Strip 605 -- First Seen: 2010-12-31
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
Largish panel, re-establishing the scene. Focus is on Rhonda and Ed at the bar. Ed is finishing his whisky shot. Rhonda is listening to him intently. We can see some tables behind them, all of them with grizzled miners sitting at them except one, which has the male 'coal-mine canaries. All eyes are on Rhonda and Ed. In this frame we might also see Carlos, looking annoyed that Rhonda is talking to Ed and not to him.
Ed: You're obviously new here, so let me tell you about the word 'mister.'
Ed: It comes from the word 'master' and people in the Belt won't be anyone's master or have anyone be theirs.

Panel 2
In the foreground we see Larry the bartender, cleaning a glass in typical bartender fashion, listening in on Ed and Rhonda, who are in the middle background here.
Ed: 'Sov' is short for 'sovereign.'
Ed: We use it as a way of saying, 'I recognize your sovereignty, your self-ownership.

Panel 3
Looking past Ed at Rhonda, who appears taken aback.
Rhonda: Uh, mist … sov … oh, Ed.
Rhonda. You surprise me. I wasn't expecting to hear that from … from ...

Panel 4
Pull back to look over Rhonda's shoulder at Ed, who is sweeping his arm wide. We can see some miners at the table behind him.
Ed: An Outie? A Belt rat?
Ed: Rhonda, most of us came here to get away from all that master stuff.

Panel 5
Medium c/u on Ed. Leave room for dialog.
Ed: I used to teach university physics in the Texas sector.
Ed: I got cashiered because at the time everybody knew Terra was undergoing global warming … except me.
Ed: Guess I wasn't a team player.

Panel 6
Side view of Ed about to take a sip of his water. Beyond him we can see Rhonda looking at him incredulously. Beyond Rhonda we can see Carlos rolling his eyes.
Ed: Sold everything I owned, closed out my retirement fund and bank accounts and bought passage for Ceres.
Ed: Been free and fulfilled ever since.