Schlock Mercenary III: One million years of crowdsourced kitten videos

[BRC]

Last two pages aren't looking too good for the hostage.

Yeah, barring a miracle, she's very, very dead.

[Coidzor]

Yeah, barring a miracle, she's very, very dead.

The note seems to suggest that she's probably more likely to be maimed in a way that they can fix later so long as she hasn't gotten any of active nannies inside of her or something else untoward, like, whatever reason it was for why she didn't transform.

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

It might make sense for her to be IntAff's second plant. She could have blood nannies that counter the RedHack, which would explain why she didn't turn.

[factotum]

It's possible the hostage was behind the line of Gavmogres who just spat nannies into the room. It would be slightly odd storytelling for her to survive, not turn, and then get roasted by the plasma discharge.

[HandofShadows]

Schlock is no longer in his armor. Don't you think the former hostage might be inside it now?

[Squark]

Schlock is no longer in his armor. Don't you think the former hostage might be inside it now?

I think it's more likely that Shlock switched out of his armor (he seems to be able to deploy the suit in a matter of seconds, do stowing it away is likely similarly swift) because it doesn't look like it's built for a close combat brawl, which is what this is rapidly going to descend into.


Also, remember, something else had Danita terrified- It's quite possible she saw the Gavmogre assault coming up behind Tagon and Co., so she wouldn't have been inside the plasma bath at all.

[BRC]

I think it's more likely that Shlock switched out of his armor (he seems to be able to deploy the suit in a matter of seconds, do stowing it away is likely similarly swift) because it doesn't look like it's built for a close combat brawl, which is what this is rapidly going to descend into.


Also, remember, something else had Danita terrified- It's quite possible she saw the Gavmogre assault coming up behind Tagon and Co., so she wouldn't have been inside the plasma bath at all.

OR she was freaking out about the shot striking an inch away from her head. She's a civilian, captured by murderous super-soldiers who were previously her friends, and about to be rescued by power-armored mercenaries. It won't take a lot to freak her out.

[lord_khaine]

She needs to survive so Targon can get paid for protecting the instalation and its personel from murderous invaders :P

[tonberrian]

Huh. I just assumed she was on a guy they encountered earlier, and that the rest were much farther behind.

[teratorn]

Questions about Danita answered and not in a nice way. Wow, that's bad.

[Coidzor]

Questions about Danita answered and not in a nice way. Wow, that's bad.

Considering the people who were like, She's dead, Jim... I guess she can't feel pain from it all because her nerves got cooked off?

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

Considering the people who were like, She's dead, Jim... I guess she can't feel pain from it all because her nerves got cooked off?

Correct. Third- and fourth-degree burns destroy the nerve endings, leaving no sensation of pain. She probably feels numb all over with some minor pain on her back (which likely wasn't cooked as badly). It looks like she held her breath, so her lungs, vocal cords, and tongue are fine.

NSFL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_degree_burn#By_depth

Also, this probably means that her retroencephaloderm will fail. If the skin is the storage site for the brain backup, she doesn't have much left to back up from. RED is probably designed with this in mind, but her brain seems to be intact. She's also in the hands of the most capable field medic within a hundred kilometers. She'll pull through.

[Gnoman]

This is far from the worst injury that we've seen people brought back from. Do any of the Toughs have the body that they started with anymore?

[SlyGuyMcFly]

This is far from the worst injury that we've seen people brought back from. Do any of the Toughs have the body that they started with anymore?

Some of them have most of it. Does that count?

[memnarch]

This is far from the worst injury that we've seen people brought back from. Do any of the Toughs have the body that they started with anymore?

Not the ones that were part of the original crew. The newer recruits still do though.

[The Glyphstone]

Correct. Third- and fourth-degree burns destroy the nerve endings, leaving no sensation of pain. She probably feels numb all over with some minor pain on her back (which likely wasn't cooked as badly). It looks like she held her breath, so her lungs, vocal cords, and tongue are fine.

NSFL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_degree_burn#By_depth

Also, this probably means that her retroencephaloderm will fail. If the skin is the storage site for the brain backup, she doesn't have much left to back up from. RED is probably designed with this in mind, but her brain seems to be intact. She's also in the hands of the most capable field medic within a hundred kilometers. She'll pull through.

Wait, there's such a thing as fourth-degree burns?

[tonberrian]

This is far from the worst injury that we've seen people brought back from. Do any of the Toughs have the body that they started with anymore?

I think Schlock's was the last one to go.

Anyways, I think Spritskin is a skin treatment for extreme burns. Or rather, I don't know what else it could be.

[Rockphed]

Isn't one of the major issues with burn victims that they are very susceptible to infection? I assume Spiritskin is stuff to put on people who don't have good skin integrity.

And if they can get out, Danita will be fine. Eventually. I foresee her having a long bit of physical therapy and more psychological therapy.

[Landis963]

Spritskin sounds like something you use when the patient's skin is either missing or heavily damaged; a "skin-graft in a bottle" so to speak.

[Cikomyr]

I should wonder how they plan to restore her, quickly considering the Magical Medkit, then remembering that this was confiscated and processed into the achievement of Project Lazarus, which is the very thing we are currently witnessing.

Schlock Mercenary really knows how to put the "X" in "Xcalation"

[guttering flame]

Are we sure she's human? The black holes where her eyes used to be makes it look likes there's nothing inside her skull.

[Maugan Ra]

Yeah, modern day, those sorts of burns aren't survivable. Actually, I'm amazed she isn't dead already - a combination of shock, trauma, and pretty much all the liquid in her body boiling should have been fairly fatal.

[BRC]

In schlockverse, if your brain is alive (and hers appears to be), they can clone a new body to put it in.If you die, they can cut off your head and stick you in a nannie bag for later.

[Maugan Ra]

That they could bring her back with demonstrated tech, I don't doubt. That she's actually capable of standing or, indeed, coherent thought at the moment is rather surprising.

[Thomar_of_Uointer]

Wait, there's such a thing as fourth-degree burns?

First aid classes don't teach you about it because fourth-degree burns damage the bone and require amputation. To a first responder there's practically no difference between third- and fourth-degree.

[factotum]

Are we sure she's human? The black holes where her eyes used to be makes it look likes there's nothing inside her skull.

That's just the art style. Mind you, I wouldn't expect to see much in there anyway--the eye orbits are almost entirely enclosed in bone, and presumably that bone is still intact or else she'd have suffered severe brain damage!

[Ravens_cry]

Given medical tech seen so far, given that she is still talking, I would say she is going to be fine.
One thing that does feel surprising is that that considering her eyes got destroyed optic nerves and all, I am surprised the extreme heat she would have been exposed to didn't denature the proteins of her head noodle, literally poaching her brain. It can happen during extremely high fevers.

[NEO|Phyte]

I am operating under the assumption that Schlock just did a rapid sweep with his weapon set to as wide a spread as possible, and thus there wasn't enough free protons to make it beyond surface damage. Not medically trained enough to know if that's even possible.

[Tavar]

I'd point out that there was discussion about this in the page where he made that sweep. It specifically called out unarmored Humans surviving it, though they would need severe medical help.

[BRC]

I'd point out that there was discussion about this in the page where he made that sweep. It specifically called out unarmored Humans surviving it, though they would need severe medical help.

And she had some armor, Enough for an emergency helmet anyway, although that's probably just a standard precaution when on a planet with no atmosphere, even if you don't expect to be leaving your nice, cozy, pressurized station.