Girl Genius

Dingbot Prime was last seen activating the signal in the last castle. Of course, it has a way of turning up unexpectedly.

Anyways, a kitchen has plenty of raw material for a Spark to work with.

Do you highlight everything looking for secret messages?

She totally doesn't need the dingbots to sing. That'd be silly. It's just that during the possession, she needed that music constantly in order to keep control, and you can't keep singing forever—eventually your voice gets tired (and honestly,it impedes anything else you're trying to do after a certain point if you can't stop singing long enough to talk). Regardless, I don't think that's gonna be necessary here; it wouldn't make sense. She only ever does it when concentrating on an invention. I'm guessing she can just convince it, even if this room is particularly crazy.

Your funny quote here! (Maybe)

Tangent128 wrote:

It was around when Agatha was building the coffee machine in Mechanicsburg.

I know that Agatha doesn't need the dingbots to Heterodyne, but I just like the idea of the castle being frustrated by a massive army of them.

(linky)

Wait... Why is Agatha surprised by this? Didn't the central "computer" already tell her that the various subsystems were disconnected?

I didn't write any of that.

Meta4 wrote:

Well she doesn't know how many subsystems there are, which ones control which bits, which ones are in contact with each other, and which ones can see into which areas. For all she knows, half the castle might be aware of her earlier conversation in the cellar.

I'm a little surprised that a talking part of the castle isn't controlled by the main brain. This assumes the cellar was even the main brain. Agatha's job got a little harder, in my opinion.

Looks like she'll have to convince it piece by piece.

So, is the kitchen just attacking her to attack her, or is it going to run a DNA test or something?

Do you highlight everything looking for secret messages?

I'm thinking that the kitchen is trying to put her through some kind of test. What kind of test involves that as the first step, though, I'm not sure. . .

Your funny quote here! (Maybe)

Like I said, a DNA test.

Do you highlight everything looking for secret messages?

It likely involves her running around in her underwear... at some point.

stm177 wrote:

Most Haunted Castles Are Male, perhaps?

They may be crazy, but we haven't been given evidence yet that the Heterodynes were incestuous (directly, at least; all royal families tended to be if you classified family broadly enough).

Your funny quote here! (Maybe)

RuthieA wrote:

I'm thinking that all Heterodynes run around in their underwear. One of their distant ancestors must be Conan the Barbarian.

Tangent128 wrote:

Judging from Agatha's look of enthusiasm in the latest installment, I think she plans on laying some suitably Heterodyne-ish smackdown instead of waiting for a blood test.

Considering her look of enthusiasm after sharp objects were just hurled in an attempt to kill her and more than one drew blood, it should at least be obvious she's a spark.

Your funny quote here! (Maybe)

Tangent128 wrote:

The Sub-Kitchen's Test for Candidate Heterodynes: 1. Identify the candidate. 2. Attempt to kill them.

If they survive, they're a Heterodyne!

I didn't write any of that.

I'm thinking that the kitchen will preform a blood test. That might be why it flung those last few implements that nicked her.

(linky)

Phil Foglio was nominated for a Hugo Award for best professional artist.

Neat! The art is definitely fantastic.

Do you highlight everything looking for secret messages?

Something about this page stuck in my head: Moloch wrote:

The Borgias were an actual noble family from Renaissance Italy. They were notorious practitioners of Machiavellian politics and murder, especially poisoning (hence Moloch's comment). It was said that many social climbers boasted of being invited to dine with the Borgias; but far fewer could boast of having dined with the Borgias.

I can't say for sure, but this may be the first in-comic reference to a figure from actual history. Perhaps this gives us some indication of when the first Sparks appeared and when the Girl Genius timeline split from our timeline (namely, "after the Renaissance").

Also, one of the Borgias was named Lucrezia.

I didn't write any of that.

Looks like running Beetleburg didn't turn out so well for Merlot.

(Today's) But he doesn't know she's a Spark, let alone a Heterodyne, does he? So hopefully Zola won't be aware of her significance.

Still, at this rate, I wouldn't be surprised to see Mr. Tock show up soon. Maybe the Goldfish, too.

(Merlot was last seen hereabouts)

Do you highlight everything looking for secret messages?

Tangent128 wrote:

He knows her as Agatha Clay, assistant to Professor Beetle. The instant Zola asks, "Who is that?", Agatha's lethal chef cover story is blown.

I didn't write any of that.

I was wondering when he'd show up. Kinda sudden, if you ask me. Oh well, the slow but steady plan's out the window. It's a shame (and surprisingly shortsighted) that Agatha didn't sneak any weapons in (she wasn't searched or padded down by anyone who wasn't on her side), or at least keep one of those knives handy. Or bring her army of little exploding clanks. . . (but then again, she has something of an incentive to not destroy too much of the castle).

Oh, and Van Rijn was a Renaissance painter, if I'm not mistaken. Here, he's also a legendary creator of beautiful works of art which happen to be made of metal and have feet, those muses. Let's see, what else. . . well, there's the nine popes thing, so there was a church schism that went to it's logical conclusion. Mostly, though, I'm guessing any resemblance to our history is gonna be superficial, because all the historical references within these stories are to things that never really happened (or could happen).

Your funny quote here! (Maybe)

(linky)

The look on Adam and Lilith's faces make me laugh.

As far as weapons, Agatha can whip up a death ray in a matter of hours. I doubt she thought she'd be on the run within 20 minutes of entering the castle.