When I came up with the idea of linking Fumiaki’s whales in some kind of sonar internet, I thought it was a neat futuristic idea. Then I saw that someone is building just such an internet right now.
On one hand it’s good that I anticipated the science. On the other hand, I may not be interpolating science far enough for 100 years in the future. 🙂
↓ Transcript
Roger: ...the network latency is measured in hours...and the protocol is weird. I think we're on some kind of sonar internet. Global range, but only at the speed of sound. I'm having a lot of slo-mo email conversations right now.
Jacob: Covert internet, cyborg whales...this has to be Fumiaki. He's a step ahead of everyone.
Girii: You don't plan to stop him.
Jacob: I haven't decided.
Girii: I can tell you have. You're curious, but you don't want to get involved.
Jacob: Watch it, girl. No reading my mind while we're playing cards.
Jacob: Covert internet, cyborg whales...this has to be Fumiaki. He's a step ahead of everyone.
Girii: You don't plan to stop him.
Jacob: I haven't decided.
Girii: I can tell you have. You're curious, but you don't want to get involved.
Jacob: Watch it, girl. No reading my mind while we're playing cards.
*snrk*
A couple typos: “Chaptyer” in page title, “onversations” in first panel.
Gah. Thank you, fixed. I uploaded this page days ago; I don’t remember what my mental state was then. Probably sleep-deprived.
“The speed of sound” is misleading. Most people will assume he means the speed of sound through air, which is several times slower than through water.
I find myself wondering what resources other than cetacean GM cyborgs are found on that network. And in particular what “human” resources there are. And if the CGMCOs themselves are “human”. They might be piloted whales. They might be remote controlled. They might be trained like animals. Or they might be following instructions like human beings.
Hey, how covert is this internet? If Roger is communicating with the big Internet, and he’s spotted, like he was when talking with Zoey, the bridges could be found with a traceroute.
And if Roger is not communicating with resources outside of the covert internet, just who is he exchanging email with? The CGMCOs?
Another heads-up: The transcript seems to cover panel one only. Just Roger. No Jacob nor Girii.
That may be a case of forgotten knowledge rather than insufficient depth of interpolation. Why, pray tell, one would use slow insecure net, if there are more advanced modern analogs superior in every way possible. In every way exept for obscurity, that is. Best way to keep secret is absence of it, after all.
Sonar internet?
I’d say that I’d seen everything now, but considering that this comic’s nowhere no finishing, we all know that that’s not true!