Absolutely Mechanical Zone

Absolutely Mechanical Zone

Manga Chapter 16-4

Manga Chapter Summary:

Aboard the 999, Maetel comments on how the number of stars they are seeing is increasing. Tetsuro compares it to a whirlpool and starts thinking about if the planet where he can get a free mechanical body is in the center. The Conductor comes in the train car and says they are entering the Absolute Mechanical Zone and to set their clocks to mechanical time. The Conductor says in this area laws are meant for mechanical people and living humans are treated like animals. Maetel tells Tetsuro that no law will protect him and he has to rely on his own strength.

A high speed mechanical bullet train approaches the 999 and the locomotive worries about them colliding.  The 999 is told to go onto a branch line, but says it can’t do so without permission from the Railroad Administration. The 999 is told the bullet train has priority in the Absolute Mechanical Zone, so it has no choice but to go onto the branch line. The bullet train nearly hits the 999, and causes all its windows to shatter. Maetel says they’ll be okay since they are still within the barrier preventing air from flowing out. The locomotive is somewhat shamed over what happened and the Conductor says this is the first time he’s been overtaken while Conductor. The Conductor tells Tetsuro their next stop is “Machine Fort”, with a layover time of 15 minutes, 30 seconds. Maetel says that 15 minutes will feel like 100 or 200 years and the Conductor says humans rarely go there and would need a lot of preparation.

The Conductor has the 999 go back on the main line and the train approaches Machine Fort. Tetsuro comments on how beautiful it looks and that it must be a paradise for mechanical people. The Conductor says it is similar to what Earth is for humans. The 999 heads into a large tunnel where the station is. Maetel says they should have a meal and they go to the dining car where Tetsuro happily eats some steak. A pair of machine people look at him from outside the train, saying he has a nasty face and thinking he’s a monkey. Tetsuro yells at them and Maetel tells him to stop; they are merely children. A bucket of oil is thrown at Tetsuro and spills all over him. He angrily rushes out of the train at them, despite Maetel and the Conductor’s pleas for him to not go. A trap door opens up underneath Tetsuro and he falls in.

Maetel wants to get off the train, but the Conductor warns her that even she shouldn’t get off here. Tetsuro wakes up to the sound of dripping water and finds himself in a sewer like area with water dripping in and a grate covering the way out.  Tetsuro realizes the water is rather unpleasant and has oil waste mixed in with it. Tetsuro notices a long haired woman and her child floating nearby.  Tetsuro rushes to them to see if they are okay. The woman claims they have the death penalty and have already faced execution. They are still technically alive in here, but there is no way out, no food and no way to drink this water. Tetsuro asks why they are being executed and she says humans are treated like annoying animals here, as if they were flies or fleas.

Tetsuro talks to himself of how at least flies or fleas could make their way through the small pipes in here and escape. He feels he is in trouble and doesn’t want to die in here, shouting through the grate. The woman claims it does him no good, he’ll just be laughed at by the mechanical humans. Meanwhile, Maetel has departed the 999, despite the Conductor’s objections. The Conductor sits down for a bit and observes that the time is clicking by, yet neither Maetel nor Tetsuro have returned. The Conductor goes to the Locomotive, asking for an extension on the departure time. The Locomotive claims no delay is allowed, especially here. Maetel, on the streets of the city says farewell to the 999 as it takes off in the sky above.

Meanwhile, Tetsuro continues to complain about the dungeon they are in and the woman tells him it won’t take long to die here. The Conductor decides to quit his job and leave the 999, packing up a suitcase. When told he can’t ride the 999 anymore, he says he’ll give himself up and throw himself out of the train. He goes to a train car and opens a window to jump out, but the 999 has come to a stop. The Conductor continues and falls out of the 999. In the dungeon, the woman starts singing a nursery rhyme to her child. We see the 999 heading towards the Conductor and the Locomotive being silent. Tetsuro falls over into the water and the woman asks what’s wrong. Tetsuro says he is hungry, cold and sleepy. She grabs him and tells him to be firm. Tetsuro wakes up and finds himself in a hotel room! Maetel is before him and says it’s the designated hotel in the area for real humans.

Tetsuro looks outside and realizes they are in the city. Maetel claims she knows someone well here and requested Tetsuro be pulled out of the dungeon. She says he was almost dead when they did so. Tetsuro asks about the mother and child and Maetel claims they are in the next room. Tetsuro goes to it but finds it empty; the food and clothes left there are untouched. He realizes the mother and child are walking out of the hotel and rushes to the lobby where they are. The woman claims Tetsuro is irritating her and calls him a dog. She asks him why he came to the dungeon and if he was there to play and have fun looking at them. She says the only humans who can live from there are those who have sold their souls to those with mechanical bodies. She calls Tetsuro a minion and a dog of the machine people.

The mother says she is leaving to go back to her home, the dungeon, to be sentenced to death. She says she’d rather die than sell her soul. Meanwhile the Conductor wakes up and realizes he’s back on the 999. He goes to the Locomotive, which says it received a request from the Directorate General to return. The Locomotive tells the Conductor to worry more about himself than other people. Even a body such as his won’t be able to be recovered after having been thrown into space for a long time. Back at the hotel, Tetsuro watches in horror as multiple shots are fired and strike the mother. Her child cries in shock over her and Tetsuro shouts out to him that it’s dangerous. It’s too late as more shots are fired and kill him as well. Dust is all that remains of the two of them.

Tetsuro is shocked that they did that to even a small child. He spots the 999 returning. Once back on the 999, the Conductor comes to congratulate Tetsuro but finds him in a somber mood. Tetsuro wonders if this planet is a sample of what those are like here in the Absolute Mechanical Zone and Andromeda galaxy. He wonders if Maetel deliberately showed him a planet like this. The Conductor says all of Andromeda isn’t like this and there are many planets where humans live. Tetsuro compare himself and his mother to the mother and child he encountered here. The Conductor tells Tetsuro to be careful and that his journey will continue for a long time. There are good things ahead. In the Locomotive, Maetel is talking through a communication device, asking why the mother and child were executed. The voice responds that it didn’t make a promise to them. The Conductor realizes Maetel was talking with the person in charge of the planet. She wonders if the child should have escaped and if he’d have been able to fight along with Tetsuro.

Non-Spoiler Analysis:

It is a rather dark chapter this time, although my favorite thus far in this stretch of manga-only storylines. The 999 as it continues through the Andromeda Galaxy makes its way to the Absolute Mechanical Zone, where flesh and blood human beings don’t have the protection of the law and are treated like animals. The 999 soon heads to the planet Machine Fort, a planet dominated by mechanical people. My thoughts went back to the previous chapter “Laura of the Dual Planets” (4-7/5-1) which was also a mechanical person dominated planet. Much like that chapter, Tetsuro is derided as being an animal and here he ends up getting oil thrown all over him while he’s eating. Tetsuro can’t control his temper and soon finds himself in a dungeon.

Tetsuro soon realizes he’s not along in the dungeon; there is a mother there with her small child, probably no older than 1 – 2 years old. The woman seems like she has lost all hope and acts as if the death penalty has already been imposed on her by being here. As part of his experience in the dungeon Tetsuro realizes that living on this planet as a human being makes one akin to a fly or a flea. Human beings don’t care when they swat a tiny bug like that, so the mechanical people on this planet feel the same way about them. Through Maetel’s influence Tetsuro is pulled out of the sewer, as is the mother and child. But here we have an interesting twist; despite being given food, clothes and a hotel room, the mother rejects them all and starts making her way to the dungeon. The mother feels as if Tetsuro has sold out to the mechanical people and calls him a dog. This is interesting to see, and it’s a bit surprising that Galaxy Express 999 hasn’t really explored this much before. Tetsuro comes from absolute poverty, but since he has been with Maetel he has had a fair amount of luxury. He gets to ride the 999, eat a lot of fancy meals, stay at nice hotels and travel throughout the galaxy. Has Tetsuro sold out? He essentially has. Usually Tetsuro’s encounters with those who are poor and destitute are good ones. Tetsuro feels kinship with said people and they with him. It is not like that at all here. The mother thinks Tetsuro has sold his soul by doing so and refuses to associate with him. Both she and her child are killed shortly after.

The chapter also had an interesting segment where the Conductor for all intents and purposes resigns his position due to the 999 departing the planet and leaving Tetsuro and Maetel behind. And since he’s no longer an employee and doesn’t have a pass, he needs to get off the 999! Rather than wait until the next stop the Conductor literally opens the window and jumps out into space! Thankfully for him the 999 comes back and gets him and ultimately goes back to Machine Fort to get Tetsuro and Maetel. Clearly the two of them are very important to the Conductor and it is good to see him standing up for them in this way.

Spoiler Analysis:

A segment very similar to the bullet train passing the 999 occurs in the movie Adieu Galaxy Express 999. In the movie, the 999 is confronted by another train, the Ghost Train, which demands it be given right of way. When the 999 Locomotive refuses, the Ghost train barrels its way past the 999, causing all the 999’s windows to shatter. The Locomotive is completely humiliated, claiming something like this has never happened before. The Conductor also sheds some tears over the embarrassment.