Endtown by Aaron Neathery for October 29, 2012

Maybe Linda will gain some perspective. She doesn’t see how lucky she really is.

I believe this is the first actual confirmation that the Topsider’s are related to Apex.

Well, like a teacher of mine sed to say Linda: “When life gives you lemons… you choke on them and die, you Yankee lemon eater” still… he was kind of right, she might not have wanted this life but this is the hand she was delt so she’s got to play it.

If her guide knew more of her pastAs an Apex Predator, deadlyWho became her own victim at last…That one might become harsher, readilyI like how she’s drawn, that reptile“Realistic” in tail and in faceAnd the clothing fit here makes me smileOur host has a quite good grasp of space=|====/ Level HeadVote for Endtown 2.0And for Doc Rat, tooThe Endtown ForumThe Endtown AuctionThe Endtown Books

Hi, folks! Another Halloween-themed color drawing is on the Endtown Auction Block this week.. entitled “Black(ie) Magic”.. All proceeds help keep Endtown alive. Huge thanks and good vibes to all who participate. Come look! :-)

It seems Linda still doesn’t think that there’s something wrong with the fact that anyone has to hide from the Topsiders. She just resents the fact that she has to. She’d better curb comments like in the first panel. “Gosh, just a few weeks ago I would have happily tortured any of you guys to death. Now, I’m stuck down here eating beans with you freaks. No offense.”

Even Apex secretaries carry Zero guns. Now you know what the sales guys meant when they talked about having to take a field call.

Who forgot to take her anti-grumpy pills this morning?

Seriously, though, it can take a lot of time to change your personalities and views, much more than three months. I think Linda’s orientation was quite ‘soft’ and non-confrontational. She will be flooded with confrontation, once she gets into the community.Endtown is a refugee camp in a war zone. Newcomers will almost all have their stories of trauma. Linda’s is no less than many, although different from all. She spent six years imprisoned in a biosuit and brainwashed with the notion it was better than the alternative. the brainwashing was very powerful. It will endure.At the time she changed, she would have preferred death. A part of her still believes that. At this moment.She needs friends. I do hope she can make it up with Holly and Wally. I hope she doesn’t end up in the bar with Allie.

What am I saying? They all just lines on paper.

Finding a new place is difficult. Especially if you have left something behind. I get the feeling that she will still try to see her son. Somehow. Being smart by not mentioning it, so there is no looking over her shoulder all the time. Looking forward to her rounding out with Wally and Holly. Blessed Be

“What am I saying? They all just lines on paper.”

Congratulations Aaron – that sounds like a reader who, at least momentarily, lost the distinction between the characters you created and real people… Well done sir!

“Hello! Endtown Security! This is Linda. How may I direct your call? I’m sorry, Captain Flask is not in her office and she did not indicate when she might return. I can transfer you to her voicemail if you would like to leave a message. Please do try to be brief though, as the mailbox is quite nearly full. Have a nice day!”

How did a secretary wind up a brain harvester? Stay tuned for further developments…unless you’re caught up in the nor’easter blowin’ in to the northeast USA this morning.

You tell her Liz, and I see you traded Clothes.

Liz’s tail is SO COOL.

At least Linda seems open enough for Liz to have made an impression. Might be just the difference she needs to avoid Flask’s path. Possibilities abound…. ;-)

I get the impression that Linda is getting schooled. She will be challenged to keep her mouth shut (about being a Topsider), as well as to keep an open mind, and deal with being a mutant.

She just admitted to being a Topsider. Receptionist for APEX?She just said it. I guess the Lizard lady is in on it being security. This also answers a question I had been pondering. There are more settlements of Mutants than just Endtown. That would explain the fierce attack Wally saw in the distance. That satellite is probably a bigger danger to any one on the surface than those underground. A possible Topsider plan. Create a Refugee crisis. Hit the surface communities so hard that places like Endtown have to begin taking in massive amounts of refugees. This would and probably has created a crisis in Endtown on how to handle the influx and drain on the resources of Endtown. This could cause Endtown authorities to try to fix the problem and maybe opening a gap in defenses that would expose them to the Topsiders. The satellite may not be aimed so much at Endtown but covering those settlements on the surface accomplishing two goals. Kill mutants and create a refugee crisis in other more secure settlements.

So surfstuff55 you saw that naughty kitty too.Double Double Toil and BubbleA feline like that will get you in trouble.

It would figure APEX is at the bottom of it all. After all THEY started it. They started the fire and tried to put it out with gasoline then nuke the entire place to put out the bigger fire.Typical Military Industrial Complex Dogma.

Jenner got caught up, Jenner got caught up.HeheheYou see this does move you. Dont be embarassed. Happens to me all the time.As I posted before. AN has presented us with actors and actresses performing in his story creation.I still say Marx and Flask deserve an Oscar for the final performance. That was pure beauty.

Good. She needed that.

I wonder if Linda in gonna turn into some sort of MadMax character. I mean she is short like Mel, Australian, attitude present, may drink alot, and prone to ranting about things. She may go to the surface and go into the vast unknown bringing Justice to the Lawless (Oh wait that was Judge Dredd) but you know what I mean.You can tell by look on the lizard lady’s face she lost loved ones. Happy to be alive but feels the loss of the others.

yeah, she’s a koala, but she’s still pretty attractive. She could have turned into a squid or something.

My understanding is that the sattelite has several purposes. First, to allow the Topsiders to locate any mutant communities that are unfortunate to be located on the surface. Second to locate underground communities by observing the comings and goings of foraging parties. Its possible that making it harder/more dangerous for underground communities to forage could also be part of the plan.

DarwinskeeperThat was funny on so many levels.Ask Linda section was good.Well if we go back to Sparkplug there may be remains of cities (not with a huge over hang which would put one off being under) so the ruins would be a place to hide. Camoflage would work just make it in shades of white and grayscale.Basements, tunnels, water drainage tunnels, metro tunnels all could be used for concealment. So you see the satellite would be a big game changer. It presents a greater threat to those surface settlements than Endtown and with Flask (apparently in the past building Endtown and knowledge of the satellite) she may have incorporated some defenses.What spectrums the satellite scans with would be the question.Thermal, heat displacement, energy output. The Spectre gun ship uses a device that can read the electric signature of an engine running. It reads the spark plugs firing. And that is from 20,000 feet. You camo the truck and leave the engine running you can still be seen. The thermal of the tires on the road surface if fresh can be seen by equipment on the plane. I seen that in Alaska on a test. I was using a thermal imager to find equipment on the ground that had recently been moved. I tracked the tire tracks to the camo netting. In a helicopter at 5000 feet. And it was summer not winter. That is how sensitive the equipment is today. Do you know right now if you have a cell phone on you and it is on you can be tracked? It does not have to transmit just be on. I would not expect those Topsiders to have any less capabilitities.

“not-unattractive?” If I recall her transformation scene, she had the body of a supermodel before this.

I like how Liz’s hair has the same kind of bend in the back as her tail does. Cool design! I’ve always loved me some reptiles.

Looks like “Liz” is the new Chief of Security. Good for her!As for Linda… “Liz” has just schooled her big time. I hope this type of schooling does not become a habit for her when she enters the city.

If, seven years ago, Linda was a “not unattractive Apex receptionist,” how old is her son?

You are all right. APEX is behind the whole thing. I thought at first that a different group got the hebegeebees about APEX new toy Zero weapons and reacted by releasing the virus as a preemptive strike but the more I read (and am told) it points more and more to APEX loosing control of the situation. They opened a Pandora’s box and surprize the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse jumped out. Now they cant get the damn things back in as it seems everything they do makes it worse.And cheers to Night-Gaunt 49 You put Nebu right in his place. Our country was founded on FREEDOM not a God. You have the right to worship what you will but it is not IMPOSED on you. In my military career I never fought for God. I fought for freedom. When I survived some horrific actionsI thanked God but that was about the size of it. Well done citizen

And to the brave citizens back east. I was born and raised in Washington DC. Lived all up and down the east coast. Went through Camille and her wrath. Hang in there folks. You may loose power but never loose hope.

Oh and think of this.MISS Linda has a child. What no marriage? Where is the Topsider society headed? I can hear them now. “All available females of breeding age report for insemination!” “All available males report for donations!” Now does that seem like a “superior race”? Seems like they had to change societal behaviors and morees to adapt. Clean, pure, scientific, by the books, by the numbers. I wonder if the “donors” were selected? Does the female get to chose one from column A and two from column B to ensure it takes?Do they have any choice at all?At least in Endtown you get a choice. That is Freedom.

We did see a Topsider “mother-and-child” during the “Flask Runs Amuck” sequence—-could that have been Linda? (If Flask didn’t involuntarily mutate them, that is…)

“Her son could be 10 or 12, he’s still her “baby” Take it from another mother.”It’s the “genetically perfect” part that raises a red flag. If genetics is a key deciding element, then Linda’s son was probably born after the “Topsider” mentality truly kicked in, which would have been within the last 6 years.

“As I remember, I had the impression that Flask slashed their suits.”That was indeed the impression, which is what got people so up in arms against Flask. Actually, you have to consider the fallout from that “incident”. If Flask had had infected that many people at one time, especially if it was only 3 years ago, the other Topsiders would have used her as an anti-mutant rallying point, and her name would have gone into the history books. If Linda was in the same colony, she should have had a “You’re THAT Flask!?!” moment. So, Linda and Flask are probably from different colonies.

“Ha! In your face, Nature! Many have tried to kill Matt Appleyard, and many if not all have failed!”

Am I the only one to suspect N X S Mallard may be the father of Linda’s child? Just one of those neck snapping plot twists we have come to expect. Mallard may not recognise her in her present condition, or he does not want to shock her too much at this time. If so, does that mean if their son mutates while asleep, he turns into a platypus?Also, remember to vote often. I am scheduled to have surgery Wednesday AM, this first of four procedures under general anaesthesia to be done ASAP. Gall bladder was scheduled to be next,but imaging revealed some masses that need to be dealt with ASAP. Therefore I may be unable to vote like crazy at the start of November or the end of October. No big deal, but I kind of wish my Ankh group would reciprocate my attention to them.I do have a suspicion Linda will run into her ex in Endtown. Ask Linda may list her son’s father as dead because he mutated into a duck or something and Linda is in denial that she was ever involved with a mutant to be.I do expect to see her fall into Jakob Jackrabbit’s group, because his mindset is similar to the Topsiders, it is just the hate is directed to a different different group. Perhaps Jacob could persuade Linda to take pride in her ability to change and adapt to said change, and promise to help her son change while asleep.Or Aaron could take us in a completely different direction, with of Endtown besieged by an army of giant Hello Kitty mutants.Later,JusSayin