(One chapter first. If I get back early tonight, I'll make up the rest; if I get back late, I'll rest.)
People said clones and their originals would harbor irreconcilable hatred for each other, but when Xiao Ran met these three, he sensed none of that. Instead, they were all studying one another—especially the three of them, who stared at Xiao Ran as though trying to find a flower growing on him.
Xiao Ran fell silent. He did not know what would be appropriate to say. Comfort them? The Photocopy Persons had nothing to do with him, and because of the mission, he might even have to eliminate them. Was he supposed to comfort them as they nobly went to their deaths? Question them? Between ZAFT, the Second Archangel, Heaven's Pillar, and this prison, almost everything that needed asking had already been asked. Even if he questioned them, what else could he learn?
Before Xiao Ran could speak, the youngest of the three Photocopy Persons suddenly opened his mouth. The voice made Xiao Ran feel as though he were hearing his younger self speak to him. Though Xiao Ran and the other man were two different people, from the perspective of Photocopy Person Technology, the young Photocopy Person was practically Xiao Ran—at least physically, he was exactly the same as Xiao Ran had been when he was young.
"What are you going to do with us?"
Xiao Ran sighed and shook his head slightly. Looking at the three of them, he said, "I haven't decided yet. But if you can tell me more about the Librarian base, I might be able to let you live."
By "let them live," he meant sparing their lives, not allowing them to remain in Orb. Even if he kept these Photocopy Persons alive, Xiao