""A near future not quite so informatized that nations and races have disappeared,"" ""though corporate Nets have covered the planet and electrons and light stream everywhere..."" "We've successfully packaged the virus with cyberbrains." "Fire-Starter can create all the soldiers we want." "The world's cyber economy has only just begun." "I'll pay whatever it takes to reconcile with the cartel..." "True magic is the science of sciences." "Could you move your car, sir?" "I'm with Public Security." "How'd it go?" "Bingo." "The bottom of the braincase has been warped by high pressure from directly below." "It's charred." "I can't analyze it like this." "We'll have to infiltrate the lab." "Flight 381 crashed because this guy blew himself up with an Ariel." "Guess this was his target?" ""Group of Foreign Cyberbrain Engineers on Flight" ""381 Assumed Dead" Guess this was his target?" ""Group of Foreign Cyberbrain Engineers on Flight 381 Assumed Dead."" ""Group of Foreign Cyberbrain Engineers on Flight 381." ""Assumed Dead" Beats me." "The issue is, why'd he do it?" "Beats me." "The issue is, why'd he do it?" "Who is he?" "Tei Murasaka, male, age 32." "A stockbroker with dual Japanese and American citizenship?" "No criminal record." "His address is..." "Damn, someone beat us?" "I love my job!" "You've got to be kidding me." "What?" "!" "Stop right there!" "Shit!" "Hello!" "Behave yourself." "This guy..." "You mind telling me why an American agent beat us to the suspect's condo?" "Because you moved too fast." "You'd already charged in by the time the report made it through Foreign Affairs to me." "Blame the bureaucracy for that." "Your team failed to call me directly." "Why didn't you tell me you'd connected the attack on Flight 381 with Fire-Starter?" "The intel came through my personal Net." "I can't reveal my source." "I see." "Then let's make a deal." "The man you were after, Tei Murasaka, isn't a stockbroker... he's an American intelligence agent." "Who told you that?" "His colleague." "Murasaka is indeed an agent of ours." "Nice to meet you, Major Kusanagi." "I'm Jeril, with American Army intelligence." "This is our recommended prosthetic body for diplomatic activities." "Is there a problem?" "No." "Well?" "Have you been pursuing Fire-Starter's broker, too?" "Yes." "We refer to him as "Pyromaniac", because his virus sales unleash Fire-Starter damage wherever he goes." "I'd love to have your help capturing him." "If you're looking to catch a firebug, aren't you asking the wrong department?" "You're the only firefighter with a record of success against Fire-Starter." "I believe that makes you the right observer of our capture op." "Describe this op." "Pyromaniac is in Japan right now to carry out a hit on Colonel Hozumi for the cartel." "Our antivirus specialist Murasaka was on his trail, but we abruptly lost contact." "And by the time you found him, he'd already been infected and made the terrorist attack on Flight 381." "Foreign Affairs passed along a request for a joint operation." "You join in." "My team, under American Army command?" "The deal's already been done." "Fine." "In exchange, I get to personally interrogate Hozumi and analyze the virus." "So you're telling us to join the fire brigade?" "You're not the relief pitcher type." "We just have to use the authority they gave us to beat them to him." "We'll transfer Hozumi from the Army Medical Center to the courthouse." "The theory is that Pyromaniac will target her en route." "The Army's setting up an encirclement." "We'll predict the enemy's movements and put out the sparks before they grow." "We're fire doors now?" "!" "And under Yankee supervision, too." "But once a game starts, it belongs to the players." "We'll be the ones to get Fire-Starter." "You plan to snatch their whole case?" "!" "Problem?" "Nah, I was getting sick of this dump anyway." "Borma, you keep following up on the Flight 381 bombing." "Paz, go through Murasaka's background with a fine-tooth comb." "Ishikawa, look for data on Pyromaniac, and find out how he got Fire-Starter." "Batou, Togusa, and Saito, eliminate every possible way to hit Hozumi." "What'll you do?" "I'll get the bait we need to trap him." "How does it feel to be nothing but a head, Colonel Hozumi?" "The false signals aren't too bad." "I wouldn't call the experience pleasant, though." "What brings you here?" "Your past ties to the cartel make you useful." "That's it?" "Just kill me." "Pyromaniac wants to get rid of the information in your brain." "You'll be our bait to lure him out." "I'm a witness!" "And as long as you stay within my sight and my reach, I'll protect you." "The negotiations are complete." " Understood." " All as planned." "Only by struggle and toil can we fulfill our duty, and only information can bring true joy." "I made the barriers around the facility nice and thick." "We're sure to pick up on any infiltration by an outside Net." "Togusa here." "I'm done checking out the transport route." "No problems yet." "I'm almost done marking the main sniper perches." "Now it all depends on how good their snipers are." "Mr. Saito!" "Where should we go next?" "Wherever the wind blows, kid." "Oh, wow!" "Okay, I'll turn to windward!" "Listen, what if he gets inside disguised as a Public Security guy or a prosthetics tech?" "Hospital or not, this is an Army facility." "You worry too much, rookie." "Would we bother setting up a cordon like this if the perp were that dumb?" "Don't make me laugh." "The Prime Minister approved your request to use Hozumi as bait." "But do not let her die." "She's got a lot of state secrets in her un-cyberized regions." "I'm aware." "We've prepped the hospital area." "I've done all an "observer" can." "Major, I found out who Murasaka was tailing." "An upstanding citizen volunteered the info." "He was apparently after a cyber-drug dealer by the name of Galvez Garcia." "Is he Pyromaniac?" "Dunno." "But Murasaka dropped off the map right after attempting contact with him." "That's all I got here." "I'll keep digging." "Good." "This guy, eh?" "Mr. Saito!" "I made sure all the snipers are in position!" ""Cyberbrain Neurology"" "I'm seeing delays in your storage cells." "I'll order some medicinal micromachines to slow down the cyberbrain sclerosis." "We'll begin the transfer in twenty minutes." "Your security arrangements are watertight." "We could perfect them even more if we were in command." "I can't allow that." "Now it's a matter of whether our prey walks into our trap." "American spies and super-class-A hackers... what reliable escorts." "We're not doing this for you." "This is for us." "I'm cutting you off from all Nets for a while." "I'll get a good night's sleep." "What is this?" "Cyberbrain contamination!" "What?" "It's him." "He's infiltrated..." "Batou!" "He hasn't tripped any warnings here!" "Who is this guy?" "Hey." "What's wrong?" "Are you okay?" "Hey!" "Shit!" "This again?" "!" "A hacking?" "!" "The Army's encrypted channel is being hacked!" "Cut the connection, or everyone's brains will be fried!" "I can't!" "It's locked..." "Is Hozumi all right?" "You can't pierce a titanium braincase with a 9 mm." "What do you intend to do?" "Connect you to the Net, using myself as a bypass." "Major!" "I told you:" "She's my bait." "We'll lure Pyromaniac in and capture him." "Failure is unacceptable." "Make it work." "Ishikawa!" "Access my cyberbrain now." "We have a job to do." "A rough one, too, if you're talking like that." "Use Hozumi as a decoy?" "!" "Ape-Face is gonna throttle you." "I got permission." "Pyromaniac should come to fry Hozumi's brain the second we connect her to the Net." "When he tries to access her, keep her guarded and tie down his lines." "While he's distracted, I'll run a trace and pinpoint his location." "You make it sound so easy." "Major!" "You called and we came!" "Yay!" "We're starting now." "Okay!" "Wow, amazing processing speed!" "Attack barrier being hacked." "Gotta restore it!" "You are the greatest sinner here." "You are the true servant of the Devil." "Quotes from Bryusov's The Fiery Angel?" "I tied down his lines." "Let all be cast into the flames." "You're not getting away!" "Major?" "!" "Did he whiteout?" "Does that mean he's dead?" "Concentrate on your work!" "Time to initialize!" "He's throwing too many punches!" "What's going on here?" "!" "He must be using the soldiers' cyberbrains to clone the virus." "What the heck?" "Logicomas, one of you synchronize with my Net." "We'll clone his virus and counterattack." "Huh?" "!" "But that will halve our processing power..." "Just do it!" "Right!" "Oh, dear." "Pardon me!" "Major, his transfer speed..." "Yes." "Pyromaniac is hacking us from somewhere in this building." "I don't want to burden my lines." "Chief, call Batou and Togusa over here." "Have them search the building until I pinpoint his location." "All right." "Where are you, Pyromaniac?" "Major!" "The barrier can't take any more!" "We're almost there." "Hold out." "I found him!" "Major?" "!" "Police!" "Don't move!" "Yes, the deal's come off as planned." "This is the key to the Third World." "Drive." "They say he was driven by layer upon overwritten layer of false memories." "We didn't find any evidence tying him to the virus's creator, nor did we find Fire-Starter's original code." "He erased the source along with himself... or rather, someone else did?" "Unconfirmed." "We'll have to wait for the specialists' analysis." "When I accessed that man directly, I didn't sense a Ghost." "Fire-Starter will spark the evolution of all men's Ghosts." "Therefore, it must be protected." "It must use cyberbrains to version up, then be returned to the Net." "I will go on living even after my death." "The original Fire-Starter..." "I will track it down." "I will go on living even after my death." "Explain this to me." "The "Pyromaniac" in custody isn't Galvez?" "They've run ID checks on the corpses at the crash site, and they found one they think is Galvez." "A 97%-probability match..." "Who the hell did we capture, then?" "I don't know." "Respected cyberbrain engineers are looking into that, as well as how he got Fire-Starter." "Lots of unfamiliar names on that list." "Most of the well-known engineers are dead, since they were on Murasaka's flight." "I hear almost all of those were corporate advisors." "And connected to American intelligence, too." "Why do you know that?" "!" "It's not something worth hiding, is it?" "I assume the Americans planned to use them to analyze Pyromaniac after the op... here in Japan." "It was going to be a joint investigation, but yes." "They were probably just political opportunists on corporate retainers." "I doubt they could manage a decent analysis anyway." "You're saying there's another way?" "It'd be faster for me to look into it." "Or you could let me analyze Hozumi..." "I can't let you do either." "You don't have authority." "So give me authority." "And a budget." "I'm ironing things out with the Prime Minister." "Look through this." "What is this?" "A job for your team." "Hozumi's being secretly handed over to the Americans at 0100 hours." "You transport her." "We're giving top secret intel to the Americans?" "The state secrets in her cyberbrain will be returned to us, and Hozumi will ostensibly be in exile." "Excuse me, ma'am, do you have an appointment?" "Yes." "Here's my interview request form." "I didn't think we'd meet like this again." "Our fates must be tied." "Pyromaniac just set back the schedule." "Trust me, I didn't want to come here twice." "Everyone who uses the Fire-Starter virus believes it will change the world." "You only believe in the reality before you, so you wouldn't understand." "Thanks for your opinion, but we're done chatting." "This is goodbye, ex-Colonel Hozumi." "The Net will give me life after death." "It's getting foggy!" "Will our optical camouflage do any good?" "If this snow keeps piling up, fog won't be the issue." "Oh!" "Men!" "Time for our field trip." "She's in a bad mood." "Because it's a rookie job." "We already took care of most of the guys after Hozumi." "Her cyberbrain's gonna be scrapped." "Why not transport it like industrial waste?" "She's being kept alive because she's still useful." "While she's alive, we have to treat her that way." "Awfully noble words for someone so pissed off." "Was the old ape snide at you?" "No." "Let's load her in the truck and get moving." "Major!" "The job's going as planned, Chief." "Pyromaniac just broke free." "He escaped?" "!" "All security in the facility has been silenced." "Hold on, I'm looping in my men." "Go." "He gave all the engineers and two of the American agents cyberbrain death." "Those are all the security codes, I swear!" "Let all be cast into the flames." "No, don't..." "He stole the security codes of all the engineers we convened, and now he's on the loose." "So he was after those codes the whole time, and he let us catch him?" "What's the next play?" "We're working with the Americans now to track him down." "You transport Hozumi as planned." "Pyromaniac is only acting on false memories Fire-Starter overwrote him with." "If he shows up, let the Americans make the arrest." "Avoid contact if at all possible." "And if impossible?" "I authorize deadly force." "Now that we know we can't get useful information from him, don't take unnecessary risks." "Your answer?" "Yes, sir." "You keep your promises." "Are you a fellow disciple of the flame?" "No, you're just an extension of my plans." "I'm only using you." "Fire-Starter will spark the evolution of all men's Ghosts." "Therefore, it must be protected." "It must use cyberbrains to version up... then be returned to the Net?" "Yes." "I'll grant you your wish." "Then I shall fight for what I believe in." "To burn everything to ash..." "Are we gonna hand over Hozumi and call it a day, like the old ape said?" "Unless there are complications." "If he lost his selfhood before he was captured, how did he escape?" "You're saying he had inside help?" "It's likely." "If Pyromaniac erased the security cameras, we might as well give up hope." "Anyway, our options are limited." "Without footage, finding him will take good, old-fashioned legwork." "Ugh, crime scene investigation?" "I'll let the new guy do the boring stuff." "You're a prince." "What just happened?" "!" "Missiles!" "It's a UCAV." "An American combat drone?" "!" "I've been expecting you, Pyromaniac." "Someone leaked our location." "He must've gotten to the agents." "Come in, Chief." "It's Kusanagi." "Looks like we're cut off from HQ." "We can't win without attacking Pyromaniac." "What now, Major?" "Major, I can't get the right angle!" "You three focus on shielding us!" "Roger!" "Huh?" "It's going home." "No." "He cut off our retreat and led us here." "Don't let your guard down." "Great, an American Army base?" "Can't say I'm thrilled." "What?" "!" "Major!" "Shit." "We're here!" "That was close, huh?" "Those guys were American Special Forces." "With the virus controlling 'em they're no smarter than Als, but the optical camouflage is a problem." "Yep, we're surrounded." "He's obsessed." "Who takes things this far?" "They don't call you "maniac" for being sane." "This guy'll blow up a plane just to get rid of engineers who might make a Fire-Starter vaccine." "We've got the Major, who did make one, and Hozumi, who knows the source." "He'd do whatever it took to kill them." "This is a bad joke." "Ishikawa." "Find a terminal and get back our line to the Chief." "Take Paz and Togusa." "Borma, try to keep the soldiers at a distance." "Saito, ditto the chopper." "Batou, take two Logicomas and back them up." "I'm the decoy now?" "!" "What're you gonna do?" "Take Hozumi's head and run?" "I'll use the last Logicoma as a booster and seize Pyromaniac's Net." "Can you do that with just one?" "I'll use my personal Net." "Personal?" "I run hacking tests whenever I build a security system." "I have a network made up of the debuggers I use." "Section 9's security codes have probably been overwritten." "I might have some trouble reconnecting." "Work as fast as you can." "We'll need the Chief's backroom dealing if this turns into open battle." "Let's go!" "Okay!" "What if they storm you during your dive?" "!" "We can't protect you from out there!" "You can have command if they do!" "Don't die." "Logicomas!" "Okay!" "Wow, is this your personal Net, Major?" "Yes." "The Nets run by corporate admins don't even compare." "This is a battlefield where distrustful barbarians gather." "Anyone want to join a game of mine?" "Want to join?" "!" "They took the bait." "Are you getting the hackers to eradicate the virus?" "Of course not." "They're only breaking through the soldiers' barriers to disable them." "Huh?" "!" "But the Army uses attack barriers!" "So?" "Focus on your own work." "Someone is trying to crack you from outside." "He's here." "You maintain these connections." "Roger!" "Phony cyberbrain space?" "Looks like a Kuzan battlefield..." "I still don't sense a Ghost." "So the virus itself is running him?" "Is this what you saw... or rather, Galvez's memory?" "Who are you?" "I am Galvez, and Emma, and Murasaka." "All Ghosts are me." "An aggregate of the false memories, then." "That's not what we call a "Ghost"." "You're nothing but a vessel created by the virus." "Looks like the Major's doing well." "Okay." "Did he get it?" "Shit!" "I have received a revelation from Fire-Starter." "That is my everything." "I must burn all threats to Fire-Starter." "So your goal is to eliminate all possibility of erasing the virus." "Ultimately, you're another one of its puppets." "If your personality is nothing but false memories it molded, further conversation is meaningless." "Major, should we take control?" "Our chances of bulldozing him aren't good." "Leave him to me." "Fire-Starter will spark the evolution of all men's Ghosts." "Your cyberbrain will become fuel to version up the flames." "I'm out of ammo!" "Shit!" "We're back online!" "What is it?" "This is Ishikawa, Chief." "That Pyromaniac guy..." "This is bad..." "Uh-oh!" "Major!" "Major, time to withdraw!" "She's still in her dive!" "Dammit!" "I'm draggin' you with me!" "You are the greatest sinner here." "Link with me, and go on living even after your death." "Sorry, but I'm not that pessimistic about the real world." "And I'm not at an age where I worry about the afterlife." "It's over, Pyromaniac." "Disappear." "Good work." "What the...?" "Major!" "Batou, is this your doing?" "You took care of things?" "Yes." "What happened to Pyromaniac?" "He's extinct." "Pyromaniac's cyberbrain held nothing but memories related to the hit on Hozumi and a few deeply implanted lines from The Fiery Angel." "This whole mess will be tied up in secret, after some fairly involved negotiations." "I told you, you should've let me handle it." "Lay off." "Just be grateful you're not getting punished for trashing an American base." "I'll have their agents stay out of the Pyromaniac affair for now, too." "They knew about the Flight 381 bombing in advance, didn't they?" "Fire-Starter switched hosts because the Americans crowded Galvez." "They knew it was going to take Murasaka and the engineers down, but they waited until Pyromaniac had security codes from around the globe." "Where did you hear that?" "Did you think I'd come back from a dive empty-handed?" "I found an agent's memories in Pyromaniac's auxiliary cyberbrain." "I'll do you a favor and pretend I didn't hear that." "Keep it to yourself." "Put on a uniform." "We'll meet at the Prime Minister's residence at 0900 hours." "He wants to personally thank your squad for nabbing the terrorist behind Flight 381." "We've finished refining the virus." "Not much longer now..." "You must be Kusanagi." "I hear you've done us a great service." "Thank you, sir."