Wapsi Square Forum

Jay-Em wrote:By the by. Someone came up with the idea that Oduya tried to assasinate Kat in that heli-assault. I think he/she is right. It fits within the plan of obliterating the Lanthians and their offspring. Only thing is: Why not earlier? Or did SDO/Nü-nasty only discover that the 6tet baby-girl got away from mapini on a date much later, and thusly set a desperate, bloody, plan in working??

Makes me wonder.

Perhaps she did - back at that dig on the banks of the Dead Sea?

But if that was so, where did the Warthog that took out the chopper come from?

Fairportfan wrote:

Jay-Em wrote:By the by. Someone came up with the idea that Oduya tried to assasinate Kat in that heli-assault. I think he/she is right. It fits within the plan of obliterating the Lanthians and their offspring. Only thing is: Why not earlier? Or did SDO/Nü-nasty only discover that the 6tet baby-girl got away from mapini on a date much later, and thusly set a desperate, bloody, plan in working??

Makes me wonder.

Perhaps she did - back at that dig on the banks of the Dead Sea?

But if that was so, where did the Warthog that took out the chopper come from?

Could be The Library.

On the other hand, in a region as volatile as where the dig was, I can imagine that an unmarked helo will raise suspicion. I bet that flight wasn't announced, and it would not have a transponder active.

I just need to exorcise this ...

"Agents, have you met Junior Director Budur yet? No? Let me get her for you ..."

Sidhekin wrote:I just need to exorcise this ...

"Agents, have you met Junior Director Budur yet? No? Let me get her for you ..."

I was just thinking that I ought to add "Bud introduces herself to Pratt & McBride" to the wiki timeline.

Jay-Em wrote:

My2Cents wrote: the vampire girls apparently have an ability to sense guilt. http://wapsisquare.com/comic/the-only-thing/
So if Kathryn and Atsali are still alive Bud claims won’t feel right to them.

Depends. I can wholly imagine that the "guilt sense"does not work on a clay jar...

If Tina can't read Bud, I doubt the vampires could. The source of the gore, on the other hand, should be within the agents' area of expertise.

Jay-Em wrote:By the by. Someone came up with the idea that Oduya tried to assasinate Kat in that heli-assault. I think he/she is right. It fits within the plan of obliterating the Lanthians and their offspring. Only thing is: Why not earlier? Or did SDO/Nü-nasty only discover that the 6tet baby-girl got away from mapini on a date much later, and thusly set a desperate, bloody, plan in working??

Makes me wonder.

Kath's presence as an introvert was necessary to keep Monica empathetic and the Jaguar in check. But in a post-2012 world, SDO/Devil Baby has determined that the remnant Etheitian is... redundant and can be eliminated at last. What its plans for Monica and everyone are now would likely make for some frightening reading; plainly the Stygians are having none of it, and are intervening at last.

zachariah wrote:

MerchManDan wrote:....what. I can't even....what.

So, SD Oduya sent Kath & Atsali to die; this much is clear. But apparently, she was counting on Acacia to wake up & kill them, if the nuclear meltdown didn't do it? But...SD Oduya KNOWS that Bud isn't that Acacia anymore - doesn't she?

I can't even.

That is Bud and it's step one of her plan. Remember Bud was not supposed to be there but at Mesa Verdi instead. Now she appears looking like it was SDO's order to kill Kathy and Sali. This will push SDO off balance as her plan just hit the windmill. The shock effect and surprise will push her even more. Before she can catch her balance Bud will will yank the rug again.

Yes, I can see it's Bud. I meant...ugh, never mind; not important, because I was wrong anyway. I'd forgotten that Bud was at Yaxchitlan, then was supposed to go straight to Mesa Verde but got waylaid. For some reason, I had thought SD Oduya had done it, but now I see another explanation: Oduya sent Kath & Atsali to Mapimi to die. The Bibliothiki sent Bud to rescue them.

I get this might be super-obvious to those who've given this more thought.

I'm a little bummed we didn't get to here more about what the SD had to say... I'm figuring her next step would be to remove Pratt and feel victorious, but now she knows it just isn't going to be that simple. Lots of cooks at the pot. I kinda feel sorry for Brandi, not sure how much of all this she's aware of, and she's going to be horrified.

zachariah wrote:

MerchManDan wrote:....what. I can't even....what.

So, SD Oduya sent Kath & Atsali to die; this much is clear. But apparently, she was counting on Acacia to wake up & kill them, if the nuclear meltdown didn't do it? But...SD Oduya KNOWS that Bud isn't that Acacia anymore - doesn't she?

I can't even.

That is Bud and it's step one of her plan. Remember Bud was not supposed to be there but at Mesa Verdi instead. Now she appears looking like it was SDO's order to kill Kathy and Sali. This will push SDO off balance as her plan just hit the windmill. The shock effect and surprise will push her even more. Before she can catch her balance Bud will will yank the rug again.

Next step? Demons? Kathy and Sali appear? Turn Pratt and McBride against SDO? Which way will the frog jump?

Next step is to bring Monica in saying something about having been visited by the angry spirits of Kat & Atsali. (I seriously doubt this will happen, but it's fun to theorize about how M would act out her part as angry demi-god/sub-titan to throw another wrench into SDO's plans.)

Ohnhai wrote:what did she mangle to get the viscera ?

Probably nothing at all. A quick poit to any slaughterhouse would give her access to plenty of pre-mangled viscera... more than enough liver, lights, chitlins, and blood that their former owners were no longer using.

Makes for an easier apology later, once the ghost has been dealt with. "Oh, dear, I've splattered pig blood all over your slinky power suit. Don't worry - it comes out in a jiffy with a bit of lemon juice and salt."

As an "out of the blue" unexpected surprise to upset the Chessmaster's gameboard, Bud really does seem to have started with a doozie of a stunt! Can't wait to see what she comes up with next... when will she switch from mind-boggling diversion to a direct (or indirect) attack? Considering that it's the Chessmaster she's taking on, I rather doubt that "subtle" is in Bud's plans... I have a feeling she knows Sun Tzu well enough to know that you don't attack an enemy on his/her favored home turf if you can possibly avoid it.

Dave wrote:

Ohnhai wrote:what did she mangle to get the viscera ?

Probably nothing at all. A quick poit to any slaughterhouse would give her access to plenty of pre-mangled viscera... more than enough liver, lights, chitlins, and blood that their former owners were no longer using.

She also could have just stopped over at Suzi's place.

I'm thinking this is another Bud "pull the wool over the eyes" special. Just like the whole Kevin incident.

And no, this is not a flashback. The bricks in back of her are definitely the same as are behind SDO in the first panel; Bud just has some excess "plasma" emanating from her (for show, I'd bet).

Fairportfan wrote:

Jay-Em wrote:By the by. Someone came up with the idea that Oduya tried to assasinate Kat in that heli-assault. I think he/she is right. It fits within the plan of obliterating the Lanthians and their offspring. Only thing is: Why not earlier? Or did SDO/Nü-nasty only discover that the 6tet baby-girl got away from mapini on a date much later, and thusly set a desperate, bloody, plan in working??

Makes me wonder.

Perhaps she did - back at that dig on the banks of the Dead Sea?

But if that was so, where did the Warthog that took out the chopper come from?

A better question would be, if she WAS behind the attack and it didn't work, why wouldn't she try again? She has the resources of the MiB to call on; if she wanted Kath dead before this I doubt Dr. Gilchrist would be with us today.

On a different topic, Bud's "anytime soon" is an odd statement. Why not "ever again"? Clearly she's trying to make Brandi freeze in shock, and what she's saying is perhaps less important than that she's saying it; but maybe we're going to see Kath and Atsali in 'ghost' form soon to RALLY mess up the Nu Gul.

I can't tell if SDO is weaving a tale because Mr. Taylor doesn't use those "cloudy-type" borders when telling flashbacks. IF this is Acacia dressing the part then you could bet Kath and Atsali are playing 'Trojan horse' right now. You know like in Austin Powers?: "GET IN MAH BELL-EEE!"

eee wrote:On a different topic, Bud's "anytime soon" is an odd statement. Why not "ever again"?.

I believe it's referred to as "sardonic understatement". It's a literary technique for driving a point home, by deliberately (and quite obviously) underemphasizing the situation. Kinda like staggering though hurricane-force winds, crawling to safety in a sheltering basement, and commenting "It's breezy out there." Or, the classic situation when you see a massive catastrophe take place... train wreck, plane crash, building collapses, etc... and in the horrified silence which ensues, somebody says "Yeah, that'll leave a mark."

British humor makes a lot of use of it.

In this case, it's Acacia driving home the point that not only are Kath and Atsali dead, they're thoroughly and completely and unambiguously dead... and that this is what she intended, and (by implication) that's what Senior Director Oduya had wanted. "Mission accomplished as ordered, Boss! I crushed 'em into library paste, just like you said! Oops... I didn't know you had company... I guess they weren't supposed to know about this?"

It's really well done... it'll make whatever intricate tale Oduya was about to spin, much less believable from the start. If Oduya starts stammering out shocked denials, I expect Acacia is ready with some "... but you said" counters to expose Oduya's real plans... and the house of cards may all fall down in the grand style.

Dave wrote:

eee wrote:On a different topic, Bud's "anytime soon" is an odd statement. Why not "ever again"?.

I believe it's referred to as "sardonic understatement". It's a literary technique for driving a point home, by deliberately (and quite obviously) underemphasizing the situation. Kinda like staggering though hurricane-force winds, crawling to safety in a sheltering basement, and commenting "It's breezy out there." Or, the classic situation when you see a massive catastrophe take place... train wreck, plane crash, building collapses, etc... and in the horrified silence which ensues, somebody says "Yeah, that'll leave a mark."

British humor makes a lot of use of it.

In this case, it's Acacia driving home the point that not only are Kath and Atsali dead, they're thoroughly and completely and unambiguously dead... and that this is what she intended, and (by implication) that's what Senior Director Oduya had wanted. "Mission accomplished as ordered, Boss! I crushed 'em into library paste, just like you said! Oops... I didn't know you had company... I guess they weren't supposed to know about this?"

It's really well done... it'll make whatever intricate tale Oduya was about to spin, much less believable from the start. If Oduya starts stammering out shocked denials, I expect Acacia is ready with some "... but you said" counters to expose Oduya's real plans... and the house of cards may all fall down in the grand style.

Not to mention one of the Vamps also being of Anasazi heritage. If SDO was counting on having only one source of DNA for whatever plans, she doesn't need to know that there's a spare set of keys still in play. Then, there is the fact that P&McB are very Justice-oriented, getting jerked around will not do too much for their self-restriction. I'm guessing one of the markers Bud called in was for a safe spot for Spider and Bird to keep out of sensor range until needed.

Dave wrote:It's really well done...

Looks extra-rare to me ...

Dave wrote:it'll make whatever intricate tale Oduya was about to spin, much less believable from the start. If Oduya starts stammering out shocked denials, I expect Acacia is ready with some "... but you said" counters to expose Oduya's real plans... and the house of cards may all fall down in the grand style.

And why should SDO care whether the mosquitoes believe her or not?

The way I read this, Bud is putting on this show for Brandilyn, not for the agents. They're just another source of stress for SDO: "Can I still use them? Do I need to get them killed? Is there anything they or their testimony can do to harm me? Is Acacia thinking of using them? Is there anything they can do that she cannot do herself? Why am I thinking of them and not of the leviathan spanner in my works right before me?"

MerchManDan wrote: Yes, I can see it's Bud. I meant...ugh, never mind; not important, because I was wrong anyway. I'd forgotten that Bud was at Yaxchitlan, then was supposed to go straight to Mesa Verde but got waylaid. For some reason, I had thought SD Oduya had done it, but now I see another explanation: Oduya sent Kath & Atsali to Mapimi to die. The Bibliothiki sent Bud to rescue them.

I get this might be super-obvious to those who've given this more thought.

I wouldn't bet on the library being responsible for Bud being there. The sound made when she poited in sounds like the crystal cave pulled her in.It is possible Sali's mind in merging with the computer rerouted bud in as she knew the count down was ticking.

At this point in the story, the majority of us are this guy

Sidhekin wrote:

Dave wrote:It's really well done...

Looks extra-rare to me ...

*SPLORF*

You get serious points for that one! Damn... I don't hand out straight lines like that one very often.

Dave wrote:it'll make whatever intricate tale Oduya was about to spin, much less believable from the start. If Oduya starts stammering out shocked denials, I expect Acacia is ready with some "... but you said" counters to expose Oduya's real plans... and the house of cards may all fall down in the grand style.

And why should SDO care whether the mosquitoes believe her or not?

The way I read this, Bud is putting on this show for Brandilyn, not for the agents. They're just another source of stress for SDO: "Can I still use them? Do I need to get them killed? Is there anything they or their testimony can do to harm me? Is Acacia thinking of using them? Is there anything they can do that she cannot do herself? Why am I thinking of them and not of the leviathan spanner in my works right before me?"

Well, I sorta agree with you. The very fact that Oduya has been attempting to scam the agents at this point, suggests that she does want them to believe her story. I expect that she still wants to "play" them in some way... maybe just to carry a convincing/corroborating story back to the MIB/FBI/whatever, to back up Oduya's story. They were pieces on the chessboard... perhaps just secondary pieces... but the fact that Oduya put them in "the game" at all, means that she was (and probably still is) depending on them to play a specific role in her complex plans. That much of Oduya's planning has just gone "out the window" as a result of Bloody Bud's unexpected appearance.

The more ways in which Bud can throw Oduya's plans out of whack, and hit her with sudden stresses (which we believe she's not good at handling), the better the odds of upsetting the whole apple cart and disrupting the Nü Gui's control (of Brandi and of the whole situation).

That's the thing about really complex rule-driven systems, like chess and engineering. You can build a very subtle, interconnected plan, and think out and plan and compute all sorts of possible decision paths and moves (as the Chessmaster clearly can do). However, if somebody gives the system a hearty shove from "outside of the box" (outside the system of rules and expectations) the whole system can crumble, and you may not have time to "redesign your game" to deal with a stress or event that your plans hadn't taken into account.

I have a feeling that the subtleties of the Nü Gui's clessmastering plans, were all dependent on nobody knowing that there was a Nü Gui involved at all... everyone had to believe that Senior Directory Oduya was just Brandi. Now that Bud has figured out the truth of "The Deal", all hell's out for noon.

Ah! After reading the new responses (and re-reading the old) I see it probably is Bud poiting in to the same location as SDO & co. Slow on the uptake on this one. And, as someone conjectured, SDO may not know about modern Bud at all. thinking she is still locked up in a crystal. Another interesting possibility. Bud showing up as a mummy wannabe lends credence to that one. Either that, or it's just another confusion factor thrown in.

The thing I'm still hung up on is why SDO would kill Kath. As far as I can see Kath is her creation. Why kill her off? If she was just a tool to kill the crystal inhabitants, she didn't need a specially merged baby to do that. As I see it, Kath was her answer to Shelly (and Bia's plans). Not necessarily as an adversary, but as a better alternative to some impending showdown.

Anyway, It'll be satisfying to see that smug smile wiped off SDO's face for once.

Dave wrote:

Ohnhai wrote:what did she mangle to get the viscera ?

Probably nothing at all. A quick poit to any slaughterhouse would give her access to plenty of pre-mangled viscera... more than enough liver, lights, chitlins, and blood that their former owners were no longer using.

Makes for an easier apology later, once the ghost has been dealt with. "Oh, dear, I've splattered pig blood all over your slinky power suit. Don't worry - it comes out in a jiffy with a bit of lemon juice and salt."

As an "out of the blue" unexpected surprise to upset the Chessmaster's gameboard, Bud really does seem to have started with a doozie of a stunt! Can't wait to see what she comes up with next... when will she switch from mind-boggling diversion to a direct (or indirect) attack? Considering that it's the Chessmaster she's taking on, I rather doubt that "subtle" is in Bud's plans... I have a feeling she knows Sun Tzu well enough to know that you don't attack an enemy on his/her favored home turf if you can possibly avoid it.

Yeah... this definitely isn't a 'tip the king' moment... this is meant to upend the chessboard and the table it's sitting on... I can only imagine Bud is thinking: "Checkmate.... B**ch!!!"

KnightDelight wrote: Anyway, It'll be satisfying to see that smug smile wiped off SDO's face for once.

Hopefully like this.... http://wapsisquare.com/comic/standing-her-ground/