Gravitational Beam Emitter
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Gravitational Beam Emitter is a fictional gun used by Killy in the manga series Blame! and NOiSE by Tsutomu Nihei. It is also known as the Graviton Beam Emitter or the Graviton Radiation Projector.
At the beginning of the manga it seems to be an overpowered gun, but it later grows to be the 3rd most powerful piece of technology in the entire series, next only to Mensab's teleportation ability and the Level9, (the "Ultimate Weapon"). Killy states that he doesn't recall the origin of the weapon, though it is the only perfected GBE that can sustain such a high output for long periods.
The weapon fires a highly condensed bullet of energy, which can repel beams from other weapons (seen in the Corporation against the Guardians), and can blast through larger forms of the GBE, seen at Toha Heavy Industries.
It also draws on the power of the user, Killy. Thusly, he is highly suited to using it, though there were a few occasions when the GBE had no power. The GBE never 'runs out' of bullets and has unlimited ammo so long as the user has power. Inside Toha Heavy Industries, where the Safeguard aren't allowed access, Ivy (one of the Silicon Creatures) states that 'the weapons of the Safeguard are disabled', so the GBE is not permitted to work. This also happens in the alternate universe inside the Gravity Furnace. Later, when Killy meets Dhomochevsky, Iko manages to stop the power of the GBE for a split second, giving Dhomochevsky an advantage in firing his own weapon. Incidentally, Iko calls the GBE a 'Class 1 Critical Effect Weapon', obviously a powerful category.
Whenever Killy loses the weapon for whatever reason (stolen, dropped, or borrowed), he always gets it back, searching constantly for it, and even breaking through walls to get to it. In addition, Killy refuses to let anyone else fire the GBE. The GBE seems to be as unimaginably resilient as Killy, as it even survives a lava flow following the destruction of Davine Lu Linvega's NetSphere connection point.
Few things can stop the beam once it has been fired. Anything that appears in its way is destroyed. It is the only weapon capable of penetrating the solid layers between levels of the Megastructure. A GBE beam can be deflected by another GBE beam as shown when Killy uses it to defend Cibo as another Safeguard fires a GBE at her. He shoots at the end of the beam (i.e. the bit about to hit Cibo), and it is deflected away. Also, when Cibo uses the GBE and fires and Pcell, Pcell uses her "Safeguard Sword" and slashes, deflecting the shot. Another thing capable of deflecting beams from the GBE are the shields of the 'armored cyborgs', a specialized sect of cyborgs clad in full armor and wielding 'Safeguard Swords' and large shields. The method that these shields use to deflect the beams is unknown (most likely a highly powerful electromagnetic field), although they are nigh-useless against beams fire at Level 4 Extra, which Sanakan demonstrates in her Safeguard form. As the Armored Cyborgs activate their shields to meet the attack, only their leader survives.
There were 5 distinct 'levels' of power.
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[edit] Level 0
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Not strictly a level as such, but the state the gun is in when not being used. The back shows the different stages, and are all black to indicate no usage, and the front of the gun remains the same. |
[edit] Level 1
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The most basic shot of the GBE. Killy probably uses this often at the beginning of the series due to the nature of the enemies he has to defeat, mostly Silicon Creatures, who can be dispatched with just one shot. This is also the most commonly used Level, due to the small amount of time it takes to charge, and how useful it is despite being so 'small' in power. He uses this against many SC and also against the humans at the port, and generally anyone who attacks him. Inside Toha Heavy Industries, in the Gravity Furnace, Cibo powers up his GBE to one level, which he then uses to attack the SC and create a hole in the Gravity Furnace to open up the space. Using this against Dhomochevsky, we know that this Level creates holes of about 70 kilometres deep.
The one bar on the top illustrates it powered up to Level 1. |
[edit] Level 2
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We never see this Level being used, but its safe to assume that at one point Killy does bother to charge it up this far, though we never see it being used in the manga (where we see the back of his GBE).
Here, two bars are lit up, and light up in a clockwise order. |
[edit] Level 3
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Same as with level 2, we never see it in action, only when it was shown as the precursor to the Level 4.
Three bars are lit up. |
[edit] Level 4
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The most destructive mode for the first 3-4 volumes, used first against the President of the Corporation in the Capitol. Possesses much more strength than the remaining three levels, and shows it by the power expressed in the beam.
Here, four bars are lit up, including the central circle, indicating the increase in power. |
[edit] Level 4 Extra
| The ultimate level, nothing can defeat this beam. Killy uses this level first against the giant Safeguard outside Toha Heavy Industries. He powers up by extracting energy from the surrounding dead Safeguard Exterminators and uses it to unlock this mode. The GBE goes through a physical change, and the gun 'opens' up, the external casing clicking outwards, and the front circular part pushing forwards more and opening as well. The rectangular box underneath opens and the front pushes out. As one might imagine, this mode is used the rarest due to the power constraints. Killy uses it no more than six times. Once against the giant Safeguard, three or four times after being caught in the blast of the Level 9 Safeguard (probably just frustrated, as he fired them off into nowhere), and finally against the First Class Exterminator.
The gun changes are radical, as shown below. |
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| GBE Appearance | in Level 4 Extra Mode | ||||
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[edit] Other users
In addition to Killy, the weapon is used by some special Safeguards, as mentioned, the giant Safeguard has one built into its mouth, and Sanakan has one built onto her right arm. When working for the Governing Agency, she has her own weapon very similar to Killy's, except it was larger and could only go up to Level 4. After being returned to the Base Reality she had her old form back, the one from the Toha Heavy Industries arc. The only difference was that her GBE could now use the Extra level, meaning she was more powerful, and used it to great effect against a huge number of Silicon Creatures. Also, another safeguard has a GBE-like weapon, the Safeguard Watchman, which has one built into its right-arm (possibly left, too), which, when fired, creates a blast which leaves a series of holes that resemble the Safeguard Emblem pattern.
[edit] Notes and references
| Tsutomu Nihei |
|---|
| Works |
| BLAME! | NOiSE | Biomega | Net Sphere Engineer | BLAME! Academy | BLAME! And So On | Dead Heads Abara • Bitch's Life • Digimortal • Wolverine: Snikt! • Zeb-Noid |
| BLAME! characters and structures |
| Killy | Cibo | Sanakan | Graviton Beam Emitter | Net Terminal Genes |
