Grrl Power #207 – I’ll take six of these, twelve of these…
The site has been a little spotty for the last few days, at least for me. I apologize if it’s sucked for anyone else, but I think I have it sorted out. If nothing else the issues have prompted me to fully update WordPress and all my plugins. I usually fear doing that because if something does screw up, that means I get to spend hours troubleshooting the site instead of drawing.
So, ARCHON security. How does the armory know someone teleported in there? Well the Grrlverse isn’t one of those mature comic universes where the X-men have Shi’ar technology that makes solid holographic danger rooms or Reed Richards has invented Unstable Molecule spandex substitute. It’s almost exactly our own technology. I say almost because magic does exist in this universe and Arc-LIGHT and Arc-DARK have limited access to it. But the armory just uses plain ol’ tech. Sensors monitor air pressure for teleporters (assuming the teleporter isn’t exchanging the exact volume of air when they appear) but there are also motion sensors, pressure plates on the floor, heat and noise sensors, the works basically. Also, crazy as it may sound, there are low tech and very thick windows that can be used to observe everything from the security booth. Granted if someone could teleport into the room silently and phased so they wouldn’t displace any air, and also fly and be thermally transparent… well, there’s only so much you can do to protect your gear. Of course as soon as they teleported out with something, it would leave a vacuum.
And don’t worry, those guns don’t start throwing 6,000 rounds per minute into ammo crates the instant someone forgets the passcode. They’re armed with tazers and knockout gas and probably other non-explodey options before the guns start. Actually live fire is probably a last resort that needs to be authorized by a human from the security booth. After I drew the room I realized I designed the whole armory idiotically. I’d think ideally anything remotely volatile is kept in separate areas with lots of thick layers between them. Again, my geek cred does me a disservice, as everything I know about armories I learned from movies and shows like Chuck. You know, shelves of equipment and a big peg board on the back wall with enough guns on it to give Rambo a 4 hour erection.
Anyone think the QM looks rather a lot like Clint Eastwood? That wasn’t intentional on my part (cough). I toyed with the idea of calling him Gant, after the first character I remember seeing Eastwood play, but decided against it.
Edit: I’ve changed Harem from saying “Yes Sir, sorry Sir!” to “Yes Sergeant! Sorry Sergeant!” if you want to CTRL+F5 the page (possibly CTRL+R depending on your browser.) The point of that exchange was to show that Vauxhall was annoyed at Maxima for running such a loose ship, not to show Harem being flippant. Apparently even saluting a non-com is wrong too, but that would take more work to change. Hollywood has done me wrong. The upside is that I can now predict there may be a funny scene with Sydney being as confused about all this as I was.
<– If you enjoy the comic, consider supporting it through Patreon. Also consider it’s my birthday in a few weeks. :)
SuperheroThey're super, thanks for asking!
Meatspace ComicSeriously these are awesome. Check 'em out!
Not UpdatingNo longer updating or only updates sporadically, but definitely worth reading.
SeriouslySeriously you guys. If you like Grrl Power the check these out.
"Mature"Mature subject matter and occasionally something explicit but usually safe. Can't guarantee the ads are safe though.
Dongs Ahoy!Full frontal and backal. Lots of skin, sex on some or all pages, explicit or otherwise.
Hey, Harem making sudden, repeated, unannounced, naked appearances is all right with me.
Great strip, keep it up! :-)
She really should carry more ammo with the weapons, that is an intense fire-fight!
Carry on stripping. :-)
If you insist.
Be sure to lock the door! In my experience someone will HAVE to walk across it regardless of signs. barriers or
hazards. Okay that was weird it just posted itself.
Last panel “Sergeant” is spelled wrong.
Nice bit of extra info on Harem’s teleport.
Though I can’t see the weight limit being too restrictive, since she could just make two trips, unless her teleport has a cooldown or something.
That only works if you can easily disassemble and reassemble the item in question, but otherwise, yes.
Or the gadget is one unwieldy piece, like a Barrett .50 caliber. She’ll have to carry in any extra magazines on a separate trip for that one. I like two her of teleporting in to throw an armor vest over Goose and hand him his rifle. Arc SWAT is going from hard to handle to impossible to handle with each vorp.
Well, we’ve already seen how Harem pulled a half-monty on some of the guys back at Arc HQ (https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/672). Here we’re just seeing the flip-side of the same coin & her practicality in a combat situation. I gotta admit though, I never thought about the flip-side of reverse-monty back when that page was first posted.
The Barrett M82A1 is 14 kilograms, which is fairly big for Harem who probably doesn’t mass more than 60. Accidentally leaving a chunk of a gun behind is a nuisance. Accidentally leaving a HAND behind is… well…
Peggy uses a Barret XM-500, which is a bullpup version of the M82A1. It’s also shorter than the M82A1. Both those things are considerations to Peggy’s 5′ 4″ frame, it just happens to make Harem’s job easier.
Peggy’s Barrett is just a shade below 12kg – the ammo’s just as heavy though
Her limit varies with the number of bodies. If she goes down to one body she can teleport around 22 kg (50 lbs) aside the bare body mass.
According to some DaveB’s statements Harem could weigh no more than 50 kg (110 lbs).
I, of course, won’t argue with DaveB on his own comic; but given her height and musculature, I’d place her closer to 60kg (~130 pounds)
I must to clarify that DaveB has not said explicitly Harem’s weight. That I said is my guess from some related statements. Your number could fit as well.
Does that mean that she has a total mass that she can handle and the mass of each copy subtracts from that total? By unteleporting one, she increases the mass she can teleport by the mass of that copy?
Sum(Mass of all active copies) + (mass of items in “transit”) < (mass limit)
Unteleporting also allows her to "store" extra mass/items, so maybe that should be factored too :).
Sum(Mass of all active copies) + (mass of items in "transit") + sum(mass of all stored items) < (mass limit)
That would mean that unteleporting gives her the mass of the copy less the mass of any items held by the copy.
pretty much, since her physical strength increases the fewer “Harems” are active it would be logical to assume that her teleport limit would also increase.
DaveB stated that the max weight that Harem’s bodies can teleport varies with the number of bodies. It goes from around 25 lb each when 5 bodies to around 50 lbs with one body. That is aside the bare body itself.
If that is 25lbs each, could they combine their powers and *vorp* somethng that weighs about 100lbs?
unlikly, considering that they (and Dave) have said that the more there are of her the less can she carry, so only one nude(or close to it) can maybe carry 100lbs
So, even if Blondini and Gothette attempt to lift something together, they can never exceed the 25lb limit? But if Gwen and Peggy do, they can? Yeah, that seems logical
Do not confuse “lift” with “teleport”. Her teleport ability works different and independent of her strenght.
If we are picking grammar nits, then technically any forms of address should be set off with commas. So that sentence should read: “It also includes my own me, so if you’ll excuse me, Sargeant, this me is going to unteleport for a few minutes.” But since DB has been neglecting the commas needed for the vocative case since Strip #1 (“Think again Kopykraut!”, “Eat photons dummy!”, and “I sink not Omnigirl!”) we can just say that it’s an affectation of style and not go full OCD with every installment.
Also, an address of “Sir” is generally applied only to commissioned officers, not sergeants, at least in my military experience.
He may have been part of the Marines, where they “Sir!” the NCO’s. My guess would be she is being a little snarky.
Yup, totally getting the ‘snark’ with that salute
The “sir” bit did seem to be odd, even just from having picked up that from movies. However, quite clever of DaveB to go with a new arm of the military. The traditions in his particular arm can be cherry picked from whatever service is convenient to him, and those become the rules and regs. Then it just becomes a matter of continuity.
Senior NCOs tend not to appreciate being snarked to. Pissing off ‘Q’ may not be too wise. She might have repercussions, later, if he decides she was. But, I guess she is just keeping to tradition and taking the role of Janet Bond.
Not to put too fine a point on it, but if a SNCO is working the issue desk, then he’s probably pissed somebody off anyway, and if he’s a lower-ranking NCO (as indicated by his unmodified rank in the sidebar) at his apparent age, then he either hasn’t been making his promotions, or has pissed several somebody’s off over time. Daphne coming in and being flip with him might make him unhappy, but he’s not in much of a position to do much about it, particularly when she’s there to supply a firefight-in-progress.
If he was in the regular Army, then yes, but this is Archon, so you wouldn’t want some inexperienced private anywhere near these goodies. You would want somebody with a proven record of extensive training, experience, reliability and uncorruptability. I would expect that any normals working for Archon would have a minimum rank of E-4 simply because of all of the training required before they can even qualify for the least position, even cook.
I think you’d be surprised just how much faith the military puts in very junior people. We control access to nuclear weapons with a few junior enlisted personnel; and the average armory is typically run by people right at the cusp of transitioning from junior enlisted to NCO. Supers-focused organization or no, it’s still an administrative duty that involves familiarity with weapons; there’s no reason for additional rank for that.
Now, that said, I might believe Sgt V is covering the vault so his junior troops can go to the “coming out” party.
He could be one of those guys just one reprimand away from being a ships cook.
Heh… I had a cook who moved to infantry as a Captain once. The NCOs has absolutely zero respect for him, which I, judging him by his actions rather than his military history, didn’t agree with.
Heh… I had a cook who moved to infantry as a Captain once. The NCOs had absolutely zero respect for him, which I, judging him by his actions rather than his military history, didn’t agree with.
Dude…this is the guy in charge if issuing new toys and keeping the old ones up to spec. He has all kinds of ways to make your life miserable if he wants to.
“Oh, I am sorry, Ms. Harem, but I just finished adjusting the anti-teleport defense systems, and I’m afraid I may have left the turrets on slightly too small a delay. I do hope none of your copies took any permanent damage.”
You know. Stuff like that.
More likely, from everything I’ve read, is that armorers are generally pretty much odd ducks themselves, and so this guy just doesn’t care about Harem’s snarks.
Oh yeah, and everything I’ve seen or read says that even Marine NCOs are sometimes touchy about being called “sir.” You know. Because they work for a living.
Or as one Staff SGT. I knew once told me he’d never become an officer because his parents were married. He loved his job, just disliked the Brass he had to deal with.
perhaps, but M*A*S*H episodes aside, my experience with the logistics corps is they take the job seriously and professionally, and in the case of somebody arming up for an ongoing firefight, they’d be quite focused on getting the job done. Obviously individuals may lie outside that mean, but as others have pointed out, that sort of person probably wouldn’t have been sent to ARCHON to begin with
Yup, if they don’t then it can loose battles. The battle of Isandlwana is one where slow distribution of ammunition may have played a part. In that case the strategy was more at fault, overall, and the tactical deployment was poor too. But failure to ready the ammunition (to take into account the difficulty in opening the ammo cases) was cited as a contributing factor, by contemporary sources. The quartermaster is a key role.
I did a little research on Quartermasters and the whole logistics branch. Unfortunately Those were of limited use to me because they were talking about the other branches of the military which are enormous compared to Archon. They have flavors of commissioned officers and there’s even a QM General. I figured some flavor of Sergeant would be about right for Archon’s current size though.
Coming from someone who was an armorer in the Army, I can say that most armorers who don’t have a well placed stick up their backside are pretty laid back. Don’t give them undue guff and they will do their best to take care of the troops. If anything, I take his remark as a simple reminder that he technically outranks Harem and that she shouldn’t be “telling” him what she’s going to do with the gear he is responsible for. That being taken care of, he’s more than happy to move on to more important matters, like getting the gear to the troops and making sure his steak sandwich is en route. ;)
The higher rank isn’t a bad idea, a bit the same as the discussion about Maxima being a lt.colonel, having a warrant colonel position or being a full bird.
In this case the reason could be the specialized hardware, stored next to the normal gear, for which advanced training, etc. is needed to maintain said gear.
There are also people who’d take a downgrade from the usual E-5 work to a job like this for the reason that it is a great opportunity for advancement this being a specialized new unit.
Well as it is “after hours” a Sargent is probably normal even if a higher rank runs the daily operations there. Many times NCOs fill in on off shifts because most of the stuff that needs authorization happens during the day. Night shifts are upkeep and maintenance times.
Given their informal banter, he doesn’t seem to mind. This just might be the way they talk to one another, part irritating, part mild flirtation (but in such a way that they can’t be called on it if someone overhears and try to do something about it)..
NCOs only get called “sir” in bootcamp by recruits that aren’t considered Marines yet, nobody who’s actually earned their EGA would be calling a Sergeant “sir.” The possibility of snark is definitely true though.
When in the Army, never called a Sergeant, Sir, and you didn’t salute a Sergeant. Saluting was only for Officers.
The overall use of “sir” for NCO’s is emphasized only in boot camp & not just in the Army or Marines either…Once out of there, quite a few NCO’s will chew out a lesser rank calling them “sir” (or “ma’am” as the case may be).
As a Staff Sergeant in the Air Force, I fully expect my Airmen to address me as “Sir” or “Sergeant.” Just saying.
And in the US Army you never call any sergeant ‘sir’ for any reason. Sir is reserved for Officers and Warrant Officers only. Sergeant, Staff Sergeant, Sergeant First Class, all of those you could call Sergeant. It is inadvisable to call Master Sergeant, First Sergeant (Who is probably a Master Sergeant filling a specific spot in the org charts), Sergeant Major, or Command Sergeant Major merely ‘Sergeant’.
In the US Army, if you call a Sargent “Sir” they will usually say something along the lines of,
“Do not call me Sir, I work for a living.”
Even out in the civilian sector, most times when someone calls me “sir,” I sometimes tell them that I’ve never been a “sir.” Never had commissioned status while I was in service….
That’s fixed now. For some reason my spellchecker didn’t catch that.
Your spellchecker missed that because there are multiple correct ways to spell “sergeant.”
What you have in the last panel refers to the name of a rather famous portraitist. “Sergeant,” with a “g”, refers to a senior(ish) NCO in the American military, while “serjeant” with a “j” refers to the same thing for the British. “Serjant” (or something like that) was originally the term for a professional soldier during the early Middle Ages, which is why, to this day, the rank itself is usually abbreviated “Sgt”.
No, Brits don’t put a J in sergeant – even though the dictionary disagrees, hmm. Probably archaic. There’s quite a few things that you’d never see in modern writings that dictionaries still list as being British and current!
Sergeant is correct for the British Army.
There’s another error. On Goose’s Who’s Who: “Bears an unfortunate [Resemblance] to a particular video game character.”
Might as well call him ‘Duke’ ..
You’d think he’d just change his haircut or something…
Really need to have a crossover (at some point) with Commander Rock Lobster :D
I was thinking the same thing. I also wonder if Goose is just as big a nerd as Duke.
I think such a crossover wouldn’t fit in very well here if Jared & Mr. Fish showed up with Cmdr. Rock Lobster (or Cmdr. B52, if you prefer).
Fourth panel is missing the word “be” after “Hey QM, I’m going to”.
Goose’s “Who’s Who” entry is missing the word “resemblance” after “unfortunate”.
Weird. The word was there but the little block I put in the corner to square off the word bubble was on the wrong layer. I’ll get Goose’s entry fixed as well.
I’m not military, but AFAIK a trooper doesn’t call a sergeant “sir”.
Harem isn’t exactly military either. (Technically yes, but…)
I think he’s making allowances for stress. Or he’s just too old to mind.
Oh, good point! Also, I’m not super knowledgable on these aspects of the military, but aren’t only officers saluted? could be wrong
Officers are saluted, NCOs are respected. Thus sayeth the Old Sarge.
respected or feared if they don’t insist you’re buddies
Indeed. The standard response of sergeants seems to be “Don’t call me Sir, I have to work for a living!”.
Harem was raised on a farm.
In that kind of culture you are raised to respect your elders and call any man sir or woman mam.
It’s cultural conditioning. I wasn’t raised on a farm, but that’s how I was raised myself.
Granted, but the salute was military form, so that means military courtesy. Don’t bother the Sergeant who controls your supply of boom.
Also “Don’t call me Sir, I know who my parents are!”
“Don’t call me Sir, I know how to do my job!”
I think the makeup of Archon as a mix of military and civilian personnel means a certain less formal approach to military protocol. It seems Maxima might have had a bit of an attitude anyway and it rubs off on her company. By the way, you never salute indoors or when out of uniform. Basic Hollywood error that grates on me. Of course for the supers what constitutes a uniform? beyond standard service dress.
Never salute indoors is a new one to me. I know i have forgotten some things since I did that Royal Canadian Army thing 25+ years ago, but I remember saluting officers indoors without reprimand.
Yeah, isn’t it “no hats indoors”?
Generally you do not cover or salute indoors, but there are exceptions. One salutes when reporting to a superior officer in doors. One wears their cover when in an indoor formation. Just a couple of examples.
It’s a Navy/Marine thing. You do not salute indoors unless under arms, though even wearing an ammo belt counts as being under arms.
So when has Hollywood ever really given proper respect for the military, anyway?…
I think I’ve figured it out though…Hollywood is too keyed up for the “dramatic.” Their careers & lives are focused on the manufacture & sale of fiction for entertainment, but not so much on facts or reality. This is why I stop listening to any of them when they start talking politics…
back in ol’ WW2 Hollywood had government orders to mess up military uniform and procedure so foreign agents would not learn infiltration by watching movies. now days people want accuracy so the still active order means as close as possible with out getting it perfect.
Depends on the service, and the particular circumstance. In the Army, you never, ever call an NCO “sir.” Unless, of course, you want to hear how they “ain’t no sir, I work for a living, damnit!” In the Marines, at least in basic training, the drills are “sir.”
The most reasonable explanation is that they know each other fairly well, the steak sandwich to go comment seems to point in that direction. He tells her to be more formal seeing that he’s her superior and she tells him to stuff it. He doesn’t react with the usual answer (that is: “Drop and do 50”) since her vorping in means there is business and while quartermasters tend to be sticklers for rules a good one knows that business goes before pleasure. Depending on his personality he might make up for it later or let it slide.
Yeah, Sergeants are real sticklers about that too.
(Shouting in his best “Drill sergeant” voice while poking his finger at Harem’s Nose): “DON’T CALL ME “SIR!” I WORK FOR A LIVING, MAGGOT!”
Has that changed recently? Because in Full Metal Jacket, R. Lee Ermey sure as hell wanted to be called Sir, and he was a Gunnery Sergeant.
Depends on the service. In the Marines you damn well better address a drill Sergeant as Sir. OTOH when I was an Army boot, if you addressed a Drill as Sir he’d be in your face, spraying spittle while screeching that “I ain’t no officer, I WORK for a living! Now drop and give me twenty!”
Could someone explain this whole “I’m not a sir, I work for living” thing to me?
Well it refers to the fact most officers have been to college or OCS so are from the “White Collar” world but a Sargent generally earn his stripes working up through the ranks.
So, Sargeants are bigger ‘snobs’ than the Officers? o_O
No, don’t take it that way. When I went through ROTC, I could not help but notice that while we were being trained to be leaders, we didn’t get to play with the fun stuff the way the enlisted did. And that didn’t change despite the MOS. Artillery? The officer is trained to plot a grid and call in fire, but the one who really does it and is no doubt better at it than any officer is an enlisted. Communications? The officer is trained to use the gear, but they guy who uses it day in an day out, and who has any hope of repairing it if it gets fubar, that guy is enlisted.
I came to understand the differences. Officers are intended to lead, not do. And if you’re trying to do, you are failing as a leader because you have to be aware of your entire crew and what they are doing and what they should be doing. But the best officers can do both, and don’t shirk on their knowledge just because of their rank.
A private does the work.
A corporal does more specialized work.
A sergeant gets the work done.
A warrant officer gets big projects done, co-coordinating several sergeants.
An army lieutenant plans and leads a platoon. Tells a sergeant what needs to be done.
An army captain plans and leads a company. Tells a warrant officer what needs to be done.
A major leads a group of companies, or hangs out near the general’s office. Might be the leader of several officers in an air force.
A lieutenant colonel is in charge of a battalion, a whole bunch of soldiers. High enough rank to be dangerous, but not high enough to make real decisions.
A colonel leads a small base, or major sections of a large base. Generally, this is the highest rank that will ever be found in the field. Generals do not tend to get their feet dirty.
Brigadier Generals co-ordinate the actions of a brigade, a huge group of soldiers. Large bases are run by a brigadier general.
Major General: In charge of major bases.
Lieutenant General: Runs entire divisions of the army, like the entire infantry, or armoured.
General: Runs the entire army.
Field Marshal: Only in times of war, with international assistance.
When I went through Navy boot, you called the Company Commander and his assistant ‘sir’. And they were NCOs.
R Emery did that because he was a Drill Sgt. Recruits have no real standing or rank (even if they differ in rank amongst themselves ie buck pvt, pvt, pvt 1st class etc).
Once in the world ie past boot. You have learned the ranks and customs of your service. Then they can assume you have the brains to know who to salute and who not to. Basically they hope they’ve, by boot grad, transferred the fear, respect and customs they required to officers.
I’m a dual service vet, DaveB, so if you need info on Army or Navy I’m your guy. In army I did a lot- Mudstomper, supply, POL (fuel) both vehicular and helo, field support, driver, water, armorer, and a desk jockey- made E5 twice in army. (COUGH) 83-89 – last 3 years at a NG unit so I could complete my degree in Eng Physics. Then 90-96 USN as an EM2 nuke on CVN-65/Enterprise. Also very familiar with injury care from major trauma and the inherent belief system w/in and w/o the Navy and later VA as to care and how most treat someone as a faker unless they first see the paperwork. Doesn’t matter if you have the scars and metal holding you together. They want the paperwork trail.
THis can benefit some who have career ending injuries, normally, to soldier on by making the paper trail disappear and just doing their jobs.
Gunnery Sergeants seem to be a special case…It’s still considered to be “showing due respect” by addressing him by his JOB, rather than by rank. Even in formal circumstances, it’s okay to call him “Gunn’y.”
Despite how it sounds, a Gunnery Sergeant is not a Sergeant that mans a gun, any more than a Lance Corporal carries a large pointy stick on horseback (though that does make for an amusing visual). A “Gunny” is a Marine E-7, equivalent in rank to an Army Sergeant First Class, or an Air Force Master Sergeant.
And also, if I were to change it from sir, which I probably won’t since leaving it makes Harem sound a bit flippant, which she can be, but just for my own education, what would she say? “Yes Sergeant! Sorry Sergeant!” ?
Probably something like “Yes Sarge! Sorry Sarge!”, respectful, correct, but still a little flipparky (Flippant/snarky)
you call sergeants sarge deliberately you will probably get locked up that is called to parade rest or at ease while they explain pronunciation to you and practice the yelling the bark off a tree a more fun nco will joke is part of the nco academy.
Yes.
Proper response to being called sir for a NCO of any grand is “I work for a living ” This does actually work at drilling it home that they aren’t sir’s or mama’s.
That, like so many other things others have pointed out, is somewhat service-dependent. In the Army or Air Force, addressing him as Sergeant (as long as he’s not an E-9 – then it would be “Chief” or “Sergeant-Major”) would be completely appropriate. In the Marines, you would be expected to address him by full rank (e.g. Staff Sergeant, Gunnery Sergeant, etc). In the Navy… well, in the Navy, they use different ranks, so you’d never see a “Sergeant” anyway…
Is the ‘boots’ thing a reference to a well known novel with the ‘flingers’ where one team of explorers was about to teleport, were a kilogram or so over the limit and one of them had to throw away their fancy boots?
Mind letting the rest of the class know what novel you are referencing?
I just weighed my daily wear boots. At 4.2 pounds together, (with lots of room for error as I used a bathroom scale, and “tared” it by weighing myself separately), they come in at about a kilogram apiece.
They are probably the heaviest “single” item of clothing I wear in the summer. My jacket is 6.2 pounds, but there’s a little extra lead, iron and brass in it right now and it’s a particularly, and unusually, heavy leather jacket.
None of those, however, are military. I grabbed a pair of my brothers old desert camo boots, and they came in about the same as my steel-toed work boots. I’d expect the military garb to pare away as much weight as they can get away with, though, as that’s why we have “scary black rifles” Black plastic stocks weigh less than traditional wood furniture and do the same job.
Have a pair of New Rock Reactor boots, not sure how much they weigh but ‘feel’ about 1-2kilos, but once on the feet, barely even notice the weight
Caverns”, as well as the entire McGill Feighan series, is an excellent book both for young adults first getting info Science Fiction, as well as for long-time SF fans. And it’s certainly a must for any Kevin O’Donnell, Jr. fan
Sorry… Cut and paste was the fastest way to get the author, series name and title posted from an iPad.
I think I only read ‘Reefs’.
I remember aquatic creatures and bird creatures… And the boot incident.
Just glad to see the normals on the team haven’t gotten pasted so far.
Looks like the heavies are running interference while Halo runs a five-person logistics op. this is why teams wipe up the floor with mobs.
Halo? I think you mean Harem. Halo is running a one-woman holding action.
Looks like I started a trend. Mind you it is usually best to avoid having principle characters starting with the same letter of the alphabet, to avoid confusion.* Here it is compounded by both names being of approximately the same length. This mix-up will happen with reasonable regularity. Doubtless I will be one of the culprits/victims again sometime too.
* Being a speed reader and getting through a novel or two a day, plus having a serious problem with names anyhow, this is a rule I came up with at about 8 or 9. I have not changed my opinion on it since. It may affect me more than most, but anyone can be tripped up by that, if their attention is on the message in the sentence. Mind you, the names are cool enough to forgive breaking the rule, so all is good.
Lucky for me everybody knows who I meant. Just have to focus a little better.
Heh. I agree, but be careful… I read a fanfic somewhere once where the characters were introduced alphabetically… Abby, Brandon, Chad, Dexter, etc. It was hilariously jarring.
“For now.” I need a couple of those turrets lol.
Also, this page serves as a nice reminder of just how well you’ve thought out the details of how everything works here, including explaining them without wall of text!
I imagine she has to give the password every single time she ports in there, even if she already in there with another copy.
Possibly there might be a code which allows her to be recognised for a period of time that she designates. It all depends on whether the team has come across the need for her to do mass-resupply in the past. From the tone of commands Maxima was giving it sounds likely that such has been practised already.
The password system is complex enough that such contingencies seem plausible. If she had to run through it every trip on a multi-run it would slow her down to an unwieldy degree. Likewise, making a password good for say 10 minutes each time (rather than when specified, on demand) makes it too likely that a shapechanger or illusionist could be teleported in by an enemy gate-tailing Harem.
I think it would be similar to Edna Mode’s from the Incredibles. It recognises that there are different people entering and exiting the room, and would probably reactivate if someone who didn’t have established clearence entered. It’s also possible that each super has a seperate passphrase that also acts as protocals for the system to follow, given that Harem’s passphrase also mentions “X-ray five” which could be read lterally or as “x5,” an allusion to her ability to teleport in and out of the room with 5 different bodies.
She’s supposed to check in with the QM first, who then deactivates the internal security, like he does for normal people who use the door. Harem’s just used to doing 5 things at once.
She also has a problem with ‘porting into places without regard to proper procedure.
Her collar should have an IFF that the system can query electronically. It can be spoofed sure, but combine teleport with visual match with that displacement and weight- screams Harem and their Techno Geek would have those particulars down. So if the system is set high enough to ignore her IFF and Data Electronic and Physical Signature. Then it means that the QM/Armorer is indeed tired of her crap. i.e. taking stuff and only doing paperwork after the fact,or returning good dirty- bypassing his responsibilities and messing up his stock and worse yet, paperwork trail.
I’m sure Harem during a personal moment might have had a thought about a large caliber round of ammo, a mortar round, or even a smaller arty shell and decided to give it a try on the sly– for you know science- well not science but the experience. She put it back, but there’d be tell-tales. Hence Security box having set the scanners and response to higher levels- maybe just under “imminent threat.”
I’m sure Harem’s file is “FULL” of similar reprimands for “Borrowing” items…the explanation for “Eggbeater, electric and Whisk, manual” well that’s been blacked out by Max to keep Harem’s file from reading like the Penthouse Forum, I’m sure.
If that’s the case, then the one who set the securty high enough to ignore her IFF needs to be severely reprimanded for breach of security and protocal (and seriously doubt Harem would/could have done that herself)
One of my ninjas steals a collar from a Harem, said collar is given to one of my teleportes.
Said minion pops into arcs armory and raids it without problem because of iff.
Security gets its ass handed to it by brass for the hole.
That is why it works good theway it is.
That would be why Brodder mentioned IFF and visual and bodyweight and teleport energy signature.
Or it’s possible that Gothette got there just a smidgen early before Berry could talk to QM V
Did that guy with a blond streak and red Neru jacket (bottom of panel 6) just get Sean’s beanbag round in the face?
Yep, good eye.
Took me a little while to catch that one myself.
Also, good way to see who is a glass cannon without killing anyone.
Yeah, and he’s going to be needing a new one after this is all over :P
Odd. That was not how I read it, at first glance. It seemed to be some kind of evil eye attack. Supported, I think by the energy attack and blocking going on in the background.
But, looking at it again, there is what appears to be the round still visible, having bounced off, so you are probably reading it right.What appears to be the round bouncing off, is in fact the fist of the character, doing the energy attack, in the background. Having temporarily been persuaded, I have now come back to thinking it is an evil eye.
Look again. Laser-eye Guy’s fists are both down at his sides. He’s doing that elbows-back, palms-up, fists-at-waist, leaning-forward pose comic artists like to put supers in when they fire blasts from their heads. His right elbow is behind the beanbag.
The beanbag is still in contact with the perp’s face, deformed into an ellipse from the impact.
Mmm, I concede that there is deformation to his face. Although not all that happy about the interpretation yet. But am coming around.
Bean bag or not, is shooting somebody in the eye with a round complying with the orders to (paraphrasing) ‘go for non-lethal options first’? At this range he must have been aiming for the face, rather than it just being bad luck.
The bean-bag looks kinda like a hockey puck, plus you can see little ‘sonic-boom’ waves leading to it (may be difficult to make out as they are also over the top of the Cyclopes-wannabe)
…and are “Blonde-Streak” and “Red-Streak” twins?
Good catch, possibly
Which branch of the military are they technically a part of? I remember vaguely the Army has a tradition of NOT calling its Sergeants Sir? But I could be wrong as its not my area and I don’t have time to look it up.
They need to work on integrating magic into their technology. Like sensors. Dabbler might not be willing to help because of her code but she might be willing to look over their work so they don’t go ‘splodey’!
None. Archon is a completely new branch of the military created specifically to deal with “internal defense against extraordinary threats”.
See “Possum Comatose” and the follow ups.
If the password system is also being used to gain access to Dabbler’s laboratory, you can bet the defences there incorporate a lot of magic in them. But you multi-layer the defences, so that if somebody comes up with a counter to one aspect, they still have to face all the others. And you do not draw attention to the parts that do not require user interaction.
In fact, even Harem might not be aware of the other layers of defence there. That way if her mind gets read (not having the levels of protection that Dabber’s doubtless does), then the whole system does not get exposed.
I doubt that Dabbler would be willing to let her technomagic outside of her secure laboratory, unless she felt confident she could protect it from examination and theft/replication/hacking. Be it by rogue employees, enemy agents or even the government itself.
The first time an arch-mage reads Harem’s mind, disguises himself with an illusion, and teleports into the laboratory he will find out that Dabbler uses technomagic, not just mundane technology.
Yup, but I meant that the other human mages in the group should do so, if they haven’t secretly done so already. I just mentioned Dabbler as someone who could “check their work”. If the human mages develop it then it isn’t subject to Dabbler’s code as it represents semi-natural development. (except for the part where she makes sure her new home doesn’t go boom)
Good point. Or to ensure that the auto defences do not shoot at any aliens in an illusionary disguise, for that matter.
As has been mentioned above, it’s highly likely Daphne was being deliberately snarky with the QM
What does she mean with the “My mass limit also include myself”? If she has less bodies each one of the active ones can “carry” more mass?
Also, I’m amazed how well she can deal with this level of multitasking. She is talking, searching and sorting equipment, catching them, calculating her teleport arrival spots, avoiding get hit by a random laser, finding the suitable user for the gear, helping them get set for the fray and being naughty. And she isn’t even sharing the stress among her bodies! I wonder how much pressure would take before she started feeling overwhelmed!
Remember she has five brains to distribute this over and she has been trained to handle this kind of situation.
Yes, if she has less bodys out, each one still out is stronger.
While her brain is quantum entangled across the different Harems, each copy still has it’s own brain. So it’s not that suprising that each one can do completely seperate tasks.
Each body might even be able to do MORE than a single normal human, since she can probably share the load with the version that isn’t doing stressfull things
The discrepancy being that by being quantumly entangled she only has the one brain, not the five. Physically there are five, but they are all doing exactly the same thing, at the same time (by definition, if quantum linked). As such, to all intents and purposes, it is the same brain in five different locations. Which actually makes coordinating multiple bodies a lot harder.
So I think the distinction would have to be that only parts of her brain are quantum linked. The bits where her shared consciousness resides. As opposed to the bits that process incoming sensory data, and control the limbs, as examples. Although the fact that she can concentrate on different mental tasks too (each studying different subjects, for example), means that significant general cognition areas must also be unlinked.
But we already know from the atomic wedgie incident that sensory data is also shared down the chain.
I think it is more of a variation of the mental discipline of being able to filter out and ignore certain things at any one moment when doing a task. In this case it is localized in each copy.Also just recently there was mention of taste being shared simultaneously and compatibility issues.
So presumably she would than be able to semi-conciously sync her brains, while they opperate individually
Possibly, possibly not. We saw her reacting. We do not know if that reaction was as a result of the sensory input, or a sympathetic response. We cannot say that a husband’s “phantom pregnancy pains” are a result of shared sensory input. It is the brain empathysing with somebody else’s situation. I am sure we have all flinched, at some point or another, if we see somebody being injured. Say a knee to the groin.
Do not get me wrong, I am not implying that each Daphne would not be aware of what the others are doing. Merely saying that the raw processing of the incoming senses is likely to be done in each body individually. Otherwise she would be getting five overlapping fields of view for her eyesight, for example. But the raw data gets simplified to more manageable shorthand, which is then passed on to the cognitive parts of the brain.
So, in my theory, it is this higher function that would have quantum linking, rather than the lower raw data processing parts. If it does not work like this (or some variant of it), then how does the imagery from the eye get into the brain? She states ‘there is only one me’, so she views herself as having the one mind. Yet she is getting sensory input from five bodies. If all five bodies give all the raw data to the brain, how does each Harem body pick out which is the scene they are seeing, rather than one of the other bodies?
She did state that each copy tastes whatever each other copy is eating.
So, ateast in part, the sensory data of each individual copy is received by all of them. https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1195
So she has probably learned to, subconciously, filter out inputs that come from other bodys, but strong inputs (like an atomic wedgy), will overwrite the filter and blitz through it
But that’s the thing, we don’t know that Abbey ‘felt’ the Maximum Wedgie, but she did react to Gothette banging her knee on the bottom of the table
The way our brains work is to take the raw data and provide a simple version. For instance making a cartoon version of a face from the visual imagery. Then comparing that to the similarly simple memorised list of faces. It is why caricatures work so well. They mimic what our brain actually does. Likewise it is why we can treat the drawings above as real people. Despite not being photo-realistic. The key points that we need have been captured well enough that it matches the basic patterns we have stored for people.
This is confirmed in many ways. For instance autistic people lack this simplification process. And it makes the processing of the sensory data very hard as a result. Because they have to devote so much cognitive capability to understanding the flood of information coming in, it severely hampers the rest of their thought processes.
So it is entirely possible for the simplified sensory data to be shared by all of Harem’s mind, by quantum linking, but still have the early-stage raw data processing being done locally in each brain. In the example you give, it would be “this tastes kind of nutty” being shared, rather than the individual molecules of each flavour.
Our brain looks for the closest previous experience and says “this bit of sensory data is like such and such”. And is why, if you are expecting coffee, but are given tea, it tastes foul. Even if you normally like tea. Your were telling your brain what was coming and it did not match expectations. You were expecting the acclimatised bitterness of coffee and did not get it.
Interestingly enough it is why foreign faces can genuinely ‘all look the same’. For someone who is not used to, say, oriental faces they do not have a range of subtly different simplified faces in memory to serve as comparisons. The gross differences between an oriental face and the host of European faces, that someone might be used to, is big enough that the minor differences, that make one individual stand out from another, do not get picked up by the brain.
But once people have a number of faces they know well, then their brain can draw comparisons to the familiar. “Similar to the shopkeeper in Big Trouble in Little China, but with bigger eyes”, for example. Something to bear in mind if you are serving on a jury and eye-witness testimony hinges on identifying a member of a racial minority. Check to see how familiar that witness is with people of that specific ethnicity.
Yay! Quantum mechanics, a field I know virtually nothing about. Combined with neural science, also a field I know nothing about. Applied in super hero comic, where even in univers they’re kind of ‘wha?’ on how a lot of powers work. Lets BS :D. For an entangled person like Harem, I would think its a question of which parts are entangled. What bits of her are sharing the same state. If just her hippocampus were quantum entangled than she’d share long term memory across herself without it impacting her short term and her overall ability to fuction… mostly. Excluding things with intense input, like atomic wedgies and successive cascade related injury. This would lead to a contiguous sense of “self” where all input from all hers is going into forming those permanent neural associations. She’s also likely very adept at techniques of getting stuff into long-term memory as quickly as possible, maybe even subconsciously. This, in layman’s theory, should let her(s) act independently (like busting a gut on the john, but keeping a nearly straight face in the actual momment) but with continuity of self. 5 short term memories, 1 long term.
Another possibility is that she herself is fully entangled and acts as a wave, and because of her superness she’s just able to handle having five+ frequencies vibrating at her quantum level. She can do the wave with herself.
Or lastly, she’s just very good at patting her head and rubbing her belly, while twirling a hoola-hoop, tap dancing, and performing improv-comedy at the same time.
“Yay! Quantum mechanics, a field I know virtually nothing about.”
But really, does anyone KNOW anything about the Quantum Level of existence? Let’s face it, it’s an area of science that’s defined as being unquantifiable, unmeasurable & indefinable, as it exists as a state of pure random potential & possibility.
Which is exactly why so many scientists are working hard to understand it :P
It’s true that everything in the universe is related to everything else in the universe. But not even Einstein could determine the relationship between two things without using a defined point of reference to compare how much relativity exists. Nothing can be defined without comparing it to something else that’s already known as fact. E=MC^2, for example…Energy or Mass can be determined if either one of them is compared to the Constant (speed that light travels in a vaccum).
Strangely enough, the only “constant” at the quantum level is “constant change.”
There are two different skills that varies with the number of bodies. The strength that goes from normal to 16 times stronger and the extra mass teleport that goes from around 25% to 50% of each body’s mass (ie 25 to 50 lbs).
I think they are independent but maybe there is a link (a formula or whatever) between the two ranges. Nothing canon far now, though.
Although the definition of conscience (is this right?) may be a little difficult to explain, I guess her linked part is her conscience. Each brain work individually but under the supervision of a single “mind”. I’m trully amazed (not trying to discredit ( again is it right?)) that she can deal with this amount of pressure amd still be in a good mood.
(((so many Parentheses)))
While STILL in a good mood? She’s probably eating this up. She gets to really shine. She’s still young enough to be “invincible”, and she gets to really let loose.
I’m frankly surprised she hasn’t kicked one of the vanquished in the ribs yet, and reminded them that not every perceived weakness is that important.
actually it’s a bit of a difference between “Brains” and “Minds” Each body has it’s own brains and is capable of working seperately from the others, but all of the active “Harems” are sharing information in real-time. 5 Computers, 1 Mainframe all sharing and receiving date from each other.
Which works if the five computers are capable of doing five different things at once. So if they are merely using quantum communication * to share the results of operations, then that is a very fair analogy.
As opposed to the five computers being fully in a quantum linked state. Because, if that was the case, then every calculation that one did would be replicated on each of the others identically. Meaning they were duplicating effort, rather than separating it. So, again, it works if only parts of it are quantum linked, rather than the totality.
* As opposed to quantum encryption, which is slightly different. Likewise not to be confused with quantum computing, which uses a single machine to perform multiple different calculations on the same equipment simultaneously, using quantum effects.
So since several of her abilities seem to increase, relative to the individual Harem if not the overall Harem anyway, when she reduces the number of her bodies then maybe the base single Harem has super level stats in more than just strength? Maybe she has a super fast, genius mind as a single and so when she spreads that speed out amongst all her bodies she ends up looking normal. Her super fast mind allows her to juggle inputs and output as fast as normal people think with for each body? Having multiple bodies to produce input and channel output/tasks just makes it easier for her amazing mind to accomplish more? That would be cool and should become more obvious if she was ever forced to spend a lot of time as a single Harem!
Well theorised.
Are you aware what many things a normal person can do at the same time?
A drummer at a gig, enjoing the cheerful moment, making a different beat with each limb, varying them along the song, singing choirs, being aware of the leader’s directives, looking for the right moment to wipe off the forehead sweat, checking up that hot fan at first row and making some calculation about having or not enought time afterwards for a quickie.
And all that with, perhaps, one brain.
But then contrast that with when a similar quantity of skills is being used (driving a car) and you introduce a single extra element. Carrying on a conversation with somebody in another location (hands free). Even though you are not getting full sensory data from that location, you are still picturing it in your mind’s eye.
It causes a dangerous degree of distraction. It is quantifiable by testing, and consistently turning out to be comparable to drinking and driving, in terms of degraded performance.
Try carrying out four simultaneous (not alternating) conversations, with different people, but on engaging subjects, whilst driving, and see where the analogy breaks down. Preferably in a controlled environment, like a simulator. Because the odds of you crashing will be very high.
I pointed out just a base line.
She has 5 physical brains.
She is a super (special) being.
I do not think a linear extrapolation will be valid.
Actually, all those things us normal humans can do at the same time, are for the most part automated.
Your example of drumming is something that is partially automated, due to practice. The drummer doesn’t have to think about how and where exactly he has to hit each hit, he just knows he wants X note.
In the same way we bike and walk automaticly. We give our legs the command to go forward, and the subconcious takes over what muscle to move when.
When it comes to tasks that actually require attention, such as reading and talking, you can’t actually do both at the same time. You just constantly switch between the 2.
That’s the reason you aren’t allowed to call in the car. People who have an in dept conversation don’t focus on driving. Instead they drive on ‘auto pilot’. And thus they react slower (the act of holding a phone to your ear doens’t have anything to do with it, but it’s the only thing cops can check)
That was just an example, maybe an air traffic controller could be better.
However even automated actions involve brain activity (it is the brain which “automates” not the limbs). Also drummers, I know, have automated short strings of beats, they still keeps conscious control of the combinations and the changes along each song,
Anyway what you said is right, but there she is doing it :) I guess the distraction each body, with a full brain, does over Harem’s mind is a lot lesser. Harem’s slower reaction must be not too slower.
Who are all the speakers in panel 4? I know Harem is one of them, but I don’t know who the other is. To be honest, I’m not sure exactly which one is Harem.
Also, a note on teleporters displacing air. Unless they displace air fairly slowly, there’s going to be a very big BANG, or at the minimum, an obvious WHOOSH on both ends. Teleporting the air that’s occupying the space you want into the vacuum you leave is probably the simplest option. That, or perhaps control of the movement of air on both ends. It might be a useful attack. By altering the speed at which the air you displace moves out of the way, you could create precisely controlled explosions, theoretically at both ends of the teleport. But if the teleportation is truly instantaneous, then the air at the destination should have to move at faster than light speed, which would require more than infinite energy, which is kind of a problem, because that would technically be an explosion with more than infinite power.
“Bangless” teleporting probably involves teleporting the air at the destination to the point of origin.
It would be a cool effect if used with a smoke machine.
Fill a large closet with smoke at your HQ,
Make a dramatic comment at the origin and vanish in a human shaped puff of smoke.
Always kinda figured that’s how the *vorp*ing worked: she ‘swaps’ places with the air at her destination (if she can move there at ‘the speed of light’, there is little reason not to believe the air can’t do the same thing, in reverse)
which could make for an amusing effect if she teleported into a body of water, leaving behind a Daphne-shaped water-statue that hung in the air for a micro-second, then collapsed to the ground… Could she then create a detailed statue of herself by teleporting into a block of stone, then teleporting back out of it?
If that is how the teleport works, then I see only one reason why she couldn’t; teleporting into a solid object is usually considered lethal.
If that is how the teleport works, then I see only one reason why she couldn’t; teleporting into a solid object is usually considered lethal.
It’s just Harem and Sgt. Vauxhall. He was hoping for a sandwich but Harem is telling him the restaurant kitchen closed suddenly. He replys “typical…”. Harem responds “knowing Arianna…”
I’m guessing that, as with many other superpowers, Teleportation has any number of different classifications, flavours, styles, methods, effects, etc. – and a bunch of these probably have sub-categories and sub-sub-categories of their own.
(Eg. “OK, so you say your T-Port is technological. Would you mind being more specific? This planet, this timeline, this ….. etc.”)
Refer panel #6 of this – https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/428
Just for information, we have not seen this guy before (to my memory). This is serving as a way of introducing the character, by name, without having to go through the process of taking Halo, personally, to each member of Archon and going through mundane introductions.
It is why the exchange, from a military perspective, seems off. Unless you take into account both the new arm of the military aspect, with their own rules, and the informal command structure that Maxima has set up. Because the story has switched to Harem’s perspective, and she already knows everyone, there will be no way of giving us (the readers) introductions, without such kinds of dialogue. So you can probably expect some other variants, on the same theme, until we are up to speed on the key players in the organisation.
Ah, yes. I have been looking for this post….
Okay, first things first: somebody swaps location with an equivalent amount of air. How do you detect that with air pressure sensors? Simple: air conditioning will create a current in the air. When something (like a person) unexpectedly blocks that current, it will cause a change in local air pressure. By placing sensors all across the room’s ceiling, you can not only detect a teleporter, but tell WHERE they just showed up.
Secondly: if I had an automated defense system in place in my armory, I most certainly would not equip it with tasers (especially not if I feel there is a chance of bringing in somebody with body armor). Instead, I would use rubber bullets, beanbag rounds, or something of that nature, with claymore mines rigged to go off if it becomes clear that the non-lethal systems aren’t working. I would also have sonic, strobelight, and/or gaseous defense systems, just to round out the whole array of options. So while the turret is unlikely to kill Harem, it would surely be unpleasant.
Third: in all likelihood, I would have at least five means of identity recognition in place for defensive purposes. These would include voice recognition, passwords (which would change daily), an IFF transponder-type thing, an energy signature scanner (no idea if the energy signature is unique for each teleporter, but it seems likely), and, of course, a human guard. I would also have the area around the approved teleport area rigged with a number of “choice” items, all of which can be very easily tracked, and all of which look like exactly what you want to take out with you.
I would tell my teleporters about…um, probably no more than two of these. Maybe three, if I had to get a calibrating sample of teleports. But I would guess that Harem is NOT allowed to teleport into the armory without her uniform, for ANY reason, WHATSOEVER, for exactly this reason.
Leon, of course, probably knows about all five of these. But Leon probably has more security on his person at any given time than General Faulk does.
Leon was probably consulted on a good portion of some of the security, but even then, there’s probably a percentage that runs in parallel he didn’t get to see, and a good many black box items he had to integrate without being told how they work.
That brings to mind this cartoon.
The displacement theory could cause a few problems under the wrong conditions. Lets say there is a problem at a biological weapons facility. There is a scientist trapped in the lab that has just been exposed to some toxin and needs and antidote ASAP. Daphne says “No problem, I will get it to him.” She puts on her hazmat suit and vorps into the lab. Her comrades she just left are now standing in a room that has just been seeded with a cloud of anthrax spores (or nerve gas etc.)
Remember how Harem’s power quirk was defined: she can teleport without destroying the original, implying that she builds a new body at destination every time she teleports!
The point that O.B. Juan was making was not to do with Harem’s body. Rather than what happens to the air that is present at the point where the body will be when it does arrive. There are loads of different ways that teleportation might actually handle it. But here are a few:
– The air is displaced at the arrival point so that there is room for the body to be formed.
– The air swaps places with the original body. *
– The air is converted, providing some of the necessary building blocks and/or energy necessary to create the new body (or power the teleportation process)
– The air stays where it is and the atoms of the body interact with the air on arrival. The intense atomic reaction probably vaporising half a city block.
* Note regardless of whether the original is disintegrated and a new body is created there is still air blocking the arrival point. That must be dealt with in some manner.
Interesting point, and very true.
I really enjoy seeing Achilles doing his thing ^_^
What? Yawning/buffing his fingers while having the wannabe Cyclopes ‘talk to his hand’?
agreed seems so relaxed and mr.A i wonder what he is doing with his arm
Looks like flexing it, maybe enough to hold a table or something
He’s about to lay a giant-sized smack down on that overheight target in front of him.
…And, as always, ruins his clothes doing it. I’ll bet his uniform allowance is pretty frikkin’ high…
As has been said, it seems the amount of mass Harem can teleport is directly related to the mass of the teleporting body. My question is, could she also fix that by using two of her to teleport a particularly large object?
Hmmm, as in: if 2 Harem can lift something 1 can’t, can 2 *vorp* it? Seems plausable, only Harem (and DaveB) can answer that
I have not been able to find Harem’s science pages for quite some time. So there are gaps in my knowledge here. But, from the above, it seems to me that if Harem needs to carry a big load she actually needs to use less bodies, not more. From her explanation, it did sound the way that you interpreted it. Which would be that each one of her has a load capacity (including her own bodyweight).
But, from the fact that she needed to unteleport one of her bodies, in order to carry a higher load, I take it that her maximum capacity is calculated as a single entity, not separately. So if she wants to teleport two bodies, in addition to the large load, her weight is being deducted from the total capacity twice. Pretty much the same maths that you would do for any fuel consumption calculation for a rocket, for example. Two crew members requires twice as much crew weight in the calculation than one.
So (assuming I am following this correctly, which is not a certainty) if she only has one body out, her maximum cargo capacity should be enough to carry other people too. Which runs contrary to what we previously understood. Hence my uncertainty.
The compromise being that it is not a simple calculation. There may be a general pool of capacity that is shared, and each body also has some capability. But in tight situations, the math can sometimes work out that one body less gives a break point to carrying a particular load. But, without access to the pages that talked about this before, it is not really feasible to crunch the numbers and figure out what kind of formula might avoid continuity problems.
If the teleport power is pretty close to instantaneous, and has no or negligible recharge, then all 5 bodies could be using it serially. While one’s slapping armor on the brick, another is teleporting in to fasten the back, the next is grabbing a loaded M-4 with grenade launcher loaded with a beanbag round. Not waiting to teleport, but getting something done until that body’s “turn” comes around.
In that case, two may not be able to teleport at once, but drop one 120 pound girl out of the picture for a few moments, and the remaining four could have their carry weight increased by the full 120 pounds. Plus the additional physical strength that comes from dividing the overall physical stats across one fewer body.
Which means, a single harem could even have enough carry weight to do effective search and rescue.
The question becomes, can Harem teleport out of her jacket and boots? If not, the solution to restraining Harem may be to shackle her to a boulder.
i dont think the carry weight is that of one person, maybe 25% or something (for is thats true then she is as strong as max or anvil if she is in one body)
I have that page, from what I took the numbers I mentioned in a few post.
However, reading it again I realize that it is a bit ambiguous or maybe there is certain inconsistency. I will check it.
Damn the restaurant has gone to a full fleaged battle royale ! I wonder who will win .
The insurance company.
Actually, with the size of the claim, the insurance company will be one of the losers. The construction contractors and workers involved in the reconstruction will be winners.
Insurance companies are only the losers if they are incompetent. The way it works is that the US taxpayers will be covering it all. In this instance retroactively. In the form of significantly increased insurance premium payments throughout the country.
Plus there is the possibility that this action may not be insured. For instance if it is (as is possible) an act of war, then it would not be covered. The bill would end up with the US government initially (unless they stiff the restaurant with the bill, as Harem implies), and the foreign power eventually. Either to repay as part of reparations negotiations, or, if the war goes the other way, by virtue of the enemy country acquiring the debts, along with the assets, when it conquers the USA.
Actually, insurance companys are also insured themselves, just for this kind of thing
Yes, Reinsurance is a thing. It spreads the risk pool further, so none of the insurance companies suffer catastrophic damage.
You mean the construction crew.
And the demolishion/cleanup crew
And the lawyers. *sigh*
agreed – the lawyers always win >.<
*nods*
Gota love a job where you get paid even when you loose.
Accountants, lawyers and politicians. The unholy trinity. Those who make the laws, those who argue over the implementation of the laws and those who find loopholes in the law.
Whatever else happens, they each make sure they get as big a slice of the pie as they can, in the process.
Only a bean bag in the barrel?
Shame, I’d have liked Harem to think it was only a bean bag and turn out to be an explosive round.
It’s a bean bag because of Maxi’s instructional orders to at least attempt to be non-lethal force
For some of these bad guys, HE-Frag is a less-lethal weapon.
But not to those others within range of the explosion. One doesn’t chuck a grenade into a close melee. That is, not unless you are playing a Chaotic Evil S.O.B. MWAHAHAHAHAHA!
Or maybe Chaotic Neutral, who just doesn’t give a flying ****
Yes, but you always start with the bean bags and then move up to heavy ordinance.
It’s less unintentionally messy that way.
Agreed. Especially in this world. All supers look like buff supermen. Even if they can only convince people that they know Kevin Bacon. It is all to easy to make a wrong assumption, and end up needing to use a bucket, to transport him from the scene.
wait – you know Kevin Bacon?!?
Given how widely known he is, and the large readership the comic now has, he is almost certainly known to at least one reader. Who may well have pointed out, to him, his association with a super power. Which is bound to intrigue anybody, even of celebrity status.
Leading to the possibility that he would have checked ot the comic. And, it is good enough that he may have gotten hooked on it. So, it is plausible, if not likely, that one of our commentators actually is Kevin Bacon!
In which case, my answer can be ‘yes’, even though I do not know it.
Say, jee, would you like to do a celebrity endorsement of Grrl Power? If you were to do mention it to each of the people you know, pretty soon all of Hollywood, and then the rest of the world, would end up as fans!
It’s a good power, if he ever meets Kevin Bacon, and can convince him he knows him – but then the paradox factor increases…as now he really knows Kevin Bacon and his power is redundant…
I’m guessing he would simply blow up and take the universe with him as he would end up in a reinforcing power loop of knowing Kevin Bacon to Kevin Bacon, thus closing the loop and starting the process. Best if he never meets Kevin Bacon a second time, or we are all doomed. Somebody show the math on this, please.
This sounds like a job for…XKCD.com
No, seriously…Submit your question with the pertinent information & maybe, just maybe, they’ll do the math for you.
It is because of paradoxes, such as come with time travel, that the concept of alternate Earths and parallel dimensions was created. And the math supported the possibility that it is genuine, and matches some of the models of how dimensions work. But it does get rid of those nasty paradoxes in the process. So no nasty side effects.
You can kill your grandfather, before you were born, and not wink out of existence. Simply because it is your grandfather from an alternate dimension, rather than the one in your time-stream. You can then return to your own present day, or the alternate future in a universe where you were never born. The fact that you can visit it is not a paradox, simply because you are a visitor from a parallel Earth, rather than somebody who was never born.
Not that the Kevin Bacon paradox even needs that contingency to defuse it. :-) It is analogous to a super who can turn himself red. If he gets sunburnt then his power is redundant. There is no paradox.
There is one other anser to the grandfather paradox.
Grandma cheated.
“Being John Malkovich”
that and some places use the “escalation of force” to prove Self-defense. Basically it comes down to “Did you attempt to end the confrontation WITHOUT lethal force first?”
They DID… Maxima waited till the bad guy did his monologue (she didn’t want to be RUDE, you see…), then she asked Anvil to take care of it… which Kenya did by just standing up and consequently becoming the target of opportunity for the bad guy… HE threw the first punch… poof, it is now Self Defense, no if’s, and’s or but’s about it… AND her use of the NON-Lethal power of absorbing the force from MULTIPLE punches, in doing so, he has also proven himself to be a person who is not willing to settle this peacefully. Especially after his (presumed) MOST powerful attack is not only shrugged off, but MOCKED as being a BABY-punch. all this happened before she escalates it to a moderately lightweight knock-back, as i am assuming that a) Kenya COULD have used more force in her nose-boop than she actually did use, and that she could have conceivably broken his neck instantly. killing him versus, just blasting him back thru the wall. it is assumed that if somebody can jump thru a wall/ceiling? and then brags about punching my head off of my shoulders and then tries to do so BAREHANDED, then HIS body CAN withstand the impact damage from actually doing it (to someone else of, course) ergo, he could stand a bit of Oomph! to get him BACK out of the restaurant… and b) if Max had wanted really to, she could have taken him out almost instantly as well, re: catching a bullet versus *just* having to dodge a PUNCH… easy-peasey in comparison…
Further example – Shadow-dude’s attack on Sydney. He simply phased in and immediately surprise-attacked someone who had clearly not demonstrated any hostile intent whatsoever.
I wonder if Halo does an incredible hulk impression when she unteleports. Getting mucular and shredding her clothes.
You mean ‘Harem’
D’oh, yeah.
*gets a warm feeling* Heh. Glad I am not alone, in doing this. And my prediction came true faster than I was expecting! **
*wags tail*
** Ahem… possibly before I made it. But I don’t feel like comparing time stamps, as I had not seen this, regardless.
An armory is usually made with very thick walls but they will also have an intentional blowout path in case of fires or accident especially on ships. Far better for the hatches to blow than the keel or hull. This is also a feature on tanks where external storage of ammo and gear have “blowout” panels.
Terry Pratchett / Discworld reference that seems relevant.
The Guild of Artificers is well-known for their (mostly unintentional) explosions. Which is why their laboratory/workshops tend to be built with VERY strong walls, and roofs that are especially cheap and thin. It just works out cheaper for them that way.
Also from Discworld, one of the characters is job-interviewing someone who is a former member of aforementioned Guild. When asked about how they left the Guild, the immediate answer is “Through the roof – but I know what I did wrong.”
You mean the Guild of Alchemists, not Artificers.
Quite possibly.
That is almost certainly the case here too. The sergeant just has his booth inside that area. The glass between him and the people, who have already gotten past the blast doors, is more a matter of tradition, than serving much for protection purposes. Even the reinforced stuff will not slow down most supers. But breaking it might set off alarms, and alert people in earshot, if nothing else.
Although it has some minor protection, such as versus touch or breath weapon attacks. He will get a bonus on his saving throw to avoid catching a cold.
Goose’s description seems to be missing a word, and that word is ‘resemblance’.
Oh god, is that the protagonist of Duke Nukem (I don’t know his name)? That guy has to be Maxima’s worst feminist nightmare. And somehow I have the feel he would be best friends with Dabbler.
Please, make “Duke Nukem” interact with them!
You mean, Duke Nukem? That’s his name, ‘Duke Nukem’
Yeah, that’s what I imagined. But when you have been yelled for thinking Link is called Zelda cause that’s the name in the title, you don’t want to make the same mistake twice.
Understandable confusion than :P
Yea, Zelda is evil in that regard. Though it’s more the exeption than the rule
Read the who’s who
His name is Goose. He just looks like Duke. Probably knows it all to well.
Warning friendlies: “Duck!” “Duck!”
Shooting the bad guy beyond the friendlies: “Goose!”
I get it now… Duke Duke Goose…
I can’t decide if it’s sad or awesome that his callsign is based on a pun
actually he’s a top gun fan who wanted maverick but there was already a super by that name so …….
He’d probably look a little less like Duke if he’d drop the sunglasses inside at night.
But… cool sunglasses :(
tech glasses aka ballistic protection glasses aka okleys: all ways to say defensive equipment part of standard issue for military personnel in a combat zone.
HEHE loving this more and more heh e
So if Harem gains too much body-fat she would become too heavy to teleport?
Presumably.
It’s a good thing superpowers come with a guaranteed hyperidealized body
Doesn’t mean they can’t gain/lose weight
Personal guess: if one gained extra kilos, then they all would, whichmeans they won’t (but if one did, it may just up their weight allowance, as long as they continued to train and the amount they could lift remained proportional to the body weight they gained)
no, because then the different versions couldn’t BE different versions, if that happened, then all the makeup /tattoos, pierced ears, etc would all merge into one generic “person-shaped” Harem… i’ll say that only the physical body that actually ATE all the food would do the weight gain, the other four would probably taste the food as it went in, etc., but they would NOT gain weight from it, they would stay their base-line weight… and the heavier version of Harem would have a larger decrease in *extra-weight* TP capability compared to the other four, and while the other four *would* be affected, they wouldn’t be affected as much… then, going by today’s comic, as soon as the heavier of the clones gets derezzed, the remaining four’s capacity will go UP to (i am assuming) the carry capacity of the four that are left in this strip (for the next strip on thursday), since they have not changed from their current base-line weight, and they are now four vs five, and the heavier one is derezzed, so as to no longer affect the formula, just like Thing #1 is doing right now with her boots and/or derezzing that version for the next TP attempt with the heavier gear.
Harem (to shop assistant): “Ok, now we have narrowed down the choices to the fashionable, which is the lightest?”
Harem (VORPing back from changing room): “Can you accessorise this with a holster?”
Nice to see Blondini has recovered from Halo giving her a heart-attack quickly enough to give Sean his ‘Bang Bang’ (and guessing that comment about the bean bag being in the tube was to let him know one round was already chambered/loaded and ready to fire)
Another proof-reading note: Panel 4. “Hey QM I’m going to checking out” should read (I expect) “Hey QM I’m going to BE checking out”.
Lot of action and characters in this one. Fun. :)
On the subject of the physics of teleporting: The issues presented by the air/mass have been mentioned, but there’s also velocity. Teleporting from different latitudes on the Earth changes the speed of one’s angular velocity. Changing longitudes changes the direction. Those would have to be compensated for, too.
Maybe Harem has figured out how to do it safely like Scotty did in the reboot of Star Trek
Oooooh, that poor dog used as a test-subject…
My favourite is still the teleportation in Galaxy Quest. In fact that film is currently sitting at number 2 in my all-time favourite science fiction movies. Fifth Element being then number 1. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of one that is deserving of being above it, anyhow. Although my lists do fluctuate over time, and something I see might displace them for a while. But those two are standing the test of time well so far.
DaveB has explained that she gets a very brief moment to feel her destination and either make adjustments or abort. I don’t think he explicitly said that she could adjust her velocity, but that’s not a big leap.
I would imagine that if you teleported a short distance the change in angular momentum or direction wouldn’t be enough to knock you over.
I have a question about Harem.
Shouldn’t the equipment she teleports with look the same purple-y as she, and her clothes?
The equipment Vorps in just the same afterall
Maybe, but it makes sense to me that it doesn’t, and apart from Bodie still tugging downthe front half of ‘Duke Goose’s body armour, Abbey (behind Duke Goose) and Blondini (with Sean’s ‘Bang Bang’) are not touching what they had been carrying
I think the reason she is fully purple and the equipment isn’t, is that she is both vorping in with it and vorping out for the next item in the same panel. The equipment, on the other hand,is sticking around.
+1
+2
+3
You forgot the 4
Do you mean “Worp”? :)
um… NO, the sound she makes while teleporting is clearly a “Vorp” sound with a “V”, not a “W”
Uh? I was talking about the nickname in the post.
+5
Hey! Don’t just leave! I need to sign for all this stuff.
Phooey: I need you to sign for all this stuff.
Actually, most weapons are stored in locking racks, steel transfer boxes, or steel lockers, all behind thick walls and a keyed/key pad steel door. Given that there has been more than enough time to communicate back to base, providing nobody is blocking comms, then the QM has had enough time to unlock the racks and set the security to expect Harem, and possible trouble if anyone follows her. BTW, the Army soldiers generally refer to the QM as “Supply” or “Supply Sergeant”.
Not really.
There has only been a minute, few minutes max, since the villains burst in
A few minutes is plenty of time, especially as the QM most likely is doing all of the unlocking and such from his computer. I would also surmise that anyone working for Archon is really on the ball.
I would say that no more than 40 seconds have passed.
In combat, that is a huge amount of time for your ‘space marines’ to be unarmed and unarmored. And you suggest that the quartermaster should say “Hey, only I can open those! I don’t care if our troops are under fire! There are regulations for this!”
Wow. I managed to really misread that. I now realize that you meant that the QM was unlocking things from his room.
Also, as DavidB said, his armory is closer to a Chuck wall O’ gun.
In the open type military racks that rifles and sometimes pistols are stored in, locks would be irrelevant to a teleporter.
Excellent point! I had not thought of that.
Maybe the Sarge’s firstname could be ‘Grant’
We may be mis-reading his tone of voice. He could actually have been playful here and giving his fist name with his rank. His surname being Cavalier.
No, that was a responce to DaveB saying he considered naming the Sarge ‘Gant’ (in honour the first role he saw Clint play), but did catch your vehicular reference :D
Someone is going to pay for ruining Stalwarts shirt in panel 5.
And I think it will be the Cyclops wanna be.
Dear Author (sorry, I don’t recall your (nick)name),
I have no idea what id going on after panel 3. WHAT is going on? Who is the old guy? And why is pink Harem talking to him? And what’s with the tablet? And what’s Duke Nukem doing in there? And who are those people fighting? Are those the assailants? And is that the same pink Harem vorping around? The one that is also talking to the old guy on all the other panels? Man, just what the heck is going on?!
I like this comic, but sometimes it is really hard to figure out what’s going on. I know nothing about sequential art, it’s probably tricky. Please take this as reader feedback and not criticism.
Did you read the comic yet? Because all of your questions about what’s going on are already awnsered. They got attacked
The old guy is the QM= Quarter Master, as explained in the who’s who section.
He’s the guy in charge of the gear, so Harem will need to document everything she’s taking out.
Duke is also explained in the who’s who. Name’s Goose.
And yes it’s the same Harem. 1 of her is talking to the QM, the other 4 are ferrying equipment to the fight
The author’s handle is DaveB. Whenever I am failing to recall it, I just look at the header of the author’s comments, which lies immediately below the comic.
Firstly, I must agree that there were panels that I struggled with too, on first read through. This is an intense action scene, covering the actions of a multi-bodied teleporter though. So we must expect that our conventions on how action is portrayed to be challenged in this instance.
I agree that it could, and probably should, be handled differently if trying to make a smooth first-time read through a priority. That said though, all the clues we need are present in the pictures. In this case, I feel that having to work at understanding it to be entertaining in it’s own right. For me panel 5 was the harder to disentangle, for some reason. Having figured it out now, it seems hard for me to understand why it was so difficult in the first place. But I do not forget the struggle, so appreciate your comment totally.
The key to placing it all is to remember that Harem is following out Maxima’s orders. Plus, what is most confusing, but perfectly natural, if viewed from Harem’s perspective, is that this action page is also introducing several new characters, by name. They are new to us (the readers), although their roles can be inferred from the dialogue or action respectively.
Panel layout at this stage is split, with the armoury being on the left (in panels 4a, sub-panel 4b, and 4c), and the restaurant on the right. I only figured this out in typing it out, but did not feel it difficult to follow the context of each frame in it’s own right.
Panel 4a makes sense if you know that “QM” is short for “Quarter Master”, the person in a military organisation responsible for issuing weapons and ammunition.
Panel 5, to the right of that, is also split into 3 parts. So I will refer to them as 5a, 5b and 5c.
Panel 5a just needs careful examination of the picture. Two of Harem’s bodies have teleported in and are helping “Duke”/Goose to put on the body armour she has transported. She then teleports out. So this is 3 actions combined into a single panel. Teleport in, put bullet proof vest on, teleport out. Very confusing shorthand, but so simple when you understand it.
My one suggestion, to DaveB, for enhancing understanding, is to put a purple glow around the items being teleported in.
Panel 5b is then obviously her doing the same in handing over a gun to Shawn.
Panel 5c is general ongoing chaotic fighting in the restaurant. This conveys an impression of what she is seeing as she pops in and out.
Panel 4c (or, if you want to count it as a fresh panel, then panel 6), again confusing at first, but seeing the content of the display, it is clearly still in the armoury. So the voices need to be Harem and the quartermaster. This is confirmed by the way Harem’s picture in the sub-panel overlaps the two panels, drawing them together, and showing a continuity between the scene of her chatting to the quartermaster, in his booth, and then looking at the display.
The remaining two panels then just winding up the scene in the armoury.
While I agree with this page could be confusing as feedback to DaveB I must say that I had no problem understanding it first time.
The only thing I didn’t get until read the comments was it was the beanbag round bouncing off “Blonde-Streak” face.
Presumably this is all part of operation Lightstorm. Or, possibly, Harem has taken the instruction to arm Peggy as being to ‘equip everyone’. For some reason I thought that the latter was part of the actual order, but I may have been remembering an author comment. Maxima did use the term ‘at your discretion’ though, so she is operating within orders.
So it is possible (and from the name probable) that ‘Lightstorm’ is a combat role that will follow the supply action we see here.
Command was ‘equipment run’ https://www.grrlpowercomic.com/archives/1276
so that probably includes everyone that needs anything
The last word on the supply list is ‘grenade’ and is followed by an 18. She hasn’t given anyone grenades that we’ve seen so ‘Lightstorm’ probably involves those (flash-bang, smoke, Sydney-bait… er, teargas etc.).
+1 tearing eyes laughing so hard at syd bait
I like the ‘5×5’ part of Harem’s code…
69 5×5 to be exact
I have figured out the 5×5 significance. Now, lets see if we can work on the rest of the code. I am sure there must be some significance to the remaining numbers…
;-)
Possibly the whole combo is a tribute to how she earned her “paralytic cunnilingus” achievement?
Oh nicely spotted!
And I call Buffy the Vampire Slayer reference on that. I know that Dave is a fan of the series too. “Five by five” is the distinctive catchphrase that a rogue slayer uses [sends request to brain to supply name… results pending].
More than that, it is what distinguishes her as having taken control of Buffy’s body in one episode. So is a direct analogy to this situation. Even if it is her body, it might not be her mind. So the password system is an extra contingency against that too. Hence sliding the sly reference in. In code!
Her name is Faith. Most add ‘Lehane’ or ‘Wilkins’ (Mayor Snake) as her surname.
what you say is accurate; it’s also used in the movie, Aliens, by the dropship pilot (“we’re in the pipe, 5 by 5”)
but the core commonality is that it’s a military term in which comms checkout always closes with a request for another party to verify the comms are working; the response is along two 5-point scales to describe volume (weak – soft – low – audible – loud) and clarity (unreadable – broken – decipherable – staticky – clear). Thus “5×5” is the same as saying “loud and clear.” It has over the years expanded to describe a state of things being good or right (e.g. “How are you today?” “I’m 5×5!”)
In Daphne’s case, she probably heard the slang and adapted it, attributing it to her own pentascience.
OR, more likely since that is DEFINITELY a HIGH-Security area (most definitely UNlike Dabbler’s Pants…) that just happens to be the random code-word that was generated for that person, for that day, and is absolutely nothing of note…
There are two parts to what she is saying. The first bit is the daily code, the second bit is to identify her. still this is a good program if it can process stress in a voice to compare it to the stored sample.
Poor Duke Nukem…. his career is so dead he’s forced to take rolls playing bit characters who are who are pissed off about looking like himself xD
I think you’re missing the word “resemblance” from the sidebar info on goose xP
As per the armory teleportation defense, I imagine Dabbler would be willing to consult about effective countermeasures, even if she isn’t willing to provide her own tech for the purpose. Remember, one of the items she mentioned when chatting with Sydney is that a species should attain a certain level of technology ‘on their own’? Well, giving a little gentle push for your student to stretch themselves (safely) would probably still fit.
I think there misses a word in pannel 4
“Hi QM, I’m going to checking out some equipment”
Missing the word BE
Harem could also be accurate is saying that she IS checking out equipment…
I like how Shawn’s entire character discription is ‘Ex SEAL’
I’m insterested in seeing the reveal on his powerset
Ex-Seal pretty much covers it. Probably a “normal” but, since he has been assigned to Archon, a real badass. His powers come from his gear.
+1 save for one thing. He is a SEAL. His body is as much a weapon as his equipment.
He has more personality to offer, it just hasn’t happened yet. :)
It fits him, for now
Like how Nick Fury’s entire character discription in the Avangers is ‘Eye Patch’
As non lethal ordinace seems to be the norm it would be a good scenario to test out the feasibility of a dewdrop grenade:
https://science.howstuffworks.com/hydro-ordnance5.htm
you do realize the whole setup was an April Fool’s Day joke, right?…??
Yeah, but the idea of a dewdrop grenade loaded with powerful narcotics poses some interesting…implications.
Figures that a military-style organization would have the best toys. There’s no way speech recognition would have worked for that password otherwise.
In our world. Theirs is ours plus super powers. You can guarantee there is at least one person who has enhanced gadget building skills, by some means or another*. And, unlike Reed Richards, might actually make the gadgets available on the mass-market. Secure voice recognition systems seeming like a good priority (even if only for friendly governments).
* Various examples being:
Super brain;
Serendipity (in always perusing the most favourable line of research by chance);
The ‘Create Gadget’ spell;
A telepathic gestalt (between various scientists, working on a project, to make a super-inventor);
A pact with the devil (or higher powers);
The ability to correctly draw connections between apparently unlinked facts (super intuition);
A technomagic lantern (you rub it to summon a technology oriented genie, of course);
Precognition (knowing what will work, without having to do the proto-type, just by looking at the future and seeing what would happen if it were built as proposed);
Super gadgeteering (which I think is best exemplified by ‘the spark’ in Girl Genius).
Or my favorite,
“approprating” the plans from another dimension/the future/alternate timeline.
I.E. modified snatcher from GURPS.
The current state of art speech recognition can easily deal with it, even at public level, let aside military level.
I have an uncle who served in a special services branch, and he told me about going to the Scuba shop and finding ‘New, just released’ equipment that he had been using more than five years prior.
So yes. The military is ahead of the civilian market.
you think that’s funny/bad (depending on your point of view)… the movie with Wil Smith and Gene Hackman: “Enemy of the State”… the “Keyhole Satellite” system the bad guys were using… yeah, that’s REAL… AND it’s been DE-classified, that’s how come we came to know about it publicly… kinda makes you wonder what the government STILL has under wraps, don’t ya?
The reverse can sometimes be the case, or so I understand.
Procurement for the US military has started getting embarassed in recent years by servicepeople legally acquiring and utilizing civilian items in the field (eg. footwear, sleeping bags, backpacks, personal electronics, etc.) that are noticeably superior to the standtad-issue equivalents.