03x20 - First Dream

[bunniefuu]

Senku.

The fact that you're standing here alone means one thing.



Ha! That is so bad!

We won, didn't we?

Yeah. Sure did.

All thanks to your creative brilliance.

I survived like a cockroach too stubborn to keel over and die.

Now as the scientist tag team,

we can get to work reviving the whole crew!



It's a bit like a logic puzzle,

'cuz if we don't connect the pieces in the right order,

we'll starve to death.





I'm, uh, hungry, too.

For food!

Amaryllis!

So heavy.

For strength!

Taiju!

For cooking!

Duh, Francois!

Time to dig in!

Ooh! It's delicious!



Shame. The battery for our beloved cell phone

is on its last breath, I'm afraid.

Got one last call from Ruri, but it dropped a minute later.

How're things on your side of the world?

Sounds fuzzier than the noise from the earpiece.

Because it gets reception from the mainland.

Wow! So Ruri just called to see how everything was going?

That sounds like a village priestess to me!

Hold on, let's say that she did call

because she was worried about all of us.

She knows that it would slow us down, so why even bother?

Sure, some people would've checked up on us

for their own peace of mind,

but this is Ruri we're talking about,

and she just doesn't think like that.

For years, she suffered alone so others wouldn't have to.

You're right.



That level of trust can only mean one thing!

So is this Ruri Chrome's lover?

She has to be a former flame at the very least!

No.

That girl's actually Senku's ex-wife, or so I've been told.

What?!

When did you have the time to get married to someone, Senku?!

It was only three minutes. We divorced immediately.

You're saying not only have you been married,

you've gotten divorced, too, Senku?!

Hey, Chrome, will you please explain the nature

of this little love triangle?

Well, I would, but it's, uh, a stupidly long story.

And it's besides the point!

What matters is Ruri's trying to contact us!

Let's call back!

Then we should go aboard the Perseus.

Its equipment might allow for two-way communication.

Good idea!

Well, while our signal should reach, there's one problem.

Agh! Those jerks had no clue how to operate this stuff,

so their first instinct was to make a mess of everything here?

Meh. Gettin' mad and yelling won't fix this disaster zone.

I don't think I've ever actually seen you

get truly angry before, Senku.

It definitely happens, dude. I'm far from a saint.

But it wastes precious time.

This much damage will take several weeks to repair.

Thus, I will go and ready the mess hall.

I'm kinda loving how proficient this latest team member is!



If we gotta rebuild stuff, we need Kaseki.

We'll also wake up a few other able bodies.

It'll be all right.

Now that we aren't waging a w*r,

we can focus on reviving everyone.

We've earned a reward for snagging the Medusa,

so whaddaya say?

Why don't we take the Perseus on a victory voyage?



Every time I'm revived,

there's a brutal amount of work waiting for me.

I know!

Yo's statue should be right below the ship,

or pretty close to it.

Hm?

Kirisame.

Saving an enemy is always a tough call.

Do we really wanna risk our safety?

Let's smash her up!

You don't even hesitate when it comes to m*rder!

Uh, you should learn to stop and think a bit, too!

She was being deceived by Ibara, is all. Now she's free.

What do you want from me?

There must be a reason I'm one of the first you chose to wake.

Yeah, there is. Know those invaders you caught?

Where'd you dump their statues once you got 'em down?

His wounds were fatal.

You think they'll really be healed?



The revival fluid's restorative properties are no joke.



Wait! My wound!



G-Ginro?

Hey, Kinro.

You're all here.

Kohaku!

Thank you so much, Kohaku!

You had the breast plan!





Aw, yeah! Ginro's back to his old self!

Yep. That's one way of proving it.

Agh! No fair! Why's Senku get all the love, huh? Jeez!

Oh. That's right.

Kirisame has been under the impression

those two are legit sweethearts since the moment they kissed.

I really don't think it's that kind of hug.

Not between them.



Nothin' beats an ice-cold cola after earning a big W!

With my jaw-dropping and eye-opening miracle power,

I, the great Oarashi, will crush you!

That's pretty hilarious.

What about you is such a miracle, anyway?

Did you mean to say "typical" or "really dull?" Ha-ha!

You dare insult my greatness?

I want a good, clean fight! Ready?

Go!



Hey, Magma! Kick his ass!

Show him the people of the sea are tough as rocks!



I heard what you did, Ginro.

The information you learned from the risk you took--

It's true! Even though it's crazy!

My grand master plan totally involved

getting impaled by Ibara!

Which I think we can all agree is pretty darn cool!

You just never change.

Kinro, Ginro!

Have you seen Senku and his team around?

Um. Hmm.

Keep it quiet.

Then it's happening?

There they are.

Of course!

Come kick back and have a drink with us, science team!

You guys are working way too hard!

There we go! We got a signal!

Yes! Our glorious comms are all patched up now!

Can't communicate with this much noise in the background,

so hush, would ya?



Senku?



Yeah. Can you hear me okay, Ruri?

Yes, loud and clear. I'm glad I finally got through.

Let's save our story-swapping for the next time.

You need something, right? sh**t.

What?

This is your first exchange with your ex-wife

since all the chaos that happened on the island!

She doesn't even get a "hi"?

That's classic Senku for you.

Right, so were you the ones who sent that odd message?





That sounds like interference. By a stronger signal.

A stronger signal?

How is that possible when we should be the only signal?

That is, unless...

Affect ,,...

It's not Morse code.

Nope. No code.

Wait. Somebody's speaking!

Yeah.

Affect ,, meters in one second.



No! It's going to trigger!

Hey, do us a favor.

Keep it away from the speaker, even if it kills you.

Well, safe to say we finally know where the Why-Man stands.

That was a clear attempt to cause us harm.

So he means to see us destroyed.

I don't get it, though. Why use the radio?

This is insanity! ,, meters wide?

Not only is it an oddly specific choice,

it's also terrifyingly huge!

Know what's ,, meters?

The diameter of planet Earth.



The real issue at hand isn't what he said, it's who said it.

True.

I know that voice.

Because it's yours, Senku.

Affect ,, meters in one second.



This is exhilarating. Get excited!

The voice behind the mystery transmission is Senku?

I'm scared! Very scared!

I'm getting goosebumps from head to toe!

I don't understand what's going on!

It sounded like Senku talking to us, but he's right here!

It's possible this version is a good-for-nothing fake.

Absolutely not!

Our Senku wouldn't be a bad guy in a billion years!

A theory almost refreshing in its simplicity.

Bet it's a smartphone recording! It has to be!

Heh. Regrettably, I don't have a smartphone,

and I ten billion percent have no memory

of recording that message.

What if Senku has a twin?

Like an evil clone?

Or maybe he traveled through time, yeah?



Don't be so rude, you guys.

You're all just spouting baseless speculation.

Am I wrong?

Why-Man is hostile toward us,

so he'll be in touch soon enough.

And, eventually, he'll slip up.

Uh. You're having tea at a time like this?

How exactly do you keep your chill?



Woo-hoo! We got another transmission! Come listen!

He repeats the same thing at regular intervals.

Affect ,, meters in one second.

It's the same as before, right down to its timbre.

As a former sonar operator,

I would stake both of my ears on that fact.

That voice--

it dips into the same uncanny valley as a Vocaloid.

Because it's synthetic.



How?

How is an artificial voice possible in the stone world?

Ha. Let's think, Gen.

How isn't really all that significant at this point.

The fact is, it's being done. I wanna know why.

Why send a transmission using a synthetic voice?

Who would do it? Also, from where?

Answering the why could tell us.

Clearly the Why-Man is a naughty boy

bent on petrifying the world,

so that answers part of your question.

What's not so clear is why he's imitating Senku's voice.

Transmissions. Senku's voice. A phony.



When you finally petrified Ibara, you tricked him, right?

By giving the command over the radio?

Hmm.

What if he heard? And that's how he's copying you!

Is this dude, like, incredibly smart,

or just dumb beyond all comprehension?

I figured the Medusa was his invention, but now I'm not sure.

That's got the wheels in my head turnin', too.

Why was the device on the island at all?

My thoughts, exactly!

Hmm.

If we had somebody who knew the device's history,

they might also know about Why-Man.

Um, I remember!

Well, not anything about the Why-Man.

But I do recall the Medusa's shape.



Now that we know Why-Man is our enemy,

our job as the battle team is no longer to theorize.

It's to condition ourselves

for the unavoidable battle that awaits.

Ah!

We just b*at the petrification kingdom

and already we have a way worse enemy!



They're even!

I can't believe how fierce they both are!

You're strong. So strong.

I'm beginning to think you were holding back

the last time we fought!

Ha! I wasn't going easy on you.

That's just plain disrespectful. Apologies.

The dress I had on at the time was a little more constricting!

No, no, no!

Huh?

No craziness for me!

I didn't survive a brush with death to die anyway!

Who's this person?

An ancient islander our Taiju happened to pluck

from the sea floor.

Hmm. His arm has a mark.

Looks like a wound, or a tattoo. What do you think it is?



Oh, wow!

It's swoopy like the Medusa thingy.

Ha. His arm kinda sorta broke off while I was carrying him.

Good. Then it can't have eroded too much.

A healthy dose of revival fluid should repair him.

This guy healed with some marks.

It's been a while since we've seen that happen.

The stone surface deteriorates as time passes.

Some bits fall off without healing properly.

This fragment's also thinner than ours.

He must be from a couple hundred years ago.

After all this time, have I truly been revived?

That strange light was not my end?

Yep, you got it.

Now tell us about this "strange light" that rocked your world.

Thank you, kind travelers. I'm in your debt, profoundly.

So, uh, can we skip this part?

We just want details on the device, bud.



-- No freakin' way!-- Stop running, Ginro!





M-Master!

I'll save you!



I shamefully dishonored myself, Master.

I should've never been petrified.

But I, Matsukaze, will not let those brigands have their way

now that I've returned to you, my lord.

Um, wait, so you're on our side? Huh?

Look, this guy isn't your "master."

He's just our resident sleazebag.

Hey! That isn't true!





Uh, hi.

Man, do I really look like somebody high and mighty

from way back?

He's definitely gotta be one of my distant relatives!

And truth be told, I'm probably his reincarnation.

So how about you serve me in his place?

Sounds good, right?

And he wonders how he earned the title "resident sleazebag."

Whatever the situation,

he's always looking out for his own interest.

Ginro being Ginro.

Then why was he acting so honorably

while he was cross-dressing?

So back to this petrification device

that you saw all those years ago, Matsukaze,

would you tell Senku and the g*ng about it?

Very well. I'll tell my story.

Life on this island was peaceful once upon a time.

Until disaster suddenly befell us.

Huh?

Huh?



Countless of these nightmarish "devices"

rained down from the heavens.



Ha! That settles it! It originated in the sky!

That's plenty of useful info and more than enough

to help springboard us into our next course of action!

Let's get moving, guys!



Uh, but weren't we kind of in the middle

of hearing Matsukaze's story?

Science will fill in the gaps!

And they're gone like the wind.

There we go!

If memory serves,

that's what we used against Tsukasa's army.

Oh, yeah. The w*apon that gathers sound waves.

"The shock cannon," wasn't it?

Okay, so, what's it for now?

Well, our little cannon gathers sound and radio waves.

It's the same basic concept at work.

This parabolic antenna's gonna help us trace the signal

Mister Why-Man's been pissing on us.

Affect ,, meters in one second.

The baseline length of these measurements

is too tiny to tell crap.

This guy is well beyond the earth's surface,

or even the atmosphere.

Hm. I won't even pretend like I know what that means,

but I'm guessing the enemy is really far away?

Heh. It depends on the time.

We're constantly moving thanks to Earth's rotation.

Once we gain a few thousand kilometers,

we'll be able to figure it out.

Right. So the signal's not too far off.

Wait. Then you're saying he's actually really close?

No! It can't be both!

Okay! We had fun tracing the Why-Man's call.

And our results tell us

the enemy is a few hundred thousand kilometers above.

If you need me to spell it out, he's on the moon.

--The... --...moon?!

The signal's moving in conjunction with it,

so there's no mistake.

That's actually possible?

How are we supposed to fight him?

I'm pretty sure the Perseus wasn't built

to fly us to the stars!

Ha. Leave them to their own devices,

and that negligence will be our demise.



Now wait just a second here.

I have an ad-bay feeling about all this!

A feeling that's most assuredly correct!

Senku, I know what's coming because I know you.

This is the primitive stone world we're living in, though!

Time for progress. 'Cause we're going to the moon!

I knew it!