If the dust particles are round and have a repellant charges, they would just push away from each other maybe? It could be a weak charge so it’d take a few minutes to push itself apart. Like weak magnets having the same poles pushed towards each other. No cohesive force to hold it together.
Ok, so the scouts aren’t using mass detectors, sound detectors, heat detectors, feets detectors, or Clive trackers (unless they are, and the dittos are just cancelling them out). So, the scouts may be on video only (keeping in mind that they’re being remotely controlled by their operators back in the PTs), and are looking for something in particular. The Great Pumpkin, perhaps?
Interesting thing with that sand. Just saw a documention yesterday that countries like Dubai and much other desert coutries must import sand for buildings or for creating additional land or island in their sea, because their sand they have all around is incompatible for building and creating new islands
Particles hold together in a particular shape because of one of two forces. Either they’re irregularly non-spherical in shape and the irregularities hold them in place, or they are so small that natural molecular attraction is enough to hold them together.
With that said, Patjade’s idea of the dust particles being perfectly spherical and having a slightly repelling charge is the most plausible.
Whatever the canon explanation, Jenner is right that it’s scary.
Since the TSers seem to have given up, that indicates to me that my first guess of a homing beacon could have been wrong. Perhaps they’ve come up with some kind of movement detector which the dittos can’t fully screen against? And maybe they’ve given up looking because the movement ceased a while back? Or perhaps they haven’t given up and TS PTs are closing in even now?
Interesting, the topsiders killed a week of time, or that was just a random search pattern. The worst thing about war is boredom.If one is fighting then there is a goal and something to focus on.But when you have an occupation in such an empty place, almost no enemy activity to speak of, bored soldiers, and millions of dollars of weapons and equipment just lying around and nothing to do….Well, one can get creative, especially if discipline is lax.Jeep races, and APC demolition derbies come to mind besides the usual; target practice.In this case perhaps this is the result of such boredom. The late night scouter races..NASCOUT!Go number 3!
Maybe Linda is finally back in the story…she was kinda scary. One day she just walked out of the storyline and hasn’t been seen since. Wouldn’t that be a hoot after all this time.
Regarding the dust. I’ve always assumed that residual Amesworth radiation would keep the dust “dusty” due to charge and/or outgassing (assumption of AR annihilating only hydrogen at low levels) and that AR would prevent the dust from caking over time. As for what the scout operators could have detected to bring them in on our party? seismic/audio detectors in the ground would do the job just fine. That they zoomed in on the approximate location, looked around, then zoomed off suggests that to me.
Are we sure that the equipment is that hard to replace? I mean given the nature of the story, we’re to assume that all civilizations are wiped out and that topsider and mutant alike are limited to using things that were produced before the war. The difference was that the topsiders got all the cool toys.Then the Topsiders surprised Flask by building a rocket that was far more advanced than the one she had worked on. This suggested that TS had access to advanced manufacturing facilities and stocks of raw materials.Then we saw that flock of giant drones which , according to Jim & Sarah, was a pretty recent development. That suggests that the Topsiders have mass production facilities and lots of raw materials, maybe they have mining and minerals processing facilities.In a post apocalyptic setting, it is natural to assume that everybody’s scavaging, but I’m not sure that the TS don’t still have their civilization with production facilities and all that. The only rub is that they have to wear those $#$%# suits.
The dust is the remains of the living and dead, during the war it wasn’t enough to kill the people, but they decided they had to kill their souls as well.
What is canon regrading the dust is that it can be awfully deep, say, 100ft/30m or so in places (if some of the monsters that can hide in it are any measure) and it is the result of intense Amesworth radiation that, in high doses, reduces everything to dust. (in lower doses only goes for organics, appearently by hydrogen annihilation-my guess) Amesworth radiation can be generated by hand-held scrooch guns, larger vehicle-mounted units, or bombs (the “zero bombs” mentioned early on) What it is, exactly, is still largely on the level of literary artifact, but it may have something to do with exotic multi-verse physics, as an individual can be made immune to it after a special energy treatment.
Or, y’know…. cartoon physics. Because a 100ft deep bed of dust so volatile that flattens itself out in minutes wouldn’t probably choke out a living being being in the open for twelve seconds, right?
The sun still shines, so solar power is a great option since the topsiders don’t have to hide like the mutants.Given the size of the scouters and the lack of any exhaust in bot them and the PT’s, One may assume they are electric and the PT is an oversize charging cradle.Probably wireless too, cant have USB cords running everywhere.The Topsiders must be bored silly, given the fact the mutant population on the surface is almost nil.I would think given the ability to shift easily and not stick to anything, the Amesworth dust would be similar in composition to Lunar Regolith and would be just as annoyingly pervasive.Ameswoth dust in your buttcrack! Ewwwwww!
Patjade over 8 years ago
If the dust particles are round and have a repellant charges, they would just push away from each other maybe? It could be a weak charge so it’d take a few minutes to push itself apart. Like weak magnets having the same poles pushed towards each other. No cohesive force to hold it together.
Jenner Premium Member over 8 years ago
I don’t know, but whatever it is, it’s scary.
Ida No over 8 years ago
Ok, so the scouts aren’t using mass detectors, sound detectors, heat detectors, feets detectors, or Clive trackers (unless they are, and the dittos are just cancelling them out). So, the scouts may be on video only (keeping in mind that they’re being remotely controlled by their operators back in the PTs), and are looking for something in particular. The Great Pumpkin, perhaps?
trantor0815 over 8 years ago
Interesting thing with that sand. Just saw a documention yesterday that countries like Dubai and much other desert coutries must import sand for buildings or for creating additional land or island in their sea, because their sand they have all around is incompatible for building and creating new islands
Melkior over 8 years ago
Particles hold together in a particular shape because of one of two forces. Either they’re irregularly non-spherical in shape and the irregularities hold them in place, or they are so small that natural molecular attraction is enough to hold them together.
With that said, Patjade’s idea of the dust particles being perfectly spherical and having a slightly repelling charge is the most plausible.
Whatever the canon explanation, Jenner is right that it’s scary.
Since the TSers seem to have given up, that indicates to me that my first guess of a homing beacon could have been wrong. Perhaps they’ve come up with some kind of movement detector which the dittos can’t fully screen against? And maybe they’ve given up looking because the movement ceased a while back? Or perhaps they haven’t given up and TS PTs are closing in even now?
crookedwolf Premium Member over 8 years ago
“The party’s over there, dudes!”
Space_cat over 8 years ago
Interesting, the topsiders killed a week of time, or that was just a random search pattern. The worst thing about war is boredom.If one is fighting then there is a goal and something to focus on.But when you have an occupation in such an empty place, almost no enemy activity to speak of, bored soldiers, and millions of dollars of weapons and equipment just lying around and nothing to do….Well, one can get creative, especially if discipline is lax.Jeep races, and APC demolition derbies come to mind besides the usual; target practice.In this case perhaps this is the result of such boredom. The late night scouter races..NASCOUT!Go number 3!
Robert Nowall Premium Member over 8 years ago
Maybe it’s Kirbee they’re after. Look at her expression in Panel Three…
finder10030 over 8 years ago
Maybe Linda is finally back in the story…she was kinda scary. One day she just walked out of the storyline and hasn’t been seen since. Wouldn’t that be a hoot after all this time.
salenstormwing over 8 years ago
Most likely the Topsiders are looking for the next storyline.
H603 over 8 years ago
Glacial silt is finer grained than sand, and behaves in a manner described here; visit the Desert of Maine to see what its like.
Diat60 over 8 years ago
Everyone refers to Kirbee as a teenager but is there actually any mention of this in the strip? She could be older and have memories useful to TSers.
stevegallacci over 8 years ago
Regarding the dust. I’ve always assumed that residual Amesworth radiation would keep the dust “dusty” due to charge and/or outgassing (assumption of AR annihilating only hydrogen at low levels) and that AR would prevent the dust from caking over time. As for what the scout operators could have detected to bring them in on our party? seismic/audio detectors in the ground would do the job just fine. That they zoomed in on the approximate location, looked around, then zoomed off suggests that to me.
Darwinskeeper over 8 years ago
Are we sure that the equipment is that hard to replace? I mean given the nature of the story, we’re to assume that all civilizations are wiped out and that topsider and mutant alike are limited to using things that were produced before the war. The difference was that the topsiders got all the cool toys.Then the Topsiders surprised Flask by building a rocket that was far more advanced than the one she had worked on. This suggested that TS had access to advanced manufacturing facilities and stocks of raw materials.Then we saw that flock of giant drones which , according to Jim & Sarah, was a pretty recent development. That suggests that the Topsiders have mass production facilities and lots of raw materials, maybe they have mining and minerals processing facilities.In a post apocalyptic setting, it is natural to assume that everybody’s scavaging, but I’m not sure that the TS don’t still have their civilization with production facilities and all that. The only rub is that they have to wear those $#$%# suits.
Dragoncat over 8 years ago
…and it’s over that-a-way.So… Who wants to follow them?
NeuroManson over 8 years ago
The dust is the remains of the living and dead, during the war it wasn’t enough to kill the people, but they decided they had to kill their souls as well.
stevegallacci over 8 years ago
What is canon regrading the dust is that it can be awfully deep, say, 100ft/30m or so in places (if some of the monsters that can hide in it are any measure) and it is the result of intense Amesworth radiation that, in high doses, reduces everything to dust. (in lower doses only goes for organics, appearently by hydrogen annihilation-my guess) Amesworth radiation can be generated by hand-held scrooch guns, larger vehicle-mounted units, or bombs (the “zero bombs” mentioned early on) What it is, exactly, is still largely on the level of literary artifact, but it may have something to do with exotic multi-verse physics, as an individual can be made immune to it after a special energy treatment.
Banderi over 8 years ago
Or, y’know…. cartoon physics. Because a 100ft deep bed of dust so volatile that flattens itself out in minutes wouldn’t probably choke out a living being being in the open for twelve seconds, right?
Space_cat over 8 years ago
The sun still shines, so solar power is a great option since the topsiders don’t have to hide like the mutants.Given the size of the scouters and the lack of any exhaust in bot them and the PT’s, One may assume they are electric and the PT is an oversize charging cradle.Probably wireless too, cant have USB cords running everywhere.The Topsiders must be bored silly, given the fact the mutant population on the surface is almost nil.I would think given the ability to shift easily and not stick to anything, the Amesworth dust would be similar in composition to Lunar Regolith and would be just as annoyingly pervasive.Ameswoth dust in your buttcrack! Ewwwwww!
Shane Graytail over 8 years ago
Lets see, what are they carrying that topsiders might be tracking…..