Synopsis
It is Riko's first solo excavation where each Red Whistle is assigned to a different area, though she travels with Nat, their areas being next to each other. Riko is lost in thought about the destination of the gondola system transporting Delvers deep into The Abyss, until Nat interrupts her, wondering about the unusual quietness of the area in that morning. Riko is angered, thinking that Nat meant she was annoying, but Nat clarifies that the area lacks the usual presence of Hammerbeaks. Riko notices as well, though Nat sees this as an opportunity to salvage Hammerbeak nests, which contain many trinkets.
At the altitude of about 100 - 220 meters, Riko excitedly discovers a trove of trinkets. She then begins collecting the trinkets when, underneath a stone slab, a Praying Skeleton is revealed, slightly surprising her. She gives the body a prayer before continuing. After an amount of time, Riko's bag is then bloated with trinkets inside. The bag being very heavy, she calls out to Nat to ask him to carry it, though he does not respond. She then hears a strange noise, and moves to check it out. What Riko finds froze her: a Crimson Splitjaw, usually found only in the 3rd layer, attracted to an unconscious Nat lying on a cliff nearby. Riko blows her whistle, signaling for help, but the close distance allows the Splitjaw to notice her. With a whip of its tail, the creature sends her flying. Riko falls and hit the ground hard. In a lot of pain and thinking her arm is broken, Riko manages to sit up and wonders whether Nat is safe. The Crimson Splitjaw however, wastes no time and swoops down trying to attack her again.
As Riko braces herself, a bright flash of light overwhelms her, and when she opens her eyes, the Splitjaw is badly wounded; a large hole burned into its body. The creature then plummets down a cliff. As Riko is still shocked from the events, Nat calls her, having awakened, and asks if she is okay. Riko tells Nat to head back first while she rests, but in fact she is trying to find the source of the light earlier. As she is searching, Riko finds a strange, glimmering necklace in the grass, which she puts on.
After a while, Riko stumbles upon a mysterious sight: a strange child lying face-down in the grass. As Riko checks the boy's condition, she makes a shocking discovery: that the boy isn't actually human, but a robotic life-form.
Riko and Nat carry the robotboy, with the help of a passing carriage once they made it out of The Abyss until they're back in Orth.
After giving thanks for the transportation, Shiggy appears and asks who the boy is they are carrying. They give him a brief explantion and continue to carry the unconscious boy to the orphanage. However, Belchero, the director of the orphanage, stands at the front door having a conversation with the Red Whistles and checks them before they can go inside. Luckily, Shiggy has a plan to avoid Belchro from finding the robotboy. By calling Kiyui, who is on the Veranda, and giving a hand signal he distracts Belchero momentarily so that the group can go into the orpahange without being noticed.
On the next day, Jiruo acknowledges the findings of the young delvers andtells them keep working hard to be ready for the next cave-raiding. Belchero tells them to keep in mind that keeping relics found in The Abyss is forbidden and Riko tries not to look guilty as Belchero's sharp eyes glance over to her. Later on, Riko asks to be assigned a deeper delving aera, but Jiruo refusesdue to her lack of experience. Nat appears, along with Shiggy and Kiyui, and aks Riko about the robotboy. Riko tells them she wants to wake up him up and will need help theier help with that.
Later that night, as the robotboy nears consciousness, he hears the chatters of the four, apparently trying to use an electrical instrument attached to his helmet to wake him up, though he brushs off the voices and attempts to sleep again. However, he is then, immediately and painfully, jolted into full consciousness, screaming, Riko having mistakenly set the dial to 20 instead of 2.
The four cheer in astonishment at the child's awakening, Riko bombarding him with questions while the boy stares into thin air, wondering where he is. He then began speaking, to Riko's further astonishment, asking where he is. Riko, calling the boy "Robot-kun", replies that he was in her room, in the city of Orth, at the top of The Abyss. The boy then asks if Riko, Shiggy, Nat and Kiyui were torturers, and is told by Nat that they are actually apprentice delvers from Belchero Orphanage. Riko, rudely interjects, asking "Robot-kun" to introduce himself. The boy answers that he himself is not sure of that, then asks Riko if he really is a robot. Riko, greatly excited, proceeds to explain her methods of confirming the boy's robotic nature, much to the shock of "Robot-kun".
As Riko and Nat wonder about the boy's memory loss, Shiggy hurriedly comes to them, warning them that their misuse of the electrical device has caused an orphanage-wide blackout, and that their teacher, Leader, is coming to their room. The children hurriedly prepare for Leader's arrival, with Riko hiding "Robot-kun" under a sheet, asking him not to come out or Leader will punish them. Only a few seconds later Leader is already heard yelling at the door, asking for Riko to come out and explain. However, he rushes into the room almost immediately, ignoring Riko's explanation. Noticing something under the sheet, Leader immediately removes it, but only finds the electrical device attached to a helmet, to Riko's surprise. The teacher then turns to Riko, asking about what she has to say. Riko replies weakly that she will not do so again. As Leader begins lecturing Riko, she spots "Robot-kun" dangling from the ceiling, through a rope extending from his left arm, watching, though the boy quickly pulls himself up the rope, disappearing into the ceiling again upon noticing Riko spotting him. Leader then notices Riko not paying attention to him, thus pulls her away to receive her punishment. As Riko yells "Sorry" weakly while Leader drags her out of her room, "Robot-kun" nervously watchs from the ceiling bars.
The boy, dropping down from the ceiling, begins contemplating himself. He recounts his experiences, and then checks his body, trying to confirm if he really is a robot. He wonders if looking like a robot will actually make him one. A strange emblem appears on his helmet's glass lens when he wore it, when Riko suddenly make an appearance, managing to make it back by slipping away when Shiggy, Nat and Kiyui were caught.
The boy escapes along with Riko, because she still wants to show him something before getting punished by Leader. She also gives the boy the name Reg, which was the name of her pet dog when she was younger.
As the sun rises, they reach a windmill and Riko shows Reg the city of the great pit, Orth, in full view. The episode ends with a shot going into the dark of The Abyss.
Adapted From
- Volume 1, Chapter 2: Tree House Excavation Group
- Volume 1, Chapter 3: Former Detention Center, Riko's Bedroom
Referbacks
none, first episode
Character Appearances
Bestiary Indexing
Quotes
"Over the span of many years, with a spirit of adventure for the unknown and countless legends luring them in, the world's only remaining unexplored chasm has swallowed up a great many people. It is known as the Abyss"
BGM (Soundtrack Used in this Episode)
- To the Abyss!
- Beni-Kuchi-Nawa
- Those Everyday Feels
- Underground River (opening version ft. Raj Ramayya)
- Rafters
- Reg Wakes
- Indoor Voices
- Hanazeve Caradhina (ft. Takeshi Saito)