This is pretty much how I think it'll end up, but I also wonder if there isn't some connection to Mohkdun(sp?); timeless space, Riff and Torg.

Maybe Steve and Synthea found an artifact, instructions from the goddess sisters, one of those spell eggs (which were probably the prototypes for the Dues ex-ovum's).. something... that led them towards the path of rebirth. Torgs parents may have been part of the discovery as well (remember his middle name and Riffs codename are both Sluggy). There was spec that Synthea was also Tombsy's daughter, who is connected to Riffs dad.

So we have archeology, ancient magic, rebirth, missing parents, all sorts of cross connections between people of previous generations.

And it seems like Kusari, who has no control of her own actions, is also innocent, but also has knowledge. Her knowledge of who she is and how / why she was made. Maybe more. And whatever is under her mask, she should be ashamed. Or at least Schlock thought she should be.

And apparently Oasis can't die 'at this stage' without screwing up some plan.

Oasis, sister, Synthea, plans. Chen removed? (or installed?) (the transponder work) something, and now needs to get to the rebirth facility to do something.

Kusari tried to stop Torg, but was it to protect him (this is my first impression from that strip), or to keep him from thwarting the plan.

Kusari is still trying to finish/accomplish/salvage the plan (we still don't know for sure what it is)

Is she still controlled? Chen asked as much. Even if she isn't controlled, she could still desire the plans completion.

Kusari is one of the longest continuous (employees? asset's? people in orbit of HC). Even if her major actions are controlled, her opinions have been shown to be her own, and she has been shown taking minor actions (I'll come in after I've had something to eat etc...). Could she have planted info / ideas that lead Schlock to a plan of her design without him knowing?

Maybe the plan doesn't end the way Schlock suppose(s/d), but with Kusari's freedom. And Chen is her tool (unwittingly?).

Sorry this was so long, some of these thoughts came to me as I was typing.

So the last two strips have been telling. Chen welcomed Torg along and effectively managed to placate him without trouble. So if Kusari was really concerned that Torg might screw up Schlock's plan, it seems to be for naught. Or at least Chen thinks so, of course Chen's goals don't align with Schlock's at all, but still.

This makes me lean even further toward time shenanigans being involved, and Kusari knowing the future and having an ulterior motive that's in Torg's interest. What that is and why, I don't know, but if this all turns out to be a bad move on Torg's part I'd take that as a preliminary confirmation that Kusari knew Torg's fate and was trying to prevent it slightly. Obviously not enough to drop everything and protect him, but...slightly. Like maybe priority four or five on the list of things about the future she needs to fix.

All this conversation, and I haven't read anyone pointing out that Kusari has only two toes. For the longest time I thought that was just a case of the ninja-style shoes she wears and that maybe Pete didn't always get the proportions right.

But, bare feet here: http://archives.sluggy.com/book.php?cha ... 2008-12-13

Yes that's just filler art, but Pete is pretty consistent about her feet elsewhere. She's got two toes. And glowing red eyes.

There's no way she's human under that mask.

That's not her bare feet though. They're the same color as her outfit, not her butt that's hanging out.

As for the red eyes, Pete's fourth-wall camera doesn't eliminate the red-eye effect when he uses the flash.

But there's still the line from Schlock about being ashamed. Granted, Schlock isn't the best moral compass.

(_please_ don't use Schlock as your moral compass).

And maybe I'm inserting my own value judgement, but ashamed implies a choice.

Daedelus made Kusari, and told her she was improved (my understanding of what happened based on Kusari's and Chen's comments).

But for her to be ashamed (or at least for someone to think she should be), I think there's still more to the story.

There's definitely more to the story. All we know from today's strip is that Kusari was created by Daedalus and is a lesser attempt at Oasis. Both these facts had been implied in the strip previously but are now further confirmed. Who Kusari "is" under the mask is still anyone's guess. More interesting is the fact that we now know that whatever Oasis is, human DNA was required to "create" her. She is cloned from Synthea La'Mort, with "something else" in the mix that we aren't privy to yet. Whatever that thing is, it's absence is likely the reason that Kusari is only a pale imitation. Hence, today's strip heavily implies that Kusari is also cloned from someone and Schlock's comment about shame implies it's someone we know.

I'll add here, that Sasha looks so much like Monicruel as to be mistaken for her when in costume. And that Oasis was cloned from Monicruel's mother. And that with Dr. Steve, Daedalus, and Roberts all co-existing at the same time, we now know that there is nothing that prevents multiple rebirths of the same person from existing at once.

Today's comic features a headbutt and Riff saying, "That's impossible!" He saw something, and we're very nearly at the reveal.

I wonder if he saw Sasha as the sniper. Weird Girl.

I think Riff knows the answer to this threads title.

She's probably a Sasha clone of some sort, plus whatever the magic sauce is to make her good at fighting - it would explain Kusari and Schlock's little conversation about having a heart when Sasha died, as well as the 'and me?' comment when Shock expresses regret for getting 'those kids' involved.

Sasha clone. Calling it.

Has Riff ever actually met Kusari in-person before?

Well today's comic sure puts a lot of fuel on the Sasha clone fire.