like Lapha has any idea how to use her powers anyway.
This is a dumb plan.
She has some idea, at least for some of the orbs, since they’re several of the orb powers have been publicized and on public media. The ones that have not are the ‘life support’ orb, the comm orb’s truesight and teleport functions, and the brown orb (although they don’t know what it does either). Those ones are classified. They know about the shield, the flight, the lighthook, and probably the PPO. And there might be some suspicion about the ability to open up the causeways, since we do know that Fracture Station finally was able to figure out it was coming from Earth, so we’re not sure how much info they got since then, although they haven’t exactly been quiet about that ability so far, what with NdGT. Anyone who has been monitoring her covertly might have seen it.
There is evidence for sharing of knowledge/skills between the Aetholith and the host, so there a fair possibility Lapha can learn from Sydney’s mind how to use the orbs:
Garamm: “How do I suddenly know his to do this?” https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/comic/grrl-power-931-escape-from-new-york/
I do remember that, but is it both ways?
wonder if they have a Æther bunny version of that lamp
Confused on the sequence unless Harem is letting this go.
Presumably they kissed which harem knows syd is not really one to do. Then prsumably the alien collapsed??
even with the orbsthe other Harems would know, no? Even if the orbs worked and she blasted harem instantly they’d know. or if they cut off in the buble most of the orbs dont work inside so harem would win that fight lol
“Confused on the sequence unless Harem is letting this go.
Presumably they kissed which harem knows syd is not really one to do. Then prsumably the alien collapsed??”
The alien that is collapsed is Lapha’s actual body. Lapha is from a species that lives as shose ‘flame’ things. Their bodies are artificial shells, and they’re capable of ‘possessing’ other bodies. Lapha kidnapped and is using the body of a different alien of her species (an Aethlith). During this time, Lapha’s actual body is collapsed elsewhere, with Garamm guarding it, as well as guarding the Aethilith alien called Tenri (the flame thing on the nightstand in the sauron-holder thing.
They are different aliens. Lapha and Tenri.
It just occurs to me that Tenri is an anagram for inert. Which is both how she was defeated by Sydney (inert gas narcosis) and the real Tenri’s current state-of-being. :)
Mentioned that several times last page, nice to know you pay attention :P