Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T Episode 10

Clone Dolly (才人工房(クローンドリー)) is the 10th episode of Toaru Kagaku no Railgun T. It was broadcast on April 3rd 2020.

The "Kihara Gensei" that was supposed to be captured was actually a body double. Knowing this, Shokuhou became aware of the possibility of another potential danger and immediately took action. At the besieged safehouse of Shokuhou, unforeseen circumstances created a roadblock. Shokuhou rushes towards Gensei's apparent destination, which is a facility connected with her childhood, as well as a certain project.

That time, Shokuhou was part of a research institution called Clone Dolly, where she underwent ability development. Here, she met a girl named Dolly. Due to her illness, this girl cannot survive without the help of machines, and was separated from her closest friend. Shokuhou was asked to babysit Dolly, but soon enough became friends with her.

Synopsis
Misaki hurriedly brings Mikoto to the location of her safehouse, baffled about how Gensei was able to track its location. Mikoto suggests that Gensei may be misleading them into a trap he prepared. Regardless, Misaki is more worried about something else rather than her safehouse being exposed. Soon, Misaki's car comes to a stop, and they discover that a traffic jam has built up on the road approaching School District 2 as a result of a bus spontaneously exploding earlier. In a desperate move, Misaki used her ability to manipulate the minds of all of the motorists on the road, paving a clear path towards School District 2.

In a flashback, a younger Misaki was shown with several other scientists in the facility where her safehouse currently stood. As the development of a certain "Exterior" was undergoing, Misaki was introduced to a young girl that was also taken care of in the facility. This girl, called Dolly the Prototype, was suffering from a particular illness and had machines embedded in her to prolong her life. As scientists became unable to obtain accurate data from Dolly due to the trauma of being separated from her friend "Mi-chan", they requested Misaki to pose as Mi-chan to restore Dolly's peace of mind.

Misaki eventually came to Dolly's room more frequently, playing with Dolly despite not seeing the need to do so. Meanwhile, Dolly started opening up to her, showing the container filled with liquid metal she always keeps, as well as talking about her curiosity on the outside world. Then, one day, while they were playing games together, Dolly suddenly collapsed. In her weakened state, Dolly revealed that she knew that the "friend" accompanying her was not Mi-chan, but thanked her for being her friend nonetheless. Misaki was then informed that Dolly's body had reached its limit and her life was about to end soon.

Dolly's death greatly affected Misaki, causing worry to the researchers who noticed that her progress in ability development had slowed down. They discussed about how to deal with Misaki's mental state, as well as facing the possibility that the mental guards created to protect themselves from Misaki's ability might not be enough to keep the secret of the Clone Dolly project safe. However, by that point, Misaki had already brainwashed the key members of the project, and eventually spread her influence to all the people involved in the Exterior Project. At the present time, knowing that she had made those involved to not divulge any information about the project, Misaki is frustrated towards Kihara Gensei for knowing about her closely guarded secret.

As a certain spiky-haired boy struggles to look for the owner of the amulet he borrowed, Mikoto and Misaki arrive at School District 2. The two Level 5s discover that her safehouse is emptied out, with those working to maintain the Exterior not to be found as well. Misaki then explains the functions of Exterior; on the surface, it expands Misaki's abilities, but it also allows any person to use her powers as well, esper or not, as long as they are registered into Exterior. Mikoto then wonders about Gensei's intentions for taking over the facility. Misaki speculates that that Gensei may use the Exterior to hack into the Sisters, but doubts that he can penetrate several layers of protection she prepared beforehand.

Keitz Nokleben manages to contact Misaki on the rooftop of the facility, informing her that he has safely taken Mikoto's clone with him. But, he is aware that someone may have been luring both of them into a trap, and warns Misaki about it. True enough, Gensei has located Keitz and, through his phone, talks to Misaki about how he used the information gathered through the Level Upper project to tune his brainwaves to match Misaki's, allowing him to disregard the registration requirement for the use of Exterior.

With Kihara Gensei capable of using Misaki's ability, he lifts the restrictions enforced on the whole Misaka Network and implants a virus that affected all of the "users" of the network. Meanwhile, the spiky-haired boy finally finds Saten who is talking to Xochitl about her mission with Kouzaku Mitori. Here, she reveals that their real target is none other than Misaka Mikoto. The Level 5 in question confronts Gensei upon seeing her clone unconscious, not knowing the Gensei is planning to forcefully connect her to the infected Misaka Network. Then, as Mikoto undergoes an electrifying transformation, Gensei declares the start of the experiment that would attempt to create a Level 6 out of Misaka Mikoto.

Major Events

 * Kihara Gensei successfully breached Misaki's safehouse in School District 2. Several maintenance personnel were extracted from the facility, except for Keitz Nokleben and Misaka 10032.
 * Shokuhou Misaki's past as a test subject of the Clone Dolly project was revealed. She met a girl named Dolly and became friends with her until her death. Dolly's passing became Misaki's motivation to take over the entire facility.
 * Gensei used the brainwave manipulation techniques he taught to Kiyama Harumi, the developer of Level Upper, to gain access to the Exterior, a massive construct that enables registered users to use Mental Out regardless of exposure to the Power Curriculum Program.
 * The Misaka Network becomes infected by a virus installed by Gensei.
 * Xochitl reveals to Saten that Kouzaku Mitori's target was actually Misaka Mikoto.
 * Gensei forcefully connected Misaka Mikoto into the infected Misaka Network and officially declared the start of the Level 6 attempt on the rank-third Level 5.

Characters
By order of appearance:
 * Misaka 10032
 * Keitz Nokleben
 * Shokuhou Misaki
 * Misaka Mikoto
 * Kamijou Touma
 * Kihara Gensei
 * Kiyama Harumi (flashback)
 * Last Order
 * Accelerator
 * Saten Ruiko
 * Xochitl
 * Kouzaku Mitori

New Characters

 * Makuwa (flashback)
 * Dolly (flashback)
 * Aleister Crowley (mentioned)

Abilities

 * Mental Out - Shokuhou Misaki, Level 5
 * Multi-Skill - Kiyama Harumi, Level Upper administrator (flashback)
 * Electromaster (Railgun-variant) - Misaka Mikoto, Level 5

New Abilities

 * Mental Out with Exterior - Shokuhou Misaki, Level 5
 * Mental Out with Exterior - Kihara Gensei

Locations

 * Academy City
 * School District 2
 * Exterior
 * School District 7
 * Heaven Canceller's Hospital
 * Seventh Mist
 * Shinohara Liquid Material Factory

Referbacks

 * The mentioned incident involving an automated bus bursting into flames, leading to the service being suspended while the fleet was being inspected and subsequently the traffic jams, was the one shown in Index II Episode 10, caused by Stiyl Magnus' rune on the first day of the Daihaseisai.
 * The Level Upper incident is mentioned and referenced by Kihara Gensei during his conversation with Shokuhou Misaki regarding Exterior. Even scenes of Kiyama Harumi using Multi-Skill from Railgun Episode 11 are used in the same conversation as flashbacks.

Differences in Adaptation

 * The scenes of Accelerator and Last Order, where they are affected by the virus inserted by Kihara Gensei into the Misaka Network, are anime-original.
 * Although it wasn't shown in the manga, Railgun manga editor Ogino Kentarou had confirmed Accelerator's situation during the incident in a Q&A session.