Now here's where it gets interesting: exact same scene as last time with two exceptions: a skyball with a simple gray and white cloud pattern (so where I took away the wall for the camera it just wouldn't look black), and our jailer, one of the Chrome Covered Cyber Sirens From Beyond Space.  or something.  Render time: 2:10

Raytracing by itself isn't a big deal: what you're raytracing, on the other hand...

If i was doing a webcomic, I'd be tempted to really cheat with that one and use a fake mirror finish, especially if there were a few of them in the scene (and I've rendered a few in a scene and man, that takes forever.)