Freefall 3: Death Ray Byproducts

[Fyraltari]

I missed this by a few days, but Thurdad and Sam didn't sing karaoke, they sang a capella which isn't the same thing.

[Yuki Akuma]

Sure, it's nice to have a spare, but why does the crew want another reactor, again?

It's a legal requirement. They aren't allowed to leave orbit without two reactors. Because you really don't want to be in space when your sole reactor breaks down.

[theangelJean]

I think the second reactor is even referred to as only being necessary for life support (in case of an emergency). So if your main reactor breaks down, you can at least stay alive (or go into cold-sleep) until someone comes along to rescue you.

[Kantaki]

New comic

Sam's approach is kinda backwards, but he has to work with what he's got.
Also, can't argue with success.

[Kantaki]

New comic

Okay, this guy deserves having Sam inflicted on him.
I really hope he solves The Morsel's problems- in exactly the way the fool doesn't want.
Maybe Sam can get him to say "with any means necessary" or something like that.
Still one of my favourite Babylon 5 moments.

[theangelJean]

New comic

Okay, this guy deserves having Sam inflicted on him.
I really hope he solves The Morsel's problems- in exactly the way the fool doesn't want.
Maybe Sam can get him to say "with any means necessary" or something like that.
Still one of my favourite Babylon 5 moments.

The Morsel? Interesting nickname.

I get that his name is De Morel, which is probably a play on "a"moral or "im"moral, but it just makes me think of mushrooms. And wonder if Dr Bowman referred to mushroom-heads at some point.

Edit: full name Mr Ames De Morel. Ame (with a circonflex) being French for "soul". It's possible that the "de" is ironically denoting a descriptor and the guy is actually A Moral Soul. But his behaviour so far doesn't support it. Then again he does seem to be overwhelmingly convinced of his own rightness.

[Gez]

Edit: full name Mr Ames De Morel. Ame (with a circonflex) being French for "soul". It's possible that the "de" is ironically denoting a descriptor and the guy is actually A Moral Soul. But his behaviour so far doesn't support it. Then again he does seem to be overwhelmingly convinced of his own rightness.

Well if we're reading too much into that, it'd translate to "soul of moral" maybe. Or perhaps "soul of morale". There's a bit of a funny false friend thing going on between French and English, where the nouns "moral" and "morale" are translated, respectively, as "morale" and "moral". E.g.
"le moral du personnel" => "the morale of the personnel"
"la morale de l'histoire" => "the moral of the story"

Given how apparently part of the problem is a profound loss of motivation caused by inept leadership, it might be that the morale is a more pertinent reading here than the moral. Either way, it's certainly an ironic name.

[halfeye]

The Morsel? Interesting nickname.

I get that his name is De Morel, which is probably a play on "a"moral or "im"moral, but it just makes me think of mushrooms. And wonder if Dr Bowman referred to mushroom-heads at some point.

Edit: full name Mr Ames De Morel. Ame (with a circonflex) being French for "soul". It's possible that the "de" is ironically denoting a descriptor and the guy is actually A Moral Soul. But his behaviour so far doesn't support it. Then again he does seem to be overwhelmingly convinced of his own rightness.

I think the name if it means anything, which it probably doesn't, Bowman has nothing to do with bows for instance, then the reference will be to the mushrooms, probably to the "kept in the dark and fed bull****" meme.

[Willie the Duck]

The Morsel? Interesting nickname.

I get that his name is De Morel, which is probably a play on "a"moral or "im"moral, but it just makes me think of mushrooms. And wonder if Dr Bowman referred to mushroom-heads at some point.

Edit: full name Mr Ames De Morel. Ame (with a circonflex) being French for "soul". It's possible that the "de" is ironically denoting a descriptor and the guy is actually A Moral Soul. But his behaviour so far doesn't support it. Then again he does seem to be overwhelmingly convinced of his own rightness.

Or maybe De Morel-ized? As in -- representative of this entire station which is is (so to speak) a company town after the company left.

I say that because, sure right now he'd being portrayed as the schnook who tried to pay the protagonists with a reactor he knew wouldn't serve their needs, and they could just try to enact some just desserts and move on, but the overall plot arc seems to be that they will figure out how to rescue this station's economy. If so, De Morel is unlikely to get a thorough comeuppance, and thus I don't think he'll be made into quite the mustachio-twirling villains that Mr. Kornada was.

if it means anything, which it probably doesn't

Or that, of course.

[Fyraltari]

Or maybe De Morel-ized? As in -- representative of this entire station which is is (so to speak) a company town after the company left.

I say that because, sure right now he'd being portrayed as the schnook who tried to pay the protagonists with a reactor he knew wouldn't serve their needs

Did he know that, though?

and they could just try to enact some just desserts and move on, but the overall plot arc seems to be that they will figure out how to rescue this station's economy. If so, De Morel is unlikely to get a thorough comeuppance, and thus I don't think he'll be made into quite the mustachio-twirling villains that Mr. Kornada was.

Kornada was more portrayed as utterly urresponsible than actively malicious.

[Willie the Duck]

Did he know that, though?

It's certainly not clear, but the would-a-few-rolls-of-duct-tape-make-this-better bit leads me to believe that, at least at the moment, that's how he's being portrayed regardless. He's (and I'm sure there's a better word for this) the schnook that's not paying them what they wanted, and it remains to be seen if Sam is going to get what he wants by negotiating with him, fooling him, or working around him.

Kornada was more portrayed as utterly urresponsible than actively malicious.

Agree but not sure of the relevance. My point is that he was portrayed as an over-the-top antagonist -- one that the audience wouldn't feel bad with just about any form of comeuppance. And he got quite a comeuppance, and it felt cathartic. Everything we've seen so far (particularly the number of strips dedicated to discovering exactly why the station is in such economic plight and why exactly each part of it isn't paying each other and doing vital maintenance and such) suggests to me that the main plot arc here is the protagonist team figuring out how to make the station viable again, such that maintenance will happen and everyone won't die horribly, Winston's parents can continue to live there, Niomi can have gainful employ, and everyone live happily ever after (excepting the main cast who will move on to new adventures when the next story arc happens in 3-8 IRL years). Therefore it is my hypothesis that this De Morel guy is not going to get some epic just desserts, and as such won't turn out to be nearly the Karmically-acceptable-target that Kornada showed himself to be.

[theangelJean]

I think the name if it means anything, which it probably doesn't, Bowman has nothing to do with bows for instance, then the reference will be to the mushrooms, probably to the "kept in the dark and fed bull****" meme.

Oddly enough I think I *just* found out where the name Bowman came from, hang on....

Dr. James Alistair Bowman: Dr Grace Holloway came up with the name "Dr. Bowman" for the Eighth Doctor whilst introducing him to others at the New Year's Eve party. (TV: Doctor Who) The Doctor subsequently used the "Dr. Bowman" alias on occasion, filling it out to "James Alistair Bowman".

Just had to confirm dates to check - The telemovie was 1996, Freefall started in 1998.
*edit*: the comic apparently started being published online in 1998 - wikifur says it started in a fanzine in 1989. Now I wonder when Dr Bowman and the name Bowman's Wolf were first introduced.

Well if we're reading too much into that, it'd translate to "soul of moral" maybe. Or perhaps "soul of morale". There's a bit of a funny false friend thing going on between French and English, where the nouns "moral" and "morale" are translated, respectively, as "morale" and "moral". E.g.
"le moral du personnel" => "the morale of the personnel"
"la morale de l'histoire" => "the moral of the story"

Given how apparently part of the problem is a profound loss of motivation caused by inept leadership, it might be that the morale is a more pertinent reading here than the moral. Either way, it's certainly an ironic name.

Or maybe De Morel-ized? As in -- representative of this entire station which is is (so to speak) a company town after the company left.

I'm actually leaning towards this one now. Demoralised? I figure that's the way the workforce are feeling, both as a consequence of the factories not having a purpose, and probably also because of the attitude of this particular manager.

I say that because, sure right now he'd being portrayed as the schnook who tried to pay the protagonists with a reactor he knew wouldn't serve their needs, and they could just try to enact some just desserts and move on, but the overall plot arc seems to be that they will figure out how to rescue this station's economy. If so, De Morel is unlikely to get a thorough comeuppance, and thus I don't think he'll be made into quite the mustachio-twirling villains that Mr. Kornada was.

I agree with Fyraltari that he didn't necessarily know that the reactor wouldn't serve their needs, but my take is that he didn't actually care. This guy isn't out to deliberately trick people into doing what he wants with the promise of a reward that doesn't eventuate. He is more about penny-pinching - that is, getting whatever he can without spending any money. If he can promise them something that he already has, and has no need of, who cares if it actually works for them. But I agree with Willie the Duck's predictions about the direction of the story, mostly...

Agree but not sure of the relevance. My point is that he was portrayed as an over-the-top antagonist -- one that the audience wouldn't feel bad with just about any form of comeuppance. And he got quite a comeuppance, and it felt cathartic. Everything we've seen so far (particularly the number of strips dedicated to discovering exactly why the station is in such economic plight and why exactly each part of it isn't paying each other and doing vital maintenance and such) suggests to me that the main plot arc here is the protagonist team figuring out how to make the station viable again, such that maintenance will happen and everyone won't die horribly, Winston's parents can continue to live there, Niomi can have gainful employ, and everyone live happily ever after (excepting the main cast who will move on to new adventures when the next story arc happens in 3-8 IRL years). Therefore it is my hypothesis that this De Morel guy is going to get some epic just desserts, and as such won't turn out to be nearly the Karmically-acceptable-target that Kornada showed himself to be.

I was with you right up until the last sentence. De Morel being comically punished or given an excessively "fitting" retribution wouldn't serve the purposes of anyone else in the comic - what they need is an economically viable space station. And unlike Kornada, he's not coming off as supremely self-serving. So I'm not sure what you mean by "some epic just desserts"?

[Willie the Duck]

I was with you right up until the last sentence. De Morel being comically punished or given an excessively "fitting" retribution wouldn't serve the purposes of anyone else in the comic - what they need is an economically viable space station. And unlike Kornada, he's not coming off as supremely self-serving. So I'm not sure what you mean by "some epic just desserts"?

That's because I missed the negative. He is not going to get any epic just desserts like Kornada. Edited the original.

[memnarch]

Oddly enough I think I *just* found out where the name Bowman came from, hang on....



Just had to confirm dates to check - The telemovie was 1996, Freefall started in 1998.
*edit*: the comic apparently started being published online in 1998 - wikifur says it started in a fanzine in 1989. Now I wonder when Dr Bowman and the name Bowman's Wolf were first introduced.


...

Comic #9 it turns out, at least for the name.

[Gez]

Oddly enough I think I *just* found out where the name Bowman came from, hang on....

Just had to confirm dates to check - The telemovie was 1996, Freefall started in 1998.
*edit*: the comic apparently started being published online in 1998 - wikifur says it started in a fanzine in 1989. Now I wonder when Dr Bowman and the name Bowman's Wolf were first introduced.

Well, if you want "Dr. Bowman" to be a reference, there's a certain character named Dr. David Bowman in 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[Kornaki]

Is the part of the problem sam sees something actionable, or is it just the observation that the manager apparently thinks 50% of all the money the station is wasting is an enormous sum.

[halfeye]

Is the part of the problem sam sees something actionable, or is it just the observation that the manager apparently thinks 50% of all the money the station is wasting is an enormous sum.

I think the problem is that however big the sum is (which I don't believe is actually known), that manager wants almost all of it. Which would mean, if he got his way, nobody else would be in any way motivated to save money. He is in some ways as bad as Kornuada, just not so blind to the law.

[Lord Raziere]

I think the problem is that however big the sum is (which I don't believe is actually known), that manager wants almost all of it. Which would mean, if he got his way, nobody else would be in any way motivated to save money. He is in some ways as bad as Kornuada, just not so blind to the law.

Yeah, I think the point of the interaction is that if you wanted to work together with them to get like ten bucks, he'd be the guy to insist he'd get nine of them or something because he doesn't want to pay you five dollars.

[PoeticallyPsyco]

While I'm not sure a court would agree that Sam just got contracted for 51%, I sure got a chuckle out of it.

[Willie the Duck]

While I'm not sure a court would agree that Sam just got contracted for 51%, I sure got a chuckle out of it.

Oh, not a snowball's chance in an inferno, but it was funny.
I was going to say, 'that's the kind of thing that would work in a children's cartoon show*,' but then realized it'd work on plenty of cartoons not aimed specifically at child (Simpsons or Futurama, or the like), and then realized that I was talking about a comic strip, and realized that it really is consistent with the strip as a whole.

Freefall is (a little) odd in that Florence basically is living in a realistic sci fi world where people triple check their spacesuit seals and have to register flight plans, while Sam gets to have half the town chase him (but then not lock him away) and everyone ends up with ice cream. Where this interaction with De Morel will land (perhaps he will have to end up paying 51% of the savings) might depend on the Realism-Wacky mix this plot ends up being.

[Willie the Duck]

Okay, so I think I miscalled this guy's likability/value as a karmic target. I will say I think we were lead a bit astray, as it was previously telegraphed that the station had lost its main purpose and was, perhaps, kind of a natural retracting economy (and that that was the problem to be solved).
One would have thought that some place like a space station would have already had robots where robots could do a job.

[lord_khaine]

Okay, this guy deserves having Sam inflicted on him.

Yes. He does like few others.
I am still curious about how Sam's own morale code see this though.

Or if Sam points out how proffitable it is to replace him with a robot.

[Gez]

Yup, a demoralizer.

As funny as it is in a cartoony comic like Freefall, people like him really exist, and it's absolutely not amusing in the real world.

[Fyraltari]

Oy, this guy's a ****.

That's all I have to say.

[memnarch]

New ship coming up? The robots really like to be useful.

[Cazero]

This sounds like the kind of random act of construction that could really cut down the profitability of a space station with limited supply of raw materials.

[Fyraltari]

Wait, I thought they had already left the bomb factory with their new reactor. Is the bomb factory on the station?

[Yuki Akuma]

Wait, I thought they had already left the bomb factory with their new reactor. Is the bomb factory on the station?

I don't think they ever actually went to the bomb factory, just called them. The reactor will take a bit to fabricate so it's more efficient for them to do other things while they wait.

[theangelJean]

Hmm.

The robots collectively owe Florence a large number of work-hours. She doesn't want to use them. Or she doesn't want them. There's a difference...

Since she can't pay the robots for the new reactor in other currency, she's accepting the need to use the work-hours. Sam proposed that once they get paid for sorting out the station, they will pay back the robots.

But now the robots are considering actively twisting her words. They know that one interpretation of what she asked is for a new reactor. But if they made her a new ship instead, that would use up a lot more work-hours. That she would want to pay back. And hasn't actually asked for.

What's the ethics of paying a collective debt in unsolicited materials?

[lord_khaine]

I think your misunderstanding the situation?
The robots saw chance to build something. And to help Florence.
Two things they both badly want to do.