Galaxy Express 999 37

GE999 #37


p115
Here's the target... Speed: 120 space kilometers per second... Distance: 20,000... Bullet trajectory adjusment +0.2...
4th stop: Armoured Angel


p116-117
[nada]


p118
[nada]


p119
What's going on again?

An anti-aircraft gun shoot.
But this kind of weapon doesn't exist anymore!!!

The window is cracked, Maetel!!!

You need a lot of power to go through the protection barrier of the Galaxy Express.
Now is not the time to be amazed.

They open fire from the planet that will be our next stop.
Another dangerous place?!


p120
[nada]


p121
The shield has been broken on 12 parts and there are 26 cracked windows...

We deeply apologize for the inconvenience...
We will proceed to the repairs shortly.

We would have never thought facing such violence someday...
I am going to tell the station so that they take the needed measures against the culprit!

Our next stop seems like a hell of planet.

I've never seen clouds so dark!
It's a pollution cloud due to the smoke of factories, machines and vehicles.


p122-123
[nada]


p124
Wow! This factory is huge. It's endless!!

The whole planet is a factory that continuously make all sorts of products...


p125
Next stop: Mass-Pron. It will last 2 days and 3 hours on Earth...
which is one local day. The company wish you a nice stay.

I wonder what we will feel if we'd stay longer on this planet devoted for mass production...
As for me, I wonder if machines complain.

Such a fog is weird, we have yet to see any machines producing smoke.
It's been hundreds of years this factory is continuously working. The air gradually changed over time.

At any case, I love production sites because they're always full of life.
Yes...

Even the station has the same style!!!


p126
Ouch!!!

Excuse me, I'm in a hurry!!!
He stained me!!!

This planet is full of oil.
But it's machine oil, there's some iron filings.

panel: Factory Station
Wow! Even the station looks more like a factory than a station, right, Maetel?


p127
He has been executed...!!


p128
This young man is responsible for the damages sustained by the Galaxy Express. So he has been executed in front of the station.

How did he manage to make a weapon capable of breaking the train shield?

He must have been the same age as me...

Recently, a child turned an asteroid into ashes with a warp missile he created. It made quite a fuss.

When you grow up in the middle of machines since your early childhood, mecanics become part of you.

Children here know how to use all kinds of machines...
As if they were mere toys to them...

But the train's windows are just cracked...
The punishment is far too harsh...


p129
Yet, there's a good reason...
Which one?

With 10 yens, I can make you a H-bomb...
And for 5 yens, an automatic rifle...
You'll understand quite soon...

Even the hotel look like a factory, I can't believe it!!
panel: Turner Hotel


p130
The layout is quite minimal, but this hotel is still amazing.
People here aren't interest in anything but goods production.


p131
Wah!

panel: Turner Hotel


p132
I'm falliiiiiiing!!!
Tetsurou!!!


p133
panel: Hotel


p134-135
I hope this time you have understood what we are capable of! You're scum who can't create objects but only use them!!


p136
You know nothing about the pain of the people who make these goods!!

Please forgive us for the inconvenience!

??


p137
It was a close one, Tetsurou!!!
Maetel!!!

Luckily, you aren't even hurt. It's a true miracle...

We captured the culprit. We will now proceed to her punishment.
Which is?

Being shot in front of the station.

We're making a living from the sale of our products all over the universe.

All the people of the universe are our clients, and since the customer is always right, we're making sure that they're not bothered.

The execution will take place soon. Feel free to come see it!
Another child?

No, a girl...
A girl?!!


p128
Hurry up and shoot!! We will all die, and this will be the end of this damn planet!!
One minute till execution!! Take aim!!


p139
Don't you understand that it's like shooting at yourselves?! You imbecile!!

If we don't do that, no one would ever buy anything from Mass-Pron.
...

I prefer leaving this planet which bears the burden of producing useless objects for an ungrateful universe for good!!
We face the sarcasm of others who treat us like dirty humans!! And we have to produce objects for their daily needs?!

Die, you filthy prideless rats!!

Could you stop the execution?
I beg your pardon?

Well, since you're the victims, forgiving her would be enough, but...

Then, please stop this execution right now and spare this girl!!


p140
Ah? Err...
Stop the execution!

!

We won't execute her, but she will spend 3 or 4 years in jail for the destruction of the hotel.
I don't care, I don't hold any grudge against you!

She smells like oil.
Most likely because she spent her life surrounded by machines and she's been working here for a while.

Even some parts of the Galaxy Express are made here.
Really?!


p141
I wonder how many dozens of millions of people are working on making objects under this thick sky...

And which pieces of this train actually come from this planet?


You know, I prefer people who are working with all their might, even if they smell like oil, rather than those who don't do anything and always criticise.
Me too, I like hardworking people, but I hate oil smell.


p142
You don't like mechanic bodies?

...

...

Beware, Tetsurou!
Someone must have fallen!!!

Don't get close! They're trying to hijack the train!


p143
But it's you!!
You know her?
Sorry to disturb your travel... I'll never forget that you've saved my life...

I have no intention to hurt any passenger...

But I'd like to join a new planet where we could make objects...

without polluting skies or covering the surface with steel.
...


p144
Your name is Hoshino Tetsurou, right?

Yes, and you?

I'm Kurou-Maria, I was born on Mass-Pron... I will never forget you, wherever I'll be working.
And maybe one day, you'll use an object I would have crafted.

No one enter this wagon or I shoot!!
I'll take shelter fast!!!

What are you going to do, mister inspector?
I am going to contact the main office so that they take needed measures.


p145
Wait, stop!!
Wah!!

They just want to borrow the train for a moment!
But...

If you just let them go, they wouldn't have any reason to cause you any trouble, mister inspector.
Yes, but...

...

Oh, weird. I don't remember anything. Did anything happen?
No, no! Nothing at all.

Tetsurou...
Yes?

Bring that to Kurou-Maria.
What's inside?


p146
Hand it to her and come back to me!
Ok!

Maetel told me to give you that.

Tetsurou!!!!
Yes?

But that's nothing...
Thank you!!

...

What is it, Kurou-Maria?
Well...


p147
Jesus!!!

Those are train tickets!!

That's not money, but we can go wherever we want with that!!
They're genuine... I cry from joy...

Maetel! When Kurou-Maria took my hand, she put a lot of oil on it.
I can see that!

No need to wash your hands, it's fine by me.
I thought you didn't like the smell of oil.

Don't worry... If it's her smell...

The robotic body I'll get someday...
will maybe have been made by Kurou-Maria and her friends!!

Maybe...


p148
Made by men, the objects travel through the universe. By being used by their owners, they share joy and sadness with them before eventually breaking, then disappearing... This fatality doesn't prevent Tetsurou from liking craftsmen that can make a living through their handiworks more than anything else...