Outpost: Remote

Stray signal...

2010-04-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update, not much of note, though I have PLANZ for this blog for the coming year.

We'll see if those plans actually materialize. But still.

Posted over on my website: some artwork I generated, just playing around with some Photoshop inking and coloring techniques, and it fits with the sci-fi theme hereabouts.

To check out the full-size version, click on over to my "official" site and download.

P.W. Singer on Killer Robots

2009-04-21T13:17:00.000-07:00

[x-post from my Vox blog]

P.W. Singer, the author of one of the first scholarly works about private military companies (a wonderful, if a bit dry, tome called Corporate Warriors, which I commend to your attention) thinks about war with a depth and clarity that's unique in the field.

Most non-fiction works about military action tend to be concerned largely with the men and women kicking down doors, about tactics, about strategy, about the technology of warfare.

Singer tends to approach war from a macroeconomics standpoint, and the results in his work are often devastatingly intelligent and terrifyingly plausible.

Here, Singer talks about the rise of robotics in warfare, and warfare for the YouTube generation. (Among other things, he references a jihadi website wherein one can login and detonate IEDs in Iraq remotely.)

Terrific video, and scary as hell.

Creative Commons Script: Trixie Tempus

2009-02-20T18:04:00.000-08:00

I've been asked by the occasional artist if I have any old script laying around that they could illustrate -- typically for portfolio pieces. I whipped this one up specifically for that purpose, and fell in love with it. So -- and this is very long -- here it is.

---

TRIXIE TEMPUS
“Old School”

Script by Eric S. Trautmann
March 18,2008 [Updated Feb 20, 2009]
Version 3.3

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/us/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

Page 1 [5 panels]
Panel 1
Horizontal panel. Establishing shot—Nightime, PHALANX CITY. The City is Blade Runner futuristic—towering skyscrapers, smog, rain, blazing neon. Flying cars, people in jet packs, massive dirigibles can all be seen cluttering the swollen, cloud-choked skies.

1.1. CAPTION
THE NATIONAL SOCIALIST NATION OF NORTH AMERICA.

1.2. CAPTION
APRIL 11, 2065 A.D.

1.3. CAPTION
(The 100th anniversary of the death of World Emperor Adolf Hitler.)

Panel 2
Street level, outside the RED DRAGON BAR. The BAR is, like the rest of the city, dingy and rain-slicked, festooned with neon and graffiti and signs in ENGLISH, GERMAN, FRENCH, JAPANESE or ITALIAN. There's a mirrored bay window along the front of the bar, which means we can't see inside.

In front of the bar, we see a parked POLICE VEHICLE—bulky, angular and bristling with weapons. The POLICE VEHICLE is shining it's spotlight at the front door of the RED DRAGON.

Flanking the door are a squad of SPECIAL POLICE troopers—big, bulky, armored, with riot visors and HUGE automatic weapons. [Note: the uniforms should be really hardcore neofascist, like these.] They're crouched and getting ready to burst into the RED DRAGON.

1.4. Caption/Trixie
Parallel universes. A mainstay of comics and movies with robots and laser swords in 'em.

1.5. Caption/Trixie
For every decision every creature in the universe could possibly make, there's an alternate universe somewheres else that shows the outcome.

1.6. Caption/Trixie
Take this one, f'r'instance. In this particular 'verse, Hitler wasn't born a genocidal loon.

1.7. SPECIAL POLICE LEADER
--hold here. Bravo Unit has the rear covered--

1.8. SPECIAL POLICE 1 (overlapped)
--heard she's armed--

1.9. SPECIAL POLICE 2 (overlapped)
--the hell did she get a gun?

Panel 3
Closer in on the SPECIAL POLICE troopers. One is barking orders, the rest charging into the bar.

1.10. TRIXIE/Caption
So, a'course, he kicked nine shades of shinola outta the entire world. Died of old age.

1.11. SPECIAL POLICE 1 (yelling)
Enough chatter! Move in!

1.12. SPECIAL POLICE TROOPS (unison)
Sieg Heil!

Panel 4
Horizontal panel—stet panel one, except we can just see the back of the last of the SPECIAL POLICE troopers moving in.

[NOTE: Dialogue here should kind of overlap each other, like we're only hearing fragments of chatter.]

1.13. SPECIAL POLICE (no tail)
Fan out! Fan out!

1.14. SPECIAL POLICE (no tail)
Check your corners!

1.15. SPECIAL POLICE (no tail)
--kill her on sight--

1.16. SPECIAL POLICE (no tail)
--was that movement? We got movement--

Panel 5
Horizontal panel, stet Panel 1, except the SPECIAL POLICE are no longer in sight.

1.17. SPECIAL POLICE (no tail)
--happened to the lights?

1.18. SPECIAL POLICE (no tail)
SWITCH TO NIGHTSCOPES--

1.19. SPECIAL POLICE (no tail, yelling)
Holy sh--!!!

1.20. Caption/Trixie
'Course, this universe's Adolf was still a jerk.

1.21. Caption/Trixie
Welcome to the Thousand Year Reich.

Page 2 [Splash]
Splash page—full page.

A female figure—TRIXIE TEMPUS—crashes backwards through the mirrored window and into the street. She's firing a pair of COLT .45 1911 PISTOLS John Woo-style back into the bar, grinning like a maniac the whole time.

TRIXIE is dressed like a 1930s pulp adventurer—Leather Jacket with fur collar and an embroidered tiger emblem on the back; jodhpurs and high, shiny black boots; pistol holsters on both hips. She's got her red hair in a long pony tail.

Story title and credits block goes here, ideally shaped in the shards of broken glass.

2.1. SFX: BROKEN GLASS
KKKKRAASH

2.2 SFX: TRIXIE's GUNS
BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM, etc.

2.3 TRIXIE (yelling)
YYYYYEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAA!

2.4. Trixie/Caption
Name's Trixie. I'm a time traveller and dimension-hopper.

2.5. Trixie/Caption
Fair to say I'm also a thief an' gunrunner.

2.6. TRIXIE/CAPTION
Fairer to say I'm runnin' guns to the Resistance here.

2.7. TRIXIE/CAPTION
Kinda makes the local goosesteppers a mite irritable.

Page 3 [5 panels]

Panel 1
TRIXIE hits the ground in a crouch; she's haloed by broken glass.

3.1 TRIXIE (panting)
--pant--
--pant--

3.2 Trixie/Caption
One of the handy things about fascist goon squads? They're predictable.

Panel 2
Still grinning, we see TRIXIE ejecting the spent magazines from her pistols.

3.3. SFX: PISTOLS
KACHAK! KACHAK!

3.4 Trixie/Caption
They come at you head on.

Panel 3
TRIXIE looks startled as three new RIOT VEHICLES arrive—hovering on cushions of excited ions, a la Star Wars landspeeders.

3.5 RIOT VEHICLE LOUDSPEAKER (LOUD!)
FREEZE! DROP YOUR WEAPONS!

3.6 SFX: VEHICLES
HHHHHRRRRRRMMMMM

Panel 4
A GUNNER atop one of the RIOT VEHICLES shouts orders at her, as he racks the bolt on the massive MACHINE GUN emplacement he mans on top of the VEHICLE.

3.7 TRIXIE/CAPTION
Like I said: predictable.

3.8 TRIXIE/CAPTION
And I s'pose you're askin' yourself, 'Self? How's a little gal like Trixie gonna take on so many bad, bad men?'

3.9 GUNNER (YELLING)
This is your last warning! You are in violation of Reich Code 7167/18, and I am authorized to employ deadly force--

3.10 GUNNER (YELLING)/LINKED
Stand down!

3.11 SFX: GUN CHARGING
CHAK-CHAK!

Panel 5
TRIXIE puts two fingers in her mouth and whistles.

3.12 TRIXIE/Caption
It's a fair question, I reckon.

3.13 TRIXIE/Whistling
[Render as a single musical note, to signify she's whistling]

Page 4
PANEL 1
Cutaway—we see TRIXIE's TIME CYCLE, parked in the shadows of a nearby street. Imagine the biggest, nastiest Harley Davidson you think of, and add a bewildering array of pipes, conduits, and crazy chrome mechanical jumble to the engine assembly.

4.1 TRIXIE/CAption
'Course, I'm not exactly solo here.

4.2 TRIXIE (whistle)
[As prior page, but very small, signifying that she's some distance away.]

PANEL 2
The front light of the TIME CYCLE lights up, as if the CYCLE is “waking up”.

4.3 SFX: TIME CYCLE
RUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMBLERUMB

LE

4.4 TIME CYCLE COMPUTER (TCC) (elec)
Audio cue recognized.

4.5 TCC (elec)/linked
Activating maneuver Delta-04.

PANELS 3-4
We watch as a pair of rocket engines fold down from the engine assembly, and ignite.

4.6 TCC (elec)
ENGAGED!

4.7 SFX: TIME CYCLE RUMBLE
(As before, but louder)

4.8 SFX: ROCKET ENGINES UNFOLDING
KLK-WHIRRRRRR

4.9 SFX: ROCKET ENGINES IGNITING
FFFFWOOOOOSH!

Page 5
PANEL 1
Cut back to the street scene—the RIOT POLICE GUNNER is still yelling at TRIXIE. In the foreground, we can see her slapping fresh clips into the pistols.

5.1 GUNNER (yelling)
--Lady, I'm not telling you again. Drop your weapons--

PANEL 2
We're looking at TRIXIE through the RIOT POLICE GUNNER's gunsight, as she points her two pistols up, racking the slides forward with the slide-release.

5.2 TRIXIE
Fat chance, Fritz. I've been kickin' Nazi butt longer'n you've been alive.

5.3 SFX: Gun Slides engaging.
KA-CHAK! KA-CHAK!

PANEL 3
Inset panel—the RIOT GUNNER's finger starts to tighten on the trigger.

5.4 GUNNER (off panel)
Have it your way, lady.

5.5 Gunner (off panel)/linked
Heil Hitler--

PANEL 4
Up angle view of the RIOT gunner, as the TIME CYCLE swoops over the vehicle and knocks the gun aside. The RIOT GUNNER looks startled and a bit scared.

5.6 GUNNER
Wha-?!!!

5.7 SFX: TIME CYCLE
VRRRRROOOOOOOM!

5.8 SFX: CYCLE HITTING GUN
CHANK!

Page 6
PANEL 1
TRIXIE charges forward, in a sprint. The other RIOT POLICE open fire, and we see bullets chewing up the pavement around her.

6.1. SFX: Gunfire
BRAK BRAK BRAK BRAK

6.2. TRIXIE
Sorry, boys--

PANEL 2
TRIXIE leaps, her foot finding purchase on the RIOT POLICE vehicle in front of her; the startled RIOT POLICE GUNNER is starting to recover, and is just beginning to draw his sidearm.

6.3. TRIXIE
--but it looks like--

PANEL 3
TRIXIE flips through the air, tumbling. (Might be cool to do one of those old-school Spider Man riffs, where we can see him tumble in a series of “ghost outlines”.)
6.4. TRIXIE
--my ride is here.

PANEL 4
TRIXIE's guns blast the sidearm out of the RIOT POLICE GUNNER's hand, still in midair.

6.5. SFX: TRIXIE'S .45s
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

6.6 GUNNER
--OW!

Panel 5
TRIXIE lands on the TIME CYCLE, still shooting and grinning. She LOVES this.

6.7. TRIXIE (yelling)
YAHOOOOO!

6.8. SFX: GUNFIRE
BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!

Panel 6
Inset panel: Trixie winks.

6.9. Trixie
It's been fun. Give my regards to der Fuehrer.

Page 7
[Note: this page should just be a series of stacked, horizontal panels.]

PANEL 1
Horizontal panel. The rocket engines of the TIME CYCLE fire up massively, and the vehicle just RIPS forward. TRIXIE is leaning forward, her hair blowing back, and the city background is nothing but a blur.

7.1. SFX: TIME CYCLE
VVVVRRROOOOOOOOM!

7.2. TCC/elec
Warning: Mission clock becoming critical.

7.3. TCC/elec/linked
Query: Mission status?

PANEL 2
Still on the cycle; TRIXIE talking.

7.4. Trixie/Caption
Guess I should tell you what I'm doin' here, huh?

7.5. Trixie
It'll be tight, but we'll make it if we hurry. Inform Nexus Central that we're heading for the NEO-Reichstag now.

PANEL 3
We're watching the TIME CYCLE from behind now, as it races toward a massive structure in the center background. The building is HUGE—stretching what seems like miles into the sky. It has that weird art deco look of old Albert Speer Nazi architecture.

7.6. Trixie/Caption
Well, first off, I'm running some guns from the QA-17 universe to the Resistance here.

7.7. TRIXIE/CAPTION
Nexus Central -- the outfit I work for -- isn't fond of Nazis, so they figure some weapons from a universe where Nikola Tesla perfected death rays in the 1930s might cause some suitable mischief.

7.8. Trixie/Caption
Me? I have a, uh, secondary objective.

7.9. TCC/elec
Query: Operative Trixie Tempus, the NEO-Reichstag is not a mission-specific coordinate. Why are you Deviating from Mission plan?

Page 8
Panel 1
Horizontal panel, side view of TRIXIE buzzing over city streets, as passersby duck for cover.

8.1. TRIXIE/Caption
Technically, I'm breakin' the rules a bit. The energy budgets for time travel don't allow for a lot o' flexibility.

8.2. TRIXIE
We'll make it. Just need to make one quick stop on th' way.

Panel 2
The TIME CYCLE swoops up, flying parallel to the side of one of the city skyscrapers.

8.3. TCC/elec
Operative Tempus, this course of action is not advised.

8.4. TCC/elec
Flight plan / time window schedule indicates rendezvous with Resistance leaders is imminent.

8.5. Trixie
Trust me. I've got a plan--

Panel 3
The TIME CYCLE skids to a halt (skidding on air, just like a dirt bike would on ground). The TIME CYCLE is being illuminated from off panel by some kind of spotlight.

8.6. SFX: SKID
SCREEEEEEEEE

Panel 4
Close up on TRIXIE's very startled face.

8.7. Trixie (very quiet)
--aw, hell.

Page 9
Splash/full page.

We see, in the background, close by, the sci-fi Neo-Reichstag established on page 7. In front of it, along it's bordering security wall, we see large towers—brushed steel, with lots of hatches and mounts for a blistering array of weapons. The towers themselves (sort of a futuristic flak tower) seem to be part mechanical—rising and leaning forward a bit, and pointing weapons and spotlights at TRIXIE, who we see from behind, in the foreground of the panel. (We're basically taking an elevated view, and we see the building looming and it's defenses active).

More TROOPS line the wall, aiming machine guns and assault rifles at TRIXIE.

Leaping from the walls are several PANZERMECHS—twenty-foot high walking tanks. (Essentially, imagine crossing a Star Wars scout walker/AT-ST, with the turret from a Tiger tank. Instead of just the big cannon on the front, you can sidemount gatling cannons, rocket pods, and so on. Fascist imagery – falcons/eagles and death's heads most likely – decorate the PANZERMECHS.

9.1. TCC/elec
Query: Is this part of your plan?

9.2. Trixie (quietly)
Not exactly, no.

Page 10

Panel 1
The TIME CYCLE skids ahead, as TRIXIE guns the motor, her expression determined now.

10.1. Trixie
'Course, no plan is perfect. So, it pays to improvise.

10.2. SFX: MOTOR
VRRROOOOOOM!

Panel 2
Small panel, inset, focusing on her hand as she opens a small pouch on her belt.

10.3. TRIXIE/Caption
Running guns through time is a bit tricky. You need to be able to balance energy and mass, and calculate when the time charge is going to wear off and send you back.

Panel 3
Small panel, inset, and we see that TRIXIE has removed a small cylindrical object from the belt pouch, roughly the size and shape of a large pen. On the top, like with a ballpoint, is a small button (though this button glows green).

9.6. Trixie/Caption
So the Nexus boys cooked up some cute tricks to make it possible to transport stuff back through time and across dimensions.

Panel 4
Small panel, inset. We see TRIXIE's thumb press the button, which now glows red.

10.4. Trixie/Caption
We can package stuff--like arms for the local resistance cell--into little artificial universes, pocket sized.

Page 11

Panel 1
Horizontal panel. Side view of TRIXIE and the TIME CYCLE as they race ahead. The background is a blur, but we can see incoming fire all around her. In her right hand, we see the small pen device, which she's holding up a bit, almost like a riding crop. Above the glowing red button, a glowing orb appears, about the size of a large melon.

11.1. Trixie/Caption
Their quantum batteries hold enough charge to use 'em twice. One to load 'em up with something--

Panel 2
We see TRIXIE's hand reach into the orb, disappearing inside. She's in up to her elbow; her hand SHOULD be appearing on the other side of the orb, but it isn't—it should be clear that she's reaching deep inside something that's more or less physically impossible, a hole in the air.

11.2. Trixie/Caption
--and the second time--

Panel 3
TRIXIE rears back, and she's now holding the BIGGEST DAMN GUN you can think of it. It's huge, and ugly, and is covered with bolts, and rivets, and glowing Jacob's Ladders, glowing vacuum tubes, and so on. It shouldn't look too modern – it's a death ray created in an alternate 1930s, so it should look all sorts of crazy retro mad-scientist weird.

11.3. Trixie/Caption
--that's for pullin' stuff out.

Panel 4
Close up on TRIXIE's face, as she smiles wickedly, squinting through the crosshairs on the weapon's scope, pointed right at the reader.

11.4. Trixie
Watch the birdie, boys!

Panel 5
View from underneath the TIME CYCLE, as it reaches the edge of the rooftop she's on, and vaults her toward the FLAK TOWER walls of the REICHSTAG.

11.5. SFX: TIME CYCLE
VWWWWOOOOSH!

Page 12

Panel 1
Wide splash panel (eats most of page; leave room for remaining panels to run horizontally below panel 1).

TRIXIE (still in flight, from piloting the TIME CYCLE off the edge of the building roof) shoulders the TESLA RAY GUN and fires. A half dozen lightning bolts fork from the end of the gun, striking the PANZERMECHS, the FLAK TOWERS, the assembled troops.

12.1. SFX: TESLA GUN
SSSSHHRRRRVVVZZZZAAAAAAAAK!

12.2 TRIXIE/Caption
On the downside, that's one weapon won't be going to the Resistance.

Panel 2
We see several PANZERMECHS explode.

12.3. Trixie/CAption
The upside is, ¨ don't get dead.

12.4. SFX: Explosion
Ka-BOOOOM!

Panel 3
The FLAK TOWERS detonate, sending men and wreckage flying.

12,5 TRIXIE/CAPTION
I call that a big damn upside.

12.6. SFX: EXPLOSION
BA-WHOOOOM!

Panel 4
We see several of the assembled TROOPS flung into the air, electricity wrapping around them, and sending their boots shooting off, their helmets flung way, their hair standing on end...

12.6. SFX: ELECTRICAL BLASTS
SSSSHAAAAAAKKKK!

Page 13

Panel 1
Close up of the front wheels of the TIME CYCLE as it lands on the ground. In the background, we can see a massive hole blasted into the SECURITY WALL.

13.1. Trixie/Caption
The reason I like hittin' these Nazi universes is that there's one thing the same from place to place.

Panel 2
TRIXIE whistles nonchalantly, tossing aside the melted TESLA GUN.

13.2. Trixie (whistling, quietly)
[[[Render as small musical note.]]]

13.3. SFX: Gun hitting ground
Thunk.

13.4. Trixie/Caption
It's th' little things. Like how the goosesteppers love their pretty uniforms. Their big guns. Their huge buildings.

Panel 3
TRIXIE draws her pistols, running forward through the hole.

13.5. Trixie/Caption
They also have a fondness for art. Doesn't matter which universe you're in, the Nazis just have to have their pretty things.

Page 14
Splash panel/full page.

Deep inside a concrete bunker/chamber in the REICHSTAG, we find a room filled with artworks—the MONA LISA, Picassos, Da Vinci statues, etc. A giant art repository. Unconscious / dead troops lie all around the room, and her pistols are smoking from recent firing.

14.1. Trixie/Caption
And they do so love to put it all in one place.

Page 15

Panel 1
TRIXIE pulls another pen-shaped device from her belt pouches.

15.1. Trixie/Caption
Makes it easier on a gal like me.

Panel 2
Close up on her hand, as she thumbs down the button.

15.2. SFX: Device
CLICK!

15.3. Trixie/Caption
Just power up a spare dimensional pocket (which I just happened to, um, liberate before departure)--

Panel 3
We see her kneel and jam the device into the stone floor.

15.4. SFX: Device jammed into floor
CHUNK!

15.5. Trixie/Caption
-- count to five --

Panel 4
The glowing orb appears, and the various artworks and goodies are stretched and distorted as the orb sucks them inside.

15.6. SFX: Device hum
VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVMMMMMM

15.7. Trixie/Caption
--and let the magic happen.

Panel 5
The orb disappears with a “POP!” leaving nothing behind save bare concrete/stone walls and dead/unconscious guards, and an amused looking TRIXIE.

15.8. SFX: Pocket universe closes
POP!

15.9. Trixie
Voila!

Page 16

Panel 1
Close-up on Trixie's face, grinning as she holds up the pen-sized dimensional pocket, the top button of which is now green.

16.1. Trixie/Caption
Jus' a hop, skip, an' a jump, and I can dump the rest of the Resistance's merchandise to 'em, get home, and count my cash.

16.2. Trixie/Caption/linked
A good day, and a good plan, if I do say so myself. An' I do.

16.3. Voice/Offpanel (render in a differentiating way—a Germanic calligraphy script, or unusual wavy balloon border or some such)
--Obersturmführer Gretcsch: you will Inform Science Brigade that their findings were correct. They have successfully detected and identified the first known cross-dimensional invader.

Panel 2
STET panel, but it's now in black and white, with TV scanlines running through it. Text on the screen reads: SECURI-CAM DELTA-NINE. Another line reads “TARGET SIGHTED”. A steel-gauntleted hand can be seen near the screen, clenched in a fist.

16.4. Voice/offpanel
They have done well. Cancel their executions.

16.5. Gretsch
Jawohl, my Count. They should be pleased. And the invader?

Panel 3
Splash panel. We see the source of the off-panel voice now LEOPOLD VON BISMARCK, THE IRON EXECUTIONER—a tall, wide-shouldered figure in a stylized NAZI OFFICER'S UNIFORM. He is wearing no hat, so we can see his head clearly, which appears to be a face-covering mask, in the shape of a skull. A line of small horns or spikes, also in steel runs across the crown of the head, and two glittering steel curved tusks protrude from the appartion's mask, as well. He's standing in standard super-villain pose, surrounded by monitors, all of which show TRIXIE, grinning. He's holding his fist, clenched in the air. In the background, we can see a legion of SHOCK TROOPS, preparing for battle. Behind him, we see a bored looking young blonde man, also in a stylized Nazi with a clipboard, transcribing what VON BISMARCK is saying.

16.6. VON BISMARCK
Track her biosigns. She will lead us to the accursed Resistance cell soon, and when she does --

16.7. VON BISMARCK / linked / loud
--she will find that she brings them only destruction.

16.8. Von BISMARCK / linked / very loudspeaker
Destruction at the hands of COUNT LEOPOLD VON BISMARCK, THE IRON EXECUTIONER!

TO BE CONTINUED...
(...someday. Maybe.)

---

UPDATE: Brian Rogers, the latest illustrator to take a crack at Trixie (after Jared Souza, who sort of started this whole thing) just sent me some sketches of Trixie.

Very nice. Makes me realize I should've included goggles in the character description. :/

Holy crap.

2008-07-07T12:50:00.001-07:00

::happy dance::

::happy dance::

::happy dance::

Such good news on the Vertigo project today. Can't wait 'til I can share.

Mankind's Glorious Destiny Among The Stars

2008-05-13T23:38:00.000-07:00

It was only recently that I learned that NASA astronauts, upon returning from space, are required to fill out a federal travel voucher.

Upon returning from the Moon—arguably one of the greatest feats of engineering, one that typified the notion that mankind had a glorious destiny ahead of it--Apollo 11 astronauts had to fill out a Customs Declaration.

We stopped going to the Moon. The US will probably not put men on Mars before the Chinese do. We have no flying cars or moonbases.

But we bring our goddamn bureaucratic paperwork with us to the stars.

Right there. That's the thing that's going to cause a war with an interstellar civilization--we are the Vogons.

Off to Mars.

2008-02-11T11:33:00.000-08:00

Work has finally begun on the Mars comics project I mentioned, er, A LONG TIME AGO.

Preliminary design documentation is written, and the main character finally has a name, which is nice. A lot of other elements about the setting have been percolating for quite some time, and research has been slow (as paying work has intruded, alas).

Sent the doc off to the illustrator I want to work with, and he loved it, so that's one major hurdle done.

My God, I might actually DO THIS.

As the project develops, this space may actually see some activity (since that's what I built it for--workblogging and woolgathering on science fiction projects).

Keeping my fingers crossed.

GIDEON-II

2007-09-25T15:35:00.000-07:00

First:

Sue me. It's less than sporadically updated.

Second:

As some of you may be aware, I've started doing some work for DC Comics, specifically on the Greg Rucka-helmed superhero-spy series, Checkmate.

In August, my first whack at Checkmate came out, issue #17, which served the dual duty of giving Checkmate a new character (an old DC villain, in fact: Carl Draper, the "Master Jailer", aka "Deathtrap" aka "Locksmith) and for upgrading the security system, now codenamed GIDEON-II.

What is GIDEON-II?

In general terms, I've tried to absorb much of the cool/weird cutting edge computech that gets sprayed around The IntarWebs(tm), and then up the ante, since it's the goddamned DC universe. If you're going to have a defensive system against all known paranormal and metahuman threats in the DCU, then you need to mine existing tech from withing the DCU. Shield technology, teleportation devices, alien supercomputers, and so on.

So, in essence, GIDEON-II is a network hub for data being collected at ridiculous speeds, and then filtered through a threat assessment algorhythm. The results then dictate specific courses of action, in accordance with Checkmate procedures.

To that end, I posit that there's not one inch of space in the miles around the Castle, Checkmate's HQ, that isn't broadcasting some kind of data: RFID chips, offworld sensor suites, nanoclouds that send out signals when disturbed.

The data is then squirted back to the GIDEON-II threat assessment network, and is accessed -- in part by harnessing human brain power in a direct neural link -- by the system's operator, Carl.

In a millionith of a second, he gets the warning. "Incoming tachyon stream, indicates potential teleporter." A millionth of a second after that, he scans his files and comes up with the appropriate response, shunting the tachyon stream into an appropriate collector: the would-be teleporter 'ports into a cell and is stuck.

That's basically how it works, and it's all dependent on a tagged, searchable database that has been mined from the vast, bottomless Intelhub: the collected intelligence on every metahuman and conventional threat in the DCU.

That was the most interesting challenge in writing #17: figuring out the rules for GIDEON-II so it isn't a "magic button" for fixing problems in the Castle.

---

I am also amused to learn that Carl has a blog. Heh.

Weta Rayguns

2007-06-01T11:54:00.000-07:00

---

I have a notion for a pulp comic project, which may actually see the light of day this year or next.

Some basic rules:

1. Grim protagonist of the temperament of a Solomon Kane.
2. Interplanetary adventures.
3. Steampunk tech.
4. Mars. Lots of Mars.
5. Spaceships designed by Jules Verne.
6. Villainous mad science futurist professor. Professor Galilee Quint. LOVE that name.

That is all.

Lullaby

2007-05-17T16:53:00.000-07:00

There is no quiet place on Earth. The stars are singing to us.

The clatter of pulsars, thundering in the void. The snarls and hisses of Ganymede's magnetosphere. The chimes and hums of space debris.

We pass through it, energy waveforms created in the heavens. We pass through it, and it passes through us.

Inside each of us is a lullaby from a distant star.

One need only listen.

---

BACKMATTER:

I ran across a site which streams audio, converting energy waveforms detected in reasonably near-Earth space into audio data. Something about the sounds is, strangely comforting, and sparked the above little snippet.

The site, spacesounds, can be found here.

Statement of Intent

2007-04-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

Welcome to outpost:remote.

My intentions are good. This site is to remain largely technology/science focused, with the specific application to fiction--this is my idea dump and test bed for science fiction writing/comics projects. If it works. The intentions are good; we know the road they often pave.

In the coming months, you should -- if the laws of probability allow it -- find entries here, containing new short fiction, musings about science (specifically in terms of fiction), and my first attempts at a science-fiction comic project.

(You'll also find, below, links to my online research for my DC Comics, Prima, and other mainstream writing projects, via Offsite Memory, and links to my less-focused 'blog/online presence on LiveJournal.

Finally, I like music. I am enamored of digital music, and -- either with a portable .mp3 player, or my laptop or desktop comptuer -- have music playing almost 24 hours a day. I am mercuryeric on last.fm, and, despite my rather mainstream listening tastes, am always looking for new music to discover. I invite you to "friend" me on last.fm, and I will reciprocate.)

Come in. Make yourself at home. Discuss. Behave.

(Keep story ideas to yourself, alas; for various copyright reasons, I can't look at them/don't want to read them.)

\out.

2007-03-27T19:44:00.000-07:00