#3121: Kite Incident
Permalink
Transcript
[Cueball approaches Megan from the left. Megan is flying a kite, with the line attached to a spool.]
Cueball: Ooh, flying a kite?
Megan: Yeah. I found this big spool of fishing line in a closet.
[In a silent panel, Cueball and Megan are seen from further away, indicating that the kite is flying higher.]
[Cueball and Megan are seen from yet further away, indicating that the kite is flying still higher.]
Cueball: Are we allowed to fly a kite this high? Should we Google whether there are rules?
Megan: Eh, it's probably fine.
[The line held by Megan leaves her hand almost horizontally before curving up. Cueball stands a little way downwind his hand up to the string, above head-height, as if supporting/stabilising it or testing its tendency to stay up.]
Megan: The string is really starting to sag.
Cueball: Maybe we could attach another kite? I'll go get one.
[A new kite is attached just above the line, supporting it higher in the air, Megan's held end now leading up to the point it is joined.]
Cueball: It worked!
Megan: Nice!
[Megan is feeding out line from a partly depleted spool, via a peg/ground anchor, with a knot visible a short way up the rising cord. Two further empty spoole are seen on the ground. Cueball is approaching with a box.]
Cueball: I bought another package of string.
Megan: Oh good, these spools are almost empty.
Megan: I think we're in the jet stream.
[Three empty spools, one spool in use and one unused spool surround Megan and Cueball, with one supporting kite visible on the line that Megan is still feeding out.]
Cueball: How many kites are on there now?
Megan: I've lost count.
[Another silent panel, zoomed out to see at least a half self-supporting "kite-length" about ready to have a new kite added at the ground end, and almost the same amount of curve leading off-panel to the next (previously attached) kite, unseen. There are flat items (presumably kites), spools (one being the current one being fed out) and boxes (assumed to contain more kite material and/or spools behind and around the two small figures.]
[A much larger panel with the same ground details but a wider view. Above the ascending line of kites there is now a second, horizontal line of kites, dangling furves of connecting chord, leading from off-panel left to off-panel right.]
Cueball: Uhh...
[Some kites, spools and boxes are around the two figures, now seen again in close-up.]
Cueball: ...Did it blow in a circle?
Megan: I don't know. Lemme look at a map of where the jet stream goes.
Cueball: Hey, do you hear sirens?
[A CNN logo is at the upper right of the panel. Megan stands at a lectern, with Cueball on one side and Ponytail, holding a briefcase, on the other. Illegible subtitle/sub-banner text appears at the lower left, lower right, and below them.]
[A banner with white text on a black background:]
Breaking: Kite Incident Duo Speaks
Megan: On the advice of our lawyer, we would like to apologize for the events that shut down global air travel last week...
(Sourced from explainxkcd.com)
Title text:Detectives say the key to tracking down the source of the kites was a large wall map covered in thumbtacks and string. 'It's the first time that method has ever actually worked,' said a spokesperson.