Touring after the Apocalypse volume 3 - Sakae Saito

 The next manga to devour, we are heading back on a roadtrip through Japan, after the apocalypse happened.

 

 

And with that radiomessage at the end of volume two, let's see where this brings Youko and Airi... 

The unexpected message sends them on their way to the university city of Tsukuba, where a maintenance program for Airi is located to prevent any future short "freeze up" glitches.  As they arrive at the world expo memorial park, they find the laboratory inside the model of a rocket ship.

The entrance is hidden inside a telephone booth, and they are taken down into a fully automated facility to undergo examinations.  But Youko's routine medical check up takes far longer then foreseen, and while Airi has her maintenance, she passes out during the check.  They go visit the planetarium afterwards to relax and gaze at the stars, before moving on the next day.

On their Touringgram app, a stamp collection feature has become active in the lab, making them go visit Lake Kasumigaura and hunt some ducks for making yakitori's for dinner.  Enjoying the view from the panoramic tower, and collecting the stamp there, they decide to go to the Motegi racing circuit.  Youko has a dream she is racing there, before giving it an actual try on their electric bike.

On a hunch from Youko, they go into the Honda collection museum, meeting a robot museum guide that becomes active again after they turn electricity on.  During the tour, she is even allowed to ride Valentino Rossi's world championship winning bike from 2001.  But she gets a feeling someone else is present as well.

She takes the bike for a race against Airi, who controls a radio-controlled race car through VR.  Their race brings the spirit of the circuit alive one last time, Youko witnessing apparitions of famous cars riding alongside her.  But Airi saw neither those apparitions, nor any cheering robots in the stands as Youko claims to have witnessed.  The guide robot falls over, ceasing to function, and as they open him up it seems that it was unable to do so for years already with the broken parts inside...

So this was another fun volume of a series I really enjoy, but what is going on with Youko though?