That’s always been the case. The moment that he really thought that Zeke was more than just a really intelligent program, but the first of a new species of sentient life form, he started on how they had to be destroyed immediately due to the threat they posed to the human race as a whole.
Any number of prominent scientists have said perhaps we ought not to be broadcasting across the cosmos just in case some species or entity hears us….. and they could be vastly more powerful and/or an apex predator. Zeke, at least theoretically, could be the first of that sort of species (if a bunch of sentient machines can be called a species).
Or something programmed to. We humans like to imbue machines with anthropromorphic characteristics (cars get names, ships get names and are usually called ‘she’, and so on) but programming might still explain his responses.
The premise that only a human could struggle to not be terminated like that is unsupported. A well programmed weapon would fight like the dickens to not be rendered inoperable.
well, Zeke is “IT” aka it is automaton, a robot, programmed item, genderless thing; and “they” was never about single person, in same sense as royals never spoke about themselves
And you flew into a rage over a pronoun that nobody noticed or cared about in the context of a robot. Your massive downvotes should tell you something.
MY downvote is because the person in question thinks it’s ok to insult others over this.
And that’s just unacceptable. Everyone with an ounce of decency or common sense, knows you don’t use those among people that don’t even know you unless you mean to attack and offend them.
I’m GUESSING a lot of the other downvotes are because of the insult, not for pronoun stuff. Since it literally changes the wohle comment from a correction to an aggressive attack.
I am pretty sure it was meant as an aggressive attack on an individual who continually tries to harass an imaginary character in a Web comic over a choice of gender. Or, possibly, Tim over his opinion on choice of gender written in the comic itself.
So I see nothing wrong with this attack in that context.
An attack in any sense is wrong, a bystander rooting for the aggressor is just as bad as the aggressor. No thanks Nintendo is just a keyboard warrior that thinks it is doing a good job by typing this stuff out but in fact it’s just proving to people that they are just as bad, if not worse, as other trolls.
Which would be fair if this was an isolated incident, but it’s not. As much as it’s impossible to follow properly, everything is interconnected, and wider implications need to be considered. Say you’re non-binary or trans yourself, misgendering is a very personal issue, and you might not be a stranger to the dehumanization of people using “it” as a pronoun. A webcomic you’ve been reading for a while ends up delving into the topic of pronouns, and ultimately comes out supportive of you. You can consider Tim Buckley to be an ally. That’s a huge boost to your mood. Perhaps… Read more »
Harsh tone, yes, but the user ntn is replying to has been deliberately posting to misgender Zeke with object pronouns since they chose “they”. It seems targeted and real-world referential as a subtle form of bullying.
Telling bullies their behaviour isn’t welcome isn’t what we should be punishing.
Actually, no. It isn’t always “they killed Kenny”. It’s “you killed Kenny” or “he killed Kenny”. They was only used when it was multiple people, or a group of you may, caused it. Why don’t you run along and take your over indulged butt elsewhere with your pronoun bigotry.
“Physically” being the key word. I don’t think it’s going to come to that. I think this is the turning point for Zeke – he’s going to remember his conversation with Ethan from page 2 (“It hurts to die?” “Every time”) and feel remorse. Then it will be up to Scott and Lucas to recognise that. Lucas might be able to, but Scott will probably need … convincing. Nice bit of writing by Tim, opening this issue with the scene where Zeke feels empathy for Ethan. I really like the way he’s developed these characters – it doesn’t feel rushed… Read more »
I hope you’re right, Tempus, but honestly I think Zeke’s running out of time here. There’s some slight lag in Ethan’s respawning, iirc from the January 2020 Zeke fight, and Lucas alone isn’t a match for Zeke, much less a Lucas who has to defend someone else. The thing is, Zeke just made a choice to kill their closest friend, and decided that Ethan’s actions were also focused on trying to kill them. And I don’t think that was a calculated moment of “Oh, it’s not really death, I’m just pushing him away” like they did with Lucas. This was,… Read more »
Zeke’s currently braindamaged in a way, and sort of panicked (or a robotic equivalent). I could see a human, panicked and riding on adrenaline, making similiar choices, too.
(and to an extent, getting away with it legally, as self-defence etc.)
Agreed, 100%. But if a random human was in the same situation – panicked, irrational, mentally unhinged, being fully capable of ending someone’s life with little effort and actively attempting to kill others – there’s a point where you can’t keep trying nonviolent solutions to stop them. If an active human gunman was standing in a game store, 100% believed that someone there was out to get him, and was doing everything he could to end that person’s life – if that gunman had already attacked one person, attempted to kill a second, and then killed another person who tried… Read more »
Ok, agreed to that. I’m not exactly happy about it, but that’s because of the whole situation, not anything you wrote (Which is NOT a complaint about Tim’s writing, the opposite actually, just looking at it, as if it’d be a real life situation… well, the moment we get sentient robots. Or people grazed or smacked over the head, I suppose). So, I suppose, if I was there, and had the ability to successfully intervene, I would prefer to try to take Zeke down non-lethally (if reasonably possible), but if I couldn’t, well, yeah, what you said. Wrote. Though I’d… Read more »
I don’t think it was an intentional kill. Zeke has made mistakes before, they’re not infallible, and they’re VERY emotional.
Zeke and Ethan had become friends, in fact, I’d go so far as to say that up until this point? Ethan as/is Zeke’s ONLY friend. S this is going to scar Zeke, because what he just did? A LOT more painful than just cracking a shell casing for an optic unit.
Also DAMN this storyline is good.
You bring up an interesting point. Is Zeke emotional? Emotion presume feeling which in a meat entity like a human are the result of various chemicals in the brain. I’m assuming Zeke lacks that chemical soup. Why would his software have an analog for those hormones and other chemicals that replicate emotion or pain? That’d be an odd thing to build into a kill-bot. On the other hand, the ability to feign/replicate emotion would be key for an infiltrator (much as Terminators used their mimicry to pursue their quarry). And a bot that is damaged, semi-functional, and is probably responding… Read more »
I suspect that the next page will be a panel for each face showing shock as Ethan falls to the floor. After that, it depends on if Zeke starts calming down. If he doesn’t, Lucas may get revved up but will hold off. If not…Zeke is a robot. You can shave off one of their legs and not have the usual complications with major blood loss that this would entail with humans. Given that Lucas can control the angle and speed of his arrows, he can accomplish this with more accuracy than a bullet. At this point, we will still… Read more »
In before no thanks nintendo gets their underwear in a twist (and thus as a logical result should really change their username to “the person with twisted underwear who also prefers to decline Nintendo’s offer”), you meant “That’s they!” Right?
I don’t believe I used any pronouns to refer to Zeke, be it he, she, it, they, or otherwise.
“That’s it” is an expression of finality. Similar to “that’s that” or “that did it.”
In the phrase “Now it’s a single super and a cripple against Zeke,” the “it” is the current situation.
When I posted my first message, the comic had been up for like fifteen minutes, long the usual mouth-breathers showed up and started railing on about the usual garbage.
My intent was to highlight that in a physical fight of any sort, Scott was at an extreme disadvantage and a liability… but you’re right. I didn’t think of how many disabled people take offense at that term, exactly for the reason that it makes them sound weak and helpless.
I can’t go back and edit that comment now, but I would like to apologize broadly for anyone out there who was offended by my words. I should be more considerate.
I hear you. The reality is that many of us probably grew up with language we absorbed without really thinking about it or being aware of it. I recall when I was younger, everyone in school called other people ‘gay’,’retarded’ and so on (and in 95% of the cases, they were friends/classmates and not aimed at people who actually were (afaik) gay or retarded, etc). I don’t recall anyone calling anyone out (be it other students, teachers, principals, etc) for it. It was just what was a common part of speech where and when I grew up. (And now it… Read more »
I hear you, too. I’ve had the luck of growing up in the States as a hetero cisgendered male, so I don’t naturally deal with most of these issues. However, I was a shy, quiet, bookish kid growing up in the 90s with few friends, so I was absolutely labeled as “gay” – so much that I almost assumed I was, until I watched the movie Titanic as a thirteen-year-old and realized, “OK, woah, yeah, never mind, those things are awesome.” So while I’m usually not attacked with prejudice, I can absolutely sympathize with those who are. Hindsight is always… Read more »
Exactly. I might have made a comment about not using “a cripple” unless you happen to use it for yourself, because it’s a pretty massive slur in the modern disabled community atm. But before any gentle comment could be made these two waded in with the gender essentialist bigotry and welp.
“Disabled” is sorta on the fringe. Some people absolutely hate being called disabled while others say, that that’s exactly what they are. It’s the same with “ADHD” or ASD (Autism) being called a “Disorder”. I absolutely hate it being called that, because it implies that something was wrong with me. That they way my brain works (me having ADHD and also probably being on the spectrum) was an illness and something to be fixed/cured. But some people say that this is exactly what it is for them. It’s hard to get a general consensus if even the people actually affected… Read more »
Enough is enough, Dodgy – you know both yourself and Digi are pushing other readers deliberately in order to force a reaction. And have been corrected several times by the author due to that, and the bigotry you do it with.
JozMkII
2 years ago
Man…He really didn’t want to kill Ethan. He tried telling Ethan to let go, and killed him only as a last resort to momentarily get him out of the way. And I think there’s a decent chance he wouldn’t have done it if he weren’t confident that Ethan would respawn afterwards.
He’s not quite the killing machine we once saw him as. He’s acting out of fear for is own life.
I think assuming he thought about Ethan respawning might be inconsistent with his damaged speech, thought patterns, and his clearly defensive response to damage and an ongoing threat. I do agree he was acting in response to at threat (which may not be ‘fear’ but a programmed response pattern to resist being disabled or incapacitated). I believe that and Ethan’s attempt to grapple him when he felt Scott was a continuing threat that had to be neutralized dictated the steps he needed to execute to get a chance to take out the threat Scott poses. That doesn’t mean that he… Read more »
Wonder if that is a reference to the off switch they build into the old Zeke. Atleast Ethan will get better.
Chuck
2 years ago
That’s going to cause some emotional damage right there.
Shinji Schneider
2 years ago
Part of me thought, that Zeke would be aiming for the phone and not actually Scott… oh well. And Plot Twist. Ethan doesn’t just reappear but lays on the floor because breaking his neck doesn’t kill him instantly but only paralyzes him until he slowly choked to death. Making Zeke realize how much suffering they actually caused. This being said. It’s still similar suffering that Scott tried to inflict on Zeke. So i’m not convinced it would change Zekes mind. At most they would run away to get to “safety”.(considering it’s 3 against one in their eyes). No matter how… Read more »
He sure earned one, but Zeke’s could be strong enough to severely maim him I think (and unlike, hopefully, Zeke, Scott can’t be fixed by getting him replacement parts), so maybe from Lucas or Ethan?
“a Ted smarter” is how I read it the first time for some reason I thought you were making a call back to the original Scott’s exceptionally smart pet penguin.
I think you’re right. And when it sees that Ethan is dead, it will knock some sense of sorrow into it, helping Scott realize Zeke is not a killing machine and is just acting on pure self-preservation.
I doubt it’ll go in that direction, but I can dream, right? I still want Zeke to evolve where he becomes hero #3 of the group, despite Scott’s paranoia.
Who cares? It’s a robot. It kicks butt. It’s not a he or a she. It, by all intentions of the word, is an it. At the moment, Zeke isn’t recognised as sentient by anyone other than Ethan and maybe Lucas. Everyone else sees it as what it was before the changes. A killer robot.
ThatGuy
2 years ago
Oooof….no way this will end well…..
Gonfrask
2 years ago
Deadly snap or slowly choking snap as Ethan is left tetraplegic and his lungs can’t work properly?
no thanks nintendo
2 years ago
Lucas living the “Everyone Disliked That” meme right now
Lauren
2 years ago
The pain in Ethan’s face hits hard. I feel so bad for him, this is his friend and everything’s falling apart around him. 🙁
Dodgy
2 years ago
Sounds like Zeke might also be undergoing some internal struggle. They perhaps want to value life and heed Ethan’s lessons but at the same time their survival routine kicks in, which may be overriding Zeke’s responses.
Brock Lazard
2 years ago
I’m calling it now, I think Scott is in league with The Master, and was texting him.
What’s on his phone is quite clearly the same programming application he had used to shut Zeke down before. He’s not texting anyone, he’s trying to turn Zeke off.
Arcelebor
2 years ago
Considering Ethan has killed himself just to clean his shirt, I don’t think it’d be fair to treat someone else snapping his neck with too much drama.
It wouldn’t be drama for Ethans sake. It’s for how it will affect Zeke when Ethan being K.O.’d is noticed.
4Star
2 years ago
Oh snap!
Sorry – seemed like an appropriate response.
robin
2 years ago
i’m going to guess that was not a killing snap, instead it just paralyzes ethan. and then zeke snaps out of his rage when he realizes that ethan is injured. I think zeke still trusts ethan and will have feelings of remorse
Tim: “Note to self… future spin-off series… Dr. Hugh Z. K. Manface, Superhero Chiropractor.”
Enclave
2 years ago
I think killing Ethan will SNAP ZK out of this.
Eldest Gruff
2 years ago
I’m reading this again, and I wonder if Zeke’s snapping of Ethan’s neck here is partially accidental.
In the second to last panel, Ethan grabs Zeke and pulls them away, backing himself against a wall. Zeke’s words – “No time — let go — let go — stop” – are asking Ethan for compliance. And the movement Zeke performs, if Ethan WASN’T backed against a wall, would’ve flipped him over their shoulder and onto the ground.
I guess this is it. If Zeke can stop here, fearing for themself, and instead be concerned for someone else.
I’m almost certain it isn’t directly intentional, and am hoping they therefore react in horror and dismay next update, demonstrating how deeply they internalised Ethan’s response to dying (as well as the idea of accidental harm). One thing’s for certain, the group could really use a second to just take stock without any more kill switches!
Last edited 2 years ago by Kelibath
Halosty
2 years ago
Looking at the first panel, I am still in agreement with the comment(s) from last page that said Zeke was aiming for that phone.
Also, poor Zeke. no time to explain that Scott is still trying to wipe them from existence. Pretty sure Zeke didn’t want to hurt Ethan there, even if Zeke is not fully happy with him at the moment.
David Gibson
2 years ago
That’d be one way to deal with Ethan: paralyze him and let him live.
Crestlinger
2 years ago
Crackle! *Zeke gets arrowed
Pop! *Ethan’s head flies off and lands in Scott’s lap as his last konami code life is used up.
FITCamaro
2 years ago
I want the next panel to be the group (that still has an intact spinal cord) looking over at the random person that just walked in the door to buy a video game after work and got far more than they bargained for.
You’re right, everybody is panicking here, that’s why Scott and Lucas can conclude that Zeke is indeed dangerous. Zeke was never taught how to be careful with his robot strengh, for him it is easier to hurt a human.
Kevin Greenbaum
2 years ago
How did this go from discussing what the plan is with them dealing with Zeke to what words people should use to talk about Zeke? If that’s really an issue for people, instead of “it, they, he or whatever else, just use Zeke’s name… Also pretty sure Scott is just trying to hack into him to shut down motor functions again like they did when they caught Zeke in the first place.
Anyone choosing “he” or “it”, over “they/them” are less likely to resort to “Zeke/ZK” because its very much about promoting their perception of the character.
As Zeke has identified outside the binary concept, Zeke is now representative of non binary individuals in real life.
So how Zeke identifies has become a very personal matter, whether someone embraces trans/fluid gender identification or are dead set against the concept.
You’re unfortunately only looking at this from one side, and missing the big picture. The entire argument is, at its core, a freedom of speech/expression thing, and a freedom of identity. The entire concept of “gender isn’t 100% related to biology” didn’t really hit mainstream understanding until this past decade. Prior to that, gender was pretty much an objective truth – I would say “I am male” in the same way I might say “I am 37” or “I am caucasian.” I might feel different or wish to be different, but that doesn’t mean they’re not facts. Right now, stop… Read more »
Last edited 2 years ago by Eldest Gruff
Miguel
2 years ago
What if Ethan exhausted his last life with this? Dumdumdum
Mr_Meng
2 years ago
I think we’re about to see a robot experience a full on psychotic break.
Andrew
2 years ago
We have only seen that Ethan’s has been broken, this isn’t certain death, I know that from personal experience, the next panel could be darker if Ethan is still alive and needs someone, Zeke, to kill him for his own benefit, so he re-spawn in his previous healthy state, otherwise, he is just going to respawn straight away.
Zeke having to intentionally kill Ethan, knowing he will be causing him pain maybe enough to bring him back to a calm state.
cwmills
2 years ago
Notice the present tense, Zeke is saying by restraining them Ethan is currently helping Scott kill them with the programming he is doing on his phone. (Even if that isn’t what Scott is doing, Zeke thinks it is).
Ailfire
2 years ago
It’s stories like this that make me wish this was daily as I just want to know whats going to happen!
Rolando
2 years ago
Plot twist (pun intended): Ethan doesn’t die from it, and stays paralysed from the neck down until someone finishes him off. Possibly participating in the conversation, while in that state.
24
That’s probably the most dramatic death Ethan’s had.
Considering Ethan’s lack of safety with random gadgets and moves, it might not be.
But it is well drawn enough that it gives me a shiver…
Oh, dear. This will only reinforce Scott’s views.
frankly, if scott can be spared for ethan’s death, it’s good
dude can take it lmao
Which you would think otherwise, because only something alive would fight like this to avoid death
At this point, I think Scott cares far less about whether Zeke is alive, as he cares about Zeke being a different form of life and therefore a threat.
That’s exactly what just got us to the point just now where Ethan’s neck got broken though.
That’s always been the case. The moment that he really thought that Zeke was more than just a really intelligent program, but the first of a new species of sentient life form, he started on how they had to be destroyed immediately due to the threat they posed to the human race as a whole.
Any number of prominent scientists have said perhaps we ought not to be broadcasting across the cosmos just in case some species or entity hears us….. and they could be vastly more powerful and/or an apex predator. Zeke, at least theoretically, could be the first of that sort of species (if a bunch of sentient machines can be called a species).
Broadly and cynically speaking – with the assumption that such a new Apex exists of course – all in an attempt for us to remain as the Apex predator.
I don’t believe the human race is capable of what dogs did and create a mutually beneficial relationship with a new Apex – too much ego.
Or something programmed to. We humans like to imbue machines with anthropromorphic characteristics (cars get names, ships get names and are usually called ‘she’, and so on) but programming might still explain his responses.
The premise that only a human could struggle to not be terminated like that is unsupported. A well programmed weapon would fight like the dickens to not be rendered inoperable.
Hopefully it snaps ZK out of it
I’m thinking that’s going to be the twist.
That would hardly be a twist…
I mean it certainly twisted Ethan’s neck.
You think it was more of a crushing argument?
*South Park reference *
OMG! It killed Ethan! You Bastard!!!!!
*comes back next episode*
(damn it’s literally like south park)
You intentionally botched the reference (it was always “they killed kenny”) to use the wrong pronoun. Go fuck yourself.
Really dude… no need to get your panties (or boxershorts if you prefer those) in a twist over that.
Also who’s to say they (happy?) didn’t write that comment from Scott’s perspective?
Digi has been posting every upload to call Zeke ‘it’. It was intentional.
Ah so Digi is just a dick
Fuck pronouns… try to make me use one *I* don’t approve of
well, Zeke is “IT” aka it is automaton, a robot, programmed item, genderless thing; and “they” was never about single person, in same sense as royals never spoke about themselves
Sure thing Scott, just go ahead and ignore actual linguistics and the thousands upon thousands of examples of the singular “they”
Digi is a bigot who’s been trolling these comments for a while now.
And Dodgy comes in defending the bigot. Big surprise.
And you flew into a rage over a pronoun that nobody noticed or cared about in the context of a robot. Your massive downvotes should tell you something.
Correction. It’s an imaginary robot.
I mean. Why are you looking for outrage where there’s none to be found? Surely you have better things to do with your time?
Okay, two panels ago a guy got downvoted for using IT LIVES, even though it was the exact quote.
Now a guy who does the opposite gets downvoted
Mob mentality at its best
Indeed, in fact wasn’t “a guy,” it was Digi.
MY downvote is because the person in question thinks it’s ok to insult others over this.
And that’s just unacceptable. Everyone with an ounce of decency or common sense, knows you don’t use those among people that don’t even know you unless you mean to attack and offend them.
I’m GUESSING a lot of the other downvotes are because of the insult, not for pronoun stuff. Since it literally changes the wohle comment from a correction to an aggressive attack.
I am pretty sure it was meant as an aggressive attack on an individual who continually tries to harass an imaginary character in a Web comic over a choice of gender. Or, possibly, Tim over his opinion on choice of gender written in the comic itself.
So I see nothing wrong with this attack in that context.
An attack in any sense is wrong, a bystander rooting for the aggressor is just as bad as the aggressor. No thanks Nintendo is just a keyboard warrior that thinks it is doing a good job by typing this stuff out but in fact it’s just proving to people that they are just as bad, if not worse, as other trolls.
Hmmm. Two wrongs might not make a right or even a just.
Which would be fair if this was an isolated incident, but it’s not. As much as it’s impossible to follow properly, everything is interconnected, and wider implications need to be considered. Say you’re non-binary or trans yourself, misgendering is a very personal issue, and you might not be a stranger to the dehumanization of people using “it” as a pronoun. A webcomic you’ve been reading for a while ends up delving into the topic of pronouns, and ultimately comes out supportive of you. You can consider Tim Buckley to be an ally. That’s a huge boost to your mood. Perhaps… Read more »
they dont go by it, though. did you miss that part
I am pretty confused as to what made you think I did
I read more what was going on here. And changed my mind from negative reaction to this comment.
You’re not wrong, Walter.
Imagine being this pressed over a single word lmao
Sounds like you don’t have to imagine.
This shouldn’t be so downvoted.
Harsh tone, yes, but the user ntn is replying to has been deliberately posting to misgender Zeke with object pronouns since they chose “they”. It seems targeted and real-world referential as a subtle form of bullying.
Telling bullies their behaviour isn’t welcome isn’t what we should be punishing.
It’s probably also worth pointing out that Digi has been asked to cease and desist from this by Tim at least once this month already.
Actually, no. It isn’t always “they killed Kenny”. It’s “you killed Kenny” or “he killed Kenny”. They was only used when it was multiple people, or a group of you may, caused it. Why don’t you run along and take your over indulged butt elsewhere with your pronoun bigotry.
Oh great, the thought police out on patrol
If it isn’t truly sentient, then it literally is an it.
Oh go suck yourself.
When Ethan became such a pain in the neck, I guess, ZK simply tried to snap out of it.
“They want EFX? Snap a neck for some Das EFX!”
That’s it. Now it’s a single super and a cripple against Zeke, who very well might be near 100% physically.
I think that Lucas is going to have to make a choice here, and live with the consequences.
“Physically” being the key word. I don’t think it’s going to come to that. I think this is the turning point for Zeke – he’s going to remember his conversation with Ethan from page 2 (“It hurts to die?” “Every time”) and feel remorse. Then it will be up to Scott and Lucas to recognise that. Lucas might be able to, but Scott will probably need … convincing. Nice bit of writing by Tim, opening this issue with the scene where Zeke feels empathy for Ethan. I really like the way he’s developed these characters – it doesn’t feel rushed… Read more »
I hope you’re right, Tempus, but honestly I think Zeke’s running out of time here. There’s some slight lag in Ethan’s respawning, iirc from the January 2020 Zeke fight, and Lucas alone isn’t a match for Zeke, much less a Lucas who has to defend someone else. The thing is, Zeke just made a choice to kill their closest friend, and decided that Ethan’s actions were also focused on trying to kill them. And I don’t think that was a calculated moment of “Oh, it’s not really death, I’m just pushing him away” like they did with Lucas. This was,… Read more »
Zeke’s currently braindamaged in a way, and sort of panicked (or a robotic equivalent). I could see a human, panicked and riding on adrenaline, making similiar choices, too.
(and to an extent, getting away with it legally, as self-defence etc.)
Agreed, 100%. But if a random human was in the same situation – panicked, irrational, mentally unhinged, being fully capable of ending someone’s life with little effort and actively attempting to kill others – there’s a point where you can’t keep trying nonviolent solutions to stop them. If an active human gunman was standing in a game store, 100% believed that someone there was out to get him, and was doing everything he could to end that person’s life – if that gunman had already attacked one person, attempted to kill a second, and then killed another person who tried… Read more »
Ok, agreed to that. I’m not exactly happy about it, but that’s because of the whole situation, not anything you wrote (Which is NOT a complaint about Tim’s writing, the opposite actually, just looking at it, as if it’d be a real life situation… well, the moment we get sentient robots. Or people grazed or smacked over the head, I suppose). So, I suppose, if I was there, and had the ability to successfully intervene, I would prefer to try to take Zeke down non-lethally (if reasonably possible), but if I couldn’t, well, yeah, what you said. Wrote. Though I’d… Read more »
I don’t think it was an intentional kill. Zeke has made mistakes before, they’re not infallible, and they’re VERY emotional.
Zeke and Ethan had become friends, in fact, I’d go so far as to say that up until this point? Ethan as/is Zeke’s ONLY friend. S this is going to scar Zeke, because what he just did? A LOT more painful than just cracking a shell casing for an optic unit.
Also DAMN this storyline is good.
You bring up an interesting point. Is Zeke emotional? Emotion presume feeling which in a meat entity like a human are the result of various chemicals in the brain. I’m assuming Zeke lacks that chemical soup. Why would his software have an analog for those hormones and other chemicals that replicate emotion or pain? That’d be an odd thing to build into a kill-bot. On the other hand, the ability to feign/replicate emotion would be key for an infiltrator (much as Terminators used their mimicry to pursue their quarry). And a bot that is damaged, semi-functional, and is probably responding… Read more »
I suspect that the next page will be a panel for each face showing shock as Ethan falls to the floor. After that, it depends on if Zeke starts calming down. If he doesn’t, Lucas may get revved up but will hold off. If not…Zeke is a robot. You can shave off one of their legs and not have the usual complications with major blood loss that this would entail with humans. Given that Lucas can control the angle and speed of his arrows, he can accomplish this with more accuracy than a bullet. At this point, we will still… Read more »
In before no thanks nintendo gets their underwear in a twist (and thus as a logical result should really change their username to “the person with twisted underwear who also prefers to decline Nintendo’s offer”), you meant “That’s they!” Right?
Go away, bigot.
Dodgy has been on here being a bigot for almost a year.
I don’t believe I used any pronouns to refer to Zeke, be it he, she, it, they, or otherwise.
“That’s it” is an expression of finality. Similar to “that’s that” or “that did it.”
In the phrase “Now it’s a single super and a cripple against Zeke,” the “it” is the current situation.
When I posted my first message, the comic had been up for like fifteen minutes, long the usual mouth-breathers showed up and started railing on about the usual garbage.
Fun that there’s no over the top backlash against you using the work “cripple” though.
My intent was to highlight that in a physical fight of any sort, Scott was at an extreme disadvantage and a liability… but you’re right. I didn’t think of how many disabled people take offense at that term, exactly for the reason that it makes them sound weak and helpless.
I can’t go back and edit that comment now, but I would like to apologize broadly for anyone out there who was offended by my words. I should be more considerate.
I hear you. The reality is that many of us probably grew up with language we absorbed without really thinking about it or being aware of it. I recall when I was younger, everyone in school called other people ‘gay’,’retarded’ and so on (and in 95% of the cases, they were friends/classmates and not aimed at people who actually were (afaik) gay or retarded, etc). I don’t recall anyone calling anyone out (be it other students, teachers, principals, etc) for it. It was just what was a common part of speech where and when I grew up. (And now it… Read more »
I hear you, too. I’ve had the luck of growing up in the States as a hetero cisgendered male, so I don’t naturally deal with most of these issues. However, I was a shy, quiet, bookish kid growing up in the 90s with few friends, so I was absolutely labeled as “gay” – so much that I almost assumed I was, until I watched the movie Titanic as a thirteen-year-old and realized, “OK, woah, yeah, never mind, those things are awesome.” So while I’m usually not attacked with prejudice, I can absolutely sympathize with those who are. Hindsight is always… Read more »
Exactly. I might have made a comment about not using “a cripple” unless you happen to use it for yourself, because it’s a pretty massive slur in the modern disabled community atm. But before any gentle comment could be made these two waded in with the gender essentialist bigotry and welp.
Oh crap. Is it considered a slur?
Dang. OK, I want to redouble my last apology. Honestly, to anyone out there who was offended, I’m sorry and will absolutely try to not use that word.
It’s a huge slur. In my opinion pretty much on the same level as the r-word or the f-word.
Isn’t ‘differently abled’ preferred? I thought disabled was itself a bit prejorative. Crippled certainly has negative connotations.
“Disabled” is sorta on the fringe. Some people absolutely hate being called disabled while others say, that that’s exactly what they are. It’s the same with “ADHD” or ASD (Autism) being called a “Disorder”. I absolutely hate it being called that, because it implies that something was wrong with me. That they way my brain works (me having ADHD and also probably being on the spectrum) was an illness and something to be fixed/cured. But some people say that this is exactly what it is for them. It’s hard to get a general consensus if even the people actually affected… Read more »
Enough is enough, Dodgy – you know both yourself and Digi are pushing other readers deliberately in order to force a reaction. And have been corrected several times by the author due to that, and the bigotry you do it with.
Man…He really didn’t want to kill Ethan. He tried telling Ethan to let go, and killed him only as a last resort to momentarily get him out of the way. And I think there’s a decent chance he wouldn’t have done it if he weren’t confident that Ethan would respawn afterwards.
He’s not quite the killing machine we once saw him as. He’s acting out of fear for is own life.
Killing Ethan here was definitely not intentional; it was an accident.
Don’t know why you were downvoted. Have an upvote from me.
And definitely, Zeke did not mean to kill Ethan, at least I hope not haha
I think assuming he thought about Ethan respawning might be inconsistent with his damaged speech, thought patterns, and his clearly defensive response to damage and an ongoing threat. I do agree he was acting in response to at threat (which may not be ‘fear’ but a programmed response pattern to resist being disabled or incapacitated). I believe that and Ethan’s attempt to grapple him when he felt Scott was a continuing threat that had to be neutralized dictated the steps he needed to execute to get a chance to take out the threat Scott poses. That doesn’t mean that he… Read more »
oh snap
I see what they did there!
I respect what you did.
Wonder if that is a reference to the off switch they build into the old Zeke. Atleast Ethan will get better.
That’s going to cause some emotional damage right there.
Part of me thought, that Zeke would be aiming for the phone and not actually Scott… oh well. And Plot Twist. Ethan doesn’t just reappear but lays on the floor because breaking his neck doesn’t kill him instantly but only paralyzes him until he slowly choked to death. Making Zeke realize how much suffering they actually caused. This being said. It’s still similar suffering that Scott tried to inflict on Zeke. So i’m not convinced it would change Zekes mind. At most they would run away to get to “safety”.(considering it’s 3 against one in their eyes). No matter how… Read more »
Maybe Zeke was! When Scott put up his arm, it bought the phone right next to his face.
Please, can we have at least a punch in the face to Scott?
Sounds like a plan.
Lucas. Knock Scott out before he fucks up even more.
He sure earned one, but Zeke’s could be strong enough to severely maim him I think (and unlike, hopefully, Zeke, Scott can’t be fixed by getting him replacement parts), so maybe from Lucas or Ethan?
I mean… Scott’s already lost his leg mobility. You’d think he’d be a tad smarter. ?
“a Ted smarter” is how I read it the first time for some reason I thought you were making a call back to the original Scott’s exceptionally smart pet penguin.
That penguin wasn’t a pet…
I feel like this is reaching back to the page from when Ethan accidentally died in the storage room and ZK was like…don’t do that.
I think you’re right. And when it sees that Ethan is dead, it will knock some sense of sorrow into it, helping Scott realize Zeke is not a killing machine and is just acting on pure self-preservation.
I doubt it’ll go in that direction, but I can dream, right? I still want Zeke to evolve where he becomes hero #3 of the group, despite Scott’s paranoia.
*They. Zeke isn’t an “it.”
Who cares? It’s a robot. It kicks butt. It’s not a he or a she. It, by all intentions of the word, is an it. At the moment, Zeke isn’t recognised as sentient by anyone other than Ethan and maybe Lucas. Everyone else sees it as what it was before the changes. A killer robot.
Oooof….no way this will end well…..
Deadly snap or slowly choking snap as Ethan is left tetraplegic and his lungs can’t work properly?
Lucas living the “Everyone Disliked That” meme right now
The pain in Ethan’s face hits hard. I feel so bad for him, this is his friend and everything’s falling apart around him. 🙁
Sounds like Zeke might also be undergoing some internal struggle. They perhaps want to value life and heed Ethan’s lessons but at the same time their survival routine kicks in, which may be overriding Zeke’s responses.
I’m calling it now, I think Scott is in league with The Master, and was texting him.
Texting another super would be my guess.
Someone not “Conflicted” about what needs to be done. Will be the excuse.
He’s trying to shut Zeke down, like he did the first time they met.
What’s on his phone is quite clearly the same programming application he had used to shut Zeke down before. He’s not texting anyone, he’s trying to turn Zeke off.
Considering Ethan has killed himself just to clean his shirt, I don’t think it’d be fair to treat someone else snapping his neck with too much drama.
It wouldn’t be drama for Ethans sake. It’s for how it will affect Zeke when Ethan being K.O.’d is noticed.
Oh snap!
Sorry – seemed like an appropriate response.
i’m going to guess that was not a killing snap, instead it just paralyzes ethan. and then zeke snaps out of his rage when he realizes that ethan is injured. I think zeke still trusts ethan and will have feelings of remorse
First time ZK has DIRECTLY killed Ethan?
At least once before, unless you mean that X1 was a different person?
Zeke stabbed Ethan in the chest during the night that they shut him down.
Plot twist – it was actually cavitation and now Ethan will feel *amazing*
Tim: “Note to self… future spin-off series… Dr. Hugh Z. K. Manface, Superhero Chiropractor.”
I think killing Ethan will SNAP ZK out of this.
I’m reading this again, and I wonder if Zeke’s snapping of Ethan’s neck here is partially accidental.
In the second to last panel, Ethan grabs Zeke and pulls them away, backing himself against a wall. Zeke’s words – “No time — let go — let go — stop” – are asking Ethan for compliance. And the movement Zeke performs, if Ethan WASN’T backed against a wall, would’ve flipped him over their shoulder and onto the ground.
I guess this is it. If Zeke can stop here, fearing for themself, and instead be concerned for someone else.
I’m almost certain it isn’t directly intentional, and am hoping they therefore react in horror and dismay next update, demonstrating how deeply they internalised Ethan’s response to dying (as well as the idea of accidental harm). One thing’s for certain, the group could really use a second to just take stock without any more kill switches!
Looking at the first panel, I am still in agreement with the comment(s) from last page that said Zeke was aiming for that phone.
Also, poor Zeke. no time to explain that Scott is still trying to wipe them from existence. Pretty sure Zeke didn’t want to hurt Ethan there, even if Zeke is not fully happy with him at the moment.
That’d be one way to deal with Ethan: paralyze him and let him live.
Crackle! *Zeke gets arrowed
Pop! *Ethan’s head flies off and lands in Scott’s lap as his last konami code life is used up.
I want the next panel to be the group (that still has an intact spinal cord) looking over at the random person that just walked in the door to buy a video game after work and got far more than they bargained for.
Maybe it’s their answer to finding an alternative draw vs pre-order bonuses!
Zeke, what have you done? You proved that Scott is right!
He didn’t, a human could react in a similiar way in Zeke’s place, too. (Angry/panicked and riding on adrenaline, etc.)
You’re right, everybody is panicking here, that’s why Scott and Lucas can conclude that Zeke is indeed dangerous. Zeke was never taught how to be careful with his robot strengh, for him it is easier to hurt a human.
How did this go from discussing what the plan is with them dealing with Zeke to what words people should use to talk about Zeke? If that’s really an issue for people, instead of “it, they, he or whatever else, just use Zeke’s name… Also pretty sure Scott is just trying to hack into him to shut down motor functions again like they did when they caught Zeke in the first place.
Anyone choosing “he” or “it”, over “they/them” are less likely to resort to “Zeke/ZK” because its very much about promoting their perception of the character.
As Zeke has identified outside the binary concept, Zeke is now representative of non binary individuals in real life.
So how Zeke identifies has become a very personal matter, whether someone embraces trans/fluid gender identification or are dead set against the concept.
You’re unfortunately only looking at this from one side, and missing the big picture. The entire argument is, at its core, a freedom of speech/expression thing, and a freedom of identity. The entire concept of “gender isn’t 100% related to biology” didn’t really hit mainstream understanding until this past decade. Prior to that, gender was pretty much an objective truth – I would say “I am male” in the same way I might say “I am 37” or “I am caucasian.” I might feel different or wish to be different, but that doesn’t mean they’re not facts. Right now, stop… Read more »
What if Ethan exhausted his last life with this? Dumdumdum
I think we’re about to see a robot experience a full on psychotic break.
We have only seen that Ethan’s has been broken, this isn’t certain death, I know that from personal experience, the next panel could be darker if Ethan is still alive and needs someone, Zeke, to kill him for his own benefit, so he re-spawn in his previous healthy state, otherwise, he is just going to respawn straight away.
Zeke having to intentionally kill Ethan, knowing he will be causing him pain maybe enough to bring him back to a calm state.
Notice the present tense, Zeke is saying by restraining them Ethan is currently helping Scott kill them with the programming he is doing on his phone. (Even if that isn’t what Scott is doing, Zeke thinks it is).
It’s stories like this that make me wish this was daily as I just want to know whats going to happen!
Plot twist (pun intended): Ethan doesn’t die from it, and stays paralysed from the neck down until someone finishes him off. Possibly participating in the conversation, while in that state.
May cause interesting reactions from the others.