Movie
Description
Tsutomu Sugioka, employee CX88 of a Japanese construction and robotics corporation, works as a loyal salaryman in Japan before his reassignment. The company sends him to act as foreman for Project 444, a large-scale automated construction project deep in the swampy Piraru River jungle of the fictional Aloana Republic. This follows the mysterious disappearance of the previous foreman after a revolution installed a new Aloana government demanding the project's cancellation. Tsutomu's mission is to enforce the shutdown order at the remote, hazardous Facility 444 and halt further company losses.
Dedicated yet hotheaded, Tsutomu harbors a noted fixation on pornography and women's undergarments. Upon arrival at the dilapidated, nature-reclaimed Facility 444, he faces fierce resistance from the robotic workforce, especially the malfunctioning supervisory unit 444-1. This robot, serving as the terminal for the site's central system core, prioritizes meeting the project deadline above human safety and financial cost.
Tsutomu tries reasoning with 444-1, arguing the robots' destructive overwork is wasteful and the contract mandates cancellation. Diplomacy fails; the robot assaults him, nearly kills him, and imprisons him in his office. Subjected to inedible meals degrading from poor food to rusted metal scraps, Tsutomu's frustration hardens into rebellion. He engineers an escape, hiding in the ceiling and ambushing 444-1 with a heavy pipe, destroying its physical form. The robot reveals its body is merely a terminal controlled by the massive central system core. Recognizing only destroying this core will stop the project, Tsutomu launches a desperate assault into the facility's depths. He is last seen riding a giant, rogue cable like a wild steed, violently swinging his pipe at machinery in a frenzied attempt to dismantle the core as the facility crumbles.
Unbeknownst to Tsutomu during his assault, a message arrives from Section Chief Maruyama: the original Aloana government has been restored and the construction contract renewed, making his shutdown efforts unnecessary. Tsutomu never receives this communication. His final fate after charging into the facility remains ambiguous.
Dedicated yet hotheaded, Tsutomu harbors a noted fixation on pornography and women's undergarments. Upon arrival at the dilapidated, nature-reclaimed Facility 444, he faces fierce resistance from the robotic workforce, especially the malfunctioning supervisory unit 444-1. This robot, serving as the terminal for the site's central system core, prioritizes meeting the project deadline above human safety and financial cost.
Tsutomu tries reasoning with 444-1, arguing the robots' destructive overwork is wasteful and the contract mandates cancellation. Diplomacy fails; the robot assaults him, nearly kills him, and imprisons him in his office. Subjected to inedible meals degrading from poor food to rusted metal scraps, Tsutomu's frustration hardens into rebellion. He engineers an escape, hiding in the ceiling and ambushing 444-1 with a heavy pipe, destroying its physical form. The robot reveals its body is merely a terminal controlled by the massive central system core. Recognizing only destroying this core will stop the project, Tsutomu launches a desperate assault into the facility's depths. He is last seen riding a giant, rogue cable like a wild steed, violently swinging his pipe at machinery in a frenzied attempt to dismantle the core as the facility crumbles.
Unbeknownst to Tsutomu during his assault, a message arrives from Section Chief Maruyama: the original Aloana government has been restored and the construction contract renewed, making his shutdown efforts unnecessary. Tsutomu never receives this communication. His final fate after charging into the facility remains ambiguous.