Episode 25 - My Dear Friends
Mikoto fires her railgun through the incoming attack — but intentionally misses the Doppelganger herself. The Doppelganger demands to know why she was spared, which confirms Mikoto's suspicions: what the Doppelganger really wants is to die, and all her talk of revenge on humanity is a bluff. The Doppelganger admits that, rather than having a soul as Kuriba fears, she's certain she doesn't have one. What's more, living an imitation life, yet unable to truly exist, is unbearable to her, and she wants it to end — but her programming prevents her from ending her own life. Everything she's done has been to try and goad either Mikoto or Academy City into destroying her, along with the airship containing all of her data.
The Doppelganger pleads with Mikoto to destroy her. Unable to convince her to reconsider, Mikoto sadly acquiesces. Soon, she is standing on the ground near the shattered wreckage of the airship; the Doppelganger, much of its body destroyed, thanks her as its functions start to shut down.
The head of the Doppelganger's research institute arrives on the scene, with Kuriba in tow. He is horrified to see his precious research project in ruins, but Mikoto tells them this is what the Doppelganger wants. When she explains the truth about the Doppelganger, Kuriba is convinced, but the head scientist rapidly comes unhinged. Shouting denials, he grabs Kuriba and pulls a gun on her, insisting he'll take the Doppelganger away and repair her.
Before Mikoto can figure out how to disarm him safely, Kuriba angrily starts struggling — and the gun goes off, shooting her in the torso. Panicked, the scientist runs away as Mikoto rushes to help Kuriba, who is rapidly losing blood. The Doppelganger, in its final moments, speaks up and offers to donate her own cybernetic organs to save Kuriba. Mikoto calls Kuroko and asks her to take Kuriba and the Doppelganger to the hospital.
In the empty city streets, the scientist stops running and exclaims that he won't accept this. He is just formulating plans to start again with children as guinea pigs... when he abruptly stops talking mid rant and freezes in place. Misaki Shokuhou walks up to him, scolds him for abandoning his principles, and proceeds to erase all his memories of the research.
At an outdoor café a few days later, Mikoto tells Kuroko that Kuriba is expected to fully recover. Shokuhou, with Hokaze in tow, comes up and congratulates Mikoto on her hard work. Kuroko suspiciously asks if Mikoto was doing something with Shokuhou when she went out the other night. Shokuhou assures Kuroko that she isn't going to steal Mikoto away from her... then leans in and whispers that she might just steal her from Mikoto. While a flustered Kuroko is trying to figure out what to make of this, Saten and Uiharu arrive. They greet Hokaze, telling a surprised Mikoto that they know her from some recent, unrelated business. Hokaze in turn introduces them to Shokuhou, leaving them somewhat star-struck. Mikoto rolls her eyes while Hokaze tries to instruct Saten and Uiharu on proper etiquette; Shokuhou just grins and says there's never a dull moment in Academy City...
Meanwhile, at Scavenger's base, Leader and Yakumaru are taking stock while Naru tries to take Seike's clothes off. Their handler contacts them and says their client has declared bankruptcy, meaning they won't get paid for the latest job. Pointing out how they risked their lives, Leader persuades her to remove the team's probationary status as compensation.
On the hospital grounds later, Mikoto is talking with Misaka 10032 when Kongou happens by. Mikoto introduces Kongou to her "little sister", although Kongou is somewhat flummoxed by the latter's "name". She asks if she can shorten it to "Icchan" note , and invites the Sister to call her "Mi-chan" in return.
At that moment, another "Mi-chan" — Mitori Kouzaku — is visiting an aquarium with Shokuhou and Dolly. Dolly is delighted by the fish, but says she'd still love to visit the ocean someday. Shokuhou wonders if they should try to arrange that, but Kouzaku says there's no need to rush.
Kuriba dreams of the Doppelganger, who gives her a blunt summary of her character flaws — and then offers her suggestions about how to improve the treatments she's designing for her mother. Kuriba tells Mikoto about this when the latter visits her later, and says it didn't seem like a hallucination. She wonders if she somehow assimilated part of the Doppelganger's consciousness from her transplanted cybernetics. Kuriba adds that she feels as though the highlight of the Doppelganger's short life was when she fought Mikoto.
As she leaves the hospital, Mikoto finds Kuroko, Uiharu and Saten waiting for her. With their adventures concluded for now, the four friends head off to enjoy their time together.
Tropes
- Affectionate Nick Name: When Misaka 10032 states her "name", the nonplussed Kongou asks if she can shorten it to "Icchan", and offers to let the Sister do the same with her.
- Borrowed Catch Phrase: This time it's Misaki Shokuhou who says "there's never a dull moment in this city", somewhat to Mikoto's indignation.
- Brick Joke: Way back when Misaka 10032 was suggesting (bizarre) names for her cat, and Touma was shooting them down, she eventually said she'd put the matter on hold for now. Touma rather facetiously muttered that the way things were going the cat might just end up being named "On Hold" note . Here, it turns out she really did name it that; the cat's ear even twitches visibly when she says it.
- Continuity Nod: Uiharu and Saten are acquainted with Hokaze, and mention having met her at the Judgement 177 office. This refers to the spin-off manga A Certain Scientific Railgun: Astral Buddy, which takes place during this same period.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: The head of the Doppelganger research institute does this when he starts planning to recreate the experiment on orphans. Shokuhou calls him out and emphatically puts a stop to it.
- Numerical Theme Naming: When Misaka 10032 identifies herself as such, Kongou interprets it as this trope rather than as You Are Number 6 note . What she thinks this says about Mikoto's parents is anyone's guess.
- Suicide by Cop: Revealed to have been the Doppelganger's true objective all along, since her programming prevents her from harming herself.
- They Called Me Mad!: The Doppelganger scientist becomes downright unhinged when Mikoto forcefully terminates the project. He flies off the handle, refusing to accept that he failed to create a soul, then threatens Kuriba with a gun and accidentally shoots her. He subsequently goes off on a giggle-punctuated rant that would do a Kihara proud, insisting he'll do whatever it takes to prove his research. Fortunately for all involved, Shokuhou immediately comes along and "resets" him by erasing all his memories of the research.
