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Description

If not Gurney, who put the money in the card? Thufir came to suspect the Lady Jessica.

Image description:
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A 10 panel Dune comic featuring Piter de Vries and Baron Harkonnen. Each panel is a black and white sketch.

Panel 1:

Piter is closing his eyes and concentrating. He’s holding out a finger like ‘wait’ at the baron, who is approaching him with a folded piece of paper.

Baron: Mentat! I need you to -

Piter: MMmmm! Nonono... math.

Baron: Oh, a-alright... right in your wheelhouse, eh? I take it you’ll be finished quickly? Because -

Piter: Shut.

Baron: exCUSE ME?

Piter starts muttering to himself, with the words “carry the three” only just legible.

Baron: ...

Panel 2:

The baron looks displeased. He’s approaching Piter with the folded paper again. Piter is writing on a chalkboard with a vacant expression.

Baron: WHAT! You have got a chalk board involved now? What are you calculating? The third deepest level to the theory of everything? We intercepted a coded message from an Atreides courier. It's very time sensitive. Stop that at once and tell me what this says. ...You work for ME! Stop doing your job and do your job, god damn you!

Panel 3:

Piter (coming up behind the baron): Baron.

Baron (startling and dropping a book): De Vries! You scared me. I thought you were focused to the point of oblivion for the day! Is there an emergency? What happened?

Piter: I just got back from Accounts and Billing. This week's pay is 20.37 solaris short. The discrepancy is from a travel refund stamped with your signet ring, so they told me they couldn't take action until I talked to you.

Panel 4:

Baron (looking angry and confused and holding up Piter in front of him): S-surely this means you have finished your complex math problem?

Piter (tolerating being held up and looking mildly confused): 'Complicated,' m'lord. 'Complex' has specific meaning in math. And no m'lord, I expect to stay late.

Baron: And this discrepancy in your pay is... the cost of an appetizer at a nice restaurant?

Piter: An appetizer is 30 solaris, adjusting for my tastes, m'lord. But that is a passing approximation, I take your point.

Baron: And you are among the best paid in my House? Such that if I told a common soldier your earnings, they would kill you?

Piter: Let us not test the experiment, m'lord. But correct again.

Panel 5:

A closeup of the previous scene. Here, the baron looks angrier. Piter looks more worried.

Piter (slowly realizing): Oh. Wait. Is this about this morning?

Panel 6:

A closeup of the baron’s face from the previous scene.

Baron (through controlled rage): Just decode the message now that you’re here.

Panel 7:

A closeup of Piter’s face from two scenes ago, compressed and distorted to show tension in the scene.

Piter (mustering up bravery): Excellent, m’lord, but first I will need...

Panel 8:

Piter: ...20.37 solaris.

The text is huge. Beneath it is another copy of the drawing of the baron holding up Piter. The baron looks surprised and angry, Piter is grinning and sweating.

Panel 9:

Piter (pointing to a birthday card with a small wad of cash): ...No need to fear m’lord! (musical note).

Baron (putting his wallet away, looking haunted by anger and suspense): Out with it, mentat.

Piter: This is no cypher disguised as a birthday card! It is a sincere birthday card. See, it is signed 'Gurney Halleck.' My sources tell me that he often speaks in quotations, offering metaphors he can fit to the present situation. He is only wishing old Thufir Hawat a happy birthday in the way that is usual for him.

Panel 10:

Piter (as he’s tucking the wad of cash into the card): Aww, THUFIR! I didn't know it was your *birthday.* How have we not killed each other yet? Well done, you sly old fox! Have this, from me, for many a game well played. I will see that this gets to you straightaway.

The baron is standing behind him, very sloppily drawn to show disbelief. Above him is written, ‘why.’

Description

If not Gurney, who put the money in the card? Thufir came to suspect the Lady Jessica.

Image description:
------------------------------------------

A 10 panel Dune comic featuring Piter de Vries and Baron Harkonnen. Each panel is a black and white sketch.

Panel 1:

Piter is closing his eyes and concentrating. He’s holding out a finger like ‘wait’ at the baron, who is approaching him with a folded piece of paper.

Baron: Mentat! I need you to -

Piter: MMmmm! Nonono... math.

Baron: Oh, a-alright... right in your wheelhouse, eh? I take it you’ll be finished quickly? Because -

Piter: Shut.

Baron: exCUSE ME?

Piter starts muttering to himself, with the words “carry the three” only just legible.

Baron: ...

Panel 2:

The baron looks displeased. He’s approaching Piter with the folded paper again. Piter is writing on a chalkboard with a vacant expression.

Baron: WHAT! You have got a chalk board involved now? What are you calculating? The third deepest level to the theory of everything? We intercepted a coded message from an Atreides courier. It's very time sensitive. Stop that at once and tell me what this says. ...You work for ME! Stop doing your job and do your job, god damn you!

Panel 3:

Piter (coming up behind the baron): Baron.

Baron (startling and dropping a book): De Vries! You scared me. I thought you were focused to the point of oblivion for the day! Is there an emergency? What happened?

Piter: I just got back from Accounts and Billing. This week's pay is 20.37 solaris short. The discrepancy is from a travel refund stamped with your signet ring, so they told me they couldn't take action until I talked to you.

Panel 4:

Baron (looking angry and confused and holding up Piter in front of him): S-surely this means you have finished your complex math problem?

Piter (tolerating being held up and looking mildly confused): 'Complicated,' m'lord. 'Complex' has specific meaning in math. And no m'lord, I expect to stay late.

Baron: And this discrepancy in your pay is... the cost of an appetizer at a nice restaurant?

Piter: An appetizer is 30 solaris, adjusting for my tastes, m'lord. But that is a passing approximation, I take your point.

Baron: And you are among the best paid in my House? Such that if I told a common soldier your earnings, they would kill you?

Piter: Let us not test the experiment, m'lord. But correct again.

Panel 5:

A closeup of the previous scene. Here, the baron looks angrier. Piter looks more worried.

Piter (slowly realizing): Oh. Wait. Is this about this morning?

Panel 6:

A closeup of the baron’s face from the previous scene.

Baron (through controlled rage): Just decode the message now that you’re here.

Panel 7:

A closeup of Piter’s face from two scenes ago, compressed and distorted to show tension in the scene.

Piter (mustering up bravery): Excellent, m’lord, but first I will need...

Panel 8:

Piter: ...20.37 solaris.

The text is huge. Beneath it is another copy of the drawing of the baron holding up Piter. The baron looks surprised and angry, Piter is grinning and sweating.

Panel 9:

Piter (pointing to a birthday card with a small wad of cash): ...No need to fear m’lord! (musical note).

Baron (putting his wallet away, looking haunted by anger and suspense): Out with it, mentat.

Piter: This is no cypher disguised as a birthday card! It is a sincere birthday card. See, it is signed 'Gurney Halleck.' My sources tell me that he often speaks in quotations, offering metaphors he can fit to the present situation. He is only wishing old Thufir Hawat a happy birthday in the way that is usual for him.

Panel 10:

Piter (as he’s tucking the wad of cash into the card): Aww, THUFIR! I didn't know it was your *birthday.* How have we not killed each other yet? Well done, you sly old fox! Have this, from me, for many a game well played. I will see that this gets to you straightaway.

The baron is standing behind him, very sloppily drawn to show disbelief. Above him is written, ‘why.’