Chapter 6 – Page 019
Kicking downwards, but with a sad face. Nancy could be leader of the opposition with a philosophy like that.
↓ Transcript
Panel 1:
Si has her arms crossed. Nancy’s explanation had better be good.
NANCY (off-panel): There’s always been proposals floating about for a national gendarmerie independent of Scotland Yard and its vested interests.
NANCY (off-panel): Then one day a civil servant materialised out of the aether and cut through all the red tape with the genius idea of ditching the Francais and calling it “the Yeomanry” instead.
NANCY (off-panel): Carol Derrider. My step-dad’s boss. Pandora was her prototype, a rapid-reaction force to do the job we’re doing, squishing quantum stuff.
Panel 2:
Nancy does a good job keeping a straight face.
NANCY: I’ve reason to believe Derrider is a quantum entity, ingratiating herself into the Malign Forces of Randomness by forming a her-shaped hole in their power structures.
SI (off-panel): And ya din’t tell me ‘bout this cuz…?
NANCY: If I’d gotten you involved in investigating her, she might have hijacked your brain and lead her lackeys back here. I couldn’t take that risk.
Panel 3:
Si sits up on the desk. Nancy wanders past towards the window.
SI: Okay, so now I do know…
NANCY: I still can’t take that risk, my investigation’s not done yet.
NANCY: Before I find a way to counter her abilities, we need to avoid giving her a reason to use them.
Panel 4:
Nancy peers out the window. Si is incredulous.
SI: Wait…that’s why we’re clamping down on the Black Dancers?! Cuz someone else might?!
NANCY: Of course! The Malign Forces of Randomness love social disorder and revolutions and stuff! It gives them an excuse to crack heads! Accrue power! Gather the populace under their warm embrace!
NANCY: So we move about the shadows and pounce on quantum disturbances so things don’t get to that stage! It’s what we’ve always done!
Panel 5:
Si analyses Nancy’s statement for a bit, and Nancy takes umbrage at the implications.
SI: You…realise wot you sound like right now?
NANCY: What? A fuddy-duddy? A NARC? “The Man?”
NANCY: We’re defenders of relativity, Si. I’ve had fifteen years to come to terms with the implications of that, it makes us agents of order and enemies of chaos, even if the order sucks and the chaos is deserved. We’re not rebels against authority, we are the authority.
NANCY: Don’t rock the boat, don’t make a fuss, don’t summon Cthulhu. “Justice” has no weight here.
Panel 6:
A smile cracks across Si’s face. She has the most perfect rejoinder.
SI: …
SI: …Nancy, did I ever tell you the story of what happened to my dad’s baby uncle?
Si has her arms crossed. Nancy’s explanation had better be good.
NANCY (off-panel): There’s always been proposals floating about for a national gendarmerie independent of Scotland Yard and its vested interests.
NANCY (off-panel): Then one day a civil servant materialised out of the aether and cut through all the red tape with the genius idea of ditching the Francais and calling it “the Yeomanry” instead.
NANCY (off-panel): Carol Derrider. My step-dad’s boss. Pandora was her prototype, a rapid-reaction force to do the job we’re doing, squishing quantum stuff.
Panel 2:
Nancy does a good job keeping a straight face.
NANCY: I’ve reason to believe Derrider is a quantum entity, ingratiating herself into the Malign Forces of Randomness by forming a her-shaped hole in their power structures.
SI (off-panel): And ya din’t tell me ‘bout this cuz…?
NANCY: If I’d gotten you involved in investigating her, she might have hijacked your brain and lead her lackeys back here. I couldn’t take that risk.
Panel 3:
Si sits up on the desk. Nancy wanders past towards the window.
SI: Okay, so now I do know…
NANCY: I still can’t take that risk, my investigation’s not done yet.
NANCY: Before I find a way to counter her abilities, we need to avoid giving her a reason to use them.
Panel 4:
Nancy peers out the window. Si is incredulous.
SI: Wait…that’s why we’re clamping down on the Black Dancers?! Cuz someone else might?!
NANCY: Of course! The Malign Forces of Randomness love social disorder and revolutions and stuff! It gives them an excuse to crack heads! Accrue power! Gather the populace under their warm embrace!
NANCY: So we move about the shadows and pounce on quantum disturbances so things don’t get to that stage! It’s what we’ve always done!
Panel 5:
Si analyses Nancy’s statement for a bit, and Nancy takes umbrage at the implications.
SI: You…realise wot you sound like right now?
NANCY: What? A fuddy-duddy? A NARC? “The Man?”
NANCY: We’re defenders of relativity, Si. I’ve had fifteen years to come to terms with the implications of that, it makes us agents of order and enemies of chaos, even if the order sucks and the chaos is deserved. We’re not rebels against authority, we are the authority.
NANCY: Don’t rock the boat, don’t make a fuss, don’t summon Cthulhu. “Justice” has no weight here.
Panel 6:
A smile cracks across Si’s face. She has the most perfect rejoinder.
SI: …
SI: …Nancy, did I ever tell you the story of what happened to my dad’s baby uncle?