Wapsi Square Forum

jwhouk wrote:Well, that certainly explains things.

Now - what the heck is a "folded world grid anchor"?

. . . You had to ask the madboy.

GlytchMeister wrote:You rang?

*cracks knuckles* . . . weak zones.

I suspect that the Vimana cells are actually powering the control units, and the main power for the actual manipulations of the World Grid is extracted from the side-lobes of the anchor points . . . basically a Ward-Leonard control system on a massive scale. The advantage would be that the primary controls require low power levels, but can be scaled up iteratively to massive power levels.

Of course, if the stage 1 power supply goes, you're toast . . . probably literally.

--FreeFlier

From what’s stated in the comic, the Grid is powered by the vimanas. There could still be such a control scheme, of course.

Vimanas are, in this universe, the second most energy-dense non-pure-magic source known to mankind, outstripped only by the Galactic Angular Momentum Harness, which i suspect was actually used to power the synthesis of the fuel in vimanas (Unbihexium-310: double-magic-number spherical Island of Stability element... Jin’s Sword-Hilt Vimana was a museum piece that was turned into a power symbol after it dropped below a certain power output that wasn’t in a radiation recycling containment cell for ages, so most of its fuel decayed into Plutonium, explaining why it was described as Plutonium and not Ubh-310) and the Vimanas were used as a relatively safe (GAMH could easily accelerate planet-sized objects to near c - as power plants go, its nuckin’ futs) and also portable energy source. Such a device, especially if advertised as being created with the power of universe juice, would be excellent for a priesthood to use to assume control of a society.

Then again, with the scales we are talking about and the kind of beings the WG is designed to repel... it could well indeed be be as you describe... with the main power being multiple GAMH units that are (hopefully) not malfunctioning like the Calendar Machine did.

Turtles. All the way down.

If turtles go all the way down, what goes all the way in the opposite direction?

┴nɹʇlǝs˙

GlytchMeister wrote:Jin’s Sword-Hilt Vimana was a museum piece that was turned into a power symbol after it dropped below a certain power output that wasn’t in a radiation recycling containment cell for ages, so most of its fuel decayed into Plutonium, explaining why it was described as Plutonium and not Ubh-310)

So, you're saying that Plutonium is stable by comparison to Unbihexium-310? or are you that Unbihexium-310 is stable by comparison to the Lanthians themselves?

'cause it seems as if they, and their civilizations, had a pretty short half-life and a tendency to go supercritical...

Alkarii wrote:If turtles go all the way down, what goes all the way in the opposite direction?

Rabbits

Dave wrote:

GlytchMeister wrote:Jin’s Sword-Hilt Vimana was a museum piece that was turned into a power symbol after it dropped below a certain power output that wasn’t in a radiation recycling containment cell for ages, so most of its fuel decayed into Plutonium, explaining why it was described as Plutonium and not Ubh-310)

So, you're saying that Plutonium is stable by comparison to Unbihexium-310? or are you that Unbihexium-310 is stable by comparison to the Lanthians themselves?

'cause it seems as if they, and their civilizations, had a pretty short half-life and a tendency to go supercritical...

Hang on lemme look at our notes on Ubh-310...

The Ubh we theorized is actually more stable than either main isotope of Pu. However, when out of Full Vimana Containment, the decay products (which include several transuranics before ending up as either Pu, U, or Th) cause a fissile chain reaction that speeds up the decay process. Pu doesn’t have that kind of capability. When in Full Vimana Containment, the Plutonium decay path is the one the Vimana cannot reverse, so that’s the one that builds up.

"DAMMIT GLYTCH THAT'S CLASSIFIED!" - Billens


P.S. -

jwhouk wrote:"DAMMIT GLYTCH THAT'S CLASSIFIED!" - Billens

I wonder if Billens is still hoping to use his MIB-insider knowledge of Lanthian technology to corner the market in nuclear-powered marital aids?

In addition to technical speculation about world grid anchors, there's another thing to consider. Daylla said she didn't intend to crash through the door with Dustin, her body did the opposite of what she wanted. Could being this close to the Anchor be messing with her motor control? That could explain why Daylla 2 is now an ornament on the Anchor, she knew what to do but did the wrong thing and got zapped. If so, then Daylla doesn't dare try fixing things directly, she'll have to wait until Dustin is up and conscious and then direct him in repair efforts.

We'll see.

eee wrote:In addition to technical speculation about world grid anchors, there's another thing to consider. Daylla said she didn't intend to crash through the door with Dustin, her body did the opposite of what she wanted. Could being this close to the Anchor be messing with her motor control? That could explain why Daylla 2 is now an ornament on the Anchor, she knew what to do but did the wrong thing and got zapped. If so, then Daylla doesn't dare try fixing things directly, she'll have to wait until Dustin is up and conscious and then direct him in repair efforts.

We'll see.

There could indeed be electromagnetic shenanigans happening that are throwing her off balance - or gravitational ones, which she might be more affected by due to her (presumably) greater density. She probably weighs more than William “The Refridgerator” Perry. Could also just be an accident, too.

GlytchMeister wrote:Could also just be an accident, too.

That's what I'm guessing... she just leapt to stop him and didn't take time to think of the consequences.

As to why Daylla-2 ended up stuck in the anchor field... one possible clue might be Dustin's comment that Daylla-2 has/had a "volcanic temper". Possibly, when she was doing whatever she did to try to deal with the folded anchor, she lost patience and tried the old "give it a good smack" technique. This could have gone bad in any number of ways, from an accidental "got sucked into the vortex" to a deliberately-built-in anti-tamper defense.

It could even be that the World Grid system has developed a form of sentience, like the Library. It might not appreciate being poked at. If so...Daylla, don't make it angry. You wouldn't like it when it's angry.

Dave wrote:If so...Daylla, don't make it angry. You wouldn't like it when it's angry.

Hey! That's MY line!

jwhouk wrote:Hey! That's MY line!

It's originally ascribed to a gentleman named David, I believe.

Dave wrote:

jwhouk wrote:Hey! That's MY line!

It's originally ascribed to a gentleman named David, I believe.

Bruce

AnotherFairportfan wrote:

Dave wrote:

jwhouk wrote:Hey! That's MY line!

It's originally ascribed to a gentleman named David, I believe.

Bruce

Darned, that's right. I think he used "David" as a cover name some of the time... my mistake!

jwhouk wrote:Hey! That's MY line!

Dave wrote:It's originally ascribed to a gentleman named David, I believe.

AnotherFairportfan wrote:Bruce

Dave wrote:Darned, that's right. I think he used "David" as a cover name some of the time... my mistake!

There is a well-known precedent for him using the name "Dave"...

Fun trivia (fun to me, at least...) :
The TV show was somewhat predictable, time-wise. David Banner would transform into the Hulk twice, during the one hour show. Once after 22 minutes (after establishing what this week's story was, and reacting a first time to whatever evil was occurring on the occasion), and once again 52 minutes in (where the transformation helps resolve whatever the situation was.)

Back when the TV series was running, I lived in Québec City. And it so happened that the two Hulk transformation coincided exactly with the local bus schedule!