mmhh something gos bad and the home gos on fire?

JACK: As I will plainly demenstrait by lighting a match and tossing it on the ground like so. Wallar! Mmm... The house was not supose to catch on fire

Dementia? Did I miss something? o.O

And yay more Found! Bestest story ever! ^__^

And yoo so cute Gem! :3

nope. didnt miss anything, me just adding stuff in thats been skipped over. Like when Jack was telling Gem the story of his life and how he met nicole, they all were in labcoats together and showed him studing and working lots...so im just adding information that hadnt been given out yet. :D more pieces to the puzzle but lets just say they're corner pieces

You're such a tease! :D

Looking forward to the next page!

Gem's got good hearing and all ... but how can she witness the conversation in a dream if she isn't there?

I could understand when it wasn't the dream stuff was happening, but this is clearly inside her dreamspace so she needs to be there to see it?

Hehehe sooo close.... you're almost there

I see, the secret all this time is Gem is a superhero that has amazing hearing!

I might be close but either i'm missing something really obvious or i'm afraid you are keeping bits of the puzzle from us still.

Or mebbe Gem has psychic abilities? o.o

Again, it would come up in other places.

Then is has to be a repressed memory. Otherwise, how else is Gem getting all this information?

Dream within a dream.

"Gem" is unconscious in an undisclosed location and both the "real" world and "dream" world are just parts of that dream.

This would upset me some as it kinda sucks hugely as a story framing device.

I think you're overthinking this scenario. Gem didn't just teleport to the other room. It's perfectly reasonable that this happened in the time it takes for Zeezee and Gem to leave the room, so she's hearing the start of the fight. It's also possible that Zeezee took her just out of sight, then stopped to eavesdrop while she was still in earshot. You'll need to wait for the next page before you can really call this a plot hole.

Also, it's pretty clear that the dreams are supposed to be repressed memories (for the most part). That's been clear since nearly the beginning.

Not a plot hole an indication something else is happening.

Even for that, I think you're just overthinking it. It's reasonable to assume that these lines happened before Gem was out of earshot. Even if she were in the other room, the house could be small enough that she could hear the whole thing. I know growing up there were times we were told to leave so the grownups could talk, but we could hear what they were saying no matter where we went. Now from a dream perspective, Gem might not see their faces and the like, but so long as there's nothing that requires her to see it (like him showing something she can't see), then it's reasonable suspension of disbelief to show their faces even if Gem wouldn't have seen them. It would be pretty boring visually, and slightly confusing if it showed Gem's point of view and she was just playing, but the dialogue was all coming from another room and we had to memorize what colour corresponds to whom.

But Gem is (exactly) 1 year old here. No one is supposed to be able to remember anything that happened at that age -- the brain hasn't developed to the point where memories are retained properly. Not to mention the fact that she obviously doesn't understand most of the words that are being spoken. And is clearly not paying attention.

Well yeah, but at that point it's a suspension of disbelief thing. We could also argue about how furries wouldn't evolve the way they have, or a million other biological things we ignore to enjoy these comics. This is a much different world, so maybe they develop their hippocampus much earlier than humans do. This isn't really a big deal at all.

It's probably going to be really obvious once we know what's going on.

The "real life" Gemma is on sedatives in the hospital. In the past when she's been in the dreamscape as her baby self, we see her adult thoughts conflicting with the baby situation she's dreaming about (or having memories about). Right now we're seeing baby Gem with absolutely 0% adult Gemma in her mind, though. And now Gem leaves the room, while the action continues. I'm not sure this is a dream -- it might be a flashback.

maybe some how her mom and bros and letting her see it in the dream world?

They have a hive mind/group telepathy?

I think that would have come up before now...

well gem not telling us how she can see this and this is a dream world so any thing gos

Remember, Jack, or whatever he is, is sharing this story with her. Supposedly. Maybe that's not where she is in her dream anymore, I don't know. I'm going to make my guess, but it'll be towards the bottom of the page.

Why do I get the feeling the Gem has been experimented on and the anti-dementia drug's side effect is loss of infantile amnesia?

Shot in the dark: He's not really a pharmacologist and his 'lab' is a makeshift one in the basement where he tortures small animals because he's actually the one with dementia?

Wow that a bit of a shot in the very dark, insn't it?

I dunno, this comic has had some pretty damn dark moments already. Like Gemma's not-real-dad's evil ghost trying to strangle her to death after telling her she was unwanted and the product of adultery. That was pretty dark too.

Oh boy, not one of those workaholic turned psychotic.

Well sir you need that drug because you yourself are Dementia.
Mr Mad Scientist <

---

See what I did there

That face is one that shows he doesn't care who's there, they are going to be rich..
Only if the treatment doesn't cause the planet of the apes. Or the zombie apocalypse. Little things like that.

Ok I'll take a guess at it. Neither realities are real. When I was a teen there was a show called the Odyssey. Its reality was split between its real world and what the main character was experiencing while in a coma. One of my friends theories was what the main character was going through was the rationalization/ visualization of what his mind was going through while her was healing.

I say both or all three realities are not true. The adult one is what is being recovered of her mind, The "baby" one is her mind that has been regressed by the effects of dementia, the dark one is when her mind falls further back. When we are seeing is the mind rationalizing the effects of the treatment she is going through and the people surrounding her. Ex: Her brothers are there and break through her illness on occasion when calling out to her to get better and find her way back to the real world. The AB/DL aspects are her mind still holding on to parts of the regressed mindset. The parental conflict is part real and part of the discussions on her treatment.

Or the 12th Doctor is having to fix another time paradox.

Oh, I loved The Odyssey! It was a very imaginative show.

We've got "adult Gemma" scenes, which more or less have to be real, because things happen when she's not even there. It seems as if they're usually from Paul's point of view when they're not from Gemma's, though.

We've got "baby Gem" scenes, many of which have ZeeZee and/or Rasile talking out of character, as well as some form of Jack or another bending reality, and these may well be dreams because Gem is always in them.

Then we've got "flashback" scenes, which again more or less have to be real, again because things happen when she's not even there. They don't seem to be from any particular person's point of view.

So I don't know. :)

I dunno Jack was pretty scare when he was angry and for some reason I find him even scarier when he is happy...I have a really bad feeling about this :S

Me too,but we'll see what happens.

I have a feeling Jack's excitement isn't going to last...

If he tests it on himself, that maybe what turns him into the monster we know him as later on. G-Virus anyone?

whoa

Jack's face looks almost... psycho to exhausted. It's like a combination of the two. I love it~

Yay more found!!!! Woooo!!!!

I think maybe the dementia thing backfires... And it causes all memories to *poof* go away. Sort of like an amnesia effect.

I have an unsettling feeling from that last panel.

I think Jack's lost it.

oh dear...and Jack you have your priorities in the wrong place spend time with your daughter some and don't put work first.

I have a bad feeling about this... o.o;

This isn't Gemma's dream is it?

*gives you a cookie*

Yay I got it! ^-^

Okay, Jack seems happy and downright... nice, here. And Souffle and Nicole seem more than a little rude to the poor guy who's just had a pretty awesome achievement! ^.^

Hmm, maybe. Then again he doesn't seem to care if it's Gem's birthday or not, what a mean way to treat his daughter.

Happy is not what he seems to me. Crazed and manic is what he seems to me. And he's completely ignoring the fact that it's Gem's birthday, so he's probably still quite convinced that she's not really his daughter and her birthday doesn't matter to him. He doesn't even mention her once.

yeah, I got a bad feeling drama might break out at the party. Either Nicole's gonna have regrets about putting Gem up or an argument will happen between Jack and Souffle which could lead to a fight.

I'm sure I'm not meant to be seeing it this way, but I really feel sorry for poor Jack in this page. He's just made a major scientific breakthrough after years of hard work (while working and struggling to provide for a large, young family, mind you) and his wife and brother are basically just being jerks towards him. Would it kill them to show a little happiness for the poor guy? ^.^

Mmmmmaybe, but it's kind of like ... well ... what if it was his daughter's wedding and he burst in, all happy about the work he'd just finished instead of helping with the wedding, and completely ignored the event, not even talking about the wedding or saying his daughter's name, not even once? It's Gem's first birthday ever -- not that she really knows what that is or understands yet, but the point is that he's been working instead of helping get ready and completely ignoring her as usual, because he thinks she's not his child. And in doing so he's been ignoring the rest of his family too.

My prediction is its the mums dream and not Gems

What if this Is real and Gem as an adult is just a dream?

Hmmm :)

Hmm, looks like things took an interesting turn, I wonder if this drug will be the catalyst for Jack's turn into a monster? Or will there be more elements? I've begun to think that during the party Nicole has a change of heart and decides not to give up Gem which would trigger Jack's paranoia (and a possible fight with Souffle) But that's just my theory though.

I am through curious as to how Paul will handle this in the real world once Gem awakens. And what happened in the courtroom that landed Gem in the mental hospital

Those eyes definitely look like the eyes of someone who needs to be cured of being demented....

Oooo now this is an interesting turn of events and I think I've an idea or two of where it might lead. Accidental exposure to the new drug perhaps which does perform as hoped but has side effects. Perhaps causing dementia if it isn't present in the recipient. Hmmmm. It may perhaps be cause for some of Jack's behavior. Low level exposure to it causing problems over time that are slowly building and coming to a head. I"m sensing some very unpleasant events are coming sooon and oooo I can't wait to see exactly how it all turns out and and then go back over the comic and go "See! There were all the clues!" Hehe.

Ooo, there is an idea. If he's been working on an anti-dementia drug, that's going to have an effect on the mental state of anyone it affects. That's kind of the point. Even if Jack hasn't been actually experimenting on himself with it, perhaps he's been accidentally inhaling vapors or getting it on his skin. Low-level exposure, as you say.

And as soon as a mind-affecting drug begins affecting the mind of an experimenter, their objectivity is out the window. It's possible that he's completely wrong about the drug working, and yet is completely convinced that he's right and it works.

Oh, there are unpleasant events coming. We've seen the house burned down, and of course the story begins with Gemma having no conscious memory of her parents or brothers. Those things happen as the result of what's going to happen. (Unless what's really going on is completely different from what we've been led to believe.)

true Jennie and Lig has a good theory too, and I agree with this new element being added in. the anti-dementia drug could possibly have a negative effect on Jack since he's been exposed to it either by inhaling vapors or absorbing it through his skin. it could also explain why he's convinced Nicole "cheated" on him with Souffle when it's becoming obvious they never did that.

I think something bad is going to happen at the party, possibly a fight between Jack and Souffle, or Nicole having second thoughts about putting Gem up for adoption which would probably set off Jack once he learns of it.

Dementia... Oooooh, I think this is gonna get ugly...

More please don't stop

This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?

Okay, so Jack comes home, and there's his brother, the same brother who was having an affair with his wife.
POSSIBILITY
1. Either Jack is telling the truth about the drug, and he IS so happy that it works that he actually overlooks Souffle being there, that he's forgotten his anger.
2. Jack knew Souffle was there, because he's been spying on Nicole, and now he plans on luring them back to the lab where he plans on killing them.
3. This is Gem's dream where Jack is telling her what happened, and it's all lies anyway
PROBABILITY
1. Maybe, but not likely.
2. Depends on how psycho Jack has gone, but it's a good plot twist.
3. What is this, J.R. Ewing in "Dallas"???
RESULTS.
1. They can't go with the kids, so Souffle stays home with them, Jack and NIcole go, and Jack injects the stuff on himself, and instead of the dementia drug, it's something else that someone else was working on, and transforms him into pure evil. Nicole dies.
2. They can't go with the kids, so Souffle stays home with them. Jack and Nicole go, and Jack tries to kill Nicole, but during the fight, Nicole injects Jack with something, transforming him into pure evil. Nicole dies.
3. Gem wakes up and realizes she's Star, and the Major is going to to put her on K.P. for a year for pawning off her weekend duty to someone else to attend a party!

hmm i wonder if there's that theory about dementia at an early age, perhaps this is gems dream trying to her that she isn't well.

It's no wonder Gem's mother was having an affair with her husband's identical brother. The husband was obsessed with his work and the mother wanted someone to spend time with...aside from the children and who was there but the identical twin to help her?

He isn't deserving of such a family if he's gonna focus all his attention on his work, EVEN if it can cure ONE....out of MILLIONS or countless conditions. Where one is cured, another develops, same with humans or any organism, (as one life is ended, another begins every second). Also, they are STILL just experiments...there can always be terrible side effects or a backfire. He's choosing something that may or may not be 100% certain over something that IS RIGHT THERE that he shouldn't take for granted which he obviously is; but I'm sure he'll blame his "unfaithful" wife or his TWIN brother for it all.

Poor Gem though.

OK so I'm actually relieved. Jack was away from home because he was truly busy with work. Not because he was brooding, possibly drinking, and going more and more crazy, and then on Gem's birthday he finally snapped and tried to burn the house down. That's what I was very worried about before this page. But it didn't happen, so I can talk about it now.

He's a pharmaceutical researcher, then, working on a drug that can reverse dementia? That kind of comes out of the blue, but we have been told that he's been very busy with work, just not what that work was.

Now I'm worried about another thing, though. We'll have to see whether it happens. Trying to avoid public speculation though, since you've said you'd rather people not do that!

Dementia can wait for a day

so this seams like a trap I mean who ells thinks this.

Perhaps she is the only survivor of what happened to her family? That could be why the brothers did not want to tell her certain things. It could also explain why her family never searched for her after she became an adult. Just a guess.
-Victoria

I've been following this comic since I found it some time last year. This is my take on it and would be really interesting to see if the plot works out this way.

1. Father Jack attempts or does a murder suicide by burning the house down. He and Gem are the only survivors.
2. The Court case dream is Gem reliving the experience of her father being on trial for the arson. There may also be a custody battle going on. They couldn't prove him guilty of whatever, so he got to leave. Gem is remembering what his father said though Paul's voice. He abandoned her in the courtroom.
3. The memory of Gem's father and the bugs - her memories of the fire and smoke, distorted through her perception and what she was able to remember at her age. I get this idea from going though a few rare memories I have before I was two years old. I could remember some things near me, but the background is either non existent, blank white, or distorted/ blurry in some way.
4. Her regression I chalked it up to her having a mental break down and catering to the genre of the comic. The thought of it being a side effect or result of a chemical/medication her father is working on would certainly not be out of the question. What if instead of curing dementia he was trying to make a med to either poison or make Gem completely forget her past or cause dementia or a slow painful death? Instead of killing her it is causing her to go through some kind of dementia or regression.

Given that thought if her father survived and found out she is alive, he might be after to kill her or find a way to rid her completely. Given what I've read/ watched in news stories, I wouldn't put Jak past being paranoid/ delusional enough to commit murder. Murder his wife because she would not get rid of Gem - cheated and betrayed him in his mind. Murder his brother for turning against him and having the affair. Murder Gem because she was what caused everything (in his mind) and needs to be erased/ wiped out of existence. The remaining two children - either were collateral damage when trying to kill Gem or he murdered them to spite his wife/ erase his whole family to either start again or kill himself last.

I noticed a number of typos. I called Gem a "Him" on several occasions in my post. I meant "her" and "she" obviously but caught the error/typo a bit too late to correct.

It's probably Gem's last happy memory from her family.

Jack may be doing great things at the lab, but you need to be with your family at those special moments. I've got to side with Souffle on this one.

It's very telling that the first thing he says is about the lab results and not his daughter's birthday.

I'm really behind on this story; limiting myself to reading a dozen pages a day so I get my work done.

But on seeing the last frame makes me think of Oktober, even more than I was already.
Speculating is less fun when I'm more than a year behind :p

*acts clueless* ?