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Next: Provision -5-

dcr4_script_page_04Holy crap this one was a lot of work. Mostly in the pencil and ink department for a change – I moved the backgrounds to CG and photographs forever ago to put a limit on precisely this sort of thing. Even if the vast majority of detail has been rendered mush by veil effects, palette choices and shading, I’m still pretty satisfied with the results.

Eight years after being introduced with it, Tantek finally uses his sword. Five years before the events of the story I was working on eight years ago. I’m trying not to think about that too hard. It is one of those details that puts more of The Dualist into context – five years from here he’s wearing an exoskeleton and still carrying a sword. It’s not intentional anachronism or “swords are cool, everybody should have a sword,” it’s a weapon with a practical use. As illustrated here.

Guns don’t work in the veil – or rather, they do, but as the radio demonstrates, any matter not in contact with a sentient entity will fall out of the veil. The radio fell “down” while Tantek used the physical contact he’s made with the Addicaine to pull them both “up.” If the last panel doesn’t make that obvious, the next page will.

Bullets are great for sniping from the veil if your target happens to be in reality or a pocket universe. Security is one of the main reasons the majority of the human diaspora lives in space or un-annexed planets – worlds with annexed realities are almost totally compromised, all but impossible to secure with the exception of underground complexes like Cheyenne Mountain.

There’s a good example of veil-based security in The Dualist.

Layout-wise, this page deviates pretty heavily from the script thumbnail, which was more of a guideline than anything else. I ultimately opted to break out of the until-now rigidly enforced “live” area and DCR’s visual language of panels and gutters, fiddling with the layout until I got something that seems a lot more appropriate. It’s a bit more experimental than the rest of DCR to date, which isn’t a bad thing – shit’s gonna get bendy in a few pages, so it’s best to start warming up for it.

Cast

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    Addicaines

    The public face of the Heirotus Eugenics Program, Addicaines are genetically engineered Heirotus metahumans trained from birth to do whatever it is that needs doing – anything from the blackest of black ops to...

  •

    Tantek Cestric

    A former United States Army Ranger, Tantek has been with Thule Garrison since the Waking God Protocols field trials of the mid 1990s. He works well with Raven Lockheart, typically functioning as muscle though...

  •

    Jason Whitehouse

    The king of social engineering, the crown prince of noise, and a self-described “Post-American Electro-Snob.” Jason has a deep interest in industrial, electronic, ambient, metal and gothic music, and a well-researched interest in radio...

Glossary Articles

  • MCAR-78 “Thumper”

    MCAR-78 “Thumper”

    Called the “Thumper” due to the sound of the airburst rounds and its frequent use as a bludgeon by downed pilots, the Barghosa Multi-function Compact Assault Rifle model 78 is a rugged Bullpup styled...

  • Pittsburgh

    Pittsburgh

    Most of Dead City Radio takes place in and around Pittsburgh, the so-called “Paris of Appalachia.” Thad is still living there at the beginning of The Dualist, though most of his friends from art...

  • The Veil

    The Veil

    The Veil is the common term for the membrane between the Universe and pocket universes. The term is also applied to the space between successive pocket universes which, if they exist, are accessed linearly....