• Adriano

    RUN, RUN YOU FOOL!
    I like that last panel, very cartoon :D

    Also, 6-commando is awesome.
    I read it today, and the drama is TDA level.

  • Ian Brown

    never mess with an engineer, they solve problems. in this case, they were the problems. he sovled it.

  • Blake Pereira

    Um, heads-up: trying to access from main page results in a ‘404 Nothing Found’ message.

    • Fixed now (I think). Thank you :)

    • Matt [in Middletown]

      404, President Smith thugs not found

      • Adriano

        Maybe it’s an april joke from Errorbot 404? ;P

        • Matt [in Middletown]

          How devious!

  • Amberlight

    Note to Oculus bad guys - if you kidnap someone from the battlefield assume they are armed and equipped for combat.

    • Yeah, ‘Morty’ is totally not getting a promotion after this blunder.

      • Adriano

        Morty’s going to have some softening up.

    • to be fair, he kidnapped a mechanic that that didn’t have any visible weapon

  • Matt [in Middletown]

    Go Speed Randy GOOOO! *Cue speed racer theme*

  • Well now… Way to think on your feet there! Nicely done! Now how to stay out of their reach… that’s going to be the harder part!

  • Chris

    Awesome escape!

    Now quick toss a few more at them, tie them up, and leave them for the crows.

  • T.R.

    I hope that Morty didn’t take the car keys with him. Or else it’s going to be a short run.

    • Adriano

      lol
      This comment made my day

  • T.R.

    Was it just a flashbang type device? Or did the goons get electric shocks to go with the flash? The image makes me think they got shocked, and Rich is mid-air at the time. I figure he’ll want every step he can get in his head start…

    • Good eye ;) Rick designed it on the fly, but it has a bit of bang, and a bit of a ZAP.

      • NickDA

        My brain likes to think that Minerva puts like metallic rails in its standard flooring, like thing things instead of grout for tiles… so that all their little robots and such can pull low voltage outa the floor as the go around… not enough to normally even be noticed by human types… that’s my head canon for how the baddies got ZAPPEd but not Rick…

        • Matt [in Middletown]

          Head canon, Tenzin grown synth muscle.

        • Nnelg

          Sorry to shatter your dreams, but a system like that wouldn’t work without something else to it.

          All voltage is relative between two points, and if you can’t trace _two_ lines back to the power source, you get massive static buildups that can fry electronics or worse (if you get anything at all). So, you’d need an additional layer to complete the circuit, maybe a railing on the side wall. But in that case, why not forgo the floor wires and make a double railing? And add some insulation except at designated charge points, so that a dropped fork can’t start a fire? Wait, I think I just described residential power outlets…

          One way you *might* be able to make things work is by embedding coils in the floor so that a robot above can draw power through mutual inductance. But that has some significant downsides, like the potential for any piece of metal within an inch on the ground to heat up until it melts. Also, any form of electronic storage will be ruined very quickly if not shielded.

          • NickDA

            You are amazing… the slow buildup to the wall wiring… hehe… k… floor metal unfeasable… what other thing on the flooring might allow for that type of crazy “arcing” (assuming Rick had a huge amount of energy in that device/capacitor).

          • Nnelg

            Thank you, I try.

            A capacitor still wouldn’t work, because you still have the problem of needing to complete the circuit. To get unidirectional current like that, you need static electricity. But then there’s a whole host of problems with trying to contain that.

            Even if he could find a way to safely contain that much charge, there would be some… *weird* physics effects. Like being strongly attracted to large pieces of metal, and sticking to them while discharging its energy at the far end of the conductor. Then it would require _twice_ as much energy as was originally contained in order to separate the device from said conductor (which would discharge again as the two separate).

            I wouldn’t worry though, since this specific example falls under a certain category of “comic book physics” that has been considered an acceptable break from reality for generations. Also, the same effect could have been achieved with a flashbang grenade, albeit in an arguably less cool fashion.

          • NickDA

            Hehe… yeah, there are times when the “comic book cool” rule takes effect… but Dan and I did start this whole train of thought with some thoroughly geeky scientific esque conversations around artificial muscles, ATP and AI… so we try and keep as much science in it as possible :D

          • Although lately Nick isn’t part of most discussions, being too busy with work and making money to pay Seba XD

          • NickDA

            Sad and true… I’m like an occasional voyeur in the process :D… although new work is getting going, after the “initial burst honeymoon plan all the things” phase I’ll hopefully have more time to both a) finish new site theme, and b) get back involved. In the meantime its kinda fun being surprised by the pages as they come :D

  • RTM

    YES! Run Rick! If you can drop some incendiaries behind you. … Hmmm, I wonder if Minerva has FOOF or Chlorine Trifluoride grenades…

  • Deoxy

    Yeah, I called it back when he got here - and so did he, which was very wise of him. Hope he makes it.

    • T.R.

      While I’m cheering for him, my money is on him not making it back to base. I think there’s only 2 more strips before the break, so there’s not much time to close things out before then. My theories on what happens to Rick in this chapter:
      1) killed while escaping. (bullet in the back/crash)
      2) recaptured (Keys in Morty’s pocket?)
      3) escapes immediate danger, but no resolution on where he winds up, (with fates #1 or #2 happening in a later chapter)

      In the end, Oculus gets no info,
      but Aegis doesn’t learn any hard info about Oculus’ interest either.

      I’m sure we’ll find out when Dan and Seva are ready to reveal it.