01x11 - Foreboding

[bunniefuu]

Hey! I'm Gobo.

Today, we are all going to review
what's happened so far.

Who do you mean by "all"?

STORY BY TAIGA MIYAKAWA

It all started on June 5th,

when a strange message appeared
in front of Saneatsu Narita

during class.

DO YOU SEE THIS RIGHT NOW?

The next day, massive amounts of people
were found dead around the world

and society stopped functioning.

Saneatsu got a call from his friend,
Kazuhiko, and headed to the school.

The following day, a mysterious person
who referred to himself as the Emperor

announced the beginning
of a cruel survival game

called Majority Vote,
where the majority loses.

The entire world was subject to the game
and players could not choose their answer.

The only thing they could do

was submit a question within
the designated area, which changed daily.

The Emperor would then select a question
and take a vote.

SUGINAMI WARD

It was so unfair, and I didn't know
what to do, so I stayed cooped up inside.

That was until I met Ippiko and everyone.

JUNE 5TH

DO YOU SEE THIS RIGHT NOW?

JUNE 6TH

ARE YOU JAPANESE AND LIVING IN TOKYO?

JUNE 7TH

END OF TRIAL RUN. YOU WILL BE INFORMED
OF THE RULES AT 23:40 TODAY

JUNE 8TH

MAJORITY VOTE

OFFICIALLY BEGINS

SPECIAL RIGHT

PRIVILEGE - RIGHT

The Emperor distributed a total
of 65 envelopes, some of which were

Rights and some of which were Privileges,
and told us to "make the most of it."

About what was inside those envelopes...

-Nishime, it's your turn.
-Don't just spring it on me!

Nishime, aren't you an adult?
You're 21 years old!

I'm in my second year of middle school,
so kindly give us a simple explanation.

I don't think it matters
what grade you're in.

But I guess I have no choice.

Privileges are like
extremely strong magical powers.

However, when you acquire them,
you have to give up one part of your body.

Omi lost hearing in his right ear.

Shinozaki lost his right eye.

Rika Suzuki lost her right leg.

RIGHT

Compared to that,
Rights don't come with any risk.

They're less powerful and can be resisted,
but it all depends on how you use it.

DIE

According to what Saneatsu Narita
heard from a woman named Miwa Ishiki,

special rights can be categorized into
Permission-type,

Transformation-type, and Production-type.

Permission-types are special rights that
are related to consent.

The Right to Veto and Right of Obedience
fall under this category.

My Display Right is also
a Permission-type.

Onto Transformation-types!

These are special rights that
cause transformations and phenomena.

Ryuta's Fusion Right and Shinozaki's
Visibility Right are in this category.

Now, Production-types.

These special rights create even greater
phenomena than Transformation-types.

Soma's Right to Manifest
is really amazing!

However, using Production-types
comes with a risk.

You have to say the name of your Privilege
when you use it.

And it takes a lot of energy to use it.
Soma looks very tired after each time.

Then there are Privileges
called Exception-types.

Saneatsu apparently had an Exception-type
called the Parental Right, but...

Where is he now?

The strongest Privilege
is a Permission-type, right?

The second strongest is
Omi's Right to Veto,

and the strongest is the Command Right.

When all the men died
from the Majority Vote,

Omi survived by using his Right to Veto

and submitted a question
to resurrect the dead

so we could come back to life.

That was a close one.

That happened on June 10th, at midnight.

The only survivors left were
the 2,210,000 people in Tokyo.

After regrouping and dispersing
several times, the team members

began to find out the Emperor's secret
and the way to end the Majority Vote.

And then...

JUNE 13TH



Operation: Diversion...

THE PLAN TO DEFEAT THE EMPEROR

Operation: Power Station Raid...

COMMENCE

THE MAJORITY VOTE HAS ENDED

We were able to defeat the Emperor,

but that came with a large sacrifice.

The Majority Vote came to an end.

NUMBER OF HUMANS REMAINING:

ONE MILLION PEOPLE IN THE TOKYO AREA

SPECIAL RIGHTS THAT ARE UNACCOUNTED FOR:

ABILITY TO MAINTAIN CIVILIZATION:

DESTROYED

There are a lot of power outages,
but power and water are still running.

I can't make phone calls
and the internet doesn't work either.

The Emperor is just showing us
those announcements on his own.

But...

the radio still works.

A while ago, I heard a strange,
coded message being broadcasted.

Something about "NS" and "FS."

I could use it if I want to,
since the radio waves are working.

I just thought of a good idea.

Empress Kisaragi.

The Emperor's broadcast is starting soon,

so I powered up the generator.

How many times do I have to tell you?

I'm not satisfied with only having power
during the fake Emperor's broadcast.

Make sure that I have electricity 24/7,

even if it is just in this room,
where I have my throne.

Understood.

Also, it is still too early
to call me "empress."

I need to k*ll the Emperor
before I can take on that title.

This is Hikari reporting in.

-Everything's unusual, as usual.
-Roger.

So, what is it that you wanted
to talk about, Gobo?

I want to leave Tokyo.

Huh? What are you saying?

Leave Tokyo to do what?

Nishime and I talked about it
and thought it over.

It's already been a month
since the Majority Vote ended.

We've used up all the food in the city.

In order to survive,

we have to escape Tokyo and travel around
the country looking for food.

But if we go away,

what's going to happen to Tokyo?

It's seriously going to be doomed.

That's true. Soma's manifestation beasts
are managing our power supply.

Once Soma's gone,
Tokyo will lose all electricity.

It will be the end
of civilization, quite literally.

But where are we even headed?

How long do we have to maintain order
and pretend to be the Emperor?

I was thinking back on what has happened,
and I've lost sight of what I want to do.

"Defeating the Emperor."

We were able to fight until the very end
as a team, because that was our goal.

But now, everyone is worn out from
fighting a battle with no clear direction.

Maybe this is as far as we can go...

Hey, Gobo!
Tablet D is displaying something.

D? That's Ryuta's group!

All right!

That should display on Gobo's end.

Yeah!

Everyone is working so hard every night.
I wonder if they're doing okay?

I can't wait to talk to them
face to face again.

Jeez, you guys are so carefree, as usual.

-You think so?
-Really?

Well, at least now we have
something to give them.

I'm sure this will lift their spirits.

Let's go to the tower where Saneatsu is
and leave flowers.

Yeah, we should.

About that...

You left them in the tower as is, right?

Aren't they rotten by now?
Are you okay with that?

Are you serious?

What's wrong, Gobo?

Come on, Stupid Monkey. Answer us.

Ryuta's group is going to come back!

Omi and Rika are doing well too! For real!

Yes!

-We get to see them again!
-Hey! People are watching!

They're bringing food too.

Nobody is in the countryside, so a lot of
non-perishable foods were left untouched.

They're also bringing vegetables
from the farm!

They're our saviors. I can't believe this.

And they've apparently got some info
to help us choose our next step.

Good thing we stuck it out.

This should make things a little better.

Oh no! The Emperor's broadcast
is in five minutes, for real!

This tablet is for communication only.

-Where is my laptop?
-Crap! I left it charging in the basement!

This Stew Duo hasn't matured much, huh?

I have no choice. I'll use the TV screen.

-Nishime! Turn the switch on!
-Roger!

Will they make it in time?

If worse comes to worst, they can
say there's no announcement today.

Hey, somebody think up of what to say!
For real!

I can only think of dirty jokes
when I'm put on the spot!

Like I said,
just say there is no announcement...

Good evening, this is the Emperor.

I will announce today's results.

He came back to life?

You must be kidding!

What are we going to do?

What are we going to do?!

That can't be! We took down the Emperor!

Calm down! We still don't know
if it's the real Emperor.

It's not showing on our cellphones.
That means...

It's a TV broadcast.

That's right! Display all the TV channels!

Nishime, turn on the rest of the TVs!

NO CONNECTION

It's only on TSK Television?

What in the world was that?

What about the broadcast...?

Oh no!

No announcement from the Emperor, huh?

It's just as I predicted.

The current Emperor saw
tonight's TV broadcast.

And canceled his broadcast.

That proves that the current Emperor
is in Tokyo.

As I thought, the current Emperor

isn't the same Emperor
who started the Majority Vote.

Anyways, I only broadcasted that here,
on TSK Television.

If he realizes that, I'm sure he will
take some kind of action.

Until then, I will keep
broadcasting that every day.

The Emperor?!

WELCOME TO TSK TELEVISION!

Just kidding.
That would've been too unrealistic.

I'll be waiting for you, Emperor.

Tell me what your true intentions are.

STOP

Well then...

I'm sure you already know
what I want to talk about.

The topic of our discussion
is yesterday's broadcast. For real.

I feel like we made a mistake
in how we handled that.

"Handled"?

-So I should always carry my laptop?
-That's not what I meant!

First, let's think about
the fundamental truth.

The Emperor died.

The only people who know that are
the ones who fought him, so us.

It's been one month since then.

GOOD EVENING THIS IS THE EMPEROR
I WILL ANNOUNCE TODAY'S RESULTS

Currently, Gobo is acting as the Emperor

and maintaining order
by broadcasting texts.

I thought about it

and realized that somebody might have
found out that the Emperor has changed.

The current Emperor is outwardly
executing criminals every day.

A normal person would think pretending
to be the Emperor might lead to execution.

But this person broadcasted that anyway.

So they did it because they knew?

On top of that, we made the mistake
of canceling our broadcast.

That probably gave away the fact
that we were shaken up.

Are we in deep trouble? Like, for real?

What are we supposed to do?
Can we just ignore them?

That's true. If we just ignore them,
I'm sure they'll give up.

If anything, they're only going to
attack you, since you're the fake Emperor.

Ignoring them is not good! For real!

You guys are so noisy, as always.

-You woke me up.
-Soma!

Don't you need to rest?

Hikari is on guard duty

and Eren is a handful,
so I get why they're not here.

But I wish you had included me,
Mr. Shinozaki.

I'm your spear, remember?

You look pale.
I can tell you're still fatigued.

You're using the Right to Manifest
to your limit, every day.

Don't push yourself.

We can't afford to lose
either you or Gobo.

We have to rely on your

Right to Manifest for our supplies
and the monsters we use as manpower.

So, seriously, rest when you need to.

This is something only I can do.

-I'm not going to just give up...
-Don't get me wrong, meathead.

I'm telling you to get rest
for our sake, you idiot!

I know.

Mr. Shinozaki, I have an idea.

-Tell us.
-Basically,

they only broadcasted on one channel
to make it easier for us to find them.

If they're luring us in,
let's just take the bait. You know?

What if it's a trap?

If it is, we'll deal accordingly.

I'll send my manifestation beast

along with a transmission device
that I manifested.

If I sense danger, I'll undo
the manifestation. How about that?

Fine. Let's go up to the rooftop.

I'll check to see where the TV station is
with my Visibility Right.

Okay.

Is Soma going to be okay? For real...

The Display Right is essential
for managing information.

The Visibility Right is essential
for searching.

The Right to Manifest is essential for
offense, defense, and manpower.

The Right of Obedience is essential
for keeping control.

For now, our party is pretty invincible.

I have to fill in the gaps and make sure
this party doesn't fall apart.

I see... A TV broadcast, huh?

Yes.

Some people come up with
such interesting ideas, don't they?

In that case...

Interesting...

I guess I should start off

by pinching my cheek
to make sure this is reality.

What is this?
Some kind of summoning magic?

It's as unrealistic
as the Majority Vote itself.

Can it be that the Emperor is real?
Oh no, I'm starting to doubt myself.

But something feels off.

It's not making any moves.

Its hair is wriggling, but that's it.

Um, are you the Emperor's messenger?

Um, actually, I'd like for you to take...

It reacted.

I'd like for you to take...

I see. So it was given orders
to bring me back,

as long as I ask
to be taken to the Emperor.

It recognizes the word "take"

as being part of the request,
"take me with you."

But the word "take" alone
is technically not a request.

It's either very strict about
obeying orders

or it's just a pawn that doesn't have
the ability to make decisions.

However...

It can listen to my request,
yet it can't make its own decisions?

That's self-contradictory.

What if I was a dangerous person?

If the Emperor is making the decisions...

he must be connected via video or audio.

In that case,
this messenger must be disposable.

Maybe I should try to
stir things up a little?

Um, excuse me. Hello, Emperor.

Can you hear me? Can you see me?

As you can see, I am unarmed,
and I have no intention of causing harm.

Oh, maybe I didn't have to go as far
as stripping naked. Sorry...

What the...

How did he know that
there's a transmission device?

He apparently thinks that we are
connected via video too.

Now we know he isn't armed.

We also know he's butt naked. For real.

Um, well, I want to

go where you are.

I hope you can help me.

IF YOU KNOW I'M LYING, GET RID OF
THIS MESSENGER AND SEND A SECOND ONE

I'LL BRING YOU
VALUABLE INFO ON "THE EMPEROR"

-It seems safe enough.
-All right. Let's bring him here.

Please take me with you to the Emperor.

There is most likely no video connection.

I see... That means I can keep on lying.

This messenger's breasts

are so soft.