Chapter 7 – Page 035
As I once wrote in a comic strip for an in-house company magazine a decade ago, god does not play dice but seems fond of an unusual form of Jenga.
↓ Transcript
Panel 1:
Alice leans back on the bench as Nancy crosses her arms.
ALICE: We…we can fix it, right?
NANCY: No.
ALICE: But…we can try again! T’get them back!
NANCY: I can tell what you’re proposing and no, you can’t stay here.
Panel 2:
Alice makes her case but Nancy is adamant.
ALICE: Look, if it’s me or them, way better that it’s them, right? I’ll be fine!
NANCY: I don’t get it, don’t you want to go home?
ALICE: My parents are killjoys, my bro’s going through my drawers fer some reason, school sucks, the government’s all psychos, my old besties hate me and my new bestie is the cringiest nerd alive, so no, not really.
SI (box): ‘Y’wot?!’
NANCY (box): ‘Her exact words! Don’t shoot the messenger!’
Panel 3:
Nancy lays the law firmly.
NANCY: Listen, I played god, I got in over my head, hubris met nemesis, I screwed up! Lesson learnt! Karma received!
NANCY: Right now priority one is putting everything back together before I break the timeline further! I can’t keep rolling the dice until I get what I want-!
Panel 4:
Same view. Nancy flinches as a cricket bat ploughs into the airport trolley.
TERRY: God does not play dice!
NANCY: …yesss, that’s what I said?
Panel 5:
Terry Morrison confronts the two. Alice flattens herself against the bench.
TERRY: I cannot allow you to destabilise reality any further!
TERRY: Whatever you did, it must stay fixed! Effect must follow cause!
Panel 6:
Nancy knows better than to wander into whacking distance, shuffling back past an overhead projector.
NANCY: Okay! Okay! We’re on the same page! You don’t need to smash all my stuff, once I’ve sent the girl back home I can carry on being orphaned like nothing ever happened!
TERRY: That’s not how it works, Freemason! You must own the consequences of your actions!
Alice leans back on the bench as Nancy crosses her arms.
ALICE: We…we can fix it, right?
NANCY: No.
ALICE: But…we can try again! T’get them back!
NANCY: I can tell what you’re proposing and no, you can’t stay here.
Panel 2:
Alice makes her case but Nancy is adamant.
ALICE: Look, if it’s me or them, way better that it’s them, right? I’ll be fine!
NANCY: I don’t get it, don’t you want to go home?
ALICE: My parents are killjoys, my bro’s going through my drawers fer some reason, school sucks, the government’s all psychos, my old besties hate me and my new bestie is the cringiest nerd alive, so no, not really.
SI (box): ‘Y’wot?!’
NANCY (box): ‘Her exact words! Don’t shoot the messenger!’
Panel 3:
Nancy lays the law firmly.
NANCY: Listen, I played god, I got in over my head, hubris met nemesis, I screwed up! Lesson learnt! Karma received!
NANCY: Right now priority one is putting everything back together before I break the timeline further! I can’t keep rolling the dice until I get what I want-!
Panel 4:
Same view. Nancy flinches as a cricket bat ploughs into the airport trolley.
TERRY: God does not play dice!
NANCY: …yesss, that’s what I said?
Panel 5:
Terry Morrison confronts the two. Alice flattens herself against the bench.
TERRY: I cannot allow you to destabilise reality any further!
TERRY: Whatever you did, it must stay fixed! Effect must follow cause!
Panel 6:
Nancy knows better than to wander into whacking distance, shuffling back past an overhead projector.
NANCY: Okay! Okay! We’re on the same page! You don’t need to smash all my stuff, once I’ve sent the girl back home I can carry on being orphaned like nothing ever happened!
TERRY: That’s not how it works, Freemason! You must own the consequences of your actions!