Saint James Infirmary 311: Closed Circuit.

[Daphne]

Tuesday, July 15th!

[jmundt29]

Just based on title, I'd be inclined to believe that this is Zenon still investigating the break-in at his office, or Marliese treating survivors of whatever generated her call into the med-center (perhaps while the police investigate the tape of that incident).  Of course, it might be tape of the break-in at the chemistry lab which could be quite interesting.

[GodWilling]

Can this be anything to do with fencing? (Or perhaps it's the other kind of fencing they're practising...)

Something to do with the bell tower?

Marliese was called by the hospital. I thought maybe they were calling her because of her relationship with the patient rather than because she's a nurse. I thought maybe Rain's well-documented telepathic connection to the harem had caused her to blow a gasket when they all became so horny.

[mns_95125]

Something to do with the bell tower?

That is pretty much what Erin did in the steam tunnels -- closed a circuit.

[Haight]

So this pretty much confirms that the shell is a technological artifact rather than a magical one. 

I wonder if these are directly connected with the rubies from BR?  Do the shells have BE/other properties?  I'd love to see some of that in SJI as well (not that the cast really needs it). 

[jmundt29]

Actually, based on the number of different things it can do, it would seem to mean both are at work here (though perhaps science is dominant at the moment).  Here's the problem.  If the Kuplers aren't even adept enough to make The Watch, who could they hire who would be skilled enough to do such work not once but twice?  Is the little old aviator actually like Coach from that one-shot?  A truly sad thought.

This also seems out of Q's area of expertise (he's a chemist).  So, is there a hidden jeweler/engineer who either as a part of a plan or as part of pure Joker mischief gave Vik a ring to test?  There seems to be someone else besides Claudia's circle, Q's circle, and the Kupler servants operating in opposition to Rain here.  Might this person (whoever he or she is) be the one who sent Rain the taunting note and ugly clock?  Someone with that twisted a sense of humor might just give Vik a live grenade like the ring to see what he'd do with it.

Personally, I'm hoping that BR stays away from SJI.  However, we've already seen the results of BE (though through what mechanism we aren't sure) with Caitlyn as a member of the Mantis Squad.  Remember, there's even a nickname for the phenomenon?  The Mantis effect.

[GodWilling]

If the Kuplers aren't even adept enough to make The Watch...

There seems to be someone else besides Claudia's circle, Q's circle, and the Kupler servants operating in opposition to Rain here.

Someone with that twisted a sense of humor might just give Vik a live grenade like the ring to see what he'd do with it.

Dani made the watch for (as far as we know) Jakob Kuppler. It appears the watch was built to use the crystal. Dani didn't make the crystal but Jakob might have had access to, say, an R&D team in the family firm who could have done. (But then why a scallop? Irony?) We've no reason yet to believe that the ring can do anything other than glow - just like the crystal needs the watch to do anything (again, as far as we know). So whoever made the crystal could have made the ring. Or someone who had another crystal could have fashioned it into a ring. And currently that doesn't need to be anyone other than Jakob Kuppler. Isn't that what Dani's thinking here, after all?

Why might you make a ring that doesn't do anything? Possibly because it does do something - it tells Dani exactly what it's telling her here. How do you get the ring to Dani? Well you just pop it in the post to her, don't you...? Oh, no, wait... No, you don't do that. You decree that it is the ring's Destiny to drop into Dani's lap by the most circuitous route (VLSI circuitous?) Fate can imagine. And it does.

[jmundt29]

I think we've reached the point where we're officially off the reservation howling at the moon.  The Kuplers are a very rich family with enough money and power to be able to insulate themselves from liability in their MC practices.  They live in lavish, quiet...eccentricity (if I'm being as diplomatic as possible).  However, they started as clock-makers.  Their visible support seems to be the making of watches and clocks.  As if the family behind Rolex (if there is such a family) built an umbrella multi-national with a huge amount of wealth.

But Jakob is apparently the reckless idiot in the family.  He has a taste for MC, wild fun, baubles, etc. but doesn't have the ability to design or commission them.  Now, if Big Pappa Kupler indulged in similar pursuits, he might funnel research into a heavily insulated Special Projects division (but he'd need someone of unimpeachable loyalty to run it; a Lucius Fox).  Jakob doesn't appear to have that reach.  His most useful tool in private pursuits was made by one of his thralls...perhaps a thrall presented to him by his father?

If there is an SPD within the Kupler conglomerate, the person or persons running it or tasked as its design team would be very interesting people to meet in this comic, but I've seen no evidence yet of their existence.  And even positing their existence and that someone was tasked with experimenting with a ring design, we don't have a connect to the Kearsage jewelry market yet.

[GodWilling]

To this point we have no evidence that any member of the Kuppler family other than Jakob has any MC practices.

"Kuppler Flugfunkwerk GmbH is a world-leading provider of avionics for civilian and commercial applications..."

Maybe they still make watches and clocks; maybe they don't. We don't know that.

And I don't think we know that Jakob is an idiot. Our knowledge of Jakob mostly comes from Dani, who confirms she made the watch for him without realizing he was going to use it on her. Although she could be lying. The news that Jakob Kuppler is still alive was enough to shake everyone up.

I'm assuming that "the Kupplers" and "Kuppler Flugfunkwerk" are the same thing and that Dani isn't just struck by the name here. Surely what she realizes at the end of this episode is that the Kuppler organization has the ability to produce the circuits. Obviously any electronics company could. But she knows there's a connection between the watch and the Kupplers. I'm not saying that connection must only involve Jakob, I'm just saying we have no reason to believe it involves anyone else. Yet.

Dani brought the watch to Kearsarge. We don't know where Vik got the ring. But at this stage I'm not looking for a maverick jeweller.

[jmundt29]

Well, from the various decorations in the townhouse or whatever that building is where Claudia is based, we know that the Kuplers made clocks and watches since the 1800s.  The business has expanded as technology has expanded, but there are two things to remember here.

1. According to both Cherry (who we don't believe unless someone has shot sodium pentathol into her arm), and Dani (who we try to believe on some things), Jakob lacked the expertise or other resources to create The Watch which is why Dani made it for him.  This indicates to me that Jakob does not have access to the employees at his family's various companies.

2. Additionally, Jakob's (older?) brother was quite dismissive of him in the aftermath of the disappearance of his plane.  Certainly no love lost in that family, and very little respect to go around.  This is where I get the "idiot of the family" idea.  Not that Jakob is necessarily stupid, but he's less sharp and organized than his father or brother.

3a. Jakob's habits seem harder to cover up which indicates that he's more reckless and less careful than his brother or father.  If Derek can walk into an apartment and basically have the reaction "Wow, this is one freaky ba...." then we know that Jakob liked to push the envelope.

3b. Also, all the two members of his harem who have found themselves with marginal independence from him are fervently hoping that he is dead.  That says a lot.

It is possible that someone in an aeronautics giant could have found a way to write micro-circuitry into quartz and incorporate it into multi-tasking jewelry, but based on the uses, this would probably have to be a clandestine operation centered in something like a Special Projects Division.  Given Jakob's position within the conglomerate and his family, it seems highly unlikely that he would spearhead such an effort or that he would be given access to the results except on a very limited basis.  Thus, he gets a piece of quartz, but he has to have someone else not affiliated with the company build something for it to power.


ETA--The other Kupler's attitude toward and general relationship with that Icelandic pilot with the impossible name strikes me as similar to but more parasitic than Adrian's relationships with the second cohort.  The Kuplers's behavior toward women seems to be along the same spectrum, but in different areas along it.  That's not to say that rich and powerful men couldn't convince their subordinates to engage in flings, but the attitude of both Kupler and the pilot felt different than that.

[Haight]

I don't think we have enough evidence to suggest that Einfruder is MCed at all.  There was a bit of a... negotiation in the last page she was in.  If she was MCed that likely wouldn't be happening.

[jmundt29]

The tone of the negotiation struck me as very similar to the "negotiation" Erin and Adrian had while Mallory, Marliese, and Jacqui completed the reprogramming of the Second Cohort.

The original discussion between Johannes and Einfrudur (the one that took place in the air) wasn't very personal nor did it very much hint at being personal.  Plus, the indication seems to be that Einfrudur isn't an employee of Kupler Tech, but a Coast Guard or IAF pilot.  So, the scene in g24 suggested to me some sort of conditioning.  Definitely the conversation about Jakob indicates that his brother (who is quite comfortable with positions of dominance) saw Jakob as...well, what?  Dangerous?  Possibly deranged?  It fits with both Derek's reaction to the apartment and Claudia's hope that Jakob is gone.

At minimum, she's an official that Johannes has...charmed in short order.  Perhaps like the female shrinks that 007 falls into bed with after a fast car chase, some oysters, and a bottle of Dom.

[GodWilling]

I think the first page with Einfriður was intended to hint at possible mind control. I think the second page is all about explaining how and why no one knows that Dani disappeared with Jakob. And I think it's meant to dispel that suggestion of mind control. Obviously there'll be a third page where Einfriður is happily munching on an onion as she signs her life over to Kuppler. Because that's the way of things.

We know the Kupplers had some connection with something vaguely clockwork-based in 1876. I don't think we've any evidence they've had anything to do with clockwork devices... ever since then. Maybe they only deal in avionics these days.

I can buy that Jakob was maybe reckless. I don't think being unable to make a watch makes him an idiot.

I'd be interested in your take on exactly what Dani's thinking at the end of this page.

As a separate but possibly connected point, the plane Dani's working on is the same type Jakob (and she) disappeared in, right?

[laguna85]

My thinking this story and one of Bearing gift and found object more a like the way the girls or ladys are put under control

[GodWilling]

My thinking this story and one of Bearing gift and found object more a like the way the girls or ladys are put under control

Yes, that's true - the circuitry thing. I'm not sure if that means there's any connection there though, or whether it's just a similar idea. Either way, I'm guessing neither story is going to explain in any detail what these circuits actually do.


On a separate note, we know Dani's memories are still a little screwy. I said she didn't make the crystal but in reality I suppose we don't know that.