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638

The doodler

on Oct. 29, 2022

So, I just finished my web serial. It came to about 100 pages, which I realize is a lot snappier than the comic, ehehe.

It's a accidental time travel story, now with culture clashes, seriously weird security and computers, and lots and lots of shenanigans. If you want more (heavily spoilered) detail, check out the TV Tropes page.

With that in mind, consider these discussion questions, class:

1.You’re a counter-espionage boss in the middle of a war. One night the cops bring in a dude who’s carrying incredibly futuristic gadgets, like something out of Star Trek, and he can’t explain what he’s doing in the country. When your team tries to look him up, he has no official existence anywhere. Everything he says is an obvious lie and if your enemies have technology like that, you’re hosed. What do you do?

2. You’re a young computer scientist out on the absolute bleeding edge of technology, working on military supercomputers and pushing the limits of what hardware itself is capable of. You’re called in to look at some strange devices taken off a captured spy, and they’re so advanced they might as well have been made by aliens. You can’t even guess what intermediate steps would be needed to invent something like this, let alone how they work. What would you do to figure them out?

3. You’re just some random modern dude who went to check out a cool particle physics experiment and wound up falling through a wormhole. Where (when?) you came out, everybody is just loaded for bear and ready to go, and they’ve got it in for you in particular. Plus, they’re weirdly spooked by your cell phone and lock you up before you can figure out what’s going on. Do you tell them about the wormhole thing or keep quiet and try to figure things out? How do you play it?

(I think I would personally 1. Panic and freak out, and do something unwise — I’m not cut out for that kind of high-pressure management job — 2. Be Very Happy because cool toys/paradigm shift and also Very Scared because of the strategic implications, and 3. Be exquisitely polite while going into Political Analysis Overdrive Mode to try and figure out what’s going on. Try not to eat metaphorical lentils, hopefully.)