Freefall

Creative lunches◊

I wonder how such a process works

Solidarity in unprofessionalism.◊

Boy, I wish I could do that.

As in the company allowing it? Or being the sort of person who can fall asleep that quickly?

I've had a few companies that allowed for naps, and one of which kind of encouraged it, at least in that they provided specific rooms for it, and noted that it might be a more healthy alternative to getting another cup of coffee. Although, of course, they also expected you to put in your time, however you went about it. Unless I am exhausted, I am not generally one of those people who can fall asleep within 5 to 10 minutes on command. However, I have found that even simply relaxing and trying has a massive benefit for me. Also saves trouble in terms of waking up halfway conscious. :-)

Edited by FuzzyBoots on Mar 11th 2024 at 5:43:04 AM

15 minutes of meditation will do absolute wonders.

Sam clarifies the math◊

Sam!

Also wow smart move on his part

The relevant event

Sam now legally owns something besides the ship

People who underestimate Sam do so at their own peril, Mr. de Morel.

Now, you’ve learnt that the hard way.

Where did that "three times" come from, though?

He fast-talked it in using quibbling over seventeen as a distraction.

And honestly, the phrasing of it probably wouldn't hold up in court (unless the judge has a grudge, which this guy's personality might result in) since they guy agreed to "seventeen", not to the "three times seventeen" mentioned offhand a bit earlier despite Sam taking measures to make sure the agreement was recorded. That said, starting a bit higher makes it easier to hit the goal you really want since it can read as a compromise.

I’m not sure why De Morel looks surprised in the last panel, because he already figured out the attempt at 51%.◊

17% of the station looks reasonable by comparison.

Contextual discussion on page 308.

Edited by HeraldAlberich on Mar 13th 2024 at 10:14:19 AM

Ah, I thought this had come up before. He might not be so startled as "Wait... you actually think you got away with that?" The antagonists in the strip do tend to be a bit ridiculous in their Straw Villain oblivious characterization, but this guy must have shown some canniness to get to where he is.

Personally, I still like the idea that he's more entrenched in his solution than actually evil. At some point, he decided the only way to save the station is to get robots to work more cheaply than the (obviously gouging/sandbagging) union, and now he sees everything from that perspective.

I imagine Sam's angle might be that there is no court on the station, and the flimsiness of his logic won't matter until they get to one - what's more important is the immediate bargaining power he gains by taking it seriously, and his ability to use that to negotiate an arrangement everyone likes enough not to file a suit about it later.

Right, and in the meanwhile, he can refuse to use his influence with the robots to implement his station-saving ideas until he and DeMorel hash this out for real.

New page◊ and there's the execution.

I'm loving this

When I said, “17% of the station looks reasonable by comparison,” I didn’t realize how on the nose I was.

And the Kansas City Shuffle continues, I see.

This is why Sam is my favorite character

Hmm possible next step: because all of the additions to the station to turn it into a giant spaceship are being made by planetside robots on favour from Florence, she will own all of that. Thus shrinking the current guy's share in the final product ever further.

New page's up◊.

Well lets see how well he's recovered his running after microgravity.