03x24 - (Dub) Diffusion

[bunniefuu]

[DOPPEL]
You can't burn all of this away.

Nor can you break it all apart.

When faced with such an
overwhelming amount of mass...

...what will you do?

[MIKOTO grunts]

[MIKOTO grunts]

[MIKOTO coughs]

Hey, not bad.

I had to dodge and intercept.

That's the first time I've
had to go all out

with both at once.

So? You asked how
I'll deal with such

an overwhelming amount
of mass, right?

I'll show you.

I'll fight your mass with mine!

[MIKOTO]
So hard!

My iron sand blade
can't cut through it!

[DOPPEL]
An iron sand puppet?

You're able to regenerate
it and alter its form

to some degree, just like
I can do with mine.

But the parts are too fine,
making them fragile.

I can generate far more
power than you can.

And now to end this before
you can regenerate.

[MIKOTO]
Better watch how you touch me.

It could be dangerous.

All the dust and iron sand
bits this is made of?

They're rubbing against
each other, and have been

storing up an electrical charge.

Now.

If I were to take all of that
accumulated electricity

and use it to fire off
an iron sand blast...

I could bust right
through your armor.

Like so.

That's a surprise.

An impressive output. But...

Is it really all that helpful
when I can simply

regenerate again?

[MIKOTO] Those "fine parts"
are by design.

It means I can get inside
as you regenerate.

Thought so.

Are the individual grains
of iron sand too small

for you to control?

They're mixed in with everything
else, so what's wrong?

I can feel the sensation
of them cutting you up

on the inside, so there's
no use in hiding it.

[MIKOTO]
Whaddya say?

You ready for another taste?

What?

A high-pressure gas tank?

[DOPPEL] And not one
with just leftover gas,

like I hit you with earlier.

This one is loaded.

I could drop this onto
an urban area.

Shall I?

A tremendous amount of force,

even from numerous
kilometers away.

Fine.

What if we try several
of them at once?

Three now?

What are you trying to do?

Get me to use up all my energy?

[UIHARU] It's been a long time
since we did this, huh?

I haven't come over
to your place for dinner

then ended up spending the night
in what feels like forever!

Is something the matter?

You didn't hear that
huge bang just now?

Like a firework or something?

That's strange.

I don't think they're
supposed to be holding any

events tonight.

[SATEN]
See? Like that!

Hey, you're right.

What could it be?

[KUROKO]
Is that...?

Maybe. I wouldn't put it
past that being her.

Although, she still
hasn't called me.

If anything happens, you'll be
the very first person I call.

[KUROKO yells]

Sissy! I'm so frustrated!

[yelling]

That's two down. One to go!

Excellent control, as well.

You struck them in such a way
that they would explode

up into the sky, keeping them
from causing damage

to the city.

Due to the explosions,
the iron sand you used

as b*ll*ts now thinly
cover the skies.

It doesn't occupy
very much space.

It's nothing compared
to the ash in the air

after a volcanic eruption.

But nevertheless,
it will rain down upon

any airborne objects,
whether visible

to the naked eye or not.

Regardless of how it
tries to conceal itself,

solar wind interference will
disturb its magnetic field,

and Cinderella will
finally be revealed.

I found you.

I took care of the gas tanks.
What else ya... got?

Huh?!

She's dividing herself up? No.

Well, that's creepy.

She made dummies
out of the debris?

Is the real one here?

What was that?

I saw something. But it's gone.

[MIKOTO]
Wait!

[KURIBA]
Ow...

Doppelganger!

I have a proposal!
Do you hear me?

I need to talk to you! Now!

[DOPPEL]
Very well.

Then come with me.

[KURIBA]
Huh? Whoa, hold on.

[MIKOTO]
I knew it.

It's hard to make out,
but I'm holding some

thread-like thing.

Are these--?

[KURIBA yells]

[MIKOTO]
Kuriba?

And the... Doppelganger!

[MIKOTO] What the Doppelganger
is really after is the airship.

She used her fight with me
as a means of finding it.

Then does that mean
the rubble monster

was only a distraction?

What is she gonna do
now that she found it?

Whatever it is...
I have to rescue Kuriba!

Come on. Reach!

[DOPPEL]
Now then.

Since you showed me the respect
of appearing personally,

I'll show you the respect of
listening to your proposal.

Two months.

Will you give me
just two months?

This is Indian Poker.

An invention I've spread
around that uses dreams

as a medium for learning.

By my calculations, it will
only take two more months

before it comes up with
a way to eliminate the soul.

Once that happens...

You will be able to safely
dispose of my soul,

which would otherwise
spread dangerously

once my vessel breaks?

Is that what you
were going to say?

I thought I had a
concrete understanding

of your thought patterns,
and yet here you are,

spouting this illogical
nonsense to me.

Did you think you could
tell the subject

you wish to terminate
that there is a way

to do so,

and that they would
just respond,

"Yes, very well, then"?

If your intention was
to stall for time,

you picked a very strange
way to go about it.

[KURIBA]
That's not it!

I'll use it to erase
my own soul!

If I died, my soul would vanish,

but my body would
also stop functioning.

And that wouldn't work out
too favorably for you,

either, would it?

Not if your end goal
is to become human.

[DOPPEL] Of all the things
for you to say.

And why, may I ask,
should I believe you?

Even if you do find a way
to eradicate your soul

within two months,
what proof can you offer

that you will simply turn
your body over to me?

How can I be certain that
you won't just use it

against me?

Let me be frank.

I have virtually no interest
in that body of yours.

What I want...

...is for you, someone who
was able to create me,

to disappear from this world.

If you're really willing
to give me your body,

then prove it.

Die right here and now.

I was originally planning to
burn down the whole city,

but if you agree to that--

[KURIBA]
I should be dead already.

Now that my research has found
a way to save my Mom.

I don't need my life.

[MIKOTO gasps]

Kuriba!

I lost sight of her.
How do I catch her?

How do I go after her?
How long before she lands?

[LEADER]
We're on it.

North-northeast.

Distance: 1,600.
Height: 2,000.

[YAKUMARU]
Okay, are you two ready?

Oh, yeah!

The wind is pushing
them off track.

Correct course four
degrees counterclockwise.

Distance: 800.

Five hundred.

Two hundred.

[NARU]
We got her!

[MIKOTO]
Wow, thank you.

You saved her.

[LEADER]
I'm just paying you back.

No need to thank me.

'Cause, I mean, we have
a united front, don't we?

You don't really sell it when
you say it so self-consciously.

[NARU] Hey. So what do
we do with her now?

We investigated
who hired us, right?

We could drop her off at
their place if we're careful

not to be seen.

[NARU]
Good idea.

[LEADER] The Doppelganger
is on top of the airship.

I'll support you with
info on its location.

[MIKOTO]
Thank you!

[phone rings]

[SHOKUHO]
If I didn't know any better,

I'd think you were having
a party up there.

[MIKOTO] You know that airship
you mentioned before?

I'm pretty much
hanging off of it.

[SHOKUHO]
Oh, my goodness.

Since all of the relevant
data has already been

collected by the airship,
I had to start doing

my snooping elsewhere.

So I thought about it,

and figured it might help
if I went through

Kuriba's work from
before the experiment.

But you make it sound
as though I've been

wasting my time.

[MIKOTO]
No.

Actually, you couldn't have
called at a more perfect time.

This "soul possession"
business always seemed

far-fetched to me, so I came
up with 20 possible ways

her matter control could work,
and I've been testing them.

You found something, didn't you?

[MIKOTO]
Hmm.

Does she have any papers
on artificial muscles?

[CHIEF RESEARCHER] Please, you
have nothing to worry about!

In a broader sense, the
airship that has collected

the data is itself a part
of the cyborg.

There are security
measures in place,

so it won't come
down on its own.

That I promise.

Destroying it would mean
the possibility of the soul--

I mean, the damage spreading
out further-- Yes.

Not good.

If the interception
systems engage,

all of our research to this
point will go down the drain.

How in the world
did I let this happen?

What the--?

[SHOKUHO]
What do you think?

[MIKOTO]
Based on the response I saw,

I really thought that was it.

But the specs say she's
not supposed to be

able to do that.

[LEADER]
Hey.

Would you mind forwarding
that to me, too?

This makes me think
of the first time I found

the Doppelganger
with my ability.

It was using materials
at an abandoned factory

to fabricate something.

The form is different,
but it's similar.

Artificial muscles that
combine the characteristics

of zombie ant parasites
and slime molds.

They self-propagate
and burrow into materials

at the micro level,
controlling them.

That would explain some things.

But, we're talking about
a cyborg AI here.

Could it really have
come up with something

that crazy on its own?

It's not just an ordinary
artificial intelligence.

This is an AI that
assimilated with the brain

of a genius who specializes
in cybernetics.

Not only that, but it spent
an entire year studying

and learning from her creativity
and inventiveness.

Not to mention, when it
comes to computational speed

and the capacity for simulation,
humans are no match for an AI.

We only recently
learned about it,

so I can't tell you the
exact moment it realized

that it wasn't human.

But one thing's for sure,
its escape was meticulously

planned out ahead of time.

And not just to increase
its fighting chances, either.

If it predicted that Kuriba
would establish her theory

of Soul Diffusion,
maybe this artificial muscle

was a way to imply evidence
for that theory.

Even if it wasn't true.

[MIKOTO] Sure enough, there was
a trick to your soul possession.

Now, this is just my
gut feeling, to be fair.

But I don't think you're
upset because you have

a soul without a human body.

What I think is that
you're upset because

you've confirmed
you don't have a soul.

Hello again.
Glad you could make it, Railgun.

Well-made, aren't they?

They combine a particular
species of slime

mold together with large-scale
herbivore muscle tissue.

They grow quite rapidly.

To think some water, air,
and a little bit of light

is all it takes.

Though, once fully grown,
they start to degrade,

and in a few hours,
they wither away.

Tell me something.

You wanted to take
Ryoko Kuriba's life, right?

Well, you've achieved that goal.

What more do you want now?

Revenge against humans.

Or payback, one might call it?

There are still over


that I hooked together
ahead of time.

I set them up to
incinerate that woman,

Ryoko Kuriba, along with
the rest of the city.

You took out the main line,
but the subs

are still ready to go.

It will take approximately


Then my threads will have
grown long enough,

and I will be able
to control them.

I imagine that from
your perspective,

I may be nothing more
than some dumb

artificial intelligence
that mistook herself

for being human.

But after being birthed,
I have developed

a lot of envy and hatred
for you humans.

Please direct any complaints
to the researchers

who taught me these
unnecessary functions

that you call "emotions."

[MIKOTO]
No choice but to fight.

[MIKOTO]
Whoa.

That's not a maneuver an
airship can pull off, you know!

If I fall far enough off,
I won't make it back up.

[MIKOTO]
Copies? More decoys, then--

[LEADER] From where you are,
there's one at one o'clock,

two o'clock, and seven o'clock.
And two at nine o'clock.

I appreciate it.

Not again!

[LEADER]
Two more at your three!

Watch your five!

That one's probably
the main unit!

Hold on! Your line of fire's--!

[SATEN] Some days,
I'm sad and feel depressed.

[UIHARU] Sometimes, I feel
like I'm powerless.

[KUROKO] Even though I've had my
fair share of sleepless nights,

[MIKOTO]
I am not alone. Ever.

[GROUP]
Because... I have dear friends.