This comic was a complete whim, conceived just moments before putting it together. How is it going to fit into the Reclaimer storyline? Your guess is as good as mine, but I think I already have an idea…
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Importing a MASSIVE dataset into PASW (formerly known as SPSS). It's been grinding for 30+ minutes so far. Just hope it finishes before 5:00 15 mins ago
i like it….humorous without being over the top…plus it adds a new story element…i wonder wut his name is
Merl.
No, really.
(Not really.)
Just a little teaser – this guy's name is Rulebook.
Perhaps not so far off track. What if the AIs can replicate and this is an 'infant' AI deprived of sensory input. Then the question, what kind of protection would a parent AI provide. (or traps)
.... it was obvious the orange head was the oracle/monitor and the blue text UNSC is some sense, and i believe that this monitor is actually more wise than we all seem to believe (yes, to all those people who think outside the box, i am stating the obvious) the monitor makes more sense than the UNSC related A.I. thing… well… to me…
Why this no make sense? I'm guessing that the UNSC AI is talking to a viper, and the cracked moniter is just…well, cracked.
It'll make more sense soon. This one was written almost completely from stream of consciousness.
I must say, this particular comic makes absolutely no sense to me, although I'm sure it will in time.
Orange text – cracked Monitor/Guardian.
Blue text – UNSC AI.
Probably doesn't make it make any more sense at this point, but it might provide a little more context.
It makes a slightly larger amount of sense now, but it still seems like one of those things that will make more sense later on. Thank you for the explanation.
Oh, it will. I plan to tie it in this week (and possibly into next). This isn't one that I'm going to leave you guys hanging on indefinitely.
Very interesting comic. I can't wait to see what happens next, as usual. Save the head, destroy the body sounds like a possible reference to Artemis but I'll really just have to wait to see what happens next
No more fishes and bread Jim?
Loving this new plot element. Would like to know how the Cavalcade fit into the forerunner reclaimerverse when it has been factually stated in the haloverse that the monitors were the best AI ever created by the Forerunners. Who has authority, a cavalcada or a monitor?
And his name is Rulebook… not 16807 Rulebook? And in the reclaimerverse, are monitors just generic for any Forerunner AI? Or does this AI have jurisdiction over the Ark I wonder.
Good work Jim, can't wait to see how this unfolds
Originally, the Cavalcade had greatest authority. After their disassembling, that power passed over to the Monitors and their individual installations.
Yup, it's just Rulebook.
The Monitors are a specialized Forerunner construct, assigned very explicit tasks. As far as Rulebook knows, no such structure as the Ark even exists. It only knows of one thing, that which it has been tasked to guard.
I actually see some sense in the garble of conversation. If you write off the Monitor as crazy mumblings like Guilty Spark, and just read the UNSC AI then half of a conversation comes through that makes perfect sense to me. This AI seems to be talking with his superior that we can't see, and that superior is demanding and asking for information that will be dangerous for him to see. The real question is what can this monitor be guarding that is so dangerous for the superior, (can we say Viper-1), and how will the monitor "Rulebook" interact with the AI?
Good writing Jim. You are doing a good job at showing the "ghost in the machine"
Another good question to ask is, Why is Rulebook so cracked? Even Spark made sense in his mutterings and ramblings.
Could possibly be an effect of Archimedes virus, or what ever the virus is. I did notice a familiarity of the AI fonts with that of the virus.
and what installation is he actually guarding? We only know of monitors on Halo's are you insinuating that this monitor is on a Halo ring? That would be a interesting plot twist
Or possibly just a side affect of all the grenade battles we have had on that level!
No, this Monitor is… special – and more than in just the 'cracked' way.
The remnants of a forerunner who designed the cavalcade but lost his wife to a mob of terrorists from the future who came back in time using a magic pretzel?
I wouldn't be surprised if that were true, your plot twists are always extreme
Why is that level so great for grenade battles?
Play a game type on there, only grenades of all kinds. The central platform is accessible from many ways, and it turns into a grenade battlefield. Loads of fun, especially when 2 or 3 are trying to kill each other with stickies all going round and round the platform.
By any chance… have you beeen drinking a lot of mulled wine recently?
Nope, none.
My Face>>> O_o
Span me right out with this one.
Although you truely Captured the spirit of Guilty Spark, all spaced out and all that.
Reading back through it I am now however confused. Is it a monitor? If not then who are the two people controlling it? And then why does one of the people sound like Eyeball 3000, I mean Guilty Spark. (Guess the reference, win a cookie)
It's being controlled by itself, if 'control' is what you can call it. The thing's a jibbering idiot.
Reference to RvB. Chocolate Chip please.
Hands cookie to greasea (see time stamp from below)
Now about this control. you say its both a monitor and UNSC AI, would hat mean they're in the same shell, or just communicating?
No, no – that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that those are the two voices. The one is the cracked Monitor that we see in this comic, and the other is a UNSC AI at an undisclosed location.
Red vs Blue DIY. It was the ad for the heroic maps endorsed by red vs blue. They wanted to call the forge avatar Eyeball 3000.
I love it! A loony AI!
It's about time you used the monitors for something. I'm very interested in how this will pan out… Thanks for letting us know this 'lil guy's ability… "sensing things that have happened in the past or have yet to happen". Given that in the Reclaimerverse the Covies and the Humans came to a truce, the events that transpired on the Ark in Halo 3 never actually happened, right? So this monitor must be telling us what is going to be happening in the future when speaking of the Ark, right?
Also, continuing the speculation from the last comic… If the shatterboxes are a software program, then wouldn't that mean that by combining the Cavalcada together you're making a bigger shatterbox? Perhaps this mega-shatterbox is what Ferial needs? I don't have the time or energy to flesh out that thought into a full theory, so do with it as you will.
No, actually, the shatterboxes remain distinct. That's part of what makes them shatterboxes. They're designed to keep an artificial construct intact and sane. As such, two shatterboxes should never co-mingle. They can bump up against each other, metaphorically speaking, but they can never merge, as that would defeat the purpose of keeping an AI intact.
That should be good for RC. I have a feeling that they are going to want out of RC's head when they are all together. For when they are all in RC they are limited by his architecture and location. I have a gut feeling that they will want to be restored to whatever/ wherever they were before the Forerunners disassembled them. Watch out for counter move from them when they are ready to be independant, in other words when RC has done all the hard work of getting them together.
Well, there goes that speculation, glad I didn't spend more time fleshing that theory out.
But on the other hand, you're that much closer to forming a theory that is accurate.
i tend to slip my brain into neutral for these ones as i know that i'll find out in a few comic's time what on earth it is all about. for now i just coast… ah, the wonders of the free-wheeling mind…
That's actually probably a wise approach to these.
p.s. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you Jim, and to all your readers.
Catfish: RvB DIY. Yay! I win a cookie!
It seems as though the "Guilty Spark" character is refering to events which happened in the original Haloverse, but those events were still entirey likely to happen. My question is, are they talking about our RC? Or is there another RC we've yet to encounter? Maybe MC (Save the head…Destroy the body…)?
MC was killed by RC in the tunnels. For him to return would be an incredible odd issue.
He was supposedly killed.
They're definitely referring to our Reclaimer. The 'save the head, destroy the body' reference – consider that this Monitor/Guardian may be able to overhear echoes of things happening (or that have yet to happen) around the galaxy.
I think I'd be cracked, too.
archimedes is head
body destroyed
Hehe, good point. Mystery solved.
Anyone remember the episode of Reclaimer awhile back that was shot on Guardian with the criss-crossing lasers?
i do!!
I DO!
"I know; I'm evil. Just file this away for future reference. It'll tie in eventually.
"
I see. Then again, I don't have a clue, so I guess I don't see.
It's ok. It'll all be clear (or as clear as I typically make things) by week's end.
jim spend tim with your family…you dont need to make comics over [edit: holiday is offensive] take a break! you deserve it
"holiday is offensive"!?!? I'm sorry, but since when is a celebration an offense? If he said "happy birthday" it would be the same as saying "merry christmas", you're wishing the person well on a day that you consider having special importance. Even if the person you're saying it to doesn't celebrate that particular holiday, that doesn't mean they should get offended by you wishing them well. Political correctness is destroying our society…
And on that note, merry christmachaunakwanzika to you all!
lol…i did that on purpose. I've seen it on a couple of sites because "wishing people a merry chirstmas is offensive" i think its pretty dumb and the fastest way to integration is segregation
Must agree with you, calling it happy holidays is just renaming Christmas as something else while still commemorating Christmas as something special to be happy about. Kind of silly really
Oh, believe me – I won't be Reclaimering over the holidays. I intend to have the rear of the week's comics done tomorrow so I can enjoy the holidays with family.
hmm, thickens the plot does
This one will fit in nicely with the cavalcada this has the "issues". I can see a Mad Hatter tea party coming on.
Jim is right, better to not burn too many brain cells on this one until more is revealed.
By the way, the weather here in the Northwest is a real joy to behold. I love the snow and the day off it affords. It's just the idiots who don't know how to drive in it that make for the challenge.
It really will. Put two insane AI into the same room, heat to boiling, stirring occasionally, and wait for the fireworks.
And the weather here in the mid-west hasn't exactly been a thrill, either. April can't get here soon enough to suit me.
So will we get to see this interaction? You probably won't tell me but I gotta ask.
I always thought when the insane cavalcada was integrated they would be able to correct its issues. Guess we will find out.
It's a bit more complicated than that. I assure you, there will be an interaction eventually, but I suspect it won't be the kind you expect.
It never is Jim, it never is.
Heh, so the midwest crapshoot hasn't been kind to you either then, Jim?
It really hasn't. The big downside is that I have horses, so I have to go out in this crap twice a day for 30-60 minutes to make sure they're all taken care of.
I feel your pain Jim, I was back in Montana last week for 5 days, the high for a couple of days was 10 below zero and we had to help birth a couple of REALLY early calves. That stuff is bad enough at normal temps but frozen is just not right…..............and to bring this back to RC so it could not be considered as too much of a spam…......will we see anything from Snowbound in the RC comic?
Okay…wow umm so I started on the first comic last nigt oh around 10:30 11:00ish and stopped on number 76 and came back tongiht oh around 11:00…all i can say is that heres are just completely amazing and are on par or above with the actual series of halo books (which i would also reccoment immensely) Thank you for creating these adventures into the halo universe I look foward to reading your panels and pages to come.
Awesome! Always glad to know that my writing is keeping my readers happy.
Moniters, Cavalcada, rogue supersoldiers possesed by a virus, and an ancient villain shrouded in mystery. Your mind never runs out of ideas, does it? Well done.
Well, the advantage to spacing comics out the way I do is that I have plenty of time to work through writer's block, so you guys never have to see when I get 'stuck.'
I would like to know just how you do get past writer's block, I've run into a nasty one myself and haven't been able to shake it for a week.
Honestly, the biggest thing I do to fight through a block is to do something that no one expects, even myself, and that might not even necessarily appear to fit into the storyline (like this comic, for instance). Then I take that twist and figure out how to make it fit, even if it means changing key aspects of my story. It's a bit of give-and-take, but it keeps things fresh and interesting, since I'm not always sure how things will turn out.
hmm.. interesting idea, I might have to try it out if my block persists past christmas.
could the monitor be a type of archimedies, somthing to be used by archimedies prehaps?
It is not. They're completely separate entities.
Oh. It seems like a refrence, thats all
And in this universe, that's a legitimate assumption, considering that I tend to interweave everything together so much.
Speaking of which, how do i create a proper account? I cannot really see how.
Looks like you got it done.
hmmm just an idea JIM maybe a crosslinking thing with your comics… i.e. u can put a link that will take us to a relevant comic which will reveal more detail. i.e. the link to the comic which has the criss crossing lasers on guardian?
also just wondering for that matter one of the reclaimers first encounters with ferial was also on guardian? where he was training… coi-incidence or is it same location
I usually do include a link back. I just got lazy with this one.
Actually that one was filmed on Blackout. I haven't really used Guardian for filming 'til now.
What the hell?
Is the "save the Head…Destroy the body.." line a reference to our favorite missing dog head?
Huh?
My recent post Configuring Texmaker USB With MiKTeX Portable
Bungie Lore
http://bungie.wikia.com/wiki/Ling_ling
Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten about that…
So they are just communicating…..
Now where is the monitor, where is the other guy, and how do they know each other?
I blame social networking sites, "I'm into Hacking into millenia old mainframes and the such… I also enjoy walks on the beach"
Not so much. It's more like overlapping signals. They're not really interacting, just both talking at the same time – right up until that last panel.
That's makes more sense now when I read it.
Before I went in turn, now after reading it person by person I see the interaction.
Cheers for clearing that up.
You might want to mention that idea to South Africa. I think they missed the memo.
And on that note, let's let this topic drop.
Good. I'm glad it's about as clear as mud now.
good idea, I get kind of rabid on censorship issues…
I just don't want to see anything on this site devolve into a flame war, and this is one of those topics that I don't see the worth in debating.
And that's the way I like it.
Yeah, that stinks. Makes it rough on the newborns to be born this time of year.
We might. It's hard to say. I use the maps that make the most sense for the storytelling. So far, there's nothing that driven me to make use of Snowbound yet.
Darn. You figured me out. Now I'm gonna have to go back and rewrite everything.
Actually, censorship is a very worthwhile debate topic, but this is not the place for it. So, seriously, I'm going to shut up now.
I may have to write something up on overcoming writer's block at some point here. It's honestly not something I struggle with as a general rule, and I think it's because I'm usually not afraid to 'break' my own story. Reclaimer has veered far away from my original idea, but I think it's a much better story for that.
I'm well-aware of the changing of a storyline, or "breaking" as you put it, and I've done so many times but never as a tool to break a block. Regardless, I would love to read whatever you can come up with on dealing with the dreaded writer's block.
Well, I'll try to write something up after the holidays.
Actually, if you check my File Share, I have a gametype and map – both called lil rock go boom – for just such a setting. It's a lot of fun!
Actually, if you check my File Share, I have a gametype and map – both called lil rock go boom – for just such a setting. It's a lot of fun!