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Girl Genius Comic for Monday, August 06, 2012

August 6th, 2012 (07:21 am)
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<3 We're going to Congenial: the next in the series of Unicon and British Roleplaying Society conventions. It will be held this weekend on August 10th–12th 2012 at Murray Edwards College, Cambridge.

We've arrived in Cambridge, and it was indeed extremely easy to get here. For someone who hasn't been here since she was a kid, it all seems very familiar. It's all over the books I read, so it makes sense. So far, everything is wonderful. The landscape is gorgeous, even when it's pouring down rain, and I love the food here so much. I bought a pasty at the train station and was in heaven. (I am magnetically attracted to little meat pies, but am so often disappointed...not here.)--Kaja <3

The new Girl Genius novel

Comments

Posted by: Walter Matera (waltermatera)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 06:25 am (UTC)

Like I said . . . not a serious attack. Given how many years Klaus has been dismantling the defenses of Mechanixburg (and watching them get rebuilt) you think he didn't expect this? Some of the members of this forum need to learn more about military action.

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Posted by: midnightchemist (midnightchemist)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 06:41 am (UTC)

Very true. Plus, Klaus was friends with the Bill and Barry for years. No doubt he knew about Mechanicsburgs defenses. Also, Lucrezia, who is now controling Klaus, was Bill's wife for a few years. If she knew about Der Kestle's secret passages and labs, no doubt she would find out all she needed to know about its defences, so she can't be fooled if Klaus is trying to resist.

This of course means the C-gas attack was merely deversionary. Maybe even a cover for the extraction team to enter Mechanicsburg.

We shall see, I suppose.

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Posted by: Ариох (the_arioch)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 07:50 am (UTC)

Still he did not know how powerful or powerless the Castle is now.

Making instant rain is probably taking a lto of power and a lot of technology as well.

So the thing tat surprizes me a lot is "boys in central" that seemingly doing it on their own, without needed assistance from the Castle.

Did "Bill and Barry" aid in town's defenses other than Castle's ones ? Maybe.
Still if they not shoot water-condensing rockets at same moment as the 1st canisters were departured, then that is too soon.

Or that is not a rain but rather kind of from below surface fountains. Still needs a lot of power accumulated, like pre-pressurized huge water tanks, used in nuclear reactors safety. That variant also has a bonus of some special gas-neutralizing chemistry possibly added. But that also means a one-time defense, before next water body and pressure power would be accumulated.

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Posted by: Mario Di Giacomo (mdg1)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 10:11 am (UTC)
 Science!

I assumed "the boys from Central" are IN Der Kestle.

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Posted by: Ариох (the_arioch)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 11:26 am (UTC)

some control room inside Castle ? that mere mortals are allowed into ? and allowed to actually operate there ? no way.

1) Castle is sentient and not needs someone to push the buttons
2) Castle for years was closed so no team of mere towners could quickly accomodate themselves there

Not, the funnel-head guy talks like it is completely autonomous system, and they are even proud to achieve such effect without help of the Castle

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Posted by: stalkingheron (stalkingheron)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 02:41 pm (UTC)

No, he doesn't talk like it's completely autonomous. "The boys in central" implies a living group monitoring and responding. Something happens and the boys in central notice and take appropriate action.

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Posted by: lightningnettle (lightningnettle)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 03:37 pm (UTC)

I think he means a separate system from the defenses run by Der Kestle, not that it's completely automated. It would make sense that Mechanicsburg would have layers of defenses with different control centers so that enemies couldn't take down one place and win.

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Posted by: Ариох (the_arioch)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 04:22 pm (UTC)

Oh, miscommunication... Thanks for spotting.

Exactly, i meant "autonomous from Castle" not some absolutely autonomous robot of a kind.

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Posted by: Ариох (the_arioch)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 04:21 pm (UTC)

- Castle! There are gas canister falling into the streets, that you don't see without us telling. You should wash it all away with a heavy water rain, that you don't know without us telling.

No, sorry, can't believe it. There is just no sense in monitoring group for castle. It already does this in town boundaries.

I remember it was sluggish and tells Agatha it is slowly replying as his attention span is full with current in-town events.
He is monitoring the town himself and does not need extra eyes.

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Posted by: stalkingheron (stalkingheron)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 04:54 pm (UTC)

It may be separate from the Kestle (as per above posts) but it still has to involve human's actively in play. In US English the use of the phrase "the boys in XXXX" requires that there actually be people involved. Not necessarily boys (though the odds are that there are at least some male people in the room), but people.

Now, in Europa that may include a few stray clanks, a mess of constructs, and at least one vampire. But they'll be people who can be perceived as such, and they won't be part of a fully automated system. It may not be efficient, but the language requires it.

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Posted by: Liz (labelleizzy)
Posted at: August 7th, 2012 06:08 am (UTC)
 mad scientist

well explained.

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Posted by: tikatu (tikatu)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 01:37 pm (UTC)
 Brains

Diversionary, perhaps. Perhaps also a test of the defenses to find out what's working and what isn't.

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Posted by: sam_arkand (sam_arkand)
Posted at: August 7th, 2012 02:28 am (UTC)

She had a copy of Der Kestle's in Otilla's old clank body, and she didn't know about the Movement Chamber. She probably found out a considerable number of the castle and town's defenses. But I doubt she knows more than a fraction of everything. The explosion that damaged the Castle was the best she could do: a brute-force attack that *still* left it semi-functional enough to run the town's vital functions.

Klaus did his best to defang the most obvious defenses. But even he likely realized the futility of believing he found everything in a city where the armor collection doubles as an armory in the hands of a powerful Spark. Remember, his first resort wasn't "gas 'em and move in". It was "reconfigure my heliographic airship fleet into giant solar-powered death rays to wipe it off the map".

Once Mechanicsburg is semi-repaired, it becomes a much tougher nut to crack.

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Posted by: Walter Matera (waltermatera)
Posted at: August 7th, 2012 02:37 am (UTC)

Lucrezia was more given to playing with people (like the jaegerkin) than concerning herself with the mechanics of civil defense. Her forte was manipulating the Geisterdamen and transplanting minds, not weaponry.

No, this is not a diversion. This is a deliberate screw-up to give the Heterodyne just what his general said you should never give. Time.

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Posted by: midnightchemist (midnightchemist)
Posted at: August 7th, 2012 03:56 am (UTC)

"No, this is not a diversion. This is a deliberate screw-up to give the Heterodyne just what his general said you should never give. Time."

The problem with this line of thought is that you and many others on the forum are making a critical error - that is assuming that Klaus is trying to resist Lukevna. However, I have confirmation from Kaja herself (I asked her about Klaus' wasping during the 2011 World Steam Expo), that Klaus doesn't realize that he is being controled by Lukevna. The whole thing about the story he passed on the the Storyteller to tell Gil was to warn Gil that he was Wasped and to not trust Agatha. Lukevna is being very sutble in her controling of Klaus so as not to arouse anyones' suspections (although I think Boris may suspect something is not entirely right with the Baron). Thus, I can't see Klaus deliburately trying to resist Lukevna if he doesn't know he is currently being controled. In his own mind, he likely thinks capturing Agatha was his idea all along and had no idea his "nurse" may have suggested it.

Therefore, I still think the C-gas and its dispersal via the "city showers" was a purposeful diversion to get the extraction team into Mechanicsburg without anyone the wiser. Very smart, actually. Using the enemies own defences against them and lead them to a false sense of security.

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Posted by: Jenne (bunnyjadwiga)
Posted at: August 13th, 2012 04:39 pm (UTC)

all that proves is that as of the time of the pages posted by the time of the 2011 World Steam Expo Klaus didn't know he was being controlled by Lunevka. That was quite a while ago. Things could have-- probably must have- changed. Lunevka isn't that subtle-- the first time she gave Klaus an order contrary in any way to what seemed either natural (falling asleep while ill) or what he wanted to do, and is forced to do it anyway, he's going to twig.

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Posted by: cofacd_60 (cofacd_60)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 10:41 am (UTC)

Plus we're talking sbout the Foglios who write this. I'm not sure they're that knowledgable on military doctrine, but I have noticed, even after all this years, that their fans have trouble predicting what they're going to do next.

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Posted by: Ариох (the_arioch)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 11:29 am (UTC)

frankly, even i could predict, i'd prefer not to.

i found myself not really wanting to predict but rather tossign out ideas while retaining that "go surprise me" feeling :-)

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Posted by: vulpisfoxfire (vulpisfoxfire)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 07:30 am (UTC)
 Sleepy fox

And now he can change his name to Soggy von Zinzer. Though I notice he's drying out rather rapidly in the last two panels.

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Posted by: Ариох (the_arioch)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 07:55 am (UTC)

oh, the Castle would keep him working to dry faster :-)

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Posted by: marycatelli (marycatelli)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 05:06 pm (UTC)

Maybe it's not water, or at any rate the water has been modified or mixed.

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Posted by: Ариох (the_arioch)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 07:54 am (UTC)

that funnel man seems to have some electro equipment on his chest...

and this undead professor...

and that many-legged one too...

Oh-oh...

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Posted by: lightningnettle (lightningnettle)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 03:35 pm (UTC)

Don't forget that during the SVV sequence Gil and Tarvek had gizmos strapped to their chests too. I think it's a handy place to put a rather large piece of equipment. I have been wondering if the ones for the MDPW folks are just decorative or if we'll get to find out what they're for.

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Posted by: Ариох (the_arioch)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 04:25 pm (UTC)

Well, they were sweating during SVV arc, but not poured upon.

I am afraid of massive short-circuiting, hopefully not killing them though

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Posted by: lightningnettle (lightningnettle)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 04:41 pm (UTC)

Surely they have to deal with water and rain often enough to be sure to make them waterproof?

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Posted by: Zander Nyrond (smallship1)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 09:47 am (UTC)

If you can get to Wisbech, try the meat pies from G W Frank's in the market place. Best I've ever had.

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Posted by: Elizabeth McCoy (archangelbeth)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 12:00 pm (UTC)
 Ceiling Lucrezia

At least the local boys get to show off to the new fellow a little, too!

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Posted by: tikatu (tikatu)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 01:39 pm (UTC)
 Brains

Hm. That may have even had the lovely side effect of putting out some of the fires.

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Posted by: cofacd_60 (cofacd_60)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 01:54 pm (UTC)
von Zinzer

This scene just made me think of this page:
www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20071005

To paraphrase Carson von Mekkhan:

"This is Mechanicsburg, son....You'll get used to it...if you live."

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Posted by: lightningnettle (lightningnettle)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 03:22 pm (UTC)
Re: von Zinzer

It reminded me of the coffee shop scene, with all the Mechanicsburgers diving right into this new and interesting project. I'd guess the MDPW people are even more liable to enjoy Sparky tinkering than random coffee makers/drinkers. Such glee on the face of the MDPW guy in the last panel.

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Posted by: david_42 (david_42)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 03:35 pm (UTC)

"The boys" are Mechanicsburg Public Works employees. I suspect Central is just the command and control center for the city's defenses. Given the history, it is probably headquarters for all of MPW (yeah, one of their buildings was burning a few pages back, but I doubt it was important). Hetrodynes have traditionally designed the city's defenses and MPW builds and maintains them, with the Castle's assistance. The city and the castle are intertwined, but it makes no sense to have everything dependent on one or the other.

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Posted by: Walter Matera (waltermatera)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 03:44 pm (UTC)

Exactly. Better to have fewer guns but multiple fire control systems than a myriad of turrets only controlled by one system. Knock that out and the ship is useless. With the former, you just switch the guns from one system to another and keep firing . . . accurately!

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Posted by: Mark Temple (glitterboy2098)
Posted at: August 20th, 2012 07:53 am (UTC)

this is especially true given that Der Kestle has been cut off from the town since the other's attack. no town, much less a sparky town, is going to just let its emergency response mechanisms sit idle due to lack of control for long. since the sprayers could probably be used to put out fires as well as prevent gas attacks, i'd imagine that they'd have rigged up some sort of manual controls even if it had been run by der kestle before.

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Posted by: E.T. Davidoff (vettecat)
Posted at: August 6th, 2012 06:22 pm (UTC)
 science!

I love this town...

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Posted by: murgatroyd666 (murgatroyd666)
Posted at: August 7th, 2012 02:02 am (UTC)
 vonzinzer hah

Yes!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXShit8aEi0

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Posted by: sam_arkand (sam_arkand)
Posted at: August 7th, 2012 02:29 am (UTC)

I hearby beg the Foglios to show the use of tactical ballistic municipal architecture.

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Posted by: Walter Matera (waltermatera)
Posted at: August 7th, 2012 02:39 am (UTC)

Ho yez!

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Posted by: pervy Vorlon fancier (pikku_gen)
Posted at: August 7th, 2012 07:29 am (UTC)
 :D

Agreed!

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