"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." "Togusa!" "You can't come in here!" "He's in a very serious condition right now!" "Major..." "Look through my memories..." "It was the MHLW, all right..." "I didn't... get hit in the head." " Intubate!" " Yes, doctor!" "While you're operating, extract his memories of the last 16 hours from his cyberbrain." "I can't do that!" "Do it." "Right now, that information is absolutely vital to us." "Deserted Tracks" "Any luck?" "It must be from the anesthetic." "There's just too much noise." "We'll be getting everything, right down to his emotional fluctuations, so it might even affect our own perceptions." "It can't be helped." "Play it." "His heartrate is unusually high..." "That dumb bastard..." "If he goes around playing hero like this, of course he's gonna get nailed..." "Let's go over the situation." "Deducing that the party responsible for the hack from the vocational aid center was after paper media," "Togusa made frequent visits to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to verify his hunch." "And out of that vast amount of documents, he learned of the existence of a lost list." "And that was the list of recipients of the Murai Vaccine." "Right." "And we don't know exactly what happened yet, but Togusa was attacked when he went to visit the Sunflower Society, which needed that list." "We do know!" "It was the DEA that shot Togusa!" "It means that the Narcotics Suppression Squad, an outfit that specializes in violent crimes, butchered a bunch of civilians!" "It's that simple!" "Their objective was the seizure or elimination of the file?" "It seemed like that the cause of all this was the fact that this "lmakurusu" person's name was in there." "Who cares what the implications are?" "!" "We'll find out soon enough if we go bust those DEA bastards!" "Don't let those memories affect your judgement." "I have no doubt that they're already leaking falsified information to the media." "The truth is being erased." "Major, who is this lmakurusu man?" "Hisashi lmakurusu, former chairman of the Central Drug Evaluation Council." "A leading authority on cyberbrain sclerosis, he's the chief of the Japanese Medical Association." "Even though he's retired from the evaluation council, it's said that he still has a fat pipe to the MHLW." "All right." "Major, you go see lmakurusu." "I'll look into how the Narcotics Suppression Squad came to be mobilized." "Roger." "Paz and Saito, you come with me to lmakurusu's place." "Batou, you're on memory analysis with Ishikawa and Borma." "Screw that!" "You gotta put me on the DEA investigation!" "And what do you intend to do there with that look on your face?" "I'll call you when I need you." "How do you expect me to look, then?" "She's just saying that you need to cool off some." "How cool am I supposed to be after seeing that?" "!" "You're under the influence of Togusa's memories right now." "It was a good call." "Excuse me." "Who are you?" "Aramaki, Public Security Section 9." "I'm told that you went over the head of the DEA chief and personally issued the order for last night's Sunflower Society mop-up operation." "I would like to hear your reasons for doing so." "Who do you think you are?" "!" "It's all right." "I was just on my way to a press conference to address that very issue." "That Sunflower group is a sly bunch." "It was a carefully planned operation that only the Narcotics Suppression Squad knew about." "It was unfortunate, but they demonstrated a willingness to resist to the bitter end, giving the squad no choice but to resort to forceful measures." "The crazy bastards even set fire to the building..." "Chief, it's almost time." "I don't see any need for us to get involved, then." "However, there is one thing that I find troubling." "I believe it to merely be some sort of coincidence, but one of my investigators happened to be at the scene of the raid last night." "I hope we'll meet again someday." "Should we let him go, sir?" "Forget about him." "If he's coming over here in person, it means they've got nothing on us." "Gayle!" "No luck." "Looks like he's already taken off somewhere." "Public Security is sniffing around." "You don't have much time." "Public Security?" "Section 9!" "Secure lmakurusu before they get to him!" "Oh, you mean that group of ex-military cyborgs?" "That means that I might need... it." "The item I've been asking you for." "All right." "I'll make the arrangements to get you what you want." "But if you come into contact with Section 9, leave no evidence behind." "Understood." "No evidence." "Now that it's come to this, will you betray us?" "Lmakurusu Now that it's come to this, will you betray us?" "Lmakurusu" "What a mess..." "So, this is the opening salvo..." "Chief, we were too late." "Looks like he had visitors before us." "It must be the work of the narc squad." "But from the look of things, wouldn't you say that lmakurusu had already fled?" "Probably." "Which means there's a strong possibility that he'll use some sort of communications method." "Okay, I see where you're going." "What say we ask the American Empire's  National Reconnaissance Office for an assist?" "Their global satellite intercept net, you mean?" "Yeah." "Chief!" "All right." "I'll get the Foreign Affairs Ministry to issue ex-post-facto approval." "The CIA owes us at least that much!" "Roger that." "Time for Big Brother to do his thing." "This will let us tap all communications in Japan in real time!" "We're online!" "This much data isn't just gonna knock out every terminal in this building, it's gonna crash everything inside a one-kilometer radius!" "Maybe I should ask the old-timers to act as secondary backups..." "Damn it, I'm finished..." "I shouldn't have run." "You were the one who stole the file." "Now they'll have no choice but to think that I betrayed them." "If I hadn't arranged for this to happen, you never would have taken the matter seriously." "They're not as kind-hearted as you seem to think they are!" "I'm sorry about what happened to the Sunflower Society people." "But I've sworn that I won't give up until I've exposed what really went on behind the micromachine treatments." "You're so naive." "Cyberbrain technology research was advancing in other fields back then." "If I had approved the vaccine, people might have rejected even that technology, resulting in setbacks in its development!" "Even so, that doesn't give you the right to suppress the results of legitimate research." "You have it all wrong." "I wasn't blindly opposed to it for no reason." "If he had solved his lack of data problem, I was prepared to issue approval." "Then what was your basis for taking a mere three months to approve the utility model submitted by Serano Genomics, who got into micromachine research late in the game?" "We followed the guidelines laid out by the MHLW." "Our council was just a scapegoat." "What a convenient excuse that is." "Micromachine Industries, the company whose board of directors you sat on, got approval just one month after filing its paperwork, just like Serano." "And thanks to that, you people raked in profits of nearly a trillion yen a year by selling protein granules that have no effect on cyberbrain sclerosis." "This is a blatant act of fraud perpetrated under the direction of the state." "What excuses to you intend to offer to those dead patients who didn't know this and kept paying their treatment fees in the belief that it worked?" "Micromachines are showing a certain degree of effectiveness now." "Seen in terms of sclerosis prevention, you can't say that no good came from our decision." "If that's the case, why aren't you treating yourself with micromachines?" "!" "You were the one person who was in a position to prevent this sad state of affairs." "You're in a profession that is supposed to save lives, so why didn't you do so?" "I was full of pride that I had dedicated my life to finding a cure for cyberbrain sclerosis." "But then Murai..." "Beat you to the punch." "Was it jealousy?" "I hear that to crush the Murai Vaccine, you had a stamp specially made that read "Approval Denied."" "And because of your goddamn petty pride, those men are kicking back right now in the positions they've gained from it." "If you know so much, what do you need me for?" "You could infiltrate my cyberbrain and take me over, Ghost and all." "If I did that, it would mean nothing." "Now that your life is being prolonged by that very same vaccine, disclose the truth of your own free will." "Will you spend your remaining years as an honorable man, or will you have people talk about how evil you were after you die?" "The choice is yours." "Laughing Man, who in the world are you?" "You stand there, brandishing your righteousness, so why did you..." "I never referred to myself as the Laughing Man, not even once." "And it was someone else who stole money through those acts of corporate terrorism." "You can't mean..." "You guess correctly." "Do you understand?" "To bring them to justice, I need one other thing besides your testimony." "Don't leave this room for any reason until I return." "Is that clear?" "P-Pardon me, sir." "Um, is there anything that I can do for you?" "That's all right." "Go away." "Please forgive the intrusion." "Just a moment, son." "Is there a public terminal near here?" "I think he's out of danger." "His blood pressure has stabilized, too." "Thank you, Doctor." "Don't mention it." "But if there proves to be any lingering physical damage or after-effects from his injuries after he regains consciousness, you should be prepared to accept some degree of prosthetic work." "I'm terribly sorry about the weather." "No, it's not your fault." "Today is the only day that worked for everyone." "It's me." "It's lmakurusu." "You've got to help me." "You've got to talk to Niimi and straighten out this misunderstanding." "Right, I'm at that 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." "Voiceprint search." "Now matching voiceprint of caller against that of Hisashi lmakurusu." "Comparison of voiceprint data of Hisashi lmakurusu..." "Now matching voiceprint of caller against that of Hisashi lmakurusu." "Comparison of voiceprint data of Hisashi lmakurusu..." "Comparison of voiceprint data of Hisashi lmakurusu..." "Commencing search for location of terminal used by caller." "...against that of speaker currently at 36%." "Commencing search for location of terminal used by caller." "...against that of speaker currently at 36%." "...against that of speaker currently at 36%." "Taking over search for location of terminal used by caller." "Taking over search for location of terminal used by caller." "Terminal location pinpointed!" "Running trace route on transmission." "Routing via comm-sat confirmed." "Running trace route on transmission." "Routing via comm-sat confirmed." "Hey, the operators are crashing!" "Launching tracer program!" "Hey, the operators are crashing!" "Launching tracer program!" "I've got backups online." "Hot damn, this is my lucky day!" "I'm on fire!" "This is for letting me borrow your cyberbrains." "You're twisted, too, you know that?" "Hook 'em up in parallel, and even geezers like them can give you some serious power." "How's it coming?" "We just determined the location of the terminal used by a man we believe to be lmakurusu." "Now we need to determine whether or not it's really him." "Chief, it's your direct line." "What?" "Niimi here." "Is that true?" "Yes, sir." "Right." "No, I'll deal with him immediately." "Gayle?" "It's me." "We have lmakurusu's location." "He's at the Kohoku Country Club." "Get over there!" "That fool..." "He picked the wrong shoulder to cry on..." "His location is the Kohoku Country Club." "He was spotted at a public terminal on a sidewalk on the north side two minutes ago." "Bingo!" "But it's who he called that has me worried." "All I want is his location!" "Old man, I can get there faster than the Major!" "I'll take a chopper!" "All right, secure him before anyone else does." "Ishikawa, do you have a trace on lmakurusu?" "After his call, he went into room 909 in the hotel annex." "He's staying put for now." "Borma, what does this look like to you?" "This here." "The authentication code that's got top priority on the American Empire's wiretap list?" "Yeah." "It doesn't officially exist, but isn't this the number for the headquarters of the government's ruling party?" "What do you think of that JMSDA Type-303, Commander?" "These Marine units are really streamlined." "Damn things are works of art." "Now, if those guys would only show up, we could get some live combat data..." "Commander!" "I'm picking up a chopper heading for the target's building." "Looks like Section 9." "Well, I'll be!" "Great timing!" "Okay, you guys show me what you've got by securing lmakurusu." "It'll take me a while to get my systems booted." "Once you've cut off their escape route, leave the rest to me!" "That's..." "Hisashi lmakurusu?" "I'm with the police." "The narc squad is on its way." "We're getting out of here!" "Stay away from me!" "Batou, you all right?" "Yeah, for now." "But we're pinned down." "Can you make it out in the chopper?" "Not if this guy has to come with me." "Do what you can to hold out!" "I'm almost there!" "They can cloak, but they can't completely hide themselves..." "What's their next move...?" "That you, Major?" "!" "I've secured an escape route." "Let's get back to the lobby for now." "Go!" "Hit the deck!" "What was that?" "!" "It's a damn Armed Suit...!" "Batou, I'll draw it off." "Don't be stupid!" "That's what you have me for!" "It's not that I don't have faith in you, but you can't stop that thing." "That's an order from your superior officer." "Take lmakurusu and get out of here!" "All right, I'll do it..." "Don't get yourself killed!" "Major, we're almost there!" "Not even a direct hit can punch through?" "!" "SAITO!" "HAND IT OVER!" "H-Hey, wait!" "Pop my hatch!" "Don't!" "C-Can't breathe..." "Please, pop the hatch!" "A little closer!" "Good!" "Get this guy aboard ASAP!" "That moron..." "Wait here!" "Hey!" "Hold it right there, the both of you!" "That's good, don't move..." "Imakurusu!" "Lmakurusu's been hit!" "Requesting ambulance!" "Laughing Man..." "Is that what you really look like?" "What?" "The Laughing Man?" "What're you talking about?" "Wait, this file is..." "Optical camouflage?" "No, that's not it..." "You bastard!" "You hacked my eyes, didn't you?" "!" "Where are you?" "!" "Are you close?" "!" "Where the hell are you?" "!" "Tachikoma..." "Tachikomatic Days!" "Boy, I miss Section 9..." "Look!" "Look!" "There's Batou!" "You're right!" "And I'll be!" "That's Batou's house!" "What'cha looking at?" "I wanna see!" "I wanna see!" "I wanna see!" "So, Batou has a beer after he gets out of the bath..." "That's so typical..." "And he's even wearing a nightcap!" "That looks terrible on him!" "Talk about creepy!" "He's climbing into bed!" "Did you see that?" "Before he goes to sleep, Batou takes out his eyeballs..." ""Batou's artificial eyes.""