"What is a physical body?" "The body is merely an object." "It is an existence all too impure to store the gods within us called souls." "Now, you will remember." "The bloodstained history" "Material desire." "Hunger." "Sexual drive." "Desire to dominate." "Desire for fame." "As long as there is a body, desires will be born." "As long as there is desire, human ego will not disappear." "Humans will continue to fight to fulfill their bodies' desires, and it will never end." "At this rate, there is no future!" "Now, awaken your soul!" "Now, be rid of that filthy body." "We are Scratch, an electronic transcendence group." "We are disciples of God, sent here to free your soul from your body and lead you to the infinite sea of electrons." "BRAIN SCRATCH" "Good evening." "This is CBC News." "First, we have news about the electronic transcendence group Scratch." "Last week, the ISSP and all Sol solar system police departments received the wanted poster for the leader, Londes and began searching the homes of high-ranking members..." "Here at the scene..." "Enticing people with "easy entry" and "salvation of the soul" Scratch has been able to constantly grow in numbers..." "However, another suicide..." "The members of Scratch use the brain wave control device on this new game console to scan their own brain waves and use a program created by their leader, Londes which is said to copy the spirit from brain waves as digital data and upload that spirit data into the universal network." "They believe that doing this will make them exist as a soul without a body," "Now Professor, they say that Londes, the leader, was once a doctor." "Is such a thing possible?" "This is ridiculous." "Completely in the realm of science fiction." "It may be theoretically, possible to do so but a theory is only, a theory, in the end." "Yes, and he hasn't returned for two weeks." "Lady, you have to talk it out with your husband." "It's about your son..." "But..." "He isn't the type that would just run away from home..." "Could he have been kidnapped?" "!" "Lady, are you listening to what I'm saying?" "That's got to be it!" "That religion that's been popular lately..." "That whatchamacallit..." "All right, we're gonna take a break." "Hi!" "Today, I'm introducing Power CDJ, an item for DJ's who don't exercise much!" "You adjust the BPM using this lever and it allows you to be a DJ while you exercise!" "Then, the reason you decided to join is...?" "Yes, er, I..." "I got tired of a debt-filled life and that was when I found this..." "Yes..." "If I rid myself of a body, I'll no longer need money" "Hey, Jet!" "Hold on, it's almost done." "I don't care!" "Just get over here!" "By releasing the spirit from the body, we are able to discard all desire." "—So you're going to forget your debt?" "—I thought we hadn't seen her in a while." "What kind of joke is this?" "Brain Dream!" "The new game console, Brain Dream, can read your mind!" "Control your games the way that you want to!" "Are you always fighting with your controls?" "Do the cords get tangled?" "If that's the case then let's dream together!" "And so, at our station, we have the strictest policies in the world, and against programs such as this..." "Oh, there it is." "I'm gonna eat now!" "Doctor Londes." "Wanted for murder." "The bounty is an amazing 38 million." "I see." "That's enough for her to flake out on us." "This guy was apparently a neurobiology researcher fifty years ago." "However, one day he suddenly had a vision from God and immersed himself in research to store the human spirit the functions of the brain itself, as digital data." "Since then, he's been missing..." "Then, two years ago, he suddenly reappeared to form the electronic transcendence group Scratch." "What the hell is that?" "In other words, a new religious cult." "Anyway, according to him..." "The human brain function itself is a weak stream of electronic pulses so if you are able to copy that as data, and replay it over the universal network as a program, you can exist only as a soul..." "Are you listening to me?" "Well, it's up to you to believe it or not." "There are already 20,000 believers." "Of which approximately 100 have committed suicide or ended up missing." "And so the cops have started moving their lazy asses." "His face ain't appetizing." "Seconds!" "That's all." "We're gonna go after him, too." "We are Scratch, an electronic transcendence group." "We are disciples of God, sent here to free your soul from your body and lead you to the infinite sea of electrons." "Searching, searching, where are you?" "Oh, so you want to be a member as well?" "Y-Yeah, I guess..." "For that, we need to cleanse your soul first." "As the first step..." "Uh... before that, I want to meet this Mr. Londes..." "Do you know where he is?" "Oh, of course." "Really?" "He's in heaven." "Londes?" "Hum, did such a guy exist?" "Ya gotta help me, old man." "You're the only colleague of his that is still alive." "Can't you remember something?" "Anything?" "Maybe he existed..." "Maybe he didn't..." "Which is it?" "Oh, then you want to be a member as well?" "Yeah, I guess..." "For that, we need to cleanse your soul first." "As the first step..." "Oh, can I ask something before that?" "I want to see Mr. Londes..." "Well, anything, his soul or whatever, will do, but how can I meet him?" "Do you really want to become a member?" "And so Dr. Londes is the center of everyone's attention..." "The first big-name guy in a while!" "Unfortunately, we have absolutely no new information!" "Oh, my..." "Everyone is doing their best to find him, but there just isn't any information." "We're seeing his face virtually, every day from Scratch's TV programs, but we know nothing important about him." "Is he really a soul without a body?" "Now, I have one other bit of important news for you." "Oh?" "What is it?" "Actually..." "Hurry up and tell me!" "We've been on the air for a long time now and I know it's sudden, but this is our final episode!" "You're kidding!" "They're canning us because of low ratings, unfortunately..." "Unfortunately?" "!" "How come I didn't hear about this?" "!" "No good?" "No good." "I got nothing, either." "Nope, nope..." "I went after his colleagues from his research days but it was all for nothing." "And I got nothing out of the members." "Oh, it's Faye-Faye." "I'm in... a little... trouble." "Are you listening...?" "I think I really can..." "get rid of my debt..." "Anyway, I'm trusting you with Faye." "And I'm gonna be having a hard time if you're gonna be baby-sitting forever..." "As I said!" "Brain Dream is pretty rare!" "I have to line up here if I want one!" "Are you really going to hack into his home page?" "That's the only lead we got left." "Beyond that..." "Faye seems to have dug something up, so we can use that..." "Oof, it's about that time." "All right, go for it." "Okay..." "Welcome to Scratch, an electronic transcendence group." "Head straight if you wish to join us." "Head over that way to request more detailed information about Scratch." "So I guess I can't copy my spirit immediately..." "Guess I have no choice..." "Joining us?" "Please input your personal data." "Data, data." "Fake data!" "Blood, muscle, and bone..." "When those are lost, humans face death..." "What lies beyond that?" "Heaven?" "Hell?" "Reincarnation?" "Such things cannot possibly exist." "Those are mere excuses..." "What's wrong?" "What is this?" "None of the previous paths to salvation had such a clear vision as this..." "Awaken your spirit!" "Now, be rid of that filthy body." "High frequency?" "Yeah." "I'm not exactly sure but it has some contraption that paralyzes the sympathetic nerves." "In just seconds, everything before my eyes went blank and I passed out." "If Ein didn't realize it and bite me, I would have been a member of Scratch." "Anyway, we need to devise a countermeasure to..." "Well, I'll try becoming a member now." "Hey, Spike!" "Hey!" "I'm sure dogs have brain waves, too..." "Ed wanna wear it, too!" "If you become a member, who is going to look Londes up?" "Do it." "Welcome to Scratch, an electronic transcendence gr..." "Oh!" "Good going, Ed!" "This is..." "Can this really be?" "A guy named Londes never existed." "His past, all the records they were all counterfeit." "And all the controls lead back to here..." "Alles Valley Hospice." "Ed, help me." "Papa!" "Not yet!" "Papa!" "Nobody here would want visitors." "And you need an appointment to see someone." "Or did you come here for inheritance?" "Nothing of the sort!" "Actually, this girl's twin brother is here." "Papa!" "Girl?" "Is she really a girl?" "Papa!" "A-Actually... it's a long story..." "I'm just having her sleep." "Of course, the other bounty, hunters all slept to death." "We finally tracked the long-lost brother to be here." "Papa!" "It was a shock to my daughter..." "She has been insane ever since and I thought about having her meet her brother just once." "You can go." "I can't thank you enough." "Why do you kill off your members?" "What's your purpose?" "I am not forcing anything." "They are merely practicing a faith that they decided to believe." "Why do you think people believe in God?" "It's because they want to." "It's not easy living in this rotten world." "There is nothing certain while living on in this world." "Do you get it?" "God didn't create humans." "Humans created God." "He's it?" "I'm sick of this little act." "What's wrong?" "Come on out." "An illusion isn't enough for me." "That is correct..." "A man named Londes does not exist in this world." "He is merely an imaginary, character I created a mere illusion created by scanning lines." "Is this a brain wave controller like Brain Dream?" "Hey, Ed." "Can you cut off the connection between the brain wave controller and the network?" "Yeah." "All right." "But don't turn off the life support system." "Do you know what the greatest and worst invention that humans ever made was?" "Television." "Television controls people using information and steals their sense of reality," "Yes." "Now, television itself is a religion." "TV has created people that are easily, fooled by such an idiotic fantasy," "Just like a little kid." "What...?" "You are the one who can't tell..." "fantasy from reality, Londes." "If you want to dream, dream alone." "W" " What do you know?" "!" "What do you think you know about me?" "What..." "What are you doing?" "!" "Stop!" "Help!" "You can't do that!" "Stop!" "Shit!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Don't turn it off!" "What..." "What did I do?" "!" "N" " No..." "This is unfair..." "Why... am I the only one...?" "Shit..." "Everyone should have had the same body as me..." "No..." "I..." "I don't want to disappear!" "I don't want to disappear..." "Ronny Spangen." "Previously a hacker." "A boy who became a vegetable two years ago when he was 13, from a medical accident." "No... you are no longer a boy." "You're a damn good con artist." "Oh, long time no see." "Where am I?" "It was all a kid's dream." "Yeah, all he could do was dream..." "This time, have sweet dreams." "Our souls that God has given us... our spirit." "Is not our body an existence all too small and weak for our spirits which found a way, to swim through the vast network and live in the infinity of space?" "Aishiteta to nageku niwa..." "Too much time has passed by amarinimo toki wa sugite shimatta ...to lament that we were deeply in love." "Mada kokoro no hokorobi wo..." "The wind keeps blowing, while my heart iyasenu mama kaze ga fuiteru ...cannot heal all the tears in it." "Kawaita hitomi de dareka naite kure Someone, cry for me with parched eyes." "The real folk blues." "Honto no kanashimi ga shiritai dake I only want to know what true sadness is." "Doro no kawa ni tsukatta..." "Sitting in muddy water jinsei mo waruku wa nai..." "...isn't such a bad life ichido kiri de owaru nara..." "...if it ends after the first time..." "COMING EPISODE" "HARD LUCK WOMAN" "Next episode: "Hard Luck Woman"." "HARD LUCK WOMAN"