| Captured Shadow Mio is being questioned by Shin and his comrades. She says she was born just yesterday after 'Mother' scanned the original Mio at Ushio's wake; and that she was born in the big cavern under the island. She admits that she cut the brake cables on Mio's bicycle; the plan was to finish an injured Mio off at the hospital with the help of Dr. Sei Hishigata, a 'Shadow supporter'. This was Shadow Mio's idea, not something Haine ordered her to do. Having (presumably) been subjected to whatever de-indoctrinization treatment Ushio is capable of, Shadow Mio now says she cannot remember why she wanted to kill the original Mio. She was created to search for Ushio (a friendly Shadow), who is considered a 'traitor'. She says there are two forms of copying people: 'Transformation' is replicating something using your own body. 'Childbirth' is splitting off part of your own body to create a new Shadow. Shadow Mio describes herself as one of the 'Children' (which suggests she was created via Childbirth). Children can only give birth to one human Shadow each; Haine can give birth to numerous Shadows, but her physical weakness puts a limit on doing so. She says Haine's 'grandchildren' cannot give birth at all, but all Shadows can transform repeatedly by another method. If a human has been copied the original person must be killed within a week, or the copy will 'turn to mud and vanish'. Since the original Mio is still alive, Shadow Mio herself has only six days to live, but doesn't care all that much. She apologizes to Shin for not knowing anything more useful. Hizuru says Haine needs to consume a large number of people in order to recover from the injuries she suffered at the schoolhouse fight, and is probably creating a new army of Children for that purpose. Tokiko says she and her father, Dr. Hishigata, were helping Haine recover from her already frail condition for her mother's sake. But now she knows she was lied to and seems firmly opposed to the Shadows. Sou is scheduled to meet his father at 10PM at the clinic, and Shin and the others accompany him. On the way, Shadow Mio asks Shin if he is afraid of her, and he admits that to a certain extent, he is. She also asks if he had a girlfriend in Tokyo; he says no. She says that only he can really protect the real Mio. At the clinic they find that all furniture and equipment has been erased, apparently in a haphazard manner. Hizuru theorizes that this was done to conceal evidence of some sort. Ushio senses a Shadow. Hizuru notices a bullet hole in a wall. The Shadow seems to be in the basement morgue, which is where the body of the original Ushio should be. The group finds the wheelchair of Chitose, Sou and Tokiko's mother. |
