As you can see, the re-establishment and exposition phase of the chapter is now over, and we’re finally into the plot proper.

You can see that, of course, by the fact that we’re now picking up where the pre-credits sequence left off – that’s always a sure-fire sign that a tangent of some sort has ended.

Since I was in an unusually generous mood back when I drew this strip, I’m letting Mopey summarize some of the stock scenes which were bound to have taken place after the asteroid impact. I could easily have gotten four or five strips out of that material, but it would have made for an even slower start into the plot…and, as Mopey correctly points out, you’ve definitely seen those scenes before, over and over again, just delivered by different actors…with vastly different levels of capability.

Other take-aways from this strip include the fact that the US Army has a para-normal division. But that should be hardly surprising, for of course they’d need one. Whenever any funds go missing around the DoD (roughly four times every week), the excuses that get bandied about tend to be so creative, trying to debunk them definitely qualifies as para-normal research, since you’re researching things that could not normally ever happen.

When they aren’t busy tracing embezzled money (rarely), the para-normal division also deal with more mundane para-normal phenomena, like ghosts, aliens, mysterious asteroids, you name it. Naturally, they farm out much of the work involved, and just as naturally, Professor Dr.’s faculty at Lillytown University has been one of their top addresses for a long time. A combination of price, availability, and a finely-honed ability to suppress outward expressions of incredulity. The tradition continues under new leadership, so Mopey wasn’t really surprised when that package and its accompanying documentation landed on her doorstep (next to the desiccated student bodies) – or, perhaps she just employed her finely-honed ability to act as if she wasn’t surprised.

But now that she’s only got the team around, there’s no longer any reason to hide anything – so if Mopey acts unsurprised at all of the stock signs and portents appearing alongside the mysterious asteroid, it’s only because she really is unsurprised. As are you, I’m sure. >_>

More on Thursday.