Le Trio de l'étrange
Encyclopedia
Le Trio de l'étrange is the first book from Yoko Tsuno
comic book
series written by Roger Leloup
and published in 1972. (ISBN 2-8001-0666-2)
ing. Ironically, Pol has fallen asleep at his camera and nearly wrecks the recording.
On their way home late in the night, Vic and Pol witness a crane moving by itself on a construction site and depositing a female figure in an office building. Reacting quickly, they climb after the woman via the crane and corner her and a couple of men - but as it turns out, the young woman was actually hired to break into the building to test a new alarm system
. Intrigued by the girl's expertise in electrical systems, Vic decides to hire her for the station, and the girl - by the name of Yoko Tsuno - readily accepts.
Some time later, Yoko, Vic and Pol intend to make a documentary about the course of an underground river
. For this purpose, they are equipped with scuba equipment
and a special non-toxic dye
with which to trace the river to its point of exit. But soon after the dye has spread in the river, the water level suddenly rises. As the three attempt to swim back, the water suddenly falls again, sucking them down a tunnel - and right onto a grill, which is under the supervision of a highly advanced, blue-skinned humanoid
race, the Vinea
ns!
Yoko, Vic and Pol are quickly taken captive and brought to a place where they are given translator headphones and meet two people of importance: Khany, a high-ranking official, and Karpan, head of the Vinean security. When Karpan attempts to take the trio away and manhandles Khany, Pol and Yoko impulsively help her out, Yoko nearly getting killed by the vengeful Karpan in the process.
In order to take them to central control and to its controlling unit, the Central Computer, Khany takes Yoko and company to a nearby vessel (called 'magnetophysil') where they meet Poky, Khany's younger sister. During the journey, Khany tells them of their people's origins in the M33 galaxy
and their coming to Earth. But soon they have hostile company: Karpan has sent two of his men after them in a tunnel-boring device, in order to eliminate them.
Inspired by a complaint by Pol, Yoko, Pol and Khany climb into space suit
s and proceed to separate the hind part of the magnetophysil to defeat their pursuers. They just manage to do so as the vehicles are inside a vast cave whose bottom consists of a pool of magma
. But in the process, Khany's breathing equipment is damaged and she passes out. Yoko frantically manages to contact central control, and the person answering advises them to push a certain button. But as Vic reaches for it, Yoko suddenly realizes that she has understood her contact person without her translator (she had taken it off to check Khany's heartbeat) and just stops Vic in time. Khany comes around to warn them that the button would have opened the cockpit and thus exposed them to the volcanic gases, to kill them by asphyxiation.
Arriving at the central control, Yoko and the others are taken for mind-probing
by the Central Computer. Yoko chooses to go first and uses a meditative
technique to hide her thoughts from the computer, making the probing impossible.However,the effort weakens Yoko and she quickly faints. Just as the Vineans intend to take the unconscious Yoko away, Pol holds them at bay with a disintegrator
he had taken along as a precaution. Khany takes them to a living module (usually used to adapt Vineans to Earth conditions) to keep them safe.
Later that night, Yoko finds Poky sneaking into the module and warning them about Karpan and someone she calls "the one who talks but cannot be seen". Yoko follows Poky, who takes her right to the core of the Central Computer, where she runs into Karpan (whom she knocks out) and the Central Computer. But to her horror, the computer is actually a sentient
being which is subtly controlling the Vineans for its own ends and now intends to do the same with humanity - starting with Yoko and her friends.The computer fires a bolt of electricity at Yoko and she almost faints, collapsing to the floor. Another bolt sweeps over her and already weakened Yoko cannot resist. Yoko Tsuno faints! Pol saves her and with the help of Pol's and Karpan's disintegrators Yoko and Vic manage to defeat the computer by cracking its protective hull and thus releasing its substance: pure living energy.
Just then Karpan threatens to blow up the Vinean realm by detonating a thermal bomb. Cornering Yoko, he fires at her several times but hits the support legs of a power accumulator instead, which falls right on top of him. Yoko and Vic drag him out of the wreckage. Defeated, Karpan admits that it was the computer that had answered her call above the lava lake and urges them to leave the grottos, as they ostensibly contain a gas which proves fatal to earthlings upon long-time exposure.
Khany and her friends quickly arrange for Yoko and the others to return to the surface again, giving them several gifts: special translator headphones which also work as telepathic
communication devices, and a crystalline orb which is supposed to signal them when the gas has been neutralized. With a promise to see each other again, Yoko, Vic and Pol part from the Vineans as friends and return to the surface.
Yoko Tsuno
Yoko Tsuno is a comic book series created by the Belgian writer Roger Leloup published by Dupuis and in Spirou since its debut in 1970. Through twenty-five volumes, the series tell the adventures of Yoko Tsuno, a female electrical engineer of Japanese origin surrounded by her close friends, Vic...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
series written by Roger Leloup
Roger Leloup
Roger Leloup is a Belgian comic strip artist, novelist, and a former collaborator of Hergé. He is most famous for the Yoko Tsuno comic series.- Biography :...
and published in 1972. (ISBN 2-8001-0666-2)
Story
The story begins at the TV studio where Vic and Pol are working on a documentary about dreamDream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
ing. Ironically, Pol has fallen asleep at his camera and nearly wrecks the recording.
On their way home late in the night, Vic and Pol witness a crane moving by itself on a construction site and depositing a female figure in an office building. Reacting quickly, they climb after the woman via the crane and corner her and a couple of men - but as it turns out, the young woman was actually hired to break into the building to test a new alarm system
Burglar alarm
Burglar , alarms are systems designed to detect unauthorized entry into a building or area. They consist of an array of sensors, a control panel and alerting system, and interconnections...
. Intrigued by the girl's expertise in electrical systems, Vic decides to hire her for the station, and the girl - by the name of Yoko Tsuno - readily accepts.
Some time later, Yoko, Vic and Pol intend to make a documentary about the course of an underground river
Subterranean river
A subterranean river is a river that runs wholly or partly beneath the ground surface – one where the riverbed does not represent the surface of the Earth ....
. For this purpose, they are equipped with scuba equipment
Scuba set
A scuba set is an independent breathing set that provides a scuba diver with the breathing gas necessary to breathe underwater during scuba diving. It is much used for sport diving and some sorts of work diving....
and a special non-toxic dye
Dye
A dye is a colored substance that has an affinity to the substrate to which it is being applied. The dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution, and requires a mordant to improve the fastness of the dye on the fiber....
with which to trace the river to its point of exit. But soon after the dye has spread in the river, the water level suddenly rises. As the three attempt to swim back, the water suddenly falls again, sucking them down a tunnel - and right onto a grill, which is under the supervision of a highly advanced, blue-skinned humanoid
Humanoid
A humanoid is something that has an appearance resembling a human being. The term first appeared in 1912 to refer to fossils which were morphologically similar to, but not identical with, those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it...
race, the Vinea
Vinea
Vinea is a fictional planet that appears in the Yoko Tsuno graphic novel series by Roger Leloup. Its native intelligent species, the humanoid Vineans, came to Earth in the distant past due to catastrophic changes to their home planet...
ns!
Yoko, Vic and Pol are quickly taken captive and brought to a place where they are given translator headphones and meet two people of importance: Khany, a high-ranking official, and Karpan, head of the Vinean security. When Karpan attempts to take the trio away and manhandles Khany, Pol and Yoko impulsively help her out, Yoko nearly getting killed by the vengeful Karpan in the process.
In order to take them to central control and to its controlling unit, the Central Computer, Khany takes Yoko and company to a nearby vessel (called 'magnetophysil') where they meet Poky, Khany's younger sister. During the journey, Khany tells them of their people's origins in the M33 galaxy
Triangulum Galaxy
The Triangulum Galaxy is a spiral galaxy approximately 3 million light years from Earth in the constellation Triangulum. It is catalogued as Messier 33 or NGC 598, and is sometimes informally referred to as the Pinwheel Galaxy, a nickname it shares with Messier 101...
and their coming to Earth. But soon they have hostile company: Karpan has sent two of his men after them in a tunnel-boring device, in order to eliminate them.
Inspired by a complaint by Pol, Yoko, Pol and Khany climb into space suit
Space suit
A space suit is a garment worn to keep an astronaut alive in the harsh environment of outer space. Space suits are often worn inside spacecraft as a safety precaution in case of loss of cabin pressure, and are necessary for extra-vehicular activity , work done outside spacecraft...
s and proceed to separate the hind part of the magnetophysil to defeat their pursuers. They just manage to do so as the vehicles are inside a vast cave whose bottom consists of a pool of magma
Magma
Magma is a mixture of molten rock, volatiles and solids that is found beneath the surface of the Earth, and is expected to exist on other terrestrial planets. Besides molten rock, magma may also contain suspended crystals and dissolved gas and sometimes also gas bubbles. Magma often collects in...
. But in the process, Khany's breathing equipment is damaged and she passes out. Yoko frantically manages to contact central control, and the person answering advises them to push a certain button. But as Vic reaches for it, Yoko suddenly realizes that she has understood her contact person without her translator (she had taken it off to check Khany's heartbeat) and just stops Vic in time. Khany comes around to warn them that the button would have opened the cockpit and thus exposed them to the volcanic gases, to kill them by asphyxiation.
Arriving at the central control, Yoko and the others are taken for mind-probing
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
by the Central Computer. Yoko chooses to go first and uses a meditative
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
technique to hide her thoughts from the computer, making the probing impossible.However,the effort weakens Yoko and she quickly faints. Just as the Vineans intend to take the unconscious Yoko away, Pol holds them at bay with a disintegrator
Disintegrator
A disintegrator may refer to:* a fictional weapon as in disintegrator ray.* a real device such as an ultrasonic disintegrator that uses acoustic waves to accelerate chemical reactions or to break biological material and chemical compounds....
he had taken along as a precaution. Khany takes them to a living module (usually used to adapt Vineans to Earth conditions) to keep them safe.
Later that night, Yoko finds Poky sneaking into the module and warning them about Karpan and someone she calls "the one who talks but cannot be seen". Yoko follows Poky, who takes her right to the core of the Central Computer, where she runs into Karpan (whom she knocks out) and the Central Computer. But to her horror, the computer is actually a sentient
Sentience
Sentience is the ability to feel, perceive or be conscious, or to have subjective experiences. Eighteenth century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think from the ability to feel . In modern western philosophy, sentience is the ability to have sensations or experiences...
being which is subtly controlling the Vineans for its own ends and now intends to do the same with humanity - starting with Yoko and her friends.The computer fires a bolt of electricity at Yoko and she almost faints, collapsing to the floor. Another bolt sweeps over her and already weakened Yoko cannot resist. Yoko Tsuno faints! Pol saves her and with the help of Pol's and Karpan's disintegrators Yoko and Vic manage to defeat the computer by cracking its protective hull and thus releasing its substance: pure living energy.
Just then Karpan threatens to blow up the Vinean realm by detonating a thermal bomb. Cornering Yoko, he fires at her several times but hits the support legs of a power accumulator instead, which falls right on top of him. Yoko and Vic drag him out of the wreckage. Defeated, Karpan admits that it was the computer that had answered her call above the lava lake and urges them to leave the grottos, as they ostensibly contain a gas which proves fatal to earthlings upon long-time exposure.
Khany and her friends quickly arrange for Yoko and the others to return to the surface again, giving them several gifts: special translator headphones which also work as telepathic
Telepathy
Telepathy , is the induction of mental states from one mind to another. The term was coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Fredric W. H. Myers, a founder of the Society for Psychical Research, and has remained more popular than the more-correct expression thought-transference...
communication devices, and a crystalline orb which is supposed to signal them when the gas has been neutralized. With a promise to see each other again, Yoko, Vic and Pol part from the Vineans as friends and return to the surface.