"Angels and demons circle above me, through the thorns to the stars." "Only those unable to perceive its call do not know happiness." "Watch in awe, watch in awe." "Aeria gloris, aeria gloris." "Watch in awe, watch in awe." "Aeria gloris, aeria gloris." "I am calling, calling now, spirits rise and falling." "To remain myself longer." "Calling, calling, in the depths of longing." "To remain myself longer." "Watch in awe, aeria gloris." "What's this?" "Internal data from a vocational aid center under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice." "Vocational aid center?" "They temporarily isolate patients with severe cases of Cyberbrain Closed Shell Syndrome and give them training to help them reenter society." "You've probably at least heard of it." "Last week, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's database experienced a large-scale hack by someone at that facility." "The information that leaked out included top-secret material rated above Level A." "Notice the amount of time it took to crack their barrier." "They breached a triple layer of varied attack barriers in just two hours." "If one person was responsible, he's an old pro who's even better than the Major." "Better than the Major?" "Just to be sure, I had Ishikawa and Borma run a trace route, but that center is the point of origin, all right." "But the strange thing is that the center's circuits are normally isolated, making external contact from the inside, and vice versa, fundamentally impossible." "What's even odder is the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's reaction." "They've had top-secret data peeped, and they haven't filed a single damage report." "Even if they're ashamed that they were hacked, it's an unnatural response." "There must be some reason behind their reaction, but if we don't cover our tracks, there's a chance that they'll track us down." "Which brings us to you." "An undercover investigation, huh?" "In the Forest of Pupae" "Their network room, huh?" "Just like in the report..." "It's not even wired for power." "Hey, what's the matter, kid?" "I'm going online..." "Today's my online day." "Hey!" "Who are you?" "Huh?" "Uh..." "He's in here." "You must be the new trainee." "I'm Maruta, the center's director." "My name's Togusa." "Now, you know that you're supposed to be working together with the others right now." "I'm going online..." "Today's my online day." "What's wrong with him?" "Are you running in cyberbrain autistic mode?" "Yes, ma'am." "Move it!" "Be careful." " Yes, ma'am!" " Yes, ma'am!" "Today's my online day..." "Yeah, that's true." "But it's your work hour right now." "I'm going to Virtual City Alpha..." "Today's..." "Today's my online day!" "Today's my online day!" "Hey!" "Huh?" "Catch that boy!" "Hurry!" "Never let your guard down." "Thank you." "You were a big help." "It's all right." "He's only sleeping." "I see." "What was that all about?" "The rule here is that you can only connect to external nets under staff supervision." "Plus, we lost our connection in this room yesterday, so the boy must have panicked a bit." "Please, won't you sit?" "Yes, ma'am..." "That boy is a stickler for matters of regulations, especially things like taking turns and scheduling." "Still, the way you handled him seemed a little excessive to me." "When people in the general populace hear "Cyberbrain Closed Shell Syndrome,"" "they immediately picture someone who is maladjusted to cyberbrain technology." "But the real problem is that they are too compatible with it." "Too compatible?" "Yes." "When they feel like connecting to the net, they try exhaustively to stay connected." "And when it's with a specific person, they'll even commit brain-diving in an attempt to share their consciousness, or even being fried and killed by that person's attack barrier." "There are also ones who seal themselves off behind a barrier, refuse to connect with anyone, and they become unable to come back." "These children have severe symptoms like that." "They spend their afternoons here in this ward." "To prevent such accidents, it's necessary to quarantine them from the network." "It's for their own protection, as much as it is for others." "That's what this facility is for, right?" "But do they all have the ability to blow away a dummy barrier like that boy did?" "About that..." "Take a look at this, and I think you'll understand." "In a sense, this place is a danger zone." "Some cases of Cyberbrain Closed Shell Syndrome involve... but there are quite a few cases where the patient displays an astonishing knack for cyberspace." "We make use of the peculiarities of their condition in their job training by having them program barrier mazes." "It sometimes results in a barrier so remarkable that government agencies adopt it." "Each and every one is constructed in a truly unique way." "If we left them alone, I expect that these children would work all day, never getting bored, putting barrier mazes together, or trying to dismantle them." "Well, I suppose you've seen about all there is to see." "Hm?" "Uh, yes, ma'am..." "I'll just put you in charge of a single group room for now." "This is Aoi." "He'll be one of your charges." "Yes, ma'am." "I believe the other children are already back in their room, so take him back to join them." "Yes, ma'am." ""Aoi," huh?" "Nice to meet you." "What took you so long, Aoi?" "Where have you..." "Hey, I'm Togusa." "I'll be looking after you guys starting today." "Nice to meet you." "Hey, how about playing some catch?" "It's still light out." "Hey, give it back!" "You're freaking him out!" "Oh." "When he doesn't have his mitt, he starts to panic." "Plus, nobody wants to go outside, not anymore." "You guys aren't being mistreated here, are you?" "Hey, the Chief says he's gonna come again!" "Really?" "Yeah, I just heard!" "I'm surprised, he was just here last week!" "Last week?" "Who's this "Chief" guy?" "Pretty slick, mister!" "What's wrong?" "We just don't know if you're a grownup we can trust yet." "Oh, right..." "So we can't just blab everything to you." "Rules are strict around here, huh?" "What did you expect?" "I'm gonna go tell the others, then!" "Sure!" "He sure is late..." "Oh, you're worried?" "Like hell!" "He's a hump, so I thought he might have blown his cover or something." "Who are you calling a hump?" "!" "You're late!" "What kept you?" "Uh, well, it was tricky to establish a link that wouldn't leave any tracks." "After all, this is the only place with a line to the outside." "Well?" "The center is using Cyberbrain Closed Shell Syndrome patients  to program and tear down barrier mazes." "If there's someone here who's exploiting their techniques, it might explain the skill of the hack into the Ministry of Health and Welfare." "I see..." "So, any suspects?" "No, not yet." "But this is one weird facility." "They've even got a heavy-loadout cyborg walking around." "Understood." "Keep up your investigation." "Roger." "Uh, Major?" "There's one other thing that bothers me." "What?" "Who do you suppose "The Chief"is?" ""Chief?" As in "leader"?" "Yeah, it's something the kids at the center mentioned." "They said something about him coming here last week." "Understood." "We'll do a phonetic breakdown and run a search for the time being." "You collect all the information you can on him before your next report." "Roger." "So, somebody besides me has been using this, huh?" ""I thought what I'd do was, I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes." "Or should I?"" "What the hell?" "Oil paint...?" "Wow, that's pretty amazing." "It's almost like a photograph." "But you don't do the final painting?" "Do you know anything about this "Chief" guy?" "I will create a world of beauty." "I will see through a new mind." "Morning." "Now what?" "Look, I'm not gonna tell you about the Chief." "Yeah, I know." "You ever see anything like that?" "Too cool for words, isn't it?" "You guys can read virtual visualization programming?" "What, can't you?" "No." "In that case, patch into this guy's brain." "You'll see some cool stuff." "But be careful." "There was a staffer once who dove into his head." "Their consciousness got tangled up, and he's been in there ever since." "Well, how about it?" "No, I'd better not." "Man, you're no fun." "I thought you'd have more guts." "Hey, who do you suppose this "Chief" guy is?" "All right, then." "I'll leave it to you." "Yes, ma'am." "Oh, it's you." "Good afternoon." "Stepping out, ma'am?" "Yes, there's a welfare industry social gathering." "Oh, there is?" "Well, we'll see you later." "Sorry about this..." "Wait there for a while, okay?" "I'll be done in a minute." "More oil paintings, huh?" "No suspicious records to speak of..." "And there were zero visitors last week, huh?" "Damn it, not being able to access external memory is a royal pain..." "Oh, dear." "You've abandoned your charge to do some spying?" "Look all you want, you won't find any clues about the Chief in there." "I guess excuses are out of the question at this point, huh?" "Hurt him, but don't kill him." "Yes, ma'am." "Hey, wait a minute." "If we fight in here, these paintings might be..." "You're going to fight with that?" "Like I said, you can't be rough with paintings." "Unlike electronic data, they can't be duplicated." "You didn't think I'd be unarmed, did you?" "Public Security Section 9?" "Major, every terminal in the center just went online." "Something must've happened." "They're trying to decrypt our access codes." "His cover was blown?" "I don't know." "Cut all circuits immediately!" "What's the holdup?" "!" "I-I'm locked out!" "Batou, we're pulling Togusa out of there!" "You got it!" "Ishikawa, gain control of the center's circuits!" "Saito, secure an evac route!" "Got her!" "I fried that Al peeping tom!" "Kuroha!" "Hey, Chief!" "Where have you been?" "Things have gone bad." "I've been spotted by people on the outside." "Lots of grownups will be coming." "I have to disappear before then." "Huh?" "But why?" "Everything's gone so great up 'til now!" "We'll protect you, same as always!" "No." "It's time that I left this place." "Wait!" "Does that mean you're gonna wipe all our memories and then leave?" "Got 'em!" "I'm sorry, but yes." "Oh..." "So we'll never be able to cheer you on in Virtual City Alpha again." "I understand." "But we don't want to forget you." "Leave us something to remember you by." "I will." "I promise." "Togusa!" "Hey!" "Togusa!" "Togusa!" "What the hell happened here, Togusa?" "!" "Damn it, Togusa, wake up!" "Togusa!" "So, was there any evidence that the "Aoi" boy Togusa mentioned really existed?" "I couldn't find anything." "It's possible that the center's computer and the staff's memories were altered, but I can't go much farther since all we have to go on is Togusa's testimony." "What about that portrait he said that other girl drew?" "We couldn't find that, either." "Oh, so that's why he wanted to submit a sketch as his report?" "Yeah, a handsome young man in a wheelchair with a lefty catcher's mitt..." "He said he'd draw it from the memories in his own cyberbrain." "A lefty catcher's mitt, huh?" "In net lingo, that means something that seems to exist, but really doesn't." "You sure about that?" "Sorry I took so long, Major." "Gimme!" "I wanna see if this is somebody who could let us write off this fiasco of yours." "Don't be surprised when you see this." "This is my best work ever." "What the hell is this?" "You went to a bizarre place and came back with a case of bizarre memories..." "Tachikoma..." "Tachikomatic Days!" "This thing doesn't fit very well." "Isn't a lefty's mitt supposed to go on your right hand?" "It's still not snug." "Before we get into the whole lefty-righty issue..." "You've only got three fingers!"