03x15 - Promise

[bunniefuu]

"A Certain Scientific Railgun T"

The best thing to do to make
your way in Academy City

is to suck up to the researchers here.

Your rating has gone up since last time.

Wow? Really? I'm so happy!

It's because of all of you!

"Effort pays off" is a lie.

Just like the school you attend
influences your employment prospects,

the research facility you're associated
with determines your future.

Thank you very much!

--I got really good at the forced
smiles that made others like me.

--Thanks for all you do!
--I got really good at the forced
smiles that made others like me.

I'm looking forward to more again tomorrow!

Ugh, all this acting friendly is
more exhausting than the experiments.

However, I wasn't counting on having
that girl forced on me as a result.

Oh, Kozaku?

Yes?

Listen, could you come and play
with this girl in your free time?

Huh?

Dolly has lived her whole
life at the facility.

Stress is affecting her observational data.

If she had someone to play with,
it should lower her stress, right?

Yes, if you think I will do...

U-Um...

Are you all right?

Tell me, what's your name?

Huh? Kozaku Mitori.

Okay, I'll call you "Mi" then!

So simple...

From then on, once my experiments
were over, it never failed.

Whew, finally done for the day.

Huh? Dolly?!

I would end up being hounded like this.

It's my turn!

Here I go!

Six! One, two, three, four, five, six.

Ah, I had two kids! My
congratulations, please!

Tell me something, Dolly,
why can't you go outside?

They said it was something
about my treatment.

Treatment?

At an ability development facility?

They say it will help my young sister.

You have a sister?

I've never met her, though.

If the treatment goes well,

they say I'll have lots of younger sisters.

I don't follow.

It's your turn, Mi.

Mi, that's amazing! It's really pretty!

Not really. It isn't
even that interesting, is it?

If you go out to the ocean,
you can see the real thing.

Ocean? I know that one! I read it in my book!

It's a place with lots of water!

At first, I wondered why I was stuck
with this simpleminded girl.

--Dolly--
--Mi!

Hey!

That's so cute!

Why do you have to hug me
over every little thing?

And stop smelling me, too!

I like the smell of people.
Mi, you have a warm smell.

Dolly smells like chemicals.

Whad are you doig dad for, Mi?

Because you won't do what I say.

Back ad you!

Somehow, whenever I was with her,
my smiles were genuine and not put on.

That's how it felt to me.

Thanks for everything!

The experiment ended early.

What should we play today?

Dolly!

What are those devices...?

No!

Miss Kozaku, come with me.

You have heard that she is here
to get treatment, right?

She needs some life support equipment
to allow her to keep on living.

Now, go on back home.

Life support equipment...

Really?

If anyone finds out,
they'll be more than just angry at me.

"Parameter List." That's not it.

"Planned Exterior construction site."
Not that, either.

The best thing to do to make
your way in Academy City

is to suck up to the researchers here.

Interfering with their work
would be out of the question.

Please stop medicating Dolly!

Ah. I'd gotten a report that we had
a break-in at the data center. It was you?

If so, then you now know
what she is, don't you?

Dolly is a c-clone,
and she's your g-guinea pig for research

that will help you make
mass-produced clones that live longer.

You're dosing Dolly with all kinds of dr*gs,

with no regard for her health,
just to collect your data!

Your crazy dr*gs are making
her already short life even shorter!

Clones are just like us! They are alive!

Please stop the experiments!

And if I say we can't?

Th-Then I'll go public
with this research data!

Who's going to believe
the wild stories of a child?

Even so, if I talk to
the governing board about it,

they'll do an on-site inspection...

That won't happen.

The ones who spearheaded these experiments

are the governing board.

Clones are just like us, are they?
Well, you're right.

Clones and you espers are
both the same in Academy City--

nothing more than experiment fodder.

Why, you...!

You're going to leave her alive?

For better or worse,
she does have a high dormant ability.

Once Exterior is complete,
she is likely to come in handy.

Dolly...

I was held in confinement for months--

no, it might have been even longer than that.

Then suddenly, one day,
the guard disappeared...

...and when I went outside...

...the research facility
was completely deserted.

Go ahead and look down on us from on high.

I'll show you that even lab rats...

...have fangs that can still bite into you.

But from that moment on,
my days were spent tormented

by disappointment and
feelings of powerlessness.

My carefully-planned assassination
mission ended in failure.

What I learned was that
even if there were 10,000 of me,

the fact remained that the
governing board was out of my reach.

Take the mask off of her for me.

Where am I?

Who's this old geezer?

Mm-hmm, you have a keen look in your eye.

Eyes smoldering with
the smoke of the embers of hatred.

Let me come right to the point.

How would you like the power to
blow away Academy City without a trace?

Huh?

Oh, yeah?

It sounds too good to be true.

But why me?

Hmm... Dogma, perhaps?

High-minded ideals and rapacious ambitions

both unravel when a person's capacity
to tolerate stress is exceeded, you see.

Which is why...

I place no trust in resolve,
whether it's by nature, or by nurture.

If it doesn't kick in when it's crunch time,
it can be a real turnoff.

On the other hand, tremendous
hatred is unwaveringly beautiful.

One won't think twice about giving
their life for the sake of vengeance.

I'm banking on the dogma of hatred.

The Judgment girl isn't here...

Handcuffs? These are
meaningless with my ability...

Why bother?

If I'm still alive, it means
that the project must have failed.

I could just stay here and be rat food...

Shokuho Misaki...?

I peeked inside Gensei's memories,
thinking "just maybe," and sure enough...

You were "Mi," weren't you?

I was wondering why I had to play
the part of the girl who abandoned Dolly,

but maybe I should have looked
into it closer a lot sooner.

It wouldn't be fair to Miss Shirai,

so I'll have you turn yourself
in soon enough, but first,

I need you to come with me for a bit.

Huh?

I learned something
when I read Gensei's memories.

Dolly had a sister that was
created around the same time.

The purpose of Dolly's creation

wasn't just to establish
the technical skills of cloning.

She was also a specimen used
to help create a network

that would conduct data
sharing between the clones.

Dolly's memories and experiences were
all transferred into another individual,

where they still remain.

This "younger sister" is lying asleep
in a certain research facility.

And while she shares her memories
and experiences, she is not Dolly.

Still, we can't just leave her there, right?

Nothing beats having a stronger hand,
so I need you to come with me.

Why?

You didn't have to explain all that to me.

You could have just used
your ability to control me.

Did I need to control you, though?

No, you didn't.

"#15 Promise"

All right, here's to
Shirai's complete recovery...

--Cheers!
--Cheers!

"Congratulations, Shirai Kuroko"

Honestly, you are making too much of it.

"Congratulations"

It has been a whole week
since I got out of the hospital.

Still, with the Daihasei Festival going on,
we never properly celebrated.

Also, today's the day you stopped
needing your wheelchair. Here.

Well whatever the occasion,

I am always happy to eat
anything that you prepare, Sissy.

Nonetheless, why are you doing it here?

Now, now, don't be so rigid.
Oh, let me refill your drink, Miss Konori!

I'll make an exception today.

Thank you very much!

Come to think of it, Miss Misaka,

how has your mother been since the incident?

Huh? Mama?

Oh, um, I think she's fine.

Is that right? That's great.

Uiharu is concerned about involving
your mother in that affair, Sissy.

Huh?

They still have memories
of that incident... Then,

how do they remember me being there, too?

I'm sure Shokuho must
have made some revisions...

Still, Uiharu, you got caught up
in that business, too, right?

I mean, you got knocked out by the bad guy.

Yes, that's true, but...

as a member of Judgment,
I feel like I wasn't good for anything.

But Miss Shirai came along
and ended things without incident,

so we'll call it all good.

I just wish you had informed me of
the incident when it happened, though.

Yes, you are right.
I wonder why I did not contact you.

I am terribly sorry for that, Miss Konori.

It sounds like she just erased
the fact that I was there at all.

Come to think of it, she had me stuck
in the bathroom with an upset stomach.

Unless you're prepared
to k*ll me to stop me...

"Congratulations, Shirai Kuroko"

Well, let's use this party today
to wipe the slate clean!

Saying that does not cancel out your
involvement with Shadow Metal, Saten.

That was a big deal, huh?

What's this, now?

--As it happens, Miss Saten was--
--Here, Uiharu! Aah...!

--There you go. Do you want some more?
It's good, huh? Go ahead.

--Hold on! Sissy made that especially for me!
--There you go. Do you want some more?
It's good, huh? Go ahead.

Is something the matter, Sissy?

Hmm? Oh, mm-mm, I was just thinking
how nice it was to have friends.

I really am glad I'm not out of
their circle anymore, the way I was.

Okay, here. You can have this.

Huh?

You need it to make
your ability work, don't you?

That's what she wanted to see.

Huh?

So, you're saying Dolly
recognized you as being me?

Yeah. At the time, I didn't yet have
the power to alter memories.

Still, at some point, I think she
figured out that I wasn't really you.

I see. She had some
surprisingly keen instincts.

Thanks.

Huh?

Thanks to you, Dolly wasn't alone at the end.

That was the thing that's stayed
with me more than anything.

Dolly...

Mi...

Mi...?

Is that you, Mi?

I've missed you.

I was afraid you didn't like me anymore...

I was afraid you thought
I was disgusting... so...

You dummy. That's not true at all.

I remember this smell...

I love your smell...

Wait!

You're Misaki, right?

Why, whoever might that be?

Misaki, I know it's you.

You were both together with me
in my dream for so long, after all.

The times we spent with you are
the only memories we have.

I'm sorry!

I'm sorry for tricking you for so long!

I'm sorry I didn't catch on to their lies!

I'm sorry for butting into
your memories without your knowledge!

I'm sorry to have become
so preoccupied in a feel-good lie.

If only I had looked into who "Mi" was...

I could have reunited her with Dolly.

I'd have learned what the
experiment was about,

and I'm sure Dolly wouldn't have had to die.

This is all my fault for wedging
my way in between you two!

I'll do anything to make up for it...

Okay, take me to the ocean.

After that, I want to ride a
roller coaster at an amusement park,

and see a hippo at the zoo...

Oh, and I also want to go on a plane.

And I want to see the auroras in Finland,

and play with the dolphins in Hawaii,
and the llamas in Machu Picchu.

Oh, no, that's too much.
You want to go around the world?

Actually,

as long as the three of us
are together, anywhere is fine.

Is that... too much?

Honestly, you always ignore
whatever I say, and assert your own ideas.

Your willfulness is through the roof.

I really don't know what to do about you.

Good.

Looks like your fever is down, too.
I think we can rest easy now.

"However, while Misaka was lying in bed,

the Daihasei Festival concluded,"
says Misaka, bemoaning her situation.

Oh, don't pout.
I'll take you out somewhere, okay?

Where would you like to go?

The ocean...

The ocean? Beach season is already over.

"For some unknown reason,

Misaka wants to make an exciting
promise with someone dear to her,"

says Misaka, having a strange sense
of déjà vu and feeling sentimental.

"Next episode preview"

"Next episode preview"
"#16 Dream Ranker"

If you could dream any dream you wanted,
what would you dream, Uiharu?

I... would dream of eating all kinds
of delicious food willy-nilly!

You do that all the time anyway.
What about you, Shirai?

I would, of course--

Ah, on second thought, never mind.