Strip 767 -- First Seen: 2011-08-12
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
In the Water Bros. Cafe, Wally is in a booth, picking at his food with a desultory expression. Emily has walked up to speak with him.
Emily: Don't like the pork chop?
Wally: Oh, the pork chop's fine.
Panel 2
Looking past Emily at Wally, who looks up at her with sad eyes.
Wally: I have 12 decadays left to prove I can earn a living doing what I want, rather than doing what my father wants.
Emily: How's that going?
Panel 3
Medium close-up on Wally.
Wally: Not well. I get an occasional consulting job with the Merchant's association, but it's not enough.
Wally: Catching petty crooks isn't really my goal anyway.
Panel 4
Another 2-shot of Wally and Emily.
Emily: What is your goal?
Wally: There are bigger dangers in the system – the Teddies, the UW – like what happened to Billy.

Panel 5
Emily suddenly looks like she's been punched in the stomach. Wally looks apologetic.
Emily: I try not to think about that.
Wally: It's all I can think about. But I can't become what I need to be just by academics, and there's not enough, well, crime on Ceres to even support me, never mind get me to the next level.

Panel 6
In the left foreground, we see the head-and-shoulders silhouette of a woman. In the right back-ground, Emily and Wally suddenly look up at her, startled.
Woman: Perhaps I can be of some assistance.
Wally: Sv. De Leon!

Panel 7
Now we see that it is Ursula De Leon, the widow of Daniel De Leon, the first casualty in the 'War of the Worlds.'
Ursula: Or more precisely, perhaps we can assist each other to achieve a mutual goal.
Ursula: Come with me and let's discuss it.
Caption: Ursula De Leon is the widow of Daniel De Leon, the first casualty of the 'War of the Worlds,' as seen in strip #130.

Panel 8
Ursula moves towards the exit, with Wally following her. Emily stands by the booth, looking doubtful.
Emily: I'll – uh – put this on your tab, okay?