Grrl Power #433 – The bubble bus
Yes, Sydney has a rebreather now, but it was designed with one person in mind, not four. As Gwen pitches, there may be significant development in this area if the team decides they need it.
The problem with being cagey about what city they’re based in is that whenever I list a city they have to travel to get to, it’s easy to cross if off the list of potential home bases. New York would probably make for a poor location anyway, as would anything on either coast if the team has to serve the whole country. Ideally, there would be at least two active branches, one for each coast, and eventually that’s the plan. Really you’d want one near all the major population clusters, but the scarcity of supers makes that impractical at the moment.
I had trouble deciding what clothes to put Sydney in since she’ll be wearing this gear for a good number of pages in this arc. Part of me wanted her wearing some other superhero shirt as that comprises a fair bit of her wardrobe, but Arianna will get on her case about that now that she has her own personal brand to build. I decided to return her to the white and yellow scheme she was in for the first ~300 pages. Instead of a Wonder Woman-ish pattern though, she’s debuting her official logo. It’s hard to see here but you’ll get a better look at it in upcoming pages obviously. Each team member has one, but Maxima is definitely not down with Arc-SWAT wearing “costumes” so they’re hard to spot in the wild. Really the logo is mostly for marketing purposes, but it only works as branding if they’re occasionally worn by the team members. Sydney’s ideal for this as she clearly has no issue wearing a superhero logo shirt, and especially if it’s her own logo.
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Why not just make a sphere shaped cabin with extra airsupply, landing gear, snackbar and a parachute? When everyone is comfortable it their chairs sipping on a drink and watching a movie Halo activates the bubble and Air Scoville takes to the skies. That could be a nice source of extra income actualy. And think of how popular the toy version of the Halomobile could be.
Actually I was thinking this myself: The talk of outfitting the inside of her force-bubble reminded me of a 1980s Disney movie, Explorers, with River Phoenix and Ethan Hawke.
The second thing I thought of, as you pointed out about the need for an extra air supply, is the suggestion by Gwen for an air scrubber only solves half the problem. They need an oxygen supply to replace the O2 that gets removed in the CO2.
My third idea was they could give the force bubble it’s own utility belt. If strapped to the outside Sydney could access whatever is place in it’s pouches while her shield is still up using her tentacle. Lot’s of possible uses for this idea. She could fly into a hostile environment and dropoff or pick-up all kinds of equipment: Robot gun pods in a battlefield, deep sea sample return, satellite deployment in orbit, and maybe even rock collecting from the surface of the moon. (talk about a nice source of extra income – those things are *literally* priceless)
Yes, she certainly could use her Light Hook on the outside of her shield, but in order to do that while flying, she’d need three hands. Having to land to deploy gun pods would be annoying, and the bouyancy of her bubble would prohibit deep-sea operations. As for space, provided that the air supply problem was solved and they had some way to keep her from freezing to death, she could probably visit Mars, much less the Moon. I would imagine that surface samples from Mars would go for an even higher price than moonrocks. If she put a couple more points into her flight orb, she could probably visit other star systems (though it would likely take some years to do so).
Realistically, though, it’d probly be easier to convince Dabbler to collect rocks from Mars or Tau Ceti than Sydney.
“The second thing I thought of, as you pointed out about the need for an extra air supply, is the suggestion by Gwen for an air scrubber only solves half the problem. They need an oxygen supply to replace the O2 that gets removed in the CO2.”
The really quicker problem is the increasing concentration of CO2, which itself causes physiological reactions in the body that decrease ability to concentrate. However, if you want half of the O2 back for longer trips, use a zeolite designed to absorb CO2 in 2 small tanks. Alternate the tanks in use, and the full one is heated to drive off the CO2, which you compress till it’s liquid. Then you electrolyze the liquid CO2 into O2 and CO. Store the CO under pressure or react it, and release the O2 back into the cabin. This *should* allow you to quadruple the time you can use the bubble without any extra O2 tankage dragged along. Liquifying the CO takes lower temperatures than a small vehicle would deal with, without great expense at least. Even then, it takes a lot more electrical power to crack that second Oxygen atom off the Carbon atom.
Your idea to electrolyze the liquid CO2 into O2 and CO sounds better, but only if the mass/volume of the power source is less than the mass/volume of the O2 tankage.
I am liking this thread.
How about Halo makes just the bottom half of the sphere the cabin (with a compact home entertainment system, of course). Whilst the top half becomes the greenhouse, stocked exclusively with broad-leafed optimal-air-producing plants.
Making sure that none obscure Sydney’s visibility too much. It would need bullet proof glass, needless to say. With shatter proof material woven through it, to stop fragments from flying around if it is penetrated. Being woven, she could even ask the tailor to reinforce it, with his super-power.
Whilst the plants probably will not provide full life support, for a full passenger load, I imagine they would be sufficient for Sydney on solo flights. Plus will lessen the reliance on devices, at other times. There would be space, under the hydroponics trays, for the scrubbing equipment and air tanks.
Which only leaves us with the dilemma of where to put the jacuzzi? On the balcony, or in the gondola?
It’s a good idea to make the top of the Halomobile lighter than the lower part for balance, especialy if it would land/crash in water. The upper half contains nothing but air, a parachute, Halo and her extremely pimped out chair.
Perhaps a long range solo Halomobile would be a good idea? That one could contain a lot of cool and usefull things if it doesn’t need a ring of seats for all those non flying peasants. Batman have a lot of different rides for different purposes so why shouldn’t Halo have the same? Space Halomobile, cargo HM, passenger HM, camping HM, ambulance HM, sub HM, TankHM, etc…
As for the jacuzzi, how about making the ring of seats with water resistant material? That way you can just fill it up with water and there you have your jacuzzi.
Multiple Halomobiles is a good idea, but remember this is on the government’s dime unless she pays herself. Most models should have extra seats though because she suddenly becomes the team’s best mass transit. Harem can’t teleport others and the other flyers can’t fly as fast while carrying as many people / as much material as she can. At least as far as we know. They did carry busloads of people a good distance during the press conference.
I don’t think a big solid structure will be all that useful. A lot of the people they run into will have powers that could damage it anyway. Halo’s shield should be the primary defense of any HM. A scaffold structure that gets things out of her way might be useful though I wouldn’t go overboard or she wouldn’t be able to see around herself. Actually I totally see a future joke with the round couch where everyone’s sitting back to back and she goes to set it down but can’t see the rock below the couch so the instant she drops the shield it hits the rock and tips sideways.
That said, a space HM should be a solid container so she can rest in it, but might be bigger as she can enlarge her shield. There would be no wind drag issues in space.
I’m surprised you’d go for the jacuzzi Yorp. Isn’t that a little close to a bath? :-)
I love swimming. Buffy, my Jack Russel Terrier, though does hate baths though. I have a washtub big enough to put her in, but she will splay her legs so that no part of her ends up going in the bowl! Until I tell her that it is not optional. When she will, very reluctantly, co-operate.
Baths have a very different significance for dogs though. Forcing a dog to have one is akin to going to a human’s house, picking up all their photograph albums, putting them in a pile and burning them!
This is due to scents being much more significant for dogs. So if they come across an interesting smell (say the markings of a dangerous predator), they will roll in it, to pick up the scent. That way, when they return to their pack, or meet other dogs, they are able to pass on the scent message.
Instead of saying “look what I saw on holiday” they are saying “sniff what I came across on walkies!”
And then we go and wash it all away!
*ears droop in guilt*
One other thought on air supply. If the couch is designed as a solid unit with everyone sitting with their backs to each other you could put a big handle in the middle. Then Sydney could stop in midair and release the shield while quickly switching to the light hook to grab the handle before the couch dropped more than 20 feet or so. Then she pulls it back up, tosses it a few feet toward herself, and reactivates the shield before it falls back again. Fresh air in the bubble and everyone safe. It would probably take just 10 or 20 seconds to do.
But with a cabin you don’t need to use the hentorb tentacle at all. Just switch off the shield for a short while and the on board automatic air system will quickly remove the nasty ol’ CO2. It works on high altitude as well where you don’t want to expose the passengers for the thin air and cold. And as a bonus you can paint some nice nose art on the hull like they did on bombers back in the day. I’m sure Sydney would love a Wolverine pinup on her sweet ride but no doubt Arianna would veto it.
*** Sorry, very long post. But hopefully worth it! ***
Ok how about this, a really big glider. Even larger than that solar-powered one, doing its world tour at the moment. One structurally sound enough to take both the weight of Sydney and a full load of passengers, seat, air units, etc yet also capable of surviving being pushed at Mach 4.
The cabin would be like a Russian doll, with a larger outer, streamlined fuselage, but containing an inner spherical void. Inside which would be an inner ball,* which could either just be a roll cage or an airtight cabin, but containing all the bits listed above.
As Ro Jaws points out it should be bottom-heavy, to ensure that it retains the correct upright orientation. But, as the outer hull would be flotation capable, it would not be necessary for the inner ball to be likewise. Although a sealed cabin would need doors that could line up with suitable exit gaps in the structure enclosing the void (which needs to be substantial, as it is this that gets pushed against to propel the aircraft).
A roll cage would be easier to exit, to get out into the main fuselage, where normal glider doors would give access to the outside world. To keep the weight down the main fuselage would have little more than air inside it, and the structure that is built for the orb to sit in and be pushed against, as the propulsion source.
This would be intended for lower altitudes only. A pressurised cabin, air tanks and heaters capable of warming the whole, would probably add too much to the already considerable payload described. It would however allow fresh air to be vented through it, which is a key purpose of this concept.
All necessary life-support, and other critical gear, would be contained in the inner sphere. Fully protected by Sydney’s force field, when she has it up. But not needing it most of the time, unless entering combat, or other hazardous situations.
Halo would, of necessity, be stuck in the inner orb all of the time that they need their propulsion. It is the only place structurally designed for pushing. However because it is a glider, she can exit, if someone else goes up front to the pilot’s seat and operates the glider controls.
Which means they can build gun ports into it, both for normal use, and for Sydney (or Maxima or Heatwave or Jiggawatt) to zap out of. Or do interesting things with the tentacle.
At other times it would be set in responsive mode, adjusting the controls in accordance with the movements of the inner orb. If it goes up, the ailerons and elevators do too, for example. This would mean no pilot is needed when the force field is up. Separate settings would be made for taking off or landing modes. And/or the whole could be connected up for radio control (with suitably secure protocols, to make it harder for others to seize control).
Finally the huge cost involved would be justified as it is a vehicle that could be propelled by any strong flyer, in the same way. So both Maxima and Super Hiro would also be able to use it (or any of its backup sister aircraft).
All assuming that the fly ball can push something like this, but that can be tested easily. Just have Maxima hold on the front and exert force in the opposite direction. Just as with testing the tentacle strength, she can figure out its pushing capability, if any.**
* A nice parallel with the inner orb inside the True Sight orb.
** The combination of sphere and Fly Ball may be creating a totally self-contained environment, which has no bearing on the outside. From an external point of view it would be no more than a big soap bubble, that is capable of moving very fast, but will come to a dead stop if it comes into contact with anything substantial. Although it is probably immune to knock-back mind.
That would make a rather frail and very huge plane though. Not very practical when going into battle with supervillains. Sure, the passengers would be safe inside the bubble but that is still a whole lot of tax money flying around. But I can’t deny that it would make a very dramatic entrance. Also it could allow a co-pilot, wich is something that is a very good idea in this case since Sydney is not the most calm and reliable person.
A Hiro or Maxima powered plane is a interesting idea though. It should be rather easy and cheap. Just put something that the flyer can hang on to under a standard small passenger jet, something like the harness of hanglider. A improved chassis would probably be a good idea too. Hiro could pick up some girls, litterary speaking!
Think of it more like a troop transport plane. It is not designed to go into combat, just to get you to a destination. The gun ports and shield options are purely there as a back up for if the enemy does not co-operate with your plans.
It is no different to using a Hercules or Peggy’s Osprey. Except the Halomobile can fly at mach 4, to ensure it stays out of combat!
Actually they had a pod like what you’re talking about in the book Ronin Games, Part of the Wearing the Cape series. It was designed without engines or wings but with a very durable yoke on the inside designed for the super strong flying heroes to pick up the container and fly with it. It was sealed for suborbital flights and had an air supply as even supers fly faster without wind resistance.
The problem with a cabin in Sydney’s case is that she herself is not super strong. If she’s hauling anything she needs either the hentorb or the shield to bring it with her. She could not be inside a cabin and release the shield to refresh air unless there were some kind of handle she could use to grab it with the light hook.
Now that’s not to say this isn’t workable. If you build her a box that has seats, an air supply, air scrubbers… you know what? Just level out the moon lander and use the engine space for more seats. Then attach a big handle to the frame inside the cabin capable of supporting the entire weight of the unit. At that point Sydney could just use the light hook to haul it around and the air system could suck in and purify as much air as it wanted. She’d only need the shield for dangerous extractions.
What about a few plants? Can she make a big enough shield to carry a small biome?
Halo is rated at four stars for flying. Given that we see Super Man flying around carrying super-tankers, we can use that as the five star rating (which Maxima qualifies for). So a mere biodome may be within Halo’s capabilities.
Sydney should visit the Eden Project, in Cornwall, for inspiration! I can even arrange free accommodation, for the duration of her stay, and provide a guided tour.
*starts packing bags*
NASA has done studies on this for space colonization. They figure that in a Controlled/Closed Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) the area needed per person is 25 m2. So Sydney’s bubblemobile would need to be 5.64 m across.
Remember the press conference. That shield can get BIG.
If Dabbler or Harem are along for the ride they can solve the air problem with teleportation.
A craft hanging on the outside of Halos bubble have some advantages. But it doesn’t solve the air problem for Sydney as I assume she must be inside the bubble.
I sure would like a Halomobile myself if it wasn’t for the fact that it needs Sydney as a pilot. She may be a lovely and charming woman but I imagine that her ADHD would get annoying rather quickly.
Don’t know about Dabbler, but Harem can’t teleport through Sydneys shield (mentioned during the battle if memory serves).
Also mentioned when Harem escorted/navigated Halo to work. It disconcerted Harem greatly.
Yup, it was one of the only times she has ever been ‘cut off’ from the others
No she wasn’t cut off. She just couldn’t teleport through it.
It didn’t disrupt her quantum entangled brain
We already knew she couldn’t *vorp* through it
That’s probably the end result of these trial runs.
Could Sidney use the orbs she’s not holding to support the weight of the hypothetical bubblebus? She could let them passively hold the weight without worrying about death-gripping the shield orb. Use and abuse those secondary powers.
Why not max out the sphere to get longer range? She put a huge bubble over the press during the power demonstration.
That was exactly my thought too. Does size of sphere affect her flight speed? Maybe she should try one of the unknown spheres while in toxic air to see if it purifies it… the whole 2 orbs at a time would make it hard to clean the air while flying and keeping shield up, but it could be fun to clean air while dropping the passengers and save them at the last second. AirSydney, for those who weren’t previously afraid to fly. 8^)
I can guarantee the size of the sphere affects the speed of her flight. If you launch two balls with the same stiff skin (like say the skin on a tennis ball), but one is the size of a golf ball and one is the size of a beach ball, the beach ball sized one will fly slower because of sheer wind resistance across its much larger (and greater amount of head-on flatness) surface. A > is sharp and cuts the wind, forcing it to go around the leading edge, but a ) is flatter and builds up more resistance. A o is small and air flows far more easily around it than a O.
There is a point of diminishing returns; she can increase the volume of the sphere to carry more people, but she’ll reach a maximum speed where the sphere’s size drags at the flight orb’s capacity to propel. …The alternative would be that the flight orb can compensate somehow for the shield orb’s surface area drag/resistance and still keep going, but it’s not going to change the fact that the air will catch on fire from sheer friction.
So the question we gotta ask DaveB here is…does he feel it’s appropriate to stick Sydney and a bunch of passengers in a flaming fiery ball of transportive doom?
From what we’ve seen so far, Maxima hasn’t pushed Sydney to ablatively fast speeds yet, so we don’t know for sure what Sydney’s max velocity might be…but physics is still physics; if the shield blocks air transfer, it will build up air resistance, and reach a point of either fiery ball of she-cannot-see-where-she’s-going-ness, or of speed versus drag equilibrium.
Although you’re right that physics is still physics, the physics of objects in a fictional universe are only as real as the author has described them to be and work precisely as described by him/her.
We do not know yet what force drives the orbs or what their limitations are. We cannot know for certain if the speed of the flight orb is limited or to what degree. For all we know the shield may protect from relativistic time dilation, in which case she may well be able to fly with the shield up at multiples of light speed. The consequences should she try to do so while in (or passing through) Earth’s atmosphere would be rather drastic. Similarly, we don’t know what, if anything, limits the force with which she can fly. It is entirely possible that she could fly a straight line path from 0 latitude to 180 latitude (North Pole to South Pole through the Earth’s core). She might even be able to do it at Mach 8. If she can do that, the air friction of carrying a busload of people with their equipment at Mach 5 would be no challenge.
One teensy little bit of pedantry. It would be from 90 degrees South latitude to 90 degrees North latitude. Zero degrees latitude is the equator. Sorry, but I cringed when I came to that part of your post. Good post, otherwise.
The air friction issues you raise depends largely on how much friction the shield has, if it is a frictionless material then I don’t think the size of the sphere would matter all that much.
Also I can’t remember if the shield has to be perfectly spherical or if she could shape it to be more aerodynamic to allow for better air displacement.
Another question is whether she can open a hole in the shield, I think she can or she wouldn’t be able to move around with it active while on the ground. If she can open a hole that implies some reshaping is possible.
The air friction is still a real threat. Things without friction still collide with other things, including air molecules, and while the shield may not have friction, air molecules still do. As the shield bubble moves, it has to displace all the air in it’s way. if it’s cross-sectional area is 3 sq m and she’s moving at 300 m/s (mach 1), she’s displacing 900 cubic meters of air per second. in order to get out of her way, that displaced air will have to move quite quickly, thereby colliding with other air and causing friction and heat. At mach 1 that won’t be too bad (it might feel like an oven is open in front of her, if not for her shield), but at mach 30, objects dozens or hundreds of meters away form her path will catch fire from the heat of her passing (and then be blown out by the wind of the same a moment later).
Put simply, there’s a reason it’s called “air friction” and not “shield friction”.
well your half right. halo broke the sound barrier with a aerodynamic shield. you guys are putting the question if she was going at high speeds. but if she float or atleast goes as fast as say 50 miles per hr the friction problem becomes mute. while it may heat up its not enough to really harm anything. i don’t think it would burst in flames either. though at the rate that they are absorbing air and sending out co2 would still make it diffficult to travel long distances. but it be a more or less a car ride. low altitudes would probably be the best optioin. the better way to answer this question is since we know that the orb can have open ends as it didn’t grip into the earth she should be able to have a pipe and hold the orb and let the orb fill around the pipe. than she can just fly and air can circulate. obviously with a couple of changes to that plan. let see though eight minutes with flight could probably get her across a town depending on her speed. since she is just going forward.
air friction is the least of your worries.. air compression is…
Spaceship or meteor, the heat built up during (re-)entry ito our atmosphere is not caused by friction, but by compression. Even when the sphere would be totally frictionless on the outside, above certain speeds the air simply doesn’t have time to get out of the way to begin with. and gets really HOT…
Re-entry speeds and trajectories are considerably different to the flying Halo is doing. But an embiggened (non-aerodynamic) shield at Mach 4 would most likely displace more air than any other aircraft ever built (excluding reentry vehicles). So the numbers may work out that the air gets super heated.
I can see that an air-river (yup such things do exist) of super-heated air, being caught up in the shield’s wake, and following the shield, at mach 4, could cause nasty problems. Especially if heading to a densely populated area. Not to mention the cool down period required, before it would be safe to lower the shield, in order to let fresh air in.
Well, look on the bright side. It makes higher altitude air refreshing more viable. The higher you fly, the less atmospheric pressure there is, so the less the air will be heated up by being displaced. Likewise, if air resistance is slowing the flight, then the higher you go the faster you can travel.
It would just be a matter of picking an optimum compromise between obtaining avoiding altitudes where the air is too thin to be breathable, whilst ensuring that the flight is high enough for the cold air will negate the hot air following them..
Finally, if it turns out that the aerodynamic shape (that the force field takes, in high speed flight) also applies to the embiggened shield, then that alone will reduce the problem. Probably to negligible levels (given that we have streamlined aircraft travelling faster than that without such issues).
And on today’s forecast we can see the jet stream dipping a little low near the eastern sea board and here we see a Sydney stream heading south west and likely causing the slight shift of the jet stream.
Lol.
Sydney’s top speed, as per comic 354 is Mach 4. So yes, Maxima did in fact made her go top speed.
(although the comic still insists there might be room for improvement)
It depends on what the final skill point does on the Fly Ball’s arc. Sydney suspects it is increased flight speed. Assuming that the previous ones, on that line, represent the flight speed enhancements slotted to date.
Not sure if that was the top speed, it’s just that was the speed they were going when they reached their destination (maybe that will be the next test: fly around the world and see how fast Sydney can go, maybe see if she could out-race, or at least out-fly, Maxi)
Reminds me of PS-238 when 84 was having a speed test versus one of the speedsters, and he called her a cheat because she managed to beat him by being able to fly
Why would the size affect the speed? Sydney’s been able to go at mach 4 with the shield on easily, and the shield seems to ignore a lot of stuff that conventional physics says it shouldn’t.
That was when the shield was in an aerodynamic configuration, and open at the back, the only time she has ‘flown’ in her bubble was the night after her unveiling (when she ‘improved’ a billboard) and the next morning after finding out she left her car at the bank and had no idea how to get to Archon-HQ
Even if the shield is frictionless, the air in its path must still be displaced by up to the shield’s radius. Essentially there’s energy required to move the air molecules to one side before shield and occupants can get past, and at high speeds (ESPECIALLY above the speed of sound) that requires a lot of energy, because the air must be moved aside very, very quickly. The larger the shield, the more air molecules have to be displaced and the further they must be displaced, and the higher the energy requirement.
THAT SAID, I don’t know how much the physics matter to the orbs. We’ve already seen them pretty much defy physics when Max tried to drag Sydney out from under the ambulance with them.
Max better not do to much flight training with Sydney. Otherwise Sydney might decide she’s skilled enough to turn off the shield for a couple of seconds of free-fall to refresh the air, and then level out and keep going. Maybe even a vomit-comet arch, and maybe without warning passengers.
It would probably make takeoff/landing spots trickier.
The other option of course, is that if rebreathers are light and compact [I’m imagining a more refined prototype that would capture undesirable contaminants from the process like CO] (and if Arc-SWAT has the budget for them), you could literally just have Syndey carry multiple (5-10) rebreathers and hand them out like candy every time she does a pickup.
I’m not sure if you understand the concept behind conventional rebreathers, or if you’re just assuming that Archon would go for the extra-fancy versions, so I’ll explain both.
Firstly, when describing conventional rebreathers, it is necessary to point out that when enclosed in an airtight box, a human being will die long before the concentration of O2 in the box reaches zero. This is because human blood is not very efficient at exchanging CO2 and O2 with air in the lungs. In the first place, CO2 will dissolve readily in water, while O2 will not. Yet, in order to carry more O2, Hemoglobin (the protein that carries the oxygen) must first drop off the CO2, which will only happen if the concentration of CO2 in the air is quite low. If it can’t, the blood will continue to circulate, but will not carry sufficient oxygen to maintain aerobic funcions (and thus life) in all the body’s cells, resulting in catastrophic organ failure (death). This actually makes things fairly simple if you want to keep someone from suffocating for a while. If you simply remove all the CO2 from the air, the person will be able to keep breathing for many times longer (I don’t know the exact numbers on this one). This is called CO2 scrubbing, and is usually accomplished by passing air through a gravel-like matrix of carbon rocks which have microscopic cracks in them which heavy CO2 molecules will fall into and be trapped. The filter material will eventually be clogged up by all the CO2 and will have to be replaced, but it’s better than suffocating.
While it’s certainly true that you could use an active reprocessing system to free the oxygen from the carbon directly, thus obviating the need for a separate oxygen replacement system, such systems tend to be exorbitantly expensive, bulky and power-hungry when compared to their carbon-filter counterparts. If Archon were planning to send Sydney to another planet with several days or months of transit time in between, they would likely choose such an active system. Since they only expect her to need a few hours of continuous breathable air and she can easily replenish her oxygen any any time during a fight (by leaving, opening her bubble momentarily, then returning), there really isn’t any good reason to do anything fancy (except if DaveB decides he doesn’t like drawing normal rebreathers).
A simple space capsule would allow Halo to take the best route possible.
Dude. Build the Thunder Road from The Explorers: Tilt-a-whirl car, old TV and washing machine fronts for windows, etc…
Wonder when the girls are gonna decide to do a make-over on Sydney? Seeing how tomboy-ish Sydney is, I expect that it will be her first pajama party/makeover, but I don’t expect it to get too girly, as most likely weapons will be getting cleaned, boots will get shined, video games will be blowing things up, combat tactics will be discussed, a bull session will evolve, and serial nerdiness will ensue.
Hottest PJ party ever!
…I love how Pixel’s just, doo-dee-doo-dee-doo texting or candycrushing or whatever throughout the whole montage… It really puts into perspective how used to supers she is by now, how ho-hum, compared to Sydney still geeking out every so often.
Vegas, because nobody would look twice at them there and Maine for cover.
Flying fast in an orb. Hmmm….
https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/
I wonder if Sydney could use the lighthook to make a kind of net around her bubble that could allow Maxima to pull it while flying? That way they could also find out if she/they can feel the effect of Gs while being in the bubble (assuming Maxima would be able to pull them fast enough). If her shield protects from Gs they could use that technique to fly anyone around the globe (and beyond!) safely and insanely fast (and they could even use that as an offensive technique: Maxima unbreaking flail! Comes with complementary insults and cursing!).
The other shield/lighthook combo that needs to be done at some point is to find a way to get multiple strands going at the same time under the shield and make it into a giant walking eyeball. Because every SciFi story is better with giant walking eyeballs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f77gw2Pp3aY
My name is Weatherheight, and I approve this method.
If Halo can leave an orb outside her shield, Maxima can just pull it, no Lighthook needed, or Flyball. Sydney would have one hand free.
Ever seen the movie “The Explorers”?
She snuck the Quake II logo past legal as her personal brand? Sneaky!
Heh. Sydney could endorse credit cards in TV commercials for a bit of extra side-income. I think she wouldn’t agree to it unless the issuing bank called it the “Utility Belt” & script her to include “Don’t leave home without it.”
Gaaa! I was reading Gewn as a Harem person, and was wondering why she was worried about the force field since she had previously demonstrated her utter kinesis-fu (damnit, close enough! It’s a thing I tell ya! What the hell else are you going to label something that breaks all the laws of physics? Well, what!?!) with being dropped and redirecting the momentum.
Stupid sexy Gwen…
Ok, that third panel may be the cutest shot of Sydney to date. Wowzers!
Okay, I was really surprised nobody mentioned this:
https://what-if.xkcd.com/1/
or this
https://what-if.xkcd.com/39/
Crestlinger mentioned the first one above. Which is not particularly pertinent, given the great disparity to the situation Halo would be in. But it is funny, though. There is also an in-depth discussion regarding heat, air resistance and air displacement in the first thread on this page
Your second link, however, is much closer and more useful for estimates. If a teeny hockey puck, at Mach 8 will cause heating problems, then we should consider that a Mach 4 embiggened force field to be at risk from a similar effect.
However the heat examples, even at the upper speed,* are not too worrying (it will not be setting the neighbours’ houses on fire, as Sydney flies by, for example). But the sheer surface area of an embiggened shield may increase the cumulative heating, as you scale it up. But even the embiggened shield may well be able to become aerodynamic, which counters the worst of it. Bringing it closer to current, functional, supersonic aircraft in performance.
* Not that Mach numbers are a ‘speed’ the actual speed varies depending on ambient temperature** and atmospheric pressure.
** Which this effect could be changing by itself. Meaning that any calculations could get very messy.
I want to know what Pixel has on that tablet. She’s completely absorbed by it, until Dabbler is checking it out in the last panel.
Pretty sure, by the hinge in the middle and the way she’s holding it, it’s a DS.
OK, so I found this comic yesterday. And now I’m all caught up. And so like….how does one simply WAIT for the next installment? This is painful! Damn you for your masterpiece!!! (Seriously though, love GP so so so much)
Welcome to the community! :)
Go back and read it all again, read some of the comments (probably not ones that have seven pages though…)
Welcome to the comic, and nice to have you in the community. The best way to pass the time is to go back and look for the subtle things embedded throughout the comic. A number of pages have small but interesting details. Sometimes dialogue with double meaning, other times intricate detail in the background. And some of it is plot or setting significant too!
Try seeing if you can find any of the following:
• One page (only) tells you what year the story is set in.
• There is a way that more than two of Halo’s orbs can be used simultaneously. Observant readers will have spotted how, even if Sydney failed to.
• Sydney was in the vicinity of an alien (or possibly a super with an alien appearance), again without noticing him.
Welcome!
1) Personally, I recommend scotch or the intoxicant of your choice in moderation while waiting for additional installments.
2) Contemplation of the effects you’re seeing and how physics would apply or fail to apply is also apparently a common activity.
3) Join the Patreon and make DaveB just a little bit happier.
4) Upvote the comic on TopComics.
5) Call your parents – they miss you and they worry.
And, of course, reread and reread the series.
An organization with access to the smarts of arc light would never do this particular experiment without having done the math ahead of time. Given sphere of radius r, and given various respiration rates (representing various states of stress), how long til CO2 and O2 levels become issues. However, this is only the second time I have ever thought, “they would never do that”, and that’s pretty darn good.
It is fully possible that either a) they have done the math, and are now testing it out in the real world , or b) arc light are not involved in this test, and it was Max’s idea.
Just out of curisoity, what was the first “never do that” momean?.
Arc light are involved in the test. Pixel is right there. Plus she an artefact expert, who is studying the orbs. Most of the suggestions, of what she is doing on her tablet/DS are about entertainment. However she may well be monitoring various sensors (the ones built into Halo’s Pip boy, and similar that the others carry, and maybe tiny ones stuck on parts of the shield (too small to make out at non-patron resolution).
This would also explain why Dabbler was so interested in the results of the testing.
Pixel did do the math, by the way, with Dabbler’s help to speed it up, and written on the whiteboard. Sydney just slept through it. That was the whole point of the scene. To let us know that Archon are scientifically hypothesising and studying the orbs. And will continue doing so, even when Halo is not around. Likewise without us having to sit through dry whiteboard sessions.
Ah, the first one was Max pointing the gun at the firing range, which was explained later. It’s hard for me to go against my training, and that’s just such an absolute rule. In our universe anyway.
Oh, and you may be right. Max’s comment about it not being ideal was all that suggested to me that she, at least, did not expect the air to get stale so fast.
Yea several people had a hard time with that. And one or two were not happy with any explanation, because, as you say, it goes against the rules that everyone needs to follow. But, as it did satisfy most folks, it goes like this:
Maxima has reactions that are so fast (when set on maximum) that bullets, in flight, look like stationary objects. When in situations where guns might be used, she has her reflexes set high enough that she can just lean over and grab the bullet. As we saw in the bank. And she was doing in that demonstration, in the firing range, with Sydney.
Other safety precautions: were she never loads that gun (per the author) Maxima literally puts in each bullet just before she fires. But she also observed good protocol and kept her finger away from the trigger. Just in case someone had teleported a bullet into it.
But, to be clear, I am in total agreement that no one should do such a thing in the real world, no matter what precautions. Because we cannot stop bullets in flight. However Maxima can.
And here is a point that I have not raised before. Consider our precautions with plastic bags. We ensure that messages are printed on them that they must not be left unattended around children and babies. Which is an absolute rule that must be followed. Babies are at risk from suffocating, unless an adult is there to remove the bag.
In this analogy all humans are the babies, who are vulnerable (to bullets), and Maxima is the adult who can ignore the rule that applies to babies only (no pointing guns at people), because there is no risk involved when she is around.
It would be ridiculous to say that adults cannot handle plastic bags in our world, because of the risk to babies. Likewise it is silly to say that Maxima must adhere to gun safety rules which are irrelevant to her.
Needless to say though, for public relations purposes only, she should do so whenever practical. Setting a good example to all the babies. But sometimes the training of your troops take precedence over pandering to political correctness. And, do bear in mind that troops on maneuvers, in the real world, do point guns at each other. Unlike Maxima’s though they are loaded, albeit with blanks. So Maxima was doing what soldiers do. The training was just customised for the unique requirements of super cops.
Well, since everyone else seems to be commenting on air-Sydney or breathing or technology – everyone that is except Oberon (yes, I second that damn sexy Gwen comment …), I will instead comment on posture. I was just noticing the posture of the girls as they rode in the shield bubble – specifically comparing the difference between Dabbler’s much more proper sitting posture and Gwen’s (insert several deep rolling R’s here as I clean my desk of drool) far more relaxed posture.
Really, I didn’t have a point to this post, I just wanted to comment more on Gwen. The comments always need more Gwen (as does the comic, but I might be biased – damn sexy Gwen).
I have long been interested in seeing more of Gwen, and am very glad that this is set to be a lengthy arc (from the authors comment) featuring her involvement.
It is particularly interesting that she is only a novice spellcaster. As we can see from the above scene, it means she will have far less capability than any of the supers. Yet still has more options than a mundane human. So it should be fun to see how she copes.
Not to mention that I like her goth look.
Scanned through the comments, but I didn’t see anyone else mentioning this, so it’s probably just me, but…
That logo on Halo’s shirt looks recognizeably similar to the Quake 2 logo
https://icons.iconarchive.com/icons/th3-prophetman/game/256/Quake-II-icon.png
If that’s supposed to be her personal logo, I don’t know if it’s different enough to dodge copyright… considering the Quake 2 logo is what I thought it was prior to reading the comic notes.
It’s plenty transformative. The legs are more widely spaced and the rest isn’t circular, not to mention a completely different color.
In addition to what Sir_Scarfalot says, it’s a stylized H… if you got a closer look, it would look nothing like Quake 2’s logo.
First off Shadou, it has been mentioned a couple times (even on the first page, personally mentioned that it reminded me of something and someone replied stating the Quake II logo)
MSpears:- anyone claiming that it was not at least influenced by Quake II (specially seeing how much of a gamer nerd {or is that a geek?} Sydney is) is LYING!!!
Oh, I’m not denying that. I’m just saying that ID Software would not bother pursuing a Cease & Desist order over that shirt. First, they have no legal ground to stand on since it clearly is not the Quake II logo (though I can see the influence). Second, it probably isn’t worth their time and money to pursue legal action against a webcomic. Third, ID does not have a reputation for being assholes; they’d probably just say “hey, free advertising!”
Wow, Sydney in panel three looks amazing. Not to say that she looks bad anywhere else, but still.
Hah, someone has been watching Deadpool!
I have seen the film, but the connection is too subtle for me to pick up on any link (in the comic or writer’s blog anyhow).
I don’t think the math works out on that oxygen consumption.
Humans consume 400ml of oxygen per minute. Four people for 8 minutes means 12.8L used.
That’s a three meter sphere so about 14 m^3 or 14000L of air or aproximately 2800L of Oxygen.
Symptoms of CO2 poisoning appear when it’s around 1% of the air volume or 140L. 1L of oxygen becomes ~1.25L of CO2 (drowsiness) so they should have enough air for another hour or so before symptoms appear and another couple before things get serious.
Not saying your math is wrong here as I was never good at math dealing with volumes and such, but they stopped not because they ran OUT of air, or because they were experiencing CO2 poisoning, but because Sydny’s tech read saw that the CO2 was at a predetermined level (one we wernt preivy to). Could be that it just went off when more than 25% of the air was used uo.
The difference in CO2 level in 8 minutes is the difference between atmospheric CO2 in the 1950s and the present.
It is far below the amount that would matter to humans.
Well, they’ve got Dabbler in the bubble, so this could be evidence that Succubae use oxygen more rapidly than humans. No idea why their respiratory systems would be so different, but it is plausible.
The amount of oxygen drawn in with one breath is limited by the oxygen content of a certain volume of air. In other words, the fraction of air that is oxygen won’t change. In order to breathe more oxygen, the only option is to draw in more air – it’s not as though the lungs can somehow concentrate the available oxygen in air before it’s even entered the body.
Thus, if Dabbler really required enough oxygen to account for the difference between eight minutes versus around sixty minutes, she would probably have to draw air into her lungs at a rate comparable to an industrial ventilation fan.
But what if she just converts it to CO2 at a higher rate then a human. Each time she breathes her lungs absorb all or most or the oxygen instead of only about 20% like us. Then each time she exhaled it’s equivalent to about 10 humans breathing. (Remember they are worried about CO2 buildup not running out of air, so adding 20% of each breath as CO2 is worse then taking 20% of the oxygen out.
Note to self: Do not fake drown while Dabbler is the lifeguard
+1
They need to put the orbs themselves into a sealed chamber and detect if they are emitting CO² (or anything else for that matter).
This test must only be conducted for a limited duration and it should not be seen as an invitation for Sydney to be poked, prodded or hit on the knee with a hammer!
Gwen also mentioned the fact it was getting a little ‘whiffy’, so unless someone farted or is extra sweaty, the quality of the air was going down
All those people commenting on panel three just want to see more of Sydney dishevelled and with bed-hair just waking up (preferably next to them :P)
*hangs head guiltily*
Didn’t say it was a bad thought ;)
I keep forgetting how cute Sydney looks with her hair down.
At what point does she even work at the comic book shop. I recall she got some help but it seems that Max is scheduling Syd’s time to make it impossible for her to do anything else.
Very good point! Mornings are meant to be Archon and afternoons the shop.
Unless today is Sunday, I think we will see a future scene where Leon will give Sydney a disappointed telling off. Plus he will turn Maxima over on his knee and give her a good spanking!
Err Joel, not Leon.
This is only the third day
An oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, light on the oxygen, heavy on the nitrogen if you please.
Eventually this may start to…forget it the V-22 is way more expensive. This might work.
Anybody brave enough to comment on how Sydney’s official symbol looks like a yellow Quake 2 logo?
More than half a dozen folks, so far.
Including a link to the image itself to remind people what it looked like :D
This is one of the reasons why I like the way Grrl Power treats vigilantes as criminals, rather than portraying them as heroes. Those folks have obviously been so influenced by the prevalent entertainment culture that vigilantism is good. They did not have a clue how recklessly and illegally they were behaving.
Even going so far as to tell the cop what they were doing! Presumably thinking that he would just say “Oh OK, don’t let me hold you up. Nice to see some citizens doing the right thing.”
The single most common thing that vigilantes do is target an innocent person. I see far more reports of that, than articles about successful vigilante attacks. Which those guys were even more at risk of doing, than normal, given that they were obviously not even local to New York. And, to cap it all off, were using “cannabis courage”, which would interfere with their judgement!
That cop has done them a real favour. Going in gung ho, with all those weapons (especially if into the wrong apartment, or building even) could have landed them with far more serious charges such as homicide and manslaughter. Even if it had been a drug dealer, with or without a prisoner!
Let alone the fact that I doubt said drug dealer would be unarmed. So the girl and other innocent bystanders would be likely to be killed in the cross-fire.
Do they seriously think that the cops would not investigate a report of a girl being held against her will? And act on it a lot more safely, than those idiots?
That sphere is huge. I don’t need to be a math wizard to point out that 4 people could stay in that for well over 8 minutes without issue. It’s easily 800 to 900 cubic feet.
Wait, what? Which sphere are you talking about? The one that appears only in panels four and six? o_O
That would be the one, and Zed‘s right.* Just think on of a well insulated car, that does not have any drafts in it. Even if you have a full load of four passengers and you close the air vents, and turn off the air condition, you do not all start feeling woozy in eight minutes, then falling unconscious some time shortly thereafter. And a family car has much less air volume than that sphere above.
Hence Zed”s comment about it being huge (in comparison to four pairs of lungs, and the volume of air they need for breathing).
* Which beats “Zed’s dead, baby, Zed’s dead“.
One of them isn’t human though.
Do we know the details of Dabbler’s respiratory biology?
We do not, yet, no. But someone made a good counter to this line, in that the key issue is not how much carbon dioxide that a being exhales, per breath. It is the volume of air involved. Dabbler would need elephant sized lungs, or to breath like a turbine engine, in order to exhale enough CO² to make the air unsafe to breathe that quickly.
True; but unlike the shield, a car is not perfectly airtight. I don’t disagree with you, I just feel that should be pointed out.
As to the 8 minutes: That is when the CO2 alarm went off. We have no idea what concentration the alarm is set for, but of course they are nowhere near deadly concentrations yet. That said, you can definitely taste/smell a difference in the air after breathing in a confined space (we will say slightly larger than coffin sized) for only a few minutes.
The only descriptor we have is ‘whiffy’ which is definitely not a scientific unit of measurement, but would probably adequately describe a space of about that size after a few minutes of normal breathing.
Give it several more minutes and she might have described it as ‘suffy’ instead.
Nor is an apartment. But if cold weather strikes an area, where the residents are not used to such, it is not unusual for people to improvise fires, to keep themselves warm. However, without adequate ventilation, carbon monoxide can rapidly build up
Note that apartments are not hermetically sealed either (this being my point), and further we can assume that the smoke, at the very least, is able to escape, otherwise the occupants would be forced to abandon the room, long before carbon monoxide became a risk.
Yet people do die every time that such situations happen. Unless it is a well-educated population, who know not to do this, or there is a concerted public safety information program.
So do note the fact that I specified a “well insulated” car. Your point that there is a small seepage of air, even with such, is perfectly correct. However it is insufficient to allow a car full of people to breathe indefinitely. If you intend to sleep overnight (presumably rather uncomfortably, with that many in the car) you should take care to leave the windows open a bit, or there will be a risk of carbon dioxide poisoning.
Might I suggest Junction City, KS as the base of operations? It’s more or less dead center of mainland USA. Though, somewhere in Marshall county Kansas would be the true center. Marysville looks to be the biggest city in Marshall county.
Eyeballing the maps, Beattie or Mina would be dead center.
As for scaffolding, all that comes to mind is the rocket/glider from the incredibles, if the order is inverted so that the glider has no engines and uses Sydney as the propulsion in the center circle, it might be cost effective to make cheap 1-2 shot frames to lug gear to a hot spot (cheaper than a real jet anyway) I’d need to go check that movie again for specifics
That’s REALLY fast for a new logo to be developed and already on a tshirt….they must have the graphic designer of doom on staff….
Or a super, aided by pair of ninja tailors, who can create one on demand. I am guessing that Halo came up with the design, given its resemblance to the Quake 2 logo. As such, Arianna may well order a redesign of it, by a proper team. Both to avoid legal entanglements and to avoid diluting Halo’s own unique brand.
I wonder who would end up with the legal rights, for the logo, should Halo choose to part ways? It is not the same as a corporate logo, or even a product one, it is specifically Halo’s logo. But it is also one that is associated with her in her role as a police woman and employee of Archon.
Sydney providing it might go a ways towards explaining it, but quite besides the tshirt (I was figuring printable iron-on there) developing a logo is usually a loooong process – graphic designer discusses the ‘feel’ the client is after, comes up with a dozen or more possibles, client looks at them and either points at the ones they like ‘except if you did this’ or says they’re all terrible and first two steps repeat, graphic designer goes back to the drawing board and refines to (hopefully) four or five possibles, if they’re lucky one of those is accepted, if not the cycle continues until one is, and then all the required versions of the logo are made (resizeable for various purposes, business-card version, web version, etc). Even assuming the client is instantly accessible for each meeting and the meetings miraculously take only a few minutes, each cycle would range (depending) from 7-8 hours work to an hour or two minimum.
So, basically, unless you’re right and Sydney had something in mind, or he graphic designer had a fit of inspiration and the client (presumably Arianna) actually approved the result, it seems highly unlikely that a logo would be ready in just a day or two, especially since Archon has other things to worry about as well.
Now contrast that to an airline that I had dealings with. They had the policy that six weeks from the board asking “will it be profitable to operate from this region?”, if the answer is “yes”, then aircraft wheels must be taking off from the runway, with passengers on board.
Efficiency is decided from the top. The staff get paid by the day,. so really don’t care how long it takes.
With graphic design problems, aka essentially artwork, throwing more people at the problem won’t necessarily make it any faster. In fact, it’s likely to slow things down. There are some things you really can’t speed up much if you want a quality result, and I get the feeling that something so central to Arianna’s marketing plans would not be permitted to be slap-dash. Sure, a graphic designer CAN come up with a logo in a couple hours – that doesn’t mean it’ll be anything like what the client wants. It’s the trying to match the client’s wishes that takes forever – or trying to explain to them why want they want is impossible/impractical/will give the opposite impression from what they’re after…..without pissing them off….
I should amend that; it’s likely to make things slower when you’re after a single result rather than multiple. And that only applies to the designing of the logo, not the adjusting-for-multiple-mediums.
Duly noted. And yea, there is a lot that companies do, as you listed and more. The flip side to this issue though is that Halo is getting the full glare of the entire world’s media pointed at her. Today. In a few days, or a week, she is going to be old news.
Which is the better option? Having a hastily completed logo, that is not tweaked, nor has been put through market research, nor consumer opinion surveys. Or having Sydney go out, in her Wonder Woman top, whilst that goes on?
Tens of millions of dollars worth of free publicity, over the next few days (and that is a conservative estimate) versus having to fund an advertising campaign later. Or, as that might not be considered an appropriate use of Archon funds, just having to go with the generic uniforms. Thus loosing out on one of Arianna’s much loved “collect them all” schemes!
Mind you all due credit to your points, is that it is taking a gamble. Companies which skip parts of the process can end up with something that, for instance, from the wrong angle, looks like genitalia. Or, in this case, that ends up very similar to another company’s trademark.
This is true. But slipping in a logo gradually after the fact is much easier and cheaper than rebranding after you get everyone used to a logo that’s a horrible mistake, and the latter ALWAYS makes some people angry. So BIG gamble.
I totally agree that correcting a messed-up logo is both costly and embarrassing. Plus it will anger some die-hard fans who liked the original. So you are right to point out how significant a gamble they are taking.
I am not quite sure of your intent here. Is it to say “Halo can wear the new logo later, after the publicity has died down”? If so, that does seem to be shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted. If nobody will see it, what is the point? You would have to run an advertising campaign to bring it to their attention.
As that would be more expensive, yet you say it would be cheaper,* I assume you are instead referring to photoshopping images or altering film footage. Presumably when promoting the product releases, in due course.
Manipulating footage though is bound to be found out. Just look at the glow, of all the smartphones, coming from the crowd. So that will draw criticism on social media, and perhaps by the news media too.
However if it is done as part of an advertising campaign, specifically promoting the sale of Halo branded tops, action figures, and accessories, then it passes beyond simple misrepresentation. Legal issues raise their head.
Let us arbitrarily say they have to fight off Godzilla tonight.
Subsequently inserting the approved logo, on to a plain outfit is misrepresentation. It is altering the truth to appear that Halo was wearing her logo-bearing outfit, whilst battling Godzilla. This can significantly elevate sales prices and volumes.
Lying, with the intent to make a profit from that lie, is classed as fraud. The means by which you make this lie is irrelevant. It can be in print, spoken, or by photo manipulation. Fraud is a criminal offence. Arianna could end up going to jail! As a lawyer, I do not think she will risk that.
* Noting the distinction between cheaper and less risky.
That is not remotely what I meant XD I meant the practice of, once a logo is chosen, beginning to add it to the websites and newly-made merchandise. At the moment, she’s popular enough that name and maybe face is sufficient for identification; it’s only later that a simple, identifying logo really becomes needed. Most brands didn’t START with a logo, they developed it later. You start by putting it some out of the way place on the product, gradually emphasize it more, and then use it as a major identifier once people are used to it. No need for big, expensive campaigns unless you’re also trying to change the people’s view on the brand – as with rebranding an old logo into a new one.
Ahh, phew! Thank you for clarifying that. I know you to be a good upright person, and it would have been worrying if you were advocating fraud!
Your actual intent is very sound and a commendable solution.
i>*wags tail happily*
*offers a big tray of ginormous burgers: beef, chicken, fish, veggie and the works*
Mmm….*pounces on a beef burger and sets it up with an onion bun, cheddar cheese, olives, and sliced red onion* Thank you!
Are there no legal issues with just landing on some random person’s roof? I mean, that’s private property, right? Even for a public business, the roof isn’t usually open to the public. Certainly, it’s quieter and more discreet than landing in a parking lot or public park, but if someone spotted you, it seems like they might register a complaint.
It would be classed as trespass. But only where reasonable.
For instance you are perfectly entitled to walk up someone’s drive and ring their door bell, if you have a valid reason for doing so. Even if that is just to say “Hi”. Unless, of course, they have a prominently displayed sign which says “No visitors”. Putting up a garden wall, or fence, and locking the gate would be considered to convey the same intent.
If they could see such a sign, or a wall (and they should make the effort, rather than just claim it was not visible from the altitude that they approached at) then they should respect the resident’s privacy, be they on foot or flying. Although (under different circumstances to here) cops can ignore such wishes, if they are on official business, that would warrant doing so.
Further, even if it looked like it was OK to approach, they would need a good reason to explain why they went to the roof, rather than landing beside the building and going to the front door. One that may well hold water is if they wished to speak to a resident on, or near, the top floor. Especially if it was a communal building and the roof access was intentionally left unlocked, for residents, and others, to make use of the roof space.
In this circumstance, though, they had a good reason for landing. Their lives were at risk. This takes clear precedence over a mere desire for privacy. So it would be nonsensical to prosecute them for trespass, sign or no sign.
…You know, I just realized that my economics major thing can come in. She’s…actually STILL cheaper then an Osprey…because she’s a sunk cost!
See, they’re ALREADY paying her. She gets the money whether or not she does the transportation job or not. So, by having her do transportation, they’re saving 100% of the money they would have spent on transportation cost in an Osprey. (Not the cost of BUYING an Osprey…that’s not relevant for now.) It’s likely the couch would still be cheaper then even one trip in an Osprey.
And, in the future, they can see if using her allows them to not have to buy an additional Osprey. In, which case…again, she’s a sunk cost.
Now, in the future, if she wants to work at a transportation company…well, that’s another story.
this may be silly, but why does she not make the shield bigger to trap more air. We have see a bigger shield before and it would increase her flight time?
That is a logical thought, which has occurred to many folks. When you are conducting testing though you need to start with a standard base line. This is Sydney’s default shield size. So it is important to test its capabilities first.
Later they can try the embigened shield and see if the increased surface area impacts on travel speed too much. If it will even fly in that mode.
Third panel face is glorious. Besides that, couldn’t Syd slow down, have her pasengers grab her for a sec as she drops then reconstitutes the bubble?
Holding just one person, equal to your own weight, is painful. Three, with two of them being greater weight, would be that much more agonising. Even if only for a fairly short time.
Yes Sydney could do that, but only in an emergency, where the pain was necessary.
Not to mention the risk of someone loosing their grip. Especially bearing in mind they would have to do that repeatedly, as it is a long journey.
Would you want to risk it?
Actually, making it bottom heavy doesn’t work. It’s an easy misconception because we are not used to dealing with such situations in daily life. Even the first rocket engineers had a lot of failure because they tried to use that as a stabilisation mechanism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendulum_rocket_fallacy
Halo does not fly using rocket propulsion. She uses redirected-gravity (or something similar). Clearly, in this case, gravity is operating downwards, within the shield (note Halo’s bangs are hanging down, towards the ground, rather than in the direction of travel).
I suspect that the Fly Ball allows selective control of the gravity. So the shield is falling, in the direction of travel, but presently is allowing normal (i.e. oriented towards Earth) gravity to act on the people within it. Thus, internally, there is no acceleration to overcome. To support this note that Gwen is standing in what would be a very unstable position, if they were using rocket-like propulsion, and would fall on her arse!
Hence the more appropriate physics to use, in order to assess stability, would be hamster-ball science, rather than rocket science.
How much of the limited time Halo can have passengers fly with her is due to the fact that the shield has no CO2 scrubber and how much is because the passengers are stuck in a small airtight space with Sydney’s weapons-grade chili breath?
At her current top speed of Mach 4, that would mean that Halo can travel roughly 400 miles (480 sec / 4.7 sec/mile * 4) with three passengers before air becomes an issue.
Which, for reference, means that if Archon is based in Dallas, Sydney could deploy three non-teleporters to cities as far off as Laredo, TX (that would be about 420 miles, extreme outer range), Wichita, KS, and Jackson, MI in eight minutes without stopping. That’s a fairly respectable deployment range.