Strip 539 -- First Seen: 2010-09-30
Escape From Terra is updated with new pages every Monday through Friday.

QV on a short break

QUANTUM VIVE is taking a break for a few weeks, as we prepare for Part 2 of the Novo Palermo story, and also for a Kickstarter campaign for Part 1, which will start in September.

In the meantime, Not-Safe.Space will continue, as a murder mystery begins and the relationship between Eithne and Diana develops in unexpected directions.

Not-Safe.Space is a NSFW strip but more than half the pages are SFW so I've set those to *not* require a Patreon membership. Readers should be able to follow the story without seeing the NSFW pages. If I've done this right.

Kickstarter successful and closed

The Kickstarter campaign for Not-Safe.Space Chapter 3 concluded successfully on April 21, and Scott extended the time allowed for late pledges until May 19.

Books have been ordered from the printer and Scott will be spending the next week or so setting up and sending the PDF files to those who asked for them.

(There are still six of you who have not responded to the survey asking for e-mail and snail-mail addresses, he'll do the best he can.)

Thanks to all for supporting this Kickstarter!

The Transcript For This Page

Panel 1
Re-establish scene at the job site. Wally and his father Gus are standing near the assembled spar-and-ballast ring, heating up the ring so that it sinks slowly through the ice. By this point the ring itself is slightly below the ice surface, and steam is rising from around the edges. In the father distance we can see the mobile fabricator. Manny the customer is standing near the fabricator. Max is walking over to Gus.
Max: Boss, Sov. Hernandéz says there's a problem with the living module design.

Panel 2
Medium 2-shot of Wally and Gus. Gus is handing the control box to his son.
Gus: I need to go talk to the customer. Monitor this until I get back, don't let it sink too deep.
Wally: Gotcha.

Panel 3
Full-height shot of Wally standing there, controls still in hand, and Gus next to him with hands on both sides of his helmeted head, in a posture of exasperation. Hernandéz and Max are just walking up.
Caption: Almost a centime later ...
Gus: Wha … WHAT HAPPENED?
Wally: Um … I guess my mind wandered.

Panel 4
Overhead shot: the entire assemblage has sunk below the surface. Some water burbles in what is now a crater 50 meters across and about 20 deep. Steam rises from the sides. The line from the control box leads into the burbling water.
Wally: How do we get it back up?
Gus: {sigh} We don't. It's frozen under the surface. We'll have to fab new pieces and start over.