Gunpowder - The Light Universe

[Some random thoughts ......]

Flare:
       If the Lexx is the size of Manhattan, Cluster City must be huge! And there's an interesting parallel: the humans are "infesting" the Cluster - which is in reality the GigaShadow - much the same way some parasites can infest humans. (I wonder if they tickle?)

Windlily [laughing]:
       Hadn't thought of it that way..... Though wouldn't it be a symbiotic relationship at this point? The GigaShadow larva needs the care and attention the humans are providing - oh, and is the GigaShadow a larva, or a dormant Bug? Kai did say "it has become too powerful during its millennia of dormancy." ......

Flare:
       I'm not sure they have been caring for it, particularly, unless the protein bank has been supplying the GigaShadow as well as the Lexx. I know they do at the end, to provide food for the GigaShadow's rebirth, but in the millennia prior to that? I think it unlikely. Of course, one way they would have protected it would be by preventing any harm coming to the planetoid it lives in - since the Cluster is the HQ of the Divine Order, no-one would be powerful enough to damage or destroy it (except the Lexx, and while the Lexx was in the Divine Order's control that couldn't happen). It does raise the question, how long has the GigaShadow been growing or resting (or both) ...... Any ideas? Anyone?
       Why do you think there's a small 'disposal chute' behind the robot in front of Stan's desk?

Windlily:
       Maybe some of the prisoners who get trundled by lose bits and pieces or bodily fluids that Stan has to clean up? Or the 'ooops!' of a transport slab coming loose and squishing its prisoner? Perhaps it's just a drain, like in the middle of a public bathroom......?

Flare:
       What do you make of those human faces on the screens in the correction centre?

Windlily:
       Perhaps some of the folk in for punishment? Kind of a modern version of the stocks? Your face on public display? Though did you notice they all seemed to have a dark horizontal mark across their upper cheekbones on the left side of their faces?

Flare:
       No, I hadn't - so I watched it again, in slow motion.......... I think the mark is just information shown on the screen - a 'name, rank, and crime' sort of thing - rather than a Brunnen-G mark. And on closer inspection - most of the faces look like William Shatner from a variety of angles!! Is this some sort of subtle publicity stunt.......? (That was a rhetorical question, by the way.....)

Windlily:
       What is this thing with the prisoner restraint harnesses? Why don't they come off?

Flare:
       Well, making them non-removable does make it easier to tell who are prisoners/convicts/Heretics - the guy Kai was hunting down in GigaShadow (sorry, I forget his name) was wearing one. It would also make it easier to keep them restrained, as in IWHS - although, as we saw there, the harnesses do have weak points.

Windlily:
       True - but it took a lot of force to get them to release, let go, whatever, not something a normal human (or even a very strong one - some of those Heretics were well-built) could force..... Zev - well, she has shown herself to be lizard-strong, pulling Stan up over the bridge with one hand and no effort .....

Flare:
       I'd assume they're made of some sort of extra-tough material. Have any prisoners tried to remove them, I wonder? Can it be cut? Perhaps it self-destructs if you try to remove it!

Windlily [laughing]:
       Well, that would explain it!

Flare:
       And have you noticed that His Shadow's forces uniforms look like scales or beetles' wingcases? Appropriate, ne?

Windlily:
       I hadn't consciously registered it, but they do, don't they? And what is it with the alpha males on the side of right and good in the series? They all seem to have a very - flambouyant choice of clothing....... Perhaps it's a dim echo or memory of the Brunnen-G....... Hmmm.....

Flare:
       'Hmmm' indeed! I like that idea.......

Windlily:
       And what is it with the current, soon-to-be replaced His Shadow (IWHS)? He was in pretty bad shape - and it seemed unexpected, whatever it was.... Maybe somebody tried to croak the old toad?

Flare:
       Difficult to say. I can't imagine anyone getting close enough even attempt to kill His Shadow. Perhaps he's dying of old age? They do die eventually.... Or maybe it's some sort of disgusting disease - he sure don't look well!!!

Windlily:
       Hmm..... What bothered me about that scene was that if he was just old or sick, or old and sick, wouldn't the clerics have kept him very close to the new host, and had the new host pretty much ready to go? This seemed very rushed - and they screwed up. Seems to beg the question, at least to me, why wasn't everything in order?

Flare:
       You're right. And although everything on the Cluster seems to be wearing out and gradually falling to bits, you'd have thought the clerics would have made advance preparations for His Shadow's transference, wouldn't you? Even if they know the GigaShadow's rebirth is imminent, they still need a His Shadow until it happens.......... Those things on his skin look a bit like burns - maybe something blew up in his face?
       How do you think Giggerota knew where to go once she'd been freed?

Windlily:
       Was she a part of Thodin's group? I couldn't really tell. (And do you think that "failed to perform her wifely duties" at the end of her sentencing was real, or a mix-up, with Zev's sentence, on the part of the computer? It's a rather amusing thought - Giggerota married? To whom? Or maybe better - to what??) Perhaps, if she was part of Thodin's group, her assignment was to create general chaos and diversion for the main group..... Though I got the impression that she was a free agent, just sharing space on the prisoner transport, and Thodin took pity on her because he's a hero! She might have overheard enough from the guys to know where to go? Hmmm..... Because the Powers that Be needed her to end up on the Lexx so she kinda followed the trail of chaos? Or was she a back-up in case the main unit failed dismally - though she wouldn't have had the key to the Lexx....... Hmm...... I can't decide......

Flare:
       I think the 'free agent' theory is probably the best. I mean, would you be prepared to trust a woman who's quite prepared to eat you if she gets hungry on the job? Thodin didn't strike me as being quite that stupid!! And I'd assumed that the prisoners on the transport were probably kept in cryo-stasis like the officers (only not so comfortably) to save on oxygen and food - so her opportunities for overhearing the others discussing things would have been very limited...... Perhaps she's just plain nosy - literally, followed her nose! All those body parts on their way to the protein bank must have smelt quite wonderful to her, especially if she hadn't had a good meal since being caught. And once on the way, maybe the Cluster Lizard distracted her ("New food!!") and she followed it to the Lexx....... Well, I'm just guessing, but it sounds reasonable to me. Regarding the "wifely duties" comment - I intend exploring that when I write the Giggerota/Delenn comparison (if I can ever make the time for it!!), so I'll not comment further here.
       Just a thought, but how could amino acid codes destroy 94 world? Biological or chemical weapons of mass destruction? Or something more sinister...?

Windlily:
       Bio-weapon, I'm sure. Is there anything much more sinister than that? You had a thought?

Flare [frowning]:
Still pondering. I'm not sure it's really important....... OK - let's call a temporary halt here and turn to other matters......!




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