I might boast that, during all this scene of horror, not a sigh, or expression of fear, escaped me, had not my support been grounded in that miserable, though mighty, consolation, that all mankind were involved in the same calamity, and that I was perishing with the world itself.

— Pliny the Younger
Chapter 13, Page 6

Chapter 13, Page 6

Let’s allow Girii and crew to plot and plan in secret, while we follow Jacob and Roger for a bit.  Jacob’s a mass murderer —  as Roger knows — but  underneath that gruff, blood-soaked exterior he is the heroic type…

↓ Transcript
Roger: So when are you going to do it?
Jacob: Do what?
Roger: Kill me. Kill us all. Why are you waiting?
Jacob: Roger, I'm not going to kill you. I don't remember if I had a brother...but I remember brothers in arms. If you had caught Fumiaki's plague, I'd have pointed this whale to the sea floor. You go down, I go down.
Roger: You said murder was the only option.
Jacob: or madness. I choose madness. I choose to believe, without any evidence, that we can make this world better without mass slaughter. Besides, I really want to retire.

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Discussion (7)¬

  1. Sonja says:

    That’s heroic. And somehow… sweet.

  2. Ming the Merciless says:

    Mass murder come easy for the Big Government types…we suspect what
    Putin and Xi Jinping have in store for us…Question is, what is it that
    Barry Hussein is plotting to do to us all…

  3. Remus Shepherd says:

    Maybe the comic needs real forums, so that people can diverge into political threads every so often. 🙂 But unless and until that happens, let’s not try to troll for a political argument, shall we?

  4. Ming the Merciless says:

    Ah! We have here Gus as the future’s ultimate evil, right?
    But are present day Russia, China and Obama’s USA morally any better? Gus piously argue it’s actions are for the good of humanity…Present day bullies dont even try to justify their gunboat policies.

  5. Remus Shepherd says:

    It’s all shades of grey in this comic; there is no ultimate evil. We just heard Jacob describe how GUS isn’t all that bad for most people.

    Of course there are analogies to the present day. That’s the point of speculative fiction, to draw analogies to real-world problems and follow them to a natural conclusion. All we’ve said so far is that gunboat policies turn into genocide policies eventually.

  6. Ming the Merciless says:

    Speculative fiction, from Hercules Cyrano to Jules Verne to present day science fiction are a reflection of contemporary politics…The recent ugly turns of these secret wars make one wonder if humanity will even get as far as this story suggest. And as a reflection of current politics, one can expect extreme turns of events in this story indeed.

  7. Remus Shepherd says:

    Razzafraggin…

    I’m writing this on my phone, folks. My internet at home is down. Going to check it now and then overnight, but the next page may not be loaded until later on Thursday. Sorry about this, there’s nothing I can do. 🙁