augmented-4

A four-panel comic. A child and mother (a woman with brown hair) sit together on a grassy hillside. Panel 1, the child asks: "How did you do it, Mom? How did people deal with life before augmented reality goggles?" Panel 2, the mom replies: "We had augmented reality back then. It was called tequila." Panel 3, she continues: "The controls didn't work well and it had a nausea problem. Also sometimes you'd do things you'd regret and there was no save point." Panel 4, the child says sympathetically, "I'm sorry! Oh if only you'd had some other option!" and the mom answers, "Cutie, don't wish your life away." The joke: drunkenness compared to clunky AR tech, with the bittersweet punchline that even its flaws were part of a life worth keeping. Votey: a tiny lone figure stands on a hill, dwarfed by a vast, sparse, washed-out landscape, evoking the smallness of a life looked back on.