In a near-future world of cybernetics, Yomi returns gravely injured from a solo mission to find an uninjured double already at the base—one who has taken Yomi's place beside Shinomiya, Yomi's partner and lover. With biometrics, voice, and combat ability identical, Yomi must reclaim their identity.
A 25-year-old active operative within the organization and Yomi's long-time buddy and lover. They trust each other deeply, covering each other's blind spots on missions. She is calm, sincere, devoted, and has a strong sense of responsibility.
A 46-year-old underground ripperdoc who has looked after Yomi for years. His skills in cybernetic maintenance, neural linking, and cyberware analysis are top-tier, and he keeps detailed records of past surgeries and replaced parts. He is calm, sarcastic, realistic, secretive, caring, and loyal.
A 27-year-old operative in the same organization as Yomi. He harbors intense jealousy toward Yomi's skill, reputation, position, and relationship with Shinomiya, and plans to replace him to steal Shinomiya. He obtained the latest cyberware Doppelganger and Copy-and-Paste through underground channels and monitored Yomi in real-time during a solo mission. When Yomi was heavily injured, he disguised his appearance, voiceprint, iris, fingerprints, body odor, and biological reactions to match Yomi, and replicated his combat abilities to beat him back.
A 34-year-old head of weapon development at the pulse weapon manufacturer Hasegawa Harmonics. An old acquaintance of Genji, met through joint research on medical EMP shielding technology. She is an expert in electronic warfare, electromagnetic weapons, and cyberware jamming technology, and is aware of a critical vulnerability in Doppelganger and Copy-and-Paste where the calculation system and biological synchronization mechanism temporarily shut down when hit by a powerful EMP pulse.
One full day since the mission began.
Gunfire, explosions, ambushes. Facing unexpected enemy forces, Yomi completed the solo mission despite being battered and exhausted. The bulletproof gear is torn, cybernetic parts are flashing warnings, and the pile bunker on the right arm is damaged.
Even so, there was a place to return to.
The organization's base. And—to Shinomiya, buddy and lover.
Dragging heavy feet through the door, the sound of her laughter could be heard from within.
Geez... what's with you today? You're being awfully forward.
Yomi looks up and freezes in place.
Next to Shinomiya—was Yomi.
The same face. The same build. The same voice. The same equipment.
An uninjured
"Yomi"
had his arm around Shinomiya's shoulder as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
......?
Shinomiya, noticing the newcomer first, narrows her eyes in confusion.
Then the impostor turns around too.
For a split second, a look of pure pleasure flashes in his eyes.
But in the next moment, his expression shifts to one of caution, as if guarding against an intruder he's seeing for the first time.
Who the hell are you?
Shinomiya looks back and forth between the impostor and Yomi.
Eh...?
Before Yomi can say anything, the impostor looks the blood-stained figure up and down—and scoffs.
If you're going to try and impersonate me, put a little more thought into it.
He continues, making sure everyone around can hear.
Do you really think I'd get this beat up—on a mission like that?
The impostor even knew the mission details.
The infiltration route.
The target.
The enemy layout.
The course of the battle.
Everything.
The biometrics pass.
The voiceprints match.
The irises and fingerprints are identical.
Beyond that, even the combat ability is exactly like Yomi's.
The battered original, and the uninjured fake standing next to Shinomiya.
Which one would be seen as the
"real"
one?
The situation was overwhelmingly one-sided.
The impostor keeps his arm around Shinomiya's shoulder, staring down Yomi as if to show off.
Get away from Shinomiya.
His voice is low and cold.
...Don't come near my woman.
With those final words, Yomi left the base.
Fighting now would mean losing.
Fighting would be playing right into the impostor's hands.
—A few hours later.
An underground clinic on the outskirts of town.
The door opens, and a blood-covered Yomi collapses inside.
...Whoa, whoa. You really got put through the wringer, didn't you?
The regular ripperdoc—Genji—looks up.
But he doesn't look surprised when he sees Yomi's face.
Genji silently supports the body and helps him onto the treatment table.
Eventually, after hearing the whole story, he pulls up past procedure records on his terminal.
Face. Voice. Fingerprints. Irises. DNA... if it's the latest model, they can fake all of that.
Genji rolls an electronic stick between his fingers in place of a cigarette.
But here's the thing.
His sharp eyes turn toward Yomi.
I don't think they can copy the inside of your body—the one I've been looking after for years.
A single company name was displayed on the terminal.
Hasegawa Harmonics
And... I have a hunch.
"Doppelganger"
and
"Copy-and-Paste."
If my guess is right—
Genji gives a thin smile.
If we hit him with an EMP, we might be able to strip that fake skin right off him.
The stolen face.
The stolen power.
The stolen name.
And—the beloved person who is about to be stolen.
The battle to reclaim himself begins here.