This week from BOOM! Studios we get Blade Runner Origins 4. This issue resolves the first of many flash points in the Replicant story. Origins 4 makes me wish this came out as a trade paperback, so I could keep reading. This issue resolves many of the choices and consequences set up last issue, the fallout. Origins 4 feels like an extremely fast read. It doesn’t feel like it covered much ground, but it actually sets up some important events for the next part of the story.

Last issue we found out Lydia Kine may have died, but her science allowed her to copy her conscience into a replicant’s body. She tried to talk to her former brother Marcus, but Marcus had a hard time accepting the new truth. In an attempt to convince him they can make a difference, she crosses paths with Detective Moreaux, and the chase was on. Cal chases her through the streets and like Decker finds out years from now, Replicant bodies are not the easiest to go toe to toe with. Lydia manages to lose Cal in the streets, but unfortunately their chase crosses paths with the other half of this story, Effie and Ilora.

Choices and Consequences: A Price Paid

Cal loses Lydia, but he finds Lydia’s old partner, Effie. She seems relieved to see Cal, but as she runs toward him, Ilora relieves Effie of her life. Ilora always felt the cold hearted bitch, but damn. Murdering Effie in cold blood at the feet of a detective and lecturing the detective on doing his job take a special level of ruthlessness. Ilora even threatens to kill Cal if he can’t find the missing Replicant. The Tyrell Corporation controls everything, and this scene exemplifies the power it can wield, but there is always a loose nut that jams the cog.

Cal knows the monstrous threat Tyrell poses and what it will take to discover the truth. Cal calls in an old favor from a friend, Divina. I love the back and forth between these two as Cal explains what he needs. There is an obvious history there that just begs to be told. While I doubt we find out more, hidden histories often make for some of the best, most entertaining characters.

Cal heads off to talk to his boss, but the interesting thing about this quick scene is how inconclusive it is. We know the Chief is on the take from the Tyrell Corp. He wants everything concluded and swept under the rug, but when he asks Cal to confirm the conclusion we want, Cal sits there with his arms crossed. Does Cal give in and say yes to save his family and get the Chief to shut up? Or are the crossed arms telling us he told the Chief to shove it and he’s staying on the case? I guess we get the choice and consequence next issue.

Either way, the little gathering at the end does not look good…

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