NOO PLEASE NOT KAT SOMEBODY SAVE HER

Talk fast Kat. There's a lot of explaining to do.

Zara! You’re so pretty! Ugh

Dang...this guy...

Are we sure the Whitelegs didn't put eggs in Jack's ear? He's in dangerous mad modus again

Aha you know, the thing. The thing with the stuff. You know, the *thing.* Now we have to kill you over this vague thing because I value life about as much as I value clear communication.

hey Jack want to explain what your problem is?

Jack looks like a rabid dog. Rosa and Zara have been lied to and manipulated from the start, but they seem okay with Annie now. So when she exposed Jenny’s lies, they turned against Kat instead. What they saw was Kat’s terrifying power and her success in getting the technology needed to reach Zimmy. The witches can at least claim they were manipulated, and Jack is severely ill and constantly enabled. But Jenny is something else, genuinely twisted. She’s always treated Jack’s fragile mind and Zimmy’s power like a case study, almost a fetish. The moment Annie threatened to take away her “special project,” Jenny twisted the narrative, manipulating everyone into believing Annie was the villain.

Jack looks like he wants to turn Kat into a yodeling potato, Kat can't prove what she doesn't know, none of them are mind readers, and Zimmy doesn't care about anything outside her dream world. • Thank God this was posted on a Wednesday! But that means Friday will be worse!

“We tracked you down and locked you in here so our pet simp can scream accusations at you like a crackhead.”

Hmm, pretty disappointed with Jack. Also, I really really really hope those 2 girls get their faces beaten in.

Omega's secret? Why would you care, gang?

So... what are the chances Kat has considered people wishing to attack her and that she has some kind of defense system in place?

She literally doesn't, you murderous weirdos. Just because Omega is the center of *YOUR* world, that doesn't make her of theirs. They're more concerned with the Fairies dying. And Kat didn't use "Omega, her", she used "Omega, it" - the device disconnected from the person. Also that was a fair bit ago, didn't Jack think a reaction would be more immediate??

Jesse er Jack, what the hell are you talking about?

Tensions rising! (Quit pulling, Jack!)

I think Tom is trying to give me palpitations, it’s working. I feel like a snowball is careening downhill but I can only watch the outcome 5 seconds at a time, every third day *sobs* Brilliant work! I love it!

It never occurred to them to just ask her to not look at that file, of course it didn’t. It’s so freaking vast that she couldn’t have stumbled upon it yet, but even if she had by now, she certainly couldn’t have done so when Omega was first separated. Why not ask her then? “There’s a curse that could drive you insane if you learn about it, please let jack find and delete it before you explore further”, something like that.

Who is Jenni?

Oh... Okay, I feel a LOT safer now. In part because Kat just spotted something on her device and said "Huh" which... probably means she has a deus ex machina up her sleeve, and in part because Jack is here. And like...Jack might be nutso and weird, but also, I trust him NOT to murder Kat. We know him. He's got issues, but is familiar. The witches on the other hand? They are new, and deranged, and CERTAIN of their actions. They feel far more dangerous.

Aww man, it's just Jack. I wanted to see The Muscle. I still love your work, Tom.

Robots to the rescue!

Ooo tension

Who are they again?

Jack and Jenny are legit the most obnoxious characters in this comic.

Soooo, two witches and a dumb-bell against an infant god in her own domain. Like, of all the places to try this, they choose *her workshop*. This ain't gonna go well. And they're gonna find out why Zimmy is terrified of her.

Still hoping for a misunderstanding, though the way this gang jump to conclusions, I'm not holding my breath.

Here comes the blocking squadron... But I don't think Kat knows "The Secret"TM, does she? Also, Kat's"huh?" seems to be not related to Jack's question.... she is looking in another direction, maybe something in her lab is warning her of something?

(I think he might still have a few spiders inside.)

If Jack actually hurts Kat, I don't know what's scarier: The army of New People, or vengeful fire goddess Antimony.

We have a likely misunderstanding here, because Kat is going to think that Jack is talking about Meg herself (as he's literally just mentioned her) rather than Zimmy. Kat, who we must assume doesn't yet know Zimmy's secret given she didn't react negatively to Zara* mentioning the name, will say something that in Jack's mind makes Kat a danger. Cue highjinks/death. (*And I have to note that our Divination mage seems remarkably chill, almost as if this isn't the first 'hit' she's been involved with...)

No killer attack robots hanging around?

A grumpy face! The grumpiest face!

What was the secret again?

You don't look well, Jack.

This still feels so eyeroll-worthy and contrived.

Jack forgot to take his meds

WHAT DID ZIMMY DO?! (will we finally know?!)

Oh no, Kat *might* know Zimmy’s secret. Time for a sane, rational and well thought out response that anyone would agree with as the correct thing to do. Also Jack, if she doesn’t know you going off about it is going to draw her interest to what you don’t want her to know. Just saying.

is that a script error in the entrance from the hallway that the "boat" is gone (viz last panel prev page), or is it a moving entity?

interesting how Kat presented her back to the intruder on the last page and wasnt immediately attacked. There is absolutely nothing bigger coming up here ...

suddenly this is a stand-off. Who else is there?

Kat isn't trapped in that fracture with them. They are trapped in that fracture with Kat.

Kat doesn't know the secret; she's working through the back door. If this bunch had sneaked up on her, they'd have had a better chance of getting rid of Kat, but now she has a LOT of real time to get all of her shields up, and some of them are kinds that the witch girls can't easily imagine.

Love how everyone blames Jenny for the murder plot when Jack, Zimmy’s obvious stalker, is clearly the ringleader for the worst bits.

Someone should tell Jack that drugs are bad, lol.

Hoping for Kat to take this backwards and tell Jack demanding she use omega to steal Zimmy's secrets is creepy.

Wait, _this_ was her great secret? The fact that she drains life from magical creatures to spin her safe place?

Jack, stop causing problems you idiot. Omega isn't even an issue anymore.

yeah, bro lookin TOTALLY trustworthy right now lol

As if anyone could trap Kat, the machine goddess, lol. I love how Kat’s eyes narrow at crazy Jack. That was a jumpscare, I thought it was Tony coming for her at first. When Jack says “her secret” does he mean Zimmy’s secret or Omega’s secret? Omega’s secret about Zimmy? The plot thickens….Kick all their asses Kat!!!

Not liking this.

Ahhh...This is Kat's chance to get on the same page as Jenny's posse...

Jack needs serious help…

Uh oh. I really wish this would end well, but I'm so worried this won't end well.

Kat: ...guys I just know her address.

Please tell me this whole arc will ultimately end with Jack being one of those dead. At this point he's even more annoying than the fairies, which says A LOT.

Tease.

Oh Jack buddy. Cmon man, be better than this

This ain't good

The Norns kind of spoiled this for me. She'll be fine... right?

None of you seem to understand. I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me.

One of these days, Kat is going to get a crush on somebody, and everything is going to go fine and normal. One of these days.

I know... some of her secrets? Like, which one? Be more specific. Also, amused that Hyland just spawns in the middle of the doorway

Wonder if Kat is going to meet Mut

She's not real?

... So this is the part where Kat's physical body dies and she becomes one with the machine, then?

Nobody's getting in or out? Be careful what you wish for....

"what secret, wait, let me omega it... oh, the secret about this and that?"

So, Kat either needs to hack the etheric wards or transport an object via her computer, since the wards apparently stop people and not things. We were left with Red and Ayilu asking what they could do to help find Kat. We don’t know what Red can do better than others, but we know that Ayilu is an illusion specialist. Maybe they can scry Kat somehow and trick the witches with an illusion spell.

Kat may not can teleport out but she still controls the surrounding tech. She might be able to turn this into an X-Men Danger Room under her command. Don't mess with the angel.

Zara just standing in the back being pretty is such a vibe. I still kind of ship her and Annie just because I think they’d look cute together. I hope she doesn’t kill Kat so I can still ship them.

Zimmy doesn't actually exist.

it’s quite a bit interesting that this court is quite OK with the children killing each other. It’s one thing for the Academic staff to do so and use each other’s ghosts as weapons.

HUH?

Well clearly these girls are siding with the right person. There’s nothing about Jack that comes off as unstable or perhaps having a warped perspective.

I wouldn't be surprised if Kat literally doesn't know what they're talking about. She was only accessing Omega's computer in order to detangle her human part from her ability.

This comic is brilliant. Thank you very much. I looked in this comments section to see what people were saying about this latest plot development but was suprised to see no comments so thought I had better get things going.

This the secret that she also Does Not Exist? Can we all have a nice peaceful existential crisis together? I suspect not

Mmm I believe somebody might have a secret

ah, okay, I was worried this page would start with a stabbing.

You are still cornering the tech wizardess in her lair.

Guys, pretty sure the "Huh?" Was her attempting to teleport away. Also, have these kids even killed before? They are acting totally psycho.

They are definitely going to do something to Kat, Kat will flee into her machinery, at some point merge or take over the Omega device, Zimz gets got as a consequence, and this whole coven creates the very events which they set out to prevent.

I feel like Kat is about to pull a "I'm not locked in here with you, you're locked in here with me" on them. Like yeah they isolated her... in her lab. That she can control with her mind to manifest whatever she can imagine.

Wouldn’t it be crazy if kat didn’t even know the secret

Honestly? I think they forget that kat has her own powers, she may be in a bind here, but she doesnt require her friends to save her, she is brilliant, has connections to the entire court in her head, and is fully capable of being the savior, not just a damsel in distress. look at the Tick Tocks, she developed a hybrid technology and then "broke time" to save her best friend.

Something tells me Jack doesn't know Omega is a person and his question consequently is far more ambiguous than he thinks.

Her secret is she eats the souls of etheric beings to fuel her distortion? At least I think? Seems weird jack is this upset over that revelation. Maybe zim zams ate a bit too much of Jack's soul.

You fools! You should have struck viciously with surprise to take out Kat. You gave her a moment to think where she knows the danger she is in.

I think the huh was an indication she could not jump away, which is why it is immediately followed by the witch talking locking down the island. Not everyone agrees.

lol they don't know they're trying to trap a god. silly witches (and jack)!

also yeah i agree with that either comment that thinks the witches did something to jack in order to manipulate his perception. he's clearly not fully lucid.

Jack...you're looking a little, uh...I don't wanna say "spidery" without being sure, but...

Deduction isn't Jack's strong suit.

Feel like the coven might be about to experience an "I'm not trapped in here with you..."

I sure hope the laser cows step in here and stop all this tomfoolery. With Jack's special bond to them I'm sure the laser cows could snap him out of it. And then the others could be made to see reason with the bought time.

The ambiguity of "her" in "her secret" is carrying a lot of weight here. It's probably Jenny's, not Zimmy's. Maybe enough to motivate him to kill the witches so they can't hear it?

So my guess is they kill Kat's meatsuit, she goes all go ghost in the machine and makes herself a new custom body, a rare instance of a creator making herself in the image of her creations. Very fun, that! They've never seen her do anything like that so far as I know, and they will functionally be showing their hand to EVERYONE. Annie, Kat, Renard, Smit and Parley, the Fairies and her entire religion of new people and robots. Also, Kat's parents will likely be upset about the premeditated group murder of their teenage daughter thing, just assuming. Eglamore, Jones and all them will likely have an opinion too. The risk they are taking is calculated, let's see ow good their math was :D

This is a job for George, isn't it?

This comic has aged Jack like 30 years, poor guy

Kat may or may not know Zimmys secret, but the witches clearly do not know Kats secret.

oh man tk0nik if you're right, and all this drama is because Jack is terrible at judging what's fixable without being self-righteous and cryptic...

pretty sure kat's Stare then "oh" are about her trying to bwip and failing, though

It's funny that people who never interacted with Zimmy act like they know her more than her actual friends. Zimmy is obviously friends with Annie but she also straight up dragged Kat out of the closet.

Hmmm I feel there was a different secret that was shared by Omega.

Great what’s wrong with Jack this time?

Next, Kat takes a nanosecond or two to query Omega and become totally omniscient about the situation.

Wtf is wrong with these people

Cue the machine Goddess in 3,2,1.. These kiddies have no idea who/what they're messing with, and they just tipped their hand. Sucks to be them.

WHAT secret??

You come into MY HOME uninvited and tell me how i should arrange my furniture? What a fool you are. Techno flashing death blast!