Chapter 17, Page 27a: Applied Mad Sciences

After several hours of applied mad sciences, Dr. Muskiday finally has a plan.

The macronanos have been feeding on Fairmount City’s emotions, growing stronger with every burst of anger, embarrassment, infatuation, and fear. Muskiday’s new device is designed to reverse the process — converting a macronano back into harmless micronanos while safely discharging all that stolen emotional energy.

There’s just one problem.

To test the thing, they need a macronano.

Fortunately, HoloClone Miss Match knows exactly how to bait the hook. A little romance. A little melodrama. And perhaps just a touch more enthusiasm than Dr. Muskiday was expecting.

Science demands sacrifice. Apparently, dignity is first on the list.


One Hot August

On Friday, I posted a wrap-up of all of the August exclusives — complete with previews of all the spicy selections. You can download all of them without becoming a Patreon backer here.


Transcript

Panel 1
Dr. Muskiday finishes tinkering on his device in front of a whiteboard that shows how the device works.

Macronano —> containment unit —> compression field emitter —> emotion output emitter

Muskiday: OK… I think we’re ready to test it out. Can you attract one of the macronanos?

Panel 2
HoloClone Miss Match:
Musky, darling, this may be our last chance to consummate our love before the macronanos take over! 

Panel 3
A macronano reacts as Holoclone Miss Match (continues off-panel):
Take me, my love. I’m yours, body and soul!

Panel 4
The macronano enters the lab, and HoloClone Miss Match slams the door behind it.
HoloClone Miss Match: Ha-HA! You sure are gullible! I can’t believe you fell for that. GET ’IM MUSKY!

Panel 5
Dr. Muskiday is in the act of taking off his pants:
…Huh??

Looking for a Job Opening in the West Hollywood area

…Not for me.

But I came awfully close.

Two weeks before Christmas, I was called into a meeting and told that management was planning more lay-offs, and I was on the list despite my ten years with the company.

Now, I want to be absolutely clear about this, because I don’t want this to be a pity party on my behalf. Thanks to your support, my comic is generating more income than ever before. 2008 was the best year yet for my comic. But it’s not yet at the point that it can solely support a family of four. It will be soon, but not yet. And the severance package from my day job was more than fair. It would have been scary, but I think I could have weathered it.

With two kids in school and bills to pay, I sure as heck wasn’t eager to find out, mind you…

The rules for departure were very clear. If someone else in the company took a voluntary lay-off, the person with the most seniority on the lay-off list would be removed from the list — and I had the most seniority on the list by a good two or three years.

It just so happened that a co-worker had been planning to move to California in January. So, a buy-out was actually beneficial to her. But nonetheless, her action meant I didn’t have to stress-out over finding a new job. More importantly, it meant I wouldn’t have to tell my wife about it until after Christmas — about a week after it had been confirmed to me that I would be staying.

So, here’s where I need a Few Good Henchpeople. She’s looking for employment in the West Hollywood, Calif., area. She was a receptionist here, and would be qualified to take such a job there (or a similar role, such as personal assistant, etc.)

She was a favorite here. Her work ethic is solid, and she’s an absolute joy to be around. I can’t recommend her strongly enough.

She mentioned a job opening at a DC Comics office in San Diego, as a matter of fact. I know I have readers at DC…

Obviously, I’m not going to release her e-mail here. Please contact me with any leads or offers and I will put you in touch with her. You can respond in the Comments section to this post, or you can click “E-mail” at the upper, right-hand corner of this page.

She’s good people. I’m counting on you guys to help me pay back something that helped my family out in a big way.