04x08 - Lock On

[bunniefuu]

♪

[shatters]

♪

♪

[footfall]

[water burbling]

♪

[footfall]

♪

[water burbling]

♪

[thuds]

♪

Ionized nitric
mineral deposits.

There's nitric acid.

[shatters]

Mm.

Morning. Had a feeling
you'd be up next, Stan.

Good.

You've always been
a dependable ally.

♪

How long has it been
since that day?

It must've have been
a few thousand years

at the very least.

There are no structures
still standing.

For the rebar
to have worn away,

the pH of the concrete
would have had to have been--

Yeah, yeah, it's been a while.

You can stop now.

Really?

All of our clothes
have disintegrated.

Your smokes are a relic
of the past.

Hmm.

On the bright side,

now you can stop
inhaling toxic gas.

[scoffs]
Well?

You do have a plan, don't you?

[XENO]
Long ago, a man once told me.

♪

No matter
the state of humanity,

someone will always emerge
intent on learning

all of the inner workings
of this world.

Meaning the race is on.

It's a rather elegant battle,
don't you think?

Whoever's first to master
the power of science,

will become the indomitable
ruler of the stone world.

[smirks]

♪

♪

What's this?

Nitric acid.

Albeit heavily diluted.

And what makes you think
this rancid stuff

will actually wake them up

I explained myself
a few thousand years ago.

Do you recall the sparrows

probed with special electrodes
doused in nitric a--

Yeah, fine, enough said.

[STANLEY]
Long story short,

we're hoping these guys
had it in them

to obey their order
to stay conscious.

[shatters]

[Brody laughs]

A whole slew of the country's
finest superheroes

were commanded to stay awake,

and this is all we got?

No other survivors?

Doesn't seem right.

Guess I should call us
"sleepvivors," huh?

Some are taking longer
than others.

I expect more will be joining
our ranks in due time.

We can't overlook the fact
that the venue staff was there,

and probably heard Stanley's
orders to stay awake.

So there's a good chance

that at least some of them
survived as well.

Dream on, no way
a civvy could've made it.

You're wasting your time.

Huh?

[CARLOS]
Miss Luna!

Huh?

-Huh?
-Huh?

[gulps]

[grunts]

[coughs]

-Izzat a ring?
-[laughs]

Man, how pathetic!

The thing's barely
holding its shape.

That ring was preserved
for thousands of years.

The mystery mineral
acted like a time capsule.

-Huh?
-Huh?

♪

[chuckles]

Look at that!

This is platinum!

[XENO]
Extraordinary.

In fact, I'd call it elegant!

Imagine. A world-champion
martial artist.

He revives in the present day

armed with an inarguable
advantage.

Soon the stone world
would be his for the taking.

But now,
with platinum in our arsenal.

We have what we need

to begin mass-producing
nitric acid.

Meaning, we can manufacture
more gunpowder

than we could ever use.

[XENO]
First things first.

We need more people.

[shatters]

[shatters]

♪

[XENO] As soon as we have
acquired sufficient manpower,

we will then journey to
the region of yellow dent corn.

We'll locate the ideal place
for growing that crop,

and set up our base there.

♪

[XENO] We'll secure food,
clothing, and shelter,

as well as begin
gunpowder production.

Meanwhile, we'll work on
refining metals,

and the necessary skill
of precision machining.

Hmm.

[XENO]
It's done.

We've created a firearm.

♪

[g*n c*ck]

[g*nsh*t]

In a stone world,

we've managed to reach
the pinnacle

of science and warfare.

It is the very definition
of elegance.

Sure.

♪

Hmm.

♪

So you've spotted it.

Fruit of the devil.

Tobacco plants just so happen
to grow wild here.

Well, I'll just help
myself then.

Call it a bonus.

♪

[XENO]
Nicotiana tabacum.

If you dry the leaves
of this plant,

chop them up,
and roll them in paper,

you get Stan's crutch,

an addictively toxic cigarette.

♪

[inhales]

[blows]

[chuckles]

[XENO] No one will threaten
our absolute authority.

With my scientific acumen.

And you, my old friend,

whose firearm skills
are unmatched.

We will lead this stone world
as its unconquered sovereigns!

That future is in our grasp.

Are you ready? Stan?

♪

[blows]

Yeah.

No problem.

[crickets chirping]
[water burbling]

Hah!

So we have master
and apprentice.

Both of you science fiends
woke up around the same time,

and quickly made use
of nitric acid.

[RYUSUI] You used science
to develop a way

to restore life.

While he used his knowledge

for the complete
opposite reason.

Taking life away.

[snickers]

Hmm.

[LUNA] What the heck are they
chatting about over there?

And what exactly is
the connection between that

fairly crush-worthy Senku guy
and Doctor Xeno?

♪

I'll just mosey over
all casual like.

That's right. 'Cause I'm Luna,
a cool-headed gal--

[TAIJU]
That's crazy!

The nice science dude

who taught us
how to build rockets

and other stuff
turned out to be

the super-evil scientist guy?

[Luna gasps]

[LUNA]
There he is!

I've got him cornered out
on the deck!

You're toast, Doctor Taiju!

All I have to do

is point at him.

Then Stanley will pull
the trigger, and that's it.

We win.

They're lucky to have me!

I've got this!

That's what I've been working
toward this whole time.

I'm Luna, a capable woman!

Let's go.

♪

[shuddering]

Our special guest may have
just tipped the scales

with that little
knowledge drop.

Ol' Doctor Xeno

doesn't know about
our secret weapon yet.

The Medusa here could prove
to be our ticket to victory.

[all gasp]

That crazy stone-ification
weapon thingy still works?

This bad boy's been
outta juice for a while.

As we know.

Then how's it gonna help us?

He knows weapons of science
are stupid powerful,

and he wants to rule the world.

The Medusa is


likely to catch his eye.

Someone like him
could never ignore

a science-fueled
superweapon like this.

[snaps]
Ha-ha.

I see it now!

It's not about whether or not
the thing can still be used.

He's an overly capable
scientist just like you.

Making him a prime target,

for our bluff about
an unstoppable superweapon!

Yeah.
That's pretty much it.

Huh? Now, wait a second.

It's dead,
but we're still gonna use it

to try and scare him into not
murdering us with his g*ns?

[LUNA]
Come on! Do it! Now!

Point at Doctor Taiju!

All I've gotta do is
move my finger and boom.

Easy peasy!

Right? Right!

So just be cool, be capable!

♪

[whimpers]

[shuddering]

♪

♪

[shuddering]

[TAIJU]
Get her inside!

We've gotta treat her wounds!

[g*nsh*t]

[shuddering]

[gasps]

-I can't!
-[gasps]

♪

[LUNA]
Why do I fear success?

This is silly,
I'm a cool-headed gal

and a capable woman!

At the very least,
I'll share some info.

♪

Someone named Senku
seems to know Xeno.

It's someone named Senku!

-Huh?
-Huh?

She's saying something.

Huh?

Sen-koo-oo!

[CARLOS]
Sen-koo-oo?

[grunts]

♪

Sen-koo-oo, huh?

What could that mean?

[CARLOS]
I don't get it, but still!

Miss Luna is risking
her precious life

to tell us about it.

So it must be really,
really important!

Calling Doctor Xeno!

[radio static]

White Castle. White Castle!

This is Ghost Two speaking.

I'm transmitting
some kind of message

from the Goddess
on assignment.

[gasps]

[static]

Huh?

What the...
[gasps]

-Senku!
-Huh?

[SENKU]
What's wrong?

[MINAMI]
I'm not sure.

I was here at the comms

about to send out our
regular transmission,

but then it started making

these strange
screeching sounds.

[static]

It's scrambled.

[SENKU] The transmission's
been encrypted

with a cipher machine.

No fair!

That means
they're keeping secrets,

which isn't cool!

It's Xeno!

If it's a code,
can't we just decipher it?

No, it's not that simple.

We would need
a spectrum analyzer.

I have no idea what that is,

but basically we're outta luck,
right?

[RYUSUI]
No.

It isn't what they're saying
that's important here.

The coded message was sent

after I saw Luna
making weird gestures.

So, unless I'm wrong,

our enemy is somewhere
close by!

♪

All right.

I see you.

Say goodbye, doctor.

♪

[XENO]
Hold your fire!

[inhales]

It seems Doctor Taiju
was a mere decoy.

[XENO]
The true leader of our enemy.

The OP scientist himself is...

Senku.

Senku Ishigami.

Okay?

[STANLEY]
Who is it?

Which one is the true target?

Which one is Doctor Senku?

[XENO]
We've heard him.

He answered first
in that initial transmission.

[CHROME] Hello?
Can you hear me, Perseus?

We had a sudden change
of plans, so we need to--

[SENKU] Got it.
No need to say another word.

[XENO] That swift
yet reasoned decision-making.

I recognize him,

from countless exchanges

about rocketry
thousands of years ago.

His manner. His tone.

I've recorded
all of our transmissions.

We have Senku's voice.

Right here!

[STANLEY]
I assume you're aware that

I can't hear him
from this distance.

[XENO]
There's no need.

I can use his voice
to determine his height.

By calculating his overall
vocal tract length,

based on a smooth
function's domain,

and then applying
those numbers to human height,

we get 5'7".

Well, give or take
an inch or two.

Furthermore.

Though he may have grown
since last I set eyes on him,

we know he's at least
as tall as he was back then.

♪

[XENO]
Which means...

His height is between


Age 19. Male.

That'll do.

Just what I need.

[STANLEY]
I can easily tell their heights

by comparing them to Luna.

♪

[STANLEY]
One.

Two.

Three targets.

In my sights.

sn*per spotted!
Everyone, get down!

[both gasp]

Hurry!
Hide behind something!

[gasps]

♪

[LUNA] [gasps]
Have I been caught?

[gasps]

[STANLEY]
Idiot!

Don't look this way.

They'll figure out where I am!

Huh?

Actually...

keep looking!

[STANLEY]
Their genius scientist leader.

I already figured out he's one
of those three targets,

and if he's really as clever
as Xeno makes him out to be,

he'll see you, Luna.

He'll notice
where you're looking

and turn to face me.

Just like that.

♪

[STANLEY]
Well, hello, Senku Ishigami.

[gasps]

[panting]

♪

[STANLEY]
Evading my line of sight.

[grunts]

Are you all right?

[STANLEY]
Oh?

He retreated to the optimal
geometric position.

Impressive.

Too bad,

that tells me exactly
where he's located.

Xeno.

I gotta ask.

Last chance.

You want him dead?

For sure?

No takebacks.

♪

I'm using science
to take over the world.

[XENO]
Joining forces with him

would ensure my dominance.

His mind is a great asset.

However...

a future in which he accepts
such an offer is implausible.

♪

[sighs]

♪

Fire.

Finish the job.

♪

[glass clinking]

[gasps]

[SENKU]
Is this starch?

Or the powdered arrowroot
from that soft serve we made?

It's all the same sh*t.
Water!

♪

[g*nsh*t]

[SENKU]
It's called dilatant material.

Simple.

Take powdered particles
and mix them with a fluid.

If the mixture is
disturbed gently,

it will respond by moving
like a liquid.

But with an abrupt impact,

it suddenly turns solid.

The concept was under research,

and it was theorized
that it could be used

to create bulletproof vests.

Of course,
this was all still conjecture.

[groaning]

♪

NEXT EPISODE
LIGHT OF SCIENCE

THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION.

THE PLANTS, ANIMALS,
AND PRODUCTION

METHODS DESCRIBED ARE
REALITY BASED.

PLEASE DO NOT IMITATE
WITHOUT EXPERTISE.