Comic Archive

Again a view down the corridor, Max hitting the bot in the distance with a plama rifle blast.
SFX: WHAM!
Max: Got it! Let's go!

Heidi, Adil and Max have arrived at the spawning chamber.
Adil: Pfft, my avatar is exhausted as quickly as I am… this simulation is too realistic!
Max: Keep an eye on any new bot spawning, while Heidi tries to relay OIB-A's hacking attempt.

Adil: Something is appearing. Ready to thwack!
OIB-A271 (voice from phone): Wait… almost there…

Whatever was starting to appear in the chamber, disappears in a puff of smoke.
SFX: POOF
Heidi: It worked!
Max: Well, at least this part did… we'll only know for sure until one of us respawns.

Zhang: I'm back! But, if we have to do that entire walk every time…
Alana: That problem should just have been solved. In theory, next time we should respawn here.
Zhang: No way, you hacked this thing?
Alana: Well, we sort of cheated a bit…

OIB-A271 (voice from phone): Yeah, hacks are easier with direct hardware access. But, I should warn that this has consumed a large chunk of entangled matter. Your remaining time will shorten with every hack like this.
Heidi: Then we should just destroy any other spawn chambers close enough to this one.

Max: As long as these hacks don't result in weird warbling MIDI music to start looping, I am OK with it.
Adil: Huh?
Max: You clearly have not played the original System Shock game.

While Steve is talking, a brick comes in through a nearby window.
Steve: Let's move on. It appears the only other way out of here is downward…
SFX: KLANG!
Adil: Look out!

Adil picks up the brick.
Adil: Another brick? Those brick squads keep doing their thing even late into the evening!
Steve: Working hour schedules are really weird in this future. As are the jobs of course…

Adil throws the brick against a security camera.
SFX: CRACK
Adil: There, now it is actually useful. Did that help with “level security,” OIB-A271?
OIB-A271 (voice from phone): Oh yeah, I can see more around you. You indeed need to go down.

Max: Wait a minute, if we are going deep into this building's basement, won't we lose the cell phone signal to OIB-A271?
Heidi: Do you still read us loud and clear, OIB-A271?
OIB-A271 (voice from phone): Yes, in fact the signal seems stronger than ever.

View of OIB-A271 in the real world.
Heidi (voice): Strange… unless this building is full of wireless connectivity.
OIB-A271: As a matter of fact, it is. Must be to allow for optimal control of those pesky bots.

Max again fires the plasma rifle, while Zhang points at a sign stating “reactor.”
SFX: POW!
Max: Speaking of bots… there's another one. Got it!
Zhang: Look, we are approaching the reactor. We are progressing from System Shock to Duke Nukem 3D!
Max: I hope we won't encounter any cops turned into pigs, then.