http://grayling.arborwin.com/ The latest transcribed Grayling comics, powered by OhNoRobot.com en-us Mon, 05 May 2008 13:44:14 -0000 http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080429 <a href="http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080429">Grayling - Tuesday, April 29, 2008 - Page 649 &amp; 650</a><br />"; <br /> [[Funa and Viv standing, shocked and speechless, with Fola just out of the panel]] <br/> Fola: I've never talked so much in my goddamn life. I'll be back, I'm getting some water. <br/> Funa and Viv: ... <br/> <br/> [[Lem wiping his nose with his sleeve]] <br/> Lem: <<sniff>> <br/> <br/> [[Cal looking down at Lem]] <br/> <br/> [[Cal sitting down in front of Lem, who has hidden his face in his hands]] <br/> Cal: <<sigh>> <br/> <br/> [[Cal, with magnificently blue eyes, looking sympathetically at Lem]] <br/> Cal: Lem. Look at me. http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080428 <a href="http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080428">Grayling - Monday, April 28, 2008 - Page 648</a><br />"; <br /> [[Fola looking down at Lem, while Fern stands in the background]] <br/> Fola: That's the simplest way of saying it. When you want to cover up a crime, Fern, what's your first priority? <br/> Fern: Destroy the evidence? <br/> Fola: Exactly. Aside from any ethically motivated horror he no doubt is experiencing, he considers us evidence of a crime he's committed. If this goes on, Sutiyenner will only be the first of many who will attack and attempt to destroy Rhodes. He is destroying us to safeguard himself, and all other wiwens. <br/> <br/> [[An angry Fola standing, with his back to Lem and facing the rest of the group. Lem is curled up with his back to everyone]] <br/> Fola: And there it is. I'm finished. You know why we are standing here today, why I am a shell of a person incapable of having even the barest shred of respect for myself, and why we will all soon die. It was my doing, for the sake of gaining the slightest gesture of acceptance from that man over there. http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080427 <a href="http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080427">Grayling - Sunday, April 27, 2008 - Page 647</a><br />"; <br /> [[A grayscale picture of Sutiyenner]] <br/> Fola: Finally, the ax I had been anticipating fell. And that ax was Sutiyenner. If you understand that wiwens run in families, then you know that it was inevitable that we would stumble across the origin of our own wiwen, Arduc. We didn't realize it in time, and murdered their elementals... Except for Sutiyenner. It just so happened then Sutiyenner loved his fallen comrades and had the cunning and drive to figure out why Arduc was dying. He followed our trail all the way back to Rhodes, and took him captive. <br/> <br/> [[A graysacle image of a very damaged and tortured Rhodes]] <br/> Fola: Sutiyenner didn't understand everything. He thought Rhodes had full control of Faidia already and was playing innocent. Rhodes didn't know a thing. He was just a kid then. What Sutiyenner should have done, rather than dragging it out, was kill Rhodes immediately. By destroying Rhodes' conscious, he would be forced to discover the world he had created. The delay in killing Rhodes simply made it worse. There was no need to frighten Rhodes. He reacted as any normal person would to realizing they'd been committing murder in their sleep. http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080426 <a href="http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080426">Grayling - Saturday, April 26, 2008 - Page 646</a><br />"; <br /> Fola: I hit the books, looking for a loophole that would put me in contact with the wiwen. For this reason, I hurt Mid. It was hard to do. Harder to do than the bigger crime I had committed. <br/> <br/> It was poorly conceived, anyway. What I did, made no actual difference because Rhodes was still unaware of the existence of Faidia in his subconscious. <br/> <br/> I couldn't get near him. <br/> <br/> Instead of confessing to Rhodes, alerting him to what was going on, I was detained and tortured by the lions. <br/> <br/> The lions have less to do with us than we think. They're not our punishers. <br/> <br/> Everyone has a defense against their subconscious. Wiwens especially. It's often a wall, or a locked door, some other symbol... <br/> <br/> Rhodes has the lions. They protected him from me. <br/> <br/> I'd like to say it was terrible. That would be easier for the people who care about me. <br/> <br/> But if I am honest, I can only say it was nothing I wouldn't have done myself, if I had the nerve. It's like that in my head. Everyone thinks it's the lions' curse. But it's probably mine. http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080425 <a href="http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080425">Grayling - Friday, April 25, 2008 - Page 645</a><br />"; <br /> [[A grayscale image of a ragged and hollow-eyed Fola]] <br/> Fola: I had been doing well up to that point, actually. With Viv's help I had started developing socially. It stopped there, however. I wasn't the way I had been before; I was worse. My relationships with Funa, Viv and Ell decayed. No one would listen to me about what I had done. Lem told me not to talk about it. Even Viv, trying to help, told me that worrying about it would accomplish nothing. But if it wasn't my responsibility, whose was it? We sanitized the process a bit as the technique improved. Instead of destroying the worlds, we'd only eliminate their elementals, and assimilate their world into our own so we could keep milking it... That sort of thing. As if that was more humane than complete annihilation? I knew it was still wrong. It was all wrong. I knew I had to do something about it. http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080424 <a href="http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080424">Grayling - Thursday, April 24, 2008 - Page 643 &amp; 644</a><br />"; <br /> {{comic 643}} <br/> [[A black panel full of Fola's text]] <br/> Fola: I also held back because I thought you'd turn your "attentions" to Funa and Ell once I had left. I was so used to shielding them from you, I was terrified of abandoning them. But Viv was right. Someone had to stand up to you, or it would never end. <br/> <br/> [[Fola, gesturing in disgust as he continues]] <br/> Fola: But none of this is important. This indulgent, petty social dysfunction has distracted us from what really mattered for the past five thousand years. <br/> <br/> [[A grayscale memory of Lem and Fola working at a computer, trying to find an energy source for Fadia]] <br/> Fola: From the beginning, Lem was obsessed with eliminating death. He wanted all his creations to live forever. But his power wasn't infinite. Every living thing in existence had a small part of his power invested in it. As long as they were alive, they needed that power. The only way to free that energy up for the creation of more living things was to recycle it -- death. Lem assigned me with the task of discovering a practically infinite supply of pure elemental energy. It sounded impossible, which is probably why he chose me to do it. I tended not to talk back, at least until I had some evidence. There were plenty of theories to go on as leads. Too many. The difficulty was in devising ways of testing them, seeing if they were really applicable to the real world. One of these was the wiwen theory. <br/> <br/> {{comic 644}} <br/> [[Fola looking horrified]] <br/> Fola: I spent many, many years figuring out how to apply that theory. When I think back to that time, all I can see are the many instances I came up against a wall and couldn't progress any further. I could have stopped so many times. But I kept going. I kept going. Inch by inch, step by step, towards the precipice. It's useless to think about it, but the idea sometimes makes me feel like I might go insane. The wiwen system turned out to be easy to tap. Wiwens run in "families" of similarly structured worlds. We're in a family of worlds all run by elementals. I was able to penetrate these worlds with our own magic. I started draining them, converting the energy into a form we could use. At first it was just energy, numbers on paper. I know vaguely that this power was very likely coming from worlds like our own, and that I was killing them. I waited for someone else to object, to inquire where this energy was coming from. <br/> <br/> [[A grayscale shadow of Lem]] <br/> Fola: But none of you did. You simply took it. And Lem said, "Good job, Fola. Keep it coming." http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080421 <a href="http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080421">Grayling - Monday, April 21, 2008 - Page 641 &amp; 642</a><br />"; <br /> [[Fola standing, facing Lem]] <br/> Fola: But you realized that, right? One day I think we both woke up and realized we had a sociopath on our hands. That's when I hurt Mid. Neither of us knew what was happening then. I can't really blame you for that. I could tell you didn't know who I was anymore when I came back. <br/> <br/> [[Lem, kneeling on the floor with his arms around himself]] <br/> Fola: For all you did, you were never physically violent. So, I'm sorry for hitting you. It's the first and the last time. But it's not just about me, either. You made Ell abandon Mid, and only after I'd convinced you not to kill him. You had so much trouble letting us form emotional attachments other than you. Can't you see how much suffering that's caused? There's your brother. I don't really think you meant to hurt him that badly, Lem. But the way you treated him after you killed him was inexcusable. Even you couldn't stand it most the time. You made up ridiculous, wasteful competitions like the strutters just as an excuse to keep interacting with him. Has it ever occurred to you that you would feel a lot better, and be a lot less likely to hurt other people, if you just stopped lying to yourself? <br/> <br/> [[Cal is blocking Rae from moving with his left arm, while Fern and Smoke sit behind them]] <br/> Rae: Cal, shouldn't we... <br/> Cal: Shhh. Let him finish. <br/> Fern: Wish I had some popcorn. <br/> <br/> [[Fola, growing weary and rubbing the sides of his nose by his eyes]] <br/> Fola: And that's why I've got to tell you, even though it may not matter anymore, that I'm leaving. I am going to move out of my windmill and live in a place on Viv's island. This doesn't mean anything, except, you'll have to go through Viv anytime you want to see me after hours. If you object... Well, May has agreed to realign me under her. I'll leave you completely. The only reason this hasn't happened already is because I am psychologically damaged. Isn't that a nice thought? http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080420 <a href="http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080420">Grayling - Sunday, April 20, 2008 - Pages 635-640</a><br />"; <br /> {{comic 635}} <br/> [[Lem standing uncomfortably and Fola leaning in on him]] <br/> Lem: Um, Fola, look, you're embarrassing me... <br/> Fola: Why would I do that when you're doing such a good job by yourself? Let's dispense with the elaborate deceptions, Lem. You and I both know you're only capable of acting like this because you know I'll always have your back. But it's cruel of me to keep enabling you. <br/> <br/> [[A determined looking Fola facing a scared looking Lem]] <br/> Fola: How old was I when we first met? <br/> Lem: W-what? <br/> Fola: You've accused me of a crime, haven't you? I agree with you, I'm guilty. But I think I should explain everything from the beginning. <br/> <br/> {{comic 636}} <br/> [[Lem standing there, like a child, fiddling and looking blank-faced]] <br/> Fola: So, how old was I when we met? <br/> Lem: ... <br/> <br/> [[Lem, smiling and looking pleased with him]] <br/> Lem: I forget? <br/> <br/> [[Fola looking bitterly amused]] <br/> Fola: Of course. Can you tell me what you DO remember? <br/> <br/> [[Lem standing with his chin on his fist. Viv is standing away and back from Lem]] <br/> Lem: When we first met? Uh, you were kind of slow. You were my first secondary, and I was very disappointed, to be honest. We put all that information into your head so there wouldn't be so much of a delay, but you were totally helpless. It was really irritating because there was a lot of work that needed to be done. So I asked May for advice, and in the end we put you under Viv's care, and he taught you how to read and such. Which turned out to be a poor idea, he's been a bad influence on you... <br/> Viv: I'm standing right here, you know. <br/> <br/> {{comic 637}} <br/> [[Lem, looking quite proud of himself after remembering all that]] <br/> Lem: I didn't understand it! You turned out to be smart, so I guessed you had just been playing dumb for some reason. <br/> <br/> [[Fola punches Lem in the face]] <br/> <<POW>> <br/> <br/> {{comic 638}} <br/> [[Fola standing over Lem, looking irate]] <br/> Fola: It might have been because I was six years old, you moron. <br/> <br/> [[Fola with a twisted, crazed look on his face]] <br/> Fola: And I haven't grown a day since then, you know that? How could I? How much time, Lem? I have flushed down my entire life by spending it with you. How many times did I sit up with you all night, playing ridiculous video games because you were too scared to sleep and couldn't make any real friends, and the entire time acting as if you have to beat me into submission to keep me there! <br/> <br/> {{comic 639}} <br/> [[Fola, looking crazed still, holding up his hands and staring at Lem]] <br/> Fola: Why? Why did you treat me that way, when you didn't need to?! I adored you! For me, you were the only person that existed! My entire existence depended on you. I would have done anything you told me -- And I did! I still do! I was a kid, which was the only reason I didn't realize sooner I'd sold my soul to an idiot. You wanted Fern in my place, so I did what you told me to do, not even knowing what it meant. For my trouble, I made a fool of myself. I alienated myself from my peers, made myself look like some brainless stooge! For you, all for you! <br/> <br/> [[Fola standing over Lem, who was knocked on his ass]] <br/> Fola: What more could one ask for? How could I go any lower? Tell me how, I'll do it. <br/> <br/> {{comic 640}} <br/> [[Fola in profile, with his fist clenching as he looks down]] <br/> Fola: But you still ground down, didn't you? Not once have you let up on me. You ground down until there was nothing worth spitting on. http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080419 <a href="http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080419">Grayling - Saturday, April 19, 2008 - Page 634</a><br />"; <br /> [[Lem looking wide-eyed and shocked]] <br/> Fola: How long have you been standing on my neck? <br/> <br/> [[Fola looking at Lem through his one open eye]] <br/> Fola: I think it's about time you stopped, wouldn't you agree? http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080418 <a href="http://grayling.arborwin.com/cgi-bin/autokeenlite.cgi?date=20080418">Grayling - Friday, April 18, 2008 - Page 632 &amp; 633</a><br />"; <br /> [[Cal throwing up his arms in disgust, while May and Rae stand nearby looking displeased]] <br/> Cal: Fine, Lem, fine! Since you're determined to go on with this, then spit it out. Tell us. Who is the guilty party whose identification will solve everything? <br/> <br/> [[Lem gesturing with a sinister look on his face]] <br/> Lem: I'm more than glad to. It's him, that pathetic worm standing over there. Come here, Fola. <br/> <br/> [[Viv stands looking angry, Fola looks apathetic and Funa is fretting]] <br/> Funa: Oh no. <br/> <br/> [[A panel of Fola, looking out at Lem with one good eye]] <br/> Fola: ... <br/> Lem: He's the one who came up with the wiwen system in the first place, and then worked out how to manipulate it. He's guiltier than any of us! <br/> <br/> [[Lem, now perfectly irate]] <br/> Lem: Fola! Why are you just standing there? Come here! {{larger font}} Do as I say!