Once More with Feeling
After the Disc battle, Fuuko declares that the Union's next goal is going into space. The space station where he was born has sent out a distress call as it's assaulted by an unknown force.
Chapters
- 154. Selection
- 155. You Seem To Be In Trouble
- 156. Right Stuff
- 157. Save You
- 158. Don't Think, Feel
- 159. Entruster
- 160. Welcome to Earth
Tropes:
- A Day in the Limelight: This arc is dedicated to rescuing Phil and his mother from a threat on the space station he was born. While Phil had been shown as the number 4 in the previous Union, he hadn't had his backstory explored until now.
- Honest Advisor: Since Nico only recommends 3 people, Fuuko opts to get other opinions to build a team to head into space. Despite Billy having just joined the Union, his experience and objectivity leads Fuuko to ask him on his opinion in determining who will be part of the rescue.
- In Spite of a Nail: Phil despite already being a Robot Kid by the time he encounters the Union, still largely shares the same past, even with the presence of UMA like Galaxy which should have a large impact on him.
- Outside-Context Problem: Every problem before this has been a result of UMAs, negators, or God taking an active role in the plot. The aliens fall into none of those categories, as while they are a direct consequence of UMA Galaxy, they otherwise share no connection. Even the Acks were juniors, not "true" aliens.
- Raised in a Lab: The "New Feeling Project" is an experiment set out to study the effects of space on human adaptability and to satisfy that end, Phil was born on the space station.
- Recruitment by Rescue: Somewhat of a Zig-Zagged Trope. After boarding the space station, the Union space team immediately encounter Phil, who they set out to rescue in the first place, walking up to them. However, his mother is still trapped by the aliens causing havoc on the station and while they're not trying to recruit her, they still want to rescue her since she's in trouble and she ends up joining the Union with Phil afterward.
- Reentry Scare: Between the extra mass from Gina and Sean and the eggs from the Alien Queen, the rocket’s re-entry ends up veering completely out of control. Phil has to expose himself outside and provide the appropriate delta-V directly, a heroic act so intense it eventually requires Gina to go out and burn her hand by applying Unchange on his body directly so he won’t crumble. The crew still end up crashing within spitting distance of Hong Kong, but in a scenic, rainbow-crested river, rather than a populated area.
- Science Is Bad: The "New Feeling Project" was done in secret, and the government responsible for the project are determined to not have it go public after the space station is under attack. None of this sits well with the Union, but Nico is especially angry.
- Science Is Good: Nico's fury is because science is supposed to help. It's that desire which sees him being put on the mission to save Phil because everyone sees how much he cares.
- Semantic Superpower: Even after his Unseen grew to affect those whom he cares about around him, Sean still had many drawbacks to his ability. However, after Gina pushes him to expand his definition of being "unseen", he can now become undetectable by thermals and weight scales (and by extension, anyone else he's holding), allowing both him and Gina to travel on the rocket ship without being found out.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong:
- While Fuuko is determined to make everyone happy in the current loop, Phil in this loop had his brain transplanted into a robot due to a disease he contracted when he was younger. Given her uncertainty about his current state, it's unlikely that this happened to him in the previous loop.
- Fuuko also can't effectively respond to things she has no knowledge of. The space station where Phil is located has threats none of her artifacts, experiences, or conversations with Juiz could have prepped her for and Phil himself is largely robotic due to having contracted a disease at a younger age.
