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As Hikaru becomes accustomed to the symbionts and solves her inner tur- moil, 7BN uses a number of visual techniques to both convey the psychological changes brought about by her interactions with the two symbionts and how her physical expressions change. In looking at the visual motifs representing Hikaru’s isolation—her headphones, her distant stare, and her tendency to avert her gaze—all three are significantly reduced in later volumes as Hikaru becomes more comfortable with the symbionts and more at peace with herself. As shown in figures 5.5, 5.6, and 5.7, the removal of Hikaru’s headphones is so representa- tive of Hikaru breaking away from her emotional isolation that the near-absence of them in later volumes indicates the fact that Hikaru no longer feels the need or desire to retreat. Even the two instances where Hikaru wears headphones after

volume 1 are either symbolic or abstract, referencing a past or regressed version of her. The first reappearance comes at the end of volume 2, inside a world of Hikaru’s memories created by Maelstrom, who gives Hikaru the headphones as a means to block her painful memories and trap Hikaru in her own mind (figure 5.8). The second instance comes towards the beginning of Volume 4, taken from the memories of Hikaru’s aunt. In this context, the headphones imply the old Hikaru, before she was able to open up to others (figure 5.9). The headphones suggests isolation as a component of Hikaru’s old self without necessarily hav- ing to explicitly focus on it.

Figure 5.8. The headphones threaten to return Hikaru to her emotional isolation. Source: Tadano Nobuaki, 7 Billion Needles, vol. 2 (New York: Vertical, Inc., 2010), 146-147.

Figure 5.9. The past Hikaru is shown with the headphones that represented her emotional iso- lation. Source: Tadano Nobuaki, 7 Billion Needles, vol. 4 (New York: Vertical, Inc., 2011), 12-13.

By the final volume of 7BN, the distant stare and aversion of gaze disap- pear as defining traits of Hikaru as well. In figure 5.10, in addition to the lack of headphones, Hikaru stares directly at another character, declaring her desire to save everyone.289 _{At this point, Hikaru still tends towards emotionally-charged}

expressions, but has expanded her range of consideration to include others, namely her friends and family. Her stance, much more confident and powerful when compared to volume 1, is highlighted by the increasing look of determina- tion on Hikaru from one panel to the next in figure 5.10.

Figure 5.10. Hikaru no longer demonstrates the three visual motifs found in figure 5.2, thus showing the changes that have occurred in her as a result of her interactions with the symbi- onts. Source: Tadano Nobuaki, 7 Billion Needles, vol. 4 (New York: Vertical, Inc., 201), 12-13.

These changes in Hikaru are the evidence of her exposure to Horizon, but the manga also eventually presents the symbionts as beings capable of change despite appearing otherwise. This is accomplished by showing how Hikaru, as an emotional individual whose own perspective on the world is constantly changing due to her contact with the aliens, can herself exert an influence on the psychology of the aliens. Emotion becomes incorporated into the science fic- tional narrative, not only as something to be influenced by the novum but also to be an influence on it, transforming Hikaru’s emotions into a type of “nested novum”—a source of drastic change or innovation for the characters within the SF narrative itself—because of how they affect the symbionts during their own long-term exposure to Hikaru. Her function as an in-narrative source of cog- nitive estrangement for the symbionts, as well as the reciprocal psychological relationship between these three characters, thus becomes an opportunity for

“emotionally cognitive” estrangement in the reader. While the novum is meant to be the “scientific novelty” that differentiates the SF world from our own,290

here, though not named as such, the very concept of the “novum” appears within the fiction itself.

This initial change in the symbionts comes in two forms. First, exposure to Hikaru causes the symbionts to realize that their motivations are tied to the natural order of the universe, what the story later shows to be a greater system of evolutionary checks and balances. Second, they begin to develop emotions such as love, an inherent desire for freedom, and sentimentality, which allow them to act in ways that run counter to their own natural tendencies without needing overtly logical reasoning processes behind those actions. Programmed with biological directives to fulfill (Maelstrom attempts to eliminate all life on any planet it appears on, while Horizon works to destroy Maelstrom), the manga expresses the significance of having the two symbionts break free from the lim- itation of their circumstances through their interactions with Hikaru. In volume 2, Maelstrom explains that both it and Horizon have been unwitting parts of an endless cycle of destruction and regeneration: every time they destroy each other, they are both revived with no recollection of their previous encounters, which causes the two to endlessly repeat their conflict as if every time is the first. “See, you and I are a match made in heaven. If we did remember everything, we’d

change, like it or not.”291 _{Hikaru contributes to this psychological transforma-}

tion, as Maelstrom explains how it is Hikaru who allowed it to have “memories” when previously it could not.292 _{Although Horizon and Maelstrom are themselves}

portrayed as agents of change in Hikaru’s life (and eventually the world), Hikaru becomes their catalyst for change in return, specifically allowing them to retain their memories and thus the potential to stray from their original ways of being.

Maelstrom challenges Horizon once more, with the loser agreeing to destroy itself and allow the other to do as they please, to continue their current path or to “become something else.”293 _{When Maelstrom fails to eliminate Horizon and then}

attempts to renege on the deal and escape, that action provides the very evidence

290. Darko Suvin, Metamorphoses of Science Fiction: On the Poetics and History of a Literary Genre (London: Yale University Press, 1979), 4.

291. Tadano Nobuaki, 7 Billion Needles, vol. 2 (New York: Vertical, Inc., 2010), 122. 292. Tadano, 7 Billion Needles, vol. 2, 109-110.

for Maelstrom’s claims that it is able to think beyond its previous capacity. Namely, it shows that Maelstrom values its newfound self-awareness. Consequently, although Maelstrom’s plan does not go as intended, Horizon’s decision to trap Maelstrom inside of Hikaru’s body, instead of killing it and allowing the cycle to repeat, creates a similar outcome: freedom from their preset purposes, and the potential to develop further outside of the confines of their original natures.

This change between Hikaru and the symbionts has something of a parallel in TEN and how Bob and the Hunter have grown closer due to spending years together. The Hunter has become accustomed to life on Earth, and its original duty to its host has transformed into such a strong sense of friendship that the Hunter believes its emotional bond with Bob has clouded its decision-making. However, this also differs significantly from 7BN, where it is the confrontation with Hikaru’s emotions, and thus her way of being, which triggers a deeper, more substantial transformation in Horizon and Maelstrom, as opposed to simply becoming more familiar with human behavior. Because they discover emotion, or rather a greater range of emotions, the symbionts are able to defy their genetic directives, and their tenuous co-existence leads to further development of the science fictional narrative of 7BN.