LAST EDITED ON Apr-02-10 AT 01:34 PM (EDT)
9 An Interlude, in Symphony parlance, is a story focusing primarily (usually exclusively) on the character arc between Utena and Corwin.26 Sort of a space RV. It is, in fact, not uncommon to see well-to-do retired folks traveling the galaxy in runabouts, occasionally decorated with big maps of the known galaxy with the sectors they've visited filled in.
43 If the standard long-haul configuration of an IPSF runabout has a drawback, it's the rather limited selection of Hungry Humanoid dinners.
66 "Main bus B undervolt" is a reference to the Apollo 13 accident - this warning was the first indication the crew had (well, aside from the explosion) that something was seriously wrong with their spacecraft.
126 Channel 9 is the international distress band.
130 The Standard codeword for distress, mayday, has nothing to do with the first of May; it's a corruption of the French m'aidez ("help me").
132 In Galactic Standard comm parlance, "declare an emergency" is a special phrase that only signifies one thing: a vessel has a problem, be it technical or otherwise, that threatens the safety of vessel and crew, and which the crew does not believe can be corrected with the resources on board.
172 Utena has good instincts; if she'd tried to knock him away from the conduits without using the cover as insulation, she'd probably have been fried too.
198 Corwin had to start shaving at a relatively young age, most likely as a result of his Norse heritage. The gods of Asgard don't start growing beards as early as, say, the dwarves do, but they're still early bloomers in that regard.
245 Well, technically, at this point he's not dying, he's dead.
250 It seems this cursing at the patient business is a peculiar quirk of human psychology; I've read that people very often do it in situations like this, despite the fact that there's no earthly reason to think it will do any good.
260 In Utena's case, it's exacerbated by the fact that she's reminded, almost to the point of flashback, of her own "death" at the end of Revolutionary Girl Utena.
334 And this is why, even in a deep-space emergency, it pays to observe proper lockout/tagout procedures at all times.
438 Those who have seen Apollo 13 will know that this sequence owes a good bit, stylistically speaking, to that film, so it's only logical to use a bit of the appropriate background music here.
476 Utena's thoughts here rather reflect my own at the time I was writing this; I was, myself, becoming increasingly concerned that the development of these events was painting Corwin (and me) into a corner from which there was no graceful exit.
588 I know, kind of a downer of an ending, but I knew I was going to pick our heroes' spirits up at least a bit with the next piece.
612 Continuing with our Apollo 13 theme, EECOM, INCO and GUIDO are all abbreviations for NASA mission controllers. EECOM is the Electrical, Environmental, and COMmunications officer; INCO is the INstrumentation and COmmunications officer (yeah, two communications officers, and that's not including CAPCOM); and GUIDO is the GUIDance Officer.