Difference between revisions of "2455: Virus Consulting"
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This comic imagines a scenario where [[Ponytail]] work for a {{w|consulting firm}}, which offers advice about viruses, specifically COVID-19. Ponytail tells a panel of people (the government?), consisting of [[Hairbun]], [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]], that though they are worried about COVID-19 variants, the fact that the number of people vaccinated is exponentially increasing is a good sign. Hairbun then accuses Ponytail's firm of simply "telling them what they want to hear", implying that they do this to make them keep retaining her firm. But Ponytail rebuts her and tells them that they should see her colleagues (bad) reports to another client, Covid. | This comic imagines a scenario where [[Ponytail]] work for a {{w|consulting firm}}, which offers advice about viruses, specifically COVID-19. Ponytail tells a panel of people (the government?), consisting of [[Hairbun]], [[Cueball]] and [[Megan]], that though they are worried about COVID-19 variants, the fact that the number of people vaccinated is exponentially increasing is a good sign. Hairbun then accuses Ponytail's firm of simply "telling them what they want to hear", implying that they do this to make them keep retaining her firm. But Ponytail rebuts her and tells them that they should see her colleagues (bad) reports to another client, Covid. | ||
| − | The panel is flabbergasted when asking '''who''' are they working for... to which Ponytail just replies that her company works (and consults) many clients | + | The panel is flabbergasted when asking '''who''' are they working for... to which Ponytail just replies that her company works (and consults) many clients. |
| − | The punchline comes in the final panel where it turns out that Ponytail's colleague, [[Black Hat]], is consulting his clients, which are the viruses themselves | + | The punchline comes in the final panel where it turns out that Ponytail's colleague, [[Black Hat]], is consulting his clients, which are the viruses themselves. He presents the exact same graph to the viruses and gives them the opposite message: though COVID-19 variants seem to be exciting to them, vaccination numbers are terrible news to their propagation and survival. |
| − | This repeats the idea of [[2287: Pathogen Resistance]] where the pandemic is seen from the virus' perspective. As in that previous comic, it is the virus that are in a lot of trouble, which is another way of saying that humanity stands a good chance of surviving this situation. | + | This repeats the idea of [[2287: Pathogen Resistance]] where the pandemic is seen from the virus' perspective. As in that previous comic, it is the virus that are in a lot of trouble, which is another way of saying that humanity stands a good chance of surviving this situation. |
The fact that another member of Ponytail's firm is telling clients that they should be worried is what Ponytail refers to when claiming that her firm does not simply tell clients what they want to hear. | The fact that another member of Ponytail's firm is telling clients that they should be worried is what Ponytail refers to when claiming that her firm does not simply tell clients what they want to hear. | ||
Revision as of 15:27, 27 April 2021
| Virus Consulting |
 Title text: All our teams make an effort to stay optimistic, but I will say that once our virus division saw the vaccine efficacy data, they started asking for payment up front. |
Explanation
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This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by a COVID virus. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks. |
This comic is another in a series of comics related to the 2020 pandemic of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, specifically regarding the COVID-19 vaccine.
This comic imagines a scenario where Ponytail work for a consulting firm, which offers advice about viruses, specifically COVID-19. Ponytail tells a panel of people (the government?), consisting of Hairbun, Cueball and Megan, that though they are worried about COVID-19 variants, the fact that the number of people vaccinated is exponentially increasing is a good sign. Hairbun then accuses Ponytail's firm of simply "telling them what they want to hear", implying that they do this to make them keep retaining her firm. But Ponytail rebuts her and tells them that they should see her colleagues (bad) reports to another client, Covid.
The panel is flabbergasted when asking who are they working for... to which Ponytail just replies that her company works (and consults) many clients.
The punchline comes in the final panel where it turns out that Ponytail's colleague, Black Hat, is consulting his clients, which are the viruses themselves. He presents the exact same graph to the viruses and gives them the opposite message: though COVID-19 variants seem to be exciting to them, vaccination numbers are terrible news to their propagation and survival.
This repeats the idea of 2287: Pathogen Resistance where the pandemic is seen from the virus' perspective. As in that previous comic, it is the virus that are in a lot of trouble, which is another way of saying that humanity stands a good chance of surviving this situation.
The fact that another member of Ponytail's firm is telling clients that they should be worried is what Ponytail refers to when claiming that her firm does not simply tell clients what they want to hear.
This would not be the first time that Black Hat has given advice to natural disasters that can kill humans, see 1754: Tornado Safety Tips.
SARS-CoV-2 variants, commonly called "COVID variants", have been in the news. The SARS-CoV-2 virus has mutated into many different strains, some of which spread more easily among humans. It is unknown whether the different variants have a greater individual fatality rate. The current SARS-CoV-2 vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna as well as the Regeneron therapeutic monoclonal antibodies all effectively protect against at least the New York (Lineage B.1.526), South African (Lineage B.1.351), and U.K. (Lineage B.1.1.7) variants according to two recent study preprints released April 22, 2021. Further research and peer review is ongoing.
The title text notes that the firm's "virus division" (the group advising the viruses themselves) has started to get worried that their jobs are becoming obsolete, due to vaccine efficacy. Thus, they are demanding to be paid "up front", before consulting/advising services have been rendered to their clients. Dependent upon the expectations of each party, payment can be asked for "up front", deferred for invoicing once services have been rendered, or a combination of the two. The weaker party to a contract may need to submit their transaction, or a guarantor, before the other spends too much effort in fulfilling their side of the contract.
Transcript
- [Ponytail stands in front a chart, with a labeled graph with an upward-curving line at the top, and several box-and-whisker plots below, with unreadable text and labels. She is holding a pointer towards the plot while addressing a panel in front of her to the left. The panel is seated behind a desk and is composed of Hairbun, Cueball and Megan. Cueball has one arm on the desk.]
- Ponytail: Now, I know you're worried about the variants, but this graph should be encouraging.
- Ponytail: Your rollout is going well. The vaccines are good. They work.
- Label on graph: Vaccinations
- [Same setting in a narrower panel without the chart. Ponytail has the pointer to her side. Cueball has his arms under the desk as the other two.]
- Hairbun: You're just telling us what we want to hear.
- Ponytail: If you think that, you should see the reports from my colleagues who work for COVID.
- [Close-up of Ponytail in a very narrow panel.]
- Off-screen voice: They work for who??
- Ponytail: Our firm has lots of clients.
- [Black Hat stands in front of an identical chart as in panel one, and points to it with a pointer in the same way as Ponytail did. Only he is looking to the right at his clients. He is speaking to a panel of three large coronaviruses, two of which floats above the desk, the middle one is partly below the desk. Across the top frame of the panel there is a box with a caption:]
- Meanwhile...
- Black Hat: Now, I know you're excited about the variants, but this graph should be terrifying.
- Black Hat: We're in real trouble here.
- Label on graph: Vaccinations
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In a way telling the virus the 'bad' news actually should get them to work on more variants, so in a way Black Hat is encouraging COVID to mutate faster :S141.101.104.5 14:52, 27 April 2021 (UTC)
Anyway we don't get an answer to the question in the third pane. "They work for W.H.O.?". Hopefully this will be answered in a later comic. Inquiring minds want to know. --141.101.69.211 11:32, 28 April 2021 (UTC)
- Huh? the answer is that they work for "COVID". the who question is more of a statement of surprise that COVID is a client (and isn't related to the WHO orgaization). 172.69.34.52 19:29, 28 April 2021 (UTC)
- That "WHO" might be an extra layer of jokes...--141.101.105.228 00:21, 29 April 2021 (UTC)
Shouldn't that be: "They work for whom?" 162.158.94.104 09:53, 29 April 2021 (UTC)
- "WHOM" as in "World Health Organization - Maybe" ? --141.101.104.149 22:53, 5 May 2021 (UTC)
Sigh. Here we are in 2023, and it seems like it's worked out best for everybody! That is, an everybody consisting of "people who don't get long covid" and "covid". Thankfully, it's not like people's bodies deteriorate, so I'm sure it's just gonna keep being elderly people and already-disabled people who can never go outside again. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.
