But what about the Family of Theresa? She has a sister and mother, she is not a mysterious orphant kidnapped by first one lab, then the other...

Following on from this and Torg Bogard's thought...

...what if Oasis is actually an alt-Theresa, dragged across worlds by some early experiment in dimensional travel as a child in the days before Riff made it safe? [1]

She IS outside the web, after all.




1 - relatively, anyway

Guys, Guys.

I have a new hypothesis. I can't go through all the past strips, and this really just a hunch but...

I think Theresa is actually Kusari.

~

Before you think of this as weird, consider the following ( a) Kusari was considered to be sisters or an equivalent to Oasis, in terms of ability, and even relation

( b) Schlock hinted that there was something that Kusari was hiding under the mask

The flaw in this hypothesis of course is: why would Pete introduce a character like Theresa so later in order to explain who/what Kusari is? There are a number of explanations ( maybe he didn't plan out an identity for Kusari just yet, or maybe it wasn't the right time) but, and as of this point, I cannot think of any important character that could double as Kusari. Some had suggested it was Sasha, but Sasha had been in the same panel as Oasis and Kusari before, so thats invalid.

To me, if Theresa is Kusari, it fits some themes nicely, especially if she's an alternate Oasis.

Saik called Hereti-Corp and talked to Kusari while Teresa was in the Nofun legacy group's dungeon.

Not to mention this

Damn I was wrong. Still, good eye!

~

Today's thread is interesting though. It confirms a few suspicions that would suppose some Oasis-s related hypothesis.

Is it just me or since Alyee punched Teresa she's looked boyish.

Now she's totally changing her hair

If Teresa is connected to Oasis, perhaps it means that Oasis spawns in particular live people after she dies. If that's the case I imagine we may see Teresa change after an Oasis death in the near future. That's a bit of an out there suggestion, but I'm really not to sure Teresa has any legitimate tie to Oasis at all, so why not throw something nutty in the mix.

To paraphrase Granny Weatherwax - you recognise her because she's got a mask on? Who says there's only one Kusari?

...I mean, consider:

- Kusari and Oasis are related - born from the same mad-science R&D project, perhaps?
- Kusari - the Kusari that was working for Hereti-Corp there - is not the first Kusari
- Dr. Steve may know things about the Oasis project that Hereti-Corp didn't think possible.
- Oasis has the ability to come back from the dead and does so. Repeatedly.

So. Perhaps whatever it is that keeps Kusari loyal to Hereti-Corp only works until she gets killed - at which point she resurrects with little-or-no memory of her former life, some distance away. Perhaps Slaughteresa is the former Kusari, resurrected, her loyalty programming broken - and Hereti-Corp has no idea about this, because they don't believe the stuff that was in Dr. Steve's notes (and they don't kill their designer assassins to test them for immortality, because that would be stupid). Monicruel happened to find her when she was recovering, and managed to persuade her that she was Monicruel's sister (probably after seeing both her skills and her amnesia and taking advantage of both). And then Monicruel built up her entire criminal empire on her ruthlessness and Teresa's abilities...

I finally figured out who Teresa reminds me of: the Genie summon from Chrono Cross

Maybe, although personally I still think it's too much of a reach. We have a perfectly reasonable back story for Theresa and Monicruel. There is also Theresa's apparent aversion to actual killing.

She'll fight to protect herself, but she doesn't display the psychopathic homicidal tendencies of either Kusari or Oasis. She's much too interested in stealing the shinys.

Finally, I think she's just not emotionally damaged enough. She's more like the gang in terms of her humor, impulsiveness and vulnerablities. (Which is not to say the gang don't have their personal problems, but compared to the opposition, they're relatively mainstream)

Kusari and Oasis and 4U Harbinger are definitely connected. I kind of see Harbinger as the ultimate synthesis of Oasis and Kusari that perhaps was what was meant to happen and is probably Schlock's ultimate goal. Programmable super-soldiers.

To paraphrase in turn. "If all you have is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail"

I thought Pete was just messing with us with the half-Oasis hair up until the kiss. That was a little too much of a coincidence for it to be nothing. And then that idea got sidelined with gag-bruises and then a bomb, though I doubt Torg has forgotten...