Galaxy Express 999 25

GE999 #25


p151
From afar, it's an Earth-like planet just like many others.

But from closer, you can see some sort of golden dust moving on the surface at night...
25th Stop [or 5th Stop]
The Streets of Kei


p152
This planet is really beautiful with all this golden dust flying on its surface...!


p153
You feel like in a dream. What is shining like that?
This planet is as strange as a dream... But still, it's real...


p154
Next stop will be "Firefly Mariko", it will last two days and one night...
Good!! We will have the opportunity to spend a night here. It's impossible to truly grasp this place during daytime.

It looks like the light grains heard the train whistle and are looking at us right now...
That's exactly the case, they're staring at the train...


p155
Are they those lights we can see up there?
No, all the street lamps are fixed.


p156
The standard of living seems pretty high here.

The inhabitants have similar comfort as you can find on Earth.

But here the difference between rich and poor is far more cruel.

That's because of...
Please forgive me.

Do you have any cloth that needs to be washed? I can take care of them if you want. I can also get rid of your trash.
Thank you, but we have already cleaned our clothes with the automatic washing machine on the train.


p157
I see... So you have nothing for me...

...

Err, Maetel, have we received some money when getting off the train?
Yes, you want to give her a tip? I'm not sure she will accept it...

Hey!! Please wait!!

Yes?
Here...


p158
What do you want from me in exchange?
But nothing...

I'm not a beggar. I'm not the kind of person who would accept money without doing anything in return.

...
But I just wanted to...

Please excuse me for having hurt your feelings.

She didn't want it?
I was wrong thinking hat she would accept just a part of it.

On Earth, I was also living like a beggar...


p159
I needed money, but mom was always saying...
"you need to work with all your might to earn a living"...

I would also be ashamed to receive something from someone without nothing in return. I would only have needed to work if I needed something...

Even if my body was paralysed by fatigue, I still had to gather my energy to keep on working, to earn my living by the sweat of my brow...
I would have surely prefered death over charity...

That's how my mother raised me...
... And I also think that it's fairer this way.

I hope I haven't hurt her feeling too much, Maetel.
You haven't!!!

Come in!


p160
Please go out with me tonight!!!
You will be able to buy something if you want.

You will just have to give me only one coin, no, just half of it would be enough. Please...

...

She's really brave. She must really have gathered all her might and forgotten her sense of shame...

paper : {
I will be at my apartment at 9pm.
Freia
}

At 9pm, tonight...

It's rather ambiguous to go at a girl's place at night with money in hands...
Don't you think, Maetel?

And yet...


p161
What should I do?

...

...

I need to take care of some business, I will come back around midnight. You'll just have to go to bed ahead of me.

The train is leaving tomorrow at 9am.
Don't be late.


p162
Take care!!!

...

...

It must be okay now...

Let's go...!


p163
!!

It's Maetel!!!

She's reading a magazine, it's not what she told me.
She left me alone so I can be free of my choice.

Please forgive me, Maetel!

This way!!!


p164
It's pitch dark in the lower districts.

Ah!!!

Was that a car? It looked like a giant firefly.

It's here...


p165
You came!
Yes, but...

Come in!

Waaah!!!

I intend to become an animation movie maker.
I've yet to produce one, but I'm sure I will someday.

What did you want to sell to me?


p166
Here's the storyboard that is telling the story of my only friend: my pet cat.

It was my only friend.

Please buy it!

But without it, you won't be able to produce your movie, right?

It was my dearest friend.
I can't photocopy it because it costs too much.

I want you to buy it because it's the most precious thing I have.
...

My cat keep on living in my heart and it's okay if I part with this storyboard...


p167
One day, I will definitely revive my friend into an animate form...
... by putting all my heart in it...

Can I give it a look?
Of course, and please buy it if you like it!

If you don't want it, you won't owe me anything.

!!

?!

??

A blackout!!!


p168
Ah!!!
But what the hell are you? Are you human?
Don't look at me! Close your eyes and get out of here!


p169
I see!! In those dark places, the bodies of this planet inhabitants shine just like fireflies!!!
This golden dust that was shining at the surface of the planet, what I saw from the train was actually from the people!


p170-171
Yes... And at our birth, we discover how we shine... We judge people's beauty or ugliness based on their brilliance and it inflects on everyone's fate...


p172
The most beautiful are the ones of which the whole body is shining evenly.

Those with irregular brilliance like me are the ugliest...
So there's no way I'll get a good job someday.

And if you ever try to live normally despite all, the others make you regret your choice...

Someone like you who comes from a world where nothing shines cannot understand.

About look, me too, I...
All is fine, you can go back home!

You can take the storyboard with you, and please buy it if you like it, or else don't... I will join you at your hotel tomorrow.


p173
I've never heard of a planet where fireflymen live.

Waah!!

Wow!! There are even people who don't shine at all?

You're so ugly you can't even call yourself "human". Hurry up and die!!!

Shut up!! I'm perfectly normal on my planet!!!


p174
Maybe, but here, without any radiance, you can't even be a pet! You're worst than a cockroach!!
What did you say?!

You can say whatever you want, I don't care, I'm going back to the hotel!
Ah... I see.

Don't ever show your damn face here again!!
What an idiot! I want to rip his head off!

That's not streetlamps, but human beings...

Those who don't shine or live poorly in the street or under some bridge trying to survive only because of their appearences...
From the sky, I thought it was a marvelous planet, but it's way worse than Earth!!
I feel so happy by your sides tonight...
Yes, I want this moment to last forever.
Phew, I've eaten too much.
Let's throw the rest! We have way enough anyway.


p175
This planet deserves to be completely destroyed!!!

What did you say?! Stop right away!!
I can say whatever I want, right?

Are you some traveler?
I'm armed, so if you feel like bothering me, I can shoot you down with one shot.

You're from the Ga... Galaxy Express 999...
It's okay then, but beware of what you're saying.
I'll try to remember.

I really hate this planet!!!


p176
Miss, your friend has come back about two hours ago.
Thank you.

?


p177
What's going on, Tetsurou?
Ah!! Maetel, is that you?!

That's nothing, nothing at all.

Did you see Freia?
Yes, she gave me a storyboard...

Is that so? Does she want to produce an anime?
Yes!

It's a storyboard about the story of some cat that was her only friend.
It's a really beautiful story, I couldn't stop crying during the saddest parts.

She made you promise to buy it if you'd like it.
Yes!

And are you going to buy it?
Of course, it's a beautiful work.

Very well... She will surely feel your honesty.
Yes. But while we were together, there was a blackout...


p178
And did you see her...
As for me, I didn't care much, but Freia was really feeling uneasy...

Why do people's value must depend on their way of shining?
It's a conceited planet, deeply bound to beauty of appearance.

The city light arising beautifully disappoint strangers too. [I'm not really sure of what she meant here, but that's what the French translation means litterally]

People who don't shine cannot see this scenery of such vanity...


p179
Tetsurou...

Ah, it's you, Freia!!
Have you read the storyboard?

Yes, I'm buying it, here's for you!
Good then, I have nothing more to say.

Two coins...!!

The galaxy train society gave them to us, I'm also giving back your storyboard.
Huh?


p180
So that's it, you're not buying it, you're just making charity.

No, not at all, as promised, I've bought your storyboard.

But you will need it someday to turn it into an anime. You will need it even if you think that you have everything in your head...

... And when your anime will be done and you won't need it anymore, you'll just have to send it to me.
I know that someday, I will watch it in some space movie theater, the movie about your cat friend...

... And I'll think about you and this storyboard, and I will shed a tear one more time for this cat!!

My eyes are all red because I cried so much when reading it last night.


p181
... Thank you, Tetsurou!

...

Everything is dealt with then. It will soon be departure time.

I wonder where I will see Freia's film.
Probably on your way back, when you'll have your robotic body.


p182
What are you doing here?! You and your body that are hardly shining!!
I came to bid farewell to a friend...

Freia!!!
You're not in the lower districts here.
I just came to...

Shut up! Go back to your slums!!!

Wait!!

!!
You're the one who bumped into me and insulted me last night?!

Are you taking this train?
Indeed.

Good then. But before getting on board, you'll fight against me!!


p183
I'm challenging you!!
Is it really a gun you have on your belt? Then draw it!! Don't hesitate to shoot at me!!


p184
But no... Wait... I... no!

I get it!! Please stop!! I was wrong, easy there!

Why are you leaving this place? In a universe without rules, your shining body, your tall height and your pretty face won't be of any use.
What you need to survive is courage and confidence in your own abilities...

If you feel good only because of your radiance, then don't ever leave this planet!!

That's how I understood he was the one who bumped into me yesterday, he never fought in all his life. He always considered his place as something normal.
But in fact, he's a true scaredy-cat.

Tetsurou, take this...
Eh?!


p185
You were really eloquent, Tetsurou...
Where is he?

He's on the next wagon, trembling in fear.
He's a good for nothing, he will get off the train in a few stops and go back home.

Is that a gift?
Yes, Freia gave it to me.

A little figurine!! And it's me!!
Maybe she will someday make a film with you as the main character.


p186
Then, time has passed, and Freia's anime was projected in theaters of many planets. These few words were written as half-title: "I would like to dedicate this work to my cat and to the great Hoshino Tetsurou. For his friendship and the courage he managed to inspire in me, I will never forget him..." We still ignore if Tetsurou was able to read those words!