"You're a different creature from the rest of us, and yet, you voluntarily helped us with that." "What's in it for you?" "You are too tainted for us here." "Not a soul alive would consider you a fellow human being." "You're a descendant of the sinners." "May the sky eat you." "Heave-ho!" "Oh, geez." "Hey, Patema!" "What are you up to?" "Huh?" "What's going on?" "We found a storage room down below." "It's all vacuum-sealed!" "We found some new seeds too." "Great!" "Then we can have more plants next season!" "I'll go tell the aide." "Don't forget the security precautions!" "Sure!" "Bye bye!" "Gentlemen shouldn't enter a girl's room without knocking." "Being your guardian trumps being gentlemanly." "Wait, I'm a gentleman!" "Just shut up." "Using something other than the door is pretty nice every now and then..." "The danger zone again, huh?" ""Danger" zone, right..." "Just remember the rules!" "But it's so great there!" "I found a huge, open area today!" "It's nothing like here!" "I know it's important to secure our lives here, but I love exploring other places!" "Did his old lieutenant give you that idea?" "Can we let that rest..." "Lagos said nothing like that." "You know, there are..." "monsters in the danger zone!" "Like... bat men!" "You'll never make it home again if they take you!" "Give me a break." "I'm not twelve." "You're kidding, right?" "Well, maybe bats is the wrong—" "Enough!" "Follow the chief's last will and be a good example to others!" "Poruta!" "Yeah, yeah." "Did you have to tell her that?" "Well, they stalk that area, don't they?" "Lower your voice!" "Isn't it about time we told her?" "Not telling her seems more dangerous to me." "Patema's still a child!" "Fine, yeah." "I know, rules and stuff." "We live for their sake." "Lagos said nothing like that, huh?" "I guess so." "He's not one of the deep folk anymore!" "How many years since we last heard of him?" "I bet the worms are feeding on his corpse somewhere." "Come in." "Doing well, Patema?" "Did you argue with the elder again?" "You overheard us?" "Get back here!" "We're not done talking yet!" "Lagos!" "Are you gonna leave again?" "Yeah." "I might not be back for a while." "Why are you always away?" "Stay with me!" "You know..." "I want to explore a different world." "I want to build a bridge between our worlds." "Maybe this is a bit hard to understand for you." "Then take me with you!" "When you're a little older." "I'm old enough already." "Can you be a good girl and wait a little longer?" "I'll give you a present if you promise me." "See?" "Isn't it pretty?" "Sorry, I forgot you're not a little girl anymore." "Patema, close your eyes." "This is something very old, and very precious." "This is the world." "Open your eyes." "I've waited long enough, Lagos." "Silly me." "About time I went home..." "I guess..." "A bat man!" "This is dangerous..." "I have to hold on to it..." "Almost there..." "What's wrong with you?" "Help me!" "I'll fall!" "Fall where?" "Isn't that obvious?" "!" "This is from Lagos' picture..." "I must be dreaming, Lagos..." "Are you... inverted?" "Inverted?" "What is that?" "Where am I?" "What is all this?" "!" "This, this and that — everything is upside down!" "I think you're the one upside down..." "What?" "!" "You're upside down t—" "Huh?" "The bat man..." "I understand now!" "You're on his side!" "What?" "He was upside down too!" "Calm down..." "How did I end up here?" "Just... calm down, okay?" "Let me go back!" "I said calm down!" "Did I hurt you in any way?" "But, I mean..." "I sure didn't!" "And I won't." "So what if you're inverted?" "I'm sorry." "You saved me..." "Did someone attack you?" "What will I do now?" "I..." "What is that?" "!" "Crap, I've gotta go back!" "What?" "I've got classes." "W-Wait!" "Please, wait!" "You're just gonna leave me here?" "!" "I've gotta attend class..." "The overseers can revoke my citizenship..." "What's more important, school or me?" "Don't worry." "I'll come back." "Promise?" "Promise." "Don't forget me here!" "I won't." "Don't tell the bat men about me!" "Okay." "And..." "I'm hungry!" "You're quite the little princess, aren't you?" "A princess I am!" "You better watch your tone!" "My name's Eiji." "What's yours?" "Patema!" "I flew!" "Amazing!" "Long ago, during the great catastrophe, many lives were claimed by the sky." "Now it is we, citizens of Aiga standing on the Earth, who are the true humans." "Aiga is the one and only world for mankind." "There is no world outside Aiga." "We must look attentively at the Earth under our feet, and maintain a peaceful order to protect this land." "Protect it from the stormy wasteland beyond the cliffs, and from the sinister sky crowned in vile light." "We—" "Minus three points, Eiji." "Do you know why?" "I was listening." "Were you now?" "The problem is that you were looking in an inappropriate direction." "You never learn." "Your brain must be inverted." "Who can tell me why the people of Aiga can live such idyllic lives?" "What's wrong?" "Thank Eiji for this wonderful chance to talk during morning assembly." "Because we maintain a peaceful order to protect the land and do not look up." "Correct." "What is the basis of a peaceful order?" "I hear you couldn't even return to the dormitories last night, Eiji." "Those who fail to toe the line—" "Are you listening?" "!" "Don't think just sitting in class will guarantee your citizenship!" "Unbelievable." "Like father, like son..." "However, Eiji, I will not give up on you." "You're an important building block for the future of our land." "What happened to your father is nothing short of a tragedy, but we cannot dwell on the past forever." "That is my opinion." "Excuse me!" "What?" "There is no rule against looking at the sky." "I never thought I'd have to return to page six of the textbook." "The sinners were taken by the sky." "How can you look up at where their impure souls still linger?" "Is it a sin to fall into the sky?" "It says so right here!" "They were filthy sinners!" "They're going to ambush you!" "You need permission from the aide!" "Who's got time for that?" "!" "Patema?" "That took forever!" "I was so bored!" "Sorry, I had detention." "Here." "It smells great!" "I feel weird." "Will I get lighter if I eat more?" "Patema, are you scared of the sky?" "The sky?" "The stuff down there?" "Oh, right." "Yeah, that." "Of course I'm scared of it!" "What about you?" "I can see the stars tonight, so I guess I like it." "Stars?" "Guess you don't know that either." "How am I supposed to know anything about this world?" "Hey, look at the stars!" "No!" "Just a glimpse!" "I'm scared of looking down!" "Super scared!" "Are you sure?" "No way!" "Oh well..." "They're so beautiful..." "Nobody else has ever said that." "They're mesmerizing..." "This is way more beautiful than my favorite spot underground." "Dad made me realize how beautiful it is." "Your dad?" "He liked the view from here too." "He always talked about wanting to fly into it." "He even made a machine to fly." "To fly?" "How?" "I don't know." "I ask myself the same question." "Just ask." "Everyone told him not to fly." "They told him to stop with his sinister ways." "That has to be nonsense." "I skipped school to watch him." "They said it was divine punishment." "Why did it happen?" "Isn't flying great?" "I understand how your dad felt." "Just look at the stars to understand." "This is the first time I'm happy I ended up here." "She's inverted, true enough." "Maybe the sky just swallowed her." "Or maybe..." "This was taken near a non-economic zone." "There is an educational institute and related facilities nearby." "Raise alarm level in the area." "Keep your eyes wide open." "Yes, sir!" "Looks like we've found a friend of yours." "I'll do as you wished and be a friend." "So, underground?" "What's it like there?" "It's cramped and dark compared to this place." "That's why I wanted to explore other worlds." "I read about it in books, and Lagos gave me pictures too." "Small but very pretty rectangular pictures." "Lagos?" "One of my best friends!" "You don't like your home either, huh?" "I do." "The elder is there, and Poruta... everyone's so nice." "They must be worried." "I'll make sure you make it home." "I promise!" "Then I'll introduce you t—" "What's wrong?" "Hide!" "Was it the food?" "Bat men!" "They attacked me!" "The security police?" "!" "Oh, no..." "No..." "Gotta run, Patema!" "They're coming for you!" "Run how?" "Hold on to me!" "But the..." "They say that those who fall into the sky are despicable sinners." "Do you believe them?" "Do I look that dumb to you?" "I'll be fine." "I can do this." "Courageous princess!" "Lagos, lend me strength." "Here we go!" "I'm so... light!" "Wait!" "Take it slow!" "I see!" "I get lighter by your weight!" "Don't talk about a girl's weight!" "Eiji!" "Eiji!" "Look ahead!" "Ahead!" "Patema...we can make it to the mine shaft." "We only need to make it beyond the fence, right?" "We'll fall very slowly together." "You mean we can fly together?" "They're between us and the fence." "It's behind them." "Hey!" "Wait!" "We can do it!" "Wow!" "I'm flying!" "Two days of unauthorized leave." "Unauthorized use of a government warehouse." "Worst of all, you were apprehended by the security police, and the unit under the governor's direct command of all!" "All this near the fence!" "Even I resign in the face of your behavior." "Why must you be so rebellious?" "We are responsible for you, as I am sure you know!" "Hey, are you listening?" "!" "Your actions endanger our and our facility's evalua—" "Patema..." "What did you say?" "They..." "I wanted to help her." "I have no idea what you're talking about." "There was no need to attack us!" "They're the ones I don't understand!" "Enough!" "Stand back." "What?" "That thing you encountered is not human." "If you want to live on, you should forget about it." "Leave us to worry about the difficult things." "Don't tell me you've become attached to it because it took the form of a girl." "This is my only warning." "Seeing both father and son die in an accident would be tragic." "What do you want from me?" "Let me go back!" "I hate your inverted world!" "Inverted?" "You're the inverted one." "Look at yourself and the way you're hanging from the ceiling." "Let me tell you the reason you were born inverted." "Long ago an experiment took place on this very ground." "It was a terrible experiment, attempting to harness gravity itself for energy." "The universe did not like being tampered with." "The experiment failed, and the universe reversed gravity for many things." "Objects, people..." "Everything fell into the sky." "Only our ancestors survived." "We founded Aiga so that the same mistakes would never be made again." "The peaceful order here will guarantee ever-lasting quietude for our people." "However, there were some who, despite being inverted during the catastrophe, managed to escape the fall." "They abandoned life on the surface and hid underground." "Despicable!" "Aiga is perfection!" "Inverted blood must not taint our lands." "We are to stay pure." "Aiga must never set free a sinner falling into the sky!" "Sin?" "What sin?" "Let me show you." "That invert started it all by appearing in Aiga." "He was taken in by one of our citizens and planted the seeds of anarchy in him." "Look." "All of it is inverted." "When I saw him, I realized that many more inverts must be hiding somewhere." "He kept it a secret to the bitter end, but you will tell me!" "Oh my, I think my hand is slippery." "Very good." "You will only survive through me." "Oh, shit!" "Wait!" "Come back!" "You know Patema, right?" "You know Patema too?" "!" "Where is she?" "!" "Tell me!" "That was close!" "I almost shat myself." "I could hold down Patema..." "Oh, right!" "Where is she?" "Come on!" "I know you know!" "Tell me!" "Did they catch her?" "Man..." "Don't lie to me!" "I was with her the whole time!" "And you did nothing?" "!" "What am I supposed to do?" "Your weight is my opposite..." "Patema's in that tower, right?" "You there!" "Come with me!" "Come on!" "There's the signal." "Didn't take long, huh?" "Guess so." "One, two!" "What's wrong?" "There's barely any resistance." "Don't tell me he fell..." "Don't jinx me!" "An Aigan!" "What have you done, Poruta?" "!" "There's no time for this now!" "Take me to the elder!" "There's a bat man!" "Don't let anyone in." "Got it." "Are you crazy, Poruta?" "It's like I'm listening to a broken record." "Everything's inverted..." "I hope no children saw you." "Children?" "We have to keep the existence of Aiga a secret from the children." "That's our rule." "They wouldn't grow up properly otherwise." "Who cares about the rules at this point?" "!" "None of this would've happened ...if she'd followed the r—" "Patema got caught!" "I feared as much." "Tell him where she is." "In the government center, I think." "That's a tower in Aiga!" "It goes right through the danger zone." "You can't be serious!" "Together we fell very slowly." "Aigans have inverted weight!" "We should be able to get in through that shaft." "That violates a dozen rules!" "To hell with the rules!" "Stop soapboxing!" "What?" "!" "Who came up with those rules anyway?" "!" "You cheeky brat!" "Want a fight?" "!" "Is that a photo?" "It's from Aiga too." "I told Lagos so many times not to show her the pictures..." "Is that Lagos guy Patema's boyfriend or som—" "He wasn't!" "He was just some weirdo who liked Aiga." "I have no idea how he could like that dreadful place." "Dreadful how?" "You have no idea how dreadful it is to have no Earth under you." "Your world is not ours." "Patema must've been so scared." "She said she was... fine..." "She acts tough—she always does." "She acted tough when her father died, too." "She didn't have anybody else." "No." "She locked herself up in her room and cried." "I know she did." "What... are you talking about?" "You wouldn't understand, invert boy." "You don't know a thing about Patema." "Maybe..." "Maybe I didn't understand what she felt." "But..." "I was so happy." "She said the stars were pretty and listened to me talk about my dad..." "I'd never met someone like her." "And I couldn't do anything when..." "The thought of rescuing her didn't even occur to me..." "I'll do whatever it takes!" "Please help me!" "The reason we call this area the danger zone mostly stems from this tower extending underground." "A long time ago the Aigans and our people had regular contact here." "Or so I am told." "So this place... is right under the government center?" "The underground structure is completely abandoned." "There are no passages anymore." "This extends so far down..." "I don't know why it was abandoned, but the chief used to say... that forgetting the past lets the Aigans live on." "Whatever." "We can get in through here." "We won't be able to send a search party after you two." " Too many have been caught already." " I'll save Patema... even if I have to do it alone." "That's my line!" "All this hinges on your cooperation!" "I know!" "I never expected to ask for an invert's help." "We're both inverted." "Here we go!" "Don't space out!" "Same goes for you!" "Finally I have the proof my predecessors lacked." "Her existence proves that there are many more inverts hiding underground." "Correct me if I'm wrong." "You could ask her." "We are in no hurry." "First she must realize her dependence on me." "We can ask her about the others once she submits to us." " Do you disagree?" " I wouldn't dream of it." "I long for the way she looked... when she clung to me." "The invert girl has been brought to her new quarters." "Good work so late." "But why the top floor?" "To drown her in fear." "Damn it!" "This is a dead end for me." "Go on!" "I'll find another way." "Poruta!" "Thanks." "I'll be there soon." "So pretty..." "Help me..." "Help me, Eiji..." "I'm sorry I didn't come earlier." "Lagos..." "I met your family." "Poruta's here too." "Really?" "I told you I'd reunite you with them." "Eiji." "Let's jump off the roof." "We should be fine together, no matter the height." "How were we infiltrated by a child?" "An invert must have aided him." "I see." "A different squad is searching for him." "Let's go up!" "Go!" "Patema!" "The weight!" "Governor Izamura!" "Your madness angers me!" "You're a chip off the old block, aren't you?" "It wasn't an accident, right?" "Disrupting order—even if one is an Aigan citizen—is a deadly sin." "That invert is guilty of the same sin." "What's wrong with flying?" "!" "Do not look at what is base!" "You're... scared." "Dad always said Aiga would look puny from up in the sky." "You're just scared of finding out how puny it is!" "I flew with Patema!" "It's a shame you won't live to see her die." "Shoot him from the building." " But..." " Follow my orders!" "Come in." "Doing well, Patema?" "Did you argue with the elder again?" "You overheard us?" "Get back here!" "We're not done talking yet!" "Lagos!" "Are you gonna leave again?" "Yeah." "I can't come back anymore." "I went to Aiga, and..." "Stay here..." "I had a dream, and it made me go to Aiga." "But everything fell through." "That's why I gave this to someone dear to me." "Lagos..." "Don't ever let go of his hand." "Got it?" "Eiji!" "Eiji!" "Poruta?" "Patema..." "Patema's..." "Eiji!" "Those lights!" "Don't worry!" "We'll be fine!" "Stars?" "Is that mine?" "I dropped it back then..." "Eiji?" "Eiji, is that..." "It's my dad's machine..." "The sky eats all sinners." "How could she pick that brat over me?" "Why would she not pick me?" "!" " Jaku." " Sir?" "The boy died in an accident." "That will be the story." "Yes." "This is an opportunity to scare the rabble." "Eiji?" "I was so scared..." "My mind went totally blank when I looked down." "You'll be fine in here." "I thought I knew how you felt." "That's why I wanted to protect you." "But I couldn't have guessed how scary it is to be inverted." "Your dad built this, right?" "Look at all these." "Here." "It's my dad's handwriting." "What's it say?" "It's hard to read upside down!" "September 23rd." ""Something amazing happened today."" ""I met a strange man who said, 'I come from the world below.'" ""He claims gravity operates in exactly the opposite direction as ours for him, as bizarre as that might seem."" ""I'm hiding this man, Lagos..."" ""I'm hiding him from the others."" ""He must be kept a secret from the others."" ""I'm sure this was a fated meeting."" "September 28th." ""I've spent the past few days with Lagos."" ""We opened up to each other, and tried to get familiar with each other's worlds."" ""I feel like we have a great deal in common."" ""No hesitation now."" ""I decided to go ahead and confide in him about my dream."" ""I'll finally be starting on the path toward realizing my dream."" ""I'm so grateful to the friend from another world who gave me the courage."" ""We are united."" ""And when this test is done, I'll help him achieve his dreams."" ""The dream of uniting all mankind."" "This is strange..." "I feel like your father was much closer to Lagos than I'd ever been." "Strange..." "This is my first time seeing your face properly." "Same..." "I've realized something, Eiji." "Lagos and your father... must have shared a vision." "So..." "Patema..." "This is so hot!" "I can't even stand on the ground!" "Is this it?" "No, there!" "That's it!" "Let's tell everyone about my dad and Lagos." "Yeah." "What ill-omened study you pursue." "Good morning." "Are you expecting the sinners to return from the sky?" "No." "I..." "I suppose it is your fault, in a sense, because you hesitated." "No doubt you feel guilty and wish to atone." "Recommence underground search." "The time has come to exte—" "Where are you looking?" "!" "There's no way he'd die in an accident." "They say he was trying to fly, just like his father..." "Enough!" "What's that?" "Someone's in it!" "What are you doing?" "Stop it!" "Hey!" "The security police!" "Let's jump out, Eiji!" "Aren't you scared?" "Not when I'm with you!" "It's Eiji!" "Don't hesitate." "Eiji!" "Take them down." "What?" "!" "We did it!" "We'll make it!" "Don't let them get away!" "Hurry up!" "We should regroup." "We—" "Where do you think they are going?" "This is our chance to root out the inverts!" "Patema, rest in peace..." "Patema, I really, really..." "Poruta!" "Hurry!" "I'm back!" "P-P..." "Patema!" "Thank you, Eiji!" "Thank you!" "Elder, I found Lagos..." "I see." "Elder." "This is..." "There's a notebook inside." "It's what Lagos—" "What are you doing?" "!" "Patema!" "Elder!" "Poruta!" "Patema!" "The chief always said up there is—" "Finally..." "Finally we've found the inverts!" "My men!" "What are you doing?" "!" "This is an order!" "Capture the inverts!" "Can't you hear me?" "!" "This is treason!" "Give me your hand!" "Traitor..." "Poruta!" "I'm here!" "Poruta!" "Filthy inverts!" "Why?" "Why won't you let her fall?" "Why?" "!" "She's a filthy sinner!" "No!" "Eiji!" "I can imagine the world she sees." "She has no certain foothold, being inverted." "It's a scary uncertainty." "She can only hold on to me." "Only trust me." "I understand now, Patema." "Impressive." "I'll shoot your left leg too then." "Then your right arm." "I wonder how long you'll last." "Now... come to me if you want to live!" "I won't let her go!" "Cut it!" "Poruta!" "He fell!" "He fell!" "Eiji... goodbye..." "You filthy sinner!" "May the sky feast upon you!" "What is this?" "What's going on?" "!" "Isn't there a better way?" "Patema..." "Eiji!" "Eiji!" "Eiji!" "Thank the Heavens." "Where are we?" "Look!" "Long ago, there was a terrible accident." "Many fell into the sky." "Some were inverted, but escaped the fall, and buried themselves underground, abandoning the surface." "The scientists who survived the accident felt guilty, and went underground with the inverted survivors to watch over them." "Are you saying—" "The chief's will is quite the burden." "Patema!" "T-Take me with you out there!" "Wait—" "That embrace, man..." "And Patema's into it..." "Eiji, I've read it." "Son, perhaps your dream has a future after all." "The shock for our society would be too great." "I know the feeling." "Don't compare your broken heart to us!" "What?" "!" "You have no idea how I feel!" "Sorry."