I concur with the puzzling concern in the last panel.
Whatever the reason, it's important enough for her to distract her from being as quick to react as she usually is in a fight.

I found it amusing that Oasis says "you got under her skin" -- immediately after she talked about Chen quite literally getting under HER skin.

It might be just an attempt to distract Torg from Chen but it might point to some familiarity between Kusari and Torg, something Schlock alluded to earlier. Knowing Pete, it's both.

Speaking of the devil, I wonder if Schlock really was in the fortress and died.

It hardly matters which order takes priority, because with both Oasis and Bun-Bun there she won't be able to accomplish either of them. Unless Bun-Bun decides to take her place fighting Oasis, of course.

Yeah, something's not right there. I've never seen Kusari get rattled in a fight before. Even against dozens of vampires she was cocky. Now she's getting all upset about Torg walking out on the fight, AND she lets Oasis get in a solid gut kick. That's not normal.

There was a mysterious "ZAPPO" during the implosion, but taking that train of thought any further would be SPEC.

Kusari was riding with Chen to keep him in check, because he's not trusted. She jumped off the motorcycle to stop Torg from following them. Apparently keeping outsiders away from the rebirth facility had a higher priority than watching Chen. Now Oasis is preventing Kusari both from preventing Torg from following Chen to the rebirth facility, and from keeping Chen in check. It's no wonder if she's getting frustrated.

Well that's what it looks like at least.

I don't see much evidence that Kusari knows Torg better than she should. Her comment about Torg's intelligence sounds mostly like she's trying to provoke an enemy. If anything, it suggests that she doesn't know that Torg doesn't care what anyone thinks about his intelligence. But anyway, consider that Hereti-Corp has at times been surveilling Torg and friends rather closely, and that Schlock is fully aware that he's made Torg's his enemy. I can't imagine that studying Torg's file isn't part of Kusari's job.

Of course, none of that proves that Kusari doesn't know Torg personally.

I like how cheerful Oasis is in the first panel, while describing what sounds like essentially a small surgery without anesthetic as though he had just treated her to lunch. Definitely makes you suspicious about what just happened with them.



I rather like this explanation for her behavior.