Hell Teacher Nube 101

The mysteries of spiritual power have made inroads in usage in the real world, even in the realm of science. One of Nube's most diligent students is about to discover one of these usages...and the horror tied with it!

#101: The Devil’s Great Invention!? The Hieronymus Machine

108.
Sign: Doumori Municipal Library
Akira: Today, I’ve come to do a social studies investigation with everyone.
Caption: Akira-kun, the most diligent in the class.
Sign: Quiet
Akira: All of you! Can’t you read these characters!?
(TN: Sort of strange what he’s saying here but Akira does literally say that whether they can “read the characters” with the “ji” for “characters”; this will become more relevant for the next joke)
Sign: Seishuku (Silent)

109.
Katsuya: Seisai?
Makoto: Seishun………
Hiroshi: Dummy, it’s Shizuoka.
*It’s “Seishuku”
(TN: Somehow the key to the joke is a tad difficult to understand without being a native Japanese speaker: Akira tries to make Hiroshi, Katsuya and Makoto read the sign, which is obviously “Seishuku”, the Japanese word for “silent”. Of course, the way it is read by the three “idiots” are all wrong, but each do so in a different word that are in some way or another relevant to the sign:
-Katsuya’s misreading is “Seisai”, which shows that he knows the first kanji, which stands for “quiet”, here has a reading of “sei”, but uses it for another word that has an initial reading of “sei” but using another ending, has another initial kanji and does not have the same reading as what Katsuya wants. BTW: there are several “words” that do have a reading of “seisai”, including “brilliance”, “restraint”, “detail” or “vitality”, though none with the “sei” for “quiet”.
-Makoto’s reading, “seishun”, also assumes that the first kanji reads “sei”, but again is for a word that doesn’t use the kanji for “quiet” and with a different second kanji. “Seishun” is Japanese for “youth” or “adolescence”.
-Hiroshi, on the other hand, goes in a completely different direction from the other two: he identifies the actual kanji, but gives off a completely different reading for it to create yet another word that, once again, doesn’t use the last kanji at all. “Shizuoka” is in reference to the prefecture in Japan’s Chuubu region and, as I stated, “shizu” is another reading for the kanji alongside “sei”)
Akira: At any rate, you have to be quiet in a library. (to himself) This is embarrassing; I can’t come to be in their same group.
Sign: Lending
Akira: Though we have come to investigate the industries of Doumori town today…well, get the books that are written on this page.
Katsuya: OK. We’ll leave you with the research.
SFX: Garagaragara…
SFX: Garagaragara…

110.
SFX: Dogasha~~~n!
Akira: Stop doing that—you’re an embarrassment to our class; an embarrassment to the school—
Akira: I’m sorry; I’ll keep them quiet and clean this up.
Akira: ?
Book: Electrical Engineering
Akira: ! This is

111.
Akira: The Hieronymus Machine!!
Hiroshi: What is this Hiero…what did you say?
Akira: An actual spirit-wave amplication device. This is the first time I’ve found a book that knowingly explains it like this. (Fufufu)
Hiroshi: ?

112.
Narrator: The next day.
Akira: This is the Hieronymus Machine.
Hiroshi: Heh, you made it.
Nube: What is that, what is that?
Akira: This machine creates a wave motion for a person that emerges from a person’s personal artifact or a picture that is photographed of the person themselves.
(TN: This word, which I translated as “wave motion” here is a tough word to make out : the Japanese word is “hadou”, which literally translate into “wave motion”; somehow either translation works here: either the “surge” of a wave out or a “motion of a wave” created in regards to some person; due to some of the technical language, I’ll be going with “wave motion”)
Akira: Amplifies it, and is taken by a hand.
Akira: You can transmit your own will on a person like the electromagnetic wave of a TV channel and can operate them just as you order them to. That’s because with the amplification inside the machine, you can resonate with the person who possesses the same wave motion.

113.
Akira: The inside is generally like this.
“Diagram” (Top to bottom, left to right):
-Picture
-Wave-Motion
-Coil
-Condenser
-Slit
-Prism (For refracting)
-Amp (A mechanism that amplifies)
-Coil
-Strengthened Wave-Motion
Caption: The power that aligns with the wave-motion of the photo on (A) refracts with (B), is amplified with (C) and is emitted at (D).
Akira: This structure is so simple, even a grade schooler can understand it.
Katsuya: This has become like Ki*retsu Daihyakka.
(TN: “Ki*retsu Daihyakka” is referring to Fujiko Fujio’s sci-fi manga “Kiteretsu Daihyakka”, a manga series that ran between 1974-1977 in children’s magazine Kodomo no Hikari and had an anime that ran between 1988 to 1996. The series was about a genius grade schooler and his misadventures with his inventions, in particular a robot companion named Korosuke. Though its own series, it’s style and its main characters are resembling of more famous Fujiko Fujio series “Doraemon”)
Akira: This was created and patented in 1946 by American electrical engineer Thomas Garen Hieronymus. Until just recently, the former Soviet Union had been doing research on it for a military secret weapon.
(TN: For the most part this chapter up to now has spoken for itself, but I think it’s time for me to add a few comments about the topics at hand:
-The man who invented and became the namesake for the device, Dr. Thomas Galen Hieronymus, lived between 1895 and 1988. Though he may have developed the machine in 1946, he got the patent for it in 1949 as a device for “detection of emanations from materials and measurements of the volumes thereof”. The theory leading to its development is for the discovery and development of “eloptic energy” (fusion of “electrical” and “optical”) that is emitted by all objects of matter. The function of the device is to gain access and understanding of the elopic energy using a sample that is amplified by the Hieronymus Machine. For the most part Hieronymus’ theory is considered pseudoscience and not accepted in the mainstream.
-Another little bit of history to understand: the chapter was published in 1995, four years after the final fall of the Soviet Union in 1991)
Akira: This is a thing that utilizes the most primal chaos-level energy in the universe… (fufufu)
Hiroshi: He…hey, that Akira…
Katsuya: Perhaps…he’s a nerd?
(TN: Not quite sure why Katsuya would give Akira the “nerd” name, considering that he gives him the derogatory nickname of “otaku” here, which is used for enthusiasts, geeks or nerds of all sorts of denominations; even though in the US it is mostly for nerds of Japanese culture)

114.
Hiroshi: Well, Nube, is this for real? Is it fine that he created a military weapon? Can’t you confiscate it?
Nube: Ha ha ha, ridiculous—do what you please. (It’s stu~~pid!)
Akira: Ble—h! This is better than monsters!
Akira: Chie, making fun of me!
Katsuya: Hey hey, how about we test this immediately—I have this picture of Miki just now.
Hiroshi: Hey you, why do you have that?
Akira: Place the picture on the stand.
Katsuya: Hmm.
Akira: After that, it’s best that you turn on the power and just hold your hand on the coil.
Katsuya: Hoo hoo.
SFX: Waku waku
Katsuya: Oh…something like electricity is coming…
SFX: Pachi pachi

115.
Miki: So…
SFX: Bashi
Kyouko: ?
SFX: Nugi! (Strip)
Class: Ooh~~!
Kyouko: Wh…what are you doing… (Oro oro | SFX for nervousness)

116.
Hiroshi: Interesting—I’ll do it too!
Makoto: Me too!
Akira: St…stop this, did I make it for that purpose……
Miki: Kuroda Bushi Yasuki Bushi Fan Dance
(TN: Two traditional Japanese folk songs are mentioned here in connection to Miki’s little “dance”. “Kuroda Bushi” or “Song of Kuroda”, is a Min’yo drinking song from Fukuoka (city and Prefecture), while “Yasuki Bushi” is another folk song, this one around the city of the same name in Shimane Prefecture)
Kyouko: Goodbye, Miki…
Akira: But this is an amazing machine. Al—right…I’ll give it more improvements!!
Akira: As a result of knowingly investigating further, I understood a thing that should be surprising: this machine is an object that moves with spirit power.
Akira: Even if I replace a part of the machine…in other words, the amp section, with a schematic that is drawn on a paper, then it should work normally!
Voice: Is that alright!? What is it!?

117.
Hiroshi: It isn’t like before, it seems like it works but…that.
Katsuya: A—ah, we had a long-awaited interesting machine and yet
Akira: This machine is a psycho-machine. It seems like it would work even like this.
Akira: Well, this is an experiment, for the bright future of mankind!
SFX: Hiso hiso
Katsuya: He’s like a mad scientist.
SFX: Gara
Nube: We—ll then, today is a pop test.
Students: Ee~~h!?
Katsuya: Ge; Akira, turn on the switch!
Nube: I thought but since its good weather, let’s play outside.
SFX: Biri biri
Hiroshi: He did it---!!
Nube: Today will be self-study through the day!
Nube: !???
Katsuya: Amazing, it really worked!
Hiroshi: I’ll use it too!
Hiroshi: Here.

118.
Nube: Talilalila—n, I’m an idiot! Everyone shouldn’t become an adult like me—
(TN: “Talilalila—n” I assume is probably has some connection to Japanese culture but right now I just see it as nonsense talk)
Hiroshi: Gyahahahaha…
Ritsuko: Ara, Nueno-sensei.
Nube: Ritsuko-sensei—
Nube: Namu Daiji Daihi: Wandering spirits nearby, show yourselves.
Nube: He~~re, we’re monsters~~
SFX: Booo…

119.
Akira: Stop that! I didn’t make it for this purpose! Beh.
Hiroshi: Ahaha…
Nube: He—re, here, monsters.
Ritsuko: Kya—I’m scared, I hate you.
Nube: Bi.
SFX: Ha…
Nube: Aah, Ritsuko-sensei. (to himself) Wh…what’s wrong with her…
Nube: That was different from possession…my brain was given a command directly…it can’t be…
Akira: Thoughtless.
Akira: Further…
Akira: I’ve understood that the Hieronymus Machine can be functional even if I substitute the other parts with paper. In short: if the spirit power accurately passes through the path of the figure, I won’t need even electricity or a machine.
Akira: And by completely removing the machines…

120.
Diagram: (Top to bottom, following the path):
-A (Power) -Place on an electrical object (like a magnet).
-Accept (Place a picture or object on here)
-Bend
-B (Power) -Place on an electrical object (like a magnet).
-Augment
-Send (Apply hand to here and send a thought to a person or living being who becomes the target)

121.
Makoto: A…a machine that’s one sheet of paper!? That’s too simple.
Hiroshi: That’s the scribbles of a brat.
Akira: It’s sufficient with this to draw out the psycho-power.
Hiroshi: The most important thing is that if you believe in the machine and have it in mind, then it should be able to manipulate any human and living thing.
Sign: Gym Storehouse
Akira: This time, I’m daringly going to manipulate all the students in the school.
Hiroshi: Ah, that’s a picture of the whole school in morning assembly…
Akira: I’ll give an order to all the students of the school and they’re going to write “Akira’s a Genius” in a human message on the campus…It will be a spectacle, fufufu…
(TN: Akira’s “human message” is in Japanese a “Hitomoji”, which is an arrangement of a group of people to form characters to spell out a message. Thus, here, Akira wants them to write out the three kanji that spell out “Akira Tensai” or “Akira’s a Genius”)
Hiroshi: That Akira…he had that quiet face and is actually a scary person.
SFX: Hiso hiso
Katsuya: He’s the despotic type.
Akira: Here we go: let the thoughts of four become one.

122.
SFX: Kiiiiiiin
Kyouko: Uh.
Boy: My head hurts…
Girl: The nurse’s office
Nube: A thought…a strong thought is…wh…where is it from!?
SFX: Boto boto
SFX: Buku buku…

123.
Nube: This is…too cruel…!! They’ve fainted…with not one left behind!
Nube: It’s as if it’s a thought that’s like a person with a powerful spiritual power. What exactly is this…who and from where…
Nube: In here.
Sign: Gym Storehouse

124.
SFX: Kiiiiiiin
Nube: Ridiculous…that one scrap of paper…I don’t believe this! It’s a power to the extent of unreachable.
Nube: Namu Daiji Daihi Kyuugu Kyuunan: Oni no Te, show your power!
SFX: Zan!

125.
Akira: Return that, that book and that machine are for real.
Nube: Stu—pid, that phenomenon earlier was photochemical smog.
Hiroshi: So, why did you hit us?
Nube: There isn’t a reason for that irresponsible machine to work. They unexpectedly piled up.
SFX: Shun…
Nube: This is too dangerous for all of you…it surely is the Kokkuri-san of science.
Narrator: Up to the present, the Hieronymus Machine hasn’t had a report that says it releases a large power to the extent of presenting harm to humans. However, there has been confirmation that there is power to kill if it’s around insects; it has changed for a practical use for exterminating harmful insects and has presented major results in America.

126.
RETURN OF THE GREAT YOUKAI ENCYCLOPEDIA

#32: Hieronymus Machine

Dow Chemicals had conducted an eccentric extermination of harmful insects in the state of Florida. The method was as follows.

First, when they took a dispatch for harmful insect extermination from a customer, an airplane flies out and takes aerial photographs of the stricken area. From within the photographed film, the portion of the area that is taken for the dispatch is cut out and this film sheet is placed on top of a black-box like device. Afterwards, with just the full turn to the right of a dial for two hours every morning and continuing this for a week, the harmful insects are annihilated. And further, it is just for the area of the film sheet that was cut out. The readers who read this chapter already know what this is. This is nothing else but a device that practically uses a Hieronymus Machine.

The Hieronymus Machine has an alias of being called a Psyonetic Device. This is because the spirit of the person operating it becomes an important factor in running the device. Hieronymus himself named the energy that worked the device “Eloptic Energy”. This is what is called energy that springs forth with electrons. He said that this energy is a much more basic energy than even electromagnetic energy, due to electromagnetic waves springing forth by the oscillation of electrons. According to another opinion, it’s been said that it utilized chaos-level energy at the most primal condition of the universe. It isn’t understood as a certain thing but…

Furthermore, the Hieronymus Machine has a name calling it the “Mineral Radiation Detection Machine” and was approved for patent in 1949. Its number is 2482773.

(TN: A couple things:
1. Dow Chemicals is the second-largest chemical manufacturer and third-largest company in the world in chemicals. Unlike other chemical companies, though, Dow is more notable for making chemicals than actually using practical usages for them like other notable companies in the trade.
2. I mentioned prior the “application patent title for the Hieronymus Machine in 1949, which is for “the “detection of emanations from materials and measurement of the volumes thereof”; it also has a name as being a “Radiation Analyzer” and it’s basic usage by Hieronymus himself was as the “Eloptic Medical Analyser”, which supposedly analyzed and transmitted eloptic energy to diagnose and treat medical conditions in plants and animals)

TN: First of all, I just have to ask this: am I the only one who saw the poster for the film "Re-Animator" in that cover? I mean, sure it's just Akira as a mad scientist but somehow the posing and structure just gave off that image in my mind.

This chapter...was just insane. Just...insane, and surreal and all in all frightening in a way this series tends to forget at times with it's quieter and more comedic moments as of late. The concept in itself, involving the creation of a device that can possess such power and be modified into simpler models so that even a child could do it is just horrific if you think about it. I mean, if all you need is a crayon and an understanding regarding how the Hieronymus Machine works and how it will transform someone's free will into your own, then anyone can essentially take control of anyone if they have the right means and knowledge to make it work. Heck, you could even have people hold wars between one another to take control of other people's minds at the same time with the person themselves being a victim caught in the middle...yeah, this is just horrifying stuff if you think hard enough about it. Likewise, while Nube at the end merely passes it off as just "a scientific Kokkuri-san", I somehow just feel like this could be worse. With Kokkuri-san, it's essentially some god that inhabits the coin making one at the will of a spirit, regardless of alignment. With the Hieronymus Machine (well the version presented here), it's all manmade: whoever has their hands and at the connection to the emitted waves can play god with the person. It's one thing when it's a person vs. the supernatural, but once it gets to person vs. person, it just takes on a whole different level of horror. Then again, Nube's whole nature in this chapter was rather quizzical: he seemed to ignore the fact that Akira was making such a device and didn't bring an end to it until it took down the whole school, being forced to make up a ludicrous lie to prevent it from ever happening again. (then again, only the final paper version was destroyed, what about the older prototype Akira literally built?) Did Nube know they built the machine and just wanted to see how it played out...or did he just see it as a joke until both he and ultimately nearly the whole school fell victim to the madness?

One of the last things I have to admist about this chapter at least is that I think is honestly one that really portrays Akira in a different manner and in some ways shows a bit more of who he is and what he could have been. For the most part, his appearances prior to this chapter, whether intentional or not, shows him as more mild-mannered and just ashamed or living with his skill through effort and putting up with the hassles life throws at him. But here, there is a potential of secret ambition and darkness that not even he knew he had with the power that he was trying to personify and adapt for usage. The more powerful and simpler the Hieronymus Machine became, the more insane Akira went, to the point that we have these little quips by Katsuya (the one who basically replaced him in the class) showing his descent into madness. You could think maybe the other three (Hiroshi, Katsuya, Makoto) could have done something to maybe bring Akira back down to Earth, but I guess they sort of saw a similar power and were forced to take a back-seat with the madness going on. It's not that often we see Akira get like this so just let him be and maybe they could be by his side when his new world order begins...or something like that. But hey, it's too bad the kid never really showed this before, considering Akira could have stayed in the "main five" if he had.