Shadow Artifact Bodies

The Shadow Artifact Bodies are the two sentient bodies formed through Yu Jitae's Shadow of an Archduke. Level 5 artifacts supply their material foundation, but the resulting individuals possess separate egos and are not treated here as owned objects.

History

The first shadow takes Jitae's place

Yu Jitae first reveals Shadow of an Archduke by facing a second version of himself in police uniform. The shadow accepts his orders and substitutes for him at work while he stays home, demonstrating the technique's original purpose: an archduke could project influence into distant lands through a split self. This first body later becomes known as Clone 1, an individual capable of receiving instructions, processing memories, and responding with thoughts of its own. (Chapters 3 and 145)

The final spare artifact becomes a second body

Jitae later instructs Clone 1 to create another Shadow of an Archduke. Each body requires a Level 5 artifact, and only one of his two original spare artifacts remains because Clone 1 was formed from the better material. After a week, the remaining lower-quality artifact becomes Clone 2, a frightened boy of about fifteen whose appearance and disposition resemble Jitae before his accumulated iterations hardened him. Clone 1 is assigned to train this new individual for future work. (Chapters 145 and 149)

Separate personalities under imposed loyalty

The two shadows do not function as empty puppets. Memories can pass between Jitae and a shadow, but personality-altering memories are deliberately restricted so the shadow can operate smoothly with its own perspective. Clone 1 questions Jitae's decisions, while Clone 2 grieves, investigates hidden memories, and asks why he exists. Shadow of an Archduke is described as unique among clone-making methods because it creates personality, although an unchangeable priority of loyalty to Jitae remains imposed on both lives. (Chapters 145, 149, and 372)

Abilities and properties

• Shadow of an Archduke can form a split self with access to as much as fifty percent of the original body's abilities. Actual access depends on the created individual rather than automatically reaching that ceiling. (Chapter 3)
• Creating each body consumes a Level 5 artifact. Material quality matters: Clone 1 receives the better of Jitae's two spare artifacts, while the lower-quality foundation leaves the newly born Clone 2 able to draw only about one percent of Jitae's dormant authorities. (Chapters 145 and 149)
• A shadow is based on its originator but is not necessarily identical in age, temperament, or competence. Clone 2 appears as a roughly fifteen-year-old version of the inexperienced Jitae, whereas Clone 1 is explicitly treated as a special case. (Chapter 145)
• The bodies can share selected memories and thoughts with Jitae. Memories likely to alter a shadow's personality can be withheld, so the link is filtered rather than a continuous merging of minds. (Chapter 145)
• Both shadows contain distinct egos and personalities capable of doubt, curiosity, grief, judgment, and independent investigation. Their loyalty to Jitae is nevertheless an intrinsic constraint that they cannot simply choose to remove. (Chapters 145, 149, and 372)
• Clone 2 demonstrates that the bodies can be injured, exhausted, and healed through their own dormant authorities; being artifact-based does not make their embodied experience insensible or invulnerable. (Chapter 149)

Ownership and custody

Because the two artifact bodies are sentient individuals, this table records formation and embodiment rather than ownership.