VOTOMS Ep. 3: Encounter

Boone addresses his men and tells them to track down everyone who escaped the night before and make an example out of them. Chirico wakes up in the junkyard and hides when he hears a noise. He comes out of hiding and meets the junkyard’s owner, an old man named Bouleuse Gotho. Gotho takes Chirico back to his house where a girl named Coconna is waiting. Gotho tells her that he has no work for her. Coconna looks at Chirico and asks who he is, but Gotho tells her to leave. Gotho knows that Chirico is one of the guys who escaped from the Boone Family mine last night. Nearby, Boone Family gang members attack the escaping slaves and kill them off. At the police headquarters, Iskui arrives as the new chief. He asks his men for a status report, and they tell him that the Boone Family is on a rampage to kill all the escaped slaves. They also report that one of the escapees apparently killed Gust. Iskui believes that Boone killed Gust himself, and he plans to take the Boone Family out of action. At the junkyard, Gotho offers Chirico a job, but Chirico says he wants to leave the city. Chirico asks if he can have one of the Scopedogs, and Gotho responds that he can’t just lend it to him. Chirico promises to pay him back, and Gotho reluctantly agrees. A truck pulls up to the house, and its driver is the eccentric Vanilla Vartla. He asks Gotho if Chirico is someone he scouted out, and Gotho explains that Chirico is a VOTOM pilot. Vanilla thinks Gotho can make some good money out of it, but Gotho explains that Chirico wants to leave the city. Vanilla says he has a client who wants 20 rifles, and Gotho goes into an underground storage room to check his stock. Vanilla asks Chirico to work for him, but Chirico ignores him and focuses on repairing the Scopedog. Gotho returns and says he only has five rifles, but he can get more by nightfall. Vanilla decides to stick around and watch Chirico.

Boone and his men drive through the city and continue the search. Some of his men ask Coconna if she’s seen any weird guys around, and she realizes they’re talking about Chirico. At the junkyard, Gotho and Vanilla assist in the repairs to the Scopedog. Chirico plans his escape route with a computer and calculates the probability of enemy attack along that route. Chirico activates the Scopedog’s engines, but the variable compressor malfunctions and sets off sparks. Elsewhere, Coconna overhears several Boone Family gang members mention that there’s only one guy unaccounted for, and one of the remaining search areas is Gotho’s junkyards. The gang members then ride off to seek cover when acid rain begins to pour. Coconna comes to the junkyard to warn Gotho about the Boone Family coming to look for Chirico. She then asks Gotho to pay her for the information, but he instead gives her a bottle of booze. Gotho says they have until morning before the acid rain ends and the Boone Family comes out again. By morning, Chirico finally finishes repairing the Scopedog and getting it in working order. Gotho tells Chirico to show him his skills, and Vanilla sees what Gotho’s ulterior motive is. Iskui holds a strategy meeting and says that the police will annihilate the Boone Family and take control of the jijirium mine themselves. Chirico activates the Scopedog, and Gotho and Vanilla place wagers on how Chirico will do. As the Boone Family members drive through the city, Chirico attacks them by kicking and shooting at them. More and more gang members attack, and Chirico shoots them with his machine gun. As the carnage unfolds, a limousine transporting the Phantom Lady drives through the battle. Even after destroying many gang members, Chirico is still outnumbered. At this time, the police appear in force and attack the Boone Family. Chirico watches the killing and is reminded of how he felt on the battlefield during the war.