Ah, well…the subtle art of diplomacy is subtle, as the name implies, and even a slight misstep might lead to a huge misunderstanding. I don’t know what went wrong, especially given how much careful thought the Professor and his companions invested into designing their approach, but some little thing must have. Can only have been a little thing, though – normally, strangers waving toys and puttig on folcloristic displays, especially when they look like they’re taking good care of themselves, should receive a hearty welcome in any situation. It must be a cultural thing, I guess. They probably accidentally insulted the South Africans’ totem animal, or stepped on the grave of some mythical leader as they approached.
And yeah, Mopey has hidden small caches of toy guns all over the world, all over history. You never know when there might be a toy gun emergency! Rumor has it the caches also contain party cannons…and DJ Pon3. But those are just rumors, and of a highly slanderous nature, I might add! Don’t let Mopey know what people talk about her behind her back – and don’t forget, she’ll hand that ball back after this strip, so then she’ll be very perceptive and distrustful again.
As for the Professor’s slight miscalculation, bear in mind he left his calculator behind in the present – he tought it might cause too much disturbance in the timeline, should he accidentally leave it in 1899. It’s true he could have used the electronic brain in the time machine, but punching all of that on a card would have cost a lot of time, and it’s not like he isn’t good at doing math in his head – if it wasn’t for that thrice-accursed two he keeps forgetting to carry…
More on Monday.