Steel that’s as transparent as glass.
on August 13, 2017 at 12:01 amChapter: Open Mike
Location: Transparent Steel Chamber
Hey, look, it’s Chekhov’s Transparent Steel Chamber.
just establishing a location that’s explosion-proof that you can see into, no reason
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Oh, I bet that’s the terrible location tag you alluded to… unless there’s an even worse location appearing soon.
Author’s Commentary that’s as transparent as glass
…what?
Your education was sorely lacking
Turkish Delight?
Just… wow
smooch
Bitter sour buttcheese!
Rise and shine!
Hypocrites
We’re in.
I can’t believe it.
Hostages
Wait, where did he allude to that?
I’m sure we won’t see more of this location in the future at all.
YES, WE WILL NEVER SEE THIS PLACE AGAIN.
“YES. ALL RIGHT. VERY GOOD.
“WHY AM I TYPING IN ALL CAPS? I’M DRAWING
ATTENTION TO MYSELF.”
Lol Mike trying to cause himself to puke.
I thought he was doing this.
He kind of looks like he’s trying to pull out a wisdom tooth.
It only just occurred to me seeing the strip now that Mike is sticking his finger down his throat and the whole narrative makes much more sense. Whenever I read it originally years back for some reason I thought he was eating his fist out of some sense of intense frustration.
Alternative interpretation: He gave birth to another human through his mouth in that moment.
“Your ethics frighten even me, Dina”.
Would it be…less frightening if she did take advantage of him?
It’d ring less false, anyway?
Yes, because then she’d be consistently evil and probably aware of the fact. Right now she’s willing to utterly violate Mike’s will, destroying his personality to make him behave in a way he’d find reprehensible, and likely causing him long-term medical issues in the process. But she’s not going to do anything physical with him, and so she can remain convinced she’s a good person. It also raises the question of what other moral loopholes she’ll find for herself as-needed later.
Remember though, professor Doc doesn’t do “morality”.
That’s what makes the punchline, I think; Dina’s sense of right and wrong at the moment is so skewed and confusing that even Professor “Just tell their family they died” Doc is scared and concerned.
Less frightening? Sure.
If a person has an insane moral code that excuses reprehensible behavior in some cases but not others for reasons that only make sense to them, then they’re unpredictable.
Unpredictable people are scary.
What’s so unpredictable about “I’ll keep him [brainwashed] indefinitely, but I won’t Actually Fucking Rape him”?
Why violate him in every way but the most fun? Doesn’t make much sense.
The apartment doesn’t look too different
Fermiliar
CST
Set the bomb
What’s goin’ on?
It’s darkly funny how open Dina is about what she’s doing to Mike … and that no one cares.
Because it’s Mike.
I can’t really take this seriously as a morally wrong thing. If Mike in this world is some kind of force of nature who gets away with his shit because regular moral laws don’t apply to him, then those moral rules don’t apply the other way either.
You and me both Doc Brown, you and me both.
How come Professor Doc hasn’t made a appearance in DoA yet now that I think about it?
I know that place. Yeah…don’t want to go any further.
Let me get your coats
Dizzying morality
Elevator
Leave him alone, Mike
Mike, I want you to hit me
My son.
Professor Doc needs me right away
Sorry I’m late
You’re creepy.
I know.
FORESHADOWING!!!
…oh no, wait. Forget I said anything. [whistles and backs away slowly]
Hmm… looks pretty secure, given the rush. Guess it was the best he could do…
Scotty traveled back to help SEMME in 1986 but left just after giving away transparent steel when he saw how rude they were being to the aliens.
Everyone’s just doing the best they could do in trying to conceal any foreknowledge, that’s all.
I don’t know why I’m crying. I guess it’s just that this transparent steel chamber is so magnificent.
I still have no idea what Mike is trying to do by eating his own hand, though :\
Induce vomiting to get the alcohol out of his system
Originally posted:
December 1, 2002
Also,
I love it. This leads into my favorite sequence of It’s Walky.
Professor Doc’s moral code: Threatening to strangle a teenager for no reason is totally ok. Forcibly turning a manipulative traitorous murderer into a good person is not.
Then again, it would be more morally sound to just kill Mike since, if he’s a good person in this state, that means she’s torturing a good person & taking advantage of him.
Years later, Star Wars would steal this idea.