"Angelui i demonui kruzhili na duh minoi Angels and demons were circling over me, rassekali terni-i mlechuie puti Breaking apart shadows and milky ways." "me znayet shastya ottovo Not knowing happiness is the only one." "shto evo zova ponyat ne s-mog The one who could not understand its call." "mana du vortes, mana du vortes The flow may swallow you." "The flow may swallow you aeria gloris, aeria gloris Flying in glory, Flying in glory mana du vortes, mana du vortes The flow may swallow you." "The flow may swallow you aeria gloris, aeria gloris Flying in glory, Flying in glory" "I am calling, calling now." "Spirits rise and falling." "s-toboi ostatsya dalshe To be with you longer..." "Calling, calling..." "In the depth of longing s-toboi ostatsya dalshe To be with you longer... mana du vortes, aeria gloris The flow may swallow you, flying in glory" "List of Murai Vaccine Recipients" "Oh, no." "Vanished Medication" "It is stable." "Next?" "Sectors B-14 through 16." "The extracted memory corresponds with her testimony." "This means that she is not lying." "So, she was only doing the paperwork and was unaware of the documents' import." "However!" "It has been confirmed that the memory-overwrite of Nanao A's acquaintances was executed by an official order from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare that she issued." "If so, wouldn't it be reasonable to assume that her superiors at the Ministry are involved?" "Moreover, the Ministry was also being hacked by the vocational center where I conducted my failed undercover investigation." "I'm telling you, there is Ministry that they want to keep hidden!" "Or, it could be that there is a third party who wishes us to assume as much, and is mediating this whole affair." "Is so, it's all the more reason to attempt another dive into the Ministry's database." "Ishikawa and Boma have already conducted anough salvage operations to make themselves sick." "There was no record of intervention anywhere, either." "In information theft, what is stolen is not lost, so we just have to try another method." "The ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare does indeed appear suspicious." "However, if we were to conduct an official investigation, our intentions would be laid bare." "If we proceed with a formal investigation in spite of this drawback, we'll need to secure a suitable payoff." "Sorry." "I know it's dinner time..." "Try the potatoes." "They're really good." "I think they turned out well today, don't you?" "Yep, they did." "Catcher in the Rye" ""If I am somewhere where no one knows me, and I also know no one,"" ""what I thought I'd do there was,"" ""I'd become one of those deaf-mutes."" ""Become..."" ""Should become..."" ""Should I become?"" "Could it be...?" "!" "I heard that you're pursuing the Salinger link?" "Yes." "It is true that he left behind a short story titled "The Laughing Man", and that there are quite a few people out there who have pointed out the similarities between that work and the Laughing Man case." "However, the task force has already completed their analysis of that work's relationship to the case." "I don't think an interpretation of that work will provide the key to this case." "Art imitates life." "If so, the opposite may be true a well." "I cannot help but think that the youth I met at the vocational center was the real Laughing Man." "There have been many who have been suspected of being the Laughing Man." "Given that, what is your basis for believing that that youth was the real one?" "Major, you know what the words written on the Laughing Man's symbol mean, right?" ""What I thought I'd do there was, I'd become one of those deaf-mutes."" "It's supposedly drawn from the 25th chapter of "The Catcher in the Rye"." "Yes, I mentioned it in my report, but I found a part of it in the vocational center as well." "At first, I was convinced that it was taken word-for-word from the novel, but the passage I found continued after" ""I'd become one of those deaf-mutes"." ""Or should I?"" "As in, should he become one or not." "That was added to the original text." "Wasn't he questioning himself... whether he should break his silence and rejoin the world?" "Don't you feel this way sometimes too, Major?" "When you try to imitate a cultural figure that you like, you try to mimic him or her as much as possible, right?" "But the youth who changed Salinger's passage was able to do so without qualms because he" "That reasoning is quite dependent on your personal opinion, isn't it?" "You do realize that it doesn't hold water as the basis for a theory, don't you?" "Even though the Laughing Man is classified as a class A+ hacker, he physically abducted President Serano and held a gun to his head." "He is a criminal whose anachronistic methods do not match his abilities." "It could be that even though he is an expert hacker... no, because of it, the Laughing Man did not value rewritable electronic data." "If so, it may be that what he sought was data preserved in physical form, or, in other words, information preserved in a paper medium." "And you would like to confirm that with your own eyes." "Yes." "I was thinking of stopping you if revenge over what happened at the center was your motive, but it could be that your "ghost" is beginning to whisper to you." "Permission granted." "Do what you want." "I'll tell the Chief." "Thank you." "Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare" "How is it going?" "I managed to get it over with, although the answer has yet to emerge." "I thought you'd give up after the first two or three days, but you're pretty persistent." "Well, it's my job, after all." "Oh, sorry about the last time." "Well, it had to be done." "It's my job, after all." "Here it is!" "What is?" "Or rather, what should be here, isn't." "The list of those who were vaccinated by the Murai vaccine." "It is the only one that is missing." "You're right." "I wonder if it was misplaced in another box." "What is this Murai vaccine?" "It is a specialized medication that is effective in treating cyberbrain sclerosis." "When it was announced, micromachine treatment had yet to become commercially viable, so it created quite a stir." "But in the end, it was never approved for medical use." "Why?" "It seems that the vaccine did have a certain effect, but no one understood how it worked." "It somehow worked..." "But if a concrete cause cannot be linked to a drug's effects, it cannot be approved for medical use." "I see." "That is why the drug evaluation committee could not easily approve it." "Besides, Dr. Murai was not an expert on cyberbrain sclerosis." "I guess it was a coincidental discovery." "Even so, it was not as though everything went smoothly from the start." "Magic Drug?" "The Murai Vaccine." "Drug for cyberbrain Sclerosis." "Developed From Tuberculosis Antibodies by Dr. Murai Chitose" "I heard that he completed the vaccine after a grueling period of trial and error." "And the list of subjects who have been vaccinated is missing..." "I wonder how long it's been missing." "I don't think stealing it would benefit anyone, though." "Can you think of anyone who might find value in a file like that?" "Let me think..." "If I had to come up with a name, it'd be the Sunflower Society." ""Sunflower"...?" "I need to write up my report, it's due tomorrow." "2019." "At a time when cyberbrain implantation was just becoming common, a certain cyberbrain disorder of mysterious origins caused a stir in the medical field." "Sections of the brain that received cyberbrain implants gradually hardened and eventually lead to brain death." "The disorder was later named cyberbrain sclerosis." "While the probability of getting this disorder was not high, anyone with cyberbrain implants was susceptible." "Since no cure had been found, it was ranked alongside tuberculosis, cancer, and HIV, the incurable diseases of the 20th century." "Please enter keywords Search the entire Web." "Search Japanese sites only." "The Murai vaccine, which was developed by Dr. Murai Chitose, suppresses sclerosis." "However, medical experts at the time consisted largely of micromachine treatment advocates." "The vaccine treatment developed by Dr. Murai was conceptually behind the times, and the majority felt that allowing his research would delay completion of the concurrent research on micromachine treatment." "Perhaps because of such concerns, approval of the Murai vaccine was delayed." "Dr. Murai, who hoped for the approval of his vaccine treatment until the very end, died an unfulfilled death in February 2021 at age 68, without witnessing the decision of the drug evaluation committee." "However, in April 2021, the Murai vaccine was suddenly approved for special use by select individuals, after initially being rejected." "This approval was not made public, and patients who used the vaccine do not officially exist." "Even now, there are those who are interested in the situation." "The Sunflower Society" "It is an NPO that supports individuals who file suit against the government and large corporations." "They demanded disclosure of information on the Murao vaccine" "How We Support Victims of Medical Malpractice Symposium on Cyberbrain Sclerosis" "Public Address and those who have received the vaccine from government agencies on multiple occasions in the past." "However, the Ministry of Health," "Labor and Welfare used the individual privacy act as a shield to reject their demands." "Perhaps my belief that there was a connection between the Sunflower Society and the Laughing Man was... premature." "This mark..." "I see..." "You have indeed done your research." "Are you a freelance journalist?" "Actually, my father passed away a few months ago from cyberbrain sclerosis." "He received micromachine treatment until the very end." "I found out about your Society's activities later, along with the existence of the Murai vaccine." "I see." "I am sorry for your loss." "If only someone had told me about the vaccine's efficacy at an earlier time... maybe my father would have survived." "When I think about that, I can't let it go." "I didn't have the slightest interest in this sort of thing before." "However, if I am to help those who suffer from the same affliction that my father did," "I will need to use my profession." "I understand how you feel." "Many others in the past have reached the same conclusion." "However, they all failed." "Why is that?" "The micromachine lobby is too strong." "It controls too many people in too many places." "So it is true." "Fortunately, however, I know a lot of people in the entertainment industry." "If I remember correctly, there are several in the industry who are secretly receiving the Murai vaccine." "It is difficult to spread stories of a serious nature." "In order to spread the story, isn't a scandal necessary?" "It seems that your visit here was well planned." "To tell you the truth, we have obtained a certain file." "A file?" "Confirmed contact." "That's crude encryption." "I wonder if those amateurs are underestimating us... the fools." "Two minutes until arrival." "List of Murai Vaccine Recipients" "Well, please take a look." " Is this the famous author...?" " Yes." "There are also artists, former athletes..." "This one is a professor at Hamada Medical School." "I'm amazed..." "There are even names of politicians." "Yes... an even more significant figure has been treated with the vaccine." "Can you pick him out?" "Imakurusu Hisashi... the Chairman of the Central Drug Evaluation Committee!" "The Chairman, who did not approve the Murai vaccine, is himself dependent on it?" "This file was sent to us yesterday by Imakurusu himself." "What does this all mean?" "Imakurusu said that he had grown tired of keeping his silence after all these years." "He had accepted its efficacy, yet had to deliberately suppress it due to superior influences." "He promised that he would use his stature to expose the micromachine lobby in court." "The central figure of the drug evaluation committee said that he would testify regarding the deliberate suppression of the vaccine?" "Yes." "This time, we will win!" "The Narcotics Department's assault team!" "Come on, guys." "Kill them already." "We can look for the target at our leisure later." "First, kill them all!" "The attackers are affiliated with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare." "Then, this file is...!" "You have to run, now!" "These troops are professionals." "Who are you...?" "I am with Public Safety." "This way is still safe." "I am entrusting you with this file!" "Make sure what happened here gets out to the public." "Someone needs to tell the truth that is in this file!" "No, that's your responsibility!" "You have a better chance to escape!" "Hey, how's that room going?" "In any case, let's go." "Our men are down." "Well, we need to take some hits, too." "That's what I call reality." "Right?" "!" "Find the corpse." "A cyborg!" "This is getting interesting." "There is a survivor." "Get the hell over here!" "Hey, hey." "If you don't run quickly, I'll shoot you!" "Damn it..." "Isn't that our truck?" "Go finish him off!" "Chief, our mission is complete." "However, the file is a copy." "What?" "!" "We know the origin." "It was Imakurusu." "Imakurusu Hisashi Documents (Copy)" "The Sunflower Society" "Are you the one who has the original?" "!" "No!" "It wasn't me!" "Please believe me!" "The copy that the Sunflower Society has was sent from you!" "I hope you haven't allowed guilt to overcome you, after all these years..." "What would be the benefit of doing such a thing?" "Someone is just using my name!" "What about the fact that your name is on the list of those who received the vaccine?" "Answer me!" "Do you have cyberbrain sclerosis?" "!" "Yes... from a long time ago." "It is already in its terminal phase." "Why didn't you come to me for advice?" "!" "You made a huge mistake leaving your name on the list!" "I apologize." "However, as we thought, the Murai vaccine works." "We knew that!" "You will be dealt with!" "What shall we do?" "Eliminate him?" "Shut up." "I'll contact you later." "Terminal phase, did he say?" "The fool..." "Damn it..." "Maybe I should've become a cyborg, too..." "Major..." "Chief..." "I've been hit..." "I'm so tired..." "Rain?" "Cyberbrain Sclerosis on of tuberculosis in the 19th century, cancer in the 20th century, and HIV at the end of the millennium as disease that signified certain death, cyberbrain sclerosis was the next such illness at the beginning of the new century." "Cyberbrain Sclerosis ymptoms, slight memory loss is the disease's preliminary warning sign." "As the illness worsens, symptoms include deterioration of speaking ability, incompatibility with external memory storage units, and severe memory deficiency." "Eventually, those afflicted will face brain death, or so it was thought." "While it was possible to delay the symptoms' progress with appropriate treatment, it was believed that sclerosis itself could not be cured, causing a momentary yet considerable panic within the cyberbrain-implanted population when the disease's existence was first disclosed to the public." "Cyberbrain Sclerosis y forgotten that they cheerfully advertised the advancement and application of cyberbrain technology in the past, various media began to indulge in their customary off-the-point and delayed criticism of high-ranking government officials who retired to posts in cyberbrain manufacturing companies." "Concurrently, the public jumped on the bandwagon, reulting in the creation of many anti-cybernetics organizations represented by groups such those belonging to the Human Liberation Front and those advocating the resurrection of Rousseauian or return-to-nature movements." "Cyberbrain Sclerosis c for a rapid response, the government announced a new treatment involving micromachines in order to pacify them." "The publicized treatment did not have a significant effect, and many questions remained." "However, the media dashed off to search for the next scandal after burying a few scapegoats, and the public also forgot their problems with customary alacrity once the media dropped the subject matter." "As a result of such routine work, the hysteria over anti-cybernetics movements consequently subsided."