Chapter 44-1: Life and Death

[Grognaurd]

Samantha

One of KC's first #fliptable rages was Samantha is dead dead dead and gone! Misdirection? Changing the direction of the story? My guess is she really is gone.

Treeomoth
Just so we are on the same page, KC tossed us a bone @wafancast. He said this one was not made at the jail. I wonder if it was a prototype and made before the outbreak, by someone other than Ink. The first biters that Michael sees were described as being covered with scars and bruises. This is not a valid description of the average person going about their business in LA. It almost seems like they were mistreated somewhere and escaped.



Leveraging Journal Theory...
I listen to this as if it is a composite journal like an after action report. Only the real important stuff is pulled from the individual journal source material. I am sure Pegs has pages upon pages of the rooftop garden, complete with pictures in the margins and cute little hearts serving as a dot above many of the "i and j" s that did not get into the composite...
So, we ave been given the name of Nick Rivers as someone who was a department head or something for the criminally insane held in the psychiatric department of Cain. Maybe this tree-dude was part of that at Cain, so it rattles it's brain as a familiar territory. Maybe he made himself and the little ones at the hospital, but they just thought Uncle Ink was cooler... I am sure there were a lot of Newborns at the Maternity ward.

In the composite journal. Nick Rivers. He worked at Cain. We have the Ent looking for his Ent-wife near the hospital. Maybe they are related, maybe they are not. However, we were in the personal chambers of some judge for Ink's trial. We were never given the Judges name, because it is not likely to be important to the rest of the story...

Blood concrete
There are many natural materials that are way better than our mass produced stuff. An obsidian blade is much sharper than a surgeons knife. But, obsidian blades are a bitch to make, so we use the lower end stuff. The Achilles tendon has awesome properties. The Romans used them in their ballistas and other war machines. But, we use nylon rope because it is much easier to make. There is always a trade of between performance and cost.

Listening to the tunnel description, I got the image of the Aliens manipulation of the walls under the power plant in Aliens movie. Not thinking they look the same, but the concept of using a natural product to manipulate the environment.

Randy and Ink and follistatin
I wonder if Michael brought it to Dunbar. The other drugs that Ink used can be picked up at pharmacies or specialized pharmacies in hospitals. The follistatin is different. It is strictly research and development stuff and will be a real bitch to get more now that the world has fallen apart. Does Ink raid Dunbar, the colony, or something to get it back? Can it be used to set a trap? Currency in a hostage exchange? Does Nick and Tanya turn Datu into a war machine?