Comic Archive

Heidi (whispering to Max): I'm curious about the 13 months, but, asking that might make him too suspicious to keep buying the ‘Belgium’ excuse…
Max: I have heard rumors though that Belgians do count with 13 months.
Heidi: Such weird people…

Steve points to a statue of a sterotypical alien with big black eyes.
Steve: I see an alien displayed here. Is that the explanation for “The Event?”
Alfred: One possible explanation, but I do not believe in it. Yet, I do like ‘The X-Files.’ We never found any shiny disks of the last seasons though.
Steve: From what I've heard, I think it is better that way…

Alana: We haven't learned much so far, have we? Only that something went severely awry, it seems not too long after our present time. I still do not even have a clue what year this is supposed to be in our own calendar.
Heidi: I guesstimate at least 100 years after our time.
Adil: What I learned: the future sucks.

Alana: It is a nice museum, Alfred, but a bit… underwhelming. We had hoped to learn more.
Alfred: I understand, Alana. It all looks nice, but I know there is much more that they are not showing.
Alana: Really? How?
Alfred: I have things at my home that will explain it.

Zhang: We may as well give it a shot, then we can see how people actually live in this age.
Adil: As long as he doesn't offer us blended hamsters, I'm fine with it.
Alana: OK Alfred, let us go to your house.

While exiting the museum (with a sign spelled “ekzit” indicating the exit), they notice a large portrait of a man above the door.
Max: Who is that?
Alfred: Our supreme leader. His portrait is everywhere, but he almost never appears in public.
Max: Maybe he is afraid to have a brick thrown back at him…

Setting: a corridor of an apartment building
Alfred: Here is my apartment. It is pretty small, but at least I can afford not having to live in a capsule condo.
Zhang: Is that what I think it is?
Alfred: It is like a capsule hotel, but then permanent. There is not enough space to provide good housing for everyone.

We see Alfred's apartment from the inside, there are stacks of books everywhere.
Alfred: Come in, sorry for all the clutter.
Heidi: Wow, so many books!
Alfred: You actually know what books are?

Heidi: Sure, why wouldn't I?
Alfred: The only books people really know of are in museums, and you know, not many visit them. Any printed text longer than one page, is now on scrolls.
Zhang: Scrolls?
Alfred: All devices recovered after The Event presented information in this way, it was all we knew.

Steve: Wait, if everything is on scrolls now, then where did you get these books?
Alfred: I found them in the dump where I work, in sealed containers. I am not really supposed to take stuff home, but after the first ones I found, I could not resist taking more. So many smart things in them.

Alfred: Please don't tell anyone, or I may get into trouble with the Ministry of Information.
Max: Don't worry, we won't. What have you learned so far from these books?
Alfred: There is so much to learn, and doing it on my own is hard. But for instance, one of the things I know, is why we have all those strange brand names.

Adil: OK, now I am really curious. Please explain.
Alfred: Well, there used to be a limited set of respected brands. But around the start of the old 21st century, it started to change. Brands were sold to companies with often dubious intentions, and lost their meaning.
Zhang: Damn, this all sounds familiar…