| Yaomay demands an explanation from Gwen for the things he has said, and why she can touch and feel Kujirai, yet he implies that she does not really exist. Since he was living in Kowloon before it was demolished, he can contrast the situation then with now. Many people who lived in the city then have 'second version' duplicates of themselves in it today. He conducted an experiment: what would happen to the second version of a person if the original one entered Kowloon? The second version person 'disappeared'--he has seen this happen with his own eyes at least once. "We don't see the second version of me because I am here" he says. Kudo knows this too, he says. Yaomay refuses to believe this and vows to go to Hong Kong alone and ask people what they know about Kowloon. Gwen says Kudo cares about Kujirai, though he's not certain if it is in the same way that he cared for Kujirai B. The obvious questions are who or what is creating second versions of people, and why, and is Kowloon itself a second version of another city, but Kujirai is too shocked to ask. Later, Gwen muses about the situation: "Even though you know they don't exist, you can't help but get attached". We learn that Kujirai B was once taking medicine for insomnia. Miyuki's father refers to him as 'Haoran'--maybe as an insult, maybe he is losing his mind. Miyuki doubts the theory that Kujirai B used her insomnia pills to commit suicide. Yulong says that since this happened in the demolished version of Kowloon there's no way to track down exactly what drug she was taking. "If that's the case, then I have a strange connection to Reiko Kujirai" Miyuki remarks. He and Yulong agree that her loved ones must hate the Hebinuma corporation, especially Miyuki's father. Yulong mentions that the father picked the demolition of the Second Kowloon Walled City as Miyuki's 'first job', "to squash your birth data and you-know-what". Xiaohei, the gas mask wearing guy who Yulong knows, seems to be working for Miyuki's father. Kujirai is naturally troubled by all that she has learned. She asks Kudo why he once told her not to go anywhere and asks him to promise that he won't either. "If you'll be by my side, I won't need anything more" she says. Don't worry" he replies. "I will always be here". Yaomay heads off to Hong Kong. She finds that money she had possessed in Kowloon can't be digitally transferred to the outside world. Everyone in Hong Kong seems to agree with Gwen and the deliveryman that Kowloon no longer exists. She meets one man who says he used to live there and has heard rumors that its demolition was some sort of cover-up conducted by the Hebinuma Group. He advises her to use the internet to search for more information. At an internet cafe she finds that almost all posts regarding Kowloon have been deleted but manages to contact someone known as 'Weasel' who says that while he cannot 'see' the new Kowloon, he believes it was 'recreated' after the demolition. He asks if anything about present-day Kowloon feels 'strange' and Yaomay shares with him what Gwen has told her. Yaomay realizes something: the seasons have not changed in Kowloon in the six months since she arrived there--it is always summer (How did she miss this until now?). Yaomay asks Weasel about the cover-up rumor and he tells her something shocking but it is not revealed to us viewers. It turns out that 'Weasel' is actually Yulong. At 6AM the next day Kujirai (who is in bed with Kudo) gets a phone call From Yaomay asking that they (and Gwen) meet immediately. |
