Mama! The birdie!
It's a black birdie!
All shiny with big round eyes...
Cutie-pie!
Amo, that black bird won't ever like you.
Let's leave it be.
Aw, shucks.
You stink, bird!
Amo hates you! Get lost!
Don't drop your ugly feathers on me!
Stupid idiot bird!
Come on.
Let's leave the black bird alone and go.
Where are Mama and Amo going?
To see someone who will love you lots and lots.
Mama?
Isn't that nice, Amo?
That person will love you forever and ever.
You're a very lucky girl, Amo.
Lucky you.
That man...
That man loves Amo that much?!
Episode 13
An Empty Gaze
Hey, Mister. Where are we going?
I have a perfect home for you.
It'll be just for you and me, where no one else can come between us.
Wowie! Just like a castle!
Stay inside, though. It's not safe out there.
What a pretty house! Mama would love to see it...
Your mama's decided not to be in your life any more.
I'll be your life from now on.
I'll nurture you. You'll grow big and strong.
All those picture books!
So much to eat!
So many clothes!
Hey, Mister.
Do you get these at your job?
That's right.
I'm a trafficker, you see.
I get more things than I'll ever need.
But... But...
All the other traffickers hate me!
I don't know why!
I act totally normal, but they all say I'm creepy!
Why? I'm a Giver! There aren't many traffickers like me!
Oh, there he goes again.
Amo... Amo...
Remember how I told you this room used to be for some kind of ritual?
I think we should do a ritual too.
Our usual ritual!
Hey... Mister.
Amo's heart beats fast when she does that ritual.
It's hard to breathe.
So please...
Amo.
What you're feeling is love.
See?!
The girl in the picture book falls in love with her prince, remember?
That's the same thing!
You've fallen in love with me!
Got it!
This is love, huh?!
You smell so good, Amo.
Not alone...
You're not alone... not alone...
First love. So this feeling is first love!
Who's there?
Excuse us.
Wh-Who are you people?
Who said you could come in here?!
This place is for just me and Amo!
Hey!
You little...
I'll get you...
If you don't get out right now,
you'll leave in bags!
I'll stomp you to death with my vital instrument!
These would suit you better.
The void created by what your heart has lost...
These will fill.
Yes, this would be the closest.
Come here.
Miss.
You may keep those until the time comes.
Take good care of them.
Are you...
An angel?
Hey, Mister! Did you see that?!
Those people... they were angels!
So cool, right?!
They really exist! They're not just in picture books!
Amo...
Oh, yeah. You got hit.
Does it hurt—
Those are my boots!
How dare you take them, you little bitch?!
You think a little pissant like you is worthy to touch them?!
Mister...?
Thief! Filthy thief!
How many times... do I have to teach you...
before you just do what I say?!
Stupid... stupid... stupid...
Huh? Weird...
This doesn't feel like normal...
Normally, it doesn't feel like anything.
It stopped feeling like anything.
This noisy feeling in Amo's heart...
Did the boots make that?
Yeah... that's right.
These boots suit Amo better.
They suit Amo better!
These belong to Amo, then.
No one else can have them!
Hey.
I wanted to ask y—
Rudo!
Where have you been?
She's telling us everything
about the thing you came to ask.
No... How?
How is my vital instrument responding to you?
Not possible... vital instruments are only supposed to be usable by their owner.
Why is mine responding to somebody else?
Maybe... because they didn't belong to you?
Amo doesn't know much about what vital instruments are,
but the angel said these boots suited Amo better.
And Amo's heart feels so full when she holds these boots.
It's like... Amo found a piece she lost.
Like when you put batteries in an old toy and it works for the first time.
That's what it feels like, see?
So... Amo can have these, right?
Listen, dear... it's not nice to take other people's things.
I guess a dumpster like you wouldn't know.
It's basic human courtesy, okay?
Wh-What?
Y-You have all kinds of things you stole from people, Mister.
Besides... Amo asked if she could have them...
It was an angel who said they suited Amo better!
So just let Amo have them!
What's wrong with you, Amo?
Why are you being such a disobedient girl today?
Do I need to teach you all over again?
Amo's feeling... a lot of feelings right now.
Like that thing... courage... and annoyance, too.
And she's thinking not-good things right now, too.
But...
Amo won't ask for anything ever again.
Give these boots to Amo, please!
Amo wants them... so, so much!
No!
How many times must I tell you? These boots are mine, and only mine!
How many times do I have to have this conversation, you pain in the ass?!
Just let go already!
Come on! Do it!
You're mean! You're mean!
Amo asked so many times! Do what Amo says right now!
You said you loved Amo!
Um...
Huh?
Why did that happen?
Huh? Why did Amo live all this time with Mister?
What is Amo doing here?
Why did Mama introduce Amo to Mister?
Because she sold you
Oh, no! It's not like that!
Amo sees now.
She did it so Amo could be loved!
Mister was a really good first love.
Amo will never forget him.
After that, Amo discovered her power
Many people entered this desert
She wanted to be loved by so many people
Many months later
And then the angel came back.
Only one, though.
I didn't expect her to tell us about the angel just while telling her story.
Amo must have been through so much...
"Angel"... Not a real angel, right?
She means a Sphereite, right?
Or a Giver with powers to grow wings?
I wonder.
She seems mentally unstable. It could be a hallucination.
But the question is, how? How did they cross the border?
Flying with wings?
So whereabouts did the angel set down?
Over the horizon.
That's not helpful.
Hey, miss.
When did the angel come back?
A month ago, maybe?
A month, huh?
Around the same time Rudo came to the Ground.
It's that guy.
Okay. It's that asshole.
He's here on the Ground.
And he was part of a pair.
Got it.
That's awesome news!
Maybe he came after me? But I don't give a shit.
If they're here, I just have to track them down.
Wait for me.
I'll find you no matter what it takes,
and make you tell me everything...
How to get back up there, why you killed Regto...
And then I'll make you apologize in front of Regto's grave!
You're the same, right?
You... Rudo...
Those gloves made your heart human, right?
These things you and Amo carry...
they go well with people who are missing something.
A big hole in your heart needs a lot to fill it up.
These things have enough to fill the holes in your and Amo's hearts.
Amo got back the feelings that humans should have.
But becoming human made Amo understand some things.
Like what Mister was doing to her.
That she was so lonely all by herself.
That she wants to be with someone... wants to be needed.
But...
Amo was afraid to leave her walled garden.
She waited for people to come for her.
Waited to connect with people who came to her garden...
But it didn't go so well... and then.
You came to say sorry to Amo, right?
You don't have to.
Amo's the same way as you.
No... Not just Amo.
Everyone is.
They only use their hands when it's time to hit others.
That's why the world never changes.
Then...
To form connections with other people...
Let's you and me learn to hold our hands out to others.
I don't know how to do it right, either.
So let's study it together.
You're doing it right now.
You're really not coming?
Nah.
Amo wants to stay a little longer and work some things out.
But come back to talk sometimes, Rudo.
Sure, sometimes.
Okay, let's head out!
I'll come again sometime, Amo!
Later.
Yeah.
Later.
We didn't learn how you cross the border,
but I'd say we got something out of it.
We confirmed the existence of "angels" who cross the border,
and saw a vital instrument with the same emblem as Rudo's gloves.
That "series" the Raider mentioned.
Would those boots be part of it too?
Could be.
Angels...
I was mad enough at Amo to hit her like that,
and learning that angel bastard was here on the Ground
almost make me lose my shit again,
but listening to Amo talk softened that feeling for some reason.
Later, huh?
It'd be nice to have a sleepover next time.
Who's there?
No! What're you doing?!
No! Give them back!
No!
Man, the desert's a bitch.
I'd say I got something out of it, though...
Time to start, eh?