Line #105 Webcomic/AMiracleOfScience


1	->''"When you're a recovering mad scientist, you're always afraid you'll lose control and wake up some morning with a half-built time machine in the living room and a plan to go back in time and pants [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]]."''
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3	''[[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/ A Miracle of Science]]'' is a [[Mohs/WorldOfPhlebotinum science fiction]] {{webcomic}} written by Jon Kilgannon and drawn by Mark Sachs. It ran from 2002 to 2007 and was set in the year 2148, when humanity has spread across the solar system from Venus to Ganymede and robotics and artificial intelligence are well-developed advanced sciences. Also of note is the science of memetics, which can be used to treat (or cause) psychological issues. Of key importance in the story is one specific meme, ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder (or, more colloquially, [[MadScientist mad science]]).
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5	Key characters include Benjamin Prester, a field agent of the Vorstellen Police, a law-enforcement agency specializing in SRMD; Caprice Quevillion, a Martian forensic psychiatrist assigned as his partner; and Virgil Haas, the MadScientist they attempt to capture. The story opens not long after Mars, a [[CrystalSpiresAndTogas utopian]] [[HiveMind group intelligence]], has ended a century of self-imposed isolation.
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7	Given its MadScientist motif, one should expect that a significant number of those tropes appear as important plot points in the comic. In fact, given the science of memetics, the characters themselves use tropes (common examples being the ChaseScene and the {{Denouement}}) as psychological aids when dealing with mad scientists.
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9	Kilgannon and Sachs went on to collaborate on a second webcomic, ''Webcomic/AfterlifeBlues''.
10	----
11	!!This webcomic contains examples of:
12	* AbsentAliens: Mars's version of [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos138.html SETI]] turns up with lots of aliens...[[spoiler:but they're all dead. By at least a thousand years. "You've got to love existential angst on a planetary level."]]
13	* AGodIAmNot: Mars is quick to [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos023.html point out]] that it isn't omnipotent; extremely powerful, but not infinitely so.
14	* AmericaTakesOverTheWorld: Well, not exactly the world, but they seem to have taken over Canada. And there's a space colony that's nominally in the US, contravening present-day treaties.
15	** Annexing nearby countries isn't just a US thing in the [=AMoS=]-verse, either; Peru has been absorbed into Brazil.
16	* AndMissionControlRejoiced: When Mars finds out that [[spoiler: Caprice is still alive]].
17	* AndroidsArePeopleToo: No one doubts that even for a millisecond, Venusian FantasticRacism aside.
18	* {{Animesque}}: The art is incredibly reminiscent of some lower-quality manga. It is mostly noticeable in female character design.
19	* AntiVillain: Yes, Virgil Haas is a MadScientist. Yes, he wants to take over the world. But he'd rather not kill anyone to do it. Like [[spoiler:the crews of the civilian ships with which he could have rammed the first ''Qin'']].
20	* {{Autodoc}}: [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos349.html The hospital]]. A rare example of a ''sentient'' Autodoc.
21	* BadassBoast: When a Venusian police officer is being obstructive:
22	-->'''Benjamin''':Sergeant, I've just been to the outer solar system and back to track down a mad scientist. I've been shot at with secret weapons, destroyed robots that could take down tanks, and fallen from orbit without benefit of a re-entry vehicle. ''[beat]'' I don't need your rudeness added to my troubles, okay?
23	** He gets more poetic [[spoiler:while relapsing into ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder]].
24	--->'''Benjamin''': Oh, come on! I've plunged down from orbit on ''wings of fire''. So don't ''even'' think ''you'' can scare me!
25	** And Caprice gets in a good one, too.
26	--->'''Caprice''': Did you think [[spoiler:my abilities were gifts from Mars]]? You have it exactly backwards. Mars exists because of ''us''.
27	** In the climax, when Haas asks IsThatTheBestYouCanDo, Benjamin explains how he and Mars ''will'' [[ImplacableMan chase Haas to the ends of the universe]] for [[spoiler: hurting Caprice]].
28	* BadassLongcoat: Benjamin wears one most of the time. [[spoiler: During his SRMD relapse he steals one of Virgil's labcoats to replace it.]]
29	* BatmanCanBreatheInSpace: Caprice can, thanks to Martian technology being sufficiently advanced to keep a pocket of air around her wherever she goes. This freaks the living daylights out of the customs officer on von Hayek station.
30	* BigGuyLittleGuy: Dryden and Chaucer, respectively, are a robotic version and thus able to take the trope to new heights: Chaucer is the size and shape of a hamster ball; Dryden is several times bigger than a human.
31	* BlackEyesOfEvil: Not "evil", but when Mars takes over one of its members, their eyes go all black.
32	* BlastingItOutOfTheirHands: Seems to be an unfortunately regular situation for Benjamin.
33	* BoxedCrook: [[spoiler: Benjamin Prester - as revealed in the third part, he's a reformed MadScientist who became a Vorstellen officer as part of a plea deal.]]
34	* BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler:Caprice Quevillion gets disconnected from Mars]]. This doesn't really stop her.
35	* CartridgesInFlight: [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos022.html This page]] shows a closeup of several bullets being stopped in mid-flight. Note that the cartridges are still attached.
36	* ChaseScene: The ChaseScene is actually a vital part of proper treatment of SRMD; if the MadScientist is not given the psychological fulfillment of a direct confrontation with authority, he'll go even ''more'' crazy.
37	* CheerfulChild: Wei Quevillion, Caprice's seven-year-old sister.
38	* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:Benjamin Prester]]'s therapy is [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos270.html reported to be robust against anything less than a major psychological disturbance, such as a major injury or the loss of a loved one]].
39	-->'''[[TheRant Jon Kilgannon]]:''' [[LampshadeHanging This page is guaranteed to be 100% free of]] {{foreshadowing}}. [[BlatantLies I swear]].
40	* CloserThanTheyAppear: [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos354.html This strip]] does it with a pair of glowing evil eyes in the middle of a chase scene.
41	* ColonizedSolarSystem: The Moon, Venus, Mars, Callisto and Ganymede are all populated, with different forms of government and technology.
42	* ConcealmentEqualsCover: Subverted on [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos323.html this page]]. When Benjamin is attempting to take cover behind an upturned table, the man shooting at him simply shoots ''through'' the table...and then mocks him for taking cover behind such a flimsy object.
43	* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: Martian society has this vibe.
44	* CutLexLuthorACheck: {{Justified\|Trope}} as actual insanity, but also subverted as mad scientists' inventions are quickly turned into useful technology for everyone. It's implied that {{The Government}}'s willingness to cut those checks is what led to the advanced society depicted in the comic.
45	* CyberpunkWithAChanceOfRain: Venus is a very rainy place practically run by gangs.
46	* DaChief: Chief Nyerere, Benjamin's direct superior, is a downplayed example as an unflappable ReasonableAuthorityFigure, but definitely has the looks.
47	* {{Denouement}}: A vital part of [=SRMD=] treatment.
48	* {{Determinator}}: Benjamin is a very stubborn man, more than willing to push through any kind of obstacle to achieve his goal. Best shown in the final face-off against Haas, with his response to YouCanBarelyStand. [[spoiler:Of course, once Haas surrenders and Benjamin has reached his goal, he promptly [[PostVictoryCollapse collapses]]]].
49	** Mad scientists in general, unless you're able to set up confrontation, chase and denouement for them.
50	* DidntThinkThisThrough: In the flashbacks, this is ultimately how [[spoiler: Ben's group]] failed. They neglected to plan for the eventuality of going outside. On the Moon.
51	* DoubleEntendre: On the mug: "[[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos360.html Astronomers do it in the dark]]"
52	* [[spoiler: EverybodyLives: The story ends with zero casualties.]]
53	* EvilLaugh: Mad scientists do this ''a lot''. Obviously.
54	** If you get a group of them together in one place, [[spoiler:though Benjamin is so far the only known example of an SRMD sufferer who sought out allies]], they will apparently hold ''contests''.
55	* ExactWords: Mars is very precise about the fact that it cannot project military force past the orbit of Deimos. [[spoiler: They neglect to tell anyone that they've turned Deimos into a PlanetSpaceship.]] It's implied later on that the Terran government aren't particularly happy about this blatant rules-lawyering, but Mars wasn't particularly happy about catching ''them'' mounting experimental weapons specifically designed to attack Martian vessels on their warships; fortunately both parties have a lot to lose and very little to gain from making an issue of it.
56	--> '''Caprice''': "There have been some... painfully polite speeches in the Solar Parliament."
57	* ExpandedStatesOfAmerica: Mostly background material, but not only has the United States annexed more land on Earth (Benjamin was born in what is current-day Canada, but part of the U.S. in the comic), but at least one part of the lunar colony is American. It's not the only country to have expanded; Brazil has annexed at least part of modern-day Peru.
58	* FlatWhat: The Venusian customs agents, when their [[InstantAIJustAddWater Martian Detector]] suddenly gets up, walks away, and wishes him luck on his upcoming proposal.
59	* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:Benjamin being a mad scientist]] is hinted ''very'' often before the formal reveal:
60	** As early as [[https://project-apollo.net/mos/mos013.html page 13]], Benjamin is speculating about all the different high-tech ways a Martian could probably scan the station to find him, and [[spoiler:he's ''alarmingly'' good at coming up with these ideas off the top of his head...]]
61	** [[https://project-apollo.net/mos/mos141.html Caprice jokes]] that there are no mad scientists in the vicinity, unless Benjamin thinks she's one, or her {{Robot Budd\|y}}ies, [[spoiler:or Benjamin himself, which gets a suspicious "er" out of him]].
62	* ForScience: This is a story about (reformed or otherwise) mad scientists. Virgil Haas, currently suffering (or enjoying) [=SRMD=], is the most prominent example, but Beatriz Juruna's... fascination with sodium seems stronger than would be considered healthy, and Manny mentions some crazy things mad scientists do because they can.
63	* FutureMusic: When queried on his musical preferences, Benjamin responds with "The classics" -- and names [[Music/JohannSebastianBach Bach]], Prokofiev, and Music/TheBeatles.
64	* GeniusBruiser: The Pindars, which [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos393.html gets on Chaucer's nerves at one point]]:
65	-->'''Chaucer:''' Rrrg! I told Doctor Haas he shouldn't make you Pindars so smart.\
66	'''Pindar-Two:''' I'm going to take that as a compliment.
67	* GeniusLoci: The Martian people form a collective consciousness, as indicated [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos179.html here]]:
68	-->'''Caprice:''' Mars likes you.\
69	'''Benjamin:''' That's like saying "''Brazil'' has decided you're ''cute''".
70	* GenkiGirl: Wei Quevillion, the seven-year-old volcano of energy, as the protagonists comment on [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos166.html this page]].
71	* GoodCopBadCop: Caprice being the good, cheerful cop to Benjamin's bad, snarky cop. [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos266.html Lampshaded]].
72	** A more dramatic example comes after [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos278.html they drop in on Dr. Beatriz Juruna]].
73	* GoodHairEvilHair:
74	** In addition to [[ScaryShinyGlasses his glasses]], as noted below, one sign that Haas has developed ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder is that [[HairAntennae his bangs suddenly jut up and out]], and start to look like horns, or perhaps broken antennae.
75	** [[spoiler:Benjamin]] also has a different hairstyle while in mad science mode. Notably, he messes his hair back into this style when he relapses. Maybe everyone has "normal" hair and "Mad Science" hair...
76	* GracefulLoser: Most mad scientists seem pretty relieved when they're stopped. [[spoiler:Benjamin]] wasn't relieved, but was delighted to have been stopped by a WorthyOpponent.
77	* GratuitousGerman: "Vorstellen Polizei" (the name of the "Vorstellen Police" that written over the entrance to its HQ) is bad German for "Imagination Police". The correct form would be "Vorstellungs-Polizei" or something like that.
78	* GroundShatteringLanding: When Benjamin and Caprice crash into the surface of Mars from orbit, they make a crater and Benjamin suffers a scaphoid fracture. No other injuries, though.
79	* GunshipRescue: The Martian fleet in the finale.
80	* HandBlast: [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos032.html Caprice]] can do this, along with lots of other things;
81	-->'''Jon Kilgannon:''' Never tick off a transcendentally powerful member of a group intelligence. She might just fire a coruscating beam of lambent force at you.
82	* HeroStoleMyBike: Dodging the usual legal concerns behind the trope, when Benjamin and Caprice get into a firefight, the Mars HiveMind sends another of its members to track down the owner of a nearby motorcycle and buy it off them for five times its value.
83	* HiveMind: Mars, or, to be more precise, the people of Mars.
84	** What makes it unique among other fictional Hive Minds is that all members are their own individuals. They relay information to each other, and there is a distinct unified "Mars" meta-personality that can take over their bodies when needed, but [[spoiler:all information is not immediately shared; the hive mind is divided in two, like the hemispheres of the brain. The Martians' greatest fear is that if both hemispheres were totally connected, the ''entire planet'' would become collectively susceptible to SRMD--with the safety redundancies removed, a single case could spread rapidly through the population]].
85	** Haas has built an army of information-gathering robots that function like a simpler version of Martian collective.
86	* HonestAdvisor: Chaucer. Dr. Haas complains that Chaucer's always picking holes in his plans; Chaucer's response is that he's trying to ''help'', and merely being a yes-man isn't helpful.
87	* HumanCannonball: Suborbital Express variant. A one-man pod is shot into space with a giant cannon, design courtesy of a MadScientist. When it fails, LudicrousGibs result. Fortunately, the failure rate isn't very large...
88	* HypocriticalHumor: A background character [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos162.html here]] says "no one who is in favor of eugenics should be allowed to reproduce".
89	* ICanStillFight:
90	** After he gets shot on Venus and Caprice is [[spoiler: presumed dead by everyone but Benjamin]], chef Nyerere wants to take Benjamin off the case, but he makes a good argument for being allowed to bring in Haas.
91	** In the climax, Benjamin [[spoiler: knows he really can't, but still invokes this trope to let Haas's [=SRMD=] burn out harmlessly]].
92	* IdenticalStranger: The random couple who serve as BaitAndSwitch on venusian spaceport sure look like our heroes in disguise. But they aren't.
93	* ImagineSpot: Used in the explanation of the benefits of an AI HiveMind. Apparently, unlinked computers think about socks.
94	* InsistentTerminology: Mad scientists tend to insist on being named in a specific way, or their inventions being named in a specific way. Special mention, though, goes to Beatriz "That's ''Doctor''" Juruna.
95	** Also of note: [[spoiler:Benjamin Prester insists on not being called "Ben"]].
96	* InstantAIJustAddWater: "Any device complex enough to detect Martians is going to eventually become self-aware." Although it's implied that Mars [[DownplayedTrope helped the process along]].
97	* InstantlyProvenWrong: After their crash-landing on Mars, Caprice reassures Benjamin that he's on the safest planet in the Solar System. Immediately, debris from their landing slams down behind her. [[InflationaryDialogue "Second safest." WHAM! "Among the safest." WHAM! "Forget I said anything."]] Though, as Benjamin points out, it was an {{invoked\|Trope}} example, as the Martian HiveMind knew darn well that debris was coming.
98	-->'''Caprice''': Made you smile, though.
99	* JustAMachine: [[spoiler: Haas reacts to Dryden's betrayal]] by calling him an "ungrateful device". This is actually played with: the author notes that he's actually saying the most hurtful thing he can think of, because he knows Dryden IS a person and has feelings to hurt.
100	* KillerRobot: Averted. Even Pindars (giant, nearly-indestructible war machines created by a MadScientist) prefer to ''intimidate'' their enemies rather than actually harm them.
101	* KnowledgeBroker: Taro Watanuki, one of the very few people who can get away with calling Benjamin "Benny." [[spoiler: It's {{Foreshadowing}} to show that there's more to Prester than we've been shown, and how Taro knows more than he seems to.]] Benjamin uses him to get leads on the case early on.
102	* LabcoatOfScienceAndMedicine: Wearing one all the time seems to be a symptom of SRMD. [[spoiler: Benjamin gets one as soon as he can as he relapses.]]
103	* LaserGuidedAmnesia: Downplayed, but nevertheless [[spoiler: part of the experimental [=SRMD=] treatment Benjamin underwent was blocking specific memories, mostly those that had to do with his life as a MadScientist. After the blocks break, he gets the memories back]].
104	* LensFlare: Used in the epilogue [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos426.html here]] and [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos432.html here]].
105	* LightningBruiser: The Pindars, giant, nearly-indestructible war machines created by a MadScientist.
106	* MadScientist: Dr. Haas, Dr. Juruna. [[spoiler:Ben Prester along with his pals,]] Manny Delger and Djaya Sumatera.
107	* MagicalGirl: Caprice, of the CuteWitch variety, although this is MagicFromTechnology (nanites, namely).
108	* MamaBear[=/=]PapaWolf: Mars is [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos358.html very protective of its people]]. That link is full of implicit spoilers, by the way.
109	* MemeticsInFiction: SRMD, naturally. It's spread from one science-inclined person to another by communication, or even by reading a book. Mars is ''extremely'' wary of even studying the condition too closely, as they have no idea what would happen if one of their citizens contracted it but there's a strong possibility that it would spread via the intellect-link network and infect ''every single Martian'' before they could react.
110	* MentalFusion: Technologically achieved. Martian metapersonality is the gestalt of all networked Martians as mediated by their data network.
111	* MissionControl: Mars plays this role on occasion, doing research or buying things remotely on our heroes behalf.
112	* {{Nanomachines}}: Martians' advanced technology is mostly these, including large objects like ships, which are made out of lots and lots of nanites.
113	* NoMedicationForMe: One SRMD sufferer, Manny Delger, notes that he can't perform even ''non''-mad science when he takes his treatment under the recommended daily regimen -- he claims it makes his head feel "stuffed full of felt." He takes it on alternating days, which leaves him able to work on robotics and networking... but also makes him increasingly paranoid and has Benjamin worry about a potential relapse into SRMD.
114	* NoodleIncident: There are multiple references to the case Benjamin wrapped up previous to the Haas case, involving a Dr. Hanford, although we don't find out any specifics beyond the fact that it involved genetic engineering in some fashion.
115	-->'''Benjamin''': Radiocative spiders, chief. They spit green fire.
116	* ObliviousToLove: Good God, Haas, Dr. Juruna is ''not'' being subtle about her interest! EveryoneCanSeeIt: your robots, even Caprice, who spent like five minutes, tops, in a room with her. And in [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/extra/Royce%20Day%20-%20Unhappily%20Ever%20After.html this fanfiction]] (not official, but one of the official site's extras) he ''still'' hasn't figured it out after the events of the story.
117	** Heck, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrice_Portinari she]] ''fits'' into his ThemeNaming and he's still none the wiser!
118	* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: The People's Republic of the Moon, a drab-looking lunar colony that's heavily implied to be a Communist state (USSR imitation - they even have cyryllic lettering), at least at the time of flashback.
119	* PlanetSpaceship: One turns up in the finale - [[spoiler: Mars' moon Deimos is now mobile, and Mars demonstrates it by moving it to orbit Venus.]]
120	* PlotTechnology: Subverted. When mad scientists are captured, their inventions and research are used for the benefit of society as a whole.
121	* PolitenessJudo: Benjamin Prester dealing with Chaucer and Pindar 2. All it takes to convince the latter Benjamin is a good person is to call them "gentlemen", signifying he [[AndroidsArePeopleToo considers them equals]]. TheRant notes that it says some ugly things about [[spoiler:Venus]] in general and Haas in particular that the robots are surprised by this.
122	* TheRant: Reading Jon and Mark's columns is strictly optional, but they offer a bit more insight into the comic's world and also occasional scientific lectures.
123	* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Chief Nyerere and (oddly enough) Haas. In the latter's case, while he may be an insane mad scientist trying to take over the world, he does listen to Chaucer and Dryden when they give him advice (even if he does threaten to disassemble the poor fellows occasionally).
124	* RedOniBlueOni: Fabula and Syuzhet, color-coded little ball-shaped robots from the Martian Constabulary.
125	* RefugeInAudacity: [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by Benjamin when trying to get through customs on Venus. He makes quite a show of revealing his railgun (which has been decorated with a rainbow and a unicorn by Caprice's sister) and discussing it with customs, because he knows it's completely legal and he'll be allowed to take it through. This way he keeps all the attention on himself instead of Caprice, who by law is ''not'' allowed on Venus.
126	* RememberWhenYouBlewUpASun: Benjamin does not hesitate to tell people about the time he plunged from orbit on wings of fire.
127	* RidiculouslyHumanRobots: Robots with sentience will talk to themselves out loud; in fact, Benjamin points out that ''only'' sentient AI's are known to do this: suggesting it's actually rather common amongst them.
128	** Also averted insofar as the robots are rarely, if ever, humanoid, being shaped to their purposes.
129	* RocketlessReentry: After [[spoiler: escaping the destruction of the original ''Qin'']], Benjamin and Caprice reenter Mars' atmosphere with only Caprice's personal ForceField to protect them. Fortunately, these 'wings of fire' suffice to get them down almost unharmed.
130	%% this happens twice... * RunningGag: Benjamin is, unnervingly often, the victim of BlastingItOutOfTheirHands.
131	* SanitySlippage: Noticeable in [[spoiler:Benjamin]] if you know what you're looking for, though thankfully [[spoiler:he gets better.]]
132	* SapientShip: Qin, although its AI core can be removed. [[spoiler: Which is fortunate, because Dr. Haas ultimately destroys the first ship Qin inhabits.]]
133	* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Benjamin is a snarky member of an agency that apprehends and controls {{Mad Scientist}}s, a man with DarkAndTroubledPast who doesn't smile for half of the story. Caprice is a bubbly, friendly, optimistic psychological profiler with functional superpowers.
134	* ScaryShinyGlasses: Dr. Haas is wearing a perfectly normal, transparent pair of glasses in the prologue, while reading "The Crank Theories of Robotics". Then he [[DramaticDrop drops the book]], [[EvilLaugh laughs]] and his glasses become opaque as he says "I'll show them all!" with a DramaticThunder in the background. They remain that way for the rest of the story.
135	* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: Benjamin's stance when he and Caprice are to investigate Haas on Venus, which has laws barring Martians (like Caprice) from entering. He quotes his boss' philosophy on how one shouldn't obey unjust laws, and said boss asks that everyone at headquarters forget he ever said that should Benjamin's and Caprice's actions become public knowledge.
136	* SexByProxy: A romantic example: everyone on Mars ''loves'' Prester. [[spoiler: Not just Caprice.]]
137	* ShutUpKiss: [[spoiler:On the [[LastMinuteHookup penultimate page]].]]
138	* ShownTheirWork: Kilgannon and Sachs are both computer professionals and science geeks, and it shows, making ''Webcomic/AMiracleOfScience'' one of the hardest-SF webcomics out there. They're courteous enough to confine the worst of the infodumps to the "John/Mark Sez" columns beside the latest panel.
139	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Solidly Idealist.
140	* SkeletonGovernment: Mars doesn't really need a government, so the president's job is mostly making speeches in Solar Parliament and looking presidential.
141	* StarSpangledSpandex[=/=]BishieSparkle: Caprice's hair; WordOfGod says it's a fashion accessory.
142	* TheStoic: Benjamin, who doesn't laugh until [[spoiler: page 141.]] This is part of [[spoiler: the memetic blocks that keep his SRMD in check: he's more expressive in the flashbacks before he got them.]]
143	* SubspaceAnsible: The basis of Martian HiveMind (which works throughout the Solar System). Haas is also developing something along these lines. [[spoiler: He doesn't have FasterThanLightTravel, though, and the Martians do]].
144	* SuddenlyShouting: Bouts of hammy, take-over-the-world speechifying seem to be a symptom od [=SRMD=]. The last panel of these tends to have DramaticThunder in the background, as the speaker commences their EvilLaugh.
145	* {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s: Subverted with the Martians, which are Sufficiently Advanced but actually human.
146	* {{Synchronization}}: When [[spoiler: Caprice vanishes off the collective, as if she suddenly died]] -- since Martian [[PsychicLink intellect link]] protocols are, according to Caprice, inherited matrilinearly, her mother and little sister ''feel this happening''. No wonder Xia is uncontrollably crying while telling Benjamin about it on the phone.
147	* TakeOverTheWorld: A seemingly common compulsion among mad scientists. Unusually for a MadScientist story, we get several hints as to ''how'', exactly, the various loonies in the story intend to "improve" the Solar System once they're in charge of it.
148	* TalkingYourWayOut: [[spoiler:Caprice]], after waking up in captivity, [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos344.html pulls this off]] [[spoiler: by convincing Dryden that [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos359.html the only way to stop Mars from coming after Haas is to get her access to a telephone]]]].
149	* ThemeNaming: All of Virgil Haas's robots, much like himself, are named after famous writers and poets.
150	* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted. Both main cast members ''are'' therapists -- Benjamin is as much a counselor for mad scientists as he is a detective, and Caprice is a medical doctor and psychiatrist. Therapy for Mad Scientists is a major plot point.
151	* ThouShaltNotKill: Benjamin Prester, Caprice Quevillion, and even Virgil Haas are or become unwilling to kill innocents. How well they stick by this rule during a disaster tells us quite a bit about their resistance to [[VillainousBreakdown Breakdown]], and in Prester's case, CharacterDevelopment.
152	* TomeOfEldritchLore: It's said in the site's glossary that the book "The Crank Theories of Robotics" is a known cause of SRMD; effectively, one can become a MadScientist simply by reading it. Doctor Haas is seen reading it in the prologue, and sure enough...
153	* TrojanHorse: [[spoiler:Sally the Martian detector]] and presumably other Martian technology that could be used against Mars. Although Caprice says Mars never does this with ''actual gifts,'' even to Venusians and even as useful as build-anything autofactories.
154	* TroubledBackstoryFlashback: After the big reveal, the story is interspersed with Benjamin's flashbacks to [[spoiler: his time as a MadScientist trying to take over the world, his subsequent capture and becoming a BoxedCrook]]. He's somewhat spaced out when he gets them.
155	* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Haas has a bad case of this. Chaucer also doesn't see how building a utopia could possibly be morally wrong, and TheRant notes it's proof that he is remarkably intelligent and human, because those are necessities for believing something so stupid.
156	* VoiceOfTheLegion: Whenever the Martian group mind speaks through one of its members. Said member simultaneously acquires BlackEyesOfEvil, except they're not evil. %%is there a better trope for this?
157	** The Voice is visually represented by the speaker's spoken or telepathic dialogue being written in '''BOLD CAPS''', the rest of the bubble being filled with repetitions of what is being said, in different-sized typefaces and various shades of gray. At one point, when Mars finds out that [[spoiler:Caprice isn't dead]], the telepathic response is jumbled up with about two dozen different expressions of relief, most of them in lowercase.
158	* WellIntentionedExtremist: Virgil Haas is pretty much this. He's a MadScientist, yeah, and he's willing to hijack ships and kill people who are on his trail. But he doesn't want to kill innocent civilians, and he's intent on [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans taking over the world to create a society where robots do all the drudge work, so that humans can dedicate themselves entirely to pursuits of art, science, exploration, and leisure.]]
159	* WhamLine: When the results of Mars’ interstellar search for alien life resulted in: [[spoiler: they found nothing alive. Oh, there are ''remains'', but there are none left ''alive''. The only civilization left is humanity.]]
160	* WhatTheHellHero: Caprice immediately calls Benjamin out on his plan to escape Haas' attack on their ship by blasting up five civilian ships and killing a few hundred people. [[spoiler:This may or may not be foreshadowing.]]
161	* WhiteAndGreyMorality: The BigBad is a WellIntentionedExtremist who actively avoids civilian casualties and even the Venusian Mafia is mostly just selfish.
162	* WigDressAccent: Subverted in [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos304.html this page]] by having a poorly-disguised version of the protagonists going through customs... and then having the ''actual'' protagonists enter the scene in the next page.
163	* WontTakeYesForAnAnswer: When Haas describes his {{Plan}} to Beatriz, [[https://project-apollo.net/mos/mos145.html she approves thoroughly]], but he reacts so quickly to her assumed disapproval that it takes him a second to notice what she really said.
164	* WreckedWeapon: Benjamin has a gun [[spoiler: that he just built with his mad science abilities]] [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands shot out of his hand]]. Twice.
165	-->'''Ben:''' ''[mild hysterics]'' "He shot my gun! He ''shot'' my ''gun!'' Why are you ''negotiating with the man who '''SHOT MY GUN?!'''"''
166	* YouCanBarelyStand: [[spoiler: In the final Chase Scene, Benjamin confronts Haas, who actually says this. It's important, because [=SRMD=] needs to work its course, that is, the necessary tropes have to be played. In taking upon himself the role of Indomitable Hero, Benjamin makes sure Haas's mental issue doesn't become complicated.]]
167	* YouHaveFailedMe: Haas threatens his robots several times when they don't do what he wants them to. Caprice notes that it's one of the symptoms of SRMD. [[AntiVillain He never actually goes through with it, though.]]
168	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Haas says the trope name out loud while attempting to pull this on the Venusian mobsters, but Benjamin and Caprice throw a SpannerInTheWorks.

Context Webcomic / AMiracleOfScience