Darker than Black ep.11

June 19, 2007 | 11 Comments

Wow, I can't believe I finished that proposal. I thought it'll never end. Anyway, I'll have to play catch-up with the blog now, which will be hard but I'll try to do what I can. Things will probably won't return to the way they were until 1 or 2 weeks later though. It doesn't help that Summer season is about to start and I haven't decided what I want to follow yet. Thankfully at least 2 series that I follow right now is about to end soon. I'm referring to Death Note and Nodame Cantabile. This means I have at least 2 new shows that I can follow without much difficulty. The only problem that I have now is choosing which shows I want to follow. Anyway, Nodame Cantabile will come a bit later after I get a rest.

Hei sits quietly inside a bus when the girl next to him asks him if he believes in the urban legend which states that a person can recover the thing that he or she has lost by going inside the Gate. However, there is an equivalent cost associated with doing this and she wonders what this cost could possibly be. When Hei respond half-heartedly, the girl guesses that Hei doesn't believe in the urban legend and claims that the truth she doesn't believe it either. She then introduces herself as Corinna Moku, a 3rd year student from Peking University. Their brief introduction, however, comes to a halt when the bus is getting closer to the Hellgate. Corinna thinks that the gate is bigger than she thought. The bus then makes a turn and stops at their destination, the PANDORA (Phisicalqantity Alternation Natural Deconstruction Organized Research Agency - what the Hell is that?) headquarter. Later on, Hei is seen going through through an MRI-like machine.

A flashback then reveals that Hei was asked by Huang to infiltrate PANDORA. Mao was worried because there's a danger of Contractors going out of control if they get too close to the gate. Moreover, he believed that it's unlikely that Hei can get past the security in the first place. Huang, however, informed them that unfortunately the organisation is serious about this recovery mission. Apparently an explosion happened at the facility two weeks ago and two guards died as a result. PANDORA had investigated the incident and assumed that it was just an accident caused by the electrical system. A few days ago, however, a spy who infiltrated CIA found out that the explosion was created for the purpose of stealing a meteor fragment from inside the gate. The organisation believes that the fragment is still within the wall and wants Hei to recover it. For this mission, Huang gives Hei a match box containing what looks like a clear plastic.

In the present time, Hei is seen wearing something that looks like helmet while someone asks him various questions including if he's a patient person, has seen UFO, if he believes in God, and if he's heard about Contractors. Hei responds with a "No" to each of those questions. From the side, it's clear that the clear plastic file that Huang gave him earlier is now stuck on Hei's neck, possibly allowing his nervous response to lie convincingly. Hei eventually passes the test and has to line up with the rest of the people who pass the test to enter the headquarter. During the queue, he meets with Corinna again. This time, however, Corinna has a vacant look in her and is starring at empty space. She's also very jumpy and temperamental when Hei tries to talk to her. When Hei asks her if there is something wrong, Corinna becomes angry and denies this. Because of this incident, the guards come over and taser her before taking her away.

Hei, on the other hand, gets a new job as a janitor. The supervisor informs the new trainee that in this place, apparition is not an unusual occurance. Sometimes things that exist will vanish and things that did not exist will appear. The supervisor also claims that this kind of hallucination is an everyday occurrence. Because of this, world-leading researchers work day and night to solve the supernatural phenomenon in this place. The important thing for them is to focus on their job, which is to provide the best environment for these researchers. While the supervisor shows the group the block in which they'll work at night, Hei notices that there are many telescope in the room located opposite the one he's supposed to be looking at. Because he stares at it, he gets yelled at by his supervisor, who tells him that they don't have to clean the room. Their conversation comes to a halt when two researchers want to enter the room.

The supervisor recognizes the old one as "Sergei" and quickly orders Hei to make way for the two. Despite this, the young woman who accompanies Sergei still bumps into Hei and scatters her research paper. As a result, Hei is scolded by the supervisor and is ordered to help the researcher collecting her papers. After the woman left, Hei finds a note in his pocket, asking him to meet her 1 hour later in A-3 equipment room. Upon seeing her again, Hei realises that she's from the organization as well. She tells him that there are others from the organization but she doesn't know who they are. She also asks Hei not to rely on her for his investigation. She explains that she's been doing research here for 2 years before this incident happened suddenly. As for the meteor fragment, similar fragment was found in South America before it disappeared. It is believed that the data from that time is useful when it comes to solving the mystery of the gate.

The woman has no idea why CIA wants to steal it but tells Hei that this is not her concern and proceeds to leave the area. She, however, returns again to properly introduces herself as Meena Kandaswamy. She also informs him that there's no point for him to wear that seal on his neck since the truth is there's no real way of spotting Contractor. That night, Hei returns to the room with the telescope and is about to touch it. A researcher, however, tells him not to do that because they're still in the midst of experiment. Hei apologises and claims that the reason is because he saw the model that he used to have, a Satake. Upon hearing this, the researcher asks "Li" if he wants to see the real stars. On their way, the man explains that although Satake was late-coming telescope maker in Japan, they use cheap but high quality lens in their product. When Li wonders what the researcher is doing, the man asks Li if he just gives up because the sky is fake.

He feels that even though life became crazy after this sky appeared, he doesn't have plan on changing his star-gazing hobby. When Li is offered to look through the telescope, he's disappointed because he can only see the fake sky. The man, however, suggests that Li remembers the sky that he used to see. Upon doing so, Li can see the blue sky, surprising himself in the process. The man explains that since they're inside the gate, things that normally is not possible is actually possible. The man believes that what Li just saw is a possibility of how the sky could be in the future. He believes that if everyone around the world experienced what they did then the real sky will return. Either way, he wants Li to join his group of friends, which at the moment only consists of himself and his sister. Although his sister's body is paralyzed at the moment, he dreams of being able to erase the fake sky and take his sister up into real space.

Hei encounters Corinna again in a dining room the next day. This time around, however, she looks even more disturbed than ever. She claims of seeing dead people and wanting to leave this place. She then starts yelling at the space next to her because apparently there's a dead person there. After she left, the male researcher comments that she might have difficulty returning into society. That night Corinna is inside the telescope room, holding a lens when someone electrocutes her from behind. After she dies, her killer sees that the lens emit a blue light and decides to take it. The next day, her body is found and Hei is suspected because for some reason his supervisor accuses him. Despite this, they can't find anything on Hei. Hei then meets with Meena, so he convinces her that he didn't have a reason to kill Corinna. However, he becomes angry when Meena asks if Contractors need to kill. After apologising, Hei warns Meena not to move on her own.

Meanwhile, the head security guard informs someone that Corinna is a courier sent by the CIA. Instead of handing over the meteor fragment, however, she had wanted to leave the facility. As a result, they have no idea where she hids the fragment. Meanwhile, Hei and his other co-workers have gathered in front of a large monitor to help Sergei make observation about a robot exploration into the Gate. The young researcher then comes and assures Hei that he doesn't think Hei is the type to kill someone. The observation then starts by showing the robot moving towards a giant crater. When the robot moves away, however, Hei starts to freak out. As it turns out, the camera shows him the face of a girl with a bloody face standing in front of a car. The others also see something on the screen but only a blue-shaped light. Upon seeing this, Meena wonders if this is the same synchrotron radiation that Contractor emits when they use their power while Sergei wonders if that's actually the meteor fragment.

Preview

Impression:

It's interesting to know that whoever killed Corinna had the same power and same hairstyle as Hei. Judging from the preview, however, it seems the young researcher was the one who did it. This episode promises some answer in regards to Pandora and the Hell's Gate. It seems that Pandora is investigating paranormal occurrences in the gate. However, due to its proximity to the Gate, there have been objects missing/appearing and if Corinna was not crazy, maybe she did see apparition of dead people somehow. There are, however, advantages to the Gate because it seems that things that one can't see outside can be seen within the gate. The real sky is a good example of this. Having said that, I wonder if what Hei saw on the monitor was really his sister or if it's just a manifestation of his wish. Last but not least, I find it interesting that there are so many factions within this series. This includes: the organization that Hei works for, PANDORA, CIA, and MI-6.

© memento 2003