Of the three mooner characters I had to retcon for this chapter, Woody posed the biggest challenge. I honestly don't know what I was smoking when I came up with a wise-cracking ventriloquist's dummy-toting assassin, but I no longer had any use for this bizarre character. With a little quick thinking, however, I've saved the character from going down in flames as one of my more audacious creative failures. I've reinvented Woody as a master trickster who specializes in bodyjacking – that is, she takes over control of other people's bodies. And that talent is central to the success of the mooners' plan.
So this makes for the last of my planned three updates for the week. I wanted to do another three updates next week, but that's probably not going to happen. I haven't made much headway in getting my page buffer back where it needs to be, so it seems prudent to just leave it at two updates for now. Next week will be all about getting to know the other two mooner baddies, Nascha and Panzer, in the lead-up to the chapter's frenetic action-packed conclusion. So it's worth sticking around for!
Sorry, no animations this week, but I really hope to get the next install done next week at some point. In the meantime, if you haven't already, you can catch up on the previous installments of our running animated series, 'Insertion Burn:'
PREVIOUS EPISODES
Your brain runs on 20 watts of power. It accounts for, on average, 20 percent of your body's energy consumption. It's an amazing organ and, to date, has continued to frustrate and mystify researchers who seek to understand it at a fundamental mechanistic level. In the far future universe of 'Transneptunian,' cybernetics has advanced to the point where people can communicate with each other via devices implanted in their brains, and interact with and experience rich virtual environments that are beamed directly into their sensory pathways. It's wild stuff, but do we really have a prayer of ever having technology like that?
Currently, we've made some impressive strides in direct brain interface technology. We've designed robotic limbs for amputees that respond directly to thought. We've designed computer interfaces that allow people to manipulate virtual objects and type using only brain power. Scientists last year were able to restore the use of their legs to a pair of paralyzed rhesus monkeys by implanting devices into their brains and spinal cords which wirelessly bypassed their spine damage and allowed their brain and spine to “talk” to each other once again.
The brain remains a mysterious thing in a lot of ways. We may never fully understand all of its inner workings, to what extent quantum tunneling plays a role in consciousness, or any number of other longstanding quandries. But that doesn't mean we can't find ways to interface with it. Look at all we've accomplished in computing with just ones and zeroes. So personally, I'm confident that the technology seen in this comic is well within our reach, and may not even require much of a great leap in our understanding of the human brain. A brute force approach, given enough time, will teach us what works and what doesn't.
In the same way that we currently interact with a boundless universe of digital media using our eyes, ears, and fingertips, there's no fundamental reason why we can't also do the same using brainwaves. Our brains are not magic. Their mysteries can be revealed, and utilized. It's all a matter of finding the right interface. I wonder, what future billionaire will be the Bill Gates of brainware technology?
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