Gust

It makes sense if you read all the red speech bubbles and then go back and read the blue ones. Each character is monologuing, not having a conversation

Just wait until ai figures out that the conditions in the core of the sun are perfect for maintaining stable qubits…

(Not true, but this comic gave me a bit of inspiration to run a ttrpg based on that premise)

Imo the cigarette is just there to imply nonchalance towards the column of fire in the last panel, and outside context (watching people cook in Chinese takeout places) suggests to me that she’s using a gas burner with significantly higher output than what’s common in western kitchens. You need some serious heat to get that wok hei reaction

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Bottom left. Tails OS best OS

Quantum computing is trying to be ai, in the sense that it does have niche scientific uses it excels at but tech bro types want it to be the next general computer so they can make their empire on it. The only use case I’ve seen it excel at so far is generating precisely tailored probability distributions, which end up mostly being useful for simulating different models for quantum field theory. Even then I’ve only seen that in looped fiber implementations, which imo are a stretch on the definition of quantum computer.