It's really quite funny how hard the Mad Cyborg has tried to get Genos to do its bidding
First, it tried luring him into the Neo Hero organization, with scouts promising many strong hidden-until-now heroes from whom he could learn and Blue himself telling Genos that there was a place for him if he ever changed his mind. You know that there'd have been a very special reception waiting for Genos.
Accidentally avoiding a very tempting trap -- maybe this guy does have some luck after all.
Then it tried deception, with Drive Knight telling him that Bofoi was the culprit behind the mad cyborg. But instead of going on a rampage, Genos takes a deep breath and goes to consult the people he trusts. Damn.
Okay, so it's just a matter of destroying his support network, then.
Then it tried the burning platform strategy, by having Dr Kuseno's lab attacked and the doctor killed. Surely, this would provoke Genos to just attack Bofoi already!
It did, but annoyingly, Genos listened to Bofoi... Damn this guy and his willingness to give others the benefit of the doubt!
This is why the Mad Cyborg must hate humans -- look how easily one is persuaded to consider additional factors.
It tried being the voice in his head and ordering him to kill Bofoi. No dice -- the dude just shouted back.
People are supposed to do anything if they can hear voices in their head. Nobody said anything about them talking back!
And now, it's gone for direct action. It can't get Genos to do things, but it can pull his body to it. And maybe, it can taunt and trick him into taking some action that finally gets him doing what it wants.
Surely this HAS to be an irresistible call to action, no?
Much as I am waiting with bated breath for Saitama to come through, I'm really rooting for Genos to wrong foot the Mad Cyborg one more time. It's definitely a terrifyingly clever and dangerous adversary but it is nowhere near as clever or as knowing as it makes itself out to be. And it's not in control.
h/t to @reshkkka, who writes in the comments:
It's funny that such a cunning and calculating cyborg still didn't do a good enough job accounting for Saitama variable. He reprogrammed Drive Knight's safety lock, gave him Saitama mode and everything, yet he still failed to gauge just how strong Sai is or how much psychological influence Sai has on Genos, and that ended up stalling his plans. But now I wonder how the Mad Cyborg was able to mess with Genos's memories and thoughts in the first place, and even get his body to his hideout. If the theory regarding the real Kuseno and his digital twin is true, it'll be interesting to see how the Mad Cyborg established (partial?) control over Genos
You're brilliant. Your insights make something really clear. ONE is a stickler for information flow: Who Knows What When Why and How is something he sticks to like a police procedural. It's what makes OPM feel grounded despite being set in a fantastical world.
The Organization has been hunting down 'errors' in the human world to either eliminate or control, and yet, the greatest error of all, Saitama, is not even on their radar until that morning, even though he's destroyed at least one Machine God -- and both Genos and the Dr. Kuseno we know knew how extraordinary he is. The timing of the awareness of Saitama just happens to be the morning after Dr. Kuseno's lab was raided and the information he measured from Saitama was available to be found. That really strikes against the Dr Kuseno we know being an android copy of the Mad Cyborg -- it would have at least known that Saitama was an error, even if it didn't yet have hard data about how erroneous Saitama was. And, as you say, it would have also known that Saitama was hugely influential on Genos and would have had a lever to use.
It *should* have known weeks ago about Saitama's influence if nothing else. And yet it didn't.
The Mad Cyborg has said nothing about Genos's memories -- it just says it doesn't know and frames it as due to the information not having been sufficiently important to keep. The individual calling Genos's memories fake is Dr. Bofoi. Whether Bofoi is telling the truth as he understands it or is gaslighting Genos we don't yet know.
When it comes to issues of control, the Mad Cyborg is in the walls. It does not matter whether you believe that Dr. Kuseno is the Mad Cyborg (as it claims) or you think like I do that Dr Kuseno created and lost control of the AI calling itself the Mad Cyborg, it is deeply embedded in the works done by Drs. Bofoi and Kuseno. Everything they do is compromised. You'll notice too that it has no problem sabotaging Bofoi. It's been able to steal Drive Knight from him and reprogram it, even breaking the 'ethical lock' Bofoi was so sure of, and it's had no trouble blocking Bofoi's comms so his defense network was unresponsive junk. It can yoink Genos to itself...of course it can, it's embedded in the software.
What it doesn't have is control of the people. It can steal Bofoi's shit but it can't get Bofoi to do anything in particular. It can bring Genos to itself but it can't make Genos do anything, hence the show it's putting on for him. And now that I think of it, had Dr Kuseno been an android, it wouldn't have had to work so hard to try getting Genos to do its bidding: a robot would have funnelled Genos into its arms easier than taking candy from a baby. Instead what did the old long-nose do? Let Genos decide for himself.
Heh, I can hear the Mad Cyborg going, 'Damn you! Stop encouraging him to think for himself and quit that horrible respecting his decisions crap now! You're ruining him!!!'
For certain, the Mad Cyborg hasn't shown anyone all the cards it holds. But there are gaps in what it can do. Gaps you could fit a gloved fist through...
Replying with a post because this got too long…
It feels like you have a theory for every single opm mystery out there! Your observations are insanely sharp.
It's comforting to think that the Mad Cyborg's influence over Genos might be limited, but I can't help feeling that ONE keeps showing us those abilities for a dark reason. Even if the MC's previous attempts have failed, I think he’ll try to use that control again and this time it'll actually work.
For example, if the Mad Cyborg finally realises just how important Sai and Genos are to each other, he'll almost certainly use whatever leverage he has over Genos's body/mind to pressure Saitama, since brute force clearly isn't an option. Not necessarily by making them fight, but by putting Genos's existence/sanity at risk and creating a situation where a gloved fist won't find a gap after all. The MC might force Saitama into cooperating with him.
This arc could lead into one of the classic superhero dilemmas: saving someone you care about vs saving everyone else. There's so much potential for further character development since Saitama hasn't been confronted with that kind of choice before.
And ONE would probably take that trope and do something funny + unexpected with it. Exciting!
*maybe I'm getting carried away tho…
YAY! DISCUSSION! :D Without a doubt, the Mad Cyborg has more nasty tricks up its sleeve. It knows the value of never playing an ace when a jack will do.
Whatever nastiness it has in mind, it really is putting the work in to get Genos to do something of his own volition. It's sure to be for some really sick (as in sadistic and horrific, not awesome) end.
As to whether ONE will *go* there and have Saitama deal with the fallout, I can't help remembering the different ways his showdown with Garou went. In both versions, Garou got to meet 'God' but all he got out of it in the webcomic was a cooler outfit, which Saitama headbutted off him. He never achieved the Absolute Evil he aimed for. Manga rolls around and ONE decides to go there -- Garou gets to be the personification of Evil just as he hoped -- and we watch the world crumble.
I don't know if Saitama is going to have to choose between saving the world and saving his disciple this time. But if he doesn't have to here, the manga will definitely not miss out on such a gut-wrenching conflict.
Or maybe it will. The Earth wouldn't survive.
Oh yeah, I can absolutely imagine the webcomic having a more laconic and maybe funnier resolution to this arc, while the manga version will probably lean more into the epicness and sentimentality (in a good way).
I'm sure both versions will be emotionally impactful and ultimately share the same message. I'm especially hoping we'll get Kuseno's full story, atp I don't even know how to process this man anymore.
How cruel of ONE to leave us hanging like this arghhhh
