The Virtual Healer Comic

The future is pretty great. You're able to apply for a loan using your neural interface and get approved on the same day... because the bank knows if your heart (actually brain) is in the right place. Such is the price of technology that seems like magic. But who cares when you can use that loan to grab the computer repair shop of your dreams in less than a week!

That said, Fex is finally getting handed the keys keycards to his new place. No paperwork either... since it's all digital and not paper, but don't think the bureaucracy of buying a place has become any easier. Forms can now be over 10,000 pages long. Good thing that AI assistants exist.

But poor guy, he hates cleaning (maybe almost as much as I do) and that's what he has to look forward to once he's in. And there's batteries, so many batteries, a ridiculous amount of batteries. They all have to be cleaned off the floor, it's almost as bad as having glitter spilled everywhere. What did the last owner do to get this many batteries everywhere? There's no way that all the batteries will ever be cleaned up with how well they fit behind shelfs and in nooks and crannies.

And yes, the 'deck in the last panel is in fact a used Utopix Corp Industial Field Workstation Panel, or "ucky board" for short. An older model of industiral nature, characterized by the classic black and yellow stripe pattern that is still used in industiral settings and the completely flat form factor that definitely did not have ergonomics in mind, the screen and keyboard are next to each other, in between a pair of handles built into the aluminum case. Because of this, it's popular with nerds techies as a portable high-power rig which you can sling across your back like a quiver if you put a strap through the handles. This little guy also packs more power than some of the mid range supercomputers from the early 20's, but no, it can't run DOOM, at least not the DOOM they play in the 2090's.

Good thing Fex has all that raw computing power on him to run what is basically MS Paint to draw out the plans for the layout of his shop. 🙄

Author's Note: This comic took me a bit too long to make, so I've been thinking about using a different approach. The original idea for this comic was to make and use 3D models to compose the scenes, then basically render it and trace it. However the models would be very low poly and only good enough to help out with framing and perspective and lighting, but the details would have to be drawn in by hand (think facial expressions, hand gestures, basically anything that's not just form).

I've tried this method out by making a joke drawing of a friend (don't ask) and it worked out pretty good, I was able to double the quality while halving the time it took to make, so I might dedicate some time to doing that. Since I'd have to set everything up, it might take me a while. I still plan to try to pump out a new page at least once a month, but no guarantees. At least it won't take more than a month (in theory) to make new pages once the models are all set up.

fex,fox,cat,shop,tempcomp,batteries,sweeping,cyberdeck

Owner: "Here you go, she's all yours. She just needs a new coat of TempComp™ paint and she's good as new."
Fex: "Cool, thanks!"
Fex: *thinks to himself* "Man, I hate cleaning, but this place is a mess and there's batteries everywhere... WHY?!?!"
Fex: "Time to ship my machines over, design the layout of the shop, and then order the rest of the equipment."