"Lomax Torchstone", there's a name that piles on the semiotic coding huh? "lo" + "max", and then "torchstone" is kind of a giveaway

anyway Lomax's teacher does that really shitty thing that teachers like to do, which is turn a small disruption like entering a class a few minutes late into a much bigger disruption by calling it out

🔴 hey that's why I'd never go into class if I was late. I was sparing the other kids!

yeah right Chara

teach's name is "Dan Rodgers", which is about as boring and white as a name gets. maybe he's related to Paul Rodgers

(puts some Bad Company on)

gawd I HATE being "introduced to the class". I'm with Chara in a way, classmates aren't my friends and I don't feel like I need to talk to 'em except in my own sweet time, don't need my teachers trying to push us together into groups and shit

let's continue I guess

https://www.parallaxcomic.com/comic/page-06

not much goes on here. Paul Rodgers' physics-teaching cousin here acknowledges Lomax, Lomax is mortified of course and calls Rodgers an asshole (well, I mean, he IS a white physics teacher, I'd call that playing the odds), and then goes on with the lecture

Lomax tries to sneak out at the end (not smart enough to hide in the crowd huh kid) but gets hit with "talk to me before you leave". dun dun DUN!

bleh

fine, page 7

https://www.parallaxcomic.com/comic/page-07

so it's the talk alluded to at the end of the previous page, except there's a bit of confusion because the teacher, Rodgers, referred to Lomax as a "new kid" on page 5 but now he's talking about Lomax's grades as though he's been dealing with Lomax for a while. maybe he's just looking at the kid's record as a transfer student or something...eh, whatever, but it feels like a slight inconsistency

anyway of course Lomax sucks as a student (just like we all did!) and Rodgers sorrowfully suggests that Lomax has given up. Lomax tries to shrug it off: "oh I'm just not good at studying."

Rodgers: "but why are you a science major then"? oh, so this isn't high school? and there's only one science major at this college? "the science major" (well I think that's not unheard of actually, sounds like some Evergreen State College write-your-own-portfolio crap though)

"but I didn't choose it" dun dun DUN!

I mean, pretty safe to guess Lomax's parents made the kid do it, but since this is a sci-fi webcomic I figure that the safe guess isn't the right guess

oh pfft I typed "p. 6" when I'm on Page 7

whatever, just...add one in your head for the previous three toots

the conversation between Lomax and the teacher, Rodgers, continues

https://www.parallaxcomic.com/comic/page-08

still no definite answer about why Lomax is in classes they do badly at (do we know Lomax's gender at this point?) but they're hinting that parents aren't the reason. well, like I said last night, it's fair to assume there's some _exciting_ reason for Lomax forcing themselves through classes they suck at other than the obvious ones

trying to spot anything noteworthy in the _mise en scene_. one detail that stands out is that there's a big chart labelled "SPECTROSCOPY" on a wall, but it's taller than it's wide, which is not usually how visible-light spectra are shown on a chart. also it goes from pink to white to yellow, but I'll chalk that up to stylization (or simplification)

finally Prof. Rodgers offers the help of after-school tutoring to Lomax...if they have "some DETERMINATION"

dun dun DUN!

(I feel inclined to twit Chara a bit about that one, seeing as how they work "determination" into conversation an average of three or four times a day)

🔴 I'm not THAT bad

yeah sure let's ask @KaylinEvergreen about that

ok, things take a turn

https://www.parallaxcomic.com/comic/page-09

a top row of small boring frames, then suddenly we get a clear left-right split, light going into dark.

"determination" is repeated from page 8 *snorts* Chara, any thoughts?

🔴 you know, it's a good word, I like it

the Sun's setting behind Prof. Rodgers. (it looked higher up in earlier pages...we don't really know how long they talked)

anyway Rodgers uses the striking composition to castigate Lomax for being a doormat

*sighs* Chara, we know who did this, after all. I wouldn't put it past 'em to just AIM this at you

why have I even been typing this shit out as daily as I can manage? I suppose I was curious. but gawd this duty has really seemed like self-punishment sometimes

like...you know we're being played.

that's all I'm saying

🔴 whatever this is...it's more pleasant than whatever things were *shrugs* I'm game. might as well get some fun out of this charade

🔴 and let's face it, the folks playing with us have the advantage of being booked up. they've been marinating in decades of theorizing, we've just been cruising along with pure improvisation. we don't know what we're doing, we just...have a scent we're following

🔴 if nothing else we're probably gonna be learning some new shit, none of us have ever not enjoyed that

still think I should get the tattoo?

🔴 "the threat is often stronger than the execution". didn't some chess player say that

Nimzovich maybe. probably not really Nimzovich though

anyway I take your point

fine, let's keep playing. page ten

https://www.parallaxcomic.com/comic/page-10

still expounding on Lomax's willingness to be a doormat, Prof. Rodgers advances on Lomax, casting the shadow from the setting Sun on him, which of course is totally not intimidating in any way: "you're powerless".

hehe didn't mean to scare you though! both Lomax and Rodgers are sweating at this point. Rodgers promises he's only wanting to help, and holds out...a small ornamented wooden box, perhaps?

page eleven.

detailed closeup of the box sitting in Prof. Rodgers's outstretched hand. there's some lettering on the lid and I can make out the word "LUX" (light, of course) but nothing else is immediately clear.

what is it? Lomax sensibly asks. "consider it a gift". o-kay. Lomax is already mentally preparing to bolt for the door and Rodgers does the "hehe sorry for keeping you" thing. just how long have they been talking?

and page twelve, just because these have been swiftly moving pages with little to summarize really

https://www.parallaxcomic.com/comic/page-12

Lomax does in fact bolt, but not before Prof. Rodgers assures them, "if you ever need help you can come to me". not worrisome at all! Lomax thanks him with a hasty backwards glance. the kid wants out of the awkwardness, fast

they hasten away, almost running, and finally give vent to a "WHAT THE HELL" when they're a safe distance down the hall