Six Special Women 2013-06-28

[zachariah]

Okay, time for the Updated Basic Summary storyline:

Kath wanted to try to find some more information that might help Monica find out more about her "Jaguar Girl" background. She stumbled on the whole story about the "Anasazi Dolls", decided to go to the library to do research - and that was where she met Atsali. (That is the correct spelling, by the way.)

Atsali takes Kath on a joyride through the southwestern US, where they discover that carving in the side of a pit. Two characters that Pablo introduced prior - "vampire girls", seemingly put out for no other reason than to provide fanservice - turn out to be "assistants" for Kath, working for the mythical MIB. Unfortunately, their "assistance" is seen as a negative for Kath - as we learn from a brief flashback involving helicopters and Warthogs along the Dead Sea. Kath realizes that the carving hides a "stargate" - which puts the intrepid pair somewhere in the middle of the Yucatan.

Meanwhile, we get a bit of background on our "Senior Director Oduya" - and it becomes evident that she's apparently either possessed or has MPD. (We already know, by the way, that Brandi has been given the label "The Chessmaster" by one of the vampire girls.) Kath and Atsali stumble upon a storage facility at a strange Bermuda Triangle-like location known as Mapimi, and find out that Brandi/Oduya essentially set it up where an entire civilization (the Etehtians) would be put in permanent "stasis".

Everything seems to be working - but a glitch develops: a set of quadruplets cause a "buffer overrun", and six of the children get placed in one storage crystal. Unfortunately, just as we find this out, Atsali decides to check out an "open slot" in the storage area - and ends up shorting out the entire system, while downloading the collective memories of the entire civilization into her (already somewhat addled) brain. This causes some problems - namely, the entire facility is about to go into self-destruct mode.

Just then, Bud appears, somewhat surprised that she was at the facility at Mapimi. That is when Atsali comes to the realization that Kath is the combination of all six of the Anasazi children in one person. Unfortunately, that's when the whole facility decides to go kablooey. Bud manages to protect the pair, discharge any remaining radiation and then brief them on what she's discovered: Brandi is possessed by an evil spirit - the spirit of the little girl who had died in her hands many thousands of years ago, before she became a golem.

Meanwhile, Senior Director Oduya has been "covering up" the little "accident" at Mapimi, first with the respective governments, and now with the two Vampire Girls. Bud shows up - and we know (but Brandi/Oduya doesn't) that she's intent on putting a monkey wrench in the possessing spirit's plans. She does so by doing the Lanthian Shell Game: She tells SDO that she (Brandi) had a "safety code" in place: Termination Orders. With Extreme Prejudice. This throws Brandi into Freeze-up mode - and gives Bud a chance to do a little "interrogation" of Suzi. She not only discovers an unused data crystal, but she also gets the lowdown on what McBride knows.

With typical Bud theatrics, she begins to threaten Lily - even as SDO tries to figure out if "Miss Goodie-Goodie" ever did any sabotaging of "her" plans. Meanwhile, Atsali plugs the crystal into a slot, then Kath activates it - just as Bud grabs Lily by the arm. SDO suddenly realizes the only thing "Brandi" ever put near gates were unused data crystals - just as Bud "activates" the stargate right behind her with Lily's hand. "Kiss the Naughty Succubus Bye-bye!"

We are suddenly treated to a light show as said succubus (the Nu Gui) is ripped away from Brandi - and into the stargate. Bud states the obvious: "We're running a cleansing program... There was some contamination from the data crystals." (Just don't look behind you, 'kay?) Our vamp pair are Scooby-scared even as Bud poits out Brandi after saying "The four of you know just what to do." The full aspect of the succubus comes to light - sans heart - as "the other two" shut down the stargate. Suddenly, the succubus dissipates - until it briefly reverts to the image of the "spooky baby" that Kath saw in her first research - before completely disappearing in a "thup".

Memories start coming back for Lily - she realizes she knew Brandi "before" the Nu Gui/Succubus had "infiltrated" her. Kath and Atsali emerge from elsewhere in the complex; Atsali realizes that Lily was "kind of like your mom." More like "one of six." This gets a "what?" from both Lily AND Kath; Atsali's "computer brain" processes everything - the vase was a prophecy! Six special women (Kath, Atsali, Lily, Suzi, Bud and Brandi) would defeat an evil, born from the death of an innocent - the baby who was smashed by the Lanthian priests at Brandi's daycare.

And now, all we need is the denouement and epilogue to the story.

You know, Pablo, this would make one kick-ass, stand-alone movie.

It IS a kick ass movie. Check the title page at the start of this adventure. One question now is did this really happen or is it just a side arc movie for the viewers??? We won't know until the end credits roll and the crowd leave the theater.
Or an even weirder option this is a book Sali wrote on her trip with Kathy to find the dolls, which they did without a problem, and then hyped up the story into an adventure she would have really liked to live through. After the end credits it will have Phix reading the story and Sali wanting her opinion on how good is it. Or Kathy reading it and breaking into tears or laughter.

[zachariah]

the baby who was smashed by the Lanthian priests at Brandi's daycare.

Actually, Brandi did the smashing.

Beyond that (and the "Etehtians" typo) I'm with you: The interpretations and extrapolations you do, are the ones I'm (tentatively) doing. Nice summary.

Actually the Lantan priests caused it. Brandi was defending the babies and when she attacked a priets it held up the baby as a shield. Technically Brandi did kill it but it clearly was the priests fault, not Brandi's.

[Sidhekin]

Brandi was not "defending the babies". She was resisting the priests when they came for her, fighting them: http://wapsisquare.com/comic/lashing-out/

Sure, using an newborn as a shield is morally reprehensive. Duh! Sure, it wasn't Brandi's fault. But she was not at the time defending the baby (nor anyone but herself), and indeed ended up smashing it.

It was no mere trifle, what Brandi "did that day". And her "job was to protect them" ...

[Opus the Poet]

I'm not convinced Pratt & Kath are related in any literal sense; Atsali said Pratt is "kind of like" Kaths mom, not "is" Kaths mom.

To mangle a book title "Katherine has six mothers" of whom Lily is one.

[AmriloJim]

Someone needs to channel Hercule Perot.

Would that be Ross Perot's European cousin? I'd rather see Poirot on the case.

[kingklash]

I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. And considering how many characters can have more then two feet, that's an inordinate amout of antiicipation going on. On top of that, the other shoe might just belong to a hoof. Speaking of whom, I bet she'd just loooooove to hear about this little trip, and all the twists and turns.

[Timotheus]

Someone needs to channel Hercule Perot.

Would that be Ross Perot's European cousin? I'd rather see Poirot on the case.

It was late, the keyboard was in shadows, my brain was tired, mistakes were made.
Sorry.

[as363]

I must agree - that at times Mr.P. does take some inspiration from the readers comments . At other times "furgetta bout it" and he slips a zinger in . It's that zinger that keeps bring me back for the next reveal. And I think it must apply to the majority of the readers. If it was too easy to guess - we'd all get bored . So - seat belts fastened - drink of choice in a a sealed container - and stand by for the next touch-down.

[jwhouk]

the baby who was smashed by the Lanthian priests at Brandi's daycare.

Actually, Brandi did the smashing.

Beyond that (and the "Etehtians" typo) I'm with you: The interpretations and extrapolations you do, are the ones I'm (tentatively) doing. Nice summary.

You were right about Brandi, but not about the typo - I'm going exactly from what Pablo wrote: "ETEHITIANS" (which I am assuming is pronounced "ee-teh-HEAT-shuns").

[bmonk]

Not to be a buzzkiller, but doesn't traditional thought place Vampires above succubi in the mythological hierarchy?

Maybe so, but this is Paul's universe. In case you haven't noticed, the mythology here is pretty far from "traditional."

I agree. Remember, here vampires are "the mosquitoes" of the supernatural critters.

[Sidhekin]

You were right about Brandi, but not about the typo - I'm going exactly from what Pablo wrote: "ETEHITIANS" (which I am assuming is pronounced "ee-teh-HEAT-shuns").

Hmm ... perhaps he's mistyped it somewhere, but I find "ETHEITIANS", four times (Bud and Atsali twice each), so I imagine that is what he intended. Someone (I forget who) suggested it was pronounced like "ethicians".

Heh. He wouldn't be the first to write TEH instead of THE.

[illiad]

The big question is how much of this is misdirection? We know every one lies or hides the truth here. So what proof is there that Sali is speaking it from the computer files in er ead?

meh, that's life... have you seen the film 'the invention of lying' ?? truly must be a strange world.... go on, think how many times you have lied to *yourself* about how good you look, how cheap the shops are, etc, etc....

LIke most big films, you ONLY have what Paul feeds you, the rest is TOTAL conjecture... and you cannot 'flip to the end' to see the truth!!! :/

[zachariah]

The big question is how much of this is misdirection? We know every one lies or hides the truth here. So what proof is there that Sali is speaking it from the computer files in er ead?

meh, that's life... have you seen the film 'the invention of lying' ?? truly must be a strange world.... go on, think how many times you have lied to *yourself* about how good you look, how cheap the shops are, etc, etc....

LIke most big films, you ONLY have what Paul feeds you, the rest is TOTAL conjecture... and you cannot 'flip to the end' to see the truth!!! :/

My intent was to keep us from assuming that what we have picked up from this arc is real in terms of the Wapsiverse. We have new facts and doors opened from us but we don't know if they are real yet until Paul wraps this up. There are several contradictions in this to events we have had prior. Time-lines bent. Personalities warped, and new faces for some of the characters. It can have a lot of impact on how we reconstruct and deduce how the Wpsi history and the characters really are. But if this is not part of the Wapsiverse it has taken all of us down a dead end alley and left us more confused than before. In our glee at getting new facts to play we a lot of us seem to have forgotten this and act like this is 100% solid truth with a capital T. We don't know that yet. So hold your breath and wait for the end of the story and see what happens.

[scantrontb]

while we may never know ALL the details... i would LOVE to see the AFTERMATH of this when Brandi goes into work on Monday morning... and I can just about guarantee that SDO has NOT YET mailed those emails to the two Generals for the cover-up... and what a field day THAT will be!! those guys will be getting swamped with "WTF!" calls... and they'll keep trying to stall them until the email comes in... BUT BRANDI DOESN'T KNOW ABOUT IT!!! so even if the Generals CAN get in touch with SDO directly as part of their jobs, (i.e. if it isn't some kind of dead-drop, spy-like messaging system where they don't KNOW how to get in DIRECT contact, only thru messages and delay, etc.) she's going to be all: "WHO are you again?... no, i don't know any Generals...are you sure you have the right number... OK, now you're just being rude, I don't play that game and this conversation is OVER...click!(hangs up the phone)"... then she's all "Hey Bud?! I just got the weirdest crank phone call from some guy called General XYZ? (i don't think his name was ever given?) he seems to think i'm supposed to be emailing him something... what's he talking about? have you been out being a goof-ball again trying to get boyfriends and telling them MY NAME instead of YOURS?!? and for that matter: what the HECK is "MIB"?... "

oh yeah! i foresee EXTREME hilarity and misunderstanding for quite some time in our future...

[Sidhekin]

and for that matter: what the HECK is "MIB"?... "

Funny, but "sweet" Brandi is well aware of the MiB: "I was told to meet the new Men in Black agents at Mesa Verde, supposedly, they'll know me when they see me."

(And since my fingers twitched typing that: Can I buy Brandi a full stop or at least a semicolon?)

[Dragon Hostler]

After another look at the 'Movie Poster' I'm of the opinion that the 6 kachinas are the Fertility Drug/ Lost Girls of whom Lilly [pre-vampire] was one. How they became lost instead of being digitized is admittedly a loose end. The six kachina images may have some misleading clues about them but otherwise they are basic female dolls. God/Spirit Kachinas are another story altogether. Typically much fancier, and I feel that any Anasazi/Ehician [sp on purpose, I like that<G>] from back in the day would've definitely portrayed the Golem Girls; both Acacia the Protector, and Science Director Oduya as major Kachina symbols. Even our 2 vamps would be portrayed as 'not average'. Plus, since we do know now that the baby kachina represents the Nu Gui, I can rest assured that Katherine is represented by the spider [but MIGHT represent the team as a whole].

Another sabeau in the conjecture works.
Has everything in this story arc, up to a short time ago, been repeated 56 times???
A handy thing Brandi forgot about her book, a good way for our Brandi or NG to keep one or the other in the dark and/or baffled with BS.
New idea here so I'm not gonna guess who was spoofing who.

[jwhouk]

This is all new. Everything reset after December 21, 2012, in the previous iterations.

And, presumably, the Nu Gui gained strength after each calendar reset.

[dex drako]

Not to be a buzzkiller, but doesn't traditional thought place Vampires above succubi in the mythological hierarchy?

Maybe so, but this is Paul's universe. In case you haven't noticed, the mythology here is pretty far from "traditional."

I agree. Remember, here vampires "the mosquitoes" of the supernatural critters.

well if you think about vamps has always been "the mosquitoes" even in our world. they have a lot of limitations compared to other supernatural myths. yeah they my beat humans but they're not titains, demons, angels, dragons, leviathans or any of the other god like myths out there.

the vampire has just been romanticized pop culture. I blame victorians and their vampire pseudo pron standins like tentacle monsters in japan.

[Mark N]

[quote="Dragon Hostler"] Plus, since we do know now that the baby kachina represents the Nu Gui, I can rest assured that Katherine is represented by the spider [but MIGHT represent the team as a whole].

It is more likely that Kath is represented by the doll with bees on it. She is more of an insect then a spider in that 6 separate genetic paterns made her and insects have 6 legs (we are talking about symbolism and not accurate depictions) The doll could also be alluding to a hive mind effect by the 6 paterns in her that we have not been shown yet. The spider over the baby seems to be more likely a depiction of the stargate with spider buffer crystal as the key to removing the evil from their midst. But then again, I could be oh so wrong.

[themadkansan]

I do believe that we don't have to worry about Atsali having the computer in her head. They seem very comfortable together. She may have a bright future as a librarian, or at least a research assitant to a certain huggy Gorgon.

Heh. The pupil-flares when the internal processor arrays slam into high-gear are funny.