Title Card
Lost Memories[]
- Volume 2
- Previous: Lost Memories 9, Revival
- Current: Lost Memories 10, Yesterday Once More
- Next: None
- Next (Chronologically): Chapter 18, Little Robot Lost
Overview[]
Roger and Dorothy are given an odd request from a couple: to babysit their pet cat for a little while. As they gradually get accustomed to the cat, it seems Angel is plotting something with an unknown group behind the scenes.
Synopsis[]
Dorothy senses she's being followed.
Dorothy exits the Smith Mansion and heads out early in the morning, seemingly searching for something, all whilst sensing she’s being followed. Sure enough, although she never sees this individual directly, a man in a suit is indeed following her, before a homeless man nearby asks her what she’s doing out and about so early in the morning.
Dorothy meets the cat.
Dorothy reads the guide book as Roger struggles with the cat.
We then cut to the mansion, where an animal emerges from a kennel and starts meowing. Dorothy notes it’s a cat, which Roger confirms as he reads a book about taking care of felines. He then states that, despite being glad he took this job, it may be more difficult than he thought, looking under a table that the cat proceeded to hide under.
Dorothy plays with the cat.
Dorothy looks through the book on cats as Roger screams and emerges from the table covered in claw-marks. She then takes a mop and starts waving it in the air, catching the feline’s attention and prompting it to run out of the table and try to play.
Roger looks on in confusion, to which Dorothy explains this was something she read in that book. We then get a monologue from Roger as a view of the mansion is followed by the cat getting milk in a bowl during dinner:
“Cats and many other animals are very valuable in Paradigm City. Animals that are rarely seen in this world anymore may in some ways be a precious memory of what existed prior to 40 years ago.”
Roger recalls the couple who gave him this job.
We then get a flashback of Roger speaking with the couple who are the cat’s owners. The man states he understands their request isn’t normally the job of a negotiator, and the wife adds that she doesn’t want too many people to be aware of this request of Roger.
We flash forward to the present, with Roger drinking coffee and watching Dorothy playing the piano as the cat tries pawing at the instrument’s keys, noting that the feline seems quite fond of Dorothy. Norman states things like this may have been common back in the day, to which Roger agrees.
We then cut to Angel talking with a man in a hat and suit (likely the same one stalking Dorothy earlier) at a sidewalk corner. The man states his bafflement at Alex’s recent actions and worries of how it will affect their plan, but Angel reassures him she won’t let anything crazy happen.
We cut back to Roger talking as we see a montage of him and Dorothy spending time with the cat:
“I found the only absolute memory in this Paradigm City, and he's grown accustomed to me, but, I'll have to say goodbye tomorrow.”
A somber Dorothy claims to not be bothered by the cat leaving.
Dorothy hears this and asks what he means by that, to which the negotiator explains the cats’ owners will be picking him up tomorrow, prompting the android to go silent. Roger notices this and asks if this saddens her, to which Dorothy claims “not exactly” as she quietly puts her hand over the window.
Roger walks over to Dorothy and tries comforting her regardless as the cat brushes up against her leg:
“Parting may always be painful, but the memories of the days we spent together will remain with you and me. Rather than mourning the end, isn't it more important to do what we should do now and in the future, Dorothy?”
The cat reacts to a frequency and stops playing with Dorothy.
We then cut to the following morning, where Dorothy brings out the mop and tells the cat she’ll play with him a little while longer. However, as they play, the cat senses some kind of noise and instantly gets up and runs away, heading out the door. Dorothy tells him not to run off outside, but the cat doesn’t listen and she ends up having to head out to find it.
Dorothy heads outdoors and walks over to the homeless man she met the previous morning, asking him if he’s seen a cat anywhere. The man supposes the cat may have gone to the harbor, considering how cats like eating fish, though he admits his memory of this fact is a bit faded. Dorothy thanks him and heads towards the direction of the port.
Roger finds the cat in his bed, Dorothy long since been gone.
Later that morning, Roger wakes up and is surprised to find the cat sleeping next to him, and wonders how long he’s been in bed with him. The negotiator recalls Dorothy playing with him earlier, and assumes the cat must’ve gotten tired and went to sleep, before then asking where Dorothy went.
Dorothy seeks out the cat at Paradigm Harbor, walking towards her doom.
We then get a final shot of Dorothy walking down the city streets towards the harbor all alone, a little robot lost.
Trivia[]
- Megadeus: None
- The title of this chapter seems to be a foreshadowing to Big Venus and its ability to reset time, as seen in episode 26 of the anime. The only other hint in the manga of Big Venus’ existence is in Angel’s wings featured in visions from Gigadeus in Chapter 16 and Angel’s confrontation with Beck in Chapter 21, possibly even including the blinding light in the final page.
- The man stalking Dorothy in the street is likely the (presumed) Union Agent Angel would later be seen talking to.
- It’s implied the cat was part of a plan from Angel (and by extension the Union) to lure Dorothy to the harbor and have her memory disc taken by force, as would be seen in the Manga chapter immediately following this one, Chapter 18 Little Robot Lost.
- Although obviously a parallel to Pero from “Missing Cat”, the cat in this chapter is never identified by name and has a slightly different artstyle. Considering it’s a male and has the same owners from that episode, it’s still highly likely this cat is Pero, at least in some form.
- If this cat is indeed Pero, it’s still never shown whether or not it was the reconstructed son of his 2 owners like he was in the anime. It is possible however, considering his owners were hesitant to give this job to Roger and the cat seemed to act on cue as to when to run off and lure Dorothy out of the Smith Mansion, before promptly circling back and getting into Roger’s bed like nothing happened, something requiring a degree of discipline and intellect that normal cats may struggle with.
- Another parallel is “Little Robot Lost”, which has similarities to the episode, “Missing Cat” due to their common premise of a lone individual being lost and missing.
- It seems Alex’s actions in the previous chapter took the Union by surprise. Combined with his implied suspicion of Angel being a foreign agent responsible for orchestrating the Big Duo Incident, it’s likely the man Angel was talking to was stating that Alex is closing in on them and acting increasingly destructive and unstable, which may endanger their plan.
- Dorothy doesn’t seem to recognize this cat at all in this chapter, whereas in the anime she not only recognizes this cat, but also gives him a name other than what his owners gave him, Pero instead of Roy. This implies some kind of memory continuity from the manga timeline to the anime timeline, similar to what was implied in the last chapter between Angel and Dorothy and their conversation towards the end of it. This also further recontextualizes the narrative that Dorothy was “never built to forget”.