(Bug Comic) Since it's been a while, I should back up and recap some of the story:) Bryan, (here wearing the unfortunate shirt), his half-sister Vanessa and his mother, Mrs. Kim, all belong to a genetically engineered offshoot of the human race. A mysterious, possibly alien group called the Azali seemed to have originally planned their race, the Mer (Marine Enhanced Race) to be optimized for underwater construction jobs, but then over a century (from around the mid 2100's to 2220 or so) added a number of inconvenient abilities, mostly to provide spare body parts and other medical services to the soldiers of the Azali, the Aer. The Aer are also a genetically-engineered variant of humans, able to withstand injuries, cold and darkness, but not survive on their own if they escaped the Azali. Later versions of the Aer were more self-sufficient, and with the Mer and normal humans, defeated the Azali. If you go back and look at "Nyelah Comes to Portland" this is the same anti-aircraft platform,more than a century later, and from a different angle. It's the same Saturday that Bryan won the Allen prize, a new apartment, a stipend and a project for the summer of 2403. His sister and mother have taken him for lunch at his favorite cafe, which has crab salad (Bryan would walk miles for a crab salad, having a lot of sea otter genes in him). He's trying to read the paper upside down, hoping that his encounter with a body parts thief the previous night isn't in it, because his mother would have a fit. But Mrs. Kim is being very odd about the paper--she's not looking at it, but she's keeping her hand on it; there's a really good picture of her and Bryan's father on Page6 of them at the opera,(The Barber of Seville) which will cause a lot of trouble if anyone figures out that *she* is the mistress of the Kingdom of Corea's ambassador. So she's planning on getting up and taking it with her on a trip "to wash her hands" and tossing it out. Vanessa is wearing a brand new engagement ring that she got late Friday night, from Edward Stowe, the son of the owner of the Three Cranes hotel chain. She wasn't sure she would accept it (he's a playboy) but he told her with disarming honesty that it would get his parents off his back, and she could think about it. He's a decade older,and free with his money..but he was in the Navy, and Vanessa thinks she's not getting any younger, and her aunts have been bugging her about nieces and nephews, and Vanessa knows she'd be a great hostess and party organizer for him. But since it's Bryan's party, she hasn't mentioned the ring, and isn't going to yet. (Petunia, Bryan's other sister, had to work that afternoon, but will catch up with him later.) ---- The strip at the bottom was just so you could see Vanessa's ring--it's not all that important, but it was so tiny even on the large size I added the extra to avoid eyestrain. Most of this is painted, except for the Vigilante and bits here and there. If you see something you want, send me an IM and I'll figure out who made parts of it--Bryan's texture is by HeRaZa (victor), most of Mrs. Kim's clothes are by Richabri, her hair is the Cleo Hair by Mairy, and I can't find the patio set credits right now, but I'll look later. The guy on the left is Professor Blaine, doing the Crazy vs Hotness diagram on a napkin, since he has asked Dr. Hatcher out for dinner that night. (from "Excuse Me, But I Think My Car Is On Fire")