Grrl Power #542 – NCC Scoville
Actually that is a pretty fair question. The more powers you’ve got, the more earning potential you’ve got in the private sector. But in the military, I’m pretty sure you’re worth your pay grade. Of course, Sydney isn’t an E-0, she’s an ES-0, and makes more than a four star general. That might sound ridiculous on the face of it, but considering what she could make with her cutting beam alone, doing demolition, fracking, anything involving mining, or any number of things. The team needs be competitive with organizations like the NFL.
A few of you came to a similar conclusion as Sydney on this page. I’m not saying you’re right, but, congratulations I guess?
Death traps are pretty absurd. To the point that it’s weird they’re such a common trope in superhero comics. I mean, in the history of comics, has a single death trap ever worked? The 900th time Batman escapes from one, doesn’t the Joker… ok, maybe that’s a bad example cause he’s properly looney tunes, and it can be argued that he has no interest in killing Bats, cause then who would he play with? But then, the Penguin or Two Face. After they fail to dispose of Bats the umpteenth time, wouldn’t they think “Hey, maybe it’s time for a change in tactics.” And it’s not like death traps are weekend projects either. Sure, some of them are just a motion sensor and a claymore, but usually they’re considerable installations involving pits in the floor and giant sheets of plexiglass over top and/or spikes with moving parts, motors and gears. You don’t just make that stuff on a whim. Are Doctor Octopuss’s henchmen primarily comprised of contractors and day laborers? Or is he actually hiring people to make that stuff for him?
When they get together at Villain Con or their Legions of Evil, do they compare notes on death traps. “Ooh, this one almost got him.” “Next time I’ll add glue to the switch.” “I took his utility belt, but didn’t search his boot heel.” Meanwhile, the noobie henchman in the back is wondering why they didn’t just shoot him, and beyond that, if you’ve got him unconscious long enough to put him in the trap, just… take his mask off. Just a peek! Maybe these guys are knocking over armored cars to support their death trap making addictions.
Maxima was in the Air Force and fought in Gulf War 2, but if she had been somehow captured, she wouldn’t have been stuck in a death trap. She’d have either been put in prison or killed outright. Assuming they had a prison that could hold her, which they didn’t. No one does. You can’t pour a concrete wall thick enough to hold her. Ok, so a death trap might actually be the only way to keep her under control – but it wouldn’t be a trap that eventually killed her. Put her on a pressure plate, tell her if she steps off it, a bomb will go off in a hospital somewhere. But a room with spiked walls closing in on her? Yeah, good luck with that.
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Posit: Last orb turns out is a stargate opener. It only activates when a stargate is nearby but does allow for controlling where the portal opens. So yeah a long range capable exploration orb.
I’d say time machine, but that would make for an impossibly complex storyline.
So my guess is nut vendor. Cashews, walnuts, macadamia, whatever Sydney’s hungry for.
Going off of the ship them the comball alread works as a probe and scanners of a sort so… maybe the last one is some kinda replicator wich wil be handy if true durring refugee snd disaster aid
Wouldn’t that be more likely the Yellow Orb with Teleportation or the final function of the Blue Orb. I’ve always though that the Final Orb could be like some sort of prison; Trapping foes who are too powerful for Sydney to handle, and maybe even let her use their powers.
Even if that’s not the case it’s still a cool idea
Ignore every variation of this comment below, they kept getting sent to spam for some reason. Fortunately Dave fixed that and hopefully it won’t happen again.
Dave, one again: Thank you for your help
Wouldn’t fall more in line with the Yellow Orb with it’s Teleportation or maybe the final feature of the Blue Orb. Personally, I’ve always thought that the Final Orb would act like something of a prison holding foes that are too powerful for Sydney to handle, perhaps even let her access their powers/abilities
Even if it’s not actually the case it’s still a fun idea :)
Wouldn’t fall more in line with the Yellow Orb with it’s Teleportation or maybe the final feature of the Blue Orb. Personally, I’ve always thought that the Final Orb would act like something of a prison holding foes that are too powerful for Sydney to handle, perhaps even let her access their powers/abilities
Even if it’s not actually the case it’s still a fun idea
Wouldn’t fall more in line with the Yellow Orb with it’s Teleportation or maybe the final feature of the Blue Orb. Personally, I’ve always thought that the Final Orb would act like something of a prison holding foes that are too powerful for Sydney to handle, perhaps even let her access their powers/abilities
Even if it’s not actually the case it’s still a fun idea :o
Wouldn’t fall more in line with the Yellow Orb with it’s Teleportation or maybe the final feature of the Blue Orb. Personally, I’ve always thought that the Final Orb would act like something of a prison holding foes that are too powerful for Sydney to handle, perhaps even let her access their powers/abilities. Even if it’s not actually the case it’s still a fun idea
Wait… Wouldn’t fall more in line with the Yellow Orb with it’s Teleportation or maybe the final feature of the Blue Orb. Personally, I’ve always thought that the Final Orb would act like something of a prison holding foes that are too powerful for Sydney to handle, perhaps even let her access their powers/abilities
Even if it’s not actually the case it’s still a fun idea :)
Hang on… Wouldn’t fall more in line with the Yellow Orb with it’s Teleportation or maybe the final feature of the Blue Orb. Personally, I’ve always thought that the Final Orb would act like something of a prison holding foes that are too powerful for Sydney to handle, perhaps even let her access their powers/abilities
Even if it’s not actually the case it’s still a fun idea :)
Wouldn’t fall more in line with the Yellow Orb with it’s Teleportation or maybe the final feature of the Blue Orb. Personally, I’ve always thought that the Final Orb would act like something of a prison holding foes that are too powerful for Sydney to handle, perhaps even let her access their powers/abilities
Even if it’s not actually the case it’s still a fun idea :)
Wait… Wouldn’t fall more in line with the Yellow Orb with it’s Teleportation or maybe the final feature of the Blue Orb. Personally, I’ve always thought that the Final Orb would act like something of a prison holding foes that are too powerful for Sydney to handle, perhaps even let her access their powers/abilities
Even if it’s not actually the case it’s still a fun idea :)
Wouldn’t fall more in line with the Yellow Orb with it’s Teleportation or maybe the final feature of the Blue Orb. Personally, I’ve always thought that the Final Orb would act like something of a prison holding foes that are too powerful for Sydney to handle, perhaps even let her access their powers/abilities
Even if it’s not actually the case it’s still a really fun idea :)
Wait a minute… Wouldn’t fall more in line with the Yellow Orb with it’s Teleportation or maybe the final feature of the Blue Orb. Personally, I’ve always thought that the Final Orb would act like something of a prison holding foes that are too powerful for Sydney to handle, perhaps even let her access their powers/abilities
Even if it’s not actually the case it’s still a fun idea :)
Dude. Why did you post 10 variations on the same post?
I explained that under the first one
Ah. I am not very observant,
On the more pay issue: A thought and a way for Sydney to be paid more, or perhaps to be recognized more for the value of The Orbs and her ability to use them. Sydney is a trainee. It’s not unusual for people with more education or specific skills to be promoted immediately upon completion of basic training, or the completion of advanced/technical training. So, graduate from ARC-Basic, promote to Corporal/Senior Airman. Meet additional training goals + time, promote to Sergeant.
Last orb is a hibernation/survival cell for the real owner of the orbs – when the last orb is activated it releases the owner from stasis to recover it’s orbs & conquer the world !
I think its weaponry for a soldier. Precursor race with advance tech that dies off due to being too good at tech or becoming sterile or something. Then the tech is left behind and it turns out Earth was some sort of super soldier factory and the radiation from the planet is slowly turning people into super soldiers or something. The orbs are weapons for a soldier that slowly learns its abilities over time to get a better hang on them maybe? OR maybe the orbs are a form of space suit for a precursor race that had multiple arms. I hope we find out soon!
Medbay? Cargo bay? Cloaking device? Chameleon circuit? (Currently broken) Holodeck? Omega 13 device? Universal translator? Tech support?
Based on what itcan do so far the truesite orb can probably translate (or atleast can when the right point is bought) but healing thats possible
So… an eight-armed alien hologram appears in front of her and telepathically says, “Please state the nature of the medical emergency”?
I’m for the first option. Would be more useful (second only to a cargo bay for a really big mallet ^_^ ).
IRL, land mines and car bombs are death traps. (NOTE: Bouncing Betty was not generally designed to kill, it was a terror weapon.) Pits with infected spikes at the bottom (Vietnam) are maiming traps intended to take random soldiers out of the game.
With fictional super types, a trap of some kind is the only way to test the vulnerabilities of an unknown super. For known supers, traps should be pretty specific to their particular vulnerabilities.
And of course, if you kill the super you pretty much kill the title book, so traps in fiction have to have a fatal flaw.
“Death traps are pretty absurd.”
Could be an Order of the Stick death trap – specifically designed to amuse the villain with the hero’s struggling and pain. The main villains captured a paladin and ran him through multiple death traps, betting on how far he would get and how low his hitpoints would go.
Hey Sydney, KanColle has called.
They said “water bound vessels only”
I am not sorry.
I GUARANTEE that every shipgirl in KanColle has seen Space Battleship Yamato and has fantasies about it.
You mean just like we all fantasize about having super powers?
we all do it, and we both know its not gonna happen.
…
For another few decades. Then science happens.
super powers are possible, and also exist, they’re just highly exaggerated for story-telling purposes (i myself have the unfortunate ability to absorb and ‘redirect’ heat, there’s been quite a few times I’ve been in a handshake with someone and they’ve pulled away as if they were just burned) [very very minor power, btw]
If we’re talking relevant anime, Hagane no Arpeggio has shipgirls from space. It has some issues, not least of all the main female character being a massive hypocrit, but it’s fun, vaguely scifi naval warfare with a ridiculous amount of tea drinking.
*Aoi Hagane no Arpeggio, phone’s eating my words.
i know what you mean.
difference is, in one, old ships are reincarnated as girls. cause magic
in the other, ridiculously advanced machines are merely trying to appear as them… until they develop personalities. and then things get slightly confusing.
all matter absorbs and projects heat at all times. thats just thermodynamics.
what one could call a super power, would be ability to store enough energy to burn something without burning yourself, and then be able to direct the projection of that heat.
like this guy .
but he supposedly had to work for it to master his chi or whatever the explanation.
you claim that it “just happens” “as if” they were burned.
there are explanations other than “cause super powers”.
1, you just came back from a physical training and your body was venting excess heat.
here, have a possibly relevant video
2. thet just noticed how sweaty you are after workout
3. they simply dont like physical contact
4. static electricity ZZZZap
On its own, it doesn’t do anything. its the movement that stings. although, it would probably sting you too.
there might be more, jst not comming to mind right now.
For something to be a SUPER power, it has to be SUPERnatural, and i rather doubt that you are a shaolin monk or something.
Now, there are cases of poeple being unusually resistant, you might cal that a power if you must, but untill “science hapens” i dont think you could call anything SUPERpower, that is not a shaolin monk or something. thowse guys are BS.
FUCK i replyed to a wrong post.
This was to post above from hypnobubbles
Technically, they might not be from space. We don’t know for sure, yet.
everything lives in space. so is from space. occupies space. travels through space.
(and in case no-one’s said it before, when Sydney’s orbs were spinning around her at ludicrous Speed, they were SpaceBalls)
Obviously the Lighthook is the sci fi equivalent of your standard ten foot pole, an extensible controllable tube you can use for pushing or manipulating things from a distance, and it appears outside the shield obviously to facilitate that. Telekinesis likely has some downside to make it less viable, maybe ease of use? Less likely to accidentally kill someone with the lighthook than the ability to manipulate things with your mind.
Seems to fit perfectly as an explanation in accordance with the theme though, the poking stick is essential for survival, an extensible poking stick that works while under heavy shielding? Even better.
A grappling hook?
Reminded me of the Mrs Explorers, the robots that collect samples fro analysis. The light hook could be used for collecting samples of whatever the previous users was interested in.
It’s supposed to be Mars Explorers. No idea how that typo happened.
I liked the typo – it amused me.
::stares off into the distance::
see, here i just thought of The Explorers when i read your comment. you know, 80’s movie, river phoenix, ethan hawke, loads and loads of references used? mainly came to mind because that’s the type of alien Syd would encounter, if any.
Manipulator arm, like on the mars rovers.
Yeah exactly, just a basic multi-tool.
So, does Sydney look different from the beginning of the comic or is that just art shift?
She looks like a mannequin.
You DO realize this comic’s been around for almost 7 years, right? Like any other skill one practices, art improves over time.
That’s why I asked whether it was intentional or art shift, rather than assuming it was intentional.
Also, her bangs are up because her hair is wet. She is rarely shown with them pushed back like this.
There are two other major systems on many starships that the last one could be by my thinking:
Medical Bay… and Cloaking
– Scanners is already basically covered by the Truesight orb
– Opening wormholes, FTL, or Hyperspace drives may be a power further down on the Flight Orb’s power list.
-The Brig (prisoner containment) is sort of covered by the Lighthook (especially if a later level power allows it to form other shapes than just a tentacle, like a sphere or a cage around someone.
She definitely looks different, which I presume is just a shift in the art. I really like the way Sydney’s face looks on this page.
eh I preferred a her longer faces
Personally, I’ve always thought that the Final Orb would act like something of a prison holding foes that are too powerful for Sydney to handle, perhaps even let her access their powers/abilities
Even if it’s not actually the case it’s still a fun idea :)
Could be food replicators as well. If air orb can make an air bubble form by creating gas, forming a snickers bar from air molecules siphoned of other snickers bars should be possible as well…
Nah, I wouldn’t think the Lighthook was powerful enough to be considered a prison. She’s only stronger than normals or supers with very mild super strength and she can be jerked around by the feedback of strong or tricky individuals. I’d say the last unknown could still be a prison (Gotta Catch ‘Em AaaAAAaaaAALL!) which would be a dark story for how the thing is powered (“OK Sydney we are back with the… thing to… Sydney, what happened to the nigh unstoppable energy being we left you to keep busy?” “Um, well, after I got it to wang on my shield by pissing it off I got bored and thought I’d play with the last orb and it just sort of… sucked into it? So Vacuum, Void, or would The Devourer be a good name?” “Wait… is it still in their? If you use that orb again will it come out?” “You think I can let it out again? WE SHOULD TOTALLY CALL IT THE POKEORB!!” “That sounds like a copyright issue… and DON’T LET IT OUT! Not till we figure out how to stop it safely anyway.”) But I personally DON’T think it is a prison if the “space suit theory” is true.
the last orb will be for cloaking, but will only work if she’s wearing a duster/trenchcoat
Regarding the pressure Plate: Maxima is probably fast enough to run for some weights to stack on top of it before it even moves a millimeter – or just pull out some rebar from the wall to push it down.
It would have to be a chamber which simply triggers as soon as the door is opened or the wall is destroyed. Outspeeding an electric current could be too fast for Maxima.
That’s why you once the pressure plate is activated, more and more pressure is needed until Maxima must “maxed” her strength to do it… so, even if she’s fast enough to put stone on it, it won’t be enough! (and the weight she would need you necessitate too much strength than she can muster on “maxed” speed.
!
I think I should go to those DeathTrap conferences!
Interesting change in art style. First off I was ‘is this a guest comic?’ Then I was looking to see if there was a mention of a new colourist. Maxima translates well to the pastel tones, but Sydney comes across a lot softer, so I found her quite different to the water scenes.
Death Traps work just fine as prison cells for bad people – as we have seen.
Last Orb – Either mission specific or ship’s computer at a guess.
DaveB Question – What happens if Sydney puts the eye of her projected self inside an Orb?
I’ve always thought of the orbs as not space ship or suit, but as advanced swiss army knife/leatherman.
What’s the seventh tool? Corkscrew, toothpick, nail file?
Yes! And that’s why it’s left lying about abandoned on some remote planet — the orbs are part of some boy scout’s kit that they just lost and left behind when their troop went home. And it’s not a skill tree — it’s a thing for holding and displaying merit badges! So the seventh orb has got to be a campfire songbook. Or a backpack.
I vote songbook!
If its a survival tool meant to be used on your lonesome then the whole point buy system seems odd. Why delay giving someone tools for survival (or ruin their camping trip… whatever). If its dangerous to use then why not just include a real instruction manual and safety AI that can communicate instead. The point buy system suggests either a game/test or a tutorial mode (where all the warnings and training are provided by your teacher standing by)
It might also be a way for the user to prove they can handle the additional power, with the Orbs making that judgement in place of a teacher. Maybe more intended for journeyman explorers, rather than apprentices. They’re good enough to go out into the field without a teacher, but not skilled enough for full access.
Maybe more along the lines of Explorer/Colonists who bring their children along and the young ones get the handicapped orbs.
Doubt it. No parent in their right mind would give their kids access to a PPO. Or a Lighthook. Or a Flight Orb. Or even a Comm Orb. The Orbs are for young adults or teens, at least.
Also, what explorer/parent brings their kids along into unknown dangers? Even equipped with a set of Orbs, I wouldn’t exactly think exploring the frontiers was a family activity. Especially not given the general activities explorers would do, such as collecting samples and collecting environmental data.
Bottle opener, screw driver, awl, pliers, magnifying glass, saw blade….
Reminds me of an old Garfield where Jon is showing off his new Swiss Army knife and Garfield complains how useless it is. And then the knife pops open an umbrella. “That’s a new one,” thinks Garfield. I’m hoping the last unknown orb includes an umbrella.
Isn’t that what the Shield orb does?
USS Scoville NCC-2015 {?}
On a serious note- it would make sense that the last orb be a repair kit – we have all of the others except for repair.
Would love an inside out homage of all the emotional aspects of Sydney realising she’s a ship now and they fight over who gets to sit in the captain’s chair.
Maybe ALL of the orbs have dual uses as a space suit and as repair tools (except maybe the shield cause you need that one to stay alive while you cycle through the others unless the original race had many hands) PPO can attack but also can be used to cut off damaged bits and has an unlockable mode that welds items back on. Light hook manipulates controls, positions items to be welded on, moves dangerous radioactive components and fuels around, etc… Air orb keeps you breathing but can also provide a substance or two that are useful for the ship to run on (maybe the different components of breathable air separated out into individual gases do just that for space ships? ) Telepresence can examine damage close up that would be super dangerous to look at normally, can look at all the energies the ship is giving off to help diagnose a problem, can teleport you into sections of the ship closed off by an emergency or spaces designed to help someone maintain the ship that have no crawlspaces to them because the race had teleport technology and why waste space in a space ship? And so on.
Actually the one we are missing is the interstellar drive because unless you are a very long lived/immortal species traveling around in space without one is ridiculous unless your desperate to survive/colonize. But I’m guessing this a space suit/repair-vehicle and not a proper interstellar space ship. (though it would be funny if the “space ship” was just the Captain and 1st officers wielding the Big Set of Orbs! XD )
It’s probably both a space-ship and space-suit, possibly meant for explorers. Probably for one who is running solo.
The reason they don’t peek is because it’d be bad form. You don’t just unmask an adversary pre-death trap. That’s like skipping foreplay, which kinda what a death trap is to Super Villains.
I think the tentical is a manipulation arm, sometimes you want to interact with something without removing the hull.
Sydney’s face has gotten WAY more anime/meme-ish in this page.
For the 7th Orb, if we continue with this spaceship/spacesuit analogy, my guesses would be one of the following:
1. Cloaking Device — Invisibility
2. Medical — Healing
3. Tricorder — Environmental Sensors … or
4. Transponder — Emergency Beacon
Of course it could also be something really nasty that Sydney might never want to use. Aliens aren’t always peaceful explorers, assuming that they are alien in design.
My guess is the scouting orb Telepresence can do stealth for the point of view it projects at a later point buy. It just seems like a scouting thing and so would be a part of that orb.
Healing makes sense. Have to wait till she gets a paper cut and actually remembers that she’s supposed to be checking her injuries for progress and not to go to the super doc.
tricorder is bundled into the True Sight orb.
So the last one is the one that calls the Brain Eaters?!
Why does it seem almost everyone is forgetting about Navigation?
Cloaking is not essential, and only marginally useful. Besides it seems the Telepresence Orb would be the logical choice for a ability like this.
Medical is a possibility, but that could also be a function of the life support orb.
Sensors and such might fit with the telepresence orb. It already has the true sight function so it seems logical that it might have a bunch of other sensor options.
Transponder is another function that it looks logical to pack into the telepresence orb.
Sure, with all that I suggest the TP orb could contain it might be that navigation could be yet another of it’s functions.
Something that I really think would be necessary for interstellar transportation is a kind of autopilot. This is something I could see taking up the capabilities of a separate orb. Enabling the user to automate things such as the shield, environmental systems and propulsion would be a good idea. Even if the user has no attention span problem they might still find it a good idea to sleep now and then. Knowing that if you drop either the shield or the environmental orb you’ll probably die, along with anyone else who may be depending on your “ship” to survive, is probably not going to make sleeping easy.
Close! Apparently no one else but me did starship design when they were younger? Data Manipulation is the last starship function unaccounted for. Navigation, universal translation, records (presumably those of the last user, and the manual), also the automatic calculations involved in all the other Orbs.
Translation could be handled by the Comm Orb. Records may not exist, or may be a different piece of tech altogether, or may be handled by the individual Orbs, for each of their uses. Same with the calculations: each Orb might handle it’s own calculations.
Honestly, I’m fond of cargo bay. Though it could also be a Science Orb, something to increase learning speed. That would help with analysis, and with translation, potentially.
If it were cloaking she would have figured that out by now. It needs to be something not readily obvious when testing it
So with the current and updated suite of of powers Sydney now has, Propulsion, Weapons, Communications/Teleportation/Sensors, Shields, Life Support and Tether/Manipulator. I’m beginning to suspect that maybe the last ball is something to the tune of a medbay of sorts, either that or power supply. Especially if the power suite is based on space ship/explorer gear for some alien race. Possibly with more hands than humans. I’m gonna say in the ballpark of 4 to 6 manipulator appendages/arms.
Also pity Varia and Sydney did not pick up on the fact that the Halo grew bigger as to include Varia when she touched Sydney. There might be something there when it comes to increased versatility with an increase of 50% more abilities in play at once. We will just have to see.
I am not going to lie I love how Maxima and Sydney interact. It is kind of sororial in a way.
If the orbs are a superscience “spacesuit,” then it’s a good bet that the alien race that created them were hexapedal, with at least four limbs being used as “grabbers.” Sydney’s 2-sphere limit would be very limiting to regular space work.
A reasonable assumption. At least four hands. Shields, propulsion and life support would seem to be a must, and then the other orb for the extra functions.
Or the advanced user can interface with their minds.
that or the orbs have two use modes (with a limit of how many you can have active at a time) ive notices a spoke like structure with only two orbs lit up
active use mode: the user can minipulate the orb
sustained use mode: the orb sustains the last setting of the orb “fly this way”, “make a flight shield” or “sustain fire in this direction” freeing the pilot to use other orbs
just a supposition my personal theory is the orbs have three levels of use Hand held > Hand held with sustain > mental control
Mr. Harmon! I bought all your books, am waiting with bated breath for The next! When is the realease date for Recursion?
Sorry to say, right now all I can say is “This fall.” It’s always this way.
Sounds good enough to ensure stocking treats for Christmas.
Deathtraps…
One of the last funny SNL skits I ever saw (yes, I’m old enough to remember when SNL was still funny) was a panel-type show with four men sitting around a table:
ANNOUNCER: Welcome to ‘Tonight’s Question’. Here with us tonight we have Ernst Stavro Blofeld, who tried to feed James bond to sharks; Auric Goldfinger, who tried to cut James Bond in half with a giant laser; Oddjob, who tried to kill James Bond with a razor-sharp hat; and finally we have Doctor No, who tried to throw James Bond into a heavy-water atomic reactor.
Gentlemen, Tonight’s Question is: If you had James Bond in front of you today, what would you do?
PANEL: puts their heads together and mutters for a few moments, then nods in unison and turns to audience…
PANEL: (in perfect chorus) “We Would SHOOT HIM!!”
I don’t want to be that kind of person, but:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlMoDUBIg00
(I still love SNL though)
The Dr. No of the original book did at least have his own reason for subjecting Bond to a deathtrap instead of a bullet. He’d gone to the trouble of designing an obstacle course of tortures, and wanted to see how far Bond would get compared to his previous test subjects. Not so much because he was a highly-trained special agent and the others simple labourers, but because he was European and they were Caribbean – the book and/or its characters are strikingly open to racial stereotyping, even for writing in 1959.
Last unknown – It’s integrative? Integrates the abilities of the other balls? Locks in configurations so she can use her hands?
….it’s probably the manual.
Just remember, to activate the airball, Sydney needed to think something along the lines of “I really need an air supply in my hands right now.” So if dispensing that particular kind of snack was the function of the last orb, Sydney would have to be in a situation where she thinks “I really need to have some nuts in my hand right now.”
Sydney’s not that… uh, never mind.
It is so heartwarming to see Sydney and Max having this kind of small-talk and Max testing the waters of kidding around, while still being reasonable. <3
I think it’s because she was in Sydney’s shoes before. Suddenly having super powers and not really understanding them. She took it on herself to take Sydney under her wing
Others have said it, but to me the lighthook is obvious if the function is as a space ship or space suit: it’s external manipulation. While the air orb seems to keep the air around the bearer, so it wouldn’t be ESSENTIAL to have the shield orb up for breathing in space, it’s still probably a good idea. And with the shield up, you can’t bring anything inside. The lighthook explicitly always appears outside the shield. It’s a manipulator arm.
So, if the space ship or space suit theory holds, maybe it was a race of multi-armed aliens.
Still holding out for the last orb having at least the power to let Sydney grow more arms. Because the orbs aren’t hax enough already.
I think it was the Flight Orb’s field helping keep the air around Sydney.
But you used a death trap yourself Dave, on that chick that could make portals.
I’d rather be in Kevin’s prison, but I prefer Kirby’s Dreamland, Queso Cheese Ruffles, and Vanilla Coke.
Also, isn’t Sydney’s final orb the cargo bay…? HAMMERSPACE YA’LL!
You get a cookie for the first original idea I’ve read in a while of scrolling. Plus the effect it would have on Sydney when she discovers she has either Hammerspace or the ability to summon items from a predefined zone (or perhaps “marked” items) would be so over the top it would seem to fit with Dave’s style.
Sorry to burst you bubble, mate, but someone already came up with that in the discussion on the last page. Though it was phrased as ‘cargo bay’, it’s still basically the same.
Yup. didn’t realize things had already been pushed to a second page when I scrolled down. My bad.
Oh, no. Pretty sure someone proposed it in the discussion for the last comic page.
If by “last” comic page you mean the first page of comments then that is what I meant. At any rate I’m agreeing with you.
And she doesn’t even have to cut her hand off!
Umm… Max? Hate to be the one to break it to you, but ARCHON has built ‘death traps.’ Specifically, ones designed to keep some of those supervillains under control. Vehemence is in a ‘poison gas’ trap (okay, pot smoke) to keep him powerless by way of mellowness, and one of the other cells was explicitly “If you open up a portal, you will die.” If those were heroes in those cells with their own comics, you know they’d be finding a weakness and breaking out any moment.
Don’t “proper” death traps continue on to try to kill you regardless of whether you stay put or not?
A med bay in the seventh orb would be something, but I wonder if that is included eventually in the Life Support. I would say Analysis, such as the Tricorder Star Trek had combined with the Ship’s computer, but I realized the Comm orb is essentially that; she just can’t read the text yet. A Gate is a nice idea, but once again, that might be an upgrade for the Flight Orb. Cloaking, nice idea, but could still be a Comm orb upgrade (it has true sight, why not a way a defeat true sight, especially since it has the scouting capabilities with the lightbee thingy).
Of course, the above possibilities are not necessary taken up by previous orbs, it’s just an argument could be made that they could be included. So what ship-like function could the seventh orb have that would be completely different from the functions the other orbs have?
I thought maybe the configurations panel, but you could argue that she wouldn’t need the orbs for that; she goes into the upgrade panel without touching an orb; she just needs to figure out how to turn on the panel.
Power? Nah, the orbs are interface elements. Given what Krona saw, what Sydney is bonded too is far vaster than just the fourth dimensional extrusion into our reality that the orbs are. The guts and power source for the orbs are probably located somewhere just off in N-space. Maybe the power source is zero-point energy and she’s just sucking it up off the universe itself.
I think the seventh orb is dependent on the type of spacesuit Sydney has. Sample taker? Scout? Maintenance? Miner? Terraformer? One thing the seventh orb could do that might take on one of these type of jobs would be drone/helper bot creator. Though I have to admit, Sydney accidentally discovering how to generate a fleet of terraforming bots would be scary.
The final orb is the alien vivisectionist orb, for pealing a subject down to the bone and cataloging all the organs and their functions. I seem to recall government vivisection as one of Sydney’s fears. (Now she are one?)
Maybe she just use Telepresence and pop her head inside? (maybe after sticking a strong light source outside?) Not perfect but keeps the subject alive for more tests…
Cast page seems to be glitched. None of the pictures/text show up.
Since this is going to have to be a driveby post for me ill take on the commentry and come back later on the rest.As much as I agree with the commentry I also completely dissagree with it in regards to Syds usefullness in the private sector.
Though theres a lot of good arguments about how superpowers being profitable in the private sector the authors missing one problem with Sydney doing this(potentially two but moving on) though Syd has a wide grabbag of powers(ever growing wider-im having a hard time thinking of a character that has more separate powers literally at hand at any given time even in marvel and dc) Shes not all that good with any of them and to make any profit in the private sector shed need to learn to use her powers more intelligently and with more precision.
In short while Syd has lots of powers her using them for profit would be a disaster because one-shes Sydney Scoville-queen of irresponsibility and more importantly she doesnt really have that a good a handle on using any of her powers yet-for the most part she has an on and off button.If she worked demolition shed do so much collateral damage the company hiring her would go out of business repairing everything else that got demolished around what she was aiming at and just imagine her using her “buttah cuttah” for mining.America would most likely wind up being famous for having the worlds biggest volcano within a month of her working in that industry XD.
That said more experienced and responsible supers should ALWAYS aim for private sector work. Archon can compete with many industries over less lucrative powers like superstrength flight and so on but metahumans with truly uniquely useful powers that are nigh impossible to imitate could make corporations/nations trillions,We already have metas in this universe who can harvest gold from the earths core and potentially near instantly transport hundreds of tons of materials from country to country at a moments notice.If anything Archon should be the dumping ground for the least profitable superpowers,Not the first place people think of applying to to get rich quick =)
Maybe a super durable type could be hired to piggyback around in her shield keeping her on track.
I did not realize until this page that her wetsuit had pink sleeves and shoulders. I literally thought it ended just above the chest. Still modest, but a little stylish as well.
My personal take on the last ball…it forms an actual suit around her, and is unlocked after an unspecified number of nodes have been unlocked. That sphere would sit in the middle of her chest, and the other six would form a circle on her back, and interface with the suit, and thus, Sidney, allowing her full access to all 7 as needed. Unless, as other reviewers stated, the creator of these orbs was multi-limbed. But it makes sense if they were intended to be used as a set, that there be a way to use whichever power as needed without being limited to two at a time.
So, that makes the last orb the hull? Granted Iron Sydney – Intergalactic Explorer sounds neat…
Hmm, perhaps a Grrl Power / Star Power crossover?
So the last ship like orbs power is… to be the actual Ship?
Love Sydney’s face when she asks if she’s a spaceship.
The lighthook is a stick. Everyone needs a stick! Flip over bodies without touching them, poking camp fires, help with wood, leg splint in case of an emergency, and more!
…roast smores. over the fire lit with the ppo. Marshmallows and chocolate are kept in the seventh orb.
If we are building a specialized “Halo carrier” that fits in her shield – she needs a throne. Preferably one with an armrest built in to hold the shield orb and elastic strap to hold her hand.