Chapter 4, Page 15

The crab is full of questions but also some answers

Oh yeah, I forgot, I doodled this silly pic of the aqua-gang for Mermay~

And a little development post about our late friend, up for Patrons now.

I’ve been thinking about my goals for the rest of the year, since I got a lot of the hard/ time-consuming stuff out of the way Jan-April, which gives me Summer/ Fall/ Winter to think about. I’ve decided I am going to try and finish MI in 2017, which means prioritizing updates as much as possible,  so, we might see increased updating here. I have finished chapters before, but never a full work, and I think it would probably read better from this point forward if I update more frequently. We’ll see how this goes for now!

Also: the good folks at Beyond Press just launched their Beyond Anthology 2: Urban Fantasy and Post Apocalypse title! An amazing collection of comic stories, definitely give it a look.

 

25 Comments

  • Fawkes Rinzler

    Thrrrrippp?

    And best of luck on completing this comic!!! :D That’s so inspiring! I think I’d like to take a page from your book and complete the novel I started by the end of this year as well! Motivation FTW! :D I also cannot wait to see how this story turns out once it’s all done!!! :D I wonder how Michael’s doing….

  • Bottas Heimfe

    Michael’s Fine. at least he was before you killed a friend he made in this cavern system. sure he has a few more bits and pieces than he did, but its to help him survive this underground system. at least that’s the effect of it. if you just calmed down, and not freaked out so much, you would probably see the interesting things about this underground habitat.

    • Happy

      Ah yes, that’s what I say to myself every time I’m trapped in a hellscape from outer space, populated by incomprehensible creatures that all seem to crave my limbs and liquids. Just getting overexcited again, that’s me. Why don’t we all bond over this rock. Why don’t we literally bond. There we are, whole conflict solved.

  • Android 21 3/7

    …Bex, please don’t be too harsh when you interrogate Threvi. I cannot handle the murder of another friend…

    • Adriano

      Threvi, yes, I like this name ahah

  • AGV

    Wow, even worm ants seem to fear the processor, it must be tyrannical (that or it’s itimidated by Bex).

    • Vert

      Well, they said ‘forbidden’. If this really is a system with a processor (in the information-processing sense), then direct access by low-level processes *must* be forbidden as a basic security precaution. Doesn’t necessarily mean the processor is a tyrant, merely that the system is well-designed.

  • Pylgrim

    Aww it’s kind of adorable how spiderworm curls their proboscis in discomfort while getting what I’m right now dubbing “The Bexxing”.

  • lou

    “You see, lady, you shouldn’t have butchered the processor a while back.”

  • HyruleSymbol

    Theory time!

    They said that Fish recognized Bex, but no one was there to witness it, my guess is that the sea Scanns anyone that either contacts, inhales or drinks it including their memory, the Registry was recently updated because Mike ran off INTO the sea, and if he inhaled the water the system would gather his memory and read what he felt when he say Bex

    That’s why the brother of crab-worm wanted to drink the sea’s water, so he can be scanned in his current form

    Still no clue on how the Trips(thus LEVI) are the processors though…

    • charlesw81

      I think it’s indicating that LEVi knows where a processor is and how to get to it, rather than LEVi IS a processor.

      Its difficult to tell if this creature doesn’t know the answer to her question because it’s not in current contact with the water, or if its because the information is purposefully hidden from it… Well, maybe not hidden, as it said “forbidden” so maybe it’s not permitted to tell her and requires her to query the processor directly since it presumably determines the distribution of the information

    • Rafael Cordeiro

      It is very interesting that “Registry recently updated” “data synched” happened, and then the whole system could suddenly speak English! It’s an assimilating and learning biological “computer”, so it makes a lot of sense, and it’s an awesome concept! Loved it!
      What worries me is that this “update” happened right when we stopped seeing Michael… He runs into the See after seeing Kalla butchered, Bex tries to call him back, but it doesn’t work… then a minute later comes Thirp, now already speaking… I fear that seeing Bex killing Kalla has been to much for Michael, and with that he finally did what he was trying since the first page of the comic :( And that is when his memories were assimilated and “updated” the hive-mind of the Mare Internum :/

  • TorgueRND

    “About damned time someone recognized I’m the most important character.”

  • Charles

    So… she got away from the ocean monsters because they altered her to understand them AND because Mike recognised her and went into the ocean which updated their knowledge of her?

    • shingworks

      According to her, a bunch of different monsters have been attacking her regularly (the the point of being literally able to set a watch by them), but now instead of attacking they are having conversations and it’s very confusing. Mike apparently brought her as his +1 and everyone has only recently got the memo.

      • charlesw81

        The fact she could set a timer/countdown to the attacks is interesting… Like a scheduled job or process. I wonder why it couldn’t/wouldn’t attack randomly or consistently.

        Sadly. I just realised that if Kalla is revived then she won’t remember anything after rescuing Mike. None of their reconciliation on the beach and buddy talk up the slope.

        Also makes me wonder why Mike was attacked by those paralyzing creatures… His hostility towards Kalla and/or intent to find a processor? It timed quite nicely with his return to the blue ocean where his intentions may have been read (Or Kalla’s return to the blue).

        • charlesw81

          P.S. Strewth… How is Bex going to feel about catching, killing and eating creatures if they’re all talking to her now…

  • Lo

    Yes!! More Mare Internum updates!!
    I hope you’re planning on kickstarting the whole book once it’s completed, ’cause I’ve been wanting to have a copy of it since forever. Gonna start saving money for it :b

  • c8zvmwzj7

    The worm monsters should be careful! A friend of mine totally borked his operating system while updating his registry!

  • Saberbeam

    Careful how much you point fingers there Bex :O After all you’re the one who wants to hang on to all your digits, and there’s no telling how good your new acquaintance’s short-term memory is. Though to their credit, they seem awfully polite, minus that whole limb regeneration misunderstanding.

  • I just love the idea of the sea as a neural network connecting and maintaining this whole ecosystem.

    Not sure what these processors are going to end up looking like, but they seem to be the ones running the show. (If there is more than one…)

  • Miserelysia

    The spiderworm robot may just be my favorite character so far. <3
    Also I love the set-up of this page, with that last panel of little Threvi's eyes. The "timing" of it just feels right, a little comic and a little "o-OOOHHHH?"

  • JJ

    I, for one, welcome our new worm boi overlords prioritising MI over TM for the home stretch.

  • NegativeBurn

    Wait! Does “Data Synced” mean Michael finally killed himself and has been resurrected… like just now?

  • Sheridan

    “Those snakes and demons that try to kill me no matter where I go!”
    Not sure about the snakes (unless they are the hammerheads we saw in the first cave Mike got into), but I guess Kallakore could count as a demon, which explains why Bex would attack her unprovoked.

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