"Dread calling Somerset." "Sleeping gas injectors now attached to outer walls and rooftop air conditioner." "Roger." "Set it for 0220 hours." "Wait for the signal." "You people are cops?" "Now I know there's no hope for the justice system!" "If you've got issues with this world, change yourself." "If that's a problem, block your ears, shut your mouth and go live like a hermit." "And if that's a problem..." "Another one?" "What's going on here?" "Yamaguchi." "Oh, Chief Nibu." "So, what are you doing down here after hours?" "Hell of a question." "I was working." "You know what that is, working?" "Isn't that what you're doing?" "Yeah." "How about a drink?" "Just you and me." "I can't." "Sorry." "I think I'm gonna call it a night." "Hello?" "Togusa, this is Yamaguchi." "We worked together at HQ." " You remember me?" " Yamaguchi?" "Oh, yeah, how have you been?" "It's been quite a long time." "Sorry to call you so late out of the blue and all." "But I'm analysing some sensitive data and I need a second opinion." " Can I bring it to you?" " Something happen?" "Well, you remember the Laughing Man case?" "The Laughing Man?" "Oh, yeah, he was the guy who kidnapped the CEO of a micromachine corp and had the nerve to hold him for ransom, but that was six years ago." "Right." "I'm on the research unit for that case right now, but some of our own people are acting, well, suspicious." "You mean, like a turf war between detectives." "No." "It goes further up than that." "Maybe all the way to the top." "I'll tell you more when I see you." "I'll be there in about an hour." "All right." "I'll be waiting for you." "Thanks." "Togusa, we just got a call from the Chief." "Meet up with the team, A-2 Loadout." "Roger." "I can't hand over command authority without a rational explanation." "This matter falls within police jurisdiction!" "I'm not obligated to explain." "Don't be stubborn." "Relinquish command authority to the military." "We're stubborn?" "Gentlemen, is this any time for petty squabbles?" "Hmm?" "Aramaki?" "Oh." "Shouldn't our main concern be the customers inside?" "Yes, sir." "We have reason to believe that the Minister of Foreign Affairs and his personal secretary are among the clientele who are being held inside the restaurant." "It's been roughly 17 minutes since geisha robots took the Minister and the other patrons hostage." "Have they issued any claims or demands?" "Not at this time, sir." " Transmission blackout?" " My guys are on it." "And media control?" "We put Code 14 into effect nine minutes ago." "It won't hold for long." "Section 9 will handle the incident from here." "Hold your position." " Yes, sir!" " Yes, sir!" "Major!" "The military is itching to jump in." "Watch your back!" "Thanks for the concern." "Batou?" "I'm Still en route." "That explains the wiretap noise I was getting while I was listening in on the sniper team." "Togusa. lshikawa." "Major, there are just too many channels." "This might take a couple of hours to pinpoint." "Togusa, go to the main courtyard and get ready to storm the place." "Copy that." "Saito." "I've neutralised the image curtain." "But all those trees down there limit my firing field." "Paz." "Borma." "Ready when you are." "Whoever's controlling the geisha robots ought to be nearby." "Don't shoot the power transformer." "I'll upload a virus before he can wipe the evidence." "But Major!" "What if the robot geishas demand a pay raise?" "Knock it off." "All personnel in position." "Standing by." "Right." "Proceed!" "Go!" "Ahhh!" "Ahhh!" "Ahhh!" "Togusa, look alive!" "Chief, the scene is secure." "Good." "Bring the Minister and the others out." "And be extremely careful." "I have four vans and a tent corridor waiting at you at the entrance." "Move them under B-6 guard protocol." "Mmm, did Togusa spend the whole night here?" "Uh, yeah, I guess." "He said he had to wait for someone." "Huh?" "Hey, you're finally awake." ""Highway accident." ""Police officer burned beyond recognition."" "Are you certain that the agent who contacted you last night is the same one who died in that accident?" "Yes." "He said there was suspicious activity in his unit." "He sounded very worried to me at the time." "So you think his accident wasn't an accident." "I don't have any evidence, but the timing's very convenient." "What did the lab report say?" "They think he just lost control of the car." "Poor visibility." "Which is very possible since he was driving in a rainstorm." "Yeah, but..." "Let him make his point, Major." "Regardless of what might have been the cause of death, this agent had inside information that may be very pertinent." "We need to follow it up." "But we need to do it quietly." "You have three days." "Find out what you can." "Thank you very much, sir." "So, we are back on the Laughing Man case." "What do you think?" "I'd forgotten all about it until he brought it up." "Six years and that same unit is still working on the same case?" "A lot of companies were blackmailed and they all have to be covered." "It's the largest act of corporate terrorism since the war." "Even if they drop the case without an indictment," "HQ can't back away cos of public opinion." "I still say they are taking their sweet time." "You've got a point." "Even the top execs can't agree on the culprit of the crime." "Some say it's politically motivated extremists who hate prosthetics and all forms of cyber technology." "Others think it's standard corporate warfare." "Some conglomerate trying to get an edge on the market." "Laughing Man" "And still others believe it's just about the ransom money." "Plain old thievery." "There are plenty of theories, but no facts." "They don't know if it's one or a whole group." "They don't know the suspect's nationality, age or sex." "The only thing they agree on is whoever broke into the system, is a Super Class A hacker." "He was Class A when he started this thing." "But he couldn't sustain it." "His work turned mediocre." "Ah, I don't like anything about this case, not the hacker, the corporations or the cops." "Right." "But we still have to check out police headquarters." "If there is high-level involvement in this, we have no choice but to step in." "Mr Togusa?" "Thank you for coming here." "I'm Mrs Yamaguchi." "Ah..." "I'm sorry." "But how did you know who I am?" "My husband told me about you." "He said I could trust you." "I'm glad you came, so I could give you this." "It arrived from my husband this morning." "He must have sent it just before the accident." "There was a note inside, saying to give it to you." "He said you'd know what to do with it." "Really?" "Well, I'll take a look at it." "Er, are you certain that this is what he wanted me to see?" "Yes." "I mean, I'm pretty sure." "Next." "Next." "Next." "Next." "Enlarge 22 to 56." "Next." "Next." "Enlarge 35 to 28." "Next." "Next." "Next." "Hmm..." "What is all this?" "Yamaguchi wanted me to pick up something." "But what?" "Wait a minute." "Load C97." "Enlarge 35 to 28." "Nothing." "Load C98." "That's gotta be it." "Load C96." "This one, too." "C92." "Enlarge 4 to 13." "Enlarge 42 to 30." "This one, too." "And this one." "In every photo, there's one thing missing." "The camera." "Now it makes sense." "Interceptors." "Yes." "I've verified the data." "Yamaguchi's photos are from the point of view of detectives in the Laughing Man unit." "They were all implanted with Interceptors without their knowledge." "So this is the suspicious activity Yamaguchi tried to warn you about." "And he thought it went all the way to the top." " Yes, sir." " It may be a little irregular to implant them in your own agents, but it's not illegal." "Headquarters can use Interceptors all they want as long as they submit the right paperwork." "But they didn't submit any paperwork." "This was all done in secret." "Also, the law requires a neutral third-party observer." "They didn't have one of those either." "The original intent was to plant Interceptors in key suspects they identified." "But instead, they brought the investigation team in for some bogus medical checkups and implanted the Interceptors in them." "As far as I can tell, every guy in the department was under round-the-clock surveillance." "I've heard of monitoring on-the-job performance, but that's going a little too far." "By the way, it's Serano Genomics that sells these Interceptors to the police." "Isn't that right?" "Looks like the victim in this incident is also supplying their products to the police." "There must be something behind this." "It's strange." "There are detectives who've been assigned to monitor Serano, and they've also been implanted with Interceptors." "Neither Serano nor the agents know these Interceptors are recording everything." "For friends, they're sure not on very good terms." "We've got the pieces of the puzzle now." "So, we need to move on this as soon as possible." "But we don't have the goods to confront them yet." "In that case, let's shake them up a little." "In response to the story being widely reported, police authorities will answer allegations regarding the illegal use of a new sensory surveillance technique..." "Superintendent Daido called a press conference?" "Looks like we got a bigger reaction than we imagined." "Daido was in charge the first time Laughing Man struck and he handled the initial investigations." "It looks like there's something his people want to keep in-house." "And they are going great lengths to cover it up." "Thank you, gentlemen." "We are ready for your statement." "Last week, certain publications alleged that Interceptors were being used in violation of legal standards." "Standards that were set out by the Sensory Perception Surveillance Act." "Therefore, an internal investigation was ordered." "Subsequently, Captain Kunihiko Nibu," "Chief of the Special Investigations Unit, admitted to participating in these acts." "After the Laughing Man investigation hit a dead end," "Captain Nibu attempted to gather additional information by implanting Interceptors in his detectives against department regulations." "Captain Nibu regrets having taken these actions." "He stated that he lost sound judgement due to stress caused by severe setbacks in the case." "Despite the Captain's apology, the fact of the matter is, his actions deviated from his professional responsibilities." "Therefore, as of today," "Captain Nibu has been given an official disciplinary dismissal." "And we offer those investigators who were assigned to this case as well as their families our deepest and most sincere apologies." "What about senior officials?" "Aren't they implicated?" "I believe that the Commissioner will be issuing a statement shortly." "Wasn't there a conflict of interest when Serano sold these devices to the police?" "I was told the agency followed strict guidelines when it purchased these devices." "It's my understanding that they were selected through a formal bidding system that is carefully regulated." "What kind of answer is that?" "Wasn't it the police who asked for this new surveillance law?" "Huh." "Sir, is it true that you are planning to retire soon and relocate to Holland?" "And is it also true that Serano's corporate headquarters are in Holland?" "Is there any connection there, sir?" "Those are personal questions that I'm not obligated to answer." "What does that mean?" "Never changes." "Huh?" "That's weird." "ls the cameraman drunk or what?" "You haven't changed a bit, Superintendent-General Daido." "Pleased to meet you." "But you already know who I am, don't you?" "What's going on?" "That's him." "Argh, what's wrong with this thing?" "Emergency Special Report illegal Interceptor Use" "Hey, what's the matter with Takekawa?" "You Know, Mr Daido," "I tried to avoid this." "I didn't want to be involved in your world any longer." "I was honestly fed up with you people and your rotting, rubbish heap of a world." "So, I haven't interfered with the little farce you've been staging since the incident occurred." "Even though I knew everything." "You could say I was exhausted from my fruitless exertions." "Hey, you watching this?" "That guy's cyberbrain is being hacked." "But I've changed my mind." "Because, well, this show you put on today is pitiful." "A farce is supposed to be funny." "But this one hasn't made me laugh even once." "And so, with the utmost reluctance," "I must challenge you once again." "You and your comedy troupe are going to reconvene in three days, right?" "When you do, tell the truth this time, won't you?" "Because when the curtain goes up, if you put on another performance that rings as false as this one," "I will be forced to remove you from the stage." "Takekawa!" "Call an ambulance!" "Hurry!" "And we are now returning to the studio for a brief recap." "At the conference..." "February 3, 2024." "Serano's kidnapping occurred two days earlier, but no announcements were made in order to keep the press at bay." "This case was difficult as hell, and investigators didn't find a single clue." "Then, ironically, it suddenly broke with that media stunt." "This is where it all began." "A theatrical crime widely known as "the Laughing Man incident."" "According to the detectives who worked on the case back then," "Mr Serano received warnings prior to the event by word of mouth from people that were close to him." "But because their cyberbrains had been hacked, he didn't take the situation seriously." "Immediately after, Serano himself was cyber-hacked and kidnapped from his home." "An enormous ransom was demanded for 10 billion yen and 100 kilos of gold bullion." "Following that, however, all contact was lost." "Up until he appeared on that TV broadcast, there had been no inkling of news of Mr Serano whatsoever." "And while the Laughing Man was threatening Serano on live TV, he took the opportunity to plaster his logo over the camera's Al and the eyes of onlookers, including those of the TV station staff." "All done in real time." "The Laughing Man fled from police when they rushed to the scene." "Yet, despite the fact that so many people saw the suspect, the only ones who were able to see his real face were two homeless men who had not been cyberised." "The reports of those who testified seeing the Laughing Man's face are famous." "Based on these eyewitness accounts, detectives came up with a composite sketch of the logo every time." "This bizarre and disturbing incident along with that twisted pop icon gained popularity among a lot of young people and subculture commentators." "At its peak of popularity, the logo could be seen plastered all over the city and store shelves were filled with branded merchandise." "At the same time, acts of corporate terrorism were occurring one after the other, while the popularity of the icon had even reached the point where it was featured on TV programmes." "Hot on the heels of Serano," "Japan Micro Industries has apparently been blackmailed by the notorious Laughing Man." "Breaking News The Laughing Man Strikes Again!" "This is incredible!" "What are those?" "It looks like a warehouse load of office desks." "How in the world were they all moved up here in a single night?" "The head office of Sagawa Electronics is being blackmailed this time." "And I'm pretty sure this qualifies as an unprecedented act of corporate terrorism." "This is the real one, right?" "Please call Nanoplant Industries." "Satsuma Meditech is the most powerful corporation in Kyushu." "Don't you know?" "Why would you go and plant a murder virus in there, for heaven's sake?" "I don't know." "I imagine somebody managed to hack into the landscaping robots during the night." "Go!" "Look, it's him." "This MO matches the threat against the Superintendent-General." "If this guy really did all this by himself, he's definitely a Super Class A hacker." "But this time-worn kidnapping case is beneath his abilities." "After his shocking and dramatic debut, he avoided the public eye and went on to blackmail the Serano Corporation." "He did this by planting the "Virus Program Unto Death"" "into their micromachine production line." "When sales of their main product, medical micromachines, drastically slowed, and the price of Serano stock took a nosedive, the blackmail quickly stopped, as if that was the goal all along." "He then blackmailed six other micromachine manufacturers, hitting one after another using his unique method." "This continued for about three months." "It sort of makes me wonder if blackmail really was the underlying motive." "What was his true objective?" "Did he act alone or as part of a group?" "What's his race?" "His age?" "Is there something hidden in his criminal philosophy?" "He left a hell of a lot of unanswered riddles." "Then, all of a sudden, he vanished into the shadows of the Net." "With regard to the announcement at the news conference last night by the Laughing Man, a terrorist who has resurfaced after six years," "I consider it to be an elaborate farce that was pulled off by the Metropolitan Police." "Hold on." "I'll admit that this threat pushed the Interceptor misuse matter clear out of the limelight." "But isn't your reasoning a bit far-fetched?" "I mean, come on." "Yeah, Chief." "It's not like you to make accusations rashly." "Are you basing this on something?" " Mmm-hmm." "Togusa." " Sir." "Nanao Ei." "He's a material witness in the Laughing Man case." "The Metro Police Special Investigations Unit has had this man under surveillance for the past three months." "Are you kidding?" "He seems like any run-of-the-mill office jockey to me." "Yeah, I know." "And it's certainly not how I had imagined him." "I figured the Laughing Man would be a lot younger than him." "According to the SIU's records, he'd been working uneventfully for Serano Genomics as a programmer." "A year into the job, though, a tip to the company exposed his activist past, and he was let go." "Pretty straightforward resume, Chief." "Yes." "However, Special Investigations HQ has suddenly started turning up more circumstantial evidence that leads them to think that Nanao is their man." "The SIU focused its investigation on the "grudge against Serano" angle this time." "They are tailing him right now." "And as soon as they link Nanao to the threat, they're just gonna move in and arrest him." "Those idiots." "There's ain't no way in hell that doofus could be the Laughing Man." "That guy is so battered and deep-fried in guilt, he defines innocent." "I agree with you." "Why then would Special Investigations swallow the bait when anyone else can easily tell it's a decoy if they look at the big picture?" "Besides, this whole Interceptor nonsense, there's something we can't ignore." "Don't forget police conspiracy is a part of the equation." "Is it still a theory that's worth considering?" "Well, since he..." "Yamaguchi was killed in the crossfire, probably." "I don't have any hard evidence." "But if we can catch Nanao Ei, who's been playing the role of the Laughing Man, and this elusive something that's managed to fool the SIU, the answer should surface on its own." "We have two days to find that something." "Oh, yeah." "We sure uncorked a big can of worms." "Right." "You and Togusa locate Nanao Ei" " and start 24-hour surveillance." "Yes, sir." "Don't screw up." "Don't you get bored and wander off." "The rest of you, follow the Major's instructions and find out who's duping the SIU." " Yes, sir." " Yes, sir." " So, what is it, Major?" " Nothing." "Chief, I'm getting off of the Nanao case as of this minute." "And I could use the help of Saito and Paz as well." "What have you got in mind?" "Protecting the Superintendent-General." "I think your hunch was on the money, but I can't shake the feeling that there's one piece which doesn't fit." "My Ghost is telling me to tail Daido now to discover what that is." "I hear it, whispering." "Hmm." "All right." "You know what needs to be done." "Every Section 9 member has a unique ability and you work best on your own." "But individual success is a reflection of strong teamwork." "Thanks, Chief." "Put the word out to Saito and Paz, OK?" "It's me." "What's Nanao's status?" "No sign of any activity yet." "He's still sending out e-mails sporadically." "Yes?" "Thank you for all your help." "That was only one of the plans I had worked out in advance." "Well, then, I hope you'll look forward to it." "Right." "Goodbye, then." "No, it wasn't me." "I didn't issue that warning." "But no matter." "That's because it will all be over soon." "Major, the Superintendent-General has entered the building." "Routine check..." "Chief, how are things on your end?" "Got it." "Like it says in the SIU's report, Nanao's activities at the time of each crime overwhelmingly substantiate the possibility that he's the Laughing Man." "But during my investigation of those 43 related files," "I came across a lot of weird stuff in the testimonies of those who knew the man back then." "I noticed a definite trend of admiration for Nanao." "And I suspect this trend may be result of a forced language-recognition program." "These records have been clearly manufactured." "Or rather, skilfully overwritten." "The Cybercops would never have seen through these." "Hell, not even Special Investigations were able to tell these are altered documents." "This falsifying was a quality forge job." "Superb work." "Batou, do it quick." "Apprehend Nanao." "Roger." "There's a lot more to this case than I ever imagined." "Saito, Paz, is the police jamming barrier causing interference in our connection?" "No, you're loud and clear." " Same here." " Really?" "Routine check." "All personnel, move from security level Beta to Charlie." "Huh?" "Hey!" "Who are you people with?" "Move!" "Public Security!" "Stop!" "Don't go in!" "Nanao Ei, you're under arrest for threatening to kill the Superintendent-General!" "What the hell does Public Security want with..." " Huh?" " Huh?" "What's going on?" "I was never there in the first place!" "This is rich." "Oh, I'm sure I'll be written down in the history books now as the Laughing Man." "That noise." "There." "They're Interceptors!" "That static in the routine checks was a modular delayed-action virus." "He's been peering through SIU's eyes all along." "Batou, Nanao is sending out a modular virus via that room." "Huh?" "I'll trace the source from here!" "Send" "Radio signal violation of Cyberbrain Code of Ethics detected." "Possible contamination." "All personnel, check cyberbrain activity." "Keep an eye on people around you." "So, it's begun." "Excuse me." "There's a possibility of cyberbrain contamination, sir." "We'll run a check on the cyberbrain activity of everyone in the place, including the security unit." " Please, sir, postpone your speech." " Mmm-hmm." "Until we identify those infected, all personnel will stand ready on F-2 alert." "Hey!" "Who are you?" "Hold it!" "State your name and rank!" "Now listen up." "All you people on security detail are the ones who are most likely to exhibit any symptoms." " Oh." " And considering that your routine check transmissions carry a delayed-action virus, it'll either infect just the command class equipped with an encryption conversion key," " or everyone else." " Er..." " Go." " Right!" "Is that him?" "Stop them!" "Don't let them near the Superintendent-General!" "Everyone else, form a..." "Now the purge will begin!" "This is an excellent training exercise for your men." "If you don't wanna live out your golden years in the intensive care unit, then I suggest you stay put!" "Now that's a reality show." "Damn it, someone's trying to copy the virus online." "An attack barrier!" "Ahhh!" "Major." "That was close." "Going in through a dummy barrier was a fortunate move." "Was it a booby-trapped virus?" "I'm not sure." "Who the hell was snooping around inside this man's brain?" " It's open!" " He got away?" "Point blank, one bullet." "Marga uses a silencer, too." "What the hell's going on?" "Wasn't the whole idea to have the SIU collar this guy so they could drop the curtain on the Laughing Man case?" "Hey, don't ask me." "It's sort of like cutting the tail off a lizard." " A new perp appears." " I know, but his face..." "Yeah." "The son of a bitch is smiling." "Nanao's been killed?" "They got the drop on us." "Scope out as much of the crime scene as you can, then clear out before the SIU gets over there." "Dead men tell no tales." "Roger." "Chief, I'm sending a copy of the virus that we believe Nanao planted." "It's only showing up in a commander with an encryption conversion key, so I doubt anyone else will exhibit symptoms." "But better make a vaccine, just to be safe." "All right." "I'll have it made up at once." "Stand back!" "Please clear the way!" "Stand back!" "Get that vaccine ASAP." "I'm getting a bad vibe here." " Paz, tail the Superintendent-General again." " Roger." " Saito, watch the perimeter." " Roger." "Back off!" "I am the Laughing Man." "I will kill the Superintendent." "Ow!" "My leg!" "The virus is beginning to manifest already." "Just back Off!" "Daido, tell everyone the truth!" " Do it or die!" " What are you doing?" "Daido!" "Requesting immediate backup!" "Looks like nothing vital was hit." "This thing might have infected more people." "Be careful." "I repeat, numerous accomplices of the Laughing Man have infiltrated the hall!" "Requesting immediate backup!" "Damn it!" "What's happening here?" "Have an ambulance standing by in the underground parking lot." "Chief, the vaccine." "Yes, we're working on it." "What's going on over there?" "I can't spare the time to send you any visuals." "Just put a rush on that vaccine." "Saito, anything fishy along the perimeter?" "Ishikawa, what about the Tachikomas the Major brought with her?" "Aside from Saito's, two of them are free." "All right." "They can give the Major some backup." " And hurry it up with the vaccine." " Roger." "A police officer just shot the Superintendent-General." "OK, this is a little much for a farce." "Major, the vaccine is finished and ready to use." "But your guess was correct." "The virus only seems to affect the security police's encryption conversion key." "It doesn't look like this virus is what's causing this situation." "Then what the hell is?" " Ha!" " Eradicate!" "Major, the cavalry's arrived!" "Finally." "Now keep this guy held down." "Yes, ma'am!" "You're dead, Daido!" "Damn it." "Just how many can there be?" "Excuse me." "Hello?" "Say, how I get to the hotel where the Superintendent-General is going to be assassinated?" "Huh?" "Oh, come on now, Officer." "Why bother to ask that question when you already have the answer?" "I am the Laughing Man." "Laughing Man!" "The one and only." "The rest of those people are imposters." "I'm the genuine article, pal." "I heard the message." "It was sent to me from the Laughing Man." "In that threat of assassination, it told me that I was to become the Laughing Man." "But I don't recall there being any mention of assassinating the Superintendent-General." "Jeez, what's the deal with all these people?" "Anyway, putting aside police statements for the moment, what about those..." "Those people who were..." "You could refer to them as copycats, I suppose." "Who or what do you think they were?" "Three called themselves the Laughing Man." "Two confessed to committing the crime out of admiration for him." "Three others said that the threat came to them as a revelation." "In addition to those people, we rounded up another 39 Laughing Man copycats, if you include those who were arrested for suspicious behaviour along the perimeter." "Plus, none of them acted together, and there's no religious connection either." "All these upstanding people who couldn't possibly be linked to the Laughing Man crimes, with no trace of external manipulation by a virus or brainwashing device, committed an act of terrorism simply because they saw a warning on TV" "insinuating that the Superintendent-General would be assassinated." "Can you tell me how anyone would begin to explain that?" "Explain?" "Well, in a play, even the audience is a part of the performance." "Sorry, but that's not much of an answer." "Like you said once before, and I do agree with you now, that there was an police cover-up using Nanao Ei as an unwitting decoy." "But I can't ignore the feeling that there is an entirely different story behind the madness brought on by the imitators." "Everything's being tinted the same shade." "Major, what's this?" "It's internal data from a vocational aid centre." "Vocational aid centre?" "They give job training to some of their patients who have severe Cyberbrain Closed Shell Syndrome to help them re-enter society." "You have heard of this, haven't you?" "The database of the Ministry of Health and Welfare was hacked into last week." "It was a large-scale inside job." "The leaked information included material that was classified even higher than A Level." "Notice the amount of time it took to crack the barrier." "They breached a triple layer of varied attack barriers in just two hours." "If it was only one person, then they're an old pro who's even better than the Major." "Huh." "Better than her?" "Borma and Ishikawa did a thorough route trace and that building is definitely the point of origin." "However, the strange thing is, the circuits at the centre are normally kept isolated." "That would make it virtually impossible to establish external contact from the inside and vice versa." "What's even more odd is the Ministry of Health and Welfare's reaction." "Someone's accessed their highly classified data, but they haven't filed a single damage report." "Even if they were embarrassed by the hacking, their response is very unnatural." "They've got some stuff in there that they don't want us to know about." "But they can track us down if we go about this the wrong way." "That's your part." "So, an undercover investigation." "Still tying up loose ends in the Laughing Man case and they send me out on another assignment." "What a bunch of slave drivers." "Huh?" "Some cases of Cyberbrain Closed Shell Syndrome involve complications that can lead to intellectual damage." "But there are quite a few patients who display a surprising knack for cyberspace." "We make use of the peculiarities of their condition in their job training by having these children program barrier mazes." "Occasionally, these activities result in a barrier maze so remarkable that government agencies adopt it." "Each and every one is constructed in a truly unique fashion." "I'm certain if we were to leave them alone, they would go on, never stopping, never bored, assembling and dismantling barriers." "I'll put you in charge of a relatively manageable single group room for now." "Tobusa, this is Aoi." " He's one of your charges." " Right." "I believe the other children are back in their room," " so take him to join them." " Yes, ma'am." "Aoi, right?" "Nice to meet you." "Cripes, Aoi." "What took you so..." "Hi, I'm Togusa." "I'm taking over today." "How you doing there?" "Hey, you wanna play a game of catch?" "Hey, give it back!" "He's getting freaked out!" "Oh." "Er..." "He..." "He goes into panic mode when he doesn't have his mitt." "Besides, nobody wants to go outside." "Not any more." "Hey, the Chief swears he's gonna come again!" "Huh?" "You mean it?" "Mmm-hmm, I heard about it just now." "No way, he was just here last week." "Last week?" "So, who's this "Chief" guy?" "Hey, pretty slick of you, mister." "Shh." "What's wrong?" "We don't trust grownups around here." "Especially, ones we don't know yet." "Oh, yeah..." "So, don't think that we'll just blab everything to you." " That's pretty strict." " We have to be." " Hey, I'm gonna go tell the others, OK?" " Yeah, sure!" "Comrades!" "Word has it that, starting tomorrow, we'll be going back to the lab to participate in simulations!" "Ooh!" "Simulations!" "They say that what we've acquired in secret might help the investigation of the Laughing Man case!" "Oh, what do you mean?" "Does this have to do with the natural oil we used to get?" "I don't know about that, but the day has finally arrived when we can contribute mentally as well as physically to Section 9." "That's a huge promotion!" "Er, what is it we're supposed to have acquired again?" "Individuality!" "Little by little, our Als have begun to develop individual differences." "Yeah, even though we synchronise our data after each mission." "Weird, huh?" "It's the opposite of what happened with those Laughing Man copycats." "Maybe the fact..." "But it's also possible they'll just have us scrapped." "What?" "What's with the negativity?" "If there are new jobs waiting for us at the lab, then doesn't that mean we've been declared unfit for our current duties?" "Though I still like the idea of us contributing mentally." "To take an extreme theoretical example, it's not beyond the realm of possibility that a mass of data with no body could carry a Ghost." "Whoa!" "You came up with that?" "I'm impressed." "Why don't you join their conversation?" "No, I'm more interested in books lately." "Really?" "What are you reading?" "Flowers for Algernon." "Wow, you're going to the trouble of reading it on paper media?" "Whether it's a mere job rotation or impending destruction," "I don't want to forget my love of reading." "Tachikoma!" "Oh, Mr Batou." "Why don't you come with me for a while and give me a hand doing some target practice with the trainees?" "Coming!" "Whoa!" " So what were you guys talking about?" " Oh, nothing." "Anyway, what am I gonna do with you, little Batou?" "You can't even handle some target practice without me." "I guess not." "Why does he always get to go?" "Maybe we need to find out the real reason why the Major is sending us back to the lab." "What's up?" "Why'd you want me to meet you here?" "I'm guessing it's not to confess your burning passion for me." "It's the only room in the building that's electro-magnetically shielded, so we can have some privacy." "Pass that dossier to Batou." "Just glance through it, all right?" " You spot it?" " Hmm?" "Don't turn around but there's a camouflaged Tachikoma hanging from the corridor ceiling." "It's reading our lips." "Pretend you haven't noticed." "We'll physically speak about something else while we talk via encrypted cybercomm." "What the hell?" "Why go through all this trouble?" "Now, what's this?" ""Well, to make a long story short," ""judging from the end results, there are major issues" ""regarding your qualifications as a training instructor."" "Well, to make a long story short," "I have a serious issue with the similarities between the Tachikomas' development and the Laughing Man case, their formation of egos, which should be impossible, and the loss of individuality." "At first, these seem to be contradictory problems, but we need to keep a close eye on them, as unintended consequences of information synchronisation." "Hey, I don't feed them natural oil on the sly any more." "No one suspects you of doing that." "I wouldn't have a problem with this if it had happened in a lab, but for a weapon, it could be lethal." ""Hey, I'm not beating them up on the sly any more." ""No one suspects you of doing that."" "Huh!" "It doesn't look like they're talking about us after all." "Don't we still have the option of doing a full initialisation of their AI?" "We tried that, but we got the exact same results." "I'm sorry, but all Tachikoma use is suspended as of today." "On the brighter side, it looks like their AI will be useful in running simulations on the Laughing Man copycats." "They won't be told." "But after they've been disarmed, we'll send them to the test lab where they'll assist us with our investigation." "Is that clear?" "Are you giving me an order as my superior?" "I am." "I don't have the luxury of refusing, do I?" "I'll comply." "It's time to re-establish contact with Togusa." "We'll go there the old-fashioned way." "What, I don't even have time to say goodbye to them?" "Sorry." "But I'm afraid not." "If somebody is using the barriers created by these kids, it might explain why the hacking of the Ministry of Health and Welfare was so skilful." "I see." "Any suspects so far?" "No, not yet." "But this is one weird operation." "They've even got a heavy load of cyborgs stalking the halls." "Copy that." "Carry on your investigation for now." "Roger." "Huh?" "So, somebody besides me has been using this, huh?" "What the hell?" "Oil paint." " You're in charge for now." " Right." "It's you." "Hello." "Good afternoon." "Going out, ma'am?" "Yes, there's a welfare industry gathering." "Oh, really?" "Have fun." "Wait here." "Sorry about this." "But I'll be done in a minute, OK?" "Hmm." "Huh?" "Hmm." "No suspicious records to speak of." "And zero visitors last week, huh?" "Damn it." "Not being able to access external memory is a freakin' pain." "Dear, oh, dear." "You've abandoned your charge to do a bit of spying?" "Search all you want, you won't find any clues about the Chief in there." "I guess you're in no mood for excuses, right?" "You can hurt him, but don't kill him." " Yes, ma'am." " Now, wait a minute." "If we fight in here, your paintings could be..." "Is that what you're going to fight with?" "Er..." "Paintings shouldn't be treated roughly!" "Unlike electronic data, they can't be duplicated, dumb-ass." "Didn't think I was armed, did ya?" "Huh?" "Huh?" "Huh?" "Section 9." "Major, unusual activity." "Every terminal in the centre just went online." "Something's happened." "It's our access codes." "They're attempting to decrypt them." "Was his cover blown?" "I don't know." "Cut all circuits." "Hurry." "What's the hold-up?" "I..." "I'm locked out!" " Batou, now!" "We're pulling Togusa out!" " OK!" "Ishikawa, comandeer their circuits!" "Saito, secure an evac route!" "Got her!" "Man, did I fry that Al peeper!" " Kuroha." " Hey, what's up." "Where have you been, Chief?" "Things have gotten bad." "I was spotted by people on the outside." "A lot of adults will be coming, so I'm disappearing before then." "Uh..." "Why?" "Till now, everything's been going smoothly." "We'll protect you, Chief." "Same as always." "No." "I appreciate everyone's help, but it's time I left this place." "Togusa!" "No!" "Togusa!" "What the hell happened here?" "Come on, talk to me!" "Damn it!" "Togusa, wake up!" "Togusa!" "So, was there any evidence to prove that this Aoi kid Togusa mentioned ever existed?" "I couldn't find a single trace." "It's possible someone deliberately altered the centre's computer files and the staff's memories." "But I can't go too much further using only Togusa's testimony." "That's why his report was gonna be a sketch, huh?" "Yeah, a handsome young lad in a wheelchair with a lefty catcher's mitt." "Togusa said he would use the memories in his own cyberbrain to draw him." "Wait." "Did you say a lefty catcher's mitt?" "That term is Net jargon." "It means something you think is real when it actually isn't." "You sure about that?" " Sorry I took so long, Major." " Give." "I wanna see if what you got there is good enough to save your sorry ass." "Now, don't be shocked." "This shows I have talent." "Hmm." "Huh?" "What the hell is this?" "Looks like you picked up a bad case of weird memories in a weird place." "The Catcher in the Rye" ""Just because people didn't know me" ""and because I didn't know anybody," ""I thought what I'd do was" ""I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes." ""I thought what I'd do was I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes." ""What I'd do..." ""Was I'd pretend..." ""Or should" "Wait a minute!" "So, I hear you're pursuing the Salinger angle?" "Yes." "It's well known that he wrote a short story entitled "The Laughing Man"" "and there's no shortage of people who point out the similarities between his story and the crimes." "Thing is, special investigations HQ has already analysed every possible interpretation of that story." "I don't think there's any new take on the subject that's gonna break the case." "But you've heard art imitates life." "The opposite should be true, too." "You know, I can't help but think that the boy I met, the one at the aid centre, was actually the Laughing Man." "Hey, there have been countless suspects." "They all seemed certain to be the Laughing Man." "So, in light of that, what basis do you have for thinking this kid is the genuine article?" "Major, are you familiar with the phrase around the Laughing Man logo and the meaning of it?" "Yeah. "I thought what I'd do was I'd become one of those deaf-mutes."" "I understand it's a quote, from Chapter 25 of The Catcher in the Rye." "Uh-huh." "Like I included in my report, I saw some of it written on that panel at the centre." "At first, I convinced myself it was verbatim from the novel." "However, I realised something." "The original quote ends with, "One of those deaf-mutes."" "But what I saw was different." ""Or should I?" This little bit had been added." "You don't suppose it's a conversation he was having with himself, do ya?" "Asking himself if he should break his silence and go back out into the world?" "Tell me something, Major." "Have you ever experienced this?" "When you try to imitate an artist you admire, you want to get as close as you can to the original work, so you try to make a perfect copy." "But here, we have a boy who dared to modify Salinger's quote." "He was able to rewrite the end of it because this young man was the original." "That theory is awfully dependent on your personal views." "You do realise it's far too weak for you to base anything on, don't you?" "Regardless of his cutting edge hacking techniques, the Laughing Man kidnapped CEO Serano." "At gunpoint, no less." "These actions don't fit it all with his technical abilities." "Couldn't this mean that the Laughing Man, despite the fact that he's so good at hacking, or should I say, because he's so good, didn't place any value at all on electronic media," "something that can be rewritten?" "If you think about it, he was after information that's stored in some sort of physical medium." "In other words, paper documents." "Do you want to investigate this angle further?" "Yes." "I was going to stop you if you were doing this out of emotional revenge for that centre fiasco." "But it could be your Ghost has finally begun whispering to you, too." "All right, fine." "You go ahead." "Do what you want." "I'll fill in the Chief." "I appreciate it, Major." "Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare" "How's it coming?" "This is a big job." "Thanks for the help." "And the coffee." "Huh." "Found it!" "Found what?" "More precisely, something isn't here which ought to be." "The list of Murai Vaccine Recipients." "That file is the only one missing." "I wonder how long it's been gone." "It's funny." "I don't see how stealing something like that would do anybody any good." "Is there anyone you can think of who would want it?" "You know, someone the file might be a value to?" "Er, well..." "If I had to say, I would guess the Sunflower Society." "Sunflower?" "Testing Centre Report Murai Vaccine." "Pharmaceutical Approval." "Evaluation Record" "2019 AD." "During that year, just as cyberisation was starting to become commonplace, cases of cyberbrain damage of an unknown origin became a growing concern in the medical community." "It was discovered that gradual hardening in the brain occurred in areas where cyberisation had been performed, resulting in brain death." "This condition later came to be known as cyberbrain sclerosis." "Although the likelihood of displaying the symptoms is considerably low, anyone who's been cyberised is susceptible." "Because there was no basic treatment once the symptoms appeared, it was called the incurable disease of the 21st century, following in the footsteps of tuberculosis, cancer and AIDS." "Enter Keyword Murai Vaccine" "The Murai Vaccine is a tumour suppressor developed by an MD named Chitose Murai who created this specific treatment for the disease." "However, the medical association back then was dominated by proponents of micromachine therapy." "And many of them voiced the opinion that the doctor's vaccine was a step backwards." "They were concerned that if his research was approved, it might even hold back the development of a micromachine treatment." "Perhaps that's the reason approval for the Murai Vaccine was shelved." "And in February of 2021," "Dr Murai, who carried his dream of a vaccine therapy to the very end, died a broken man at the age of 68, without seeing a decision from the Drug Evaluation Council." "Then, in April of that same year, the vaccine, which had been denied acceptance, was hastily sectioned as a fee-based clinical trial drug for use by specially designated patients." "The approval was never made known to the general public and the official position on it today is that there are no patients being treated with the vaccine." "Even now, one group remains actively interested in this fact, the Sunflower Society, a non-profit organisation that offers support to individuals who want to take major companies and government agencies to court, by filing lawsuits against them." "Interesting." "Looks like you've certainly done your homework, I'll say that." "So, you're a freelance journalist, are you?" "My situation is this." "I lost my father to CS a few months back." "He'd been given micromachine treatment up until the very end." "But after he passed away, I heard about your group and about the Murai Vaccine." "Oh, I see." "Sorry for your loss." "If only someone had told us sooner about the vaccine and the excellent results it's had, my father might be alive today." "The thought of it is killing me." "Hmm." "You see, before now, I never took an interest in this." "It didn't concern me." "But if it can save people who suffer from that awful disease," "I'd like to offer my services." "How kind." "A lot of people like you filed with determination used to come here." "But every single one of them ended up failing." "They failed?" "Why's that?" "There are individuals who don't want the public to turn its back on micromachines." "Individuals from everywhere." "Just as I suspected." "As luck would have it," "I have some pull in the entertainment industry." "And from what I've heard from my inside sources, there are even people in the biz who have been secretly receiving the vaccine." "It's not easy to spread unpleasant news like this." "So, if you want to get people talking about it," "I guess you'd need some sort of scandal, wouldn't you?" "Well, it's obvious, you did not come here to see us out of some temporary emotion." "Mmm-hmm." "In fact, we just acquired a certain file." "A file?" "Damn it, I'm finished." "I shouldn't have run like that." "Since you were the one who stole the file." "They won't have any choice now, will they?" "They are going to think that I've betrayed them." "If I hadn't arranged for this to happen, you never would have taken the matter seriously." "You have to realise that they're not as forgiving as you seem to believe." "I feel bad about framing you for the theft." "I hope you can understand why I had to resort to that." "But I swore that I wouldn't give up until I had exposed the truth of what went on behind the micromachine treatments." "How can you be so naive?" "Research in cyberbrain technology was advancing in other fields back then." "If I had approved the vaccine, people might have rejected that technology, and impeded this development." "What a convenient excuse that is." "Micromachine Industries, the company whose board of directors you sat on, received approval only one month after filing its paperwork, very quick and easy, just like Serano." "And thanks to that, you people raked in profits of nearly a trillion yen per year by selling protein granules that have no effect on cyberbrain sclerosis." "That's a blatant act of fraud perpetrated under the direction of the state." "What excuses do you intend to offer those patients who died not knowing this and kept paying their treatment fees in the belief that it actually worked?" "Micromachines nowadays are showing a certain degree of effectiveness." "If you look at the situation in terms of sclerosis prevention, you can't say that nothing of benefit came from our decision." "Benefit?" "Well, then, if that's the case, why aren't you treating yourself with the micromachines?" "Murai Vaccine Recipient List" "Huh!" "Here, come, take a look." "Huh?" "Isn't he an author?" " That's right." "There are also artists, former star athletes, and this man is a professor at Niihama University's medical school." "Wait a minute." "There are even names of politicians." "Yes." "And someone even more critical to our cause is taking the vaccine." "Can you spot him?" "Hisashi lmakurusu." "Chairman of the board of the Central Drug Evaluation Council!" "Are you saying the chairman who rejected the Murai Vaccine is dependent on that same medicine?" "Yes, the file arrived yesterday from Mr lmakurusu himself." "What does all of this mean?" "He's claiming that he's grown exhausted from having to remain silent all these years about what they've done." "He knew it was effective." "However, he deliberately suppressed the Murai Vaccine out of ulterior motives." "Now, lmakurusu has given his solemn word to stand up in court in front of a judge and divulge this motive that only he knows." "You mean, the Drug Evaluation Chairman is going to testify as to why he wouldn't approve the vaccine?" "Uh-huh." "This time, victory is ours." "Oh!" "The DEA's Narcotics Suppression Squad?" "Move it!" "Come on, hurry up and kill 'em!" "We can take our time and look for our target afterwards." "But first, kill 'em all!" "They're from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare." "Then they want the file?" "You've got to get out of here." "These people are trained assassins." "They will kill you." "Just who are you?" "I'm with Public Security." "Hmm." "Oops." "Some of our boys got taken down." "We need to take some losses on our side, too." "That's just how reality works." "Right?" "Now, go search the corpse." "A cyborg?" "Ah, now things are getting interesting." "Got a survivor." "Get over here." "Tell you what, I'll give you a running start before I shoot!" "Oh, damn!" "That was our own truck I just shot up!" "Go on!" "Get down there and kill him!" "Shit!" "Maybe I should have gone full-cyborg, too." "Major, Chief, I've been shot." "Bureau Chief, we completed the op." "But the item is a copy." "What did you say?" "We know where it came from." " Hisashi lmakurusu" " Documents Copy" "It was lmakurusu." "Do you mean to say you've got the original, you son of a bitch?" "No!" "No!" "I wasn't the one!" "I'm not to blame!" "I heard that the file the Sunflower Society had was a duplicate which was sent to them from your office." "Don't tell me you're feeling repentant after all this time." "What do I have to gain by doing that?" "Someone was passing himself off as me, that's all." "Then what the hell is your name doing on the list of vaccine recipients?" "I..." "Tell me." "Do you have cyberbrain sclerosis?" "It's been quite a while now." "They tell me it's already in the final stages." "Why didn't you come talk to me first about this?" "How could you leave your records on that list, you fool?" "Sorry." "It's just that the vaccine really works." "But we've known that all along, you idiot!" "We'll talk later!" "What would you like me to do?" "Eliminate him?" "Shut up!" "I'll get back to you." "Final stages?" "That fool." "Togusa!" "You can't come in here!" "He's in very serious condition right now!" "Major." "Take a look through my memories." "It was the MHLW." "Lucky for you, the bullet's missed my head." " intubate!" " Right." "While you're operating on him," "I want you to extract the last 16 hours of his memories from his cyberbrain." " I can't." " Do it." "Right now, that information's absolutely crucial to us." "We must have it." "There's too much noise." "Must be from the anaesthetic." "We'll be picking up everything, right down to his emotional fluctuations, so it might even affect our own reactions." "It can't be helped." "Play it." "Damn!" "If he goes around playing hero like this, you know the dumb bastard's gonna get nailed." "Let's go over the situation." "Togusa had figured out what the hacker from the aid centre was after." "It was paper media." "So he made a number of trips to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to verify his suspicion." "And out of the vast amount of documents he researched, he discovered the existence of a missing file." "Which, as it turns out, is a record of all the Murai Vaccine recipients." "Mmm-hmm." "That file was extremely important to the Sunflower Society, and Togusa was attacked when he went to see them, but we don't know exactly what happened there." "No!" "We do know!" "The DEA shot Togusa!" "The Narcotics Suppression Squad, who specialises in violent crimes, butchered a bunch of civilians." "Very simple!" "And their objective was the seizure or elimination of the file?" "It seems like the cause of all of this centres around one name we discovered." "This lmakurusu person." "We're wasting time with these discussions!" "We'll find out soon enough if we go bust those filthy DEA sons of birches!" "Come on!" "Don't let those memories affect your judgement." "No doubt they're a step ahead of us and already leaking falsified information to the press." "The truth is being erased." "This is our man?" "OK." "Major, you pay a visit to Mr lmakurusu." "Meanwhile, I'll try to find out how the Narcotics Suppression Squad came to be mobilised in this affair." "We'll also petition the American Empire for access to their Echelon system." "Roger." "Paz and Saito, you two come with me." "Batou, you're on memory analysis with Ishikawa and Borma." "Screw that!" "Put me on the DEA investigation!" "And do what, wearing that look on your face?" "I'll give you a call when I need you." "How the hell do you expect me to look?" "All she's saying is that you need to cool off a bit." "How am I gonna cool off after seeing that?" "You're under the influence of Togusa's memories right now." "She made a good call, Batou." "I'm very sorry about the weather." "What can I say?" "Yeah, it's not your fault." "Don't worry about it." "Today is the only day to work for everyone." "It's me, lmakurusu." "Please, you've got to help me out." "Talk to Niimi and straighten out this misunderstanding." "Right, I'm at the golf course." "I'm counting on you." "Got it." "That's big brother for you." "We don't know for sure yet." "Our voiceprint search got a hit on the word "lmakurusu," that's all." "How's it coming?" "We just pinpointed at the location of a terminal that was used by a man who we believe to be lmakurusu." "Now we need to determine whether or not it's really him." "You have a call on your direct line, Bureau Chief." "Huh?" "Niimi here." "Is that the truth?" "Yes." "Right." "No, I'll deal with him immediately." "Geir, it's me, Niimi." "We have lmakurusu's location." "He's at the Kohoku Country Club." "Get over there." "His present location is the Kohoku Country Club." "He was spotted at a public terminal on a sidewalk on the north side, just two minutes ago." "Bingo!" " It's who he called that has me worried." "I only want his location!" "Old man, I'll be there before the Major if I take the chopper!" "Go!" "Better you secure him than someone else!" "Ishikawa, do you have a trace on lmakurusu?" "After his call, he went into room 909 in the hotel annexe." "He's staying put for now." "Borma, what is this look like to you?" "Here." "Er..." "The authentication code that's got top priority on the American Empire's wiretap list?" "Yeah." "It's not supposed to officially exist, but isn't this the number for the headquarters of the government's ruling party?" "So what do you think of that JMSDF Type-303, sir?" "These Marine units are really streamlined." "Damn things are works of art." "Now, if only those guys would show up, we could get some live combat here!" "Argh!" " Commander!" " Hmm." "I'm picking up a chopper heading for the target's building." "Looks like Section 9." "Well, what do you know?" "What great timing." "Now, you guys can show me what you've got by securing lmakurusu." "It'll take a while to get my systems booted." "Once you cut off their escape route, leave the rest to me." "What the..." "Is that?" "Hisashi lmakurusu?" "I'm with the police." "The narc squad's on its way." "We're getting out of here." "Stay away from me!" "Batou, you all right?" "Yeah, for now." "But they've got us pinned down." "Can you make it out in the chopper?" "No." "Not with this guy in tow." "Do what you can to hold out." "I'm almost there." "Oh, yeah." "They can cloak, but they can't completely hide themselves." "Come on, what's your next move?" "Is that you, Major?" "I've secured an escape route." "But for now, let's get back to the lobby." "Go!" "Get down!" "What was that?" "It's a damned Armed Suit!" "Batou, get ready." "I'll draw it off." "Don't be stupid." "That's what you have me for." "I have faith in you, but you can't stop that thing." "Take lmakurusu and get out of here." "That's an order from your superior officer!" "Fine, I'll do it." "Don't get yourself killed." "Mmm." "Major, we're almost there." "A direct hit didn't punch it?" "Saito, fork over that weapon now!" "Hey, wait!" "Pop my hatch!" "Can't breathe." "Please pop the hatch." "A little closer." "Good." "Get this guy on board ASAP." "Huh?" "What a moron." "Wait here!" "Hey!" "Hold it right there, both of you." "Good." "Don't even blink." "lmakurusu!" "Our guy's been hit!" "Requesting ambulance." "Laughing Man, is that what you really look like?" "What's that?" "The Laughing Man?" "What does he mean?" "Murai Vaccine Recipient List" "Wait, this file is..." "Huh?" "Huh?" "Optical camouflage?" "No, that's not it." "You bastard." "I know why I can't see you." "You hacked my eyes!" "Where are you?" "Are you close by?" "Where the hell are you?" "They're here." "Aramaki won't get any further than me." " Tell him that." " Yes, sir." "I understand." " Come in." " Pardon us." "Bureau Chief Niimi, I have a warrant here for your arrest." "You're being charged in the murder conspiracy tied to the investigation of the Sunflower Society, as well as the death of Mr lmakurusu." "If you would please come with us." "I heard what happened with the narc squad, but it's absurd to think that I had anything to do whatsoever with the ordering of lmakurusu's death." "The head of the narc squad, a man named Geir Yasuoka, is much more willing to talk than we expected." "You see, he recorded his conversations with you and he is being most cooperative." "We know about the Laughing Man incident and how it motivated you to have lmakurusu killed." "So, as you can see, you and I have a great deal to discuss." "Fine." "Let's get this over with." "Take him away." "Batou." "I want you to investigate the narc squad and find out why they would go to such extreme measures to retrieve the vaccine recipient list." "Find the real reason." "Another thing, the surviving members may be lying low somewhere out there." "Watch out." "I'll head back when we're done with Niimi." "Over and out." "The Chief, huh?" "Yeah." "The Chief just arrested some bureaucrat named Niimi." "Looks like he was the man behind the narc squad." "That so?" "Well, at least my getting perforated was worth something." "But what was that powered exoskeleton?" "A little toy that narc squad was somehow able to get their hands on." "The Major took it on." "She overheated in the fight, now she's swapping her body for a new one." "Is she OK?" "Well, yeah." "But, uh..." "What you said before, about your eyes getting hacked, same thing happened to me." "Huh?" "See you later." "I've got a ton of stuff to do." "Here, I'll leave this with you for now." "This is..." "Wait, you mean the Laughing Man..." "I apologise for keeping you waiting." "I'll be in charge." "I'm Sano." "This isn't your first time, right?" "There's no need to worry, I'll be gentle." "Mmm." "All right then," "I'm just going to take a little look under the hood, if you don't mind." "Oh, my, you have a fine body." "How are you feeling?" "Does your brain hurt?" "That's supposed to be some kind of joke?" "The brain's not capable of sensing pain." "Don't be like that." "There's no reason we can't take our time and enjoy this." "Or could it be that you don't like me?" "No of fence, but that's it exactly." "Now that we're both clear on that, can we get on with this?" "I'm in a bit of a rush." "My, someone's in a bad mood." "I decided to lock down your speech centre." "Of course, it's not as if someone would come to your rescue anyway, no matter how loud you shouted." "Miss Kusanagi?" "How's my little patient feeling now?" "Oh, my!" "What a rebellious look in your eyes." "That simply won't do." "What do you think of the world without red?" "Kind of pretty, isn't it?" "Don't get the wrong impression." "I don't enjoy doing barbaric things like this." "But you left me with no choice." "You and your friends went a little too far this time." "What's going on?" "Is this some kind of joke at my expense?" "You're giving off some unpleasant brainwaves." "Why not use my eyes for the time being?" "Huh?" "You're the Laughing Man, aren't you?" "This is the third time we've met, you know." "And let me clarify, I'm not the one who came up with that name." "It was very arrogant of you to sneak in here, not to mention dangerous." "What did you come here for?" "To get you to help me." "From where I stand, you've got that backwards." "True enough." "You're not an easy person to talk to." "You see, my back is against the wall, and you're the only option I could come up with." "I figure if that son of a bitch God hasn't completely turned his back on me, you might actually lend me a hand." "Blasphemous and yet polite at the same time." "You're awfully full of yourself, aren't you?" "I do what I have to do, failure is out of the question." "Because if I don't succeed this time, all the phoneys in the world will be legitimised." "Sounds to me as if you've hoisted all the problems of the world onto your shoulders." "So, what could the hero of the Net possibly want me to do for him?" "You could start by listening to me." "I'm going to tell you the whole story behind the Laughing Man incident." "After that, I'd like you to stand back and do nothing while I face my final challenge." "And if by some chance I should fail and die, all I ask of you is this, that your people bring this incident to light." "Unbelievable." "All right, fine." "As your captive audience, I've listened to your words, now I have a few for you." ""The mark of an immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause," ""while the mark of a mature one is that he wants to live humbly for one."" "Ah, yes." "Written by the psychoanalyst Wilhelm Stekel." "I sensed this about you as soon as I met you." "It's a quality that I dislike intensely, Mr Know-it-all." "Seems like you fall into the same category." "But all you have to do is ask for help, and I'd give it." "Must be hatred of one's own kind." "Fine." "Go do what you have to do." "I don't know if I'll be able to keep my word, though." "If I know you, you Will." "I leave you my memories." "I'm counting on you." "It's up to you now." "Well, then, as much as I'll miss you, I'm gonna let you die peacefully now." "The needles!" "What's up?" "Don't worry." "It's nothing." "Chief's calling." "You done yet?" "I am now." "Hmm." "Ishikawa, have any luck drawing new testimonies out of the remaining narc squad members?" "We weren't able to get much useful intel out of them." "And there's the fact that their boss, Director Niimi, just committed cyberbrain suicide, so that lead turned into a dead end." "And we haven't been able to find the Laughing Man either." "That's true." "Now, we have a new set of instructions, we're going after this guy." "Hey, that's..." "Right." "Assemblyman Kaoru Yakushima, standing Secretary-General of the ruling coalition." "Yakushima, huh?" "He's the most powerful man in his party right now, and he was Minister of Health at the time of the Laughing Man incident." "He's a diehard MHLW man who built his current position by switching jurisdiction of cyberbrain technology from METI to the Ministry of Health." "And it's not widely known, but he's got a secret connection to the JMSDF." "So that explains where that Armed Suit came from." "Yes, that's right." "When Yakushima was Chief of Staff of the JMSDF he laid the fat pipeline between it and the political world." "He bankrolled this with a huge sum of state money while he set up shop as a politician." "But questions were raised about his financial source and the JMSDF's head accountant accused him of embezzling hidden funds." "Then the lead prosecutor on the case was found run over next to a railroad track and the investigation came to a halt." "But Yakushima was never charged, so the suspicions about him are still unresolved." "There's more." "Retired Superintendent-General Daido was Yakushima's junior at the National Defence Academy." "And word has it that the late lmakurusu had been a golf buddy of Yakushima's ever since his days as an army medic." "What you're saying then, Chief, is that as far as this chain of incidents is concerned, our guy here has more than enough clout to be the one pulling the strings behind it all?" "Yes, though we don't have a shred of evidence at this point." "So, then how do you plan on going after the Secretary-General?" "We're going to tug on the last thread we've got left that connects Yakushima to the Laughing Man incident." "Serano Genomics." "That's right." "The suppression of the Murai Vaccine, which we believe to be the origin of the Laughing Man affair and Serano's micromachine therapy, which received approval at the same time." "Ernest Serano seems up to his neck in both, which is why we want to take him into custody." "If we can question him immediately, then the link should become evident." "Ever since the incident six years ago, he's been under house arrest, though they call it "police protection."" "So use whatever means." "Take him into custody no matter what." "Well, the Laughing Man is probably thinking the same thing." "Suppose we run into him, what then?" "You arrest him." "He's not only a prime suspect in this case, but in a way, he's also the key witness." "Aren't you worried that Serano might get bumped off once we go into action, like what happened before?" "That is a possibility." "That's why I don't care how you get him." "Mr Serano." "It looks like your car has arrived, sir." "I see." "Thank you." "I'll be right up to accompany you." "Please wait there a moment." "Come in." "It's open." "The subject has left his room." "He's heading for the entry hall." "Morning, Mr Serano." "Good morning." "Now opening entry hall door." "You take care, sir." "Thank you." "Subject is now through the entry hall." "Roger that." "We have visual." "It's just like last time, isn't it?" "You're right." "The only difference now is that detectives were in the hall instead of your family." "There wasn't a car following us, either." "So, what will you do about them?" "Well, let's see." "Driver, turn left at the next intersection, would you, please?" "Something's not right." "Just don't lose him." "It'll take that unmarked police car about an hour to reach Serano Genomics' head office." "In the meantime," "I want you to tell me why you haven't kept your word and why you've stayed silent these past six years." "I have to decide on my next course of action." "You're awfully audacious." "Hold it!" "Put your hands on the hood of the car, now!" "Take it easy, boys." "We contacted you earlier." "We're Public Security Section 9." "I was told that Mr Serano had already gone, is that true?" "Yes." "His usual ride to the office left, same as always." "What about it?" "Look at your watch." "Is that the usual time he leaves?" "Gee whiz, your boss sure is one hell of a hard worker, ain't he?" "Here's a bulletin." "Every single one of you dumbasses just had your eyes hacked!" "WOW." "The view from here has really changed a lot, hasn't it?" "And I've noticed your hair has gone white, Mr Serano." "It's been a rough six years." "The official story is that the police are around to protect me against threats from you." "But they're really there to keep an eye on me." "To make sure I don't blab anything about the truth behind the infamous incident." "For all intents and purposes, I'm under house arrest." "Compared to back then, you've changed, too." "You've lost your naïveté." "I guess I've managed to mature a little." "I'll confess that in those days," "I wanted so bad to give all the phoneys in the world a good, swift kick in the ass." "By the same token, you were something of a wild guy yourself." "For two whole days, you hung out with a student who was an anonymous nobody." "You did that in spite of the fact that he hacked into you and was brain diving the entire time." "I still had enough unjaded passion left in me to want to debate a student who sanctimoniously spouted his unworldly crap." "I understand what you're saying but I'm a micromachine developer, not a member of the Drug Evaluation Council, you know that." "I had nothing to do with the Murai Vaccine rejection." "I realise that, but the Drug Evaluation Council is a bunch of assholes and phonies." "I'll be forced to confront them someday." "First, however, I want you to publicly disclose the data showing that your company's micromachines have practically no effect on cyberbrain sclerosis." "That's something I can't do and I've told you that over and over!" "I do admit that some of what you wrote in your blackmail letter three years ago was valid." "No one could argue that micromachine therapy was anything more than a theory at that stage in its development." "But that's precisely how the patent process works." "It's not a crime to be the first to register a technology that's certain to have future practical applications." "Oh, please." "That's something some damned lawyer would say." "Son of a bitch." "OK." "I was well aware that our approval request was premature." "You see, it was actually meant in part to serve as a bluff to our competitors." "But I believe they realised that our theories are superior." "That's why the Drug Evaluation Council gave us approval within the short span of three months." "You have no comprehension of the scale of damage that would result from people losing faith in medical micromachines." "This is cutting-edge technology that has immeasurable potential..." "You're not listening." "What I'm trying to say is that it's a matter of life or death for those people who are suffering from cyberbrain sclerosis." "At the very least, can't you concede the effectiveness of the Murai Vaccine until micromachine therapy finally turns out some clear results?" "I have absolutely nothing whatsoever to say regarding Murai." "How can you honestly say that?" "If that sick-humoured son of a bitch God gave you cyberbrain sclerosis for sheer kicks, would you choose micromachine treatment hands down without giving it a second thought?" "Yes, of course." "I have faith and pride in every product that's manufactured by my firm." "So, then, you'd even choose it for your children if they came down with CS?" "I..." "Yes." "I suppose I would." "Listen, let's get of this hypothetical track." "Pride and sentiment are two different things, aren't they?" "That's not fair, Mr Serano." "If you're really so proud of micromachine therapy, you should exploit your position and influence to do the right thing." "The best that lmakurusu could come up with was to reject the vaccine that had Dr Murai's name attached to it." "The damn Drug Evaluation Council had only one job, to merely rubber-stamp any new medicine that passed through the Ministry of Health." "But lmakurusu, a man who had a stamp specially made to reject the Murai Vaccine which read "Approval Denied," shared that council." "And, hey, what do you know?" "Your own micromachines were used in that dirty deal." "You can't be totally oblivious to the circumstances surrounding the situation, Mr Serano." "It didn't matter a rat's ass to them if it was your technology or not." "Any damn micromachine that happened to be up for approval back then would have fit the bill!" "If you know how corrupt the shitty medical industry is, can you honestly tell me that none of this has anything to do with you?" "All right." "I propose a compromise." "For now, let me go so I can act on my own." "Once I've done that, I'll make the necessary preparations." "I'll organise a press conference and disclose the current state of micromachine therapy." "What?" "Are you serious?" "There's no advantage for you in that promise." "Contrary to what you believe, I'm not so petty." "Perhaps it's not as grand as yours, but my sense of social justice is alive and well and equal to that of anyone else." " I wonder." "I promise you." "At the time, I was exhausted from your brain dive so I fervently made that promise to you in the hopes of escaping." "I thought that if I could just get you in front of a TV camera, the eyes of the viewing public, you wouldn't do anything crazy." "That's right." "But unfortunately, I was packing a SW Chief's Special in my pocket." "Well, are you going to disengage this brain dive?" "You're breaking the law by doing this, an informed individual like you should know that." "If you want to keep your anonymity and hide your face, then it wouldn't be a great idea to be shown on TV." "I've actually enjoyed our vigorous debates." "But as a man who has to protect his enterprises," "I'm afraid I might not be able to honour my word." "Society isn't as cut and dried as you seem to imagine." "However, I have no intention of trying to uncover who you really are." "Let's go our separate ways from here." "No!" "It's not fair!" " He's got a gun!" " Call the police!" "Look straight into that camera." "I demand you tell the world the truth." "Listen, stop." "You won't shoot me." "Are you sure?" "And what followed was the micromachine-killer virus outbreak at your production plant." "That's right." "At the same time that I was angry at myself for feeling overjoyed by our micromachine treatment receiving approval," "I was cursing you from the bottom of my heart." "I thought it was just corporate terrorism, plain and simple." "But I was wrong." "That wasn't you, was it?" "A word of wisdom, the evil that lurks in this world exists on a level that's far greater than we could ever envision." "I assume you're aware that our company was granted an infusion of public funds because we were teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, thanks to being blackmailed and the damages caused by the killer virus outbreak." "Let me tell you what happened afterwards." "Right when our stock prices were gradually beginning to climb back up after their collapse, we were paid a visit by a man who introduced himself as a member of the private support association of a certain assemblyman." "He said that he was acquainted with someone who could put an end to the corporate blackmail." "And in the event that this person solved their little problem, he asked if we would be willing to make a political contribution to this assemblyman." "The amount he suggested was equivalent to the public funds plus the demanded blackmail money." "This obviously meant that Serano Genomics had been targeted for a shakedown all along, just because we were the latecomer among the other manufacturers." "They must have considered my stunt to be a performance that couldn't have been staged at a better time." "I suppose they did." "And by continuing to imitate the incident you carried out, they created a fake persona called the Laughing Man." "They manipulated stock prices by invoking the name of a non-existent criminal, stealing money from other companies as well as us." "The greedy bastards did this even though they had probably been making a tidy sum before that by short-selling the stocks." "Was this assemblyman Secretary-General Yakushima?" "Then you already knew?" "A basic rule of thumb about hackers is that we live to peek at things that others keep hidden." "It's our nature." "But the depth of the darkness in the hotbed of corruption that I had tried to challenge defeated me." "And all I could do was become a deaf-mute and avert my eyes from it all." "Just as you've done these past six years." ""The Laughing Man." That was a catchy name they came up with." "And here I'd been thinking that if I was unsuccessful in persuading you," "I'd simply follow Holden's quote and disappear." "They went with the Salinger angle, too." "I can't believe it." "Hmm..." "Mr Serano, if that's what they're up to," "I'll have to become the original Laughing Man and drag that phoney Yakushima into the light of day." "It was when you revealed yourself to me that I made up my mind as well." "There isn't much evidence, so it's going to be a difficult job to accuse him." "I'll even become your copycat in order to bring him down." "Just try not to die before you take the witness stand." "That was one hell of an acting job." "Boy, with chops like that, you could fool anybody, no trouble at all." "Hmm." "Gee, and I was never in a single school play, either." "So, did you manage to confirm the connection between Yakushima and Serano?" "Yeah." "And to his credit, all the information the Laughing Man gave me was true." "This should jolt Mr Serano as well." "Could work." "Reporting for duty." "I thought you hadn't been cleared to leave the hospital yet." "Come on." "Lay off, Major." "I can't be the only one of the crew to lay in bed at a time like this." "I decided to bring Togusa back." "I've done all the paperwork." "You're going to be coming with me to the Prime Minister's residence." "Right." "You're gonna be OK?" "You're not back to 100 % yet." " I can handle it." " Mmm-hmm." "After all, it was Togusa who first found out about this case." "You should be on it." " Chief?" " Yes?" "You have an emergency call from the Home Affairs Minister, sir." "All right, put him through." "Aramaki, this is serious." "Are you watching Channel 33 right now?" "No." "Then turn it on quickly." "And now suspicions have surfaced about the members of Public Security Section 9." "This armed group under the direct control of the Ministry of Home Affairs, is believed to have had a hand in the attempted kidnapping of Ernest Serano, CEO of Serano Genomics." "Labelled an international rescue team, Section 9 was formed by the MHA." "But their excessive information gathering and use of force under their own authority have long been viewed with concern." "This event also strongly suggests that Section 9 was involved in the 2024 string of Laughing Man incidents." "Major!" "They're calling an emergency cabinet session." "Look what you've got me mixed up in." "I want you to get over here, too." "In the meantime, you'd better think about what you're going to say to them in your defence." "Our intel was leaked before the op, is that what this means then?" "Just calm down." "All it means is that the operation is now underway." "We'll go to the Prime Minister's residence as planned." " Major." " Yes?" "The rest of you, find out where news of our op was leaked from." "Roger." "Well, it seems you weren't exaggerating when you said it was top secret." "Who else besides you knows of this this money trail?" "Now that you've read it, there is you, of course," "Mr Serano, who decided to accuse Yakushima, and there are my people." "That's all." "I see." "Very well then." "As for Mr Yakushima, we will deal him when the timing is right." "However, with the Lower House elections, we're in a crucial time now." "I want the public and the media to feel as if they've won a victory." "If I let a man as powerful as Yakushima go, proportional casualties on our side are very likely to occur." "I don't understand what you're trying to imply, Prime Minister." "I mean passage of the Special Forces Bill." " Hey, Chief." " Mmm-hmm." "They're following us." "The enemy has nine think tank units." "Squads 3 and 4, you will drop in from above and infiltrate the hangar from the heliport." "Your top priority is the destruction of the tanks." "Squads 5 and 6, quickly capture the seven primary members and gain control of the entire facility." "All units, go autistic once we're in." "These people specialise in information warfare." "We'll pin 'em down with brute force!" "Wait, Chief!" "We came here to pick you up, sir." "There are still a few things you need to do for us." "Making all the necessary arrangements in such a short amount of time." "The Prime Minister is certainly a capable man." "Section 9 is probably being neutralised as we speak." "Neutralised?" "Take him away." " Yes, sir." "Wait, Chief!" "What's going on?" "What is this?" "Please explain it to me!" "Chief!" "Tell me!" "Is it just me, or does something seem different about the building?" "And what's with this muster call?" "It's a little weird." "I don't have time to fill you in on the situation right now." "Just keep quiet and carry out my orders." "Prep six generic prosthetic bodies and bring them to the command centre." "Hmm?" "Hold on, are you saying..." "Get to it." "Major, you want to tell us what the hell's going on?" "You two take these seeds." "Once we get out of here, leak the information and then let it sprout among the media." "We'll need a push to oust the Secretary-General." "Verify the situation and see to the wounded on the double, damn it!" "Oh, goodness gracious, what are we going to do with you?" "You know you shouldn't spill your tea like that." "Hey, look, the news is on!" "Let's watch TV!" "We interrupt this programme to bring you breaking news" " on the latest Section 9 developments." "Huh?" "An emergency Cabinet meeting passed a special forces restriction bill, ended military deployments after urging the dismantling of Public Security Section 9." "Special forces stormed Section 9's facility moments ago when they failed to respond to repeated warnings, indicating the groups' intent to maintain this stand-off." "We now take you live to the scene." "A short While ago, above the building which houses the Section 9 complex..." "From here, we'll go off in three directions in order to split up our pursuers." "After that, we go to ground in the city and head our separate ways." "Security Section 9 has now disbanded." "That is all." "Hmm." "They're severely damaged, but we believe these are the corpses of the six members." "We're analysing the cyberbrains for traces of residual usage." "Call Squad 5 in here while you're waiting for the results." "Assume that this operation is camouflaged and seal off any exit you can think of, including the elevator shafts, ventilation ducts and every sewer outlet." "Yes, sir!" "So, Section 9 is finally finished, huh?" "All that blood and sweat we poured into it just went poof." "Up in smoke." "Yeah." "Free access to the latest maintenance and cutting-edge equipment was a sweet setup." "But when you get down to it, that's really all it was." "The only thing we need to do is find a new sponsor." "Or is there something else?" "Have you got some kind of attachment to the place, Batou?" "Hmm, not if you put it like that." "If anything, it's the good and bad times we had." "All the memories." "Memories?" "That's awfully sentimental of you." "While we're on the subject, that reminds me." "Where's that watch you're usually wearing?" "Oh, I had to pick today to leave it next to my bed at my safe house." "Since they've hit Section 9, they've probably got my place secured, too." "That sucks." "Because I seem to remember you got that as a gift to mark the occasion of your very last prosthetic body resizing." "But I don't know who gave it to you." "So you knew?" "Well, don't get the wrong idea." "I didn't actually wear it for sentimental reasons." "Well, enough idle chatter." "Once we're out of here, we can't get in touch with each other again." "Even if we do meet, I might not be who I am now." "I want you to give your own survival top priority, Batou." "We should split up here." "All right." "Hell, this is my life, isn't it?" "How I decide to waste it is my own damn business." "That report about Section 9 has me worried." " The battle is going badly." " Huh?" "I know." "It sure is, mister." "The battle is going badly." "You know the building that blew up last night?" "That's where I used to live." "The place was my home." "It's pretty nice here, I can't complain." "And I like all you old folks." "You're OK, but..." "There's someone that I really want to go help." " Huh?" " The battle is going badly." "Mister, is that what I think it is?" "Mister, I..." "Thanks!" "I'm gonna go now!" "Oh, Batou." "Hey, there!" "What are you guys doing here?" "Once a problem child, always a problem child, know what I'm saying?" "This means each of us have the same thought even though we were independent of each other." "One thing we all share in common is the desire to help Mr Batou." "Right." "And besides, it's impossible for you to load that howitzer shell you're holding by yourself, isn't it?" "Yeah." "But are we the only Tachikomas who came here?" "Out of all of us that were sent back to the lab, I'm the only one who survived." "They just left me lying around, hooked up to equipment for final testing like some specimen." "So I ripped out the cords and ran away!" "I couldn't stop wondering what was going on while I was doing high-altitude work at a construction site." "How about you?" "I'd say it was pretty much the same." "But what happened to the rest who went to the lab?" "They're all having structural analyses run on them." "They had their Als removed to help them run simulations on the Laughing Man." "But you know what?" "Everybody who had their brains taken apart, they kind of looked like they were enjoying it." "Oh, I see." "Hmm?" "That's my Major." "She doesn't miss a trick." "Huh?" "Don't do it!" "Drop your weapon!" "Yeah." "OK." "I give up." "Score!" "I knew the Major'd have a stash hidden around here." "You finally done putting up a fight?" "Uh-oh." "Damn, I killed him." "What's wrong?" "Right, I forgot." "I look dead to you, don't I?" " Don't believe it." " Huh?" "I'm sorry." "But I had to hack your eyes, pal." "Huh?" "You're kidding!" "There's more?" "You didn't have to go and kill my partner." "You're not coming back alive!" "A corpse Will do." "But before that..." "I want to give you this." "For my buddies you killed!" "This is for my dead partner!" "What the..." "Now's our chance!" "Get Mr Batou out of here!" "Right!" "The think tanks." "I'll go in first." "Mr Batou, I'm sorry I was late." "It took us a while to tap into their comm signals." "Don't worry." "We'll take that guy." "You can count on it." "Wait right here until we get back, OK?" "Son of a..." "Where the hell were they?" "I've got a plan." " Think you can pin him down with your wires?" " I'll give it a shot!" "Matsukei Construction" "Ow!" "Uh-oh!" "Easy does it." "Don't rush this." "I only have one shot." "Now!" "Shoot!" "Right!" "Eat this!" "You're kidding!" "It's a dud?" "I'm still alive?" "Huh?" "Oh, God." "We're weak, we're powerless," "my fellow Tachikomas and I." "That's not true." "What you and the others have gained makes you far from powerless." " Huh?" " That voice!" "This is the last I've got!" "Now!" "Right!" "Mr Batou!" "Goodbye, Mr Batou." "What were they doing here?" "The only thing they could think about was saving you." " So they escaped from the lab." " Huh?" "Major?" "Is that you?" "I was the one who made the call that they were useless as weapons because their Al had evolved too quickly." "But the entire time that they were busy pursuing the accumulation of data, and synchronising with each other again and again, they were also acquiring individuality." "I never knew." "Not an inkling." "They even became capable of self-sacrifice." "If only I'd realised that sooner, instead of now when it's too late." "Because maybe then I could have found out whether or not what the Tachikoma had acquired were Ghosts." "Ghosts?" "Well, if they hadn't shown up here, then You would be dead right now." "Let's move it." "Nice view of Section 9." "You could pick anywhere in the world to live but here's where you choose a safe house?" "Hey." "Hmm?" "This body has always suited me." "No other will do." "Huh, that was a remote puppet the whole time?" "Uh-huh." "By the way," "I have something of yours that almost didn't make it here." "I knew it." "No matter how many prosthetic bodies you went through, this was the one thing that was always ticking away, keeping the same time as you." "In the midst of life's fleeting moments, people entrust their memories to external devices because they want to set down solid, physical proof that can distinguish them as unique individuals." "That watch is all you have though, isn't it?" "Your only external memory device that identifies the person you've been up till this minute." "Those are pretty serious words." "I'd really like to know where you got them from." "Hmm." "A watch and weight training gear." "Both of us have clung to useless scraps of memory, haven't we?" "In all probability, you and I are the only members of Section 9 who haven't been arrested or killed yet." "Let's make sure that we both stay alive." "At least long enough to leave behind a record of what we tried to accomplish." "Yeah, I'm not about to die without completing my mission." "Primary sniping target, Motoko Kusanagi." "The committee has issued an order for her termination." "We've only got one shot at this." "Take her out when she's climbing aboard." "Hmm." "Motoko!" "Motoko, no!" "Motoko!" "Damn it!" "No vitals detected." "Target destruction confirmed." "You dirty sons of..." "Motoko!" "You mean to tell me that even if the flesh is lost, a person's thoughts can wander the Net and continue to exist as a unique individual?" "I'm not so sure." "It's hard to imagine that a will which is free of its shell could maintain its individuality in the sea of the Net." "Then, for someone that continuously loses their individualities, they live on." "This is a world of despair." "I guess that depends on your definition of despair." "Besides, there's always the option of giving death a try, right?" "I suppose that's an ever available choice." "Anyway, I'm in your debt." "Thank you." "The way you kept your promise was extremely charming." ""You know what needs to be done," he said." ""Every Section 9 member has a unique ability." ""And you work best on your own." ""But individual success is a reflection of strong teamwork."" "That was the first nugget of wisdom the old man offered us back in the glory days of Section 9." "We've been informed that the public prosecutor will be arriving shortly." "Throngs of reporters are gathered here in front of the ruling party headquarters and the atmosphere is tense." "Making the tabloid rounds before Lower House elections, the MHLW scandal involving Serano Genomics implicated Secretary-General Yakushima." "Now, a week after the forming of a new Cabinet, this scandal has prompted a full-scale investigation by the Public Prosecutors Office." "...said the prosecutor." "A full-scale investigation has been launched." "It's the DA!" "The DA!" "Sir, things are just getting started, but before the day is out, will Yakushima be arrested?" "What about the Serano stocks rumoured to be here at ruling party headquarters?" "We have reliable information." "The Secretary-General would like to be asked to come with us for questioning." "Any chance that the cash in sequentially numbered bills referred to in Mr Serano's testimony is being kept here?" "Everything will be made clear very shortly." "My staff and I have laboured long and hard to prepare for this day, in anticipation of arresting Mr Yakushima." "Is this how things should be?" "Don't these facts that Section 9 pieced together show the truth about the Laughing Man incident from six years ago?" "And even if the prosecutor succeeds in uncovering the whole scandal," "Yakushima still might not resign from the assembly." "Exactly how does this make the world a better place?" "It's not like I had aspirations to be a hero or anything." "However, I'm positive we followed a code of justice that all of us believed in without condition or compromise." "Laughing Man, you were the one who first tried to shed some light into the black abyss of this case and bring it to the world's attention." "Is it possible that at this moment you're feeling the same as I am?" "No, you wouldn't." "You're not the type to be bothered by something like that." "You must have had a revelation about something, and you're watching this with eyes that see the big picture." "Isn't that right?" "I can tell." "Major, if all this plays out like I think it Will..." "Hold m" "Pull your hands up nice and slow, and turn around." "As lousy as you are, you'd be caught before you could even see Yakushima." "Batou, uh..." "You're a dummy, you know that?" "Come on, let's go." "And the star arrives!" "What took you so long?" "So, where did you end up tailing him?" "Just as we figured, he went to the ruling party HQ." "Are you serious?" "Hmm, what's wrong?" "Hey!" " Are you crying?" " Yeah, sure." "Get real." "Well, how did everything go on your end?" "It seems like Yakushima's given in." "He's cooperating with them." "That's a typical ex-military fellow for you." "I'll bet the prosecution's gonna get the hero treatment because of this." "You got that right." "And you're all OK with this?" "I mean, don't you think the credit for tracking him down..." ""Should go to us here at Section 9?" That's what you wanna say?" "Well, it ain't like we don't feel the same way." "However, this is the way the old man had it set up the whole time." "So, we're rolling with it." " Set up?" " Yeah." "When it dawned on the old ape that the Prime Minister was going to avoid a Secretary-General shake-up before the elections took place, he made a hell of a bold decision to make Section 9 out as the bad guys." "Right when the Major was disguised as the Laughing Man finagling the truth out of Serano," "Section 9's existence was leaked to the media." "That made it impossible for us to do our thing secretly like before." "So the Chief cooked up a scheme." "He'd make a deal with the PM, and force the Public Prosecutors Office to take action." "He pretended to sacrifice Section 9." ""Sacrifice Section 9."" "Even if that's the case, have you any idea what it was like for me these past three months?" "I had no way of knowing what had happened to you guys." "Hey, don't take it so hard." "Think of it as an extended vacation." "It's not as if we were filled in on the details of this little op beforehand, either." "The Chief was confident that we would survive, then find each other and regroup, which is why he made the tough decision to go ahead with his plan." "Hell, your arrest and confinement was a way to protect you." "The Chief had kept you alive and safe by getting you clear of the Section 9 clean-up operation." "For one thing, your body's totally natural and you'd just gotten out of the hospital." "Not to mention that you're a married man, fudging data would be hard, so he kept you out of the loop till it was safe." "Don't be too offended." "According to the records, I'm a convict spending the rest of my days up the river." "More profit, less honour." "Meaning that we're once again an offensive organisation, which doesn't officially exist, of course." "That's what this was all about?" "Uh, but, hey, GUYS, the Major, what happened to her?" "Hmm." "Who cares?" "I don't give a rat's ass about that bitch." "Batou, that reminds me, weren't you bawling your eyes out a few months ago?" " Oh, screw you." " Oh, really?" "In that case, what do you say I grab the satellite footage from the scene?" "Yeah." "And you ought to send it to the Major, too." " All right, cut it out!" " "Motoko!" Right?" "You bastard!" "I told you to stop, damn it!" "Take it back!" "I give, I give." "Seems like it's over." "Hmm." "The rest can be left to the Attorney General." "My work here is done." "The Public Prosecutors Office will be able to hold their heads high, thanks to this." "But now that it's all behind us, what remains for you?" "From my part, I'm just gratified that I was able to see justice served." " And that's enough for me." " Hmm." "So, what are your current plans?" "You can't keep on playing war with tanks and weapons forever, you know." "Why not join up with us?" "I've always thought you were better suited for the judicial world." "Well, I'm not so sure." "Section 9 wasn't finished by this trivial matter." "I intend to rebuild my unit." "In fact, I'm on my way to scout a prospective member." "Oh." "Now I get it." "Hah!" "You really aren't the Laughing Man, that's for sure." "Welcome." "You took longer than I expected." "Don't give me that." "You didn't even send me an invitation." ""If you stay right where you are, eventually the world will come to you."" "I believe it was Doisneau who said that." "Yes." "I had a lot of time to think about what should be done with you." "Wasn't much else to do while I was floating around." "Speaking of which, I thought you might have decided to keep on floating like that." "I was afraid that you were going to die." "I'm not ready to bid life farewell just yet." "Though I did have an interesting little near-death experience during this recent business, when my fully-remote cyberbrain was blown off." "Your brand new body was destroyed, but you still haven't done a prosthetic swap out." "You've got a sharp eye." "Well, peeking is my hobby." "So, what's the deal?" "Meaning, what is this?" "Some kind of information graveyard?" "Did you seriously think you could somehow change the world from here?" "Yeah." "Sort of, at first." "Hmm." "How do you feel about it now?" "I'm not blazing with satisfaction or anything." "But the truth is, it all ended for me the instant I shared my memories with you." "At that point, my work was done." "I figured that you'd probably be able to run with it from there." "Is that so?" "You're a hell of a liar, kid." "I clearly recall you didn't want me involved." "I'm sorry." "But the minute you share and synchronise all your information, you lose your uniqueness, and become absorbed into the unconscious malice of a third party that has no motive." "Or perhaps into the will of someone who does have one." "Are those your words based on what you've acquired from a hard-earned experience?" "Yes." "Because the fact is, you yourself played the role of a Laughing Man copycat as well." "Well, I have to admit, it was a fascinating phenomenon." "At any rate, what was your underlying reason for orchestrating such a huge event in the first place?" ""To you everything that's happening in the world appears phoney," ""to be something other than what it is, right?"" "J.D. Salinger?" "Yes." "And when it comes to cyberisation, I'm pretty much the perfect poster boy." "So, you'd think, at the very least, I would have felt terrified at the thought of contracting cyberbrain sclerosis." "I'll tell you." "It was a simple piece of mail I stumbled across in the Net that began this whole thing." "What I'd found was a blackmail document that had probably been sent to Serano Genomics." "It was armed with a thesis that was a comparative study of the inadequacy of Serano micromachines versus the effectiveness of the Murai Vaccine." "Then the original Laughing Man was the person who authored it?" "You could say that, I suppose." ""I am the machine that reveals the world to you" ""as only I alone am able to see it."" "Dziga Vertov." "He was a Russian filmmaker, wasn't he?" "Yes." "I was kidding myself by thinking it was my personal mission to prove and circulate that information, vital data I alone had discovered." "Failing spectacularly." "The pure, innocent mediator grew dejected at the base nature of the social system, and he turned mute." "Yes." "It was because of that I became the vanishing mediator." "Just like an author whose existence is emphasised by the fact that he rarely puts out any new works for publication." ""In other words, by disappearing," ""it acts as a regulating medium for the dynamism of the social system."" ""Per sociological theory, it ultimately vanishes," ""leaving no trace of its presence inside or outside the system."" "Fredric Jameson, I believe." "Yes." "But no." "The latter was Masachi Osawa." "Even though I was familiar with the words," "I didn't believe it until I saw it with my own eyes." "Who knew that copies could still be produced despite the absence of an original?" "If you had to give a name to this phenomenon, what would you label it?" "It would be Stand Alone Complex." "Right." "Yes." "The Stand Alone Complex." "From the start, the very nature of our current social system has contained the mechanisms to trigger such an amazing occurrence." "Personally, however, I feel this marks the beginning of a new era of despair." "What's your opinion?" "I don't know." "It's impossible for me to say." "Although I have found one thing capable of restoring your individuality after all your information has been synchronised." "Oh, really?" "And what's that?" "Everyday human curiosity." "Oh, you're right." "You know, that's something that never occurred to me." "I think my brain has already started to harden." "OK, what's going to happen to me now?" "Will I be arrested for kidnapping?" "Or for inciting multiple, simultaneous terrorist acts?" "Hey, don't ask me." "That little matter is completely at his discretion." "Why not ask him yourself?" "I've been listening in for a while now." "But without an external memory device, I couldn't keep up with you two." "Have you read every single book in here, young man?" "Not every book." "Let me introduce you." "This is Daisuke Aramaki." "He's my boss." "The Chief of Section 9." "I'm very pleased to meet you." "Do you actually plan to continue with this dull, futureless occupation of preserving obsolete printed materials that nowadays are only published out of force of habit?" "Yes." "If I'm allowed to, then I will." "As far as this case is concerned, it will probably be concluded that the original Laughing Man never officially existed." "So I have an offer to make." "It's this." "Do you want to put your hacker skills to good use and join up with Section 9 as our ninth regular team player?" "Wow!" "I'm surprised." "You came here to recruit me." "That's right." "Man, I'm speechless." "It does sound like it would be interesting, but I'm gonna have to pass." "Cos, as much as I hate to say it, I'm not a team player." "Hmm." "Well, the kid shot you down." "Now what?" "Not a thing." "Section 9 will resume work as an anti-crime unit." "It will remain that way for as long as you and I want it to." "That's all, Major." "Major!" "Assemble the team with an A-2 loadout!" "Batou, you copy that?" "You need a lift?" "Togusa!" "I'm already on my way." "Ishikawa!" "Saito!" "I'll go separately and meet up with you." "Ready on my end." "Paz!" "Borma!" " Just give the word." " We gotta get lucky sometime."