RI-9 Out of the Jungle

Tomimi, are you okay?

I won't let you leave!

Huh? Why?

B-because I don't want to be without you again!

Huh?

I wanted to become Great Chief so I could force you to stay...

Does that mean you're the one who organized the ceremony this time?

Yes. If you didn't show up in the middle of it, I'd have become the Great Chief.

...I see.

Huh? What are you guys talking about?

Hm? What are you talking about, Doctor? What's that about the ceremony?

You're pretty smart, outsider.

Just think about it for a minute, Gavial.

Ever since you left, most of the tribes dissolved into the many smaller tribes we know today. Without a central leader, the tribes couldn't come together to do anything at all.

So how could we suddenly put on a ceremony? There had to be someone organizing things behind the scenes.

Hm? Wasn't it you who organized the ceremony?

It wasn't me. The Big Ugly still needed an engine. It wasn't done. I was planning to wait another year before contacting the other tribes to hold the ceremony, but then, all of a sudden, it was happening.

It was unexpected, but I didn't mind. I thought that, even an incomplete Big Ugly could have shocked the world.

The unexpected part was you coming back.

Now that you mention it, Tomimi was the one who asked me to return.

So you really did orchestrate everything.

...Yes.

I've been studying for years to learn what I would need to convince the other tribes to make me the Great Chief.

But, it's not too late...The tribes under my command are waiting out there, and the Big Ugly has been defeated. No one can stop me from making Gavial stay!

Why do you want me here so badly?

B-Because...

W-Where am I...?

Waahh... aahhh... I want to go home...

Agh!

Hey, Tomimi. Are you okay?

Gavial...

You're such a pain. I let you out of my sight for one second and you run off to a place like this.

Gavial, you're bleeding!

Huh? It's fine, it's just a little cut.

Come on, let's go home.

Gavial saved my life! I love her more than anyone!

A-And, Gavial is the strongest. As long as Gavial is our Great Chief, she can lead everyone!

Here I was thinking that you're all grown up now, but you haven't changed a bit...

I've got important work to do, Tomimi. You can't stop me.

...The books said: 'If I can't capture his heart, then I'll keep him close to me.' The books also said: 'As long as he is by my side, it doesn't matter if he hates me.'

S-So, even if you hate me, Gavial, I still want you here!

Whew... She's been slurping down trashy romance novels with a straw...

Now the Big Ugly is down, and you're exhausted. You can't beat me!

If you surrender, I-I won't hurt you!

You can't keep me here, Tomimi.

...T-That's not up to you!

Everyone, attack!

It's over, Tomimi.

...N-No it's not!

Nurul, Peta!

Doctor!

Doctor!

If you don't want your friends getting hurt...

Don't make me angry, Tomimi!

...I won't stop until you promise you'll stay, Gavial!

Help me, Doctor!

Doctor, I'm scared... Waaahhh...

Doctor, please. The girl's pouring her heart out here, it wouldn't kill you to work with her.

The people here are simple. Honestly, it hurts my non-existent robot heart to cheat them so.

Hey now, Doctor, don't look at me like that.

Relax, I'm a Rhodes Island Operator too. Of course I can handle something like this.

Doctor!

Doctor!

Wow, you two are really selling it.

What?

When did you get free?!

Hah. Sorry, somebody needs to learn to tie a knot.

Did you know Tomimi was going to do this, Doctor?

B-B-But how did you know?

Oh? Hesitated?

......

Oh, I gave it to Lancet-2.

Wahhh... That was just for you, Doctor. I don't normally let people put things inside me so easily.

......

It's... a rocket launcher?

Yep. Found it with Tomimi's tribe.

So that means...

You got it. The one who shot us down was this little runt right here.

Tomimi.

Ohhhhh, I'm sorry, Gavial.

Come here.

(Whimper)

You're going over my knee.

Gavial, please don't spank me, I know what I did was bad...

Them's the breaks.

Naughty little whelps get tail spankings!

(Whimper)

Tail spanking, huh? Looks ouchie...

Are you going to do it again?

I won't do it agaaain! Waaahhh...!

Good.

Anyway, I think we're pretty much okay now, Doctor.

Haha, well, it's definitely been a lot.

Hey, Doctor, you're not falling asleep on your feet there, are you?

I wouldn't want to hurt little Tomimi, after all. Phew, I'm a little tired myself.

This big guy... does look a little ugly at first, but the angular, rugged design, this cluttered but effective wiring, it has a special beauty to it when you look close.

Real marriage material, I think.

Oh, Lancet-2, go see if we can still salvage the engine.

What? Are you telling me the engine's inside this big guy?!

Sure is. And we blew it up.

Oh, poor engine. Poor big guy.

Mr. Dylan, can you do me a favor?

Alright.

......

Hey, Zumama, why are you standing there drooling like that?

Gavial!

Huh? What's up?

That... that...

What what?

That... that moving, talking machine is incredible!

Oh, you mean Lancet-2? She's a friend of ours.

C-Can I talk to her?

Knock yourself out.

Erm... Hello.

Hi?

Are you... a machine?

My product designation is Raythean Exister-S62 Model six-wheeled operation platform. I belong to Rhodes Island, codename Lancet-2.

Wow!

Yes. I do have a certain level of intelligence. As long as your questions aren't too hard, I should be able to answer them.

Speaking of which, I am a medical operation platform, so my knowledge base is focused on medicine. Do keep that in mind.

^%&$*#(#......! ! !

Is something wrong?

Can I hug you?

What?

What is she doing? Did a screw come loose?

Isn't it obvious? She's in awe of that machine.

Oh?

Shocked as she was when she first saw a moving city, a machine that moves and talks on its own is even more striking!

And forget her, I'm just as excited!

Oh, my beautiful young lady, might I have the honor of taking you on a date?

I know the most gorgeous spot in the rainforest. I'll take you there for a lovely afternoon!

Oh, y-you're asking me out?!

I don't know what to do here. I'm flattered... Doctor, should I accept?

Don't butt in, High Priest, or you can't blame me for what happens to our friendship after all these years.

Honestly, I'm with the Doctor here.

Kinda wanna laugh.

Oh, Doctor, to hear you suddenly come out and say that... My heart isn't ready...

......

So Gavial, your people you're with now can create this type of machine?

Huh? Err, I'm pretty sure Closure can, yeah.

Okay. I've made a decision.

Does this Rhodes Island place need more hands? I want to join.

Oh?

I want to go with you, to learn about mechanical technology.

Huh?

I've thought about leaving to go study in the outside world before, but I never seriously considered it because of the tribe. I think this is a great opportunity.

Th-Then I'm going too!

What?!

If this is how it's going to be, then it's time for plan B... I'm going with Gavial!

Gavial, I fight really hard. I can definitely help you, Gavial!

Err, Doctor, what should I do here?

Yeah. Might as well give them the operator tests.

C'mon, Doctor, be nice.

Doooctooor!

Whatever. At least stick with the Doctor and try to learn something.

Right!

Hey, Gavial, do me a favor and tell me what this little squirt is saying.

......

Huh? Kemar?

I have to go with her.

She says she's going with you.

Oh. Cool. She packs a punch. I bet she'll make a fine operator.

She said okay.

Good.

Hm? Wait a second. So Zumama's going, Tomimi's going, and Kemar's going, what about the tribes?

Ahahaha, I was seeing red back then! Couldn't think at all.

You're right, though... I can't just abandon my tribe.

Oh, I think you've got nothing to worry about in that department.

It's no Gavial, but the Big Ugly is still pretty strong.

That's for sure. I want to make one too.

With the Temple destroyed, let's build machines instead. Whoever makes the most awesome one gets to be Great Chief?

Hey, no! Fighting is way better!

Oh, good point. I don't want to give up fighting. What should we do?

All right, morons. Why not just fight and also build machines?!

Yeah!

See? Nothing to worry about at all.

From what I've seen, the common folk are usually quick to adapt, even as the leaders hem and haw about the future.

What if I told you the first Great Chief was actually a Tiacauh Brave who gave himself the title, prior to whom there was no custom to choose a Great Chief at all?

...High Priest, why did you never tell me that before?

Oh, I never thought it was important. Is it? My point is that people are resilient, they'll go on living even if one of their traditions disappears.

I've always thought of traditions as rituals that bring people together.

But when that tradition carries on for a few decades, they start to think it's inviolable, it's unbreakable, it has to go on forever.

But that's nonsense!

So you tell me you want to blow up the Temple and I'm all in, both hands, both feet, and my tail too!

Oh, no, if my hands and feet are in, my tail has to stay out... right? What if I'm laying down? Let's see!

...I get it.

Just how old are you?

How old? I forget.

And honestly, these methods you have for keeping track of time mean nothing to me! Whether or not I happen to have forgotten when I was born!

O...kay. But we still need someone to be the Great Chief.

Hey, I heard Gavial and Zumama were fighting again. Is it already over?

Hmm...

Why are you looking at me like that, Gavial?

Say, Inam, are you interested in being Great Chief at all?

What?

So after going through all that, you got the engine back, performed your emergency repairs, and got on the road back home?

Y-Yeah!

Doctor, I do believe I told you what a precious piece of equipment that aircraft was before you left.

Seeing as the aircraft is still in reparable condition, I won't be too hard on you. But the maintenance costs are coming out of your pay, and Blaze's.

Aww, and mine...?

An elite operator takes elite responsibility.

Agh, fine.

As for the three individuals you brought back, since you seem to think they have what it takes to be operators, I'll leave them to the Doctor.

Gavial, were you satisfied with your trip back home?

Huh? Sure. But even I didn't think it'd go down like that. It was fun.

Honestly, I had a contingency plan in case the Doctor didn't bring you back.

Why?

Because I figured there was a possibility you'd want to stay there.

Huh? Kal'tsit, I thought you knew me better than that.

You've never really adapted to life outside your tribe. Every day, you come into conflict with the world, in your own ferocious way.

I'll put it this way: if someday you asked for a leave of absence, or if you just left, I wouldn't be surprised.

Hey, Doctor, maybe I'm not getting this right. Is Kal'tsit saying she cares about me?

If there's nothing else, Dr. Doctor, you can go.

Tch, yeah, this is one of those times the Doctor likes to play dead.

Then I'm gonna go ahead and say you care about me.

That's our Kal'tsit, even confusing the Doctor.

Kal'tsit, I'm not going anywhere.

I had a reason to leave my tribe. I really did want to practice medicine.

Now that's not to say I really thought I could become a doctor, but I'm very happy I made that decision.

From a modern medical standpoint, we pretty much have no doctors back home. If you get sick, you just let it run its course. Maybe try a few traditional remedies.

If I never left, I wouldn't know what the world is really like.

I wouldn't know how many diseases are preventable or curable, I wouldn't know how people look down on Oripathy. I wouldn't know that saving lives makes me as happy as taking them.

The world is definitely complicated, and I don't always know what motivates people, or why they fight.

But I'm a doctor now. And my dream is to treat Oripathy.

Is there a better place in this wide world for me to study and practice medicine?

I'm afraid not.

Well how about that. And by the way, you all work a lot harder than I do. What's with you here worrying about me?

Honestly, I think I should be worrying about you, Kal'tsit.

You didn't pick up my slack while I was away now, did you?

No.

Good. I'm gonna give Zumama an Oripathy checkup. You have a nice chat now.

Oh, I'll see what Kemar's up to. Err, I guess I'm calling her Flint now. I'm worried she'll get into a fight, with the language barrier and all...

Doctor, Tomimi should be in her general studies class now. You check on her when you're done.

Gavial.

Hm?

Welcome back.

Haha.

Hey! What about me?!

You had another mission ready to go last week. You're technically very late.

Oh...

......

In your eyes, you just went on a nonsensical journey.

But, just like our Gavial, it was a showcase of the lively and diverse world we inhabit.

We lose so much to the endless march of time. That which was once a fact of life in the past is now precious to us.

We search for the light that slips through the breaks in the crowd and begin to see that as the norm.

I hope you and your fellow operators learned a lesson from this trip: some things are not too far out of reach.

Kal'tsit, meeting time!

I know.

Now then, Dr. Doctor, you have a lot of work waiting for you.

I hope you got enough rest on your vacation.