Arc (Arc アーク)

17 years old

19 years old

Good evening. May I?

Thanks.

Are you gonna dance or what?

Dance, baby.

Dance!

What's your problem?

Drink it up!

Fuck off!

What?

Your youthfulness can be of use.

Come to my office if you're interested.

Eternity Inc. Director of BodyWerks Ema Kuroda

It's soft.

They are all real.

Bones, organs... They are all there.

Eternity captured in death.

Follow me.

I'II show you the BodyWerks studio.

Huh?

Put down your backpack.

Kanako, show her around.

It's 2A-1.

Follow me.

We scan each body, as you've seen.

Next we install a bolt into the most appropriate point.

Then we drain blood from each body for embalming.

Finally, we are ready for plastination.

Plastination?

We pose each body in a particular position

and inject synthetic resin for solidification.

Every BodyWerk is different. Head tilt, hand angle and the gaze.

Each host leaves traces of their lives.

Ema is a genius.

She can breathe life into a body with her plastination.

What a weird expression to describe the dead, though.

A special ritual only Ema can do.

Come back tomorrow if you are serious.

Ready?

- Here's the list for today. - Thanks.

Good morning, Ma'am. I wanted to thank you for...

Speak with action, not with words.

That's our rule.

Was it your father's wish?

He had a weird religious belief and didn't want to be cremated.

It was his last wish so I want to respect it.

He's what's called an alligator snapping turtle.

It's my husband who passed away recently.

Can you preserve the brain and organs?

Exactly what kind of posing do you prefer?

He didn't tell us. What's popular now?

I want him to sit in front of his piano as if he's playing.

With his fingers on each key.

She's cuter when she opens her mouth.

I want her to pose like this, see?

Can you make me look younger again?

I don't want to look old when I die.

I've had this fascination with mummified kings and monks.

I feel like I found something that surpasses them.

I understand I'll never get him back.

But there are moments I feel he might come back.

And so.

This...

I fully understand...

He's not coming back.

Ready?

Watch me carefully.

Cleanse the body with a sponge.

Spray antiseptic solution on the gauze...

and wipe.

Let the liquid seep into every pore.

Your turn.

You won't like the feel at first.

Kinda like that.

Don't touch with your bare hands!

Always wear gloves when you touch the body, got it?

Not hungry.

Our job is much more demanding mentally and physically than you imagine.

Do me a favor and eat.

What is this crap

It's good once you get used to it.

But it gets even better with this.

How is it?

What is it?

Not bad, huh?

Goodbye.

Study Leonardo da Vinci's drawings carefully. Ema.

Your mirror neurons are interfering.

Your nerve cells resonate with the corpse in front of you.

You'll get used to it.

Bodies are just objects.

Why do you think people yearn for plastination?

Resistance.

Resistance?

Resistance to death.

However...

by treating dead bodies thoroughly as objects,

you can liberate yourself from the fear of death.

The moment you are able to do that, quite unexpectedly...

transcendental beauty will begin to reveal itself.

There'll come a time when you will understand.

This hand is very eloquent.

Whoever it is, the artist is talented.

How would you know that?

Ema sees BodyWerks as a way to overcome death for humans.

But one day,

I'll think of a different way to overcome death.

Like how?

In a way...

I want to make time stop while we're stiil alive.

As if we're riding a space shuttle at the speed of light.

Are you going to be an astronaut?

There you are, Amane.

What happened?

The boy told me he wants to be an astronaut.

He is Ema's younger brother.

He's likely to inherit Eternity in the future.

They are here.

Please have a seat over there.

You stay here.

We truly appreciate this.

I have read your files.

About your child, yes?

Here's a photo.

It's the image of our boy in her belly.

You'll have to leave him with us.

You'll be okay?

If I could...

I would put him back into my belly.

I don't want to lose him ever again. I want to keep him near me forever.

Please help us.

Please.

Excuse me.

These are the files for today's interview.

I'll put it right here.

I want you to handle that couple.

Are you going to or not?

I will.

One more thing.

Stay away from Amane.

Understood.

I...

loved touching things.

I used to believe

touching things was a way

to know the shapes of things

or people's feelings.

When I held him for the first time,

he felt so small and fragile.

I expected this feeling would turn...

into something else.

Something like love gushing out of me.

But...

that emotion just didn't come.

He was right in front of me.

This scrunched-up,

vulnerable,

and tiny creature.

I was supposed to keep him alive. All by myself.

The fact

just horrified me.

You...

You don't own your baby.

And the baby...

He doesn't own you.

Live your own life.

Don't get trapped.

Now I see how little I understood Ema.

It was the next morning that I learned she had been removed from her post.

Here are your visitor badges.

Pin them on so we can see.

Everyone has fun at BodyWerks!

Here is our studio.

This is where we do plastination.

Plastination is a technology where body fluids and fats from the dead

are replaced with plastic resin.

Our advancements in this evolutionary technology

have made BodyWerks a global brand.

Here she comes.

Welcome.

30 years old

Rina, a minute please.

Any last questions about plastination?

I have one.

Go ahead.

Are you trying to rebuild human bodies into something immortal?

Actually, such rumors have been around a long time.

And maybe it's because

that's what we all secretly wish for, no?

What would you do?

That's the point. You make the choice.

Long time no see.

You do look like you've been on a space shuttle and back.

How many bodies do you work on per day?

About 20.

Quite a lot.

We have more people working here now. I only handle a few.

You confront dead bodies every day

to stop their death forever before they start to decay.