Saint James Infirmary #851: “In Character”

[Daphne]

Script: Daphne • Inks: Plutonian Knight • Colors and Lettering: Octavia Moon

[ozymandias]

"Anne Randall"?

[Haight]

I'm lost. Who are these characters?

[mns_95125]

I'm thinking Caitlyn and Hitomi.  Looks like the former got a haircut.  Although if that's the case, it implies that time is flowing at a different rate in the cloud.

[jmundt29]

A considerably different rate.

I am also confused and I don't know enough for search engines to help me.  There was a model from the 1960s, but the first batch of images looked mostly modern, no renaissance or medieval stuff...one potential genie or harem girl pic though.  *shrugs*

[GodWilling]

I'm thinking Caitlyn and Hitomi.  Looks like the former got a haircut.  Although if that's the case, it implies that time is flowing at a different rate in the cloud.

I do think it's Hitomi - the mantis motif on her arse supports this. The doing-it-in-their-underwear thing would seem to point to Caitlyn too, but I think Caitlyn has always had brown eyes - so that would be some haircut. Réka has sometimes had blue eyes, though she'd have to have had a haircut too. And does Réka know Hitomi? (And in an in-their-underwear way?) At a push it could be someone new - or one of the mantis squad members we haven't really met. Or perhaps it's the mystery brunette from 823.

I had assumed that Amaltheia's moment in the previous page pointed to Miriam's magic fingers. I'm not sure why this page uses the same layout. It would seem to suggest to me that the central moments are related, though the participants (whoever they are) would suggest they're not. Being fanciful (and why not?), perhaps these moments are one moment in time, or share a common cause, and the mind control vibrations are very strong, and the women are picking up on that. Perhaps the T. Rex is coming and this is the water in the glasses vibrating.

[Daphne]

Who we have here are Rachel (back from 711) and Anya (back from 724).

[GodWilling]

Ah, that makes sense. I had a quick look through those pages for a likely candidate but I missed Anya's two-panel appearance.

I suppose that might make more of a connection between the two moments, although Amaltheia's fantasy is focused on her female controller rather than her female controller's (assumed) male controller. We've already seen Sue having a similar fantasy more explicitly about Adrian in 793.

I was thinking perhaps the approaching T. Rex was Jakob. If it's Adrian then it's going to be more like one of those scenes where the monster re-appears at the end - but it's only Scooby messing around.

[laguna85]

Rachel (back from 711)  I like the view sji-i 715

[caseyx]

We've already seen Sue having a similar fantasy more explicitly about Adrian in 793.

Since Sue, Anya and Rachel all are having these episodes it points to this being a side effect of Dani's reprogramming. We never saw Amalthea in the sequence in the doctor's office but the implication is that there were far more girls affected than the four who were shown.

[GodWilling]

We never saw Amalthea in the sequence in the doctor's office but the implication is that there were far more girls affected than the four who were shown.

It's certainly possible. But while Dani's session in Zenon's office finished over 14 of our Earth months ago, it was actually only last night in the story. I'm not sure where Amaltheia had been when she got off the bus with Aiken later that night (or just over a year ago), but assuming she had to travel there, and she did something while she was there, it might be a stretch for her to have fitted in some programming with Dani before she left. But I don't think we could rule it out.

Miriam appeared to give the magic finger to Amaltheia's fishy receptacle in 792. My guess would be that that was the inspiration for her "Yes Mistress" moment (and I assume it was Miriam she called).

At the moment I'm inclined to think that what's significant here is that Amaltheia isn't one of the women Dani "treated" last night. But - as ever - we don't really know what the truth is.

[caseyx]

After the following page it's pretty clear that my thought was wrong. Curious where this is going.  It's also frustrating that this is interrupting the pink cloud arc. But at the same time I appreciate how the delay builds anticipation.

[GodWilling]

It's also frustrating that this is interrupting the pink cloud arc.

"Something else" has control of the tendrils in The Cloud "now". Possibly its coming is being felt outside of The Cloud.

I have to say it would be nice to think that the now more than six months that we've spent in The Cloud is not going to turn out to be entirely plot-neutral. So I'm hoping that that "something else" isn't Adrian.