More on the Dream Topping event
Posted by:
Jazz_Sue (---.range86-134.btcentralplus.com)
Date: June 01, 2007 06:21PM
Every time I think I've got this sussed, another problem enters my head. Right, anyway, here goes:
When Thursday's dad stops her shooting herself etc he asks, was there anything unusual in the chemical analysis of the pink goo? She says yes, chlorophyll. He says ah, that explains it then (or something like that - I'm typing this away from my books) This would appear to be a reference to the buttonhole he is wearing when he goes back to the beginning of life on earth (which he creates courtesy of the nanobots breaking him down into a primordial goo - I got that) This covers the creation of green plants, something that would be unlikely to happen if a shortcut to the start of life was 100% animal. I also reckon the pearl button getting sucked in is significant - seashells presumeably are made of something we are not, and I know life began in the sea.
My problem lies in the chlorophyll aspect of the 20th century pink goo. The initial event (Colonel Next being converted to primordial gloop and thus seeding all life on Earth) of course needed chlorophyll in the mix to get life going (no chlorophyll = no biochemicals to make simple plant life to make oxygen. Pretty sure bacteria - the start of cellular life - and so forth come in there too) BUT millions of years separate that event from the 20th century one, so - the fact the whole thing forms a continuous 'loop' in time notwithstanding - the presence of chlorophyll in the 20th century gloop cannot be explained away by the presence of his buttonhole.
The way I understand it, the nanobots go haywire because, instead of just converting the dream topping found on the waste tip into a sustainable food source (question: is dream topping in the TN universe actually composed of real nutrients, rather than totally non-biological chemicals? cos that certainly isn't the case here) they get busy converting ALL the living protein they can find into pink gloop. This, presumeably, includes all animal and plantlife, as well as - presumeably - related at the local landfill sites. So of course the mix would contain chlorophyll - stands to reason, dunnit?
So, was the chlorophyll bit written in just in case some bright spark decided to say, 'Ah, but what about green plants - where did they come from, eh? Eh?' Or is it that Colonel Next realises that it was only because chlorophyll was part of the initial start of life on earth, that the nanobots recognised it as living matter all that way into the future? When Thursday and her dad travel into the future and see a world covered in pink gloop (the alternative reality he prevents from happening) it doesn't mention plants so, presumeably, all the trees etc got swallowed up as well. In other words, did Jasper write in the chlorophyll/buttonhole section to cover this possible loophole? I think, reading back on it, I've just answered my own question. But I'd like to hear if anyone else has been pondering on this.
Jeeze. Is it just me that gets these headaches and has to be kept away from sharp objects at night? Bertie Wooster never gave me this trouble - then again, he wasn't nearly as funny.