History Webcomic / AMiracleOfScience

* TalkingYourWayOut: When [[spoiler:Caprice]] is captured, [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos344.html she pulls this off]] by convincing [[spoiler:Dryden]] that [[spoiler:[[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos359.html the only way to stop Mars from attacking is to get her access to a telephone]]]].

* AndMissionControlRejoiced: When Mars found out that [[spoiler: Caprice is still alive]].

* InsistentTerminology: It is a thing mad scientists do. Special mention, though, goes to Beatriz "That's ''Doctor''" Juruna.

* BadassBoast: Delivered to an apathetic police officer: "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?"

* BlackEyesOfEvil: Minus the "evil" part. See the VoiceOfTheLegion entry below.

* BroughtDownToNormal: [[spoiler:Caprice Quevillion gets disconnected from Mars]]. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]], though - see BadassBoast above.

* DaChief: Chief Nyerere, Benjamin's direct superior.
* {{Denouement}}: Another vital part of [=SRMD=] treatment.

** 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 possession when appropriate, 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]].

* LabcoatOfScienceAndMedicine: Wearing one all of the time seems to be a symptom of SRMD.

* MissionControl: Mars plays this role on occasion.

* PlanetSpaceship: One turns up in the finale - [[spoiler: Mars' moon Deimos is now mobile, and Mars demonstrates it by moving it to orbit Venus. As to why they demonstrate this, see above under ExactWords.]]

* ScaryShinyGlasses: The only time Dr. Haas doesn't have these is in the prologue, just before he catches SRMD.

* SexByProxy: A romantic example: everyone on Mars ''loves'' Prester.

* {{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.

* TomeOfEldritchLore: While not mentioned directly in the plotline, it's said in the site's glossary that the book ''Crank Theories of Robotics'' is a known cause of SRMD; effectively, one can become a MadScientist simply by reading it. Doctor Haas is seen with it in the prologue.

* 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 have been foreshadowing.]]

%%* YouCanBarelyStand: Word for word, in the final Chase Scene.

* AGodIAmNot: Mars is quick to [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos023.html point out]] that it isn't omnipotent; merely extremely powerful.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: 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...]]

* {Denouement}}: Another vital part of [=SRMD=] treatment.

* LightningBruiser: The Pindars.

* MagicalGirl: Caprice arguably qualifies as a super-science version of this, of the CuteWitch variety.

* PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny: The People's Republic of the Moon, a drab-looking lunar colony that's heavily implied to be a Communist state (USSR imitation), at least at the time of flashback.

* RunningGag: Benjamin is, unnervingly often, the victim of BlastingItOutOfTheirHands.

* MentalFusion: See HiveMind, above.
%% * MindHive: While referred to as a hive mind, Mars is more strictly this: a metapersonality based on the gestalt of all networked Martians as mediated by their data network.

* {{Nanomachines}}: The main source of the Martians' advanced technology.
* 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 the potential for a relapse into SRMD.

* {{Animesque}}: The art is incredibly reminiscent of some lower-quality manga. It is mostly noticeable on female character design.

* ChaseScene[=/=]{{Denouement}}, as mentioned. 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.

* DaChief: Chief Nyerere.
* {{Determinator}}: Benjamin is a very stubborn man; he is 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]]]].

* EverybodyLives: Ends with zero casualties.
* EvilLaugh: Mad scientists do this ''a lot''

* ForScience: Goes without saying, given the cast.

* GenkiGirl: Wei Quevillion, as the protagonists comment on [[http://www.project-apollo.net/mos/mos166.html this page]].
* GoodCopBadCop: Caprice being the good cop to Benjamin's bad cop. [[http://project-apollo.net/mos/mos266.html Lampshaded]].

** 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]], managing to look like horns, or perhaps broken antennae.
** [[spoiler:Benjamin]] also has a different hairstyle when he's 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...
* GracefulLoser: Most mad scientists end up being pretty relieved that they're stopped. [[spoiler:Benjamin]] wasn't relieved, but was delighted to have been stopped by a WorthyOpponent.

* GroundShatteringLanding: When Benjamin and Caprice crash into the surface of Mars from orbit.

* HiveMind: Mars again, if you couldn't tell.
** Mars, however, works differently from most in 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 possession when appropriate, 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]].
** Haas also has built an army of information-gathering robots that function on a simpler level like this.

* IdenticalStranger: See WigDressAccent below.

* 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 Mars hive-mind knew darn well that debris was coming.

* 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 first let on, and how Taro knows more than it first seems.]] Benjamin uses him to get leads on the case early on.

%% * MindHive: While referred too as a hive mind, Mars is more strictly this: a metapersonality based on the gestalt of all networked Martians as mediated by their data network.

* 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).

* RememberWhenYouBlewUpASun: See BadassBoast above.

** Also averted insofar as the robots are rarely, if ever humanoid, being shaped to their purposes.

* RunningGag: Benjamin has an unfortunate habit of being victim to BlastingItOutOfTheirHands.

* ShutUpKiss: [[spoiler:On the [[LastMinuteHookup penultimate page]]]]

* {{Synchronization}}: When [[spoiler: Caprice vanishes off the collective, as if she suddenly died]] -- Martian [[PsychicLink intellect link]] protocols are, according to Caprice, inherited matrilinearly, which means her mother and little sister ''feel this happening''. No wonder Xia is uncontrollably crying while telling Benjamin what happened.
* 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.

* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted. Both main cast members ''are'' therapists -- Benjamin is equally as much a counselor for mad scientists as a detective, and Caprice is a medical doctor and psychiatrist. Therapy for Mad Scientists is a major plot point.
* 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 quite a bit about their resistance to [[VillainousBreakdown Breakdown]], and in Prester's case, CharacterDevelopment.
* TomeOfEldritchLore: While not mentioned directly in the plotline, it's mentioned in the site's glossary that the book ''Crank Theories of Robotics'' is a known cause of SRMD; effectively, one can become a MadScientist simply by reading it. Doctor Haas is seen with it in the prologue.

* VoiceOfTheLegion: Whenever the Martian group mind speaks through one of its members. Said member simultaneously acquires BlackEyesOfEvil: minus the "evil" part.

* YouHaveFailedMe: Haas threatens this several times for any deviation from his expectations. Caprice notes that it's one of the symptoms of SRMD. [[AntiVillain He never actually goes through with it, though.]]

* HotScientist: Dr. Juruna.

* AdultFear: Existential -- see above. Also, when [[spoiler: Caprice vanishes off the collective, as if she suddenly died]] -- Martian [[PsychicLink intellect link]] protocols are, according to Caprice, inherited matrilinearly, which means her mother and little sister ''feel this happening''. No wonder Xia is uncontrollably crying while telling Benjamin what happened.

* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Blue hair runs in Caprice's family, presumably on her mother's side; her dad has brown hair, but every other Quevillion we see has some shade of blue hair. There's a smattering of extras with oddly colored hair, either flat-out unnatural or just [[DarkSkinnedBlond matching oddly]] [[DarkSkinnedRedhead with their skin tone]]. Mind you, it could just be that dyeing your hair unnatural colours is more normalized in 2148. (Although given the Martians' advanced technology it's possible that they have in fact invented the blue hair gene.)

!!This webcomic provided the name of:
* ScienceRelatedMemeticDisorder: The name of the mad science disease.

!!And examples of:

-->'''Ben:''' ''[mild hysterics]'' [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments "He shot my gun!]] He ''shot'' my ''gun!'' Why are you ''negotiating with the man who '''SHOT MY GUN?!'''"''
* YouCanBarelyStand: Word for word, in the final Chase Scene.