194 – Tran

I do love the banter between Tran and the Cavalcade here.

↓ Transcript

The Reclaimer kneeling next to the holographic projector.

CAVALCADE

This... is one of your human constructs?

RECLAIMER

It is. Tran and I go way back.

CAVALCADE

And just what is it that Tran can do that we cannot do better?

RECLAIMER

Don't be petty, b--

TRAN

Do better?!

Close in on the display pedestal.

TRAN

Sir, who are these bozos with the high-falutin' egos you've got riding around in your skull?

RECLAIMER

Relax, Tran. They're friends.

TRAN

Well, I don't think I like them much.

Zoomed in on the Reclaimer.

RECLAIMER

Tran, meet the Cavalcade -- well, part of them, anyway. Boys, meet Tran. She's one of a kind.

TRAN

Sir, quit it. You're making me blush.

CAVALCADE

And just what is it that makes it so special?

TRAN

She.

CAVALCADE

Pardon?

Looking over the Reclaimer's shoulder.

TRAN

You called me an 'it'. I'm a 'she'. Get it right.

CAVALCADE

With respect, artificial constructs do not have a gender. It is a physiological impossibility.

TRAN

Oh, brother.

TRAN

Look, I don't care how it works in your part of the galaxy, but I was modeled after a female. I may not have a physical body, but my psychological makeup is all woman.

CAVALCADE

Apologies, Tran. We meant no disrespect.

Camera pulled back from the Reclaimer a bit.

TRAN

None taken, I assure you. I just like keeping folks on their toes. Right, sir?

RECLAIMER

{sigh}

RECLAIMER

Are you kids done squabbling now?

TRAN

Yes.

CAVALCADE

Indeed.

Close up on the holographic display.

RECLAIMER

Good, because we're a little pressed for time here.

RECLAIMER

Tran, remember that special program I built for you a long time back and told you lock away?

TRAN

Yes, sir. You said you never wanted to have to use it.

RECLAIMER

Well, it's time to unlock it.

TRAN

Oh, dear...


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Discussion (64) ¬

  1. Lupus_Cruor

    OMG, that was pretty awesome banter…but I have to wonder…what is this hidden program?

    • Jim Stitzel

      Only time will tell…

    • Sunkicked

      My guess is Tetris. Let's see Ferial take over the universe when he's stuck in front of his computer monitor waiting patiently for the PERFECT piece to come down.

      Also, great comic!

      • Jim Stitzel

        Haha! Talk about a rough gig on Ferial's part.

        "Dammit! All I need in order to take over the world is one straight piece!"

        • SnowXing

          If I didn't already know what you were talking about, I would have said that sounded wrong.

          • Captain_EVA

            Lol you just HAD to say it. :D

          • Jim Stitzel

            That's quite a bit of a reach, even for a double entendre.

        • Ilyich

          No.. It has to be an L-Block

  2. UmbraSilentium

    And what an attitude!

    • Jim Stitzel

      Tran's a bit of a spitfire.

      • SnowXing

        Are you just realizing this. Just a question, do you plan your charactors attitudes towards other beforehand or does it just play out.

        • Jim Stitzel

          No, I'm stating a fact. I knew Tran would be a handful right from the outset.

          To answer your question (minus the question mark), sometimes I plan them out and sometimes I just let certain character personalities develop on their own. Though, a lot of times, even when I do plan them out, they still have a way of developing on their into something I didn't quite expect.

          • Sunkicked

            Since you're a Stephen King fan you'll probably appreciate it when I say that he writes like that as well. He has stated on more than one occasion that when something shocking happens in one of his books he is just as shocked as the reader.

  3. xSOB a DooBy

    Start scary music!!! This is interesting! Nice work Jim, glad you finally got another one out :D

    • Jim Stitzel

      Likewise, I assure you. :)

    • SnowXing

      Back to square one. Scary square.

      • Badodar

        Good RvB quote. lol.

  4. Sangheilioz

    Thank god for a new installment, I was wearing a hole through the floor with all my rocking back and forth… Also, I didn't read Tran as a female until it was mentioned… I would make a comment about women having attitudes, but I think I'll keep this one to myself lest someone get offended.

    • Jim Stitzel

      Well, Tran doesn't fit any particular stereotype. She's just a rather dynamic personality type.

  5. Rosco128

    I like Tran already!

    • Jim Stitzel

      Everyone misses Rulebook. Meet Tran. :D

  6. sh228

    Oh very dear.

  7. RobRocker7

    Great post Jim! Its really nice to see a comic this week I was getting all antsy and stuff!

    Tran seems like my kinda girl. :P

    • Jim Stitzel

      What? Headstrong and mouthy? :p

      • RobRocker7

        I likem rough and loud… hahaha

      • Badodar

        Reminds me a lot of those two AI's from Contact Harvest, the strict female manager and the male farm hand AI's combined into one. One spectacular combination. Doesn't seem quite like the personality you'd give to your top-class super-soldier, though. I've gotten too used to the witty cynical ones the haloverse is full of. Good change!

        • Jim Stitzel

          I thought of them, as well, when I was thinking about how to write Tran. She's not intentionally modeled after those two, but I suspect there's still a little of them in her.

  8. liteRed

    Its funny that the humans are the ones to create something that the Cavalcade can't grasp. We always seem to be so far behind technologically in the Haloverse.

    • SnowXing

      We can still do some things better than the forrunners. Kinda like the Heechee who never learned to build a complex computer and required living organisms to power them.

  9. SnowXing

    The calvacade obviously have had no experience with a women. A shame for something their age.

    • Jim Stitzel

      Wrong. They don't have any experience with constructs seeded from a living mind.

      • SnowXing

        A.K.A. A woman. Aren't we all technicalyy constructs seeded from a living mind. I mean, we do in our own ways fuction much like a computer, except with an infinite numeric base rather than two.

        • Sangheilioz

          Actually, we are still base two. After all, at the most basic level our neurons are either firing or not firing, which is either "on" or "off" which translates to 1 or 0.

          • SnowXing

            But our is also a chemical computer that responds the the ammounts of these and those floating around multiplying the two by aleph zero.

  10. SnowXing

    Everyone misses the Machine.

    You knew I was going to post this before you hit submit didn't you.

  11. SnowXing

    Flashback time! Yay!

    My money on a Reclaimer duplicate to confuse the other AI shooting at him.

    • Captain_EVA

      Yeh though I dunno why he wouldn't want to use that. It would've been pretty useful before so he wouldn't have locked it away.
      Im guessing something thats very powerful, unpredictable and maybe illegal.

      • SnowXing

        I'm thinking it's a training program that makes a copy of Reclaimer that can be used to confuse IP.

  12. Rav Raider

    Man I've been checkin for any new updates 4 times a day, and the day my internet goes down, the comic arrives! Anyway, I never pegged Reclaimer for the programmer type. I guess that training covers it all.

    • Jim Stitzel

      He's a bit of a computer whiz. :)

      • SnowXing

        Take the AI approach. Send the request for this web page and then the picture in MS DOS then use the streaming info to build the picture in your mind.

        Skillz.

  13. The Silver Fox

    Reminds me a bit of my SPARTAN-II, Cathy-327, but more understanding and with a vocabulary that isn't centered on certain four-letter words.

    • SnowXing

      I'm sorry. I don't what four letter words you are talking about. Care to elaborate?

  14. sgt taco1

    love the comics…tried to send u a friend request one LIVE but it said the gamertag didn't exist…

  15. Diamondking

    She's no Rulebook, but she's definitely cool in her own right that makes her just as cool. Reading this comic makes me want to start writing my own Halo fanfic but I don't know if I'd have the time or keep up with creative ideas XD

  16. Diamondking

    She's no Rulebook, but she's definitely cool in her own right that makes her just as cool as Rulebook. Reading this comic makes me want to start writing my own Halo fanfic but I don't know if I'd have the time or keep up with creative ideas XD

    • SnowXing

      But not as cool as the Machine/Mercyhoard/Melancholy/What-Have-You

  17. muisje

    mouse over image txt, yaaay
    i love the series :P

  18. AdamSusskind

    Ha, interesting interaction. Good stuff.

  19. stealth

    Speaking of the hidden program … How distressed will you all be when it turns out to be Microsoft Solitaire!!!

    • Jim Stitzel

      Yes! The ultimate weapon to undermine Ferial's efforts! You've seen right through my carefully thought-out plot.

      • SnowXing

        Ferials' Jim. The ap goes after the s.

  20. SnowXing

    You know me all too well.

  21. Sunkicked

    Wow Snow, you're hanging on pretty tightly to this line of reasoning. Part of me respects that. Another part of me wants to make a comment about the S shaped pieces to see what you'll come up with, but I've decided against it. You're welcome.

  22. Jim Stitzel

    SK is a huge influence on my writing. I've always loved the way he describes his writing process because it's very much like my own. :)

  23. SnowXing

    King was good until he started pushing out books at the rate of a gram cracker machine.

  24. Jim Stitzel

    What kind of machine?!

  25. SnowXing

    You're right, I should shut up. And let me point out that I didn't bring up the S, peice on that train of thought. You did.

    Ohh!

    Sorry, I couldn't resist.

  26. SnowXing

    the Melancholy.