Of course. It is logical that they have already done it. When the story of Scarlet’s claims was published in the newspaper, they must have found out about her in Grondar and checked in the basement of her house. But they found nothing. As Scarlet immediately noted (MOES #023), the underground hall where the Machine is can’t be right below her house. It is in some unspecified location, like the headquarters of the Shadow Dancers in Gaia, and the secret passageway can be opened using magic (or perhaps advanced, now-lost technology).
However, my thesis has long been that the portal to the underground hall where the Machine is located can only be opened with a special procedure, which Scarlet first accidentally fulfilled. Maybe the Arcadioan rainbow disc she found in the field (MOES, #003-004) played a role in that!? These discs are exhibited in the National Museum of Kirelia (SFOS #040). Everyone seems to think they’re just toys, but maybe they’re high-tech (or magic) products.
Very nice job structuring this page to bring us along with the whiplash of Scarlet’s emotions. Like her, I really didn’t know what was going to happen, panel to panel. Too many such scenes turn out predictable (not in this story, just in general) and this one didn’t.
But there is a correction needed in panel 4:
“…and guarantee for your safety for the duration of the journey.”
The first “for” is unnecessary and grammatically incorrect.
And in the end, when her hope is crushed, she doesn’t get angry, but calmly says “Thanks a lot”. It shows how mature she become. Don’t waste energy on useless negative emotions. She will look for another way.
Oh no, they’ve resumed the plot, oh yes! 🙂 Now Scarlet just has to find a Grondian ambassador or somebody and beat the, err, request the rest of the information from him.
I hope we find out the demanded something in the future. We don’t hear anything about international politics and what the needs of each country are. That the Grondian demand is possession of some river or mine seems too easy. Novil likely has something properly devious ahead.
“I should warn you: the promise of an armed escort carries a TERRIBLE CURSE.”
“That’s bad.”
“But it comes with a free frogurt!”
“That’s good!”
“The frogurt is also cursed.”
“That’s bad.”
“But you get your choice of toppings!”
“That’s good!”
“The toppings contain sodium benzoate.”
“…Can I go now?”
Also, Grondar has a Ministry of Foreign Affairs? I thought the sum total of their foreign policy was “Conquer territory, crush any resistance, kill all civilians”.
I wonder what arctic expeditions are like on Lavarel? Identical to trips to the market, probably. Just with less pressure on trying to find rare metal veins, and orders to bring back some cool polar bear equivalents. I don’t think Lavarel has the tropical zone needed to develop pith helmets and jungle adventure pulp novels.
14 thoughts on “Machine Girl 048”
El Príncipe Austral
I wouldn’t be surprised if Grondar decided to check the cellar themselves regardless of Scarlet’s presence
Hegel-Marx
Of course. It is logical that they have already done it. When the story of Scarlet’s claims was published in the newspaper, they must have found out about her in Grondar and checked in the basement of her house. But they found nothing. As Scarlet immediately noted (MOES #023), the underground hall where the Machine is can’t be right below her house. It is in some unspecified location, like the headquarters of the Shadow Dancers in Gaia, and the secret passageway can be opened using magic (or perhaps advanced, now-lost technology).
However, my thesis has long been that the portal to the underground hall where the Machine is located can only be opened with a special procedure, which Scarlet first accidentally fulfilled. Maybe the Arcadioan rainbow disc she found in the field (MOES, #003-004) played a role in that!? These discs are exhibited in the National Museum of Kirelia (SFOS #040). Everyone seems to think they’re just toys, but maybe they’re high-tech (or magic) products.
ME
Very nice job structuring this page to bring us along with the whiplash of Scarlet’s emotions. Like her, I really didn’t know what was going to happen, panel to panel. Too many such scenes turn out predictable (not in this story, just in general) and this one didn’t.
But there is a correction needed in panel 4:
“…and guarantee for your safety for the duration of the journey.”
The first “for” is unnecessary and grammatically incorrect.
Hegel-Marx
And in the end, when her hope is crushed, she doesn’t get angry, but calmly says “Thanks a lot”. It shows how mature she become. Don’t waste energy on useless negative emotions. She will look for another way.
BlackDragonSlayer
Truly a rollercoaster of emotions. Wonder what they were demanding?
Vicious Sand
Oh no, they’ve resumed the plot, oh yes! 🙂 Now Scarlet just has to find a Grondian ambassador or somebody and beat the, err, request the rest of the information from him.
I hope we find out the demanded something in the future. We don’t hear anything about international politics and what the needs of each country are. That the Grondian demand is possession of some river or mine seems too easy. Novil likely has something properly devious ahead.
CE
Oh no, this is actually scary…. Everything tells me something is going to go down, and that it’ll be *bad*
MegaJar
“I should warn you: the promise of an armed escort carries a TERRIBLE CURSE.”
“That’s bad.”
“But it comes with a free frogurt!”
“That’s good!”
“The frogurt is also cursed.”
“That’s bad.”
“But you get your choice of toppings!”
“That’s good!”
“The toppings contain sodium benzoate.”
“…Can I go now?”
NN
“And that’s bad!”
MegaJar
Also, Grondar has a Ministry of Foreign Affairs? I thought the sum total of their foreign policy was “Conquer territory, crush any resistance, kill all civilians”.
Old Brit
“Keep everyone else distracted while picking of territories one by one.”
“Try not to get involved in more than one war at a time.”
Zitchas
Scarlet looks way too happy at the end for someone who just got told “They rejected your request, so this is the end of that.”
I am, however, very curious how she has so much clout that the foreign ministry or equivalent is sending missives on her behalf…
BYM!
Time to find somebody willing to fund a private expedition!
Vicious Sand
I wonder what arctic expeditions are like on Lavarel? Identical to trips to the market, probably. Just with less pressure on trying to find rare metal veins, and orders to bring back some cool polar bear equivalents. I don’t think Lavarel has the tropical zone needed to develop pith helmets and jungle adventure pulp novels.
Characters
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