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"Memories of Earth" is the second chapter of Blame!, and the second chapter of Volume 1.

Synopsis[]

A group of grub-like creatures are seen devouring a tower, which collapses and sends the bugs raining down around Killy as he sits on a platform with the body of the young boy. Unfazed and deep in thought, he is seemingly waiting for something. An elevator ascends from below, carrying with it a young woman and a mechanically-altered canine. The dog helps the woman attach a pair of arms to herself as fallen larva smear against the elevator's window.

The elevator comes to a sudden stop at the platform Killy is sitting on. As the door opens, the dog rushes out to greet Killy as the young woman emerges with a toolkit around her waist and carries with her what appears to be an artificial Net Gene Terminal. As she sets the terminal down, it causes the platform to lean forward due to its immense weight. After placing the body of the young boy into the terminal, she performs a scan on his arm, which is a notably darker than the rest of his body.

After some technical difficulties, the woman makes a call to an unknown entity from a phone on the outside of the elevator. She informs them that she has "received the sample from Killy", "the mutation was only limited to the tenth and eleventh chromosomes", and to prepare for her arrival. After the call ends, she sits next to Killy and orders him to investigate a detected residential sector with operational systems, located 3,000 levels above. As Killy is surprised, she notes that they are unsure if humans still remain there.

From under his jacket, Killy presents a deteriorated book. After reading a passage, he asks the woman about the "land" mentioned within. She takes interest in the book, noting that it is hardcover and "quite old", and asks Killy if she can have it. Noting that it is getting dark, she prepares to leave. She offers to give Killy a lift to the next level, though his silence is taken as a decline.

Character Appearances[]

  • Killy
  • Unnamed Woman
  • Unnamed Dog

Notes & Trivia[]

  • The passage Killy reads is from a real story (written in 1969): The Snows Are Melted, the Snows Are Gone by James Tiptree Jr. The woman and dog characters in this LOG were directly inspired by Tiptree's science-fiction short story, in which a woman with no arms and her wolf companion are journeying in a post-apocalypse wasteland.
  • Aside from a flashback in LOG. 51, this is the only appearance of the young woman and the dog.
  • This LOG. is one of the five LOG.s that were adapted into the ONA: the others are LOG.s are 6, 10, 11, and 26.
  • In the sixth and last LOG. of the OVA, it is hinted that the woman with the dog is Cibo.

Blame! - Volumes and Chapters
Volume 1 The Net's OffspringMemories of EarthTechno NomadsEX-LOGThe AuthoritiesEscapeSilicon SoulsThe Builders
Volume 2 EX-LOG - Nest RuineThe CapitolThe CorporationNet SphereSafety Guard
Volume 3 The Great SurfElectrosilos FishermenPlantersAwakeningAssaultBasic LanguageMassacre
Volume 4 Backup CyberspaceLimit CancelHybridToha Heavy IndustriesElectronic KnightThe Eighth Cave
Volume 5 HackingScattered SpaceGravity FurnaceVersionCave 13Cease Fire
Volume 6 Sanakan and CiboVibrationCollapseDissolutionDisappearanceBeautiful LifeUnofficial Megastructure
Volume 7 Central NexusClass 1 Critical Effect WeaponCaptureAnti-Intrusion Electron SpaceThe Megastructure's Internal FissureSpecial Safeguards
Volume 8 Inside the MegastructureMultiple Dispersion Molecule MovementProvisional Connection CertificationRaidUrgeLevel 9Far-Off
Volume 9 Parallel Electricity Storage Tank ClusterThe CallerLacking EscapeThe CaptorAnother MeetingPeopleThe Observer
Volume 10 Unified Metal BeamsContinuumOrganicBurning SiliconRescue of the ReceptacleExterminator, First ClassRetrieved ConsciousnessThe Edge of the City
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