Rage against the machine commences.
So, we pick up right where we left off with Natsuki confronting the mechanical reality of Atri. He acts pretty tough, and is clearly hurting. Thus, he leaves her behind and visits Minamo. The next day, he hears from Cathrine that Atri may have once gone violently berserk, meaning she’s been barred from school until further notice. After that, he’s finally approached by that cyber arm guy, who of course has nothing good to say about Atri.
The gist seems to be that the berserk incident cost a professor that cyber-arm looked up to basically everything, and that ever since he’s been personally working on recalling everything to do with Atri’s model. He gives Natsuki one of her older written logs (or one belonging to one of her other models) and a form to release her to be reclaimed. Natsuki needs some time to think despite the high-pressure sales techniques, and brings that all home.
While Natsuki is moping, Atri is lured to school by the baddies, thanks to them taking some kids hostage, because apparently waiting for Natsuki to make a decision is not something they’re willing to do. I guess it was a good idea too, because in the journal of Past Atri/The Other Atri he finds a last message, “I love you” written regarding her then-master. Realizing that this proves the capacity for Atri to have a heart, he goes after her… though not without incident.
Meanwhile, in the hostage situation, Atri shows. Cyber arm says he’ll show how dangerous she is, and then just goes about physically thrashing her to the horror of everyone else there. I guess he’s probably hoping she’ll berserk so that he’ll be within his rights to retire her, but this seems just kind of sadistic, and more for his emotional catharsis than anything else, hence bypassing Natsuki.
At the end of the episode, Natsuki arrives on scene, but we don’t get to see what his presence is going to do.
Since this seems more or less like either the first of a two-parter or the middle of an arc depending on how you look at it, there’s really not much more to say. I expect to have a more complete breakdown next week.