Livingstone 1

Livingstone, Chapter 1 (Weekly Morning, No. 35, 2009)


<4>
[x3]=HUFF
[margin]A man attempts to part with his own flesh.


<5>
The physical death is never the end.
As long as the "soul" is still alive,
Life is repeated.
[x3]=HUFF
[black box]"What is the soul?" The answer begins in this new 56-page bombshell!!
Chapter 1: The Cleaning and The Collection
Author: MAEKAWA Tomohiro
Author & Stage director (Director; Ikiume Drama Company)
Artist: KATAOKA Hasei
Eureka Seven, Deadman Wonderland


<6>
[margin]Two people have appeared before a man ready to take his own life...

=Hello, nice to meet you.

=Mr. Kenji Shindo. Age 36, Blood Type A.
=Employed by Ohta Engineering 3 years ago, after divorcing his wife.

=Currently attempting to commit suicide with a knife...
=Am I right?

=We're here to—

[margin bottom]This is a fictitious work. Any semblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.


<7>
[bubble right]Kill
[bubble left]Save
[bubble bottom]You.


<8>
=90% of your life is predetermined.

=How you live, how you die.
CRINK..

=It shapes your life, just like your DNA.
[bubble]To home!

=It's called the "plan" of the soul.


<9>
=Oh dear.
[x2]*whisper*
=Those people are everywhere, aren't they.

[sign]Stone Shop//Stones of all kinds

=...Look, Dad.
=I'm not asking for anything cute and fancy,//But this store is just...


<10>
=Oh.

=Hey, you're late, Sakurai.


<11>
=...I'm constantly amazed by this store of yours.
=Really?

BLOT BLOT
[bottle]Potato Liquor

=Makes me quite a bit of money, actually.
[bottle left]Citrus Sauce
BLOT BLOT

=Here, this stuff is pretty good.
=Tastes even better than when you chug down your first bottle of soy sauce.
HA HA HA

=...No thank you, Mr. Tokieda.
=I appreciate your offer, but... Shouldn't we be getting to work?


<12>
=What's up, Sakurai? It's kinda you-know-what if you take this too seriously.

=In this industry, you gotta...//...Oh well.
WHOOSH

=Here's the "point of negativity" you'll be cleaning today.


<13>
=It's a one-room apartment in this housing complex.

=6 years, I think.//This is the 36-year old man living there.

=6 years...!? That doesn't sound good.//That's more than enough time to upset the "plan" of the soul.

=...Apparently, he's been taking unexcused absences from his job for the past 4 days.


<14>
=Hey,//What is that?
[rock]DEME

=This?//Our goldfish died.

=Your soul becomes a rock when you die.

=The guy over there told us.//So...


<15>
=This is Deme's soul.

=Look, you guys...
=Amano!

=C'mon! It's time for work!
=Hurry...!

=We've got to save this man!


<16>
=—I don't think suicide is the right choice.

=Don't you want to hang on to life a little bit longer?
=Nah, this guy can't do it.//His face is like, "I can't!"
=You can just go ahead and kill yourself if you're ready.


<17>
=No...

=...I mean, who the hell are you people!?//How did you get in here!?
=Th-This is serious...!//I-I'll call the police on you!

=Oh.

=I'm sorry, I hadn't introduced myself.//My name is Sakurai.
BOW

=Uhh...
SHUFF


<18>
=Please, have a look.
[card]Livingstone Collection Services//Cleaning Services//Shozo Sakurai//Address 27-0741//5-6 Minamisakae, Shinjuku, Tokyo//Tel. 070-3575

[close-up]Livingstone Collection//Cleaning

=...Living...Stones...?
SPLISH
=It's "Livingstone."

=Well,//To put it simply,


<19>
=My job,//Is to rescue you.

=Nah,//He's trying to kill you.

=Which one is it!?
=Amano!//Just shut up so you don't confuse anyone!
SHUFF


<20>
BZZ—

CLICK

=Oh, hey!//Don't take it without asking! It's rude!
=You're too freaking slow, Sakurai.

=Hurry up and check on this guy's "soul."

="Soul...?"
=But man, this place is dirty.//And it smells.//How much is the rent?
=Huh?//35,000.

=35...?
=That's far too cheap for this sort of place.


<21>
=Guess we'll do the cleaning first.//Can you take care of it, Amano?
=Yeah yeah.

=Hey!


<22>
=Whoa,//That's a ton of "stains."

[x2]=MURK
SHUFF


<23>
POP
=GWEE!?
=GWE
[x2]BLIT

=Man, they're all over the place.
=GYUK
=GYUK GYUK
[bubble]GWE
TOSS
[black bubble]SHUFF

[x2]KASHUCK

PSS—T

SWIIISH
[x2]=GYUK
=GWEE!?

=GYUK


<24>
=PSS—T

PWOOT...
=—You see, this place is a "point of negativity."

=You must've heard of it before, for instance...


<25>
=—A tunnel where people frequently die.
=A road where accidents never cease to occur.

=Those are places where people's souls have been shattered due to "unplanned" accidents.
=They also drag down other peoples' souls.

[camera]Fulfillment Rate 52%
=You've also fallen victim to this "point of negativity."


<26>
=There must've been an accident... Possibly even a murder before you moved in here.

=The soul is like the DNA of your life.//Every individual's life is 90% predetermined.
=But in your case, the "fulfillment rate" has decreased all the way to 52%.

=Living in a place like this for 6 years has greatly skewed your "plan."
=Your suicide is an "unplanned" fate.

=...Huh?//Is this some kinda religion?
=Souls? Plans?//Who the hell is gonna believe that...?


<27>
=...//Right.
=It's always difficult to explain.
Wish they would make a pamphlet or something.

=...But,//"Souls" do exist.

=...Take this story, for example.

=During the early 20th century, in 1907—//American physician Dr. Duncan MacDougall conducted a controversial experiment,
=Placing a dying tuberculosis patient on top of a scale.


<28>
=3 hours and 40 minutes later,//The very instant that patient took his last breath,

=The weight on the scale decreased by *three-fourths of an ounce.
[margin]*Approximately 21 grams.

=According to his later experiments,//The figure averaged out at approximately 30 grams.


<29>
=—That, is said to be the weight of the human soul.

=—The weight of the Livingstone.


<30>
=Livingstone...?

GARUCK..
=It's this thing.
=I got rid of all the stains.//Take a look inside.

PLIT
=...Why is it so broken?

RATTLE..
=I hate doing this...

GRIT


<31>
BLIT

SHOOF


<32>
SHOOOF

=SO... RRY...
=MO...M//SO
=RR


<33>
WHAM
=S O R R Y

WHACK
=S O R R Y

[scrambled letters]=S O R R Y S O R R Y
[scrambled letters]=S O R R Y S O R R Y

S O R R Y


<34>
GONK

[x2]UCK


<35>
CLACK
=—Oww

=WHEW//...
=HUFF//HUFF...
=WHEW...

=...Well?

=...A child.
=Abuse... No, more like murder.//That must be the reason for the stains.


<36>
=Must've been 5~6 years old.//Poor thing...
=The Livingstone got shattered into so many pieces...
=...Hey.

=Gimme a break.//You call that a soul...?

=It's just a little rock.


<37>
=It-//It's not!
=This is a soul!

=...That child was trying to live.
=And this...//Is proof of his life...

=...//It's up to you whether you wanna believe it or not.


<38>
=So?//You wanna die?
=Or you wanna live?

=...Your suicide is an "unexpected" fate.
=So why don't we stop this.//Maybe we can,//Umm...

=...Hah.
SPLISH
=I'll die.

=Of course I'm gonna die.


<39>
=Got into all that debt,//Lost my woman,
=Ran away from that fucking boss and that fucking job.

=Nothing ever went the way I wanted it to.


<40>
=*glance*//*glance*
ZWIIIISH

=Man,//I'm hungry...


<41>
[sign]Takayoshi's

RR—
=Have I eaten anything today...?

=BEEP
=That'll be 672 yen.

=Would you like me to heat this up for you?
[keep typo]=Oh, ye...

=...//Sorry, I...
=I change my mind.


<42>
[apron]Takayoshi's

=Uhh... Sir?

=We're gonna have to throw this away anyways, so...
*whisper*
=Please, take it.

[x2]SPLASH

[bag]Takayoshi's


<43>
ZWIIISH

=...//...Damn it.


<44>
=...//Getting that lunch outta pity.

=Lunch?

=What was up with that.//What is up with me, anyways.

=...But still,

=Serves 'em right...


<45>
=Even I get to choose how I die...!

=...Oh well,//Looks like he's ready to die.
=Right? Sakurai.

="...Unexpected" deaths damage the human soul.
=If your soul shatters in this room,//The same thing will happen to the next person.

=Our job is to prevent that from happening.


<46>
=We "save" the Livingstone, preserving its proper shape.
=And "kill" the body that's left behind in this world.
=Okay?

=Well... I sorta get it and I sorta don't...
=...If that's alright with you,

=Give me your soul's permission.
=...Permission?


<47>
=Well, it's basically a signal that you're willing to die.

=...Umm,
=Good luck... In the next world...

=Huh,//Alright.
=Guess this wouldn't be too bad.

[black bubble]SST...
=...//Thanks.


<48>
SLURP...


<50>
SPLISH

WHAP

=Deformed.

=...Well, my work is done.//You get rid of the body.


<51>
=The soul is like the DNA of your life.//90% of your life is decided predetermined That's "predestination."

=Once a soul has fulfilled its "plan," it matures, leading to success in the next world.
=Souls that stray from their "plan" will shatter, and the shards will remain in this world.

=The shards create a force field of negativity, and skews the "plan" of whomever draws near.


<52>
=In order to prevent the number of souls from decreasing in this vicious cycle, souls need to be protected and managed so they can mature properly.
=So when amending the "plan" proves to be impossible, we're forced to abandon the flesh in this world.

=...It's cold.
BRR...
=But relinquishing this world in favor of the next... Is that really the right thing to do?

=...Huh?
=Who are you?

=...The flesh must be at its limit, too.

=—Actually, we're not completely sure what souls are either.
SPLISH
=Excuse me.


<53>
=But souls are probably... What makes us human.
PLIT...

=Huh?
BLOT
=...It doesn't hurt, right?

=...Don't worry.//You've already been saved.

=Okay.


<54>
=Thank you.

SPLASH...


<56>
=Thanks for making the collection.
=You're looking terrible. As always.


<57>
=...//I'm still young, you know.
SIGH
=What's that supposed to mean?

WHUP

GONK
=Ouch!

=Can I go home now?

=Hey, Amano!//What did you just hit me with!?
I'm gonna get angry!

=Nothing.


<58>
=Just a little rock.

=—The man's rotting body was discovered 2 weeks later.
=The police ruled it a suicide.

Stones, humans... They're just containers if there is no soul.

Chapter 1 / END
Watch out for another 55-page color release in the next issue!