05
Page 5 of Brand Echo. Transcript below.
Panel 1: Alice, frustrated, at the computer, still talking to Ben.
PRINCESS NEBULA: The future is ours!
Alice: Do they plan on conjuring up her ghost to testify?
Ben: They just might. I see the billboard’s still talking.
Panel 2: Alice steals a look out the window, at the billboard.
Alice: it really does sound just like her. How extensive is this… simulation?
Ben: Extensive.
Panel 3: Close on Ben, as he talks to Alice.
Ben: Dust Media’s Deepcore computer does hundreds of simulations of her, and offloads spare cycles to these networked billboards.
Ben: They’re personalized, down to subconscious tics, to the advertising profiles of those nearby.
Panel 4: Alice grabs for a remote on the floor.
Ben: Scary stuff. It’ll put us all out of business…
Alice: She wouldn’t have wanted this.
Panel 5: Alice shuts the curtains by remote, cutting off her field of view to the billboard.
Ben: Again: your word against theirs.
Panel 6: Alice looking defeated, knowing that she’s backed into a corner.
Ben: And their word is backed up by a few billion dollars more than yours. I can’t make you take the deal?
Ben: But take the deal, Alice.
Brand Echo is now on Patreon! Supporters get comics pages two days early for as little as $1!
Discussion ¬