Panel 2: HEY THAT'S A MONKEY BIRD FROM PIRATES OF DARK WATER!!! :)

*Ahem* Well, that's what she looks like to me anyway. :)

Now that brought a memory rush lol

I'd never noticed the unusual qualities of this page's panel layout before; most interesting inclusion of broad empty border space in the lower portion of the page. It seems to protract the sense of how much time is passing; a few minutes rather than a few seconds.

mongrel non-humans
did someone try to use the dream machine to make a new race, and fail? or is this some kind of evolution gone awry?

This goes into some background I didn't cover in the story proper, because it wasn't important to the plot. All the creatures made by the machine are geneticly compatible no matter what their species, and some of the mammals that are close to human in form can interbreed with humans as well. On earth, virtually all reproduction between different species is manipulated by a special breed of constructs called Genetic Doctors, who can combine any two species into functional and visually pleasing children. Widespread birth control and social stigma against 'randombred' offspring insure there's very few accidents.

(for the record, Jack Salem is not the result of the Genetic Doctors. His parents were close enough in terms of species and body-type they didn't feel it was necessary. Usually that's fine, but in Jack's case it was a catestrophic error. )

In the City of Ice, there are no Genetic Doctors, and the nonhuman population is the sad result of a century of uncontrolled interbreeding among themselves and the humans.

ahhh i grok now! so are these non-humans the most-visually-displeasing social outcastes, or are they now in an actual underground portion of the city?

i can't wait to see what the architectural (not to mention societal) structure of the city is going to be on the inside.

The social structure in the city isn't really touched on in this chapter, although you ill find out what those particular nonhumans are doing where they are.

In other words, a world of 'people' bred to be "peaceful, compliant, and obedient".

Thank you for posting thies. I have been wanting to read more of Jet's story for ages, but, not been to a con you where at for ages.
To be honest, Whicker Bird is just about my fav char from this story.