"Hybrid" is the twenty-first chapter of Blame!, and the third chapter of Volume 4.
Synopsis[]
At the open entrance to Toha Heavy Industries, Killy is faced with Sanakan’s human form. Although he prepares to attack, her mannerisms and his information-augmented senses tell him that it is actually Cibo. From the cyberspace, she has reinstantiated her mind in Sanakan’s body, effectively escaping from her previous body as it was killed. They try to enter Toha, but the door pushes them out again, almost smashing them.
A malformed Exterminator appears; it tries to open the door, but fails and simply dies. Cibo concludes that entities of the Netsphere such as the Safeguard are blocked from entering or interacting with Toha.
Killy and Cibo journey upwards, seeking another entrance. Cibo’s body begins to decay due to a radiation; she suspects they are getting too close to the megastructure.
At another door, Cibo’s borrowed body begins to unmake itself altogether. She realizes it is being signaled from the remnants of the local Safeguard. She begins to morph into its mechanical form as Sanakan’s persona begins to resurface. Constructing her graviton weapon, she moves to attack Killy, but he has an idea.
Killy opens the door, grapples the emerging Sanakan, and heaves her into the structure. Even just over the threshold, Toha’s defense mechanisms remotely purge Sanakan. Her violently metamorphing body is returned to Cibo’s control, manifesting as a version of Cibo with Sanakan’s proportions.
Character Appearances[]
Notes & Trivia[]
- The Exterminator exhibits random growths and anatomical multiplication, as if mutated badly. Presumably, its construction was addled, either by Cibo’s compromising of the Safeguard control vehicle, or by attempting to download in proximity to Toha’s defense perimeter.