The Patdown

enchantedsleeper

Bubbles Yellowhands

fusorx

I found an old school, coins only, still fully working payphone in a gas station parking lot as recently as like 2019

Skeeter Zymbal

I just noticed that there's a coloring error in the last panel...

Mark

That seems a little extreme. The May's New Body story line should have taken at least a week on its own.

Ursus Ridens

Some of us old people get really uncomfortable about how much of our lives get packed into that little rectangular gizmo. It almost becomes one's identity. Dystopian story idea: Phones talk to servers including government servers without involving the person at all. The phone comes to be regarded as the more significant of the two. (Hmm. How close are we to that scenario?) And when you lose your phone...

Jax

About two weeks, give or take

Afunnythinghappedtome

I dare ya change all of Bubbles to that color for one panel only

Nathaniel Tagg

I love the time distortion. It’s been the same day for what, three months real time? I wonder how long it’s been in QC world since QC 1…

Stephen Wells

Once used Find Device to identify that our daughter's phone was literally in the room but completely invisible. It turned out that a hospital bed had somehow eaten it - when we turned on all the motorised bits to raise and tilt it, the phone fell out from underneath.

Hugh Eckert

TFW you have to use the "find my device" page because your phone is in your room some place but buried...

James D

PSA: payphones still exist, but they charge massive fees for credit cards.

Orion Rhine

I know that panic. If I have my phone I know I can call for help, look up maps and bus routes, and use music to drown out the worst parts of the world. Without my phone my anxiety spikes hard.

Lucy

And that's how Faye and Bubbles adopted Emmett

Stephen Wells

Oops, right. Was still thinking of Bubbles.

Julie Chan

@Stephen: "they", not "she"

Cybersynth

Robot jaundice

Jeph Jacques

Lol oops

ljdbjlasfbjk

She put on gloves. Turn up the heat, Dora!

Summer Sudbrink

The phone is now part of somebody’s prehensile tail, giving rise to a whole new category of butt-dialing.

Chameleon combat programming kicking in. She's changing to match the wall to blend in, disappear, we'll never see her again.

Afunnythinghappedtome

Quick, somebody retcon a reason for Bubbles’ hand color change

Afunnythinghappedtome

Liz dropped her phone so hard all phones fell into toilets

Duncan

Is it a thing to type emoji in escape characters now? I've just discovered that '<' means the 'less than' sign and it feels like I can read the Matrix now!

Stephen Wells

Maybe they left their phone at Union Robotics before they came over to the coffee shop.

Mitsuki Ayane

lol Jeph forgets to color in ONE THING ~<3

Jared Kolbly

People did this so often at work that I became sensitive to the very quiet call waiting beep. I would get the occasional odd look when I would suddenly get up and go to the other side of the room and answer the seemingly silent phone.

Miyaa

@Viktor • Helps if their phone number is easily rememberable. Like if it’s like one of those phone numbers for a legal attorney you call if you are in a wreck.

Big fan of Bubbles' mustard colored gloves

Doug DeJulio

Speaking of where things turn up, you know how people are always complaining about things turning up in the last place you look? I will sometimes continue looking for something after I've found it *just* so that this isn't always true.

Shane Wegner

This is such a sinking feeling.

Ursus Ridens

C'mon, Jeph: Now give us Emmet Nataraja.

Ursus Ridens

Handset?

Magic Chopstick Games

This, but the sudden realization that you hadn’t put the phone handset all the way back onto the rocker when you used it a few hours ago and it starts ringing the *second* you fix it

Bagge

Back at home Emmet's mother resets the 'Days Since Emmet Shenanigans' sign to '0' with a deep sigh

Viktor

How many people memorize numbers these days? I know 3, mine and 2 that are defunct. Emmet not knowing their parent's number isn't exactly shocking. Yay probably does, though.

Shawn Spencer

She's WAAAAY too young to have her phone permanently set to "Silent" like us adults do. So it shouldn't be hard to find.

Lenore J Jones

Lol! And often it turns up in a place you can swear you checked three times.

Daniel S

If they know their own parental units phone number (with a little gremlin like this we can’t assume) I imagine Bubbles has calling capability

Joseph Bonnar

Poor Emmet. The good news is this: Bubbles will almost certainly escort them home and will be able to explain to Emmet's parental unit that they just didn't have their phone.

Doug DeJulio

Ah, yes, when I misplace things and then have to check every single pocket to make sure... I call it the "ADHD Macarena".

A. J. Alfieri-Crispin

See an extra arm or three WOULD come in more handy than a tail.

Daniel S

Clearly Emmett is a master of the five-hands technique

Captain Button

Jeph sings of arms and the Canadian...

BobC

Forget adding tails. WE NEED MORE ARMS! Yes, this is a "call to arms".

Onyx

That bottom caption is SUCH a nice tie'in

Katrina Urmson

Oooooo the panicky feel… so glad when I was Emmett’s age cell phones weren’t a thing. I just had to pay attention to a clock (if available) or sun.

Dan Curtis

that sinking feeling when you pat an empty pocket