JimmyDimples

Chapter 4  Les Safer yawned and checked the time on his own smartphone.  4:51 AM.  He’d beaten the alarm.  Normally he’d have woken about twenty minutes ahead, a sign that he’d gotten enough sleep.  He still did, but overseeing all that A.I. hardware had been busier than he counted on.   He still wasn’t quite sure how he felt about it.  Or about Leon Skum, its provider.   Actually the man’s name was Leon Skyler Umberto.  But the story was, he was exploring the world of computers and the Internet, and wanted to go deeper into it.  But back around the Turn of the Millennium, he was checking with a programmer and other tech heads.  And he heard a term for common on-the-street people that he didn’t like at all:  “end-user scum.” He did not appreciate the elitist attitude or condescension to the consumer at all.  He wanted to make computing accessible to anyone with an interest or use for it.  And so, he went and changed his last name with the first two letters from Skyler and from

Chapter 3 Around 2:30 AM, Gus tossed and turned. *** He showed up at Safer-Greenwear’s employee entrance five minutes ahead of clock-in time as always, and swiped his ID badge in the slot.  No response.  He looked at the readout.  He swiped again.  No response.  The digital readout blinked, “INVALID CARD.”  He didn’t get it. He heard footsteps behind him.  It was Gloria Lee, the blonde beauty handling admin in the office.  And environmental political activist.  “Move it or lose it, pork ball,” she said.  “You’re blocking the way of progress.”  And she brushed past him and swiped her own badge.  The door chimed, unlocked and opened.  As she passed through, he caught the door and let himself follow. “Hey!” she snapped.  “No piggybacking!” “I’m gonna be late,” he said, hurrying past her. He hustled to his desk and checked the time on the computer monitor.  Just one minute left.  Good.  He then clicked into the time clock app, entered his ID name and his password. The screen read

Chapter 2 It was 4:00 PM.  Time for tea. Dr. Green poured the solar-heated water from the kettle into his cup over the tea leaves in the mesh strainer.  It would take a few minutes for it to steep to his preferred strength.  Thankfully, it would have cooled to a heat that didn’t burn his lips off.  He put the stevia sweetener nearby.  He wasn’t sure if he ought to have said as much as he did about Skum’s AI hardware’s arrival to Gus.  True, he would have had to say something sooner or later about it to everyone in the lab.  The doctor had hoped that Gus would have been reassured with the trust since he was one of the first to know.  The fellow looked a bit stressed when he heard the news. Dr. Green stared at the tea leaves.  He knew a bit more about stress than most, he thought.  Gus hadn’t been the one in court a few days ago. *** “Dr. Green, please stand with your attorneys.” Dr. Green rose to his feet.  He felt the eyes of the judge, the jury, and the entire gallery in the

Chapter 1 Les Safer sat in the lab’s break room, staring at his meal.  He closed his eyes and prayed.  “Lord,” he whispered “bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies, and us to Your service.” He peeked at it.  And he closed his eyes again.  “Please do something with it.” He had to admit, Dr. Eaton Green’s veggie weggie stew just wasn’t cutting it.  He needed something savory to sink his teeth into, not some substitute that felt like a boiled eraser. Praise the Lord, anyway, he reckoned.  And he managed, “Thanks and amen.” He peered over his Buddy Holly glasses to Martin Greer, a young 20-something African American with short cropped hair.  What his workmate was enjoying looked and smelled a lot better.  He reckoned he must’ve gotten soul food spices to season whatever it was.  Were those actual chitterlings?  Les had heard stories that those were pork intestines or other innards of the pigs.  He’d heard rumors chitterlings were pretty good if you didn’t think too much

LES AND GUS An "Under Cover" Yonkoma by Jimmy Dimples PANEL 1 Gus looks to his friend Les with concern. Les, in a white button down, black necktie, and an annoyed, worried funk, holds up a green trench coat sprouting pea pods, leaves and vines. 1. GUS: What's the matter? 2. LES: My pea coat came out wrong! Now I don't have a costume for the Halloween Party! PANEL 2 Gus holds up a light tan farmer's jacket. Les looks a little unsure, but ready to try it. 3. GUS:  Gotcha covered. Try this farmer's jacket. 4. LES: Well... okay.... PANEL 3 Gus smiles, pleased with the results. Les looks down at himself, happy with how the jacket worked out. 5: LES: Hey! It looks great! 6: GUS: I knew it'd be perfect. You're going as a super spy, code name Otto from Elevator Action, right? 7. LES: Yeah. Crazy how a farmer's jacket pulls it off. PANEL 4 Gus cracks a goofy grin. Les looks to the reader with a wince to the pun. 8. GUS: Not really. You're playing a field

A.I.-YI-YI! A Safer-Greenwear Yonkoma Series by Jimmy Dimples Strip 002 PANEL 1 At the Lab's loading dock. In the background, workmen wheel in some cartons and a desk size console. Dr. Green, a moderately tall, slender, dark haired, balding 50-something in a white lab coat and spectacles, is looking over a clipboard, checking an invoice. ' 1. DR. GREEN:  Right, then, let's see what all is here.... PANEL 2 Les hustles up to Dr. Green. The workmen in back now roll out some fridge-size computer towers a la Cray supercomputers. 2. LES:  Hey, what's up? 3. DR. GREEN: Oh, Les. Just a delivery arrived a bit late. We'll tend to it later; go ahead and finish your lunch. PANEL 3 Dr. Green returns to his clipboard. Les sticks around, curious. The workmen behind them now wheel in some vintage computer banks with big magnetic tape reels. 4: DR. GREEN: Let's see... CPUs... GPUs... NPUs... 5: LES: GPU? NPU? What's all that? PANEL 4 Gus comes in from the right, with a

A.I.-YI-YI! A Safer-Greenwear Yonkoma Series by Jimmy Dimples Strip 001 PANEL 1 Exterior of an industrial building with glass plate windows for a greenhouse on one side. A ten-wheel panel truck pulls up nearby a loading dock. 1. CAPTION:  Safer Greenwear Labs, Dawson County, NC, Lunchtime. 2. SFX:  HONK! HONK! PANEL 2 Sitting inside the lab's break room are Les Safer, a young 20-something Anglo fellow with sandy blonde hair, Buddy Holly glasses, and a white lab coat over a polo shirt, and Martin Greer, an equally young African American with short cropped hair, clean-shaven face, and button-down shirt with vertical stripes, baseball uniform style. They both look up from their meals to the side, heeding the truck horn. 3. LES:  Hmnh? 4. MARTIN: Hey, you expecting a delivery? PANEL 3 Les and Martin get up to head out toward the hall. 5. LES: First I'd heard of it.. 6.  MARTIN:  Maybe it's a Doordash or Grubhub? 7: LES: In a delivery truck? That size? PANEL

LES AND GUS A "Come Clean" Yonkoma by Jimmy Dimples PANEL 1 A laundromat's parking lot, inside a car. Les and Gus look back to their dirty clothes and a big jug of detergent. Les is a little bummed. 1. LES:  Aw, man... I lost the measuring cap to the detergent. PANEL 2 Gus hands him a travel coffee mug. Les brightens up. 2. GUS:  It's cool. Just empty this out and use it. 3. LES: All right, thanks. Good thinking. PANEL 3 No dialogue. Outside the car, Les dumps the contents of the mug. A thick, light brown disk falls out and lands on the pavement. Both he and Gus stare, surprised. SFX: CLUNK! PANEL 4 Les looks up and stares at Gus, who shrugs with an uneasy smile. 4. GUS: I guess it's time to wash it. 5. LES: Gee, ya think? END!

TETSUKO AND LES A "Not a Bot" Yonkoma by Jimmy Dimples PANEL 1 Tetsuko and Les Safer are fiddling with their smartphones. Tetsuko looks at hers puzzledly. 1. TETSUKO:  ...nani? 2. TETSUKO:  Well... okay.... PANEL 2 Tetsuko reaches over and engulfs Les in a very close, very tight hug. Les is quite surprised. 3. LES:  Huh? 4. LES: Hey! What brought that on? PANEL 3 Tetsuko keeps her hug as she explains. Les scrunches his face in even more befuddlement. 5. TETSUKO: I was tracking my Greenwear order, and your website told me to do this. 6.  LES:  Huh? What are you yammering about? PANEL 4 Still hugging Les, Tetsuko holds up her phone to show him. Les looks aside to us with a not-that-amused-but-more-pleased-than-usual-with-this-kind-of-gag half smile. 7. TETSUKO: Right here. 8. TETSUKO: It says, "Press and hold to confirm you're human." END!

Chapter 9 "When did this happen?" Les asked. Ayako calmed down a little to talk.  "Just this afternoon... well, their morning.  My parents came back from Sendai on something the day before, and on the train back, they started coughing and sneezing, and..." She started weeping again.   "And they couldn't stop!  They had to make them get out in Tokyo, and there, the police and medics escorted them off to hospital!" Gus would have put a hand on her shoulder if Les hadn't had his there.  "Oh, no." "How are they now?" Les asked. "Still alive as far as I know.  Mommy was coughing a lot, and said she felt very hot.  I think she has the fever.  So does my Daddy, but he sounded pretty weak, too.  They're now being treated, but they aren't in the best of care." "Huh?  What do you mean?" "All the hospitals are full!  They had to set up somewhere else!  They are in a factory warehouse they converted!  It's like they are in an army medical tent!  And I don't think they have all the the best