The Doll Hunt

"The Doll Hunt" is the fourth episode of the Blade Runner: Black Lotus anime.

Plot[]

"Elle's memories come flooding back, revealing the truth of what happened to her in the desert. Meanwhile, LAPD Officer Davis puts together the clues that will lead her to Black Lotus."
―Official synopsis

In a memory, Elle lays next to a pool, receiving her black lotus tattoo from her boyfriend. After she compliments the tattoo, her lover leaves her, asking her not to forget him. She then awakes in the same place, but it is now completely dilapidated. She goes outside, finding a group of fellow replicants who, like her, have no recollection of how they got there. A group of hunters – Arthur Bannister, Hayden Hooper, Earl Grant, and Josephine Grant – open fire on the group, which disperses, with Elle running with Miu.

As the hunters track and kill other replicants – who are unable to fight back – Elle and Miu commandeer a buggy and drive away, picking up two others along the way. As the hunters give chase, the replicants find a rifle in the back, but are unable to shoot their pursuers. Elle loses control of the vehicle and it crashes.

Elle and Miu survive the wreck and Hooper is left to his own devices with them. He begins by tossing a knife to them and urges Elle to attack him, though she is unable to. He eggs her on by shooting Miu and killing her. He strikes Elle with his rifle and kicks her several times until she is able to fight back, much to Hooper's surprise. After a scuffle, Elle finds the knife and plunges it into Hooper's chest before taking his camera. She wanders into the desert until finding a transport vehicle and boarding it.

After fully recalling this memory, Elle angrily lashes out, putting Joseph's apartment into disarray. He arrives home just then and manages to calm her. Coming to terms with her nature as a replicant, she vows to find and kill the hunters. Joseph agrees to help her.

At the LAPD headquarters, Officer Davis fails to turn up any of Elle's prior history. She meets with Chief Grant, stating her belief that Elle is a replicant, combining her lack of history and the fact that Bannister's neck had been broken before he hit the ground. Grant insists Elle is not a replicant and tells Davis to end this investigation and leave her evidence with him. He examines Davis' drawing of Elle's tattoo, cursing as he tosses it back down.