| Battle 48 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Volume: | 9 |
| Chapter | 48 |
| Total pages | 42 |
| Released | 1994 |
| Story Arc | Barjack Rebellion Arc |
| Chapter Navigation | |
| previous Battle 47 |
next Battle 49 |
No Brainer ( 非常に簡単、考える必要のない Hijō ni kantan, kangaeru hitsuyō no nai?) is the forty-eighth chapter and the first issue of the ninth volume of Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita.
Cover[]
A cross section of Alita's head and neck, showing both her organic and inorganic components.
Summary[]
Desty Nova looks on in amazement over how Alita managed to escape the control of Ouroboros while both Kaos and Bigott process what just happened. Suddenly, Barzarld tries ambushing Alita from behind only to get kicked in the head by her and getting the right half of his face torn off due to the power of the strike. Nova tries to flee during the distraction, but is stopped when Alita fires several rounds into a nearby wall. Bigott orders her to stop while Kaos informs Alita about the agreement made between Nova and the GIB. Nova takes offense when Kaos calls him a monster and insists he should be praised for his work; Alita responds by pistol whipping Nova, breaking his nose and knocking several of his teeth out.
Alita demands to know the secret of Tiphares
Enraged by this, Bigott threatens to send the rest of the AR Series to kill Alita if she does not stop; Alita laughs at the threat and aims her gun at Nova, telling him to beg for his life if he wants. Nova tries to stall for time by asking if Alita found Ido; she kicks him in the groin and mockingly thanks him for keeping his word after all. Remembering how Ido broke down upon learning the secret of Tiphares, she demands to know what it is. As Nova mockingly asks why she would show any interest in knowing Alita responds that while she does not care about Tiphares, she wants to know the reason for why Ido decided to erase his memory.
Nova decides to honor Alita's request and picks up a laser bonesaw, placing it against his head. Turning it on, Nova begins to laugh maniacally as he cuts into his head, greatly frightening Alita, Bigott and Kaos. Having finished, Nova calmly removes the top half of his head and bends over, showing that his brain has been removed and replaced with a computer chip. He goes on to explain that it is part of the initiation program that Tipharean children undergo as part a eugenics program. While their brains are completely removed, they are replaced with a computer chip that acts as a duplicate brain with all their thoughts and memories preserved on it. While Nova admits he does not know the reasons to why this happens, he theorizes that the entire city and inhabitants are merely part of a larger experiment.
Eelai regenerates herself
Unable to accept this, Bigott storms through the GIB control room and goes to a washroom, grabbing a powersaw. Upon cutting the top of his head off, Bigott is driven insane when he sees the same happened to himself. He babbles incoherently as he stumbles back into the control room; a drone from the Medical Inspection Bureau quickly arrives and kills him along with the other TUNED operators inside the room. Nova casually mentions how he seems to have started a purge in the city and applauds Barzarld, who grabs an unaware Alita from behind. Activating a wall of ultra pressurized water, Nova laughs at Alita trying to shoot through it and bids farewell as he disappears through a nearby chute. Alita breaks free from Barzarld's grip and, remembering that he has cellular nanomachines that will regenerate any damage, flings him into the pressurized wall and Barzarld is messily torn to pieces. Alita frees Kaos and begins questioning why Ido did such a thing; Kaos tells Alita to not blame Ido for his actions, because they have no idea the depth of suffering he was going through. He sends Alita after Nova while he will man the nearby control console to monitor his father's location; Kaos sends a flood to Nova's location but the scientist is only incapacitated briefly. Nova decides to test himself if he can overcome the agents of his karma (Alita and Kaos) and wakes up Eelai from a regeneration bath.
Alita is shown a room full of Nova's experiments
As Alita traverses through the corridors trying to find Nova, she theorizes that if what he said about the Tiphareans is true, then the scientist is a victim like the others. Kaos directs her to a room that is full of Nova's prior experiments of innocent citizens from the Badlands captured by the scientist, including traders, Factory Farm residents and abducted children. As one begs Alita to kill it, she complies and slaughters the entire room while roaring that Nova does not deserve forgiveness. Eelai strolls into the room and notes that she is still as emotional as before. She gloats about how she is essentially immortal and attacks Alita by shooting a jet of highly pressured water from her suit, effortlessly slicing through Alita's pistol. Alit draws out the Damascus Blade and insults Eelai for not having her mind fixed; Kaos protests that the pressurized water is what shapes & sharpens the Damascus Blade, rendering it unusable in the fight. Eelai agrees and puts up a pressurized shield in front of her; however, Alita manages to break through it and slice apart Eelai's hand, causing the water pressure to escape Eelai's suit and kills her in the explosion.
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