Comic Archive

Steve: We have established that this thing is pure evil incarnate. It must be Office 97 Deletium or so. We must kill it before it manages to grow its own network cables from that disgusting dark ooze.
Max: But how?

Heidi: I think we'll have to resort to fighting fire with fire.
Max: You mean fighting Deletium with Deletium?
Heidi: Indeed.
Steve: I don't like where this is going.

Heidi: If we combine another Deletium container with something inherently benign in a controlled manner, we have a good chance of ending up with a perfect antagonist for this monstrosity.
Adil: How about a Fnorby?
Steve: Those blathering furry plastic things? Those are worse than evil!

Steve: How about that Oiba robotic dog you found amidst the old company's junk?
Heidi: That might work, Symo designed it to be minimally hazardous.
Max: Indeed, its bark is worse than its byte!
Steve: Sigh, that joke should have died long ago…

In Heidi's workshop, looking at Oiba robot.
Heidi: It's a first-gen model, the hardware was pretty weak but I must admit I already upgraded it.
Steve: Why doesn't that surprise me?

Adil: How can we be sure this won't mutate into something horrible as well?
Heidi: We can't, but it's the least bad option considering the urgency.
Adil: “Least bad” means “best,” right?
Heidi: Umm… sure.

Setting: Heidi's workshop.
Steve: How do we have the best chance of this ending well?
Heidi: I found a container marked “Midtown Madness.”
Steve: That was actually a damn fine game. Why did they turn it into Deletium?
Max: Maybe someone was playing it during work hours…

Steve: How do we do this?
Heidi: We power on the Oiba, put the Deletium next to it, and… wait, I guess.
Max: Also, retreat to minimum safe distance.

Adil: I would still feel safer with a flamethrower…
Steve: This CO₂ fire extinguisher should do the job. If things get out of hand, we can freeze and smash the robot.

Setting: Heidi's workshop, deletium is next to Oiba in the middle of the room. Fire extinguisher next to Steve.
Steve: So, we're about to combine a pimped-up old robot toy with the fermented remains of a game centered around reckless driving.
Max: What could possibly go wrong?

Adil: Shouldn't we inform Alana? As CEO, she ought to know what's going on.
Heidi: She won't be back from the tech conference for 3 days. Time is of the essence.
Max: And let's be honest, she would never believe us.

Heidi turns on the Oiba.
Steve: OK then, let's hit it. Power on the bot.
Max: … and be prepared to run for your life.