"Backup Cyberspace" is the nineteenth chapter of Blame!, and the first chapter of Volume 4.
Synopsis[]
Sanakan and Killy duel while the Electrofishers are overwhelmed by Exterminators. The Safeguard colossus moves to finish off Cibo’s giant Builder.
Cibo finds herself in a virtual reality of abstract organic machines. An Authority proxy appears and explains that it is an interstitial cyberspace between the Netsphere and the base reality. Cibo has arrived here by an unknown method, probably enabled by her recent connection with Killy’s augmented brain. Her body is dying, but her mind may be able to stop the Safeguard attack on the Electrofishers.
The proxy brings Cibo to the virtual Safeguard vehicle that is mediating their attack. Cibo connects to it in order to overload it, though the consequences for her are unknown.
As Sanakan is about to defeat Killy, she is afflicted with a seizure by Cibo’s influence, and Killy blasts her apart. The Exterminators and the colossus collapse and degrade, saving the remaining Electrofishers. The evacuees reach the entrance to Toha Heavy Industries and begin clearing debris covering the lock mechanism.
Cibo asks the Authority proxy if Killy is really a Safeguard, as she overheard Sanakan imply earlier. She and the proxy are suddenly seized by Safeguard entities. As it is killed, the proxy clarifies that Killy is an agent of a system that preceded the Safeguard. A Safeguard officer cuts apart Cibo’s virtual body.
Killy finds Cibo’s real body in time to see it spontaneously eviscerate, reflecting her virtual injuries. As her influence on the control vehicle wanes, the colossus recovers.
Character Appearances[]
Notes & Trivia[]
To be Added