Omnicode's humble cottage

Another Sunday, another review day. I won't lie, I was in two minds of whether to bother, but I write this knowing that today's too-obvious-to-note is tomorrow's archival notes and I'll be glad of it.

Summary

As playing cards continue clattering to the ground, Machine God Mirror regards the hero who so rudely kicked it. Assessing the young heroine bouncing up and down before it, it consults its databases and comes up empty. Concluding, correctly, that this one must be new, it declares that it has no interest in her data and demands that she be a good girlie and run off and fetch King. What was it that Mae West said about good girls going to Heaven and bad ones going everywhere? This one takes a deep breath and charges the robot.

No one gets to call me girly, not even my brother.

We cut away to find out how the other heroes are doing with the threats before them.

Over in City N, Tank Top Master contemplates his end. A hero's career is unlikely to end with a peaceful retirement but dying by smoke inhalation appears an especially cruel fate. Nevertheless, he's determined to go out as bravely as he can. With his tank top now torn to permit his chest to expand freely, he starts taking Tank Top Deep Breaths, and, in defiance of physiology, physics, and logic, the smoke-filled air starts to continuously come his way. He inhales so much that the smoke starts to be pulled in from across the city, leaving the monster looking round in consternation.

If it looks crazy but works, it's not crazy. Tank Top Deep Breaths clear the air.

Unfortunately, Tank Top Master's lung capacity is not infinite, and just as he's about to pass out, Flashy Flash comes in. The hero kicks the monster, which, unperturbed, disperses and reforms. Flash lands next to TTM and thanks him for making it possible to approach the site, then asks him just what the hell is he, a vacuum pump? We were wondering too, Flash. His mind ever on business, TTM warns Flash that the monster can create multiple smoke clones, and it just so happens that the ninja has an answer for that. He draws his sword and starts whirling it so fast that it forms a vortex, jumps at the monster and calling the name of his attack, 'Sky-Ripping Scattered Flash Slash,' rips the monster to shreds. It's over… well, all except for the copious smoke pouring out of every part of the carcass that necessitates the immediate evacuation of the entire city. Can't win for losing sometimes.

Thanks… I think.

Elsewhere, Suiryu and team are still en route to their rendezvous with Garou. Everyone in the carrier is sitting quietly. Suiryu himself is hunched over. He replays the sight of Saitama's fleeing form in his mind, but we don't yet know what he thinks.

I too wonder how this chance encounter might influence Suiryu's future actions.

In City P, Tatsumaki thinks this is an easy job, albeit one she needs to take care off pronto. These monsters may only be insects, but they're splitting to multiply and doing so fast. She grabs all the visible bugs and with a twist, crushes them all to a paste. Nothing to it, she thinks. But then the ground itself bulges and then splits to disgorge a seemingly endless stream of bugs that form dense black columns surrounding Tatsumaki.

Easy… oh, not so easy.

The next chapter continues directly from that (duh, it's part 2 of the same chapter). As she looks round at the swarms, Tatsumaki thinks that she needs to ensure that she crushes every last one, not even leaving an egg. She starts to contemplate the environmental damage she'll have to do with regret, but she's not allowed to muse for long: a bug lands on her thigh, which makes her freak out. She crushes the entire surroundings, lifting insects, buildings, streets, and the ground beneath into the sky in an enormous wave that shatters to dust.

In the end, Tatsumaki sits on one of the few recognisable structures left -- a supporting pillar -- and contemplates the desert-like landscape she's created. Throwing mere multitudes of her was pointless, surely monsters should know that by now. However, a darker thought occurs to her, it could be an attempt to wreak devastation. Seen that way, this was a successful attack... and she was the perfect tool. She's not left to think for long as a news helicopter lands in the dust. It's a news crew from what had been P-TV and they want to know why she didn't at least wait for the Neo Heroes before going on her all-destroying rampage. Was that even necessary?

And then it got worse. Accountability is a four-letter word as far as Tatsumaki is concerned.

Irked, Tatsumaki shouts back, telling them that they ought to be grateful for saving not only the city but the continent itself from the scourge of the rapidly-multiplying bugs. This does not play well, and is being relayed live to the world. Realising that this isn't going to get better if she hangs around, Tatsumaki flies off, ignoring taunts of her running away. As she rises higher, so does the expanse of land that we get to see… and everywhere we look, there is nothing but dust dunes. There is no coming back for this city. Tatsumaki's thoughts echo what we see. If they don't change the way they handle monsters, humanity is done for. Can't win for losing.

The definition of a Pyrrhic victory.

Someone who is not having a good time with monsters is Blue, who is spending his time in City L making like a Smurf chased by Gargamel -- running for his little blue life. He jumps and flips, followed closely by the all-corroding slime from the monster, which reveals itself to be a colossal, slimy, much-spiked double-headed multi-eyed leech called Eel Dragon. It's a good thing the monster doesn't have the wherewithal to lead its shots, but it keeps Blue moving. He's only too aware that the slightest slip in concentration will cost him his life. Can't win?

Run, boy, run! Maybe the monster will run out of batteries!

City T is rocked by a massive explosion that grows in extent to encompass several buildings and power lines that it destroys completely. As the blast wave passes, we focus on its epicentre. Genos is standing there. His face is a scratched-up mess and what's left of his clothes are flaming tatters on his person. Well, at least he's fared better than the Family of Darkness, every last one of whom he has killed. He does not stand there long but topples backwards, thinking that once again, this battle was hard-fought. He continues to think that yes, he really can kill dragon-level disasters by himself now (well, this is your second dragon kill -- did you think the first time was luck?), but the way monsters keep coming, it feels like he's making no progress. He feels trapped in a cruel game of cat-and-mouse, a hopeless arms race…

Ever ask yourself why you even got out of bed today?

His thoughts are interrupted by people emerging from nearby shelters to see what has happened. As most of the city is intact, that's quite a few people. They quickly realise that all the monsters are dead and start to jubilate. Some point out that Demon Cyborg took them out, adding to the sense of celebration. However, as they look at his state, that sense of joy quickly becomes muted. It's evident that he's in a bad way -- some wonder if he's even alive. Others reflect that at least he won. Others still start to fret over the possibility of one monster having survived; there's no one to protect them now. They notice the arrival of the Neo Heroes with relief.

Genos, who has been listening with his eyes closed, thinks to himself that he needs to become stronger. Much, much stronger. Can't win for losing.

You idiot, you don't get stronger by eating the pain of those around you! Ahh... he can't hear us.

First, it tried luring him into the Neo Hero organization, with scouts promising many strong hidden-until-now heroes from whom he could learn and Blue himself telling Genos that there was a place for him if he ever changed his mind. You know that there'd have been a very special reception waiting for Genos.

Accidentally avoiding a very tempting trap -- maybe this guy does have some luck after all.

Then it tried deception, with Drive Knight telling him that Bofoi was the culprit behind the mad cyborg. But instead of going on a rampage, Genos takes a deep breath and goes to consult the people he trusts. Damn.

Okay, so it's just a matter of destroying his support network, then.

Then it tried the burning platform strategy, by having Dr Kuseno's lab attacked and the doctor killed. Surely, this would provoke Genos to just attack Bofoi already!

It did, but annoyingly, Genos listened to Bofoi... Damn this guy and his willingness to give others the benefit of the doubt!

This is why the Mad Cyborg must hate humans -- look how easily one is persuaded to consider additional factors.

It tried being the voice in his head and ordering him to kill Bofoi. No dice -- the dude just shouted back.

People are supposed to do anything if they can hear voices in their head. Nobody said anything about them talking back!

And now, it's gone for direct action. It can't get Genos to do things, but it can pull his body to it. And maybe, it can taunt and trick him into taking some action that finally gets him doing what it wants.

Surely this HAS to be an irresistible call to action, no?

It's funny that such a cunning and calculating cyborg still didn't do a good enough job accounting for Saitama variable. He reprogrammed Drive Knight's safety lock, gave him Saitama mode and everything, yet he still failed to gauge just how strong Sai is or how much psychological influence Sai has on Genos, and that ended up stalling his plans. But now I wonder how the Mad Cyborg was able to mess with Genos's memories and thoughts in the first place, and even get his body to his hideout. If the theory regarding the real Kuseno and his digital twin is true, it'll be interesting to see how the Mad Cyborg established (partial?) control over Genos

You're brilliant. Your insights make something really clear. ONE is a stickler for information flow: Who Knows What When Why and How is something he sticks to like a police procedural. It's what makes OPM feel grounded despite being set in a fantastical world.

The Organization has been hunting down 'errors' in the human world to either eliminate or control, and yet, the greatest error of all, Saitama, is not even on their radar until that morning, even though he's destroyed at least one Machine God -- and both Genos and the Dr. Kuseno we know knew how extraordinary he is. The timing of the awareness of Saitama just happens to be the morning after Dr. Kuseno's lab was raided and the information he measured from Saitama was available to be found. That really strikes against the Dr Kuseno we know being an android copy of the Mad Cyborg -- it would have at least known that Saitama was an error, even if it didn't yet have hard data about how erroneous Saitama was. And, as you say, it would have also known that Saitama was hugely influential on Genos and would have had a lever to use.

It *should* have known weeks ago about Saitama's influence if nothing else. And yet it didn't.

The Mad Cyborg has said nothing about Genos's memories -- it just says it doesn't know and frames it as due to the information not having been sufficiently important to keep. The individual calling Genos's memories fake is Dr. Bofoi. Whether Bofoi is telling the truth as he understands it or is gaslighting Genos we don't yet know.

When it comes to issues of control, the Mad Cyborg is in the walls. It does not matter whether you believe that Dr. Kuseno is the Mad Cyborg (as it claims) or you think like I do that Dr Kuseno created and lost control of the AI calling itself the Mad Cyborg, it is deeply embedded in the works done by Drs. Bofoi and Kuseno. Everything they do is compromised. You'll notice too that it has no problem sabotaging Bofoi. It's been able to steal Drive Knight from him and reprogram it, even breaking the 'ethical lock' Bofoi was so sure of, and it's had no trouble blocking Bofoi's comms so his defense network was unresponsive junk. It can yoink Genos to itself...of course it can, it's embedded in the software.

What it doesn't have is control of the people. It can steal Bofoi's shit but it can't get Bofoi to do anything in particular. It can bring Genos to itself but it can't make Genos do anything, hence the show it's putting on for him. And now that I think of it, had Dr Kuseno been an android, it wouldn't have had to work so hard to try getting Genos to do its bidding: a robot would have funnelled Genos into its arms easier than taking candy from a baby. Instead what did the old long-nose do? Let Genos decide for himself.

Heh, I can hear the Mad Cyborg going, 'Damn you! Stop encouraging him to think for himself and quit that horrible respecting his decisions crap now! You're ruining him!!!'

It feels like you have a theory for every single opm mystery out there! Your observations are insanely sharp.

It's comforting to think that the Mad Cyborg's influence over Genos might be limited, but I can't help feeling that ONE keeps showing us those abilities for a dark reason. Even if the MC's previous attempts have failed, I think he’ll try to use that control again and this time it'll actually work.

For example, if the Mad Cyborg finally realises just how important Sai and Genos are to each other, he'll almost certainly use whatever leverage he has over Genos's body/mind to pressure Saitama, since brute force clearly isn't an option. Not necessarily by making them fight, but by putting Genos's existence/sanity at risk and creating a situation where a gloved fist won't find a gap after all. The MC might force Saitama into cooperating with him.

This arc could lead into one of the classic superhero dilemmas: saving someone you care about vs saving everyone else. There's so much potential for further character development since Saitama hasn't been confronted with that kind of choice before.

And ONE would probably take that trope and do something funny + unexpected with it. Exciting!

Whatever nastiness it has in mind, it really is putting the work in to get Genos to do something of his own volition. It's sure to be for some really sick (as in sadistic and horrific, not awesome) end.

As to whether ONE will *go* there and have Saitama deal with the fallout, I can't help remembering the different ways his showdown with Garou went. In both versions, Garou got to meet 'God' but all he got out of it in the webcomic was a cooler outfit, which Saitama headbutted off him. He never achieved the Absolute Evil he aimed for. Manga rolls around and ONE decides to go there -- Garou gets to be the personification of Evil just as he hoped -- and we watch the world crumble.

I don't know if Saitama is going to have to choose between saving the world and saving his disciple this time. But if he doesn't have to here, the manga will definitely not miss out on such a gut-wrenching conflict.

I'm sure both versions will be emotionally impactful and ultimately share the same message. I'm especially hoping we'll get Kuseno's full story, atp I don't even know how to process this man anymore.

Goshhh ur so talented and amazing at drawing u also draw traditional art which I'm am too wowed by, u make genos n Saitama look so cute and fine at the same time idek how to describe it, it's so peak👏💕