| Battle 38 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Volume: | 7 |
| Chapter | 38 |
| Total pages | 41 |
| Released | 1994 |
| Story Arc | Barjack Rebellion Arc |
| Chapter Navigation | |
| previous Battle 37 |
next Battle 39 |
Undercurrent (不足電流 Fusoku denryū?) is the thirty-eighth chapter and the third chapter of the seventh volume of Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita.
Cover[]
Koyomi looks to the distance while hugging Fury.
Summary[]
Fury rides the TUNED mobile unit
Alita travels in the same caravan Koyomi was riding in, while Fury rides on the mobile unit (much to Lou's irritation). Soon, the truck suddenly stops and the driver states they have reached the border of Barjack's territory in the Badlands. As the driver suggests they use an alternate route, the ground suddenly gives way and both Alita and Koyomi fall through the ground; Lou admonishes herself for not scanning the area ahead of time.
Getting caught in an underground river, Alita tries to find a way to give Koyomi a source of oxygen; she decides to give her mouth to mouth and proceeds to electrolysis the water in her lungs. While this does save Koyomi from drowning, it damages Alita's lungs to the point where her systems power down and enters into a coma; before falling unconscious, Alita tells Koyomi that she will have to find them a way out of the underground cave network they are currently in.
Koyomi is taken by mole people underground
As Koyomi struggles to carry Alita through the caves, she spots movement in the distance; thinking it is a group of humans, she calls out to them only to get surrounded by a group of mole people; becoming frightened, Koyomi reaches for Alita's TUNED pistol and fires a few rounds. The gun is quickly taken by the mole people and they swarm Koyomi.
Kaos travels through the mind of Alita
Just then, an elevator is heard traveling down the shaft and Kaos exits it; this causes the mole people to bow and prostrate themselves in front of him. A few of them continue to chatter amongst themselves and force a headset on a screaming Koyomi as they carry her towards Kaos; she suddenly hears a voice telling her not to worry. Kaos addresses Koyomi by name and extracts memories from her mind that tells him how they ended up in the caves; he then takes them both back to the surface and greets his associate Jasmine. He reveals how he was able to glean the information from Koyomi as well as that he is psychometric. He touches Alita's face and is quickly overcome with all her memories, travels and combat experiences; he huddles in a corner, shaking with fear and wonders who she is, addressing Alita by her original name: Yoko.
Meanwhile, Lou frantically tries to figure a way to get in touch with Alita or TUNED when the caravan driver begins driving off; calling him a coward for abandoning them, she begins to chastise all surface dwellers for being selfish and prude compared with those in Tiphares. She suddenly hears gunshot ringing out nearby and a large group of Barjack is seen shooting at the caravan, with Den appearing and destroying it with a giant hammer.
Back at Radio K.A.O.S, Kaos discovers that Alita is a TUNED agent and working with Tiphares; wishing to continue remaining neutral in the fight between Barjack and Tiphares, he decides to give Alita over to Den. Koyomi protests this decision and calls him out on being a deceitful liar. As Kaos enters a backroom, he looks over Alita's body and ponders why he is acting so frightened of her, mulling over whether it is due to fear or some other emotion. Meanwhile, Alita remains in a subconscious state and imagines someone operating on her; envisioning it to be Ido, Alita wakes up and is surprised to see that it is Kaos; sitting up, she learns from Kaos that he used psychometry to repair her using past experiences of Ido operating on her. He admits that it is her fault, then promptly kisses a shocked Alita.
Trivia[]
- It is revealed that Kaos is psychometric and can absorb any abilities or skills by touching items or beings.
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