"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." "Wrapped in a Web of Deceit" "No luck." "It's pretty much the same as what they said in the initial reports." "Same here." "They all remembered that a girl was here, but they weren't looking the instant she disappeared." "Batou, what's your status?" "We tried to pull footage from the area's IR-System, but they don't show anything." "Asking around didn't turn up anything, either." "How about you?" "The Chief's with the Minister of Home Affairs right now, trying to get the details from former Prime Minister Kanzaki." "Hey, doesn't this seem familiar?" "It's like their M.O." "The Chief seems to be thinking the same thing." "A person suddenly vanishes in the middle of a big city..." ""Blindfold Ivan"..." "This is their usual routine." "But the girl who vanished is the daughter of none other than former PM Kanzaki, a man who always denied the existence of these "Blindfold Ivan"mass abductions, right?" "If they're behind it, it's hard to believe that they'd shoot themselves in the foot like this." "Or it could be a disguised operation by someone who wants us to think it's them." "If only this were some elaborate runaway scheme." "It's been hard on my daughter ever since I took a beating in the media and was forced from power, you see." "Since your statement the year before last denying the mass abductions, I assume?" "Yes." "Of course, that's all part of the fate of any public figure, but if you ask me, citizens serve the state." "At the time, Russia was put into a difficult diplomatic position when suspicions about possible abduction cases cropped up." "Russia's window to the E.U. Was beginning to close, ...so they wanted to strengthen their relations with Japan." "At any rate, why haven't there been any demands from the kidnappers?" "I can't be certain, but it's possible that the kidnappers didn't know that Reiko was your daughter when they took her, Assemblyman." "Your point being?" "Working from the facts of the situation that we know thus far, it leads me to believe that she was taken by Blindfold Ivan, whose existence you yourself have denied." "Preposterous." "That's not possible." "You have publicly denied their existence, Assemblyman, but you can't possibly be unaware of their activities." "Anyway, regardless of what they've done in the past," "I find it hard to believe that they would unknowingly kidnap the daughter of the man who shielded them from suspicion." "The Northern Territories Mafia is an organization consisting of tens of thousands of members." "It's not unreasonable that there might be a few among their flunkies who are unaware of your efforts on their behalf." "You disappoint me." "That is the only theory you can come up with?" "Or maybe you've been pressured to hinder the investigation by someone in the mainstream faction?" "Not at all, Assemblyman Kanzaki!" "I understand how you must feel, but the Prime Minister himself is concerned about the situation, and called in Section 9 to assist in the investigation." "I didn't ask your opinion." "You seem to have certain misgivings, so allow me to spell this out clearly." "I am interested in nothing but the safe return of your daughter." "Major." "I was listening." "It looks like former PM Kanzaki is jumping at shadows." "I don't blame him." "It was a leak from someone close to him in his own ruling party  that triggered the call for his resignation." "The Northern Territory organlegging group is clearly a pro group  that is operating with the tacit approval of their home government." "Assemblyman Kanzaki can't possibly be unaware of that." "Which is why it makes even less sense  that they kidnapped the daughter of Kanzaki, their advocate." "You think it was really just a coincidence?" "Yes, although I have no hard evidence." "They may be a pro group, but their rank and file are just street thugs." "But there have also been reports of petty squabbles  within the Northern Territories Mafia lately." "It's possible that she got caught in the crossfire of one of those for some reason." "If it's the former, it would be bad for us  if the group got wind of the fact that she's Kanzaki's daughter." "If I were one of their flunkies, I'd..." "Right." "That's one piece of information that we mustn't let them learn." "That's why we have a press blackout in place." "And at the same time, don't let our target realize what we're up to." "The police have never moved this quickly against Blindfold Ivan in the past." "Their guard should be down now." "But on the other hand, if we're spotted, they'll probably kill all the hostages and go to ground." "Understood." "Batou, I find it difficult to believe that they'd risk shipping the goods overseas alive." "They probably process them somewhere." "Look at facilities that might be capable of breaking down large numbers of people, starting with the most likely candidates." "Roger." "The Major's a by-the-numbers kinda lady..." "Where am I?" "The air in here is bad." "If they're going to be stored like this, why even bother to pick healthy bodies that were born after the Asian Miracle?" "Yes, ma'am..." "How many more until we reach our quota?" "Geez, let me get a little rest!" "You can take a vacation once we finish this job." "But if something goes wrong and we don't deliver, we're out of business." "Three more." "Good, get out there and secure the goods." "I'll stay here and make arrangements for the extraction and shipping of the girls' organs and cyber devices." "What, alone?" "A local yakuza is introducing me to a back-alley doctor to handle the chop work." "No, I meant me!" "Of course." "Go earn the money I paid you!" "All right, all right..." "You're Kanzaki's daughter, aren't you?" "This is one of those mass abductions that your father said didn't exist!" "When I saw your face, I thought there was some kind of mistake, but you heard what that lady said, didn't you?" "!" "Damn it, what's going on here?" "!" "I wish I knew..." "Major!" "The first post just appeared." "Already?" "This is ridiculous." "I wonder where they caught wind of it?" "Location, Virtual City Beta's Tipster Temple." "Reaction to the post is growing." "Spread to private sites now confirmed." "This is fishy..." "There's a strong possibility that the big nine networks are leaking it to break the press agreement." "It's interesting news for them, all right, but they'll turn any tragedy into entertainment." "Those people piss me off." "Well, we expected that this would happen." "What's the ETA for the kidnappers to reach level 6?" "If we're lucky, two hours at best." "If they also run an Al search, I'd say we're looking at 20 minutes." "Set up an access limit using an F-4 decoy." "That should buy us another 30 minutes." "Poor kid..." "If this was really a Northern Territories abduction, it's poetic justice." "What would he have done if she wasn't his daughter?" "Don't let your personal feelings affect your job." "You're just saying that because you personally don't like Kanzaki." "I'm just saying what the citizens are feeling." "What about all those other people who had already been abducted?" "It's not that I don't understand what you're saying, but give a little thought to how these latest victims are feeling right now." "The fact is, we've had confirmation of 29 underage girls who have gone missing over the past three days in this town alone." "It ain't exactly rare for minors to run away from home these days, but in 28 of those 29 cases, there's already been requests for some sort of investigation." "Just judging from the fact that all these girls from good homes have disappeared, don't you think this has the Northern Territories' stench all over it?" "Look, I think it's the right idea to check these in order of likelihood, but do you really think they're hiding in such an obvious place?" "Every once in a while, your nice, quiet neighbor turns out to be a serial killer." "Why didn't you bring the doctor with you?" "The Boss says he'll reconsider if you pay him quintuple for this and the last job." "Don't give me that crap!" "We wired those payments to you a long time ago!" "I wouldn't know." "What's going on over there?" "I wouldn't know." "What's going on over there?" "I'm just telling you what the Boss said." "Beats me." "I'm just telling you what the Boss said." "I'm just telling you what the Boss said." "You're just taking advantage of us because you know we need you!" "That's the idea, isn't it?" "!" "Isn't it?" "!" "You brought friends?" "!" "Son of a..." "What the hell is going on?" "How should I know?" "Anyway, let's go after 'em." "You circle around from the other side!" "Togusa, the woman is heading your way!" "Stay sharp!" "I know, I know." "So, this was the place..." "You dumbass!" "Get rid of the arm!" "The son of a bitch is alive..." "That's a helluva thing to say..." "Images of my family flashed before my eyes." "I didn't mean you." "The old lady who used to be with the SVR..." "Was that the police?" "How did they catch onto us?" "I have to unload these girls, and soon." "Major, we have three girls we believe to be abductees in custody." "From their testimony, there's no doubt that it was a Northern Territories mass abduction." "And Kanzaki's daughter?" "The woman who was the ringleader is still at large and on the run with her." "You were right there!" "How could you let this happen?" "Sorry." "But I did learn who the ringleader is." "It's Cruzkowa." "Cruzkowa?" "The Cruzkowa who used to be a special operative with the SVR," "Russian's Foreign Intelligence Service?" "Yeah." "She's a hardcore ultranationalist who was engaged in secret ops last century using southeast Asia as her base of operations." "Last century?" "Her exact age is unknown." "She went full-cyborg and looks young on the outside, but what's inside is an old lady who must be pushing 80." "Chief." "Right." "This changes the situation." "I have an idea." "Pardon me." "Assemblyman, we've learned the identity of the person who kidnapped your daughter." "Who is it?" "As we suspected, the Northern Territories Mafia was behind it." "And what about Reiko?" "The kidnapper is on the run with your daughter still in her clutches." "What do you think?" "Perhaps we should try contacting the embassy." "Yes, you're right." "You can do that if you like, but what will you do if they feign ignorance?" "It's not as if I can count on you police." "I can offer no excuses." "But a thought does occur to me." "What is it?" "Tell me." "We'll make use of your influence via the media, Assemblyman." "We've been using a press blackout to hide this news, but now we'll turn around and spread it all over the net." "What?" "!" "If I do that, I'll be the media's punching bag!" "I'd be committing political suicide!" "If you keep providing them with the same old unreliable information, then that may happen." "But right now, the safe return of your daughter is our top priority." "Nothing spreads through the net faster than information that is scandalous to the public, so it is certain to reach the ears of the kidnapper." "When that happens, that's when your power will talk, Assemblyman." "I don't understand what you're saying." "Right, explain yourself more clearly!" "As luck would have it, the criminal who is currently on the run is a professional." "It is because we are dealing with a pro that this plan will work." "You may find this odd, but even if we're dealing with an enemy, if they are a pro, we can place a certain degree of faith in their operating principles." "In other words, she may be a criminal who is a government spy, but when she learns that she has laid a hand on the daughter of her homeland's benefactor, she will most certainly ask her associates for advice." "And while she is considering how to deal with this, it is unthinkable that she would endanger your daughter." "That is why I would like you to get the word out to the viewing public without delay." "When you do, there is only one place for our target to run." "The embassy, huh?" "The decision is yours, Assemblyman." "Ishikawa, is the F-4 decoy working?" "For the time being, it's giving us some good semantic deletion results." "When the Chief gives the word, we're going to send out a leak as a counter." "Fan the flames to help them spread faster." "This is one merciless trick that the Chief came up with this time..." "Kanzaki's gonna be exposed in the press because of this." "Looks like you and the Chief have the same blood in you, after all." "Talk about scary..." "Major, I'm gonna track Cruzkowa." "I think we'll all end up in the same place anyway." "Good idea." "I'll head out, too." "What do you mean, you can't help me?" "Haven't you made a fortune thanks to me?" "Sorry." "It's me." "I've gotten myself into some trouble." "I'll pay you double." "I need you to take care of some goods." "The way I hear it, you've gotten yourself some hot property." "What're you talking about?" "Does that have something to do with why I'm being chased?" "What, you haven't even netted the news?" "Everybody's talking about you." "You're not just all over the big nine, you're even on private sites!" ""Northern Territories Spy Repays Kindness with Betrayal."" "They say the mass abduction organization has grabbed the daughter of their supporter Kanzaki, and he's so angry that he's risking his political life  to denounce the Northern Territories over it." "I wouldn't want to be in your shoes right now." "Hey, you listening?" "Hey!" "Is there a girl in here named Reiko Kanzaki?" "Is it you?" "Are you Shuzo Kanzaki's daughter?" "What the hell was Kanzaki's daughter doing on the target list...?" "Get up!" "Come with me!" "As has already been reported by every news agency, in regards to the disappearances of 29 young women  that have occurred in the Kobe harbor area over the past three days, investigators have voiced the opinion that there is a strong possibility  that the abductions were the work of Cruzkowa Bosyelinov," "a former secret agent with the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service." "Among the missing is Reiko Kanzaki, oldest daughter of former Prime Minister Kanzaki," "Comrade, it's me." "I'm in trouble." "And the fact that this former prime minister..." "Comrade, it's me." "I'm in trouble." "... is at the top of the list of the supporters  who denied that the mass abductions existed..." "I need asylum papers for a Japanese national." "... who denied that the mass abductions existed..." "I need asylum papers for a Japanese national." "... is causing heated debate in all quarters." "... is causing heated debate in all quarters." "Right here is fine!" "Come on!" "Get up!" "Shit!" "Why?" "!" "Looks like you've been thrown to the wolves." "That's far enough!" "Man, this old lady has a ton of tricks up her sleeve." "Assemblyman, my men have just taken your daughter into protective custody." "I see..." "Thank goodness..." "You should go over to the hospital at once." "Right..." "Aramaki." "Yes, sir?" "You have my gratitude." "Good work." "When you think about it, it's a sad end for a spy." "Cruzkowa lost out in an internal Mafia squabble, and was given a list of abduction targets with Kanzaki's daughter's name on it." "As a result, she was branded a traitor, and she was even abandoned by her comrades in the embassy that she had sworn loyalty to." "Something along those lines." "Still, I'm amazed you managed to come up with a plan like that in such a dire situation, Chief." "Making him choose which was more important, his political life or his daughter's..." "My thought on this was that since the Northern Territories were involved, severing their pipe to Kanzaki would act as a deterrent in this crime." "To do that, it was necessary for Kanzaki himself to admit the truth." "Admitting the truth must have lifted a big burden off of him, don't you think?" "It won't do us any harm to have him in our debt." "Tachikoma..." "Tachikomatic Days!" "Hey, I know!" "Let's try to be robots with lots of gadgets, just like Cruzkowa!" "If we do that, it might get Section 9 to use us again!" "Oh, I get it..." "Okay, how about this?" "That old standby..." "Finishing Move!" "ROCKET PUNCH!" "Now you give it a try!" "Yeah!" "Rocket!" "Pun..." "Gosh, he's really agile..."