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Artifice Page 21

81 Comments on Artifice Page 21

Ah, finally a little conversation between the only two people remaining on Da Vinci Four.

Special thanks to Jamie D. for their generous donation and an extra big hug to Cody B. for their $25 donation! 😀

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  • YAY, I’m the first comment! Deacon has a lot to learn about diplomacy and coercion. I suspect he’ll get that ice cold heart thawed out, I just hope its soon…..

  • Fazzey

    Yeah…Deacon is such a good conversationalist  at this point. Way to get him to help…Or stop crying at this point.
    *pets Jeff* It’s ok. Eventually you’ll like him…I think…At least he’ll like you more.

  • ErrorTime

    I like how Deacon tells Jeff to stop crying after tell him he knows 1293 methods of torture. Poor Jeff, I wonder how his interrogation is going, is he telling a similar story?; and will he lie or hide some parts of it, since Jeff is human and lies, while Deacon is a robot, and doesn’t seem to lie, or the doctor is just that good.

    • solkan

      It’s like every single parent who has ever said, “Stop crying or I’ll give you something to really cry about.”  O.o; 

    • These are good questions. 🙂

      • ErrorTime

        Thanks X3. You make a good comic. XD. I can’t wait to see if any of them are answered. The one nagging me though is the one about the doctor. I can’t wait to see what her reaction is about their change in relationship.

        • Her initial reaction is one of my favorite moments in the comic. 😉

    • He’ll probably gloss over the crying like a baby part and claim he stood firm chested and brave in the face of danger. xP

  • eleutherios

    “Torture?  Okay, but you have to at least buy me dinner first.”

  • D:
    Now I feel like crying

    • @facebook-100001697617755:disqus and @Eertree:disqus : Yeah, Jeff seems to be in a pickle…

  • T Tran

    It’s an appropriate time for “Awww… Poor baby.” :’C

  • Ewan Haggarty

    Looking back at page 16, it seems Deacon is going to be in trouble in an hour or so. This makes me wonder what his drives are at the moment: he has already told Dr Maven that as one survivor had ‘appeared’, he considered there could be more; he needs the captured survivor to unlock the facility for a needed recharge. Consequently, once Deacon has secured his capacity to recharge, the survivor can be disposed of, unless he is needed to secure further recharges.

    I wonder if Deacon should have killed the his captive once he had ascertained that there were no others to terminate and then allowed himself to expire, as his mission was complete? Is this what Dr Maven meant by ‘You deviated from your mission plan’ on page 9? How strong is Deacon’s individual drive to survive? He describes himself as ‘a good soldier’, so he clearly has some idea of himself and his place in the universe – it will be interesting to see how this works out.

    Also, Deacon is discharging – perhaps his exertions in subduing the survivor have used up more ‘juice’ than him being quiescent. Will he suddenly shut down, or become progressively enfeebled as his energy levels drop. Will the survivor know this or spot it? Will this be some ‘leverage’ for the survivor if he holds out long enough? What does he know about the likes of Deacon? Where was he and what was he doing prior to showing up – and who was it that actually mined Deacon’s shuttle..?

  • Gah, don’t know whether to be scared, worried, sad, or or or  poor Jeff

  • Ditzite

    Awww Jeffy is looking very much the petulant teen here! XD Poor Deacon just wants to complete his dang mission and Jeffy just can’t seem to stem the waterworks but atleast with the subtle hinting towards a bit of physical punishment the brief bout of mouthing off has ceased!

    Also my mind just started giggling at the thought of what else Deacon may be trained to use for torture since he states that the 1,293 methods are for hands only. Hehehe!

  • I love this comic! I hope I could donate some money cause you desereve it T_T
    And omfg Deacon is so hot xD

    • Thank you! 🙂

      And glad you’re liking Deacon… even in (especially in?) moments like this.

  • oh yes, deacon. You’re really tricking him into thinking you care about him. xD

    • lol Feel the love.

      • Next chance, maybe he can offer up the 2,987 methods of water torture instead? Or perhaps breaking the ice with a cheerful conversation about the multiple morbid uses of a spoon? xD

  • Rocket

    Whoa. I wanna see what he ended up doing in order to get Deacon to soften up, seeing how merciless he is with him now. 

    Also… why did they kill all the humans, if Deacon turned out to need him to, I guess, unlock something…?
    Or something.Maybe I’m not paying attention… /reads from the beginning

    • I think Deacon needs the human to help charge his power source. A few pages back he tried to recharge and I think he didn’t have the right password/retina. And Deacon didn’t expect to be there long enough to need a recharge, but then someone blew up all his friends. (This is my best guess.)

  • Dex X.

    Um……lol. What he just said about the torture doesn’t exactly help stop the tears. xD 

  • Wow….feeling the love, Deacon.  Totally feeling the love.  lol, I look forward to the next chapter.  XD

  • Diseasedface

    Nooooooooooooooooo! Don’t cry D:

    And oh? 1,293 modes of torture? thats quite a number under ones belt! I wonder how i wonder whether he learned those over time or they were programed into him. And if any of these modes of torture are sexual? ~curiousity~

    Ah. But Deacon! Don’t torture your future lover! Woes woes.

    I must also say i like the shape of those curved and brown eyebrows! 😀 They suit his face perfectly. ahem….

    I wonder if Deacon…will ever…be brought to…TEARS?

  • TransphasicPigDog

    I’m cementing my reputation of a heartless bastard here, but for God’s sake, can Jeff just suck it up and try to do something else other than just cry? That is so… passive and pessimistic. I mean, he knows that Deacon obviously needs him, otherwise his spine would already be laying six feet away from the rest of his body. Also, Deacon? Get some social skills, please. Telling someone you know more than a thousand ways of torture is never a good way to motivate them.  Although, this does reinforce my notion that one never knows when or how one would meet the love of one’s life. Life really is that weird, huh?

  • Well… I have been reading this comic from the beginning and I must say…  If your other comics are as well thought out and creative as this one, then I definately will be checking them out as well…

    On a side note, I think any Vidal Sassoon spokes model would be extremely jealous of Jeff’s hair… especially the way it’s drawn in panel 5! 

    • Thank you! ::blush::

      And yes, folks seem to like the hair… 😉

      • TransphasicPigDog

        Just curious, what is YOUR opinion on the hair? Was the decision for Jeff to be a twinky Fabio a specific decision, or was that just an artistic liberty of sorts?

        • The decision for Jeff to have long hair was mine and made before we started on character designs.

        • typhonblue

          I totally don’t get a ‘twinky Fabio’ vibe off of Jeff. More like a scrawny nerd vibe. 

    • Possibly not. I have hair a LOT like Jeff’s. Actually I woke up this morning and my hair looked JUST LIKE his only about an inch or so longer. I thought that was awesome, but it was because I hadn’t brushed it and it needed a shower. >.< It would probably lay more straight if it was clean in this case, if his hair is at all like mine that is.

  • Elira Winter

    Deacon is amusing.  “Stop crying.”

  • 1293 methods of torture with his hands alone? Sounds kinky.

  • Oh now that’s motivation!

  • Completely jealous of that hair though.  Decons’ and Jeff’s.  Guy’s get such awesome hair.  -pouts-

    • I remember in HS a woman saying a similar thing about my nails. Maybe it’s just our laissez-faire approach to hair and nails that is the secret… 😉

  • Oh yes, at last <3 Oh Deacon you bully *U* go on, my inner sadist approves 0u0b

    • I was wondering if some folks would dig that… 😉

  • I see his people skills are coming along nicely.  XD

    • Hey Rowan! Nice to see you here.

      And yes, quite well-developed, aren’t they? 😉

  • Somehow I don’t really think that’s going to help him stop crying …

  • misscassietaylor

    I’ve been reading this comic for a few months now, and even if there aren’t many pages [compared to others], I still enjoy this story that’s starting to come along. I’m very excited for what’s to come! Keep up the awesome work! (:

  • I love panels 3 & 4. Really emotional 🙂

    • Thank you. I really like what Winona did there too. 🙂

  • Such wondrous ways of persuasion XD they manage to work wonders on the kids lol

  • I wonder… if it’s possible to preform torture with your feet… and what else can you use to preform torture I wonder…

    • Hmmm. Sounds like good inspiration for fanart. 😉

  • HANG ON…HE’S CONSCIOUS AFTER THAT? Wonders will never cease…. Well Decon…I can’t say that is the most convincing tactic I’ve ever seen. Great comic as always!

    • Thank you, Aspen!

      And it seems like the consensus here is that this won’t be the most effective strategy to get Jeff to stop crying… 🙂

  • Kea

    I don’t know about everyone else, but if some guy who just beat the crap out of me and has total control of me told me that he knows 1,293 methods of torture and will use them on me unless I stop crying; I’m pretty sure I would stop in a heartbeat.

    But this comic is coming along so wonderfully. Each panel always displays an array of emotions and an excellent feel for the situation. The story is delightfully thought out and displayed and always leaves me craving more.

    Jeff’s hair is lovely, but speaking from experience having wonderfully bouncy puffy hair like this is such a pain to manage. And Decon’s personality finally seems to be appearing. I can’t help but wonder what kind of a person he is going to turn into~ Oh, and the look of total mortification on Jeff’s face in the last panel makes me giggle a little bit.

    • Thank you. Those are just the reactions I was hoping for. 😀

  • I like to think I’d beable to stop the tear if put in to his situation, but I’ve never had everyone I know murderd horribiley around me either….

    I imagine he’ll stop but it’ll take a few minutes…

    Maybe our robot friend just dosn’t want to see the lil’ guy crying?

    Nah…

    • Yeah, I think it’s mostly about getting that accurate reading… 🙂

  • Cheshirecaticus

    Oh… That’s a lot of torture methods. O.O I feel so sorry for this guy.
    I’m vaugely theorising why Jeff is there and why the robots killed all the other, ah, exciting!

  • thatgeekyblonde

    He certainly knows how to charm his way into people’s hearts. 

  • THE CUP OF PENS
    IT HAS BEEN TIPPED OVER
    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
    (Last panel)

    • The tragedy behind the tragedy of Da Vinci Four. 🙂

  • What Deacon didn’t tell him was 1,292 of those methods involved tickleing and 1 was a “purple-nurple”.
    On a serious note, this is easily one of the few good webcomics I have read, I look foward to reading more of it and keep up the good work!

    • Thank you for the props, Vincent! 🙂

      (And, strange as it may seem, the “purple-nurple” is indeed one of the 1,293 torture options currently at Deacon’s disposal. Good guess!)

  • The beatings will continue until moral improves….this doesn’t seem the smartest way to get someone’s emotional reaction to cut off….poor lil Jeff.

    This comic is lovely by the way. Makes me super happy everytime a page goes up. But all the comics I have seen have been great. Especially Tough, chapter two gave me a case of the smilies that lasted for hours and I’ve been passing around the link to yaoi 911 like it was going out of style XD

    • Well, heck, thank you, Mewta! You’ve put a big smile on my face right now too! 😀

  • He’s still a HORAR… Ideally the poor sod would help and he’d insure they both get back to base or earth or wherever, then the remaining colonist would get nondestructive interrogation and mental ‘re-alignment’ while the HORAR goes off to work for Atilla the Hun or the current Chinese Emperor.

    Bleah… Ultimate weapons without installed means of repurposing after the war are such a nuisance to be rid of ethically!

  • I’m so anxoius for the next page. Camping! 😀

    • Camping? That’s awesome! I’ve been wanting to have camping in the comments. 😀

  • Hoooow could I forget to check for two weeks? x.x’ Oh yeah, my stupid firefox hates me now and I haven’t transferred all my bookmarks over…

    Anyway, loving to see moving in the storeeeeee

  • classic_bear

    Is it Saturday yet!?!?

  • my response to his tortures statement: …..do you know any Sexual torture? Like choking me with your penis? Gigitty.

  • Deacon, how could you expect any reaction other than horror – and more tears – when you just threatened the dude with various unspecified tortures? Honestly.

  • Okay now I’m completely hooked on this comic! xD such great art and the story so far is really great too ;A;

  • Kabbalist

    This is definitely proving to be an interesting read, with great art to boot! That said…Deacon’s negotiation skills need a little work. “Stop crying or I’ll torture you until you do” may not have the desired effect.