"Passengers and crew have been evacuated as per terrorism response manual." "All arriving and departing ﬂights are in a holding pattern or waiting on the apron." "Divert only those planes that are expected to run low on fuel to other airports." "305 calling 102." "Public Security Section 9 has arrived." "Give any assistance they need." "This is priority one." "Full authority tor this incident has been transferred to them." "Hey, my people have taken casualties!" ""Agreement o!" "no, there?" "!" "better be a damn good reason for us 10" "Keep this line clear." "There's no telling if there's a back-hack on it." "Besides, what's going down here is way out of our league." "Found him." "Immigration Gates Currently Closed" "From what we're told, the initial reports say that the suspect willingly submitted to questioning." "When we explained that he'd be transferred into Public Security's custody, he almost seemed happy about it." "Happy?" "Yes..." "That doesn't make much sense." "So, the Big Man isn't gonna meet up with us'?" "He said he's gonna stick with his "I only work cases that I pick based on what my gut tells me" policy and sit this one out, too." "Still, the fact is that we were only able to connect the dots in this case..." ""because Batou stuck his nose where it didn't belong." "Paz and Borma, take the two rookies with you and come in through the north gate." "We're on it." "The two of us are taking the frontal approach." "Roger that." "You know, you've changed, too, Boss." "I can't believe you outgrew that Mateba fixation of yours." "Nobody said I outgrew it." "This Ks Gael guy is supposed to be 100% natural, right?" "Yeah." "Explain that, then." "What does it look like?" "It's an unexpected development." "So now there's a chance that he's armed?" "Even if he fa HQ just a 9 mm." "This is just peachy..." "Colonel Ka Gael!" "We're with Public Security!" "We're willing to consider granting you safe passage out of the country as you demanded." "Start by releasing your hostage." "Then we can talk." "Ka Gael!" "Are you listening'?" "Ka Gael!" "Drop your weapon!" "Don't do anything, people." "Come on, give me the gun." "The Enemy Cannot Be Allowed to Live Under the Same Sky" "The Enemy Cannot Be Allowed to Live Under the Same Sky Togusa, looks like he's high on a military-use reflex booster." "Togusa, looks like he's high on a military-use reflex booster." "Understood." "Ka Gael!" "The Puppeteer is coming!" "I don't want to die!" "If you don't want to die, hurry up and drop the piece!" "What did you say to me'?" "You're not gonna make a public spectacle outta me!" "Don't!" "Shit!" "What the hell did he do that for'?" "!" "The "Puppeteer," huh'?" "Not a bad name at all..." "Tiho plili v zvezdnoj pill, Quietly drifting through the stardust, nebesnie projektora." "celestial spotlights." "Razbivali moi krilja stalnoe lezvie noza." "Shattering my wings, the steel blade of a knife." "Skolko raz v atake umirala I vnov voskresala'?" "How many times has it been killed, then reborn'?" "Moja netlennaja dusha..." "My immortal soul..." "Opiat bez pravil igraju." "Again I play free of any rules." "I na sebia prinimaju." "I rely only on myself." "Ogon', ogon'..." "The flames, the flames..." "I eto vse, chto ja znaju." "And that is all I know." "Ja ne ischu sebe druguju rol'." "There is no other role I seek." "Segodnia ja prosto player, Today I am simply a player." "Ja ni o chem ne zaleju." "There is nothing that I regret." "Tiho plili v zvezdnoj pill, Quietly drifting through the stardust, nebesnie projektora." "celestial spotlights." "Prime Minister Kayabuki." "Special operatives tattooed with "true believer" to show their loyalty to General Ka Hum have been committing suicide one by one here in Japan." "And moments ago, Col. Ka Gael, his oldest son, killed himself, too." "You still insist there is no need to interrogate the General in spite of these incidents?" "Some reports are saying that Col. Ka's death was the result of a botched arrest attempt." "Even assuming that indiscriminate terrorist acts are being planned by Seok Republic holdouts," "I find it hard to imagine that General Ka is involved in the plan while under house arrest." "Please do your utmost to avoid fueling the actions of the opposition faction... that have accompanied my enactment of the Refugee Naturalization Policy." "I was under the impression that such work falls under Public Security's purview." "Understood, ma'am." "Ishikawa." "Send me the files from Ka Gael's debriefing." "Coming right up." "We're moving out!" "Is this wise, sir'?" "I don't believe she gave you authorization for that." "If no one finds out that I opened Pandora's Box, I didn't break my word to her." "7072." "Has the scene provided you with any new material data'?" "No, sir, I haven't found anything yet." "Call in the Supervisor." "There's some old" "Batou." "Are you listening to me, Batou?" "Yeah, I'm listening." "Where are you?" "True Believer" "True Believer We found the body of a 13th tattooed man." "We found the body o!" "a 13th tattooed man." " Is this one another suicide?" " Yeah." "This place looks a lot like our own safe houses." "I!" "was probably one of their hideouts." "Let the Prefectural Police handle this." "Grab one of you!" "subordinates and go to this location." "It's a secret hideout that Ka Gael told us about in his debriefing." "You sure that a mainstream job like that isn't more up Togusa's alley?" "Togusa's coming with me to the Dungeon." "Ah, I follow you." "Togusa." "How long has it been since the Major resigned from Section 9'?" "It's coming up on two years now, I guess." "That long..." "I'm sorry about what happened with Ka Gael." "There was nothing you could have done." "This is a vital matter which might prove to be Prime Minister Kayabuki's Achilles' heel." "Her intention is probably to keep a lid on things that she doesn't want to see right now." "Still, Kayabuki was scared that the other countries at the six-party talks would look too closely at the real motivation behind the Refugee Naturalization Policy." "This whole damn mess got started because she was forced into looking after Ka Rum!" "That's because even before General Ka picked Japan as the country he'd seek asylum in, he said that he'd carry out acts of terrorism in retaliation." ""At the moment of my death, I will visit terror throughout the world."" "You mean that retribution declaration that was in the speech he gave when Seok fell, huh'?" "Now that we've learned about it, it's our job to do something about it, right'?" "It's unclear how he's been issuing orders from an island that's cut off from the outside world, but if we take Ka Rum himself into custody, we should be able to get a feel for the overall plan." "We'll also learn how far along this terrorist plot is right now." "Chief." "We just got word from the Coast Guard that they've opened up the airspace over the island." "Good." "Thank them for me and take us down at once." "Make sure you doctor the records of our flight plan!" "Roger that!" "No firearms or knives detected!" "Clear!" "Proto." "Tum the power back on and open the blinds." "Roger." "What's the matter'?" "Chief..." "It looks like he pulled them out himself." "This is bad news..." "If he's killed himself, too, their plan might already be in motion." "What's that'?" "This'?" "It's a terminal that links to the nursing net." "Basically, it's used to exchange a patient's medical data with all medical facilities." "Looks like those rumors about Ka Rum being seriously ill before he ﬂed his country were true." "The government has no idea that he's dead, even though he was hooked up to that'?" "Hm'?" "Bingo!" "He was going through a back door in the system!" "I guess there was more to the good General here than meets the eye." "Looks that way." "The comm log shows that he was in contact with his people." "We'll need to get this back to HQ for a thorough examination, but they definitely seemed to be planning a terrorist strike using a micro machine virus." "What do you mean, were planning'?" "When his operatives started killing themselves one by one, he talked with Ka Gael about whether they should abort the plan for the time being." "What do you mean'?" "Are you saying that the suicides weren't meant as the plot's "go" code'?" "I don't know." "But what really worries me is that there was a program planted in here from the outside designed to make it look like Ka Rum was still alive." "The government probably still hasn't caught on to the fact that this guy is dead." "So, an assassination set up to look like suicide'?" "Yeah." "Committed by somebody who doesn't want the government to know Ka Rum is dead." "That, or..." "So, what about the micro machine virus'?" "Looks like it was delivered to that Ma Shaba guy's hospital." "Assuming Batou isn't off playing hooky, he might be able to recover it for us." "Togusa!" "What the hell is this'?" ""Puppeteer"?" "Azuma, didn't Ka Gael say something about a puppeteer just before he died?" "Y'know, I think he did..." "The keyword "puppeteer" shows up in this log, too." "Looks like it's the codename for one of his men." "Looks like we need to apprehend Ma Shaba as soon as possible." "Right." "Once you make a dupe oi the full log, go meet up with Batou." "It's imperative that we ascertain the full scope of this plot." "What should we do with the stiff?" "Leave everything as we found it." "I hale to do it, bu!" "we were never here." "Understood." "A hospital'?" "That car sticks out like a sore thumb around here..." "This security system setup kinda reminds me of" "You head around from the outside!" "Roger." "What the hell'?" "You can't hack my cyberbrain if I'm in here!" "Die, Puppeteer!" "Went down there, huh'?" "Batou'?" "That looked like" "Open" "Get clear!" "You dumb-ass!" "I'll come back for you later." "Play dead." "Roger." "Hold it!" "That you, Major'?" "It's been a long time, Batou." "So, what brings you to this part of town'?" "I knew it was you..." "I should ask you the same thing." "Conducting an investigation chosen as a result of personal deduction, I guess you could say." "Here it comes!" "Just a second." "What the hell'?" "Hold on to this for me." "Hey!" "Hey, wait a minute..." "Isn't that Ma Shaba'?" "I'm surprised you know who he is." "What do you mean, "surprised"?" "What the hell are you up to'?" "Come on, give that back." "Hey!" "Has your taste in cars changed'?" "When did she swipe my" "Still, this isn't too shabby at all." "Batou, I'm guessing that the reason you're here is because you're following a lead on that string of suicides of tattooed men." "But let me give you a friendly warning." "Stay away from the Solid State." "Otherwise, you'll end up killing yourself just like they did." " Hey, wait a " " You can find your car yourself." "Didn't I tell you to bring along one of your men'?" "!" "I know, that's why I brought this hunk of junk." "We got here too late." "Ma Shaba is dead, too." "Cause of death'?" "Neck trauma resulting from impacts during the runaway." "Looks like Ma Shaba wasn't the Puppeteer." "Batou, why the hell did he attack you in that thing'?" "Beats me." "That's what I'd like to know." "Maybe he attacked you because he thought you were the Puppeteer." "Hey, what's this "Puppeteer" you keep talking about'?" "It's all still speculation at this point, but it seems to be a rebel's codename." "We have reason to believe that deaths of the tattooed men and Ka Rum were all crimes orchestrated by this person." "He hacks other people's cyberbrains and forces them to commit suicide." "Judging from the skill of the hacks, we seem to be dealing with a super-wizard class hacker." "Wizard-class'?" "Chief, we figured out how Ka Ram's terrorist attack was going to work." "What did you learn?" "You should come see this for yourself." "It looks like Ka Rum was trying to spread his virus by implanting children with micro machines." "Are you kidding me'?" "!" ""Retaliatory terrorism," my ass!" "No human being could come up with something this sick!" "Section 9 is going to figure out my M.O. one of these days." "Loki, Conan, hold the fort while I'm gone." "Looks like controlling two prosthetic bodies at once is my limit." "I suppose our only option is to start their training again from square one." "Really'?" "Damn, and we even tried using natural oil again..." "Yes." "But in the end, the observers have changed, so perhaps this means that their previous environment hasn't been perfectly replicated." "You're still obsessing over their development, huh'?" "Africa was a lot harsher than I imagined." "I got some new prosthetics before I left, but it still hit me hard." "If you start supplementing your cardiopulmonary functions with prosthetics, your O2 extraction rate's gonna take a hit." "I didn't have much choice." "Not as long as I'm working here." "First Togusa, now you..." "I gotta hand it to you guys." "From the roster we found at their hideout, we've determined that the group is composed of 16 members:" "The 13 members who committed suicide, plus Ka Gael, Ma Shaba, and someone named Raj Puhto." "Who's this Raj Puhto guy'?" "What's the likelihood of him being the Puppeteer'?" "He doesn't seem to have successfully entered the country yet." "We've verified that much from their communications log." "There aren't a whole lot of people who will follow you to the grave when you tell 'em to die with you." "Things always seem to work out that way when dictators buy the farm." "Still, 16 people is nothing to sneeze at..." "Where have you been, Batou'?" "When'd you get back'?" "Just now." "Sorry, don't let me interrupt you." "Okay, let's continue." "Next." "As for the missing micro machine virus, one gross, a total of 144 ampules, was brought into the country." "The ampules contain a bio-chem weapon, a genetically-engineered form of smallpox that's had a time-release function added." "That's one nasty little bug that they lost track of..." "Batou." "There's something that I need to make sure of." "You're sure that you didn't see anyone at Ma Shaba's hospital'?" "Yeah." "And when that robot went berserk, there wasn't any indication of intervention by a third party'?" "Nope." "If you say so." "What exactly are you getting at'?" "Well..." "The truth is, we weren't able to ID the owner of that crushed car in the parking lot." "Maybe it was stolen." "Judging from the security setup on that thing, that's pretty doubtful." "Plus, part of the security camera footage had been deleted." "I'm thinking that we should work under the assumption that someone else was there." "And that "someone" was the Puppeteer'?" "Possibly." "Ka Rum's plan hasn't gone into play at this stage, but there's lots of evidence to suggest that this "Puppeteer" hacker will pick up where Ka left off." "From here on out, we'll narrow our focus to tracking down the micro machine ampules, while investigating the Puppeteer at the same time." "Roger." "Togusa." "What do you want me to do'?" "First off, get some F{F{." "Eliminating the main cause of human error is your top priority." "Gotcha." "I'll take you up on that offer." "Oh, and Batou'?" "This morning, the Chief told me, "It's about time you reeled him in."" "You can devote yourself full-time to being an instructor, or you can work under me on the Puppeteer investigation." "I'll leave the choice up to you." "What'll it be'?" "Do you even need to ask me that'?" "I'm on the Puppeteer." "All right." "Learn anything'?" "Yeah, a few things." "Skip the preliminaries and fill us in." "First, I got the results back from the medical checks we ran on the 16 kids." "There were no signs that they'd been injected with micro machines." "And although they showed symptoms of dehydration and injuries from past abuse, they're all basically healthy." "But we also found out that in each of the 16, part of their memory had been erased, and their id's had been rewritten to turn them into somebody else." "They could answer accurately when asked their name or address, but when the topic turned to their parents, they had no memories whatsoever." "And when we went to check out the addresses they gave, there was just old people there living by themselves." "Any chance that those old people are really their parents'?" "Not likely." "We saw everything from an old woman living alone in a 10-by-8 room to a rich old coot who could afford to pay for nursing robots out of his own pocket." "But without exception, they were all Noble Rot Senior Citizens who were hooked up to the nursing system." "Needless to say, there were no signs that any children had ever lived there." "The resident ledgers had "child" listed next to their names, but those were probably doctored, too." "What are these "Noble Rot Senior Citizens"?" "Apparently, the term came from the way old people who are hooked up to what's called the "Fully Automatic Nursing System" and given bare minimum medical treatment lie there like grapes infested with noble rot shriveling on the vine." "The system was originally developed with the aim of solving the aging population problem, and at the same time, to prevent them from dying alone and unnoticed." "But when NPO's learned that it encouraged patients to connect to the net and stay in bed, they started mocking it as a thinly-disguised asset collection system." "You sure know a lot about this." "I've heard all about it from the old ladies who come to my pachinko place." "It's kind of like a bare-bones version of the model that was next to Ka Rum's bed." "Hey, wait a minute." "Ka Gael was trying to create human bombs, right'?" "If that's true, why did he go to the trouble of erasing their memories of their parents'?" "If he wanted the kids to stay inconspicuous after he infected them with the virus, wouldn't it have been smarter to erase the memories of the abduction and then send them back home'?" "Hey, you're asking the wrong guy." "Yeah, you definitely have a point there." "If he even had them cyberized specifically for his plan, he's going to an awful lot of trouble." "The operations seem to have been performed prior to the abductions." "The transformers seem to be legitimate, as well." "In that case, there should be records at the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare." "Since they're all six years old, a consent form signed by a parent or guardian is required by law." "There were 144 missing ampules..." "Just to be safe, we should probably check to see if there are any kids listed there who fit the same description." "Good call." "Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare" "If the 16 kids we rescued had their cyberization surgery done through legitimate channels, the records would've been automatically recorded in the databases of the MHLW and the Management Ministry." "If they were abducted afterwards and their family registries were altered to make them look like those old folks' kids, there'll be a discrepancy in the number of kids listed as cyberized in the national ID system and the number that's listed by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare." "I follow you." "Since we have 16 here who say they have the same last name as one of the senior citizens, that should be true." "20,000'?" "!" "There has to be some kind of mistake." "If kids were being abducted in such huge numbers, somebody would've noticed." "Yeah, you're right." "Still, that number's way larger than anything we expected." "What do you want to do'?" "Let's start by eliminating the worst case scenario." "First, figure out the names and addresses of the excess children in the database." "I'm on it." "I can have that for you in a few seconds." "A trap?" "!" "This is an emergency." "Class E virus detected." "Shut down all equipment immediately." "This is an emergency..." "Beginning virus scan." " Vaccine pattern match in progress." " Shut down all equipment immediately." "Incursion into server has reached..." "It's no use!" "It's not accepting any commands!" "Higaki!" "Soga!" "Lock down the backup server!" "Too late!" "It's already been compromised!" "We've gotta cut the damn power, then!" "Gimme a hand!" "There was a virus planted in the Management Ministry's database'?" "Data's disappearing on their side, too!" "The MHLW's data is intact?" "Yeah." "Hell if I know why, though." "Move it!" "Management Ministry database is" "I bet the Management Ministry's buzzing like a poked beehive right about now." "Shit, we just lost the best lead we had..." "Only if it turns out that there really were 20,000 abductions." "What do you mean'?" "Common sense says there's no way that Ka Gael's crew could have pulled off that many abductions." "Even if we say that they were the work of this hacker, the Puppeteer." "The M.O. is just too sloppy." "If he really wanted to cover up the abductions, don't you think it's strange that he'd leave traces of tampering in just the national ID system'?" "This way, it's almost like he's saying, "I've nabbed these kids, now please find them."" "Me, I think he's got something else in mind." "I have to concur with your opinion." "Chief'?" "These were delivered to the MHLW's Pathogenic Microorganism Isolation Facility." "Analysis has identified them as a Seek-produced micro machine virus." "This would certainly seem to suggest that our intel was indeed correct." "What did the person who delivered it look like'?" "There were no records remaining that might show who delivered it, or when." "So there's a chance that this person might be the Puppeteer'?" "It's certainly possible." "If that's the case, what's the Puppeteer's final objective in all this'?" "It wasn't to keep Ka's terrorist plot rolling'?" "It would seem that there's a chance that the Puppeteer is a hacker sent by some government agency or other." "The skill with which Ka Rum's death was covered up has been nagging at me." "As I tried to find some answers, I heard rumors of a rather suspicious conversation that took place between the Prime Minister and the Foreign Affairs Ministry not long ago." "So you think that the Foreign Ministry used a hacker to assassinate Ka Rum, the man who was such a big thorn in the government's side'?" "To be perfectly blunt about it, yet." "In that case, we should probably think of the abductions as a decoy." "Which Section was it that took the job'?" "While this incident does amount to a serious international crime, if we consider only the results it has achieved, we and the government are on the same page." "For now, I believe we should let sleeping dogs lie and avoid worsening the situation." "You are to identify the 16 children as soon as possible, but it ends there." "I'm temporarily pulling you off of the investigation into the Puppeteer." "That is all." "Oh, man..." "All that work for nothing, and now we've got an assload of loose ends to tie up." "Well, the least we can do is track down those kids' parents as soon as we can." "I'm on my way there now." "Sorry I'm late." "I need to ask you something." "Yes, what'?" "Who made you pull us off this case'?" "The Treaty Review Department'?" "Oh, you mean that." "I cut a deal with Nakamura." "In exchange for turning a blind eye to their work, we were allowed to take possession of the micro machine virus." "And you're okay with that'?" "If purging Ka Rum was so vital to national interests, you should be offended that they didn't ask us to do it." "Otherwise, what was the point of expanding Section 9 these past two years, old man'?" "She's never gonna come back, not when we're like this." "Do we regret not receiving such an order, or do we rejoice'?" "The answer to that question will determine what path we will walk down in the future." "I completely understand the point you're trying to make." "But we also must consider the possibility that the Major will never return to Section 9." "Her talents were even rarer than ESP." "Unfortunate though it may be, no one can fill her shoes but her." "I myself won't be able to stay here forever." "In which case, instead of solving one case at a time using every ounce of our strength, shouldn't we create an organization capable of tackling three at once using only 80%'?" "Don't you think that's the best way for it to carry on our ideals even after we're gone'?" "That's what I had in mind as I worked to expand our organization." "Making Togusa the squad commander was part of that larger plan." "If you had accepted the job, though, things might have worked out differently." "I'm not cut out for positions like that." "If you subjectively believe that to be the case, perhaps you're right." "But it's different with Togusa." "A man has to overcome a great many hurdles for his innate talent to blossom." "I want you to give him the support he needs." "You sure about that'?" "Personally, I think he's doing a fine job." "The Major's say that he's keeping his personal feelings out of the way of doing his job." "Sounds like he's even told his family about his work at Section 9, as well as the prosthetics he got." "But I doubt he had an easy time of winning their understanding." "That's something that I was never able to do to the very end." "I'm glad we were able to talk like this again." "It doesn't look like I'll be able to make it home again tonight." "It can't be helped." "You're in a position of responsibility now." "Yeah..." "So, have the kids been behaving?" "Yes." "But ever since our girl declared that she'd be sleeping by herself in her own room last week, it's been a little quiet around here without those two fighting." "She has, huh'?" "She's growing up." "She sure is." "After all, she's six now." "Wow, she's six already..." "Send me a picture of her sleeping, okay'?" "Sure." "Will do." "Togusa, we have an emergency!" "Gel to Fla!" "47 right away!" "What happened'?" "!" "I'm sorry, sir..." "The children are" "They were gone by the time we realized what was up." "It's just like what happened with Ka Gael..." "Sure looks that way." "The Puppeteer..." "If he wanted Proto dead, he would've made him pull the trigger a long time ago." "He's just trying to buy time!" "Shit!" "Ishikawa!" "Borma!" "Use the lR-System to find those kids ASAP!" "We're barely able to keep the damn lights on right now!" "Let's ask the Prefectural Police for assistance, too!" "Get Proto to the analysis room." "Togusa!" "We need to talk!" "It can wait until later!" "Finding those kids comes first!" "This is important!" "I think I might know who the Puppeteer is." "It's Aramaki." "Pardon me." "What kept you?" "Sorry, things are hectic at work." "How are you feeling, Colonel Tonoda'?" "His little "hobbies" haven't changed at all, I see." "Don't be so hard on him." "They tell me that his health problems are due to the stress of prison life." "Where's that ingrate Tsujisaki'?" "He hasn't come to see me even once." "He's forgotten the debt he owes to the man who looked out for him more than anyone else!" "His memories seem to be a little jumbled, too." "Let's step outside for a minute." "There's something I want to give you." "There's nothing left now of the man they called Colonel Red Demon." "You should think about remarrying." "There's no sorrier sight than a single old man." "I decided long ago that I'd never own anything that I couldn't take to the grave with me." "Steely-eyed and resolute as ever, I see." "So, what was it that you wanted to give to me'?" "Right." "This is it." "The truth is, I ran into the Major at Ma Shaba's hospital." "The Major'?" "You can't be saying that" "At first, I didn't think it was possible." "But then, I became more and more convinced that she had to be the Puppeteer." "I missed my chance to bring it up earlier." "Did you see her kill Ma Shaba'?" "No." "But I did see her walk off with the ampules." "Earlier, I'd always butt in whenever it seemed like the Major might be involved in a given case." "But back then, I always thought that she was helping us solve the case in her own way." "But this time is different." "What the hell is the Major trying to do'?" "Hell it I know." "But it was the Treaty Review Department that set up the hit on Ka Hum." "That's probably where the Major is." "Batou!" "I want you and Saito to head for beltway #16 immediately!" "This has top priority!" "Chief, we have a situation of our own here." "The Puppeteer has struck at Section .9, too." "He's what?" "!" "Old man, I hate to say it, but I think the Puppeteer is" "Let's keep this to ourselves for now." "I'll try to verify it for myself." "Chief, now that he's made a move, the investigation is open again, right?" "I suppose it is." "Understood." "Now, what's happened on your end?" "About two hours ago, security cameras in coastal district 2 happened to catch sight oi an internationally-wanted criminal." "Huh?" "Who is he?" "He must be a tough customer if you want me and Saito on it." "A super-class-A sniper, formerly of the Seok Republic." "Lieutenant Raj Puhto." "Raj Puhto?" "Wait, that was one of the names from" "The one member who hadn't come into the country, huh'?" "He was the commander o!" "Ka Rum's personal guard." "The way!" "heard it, he'd sought asylum in China after Seok fell..." "Considering the timing oi his entry into the country, there must be something to this..." "Right." "Fortunately, the Intelligence Bureau has a fix on his current position." "I want the two oi you to tail him and find out what his objective is." " Roger:" " Roger:" "Look, Togusa, if it turns out that the Major is the Puppeteer and we have to take her on..." "I know, I don't want to think about that, either." "Somehow, some day, I'll repay you for this favor." "Col. Tonoda, I'm afraid I can't stay any longer today." "They say that children take after their parents and robots take after humans, but you didn't turn out anything like me." "It makes me happy that a fool like me produced a genius like you." "Try to look after your health, all right'?" "Thank you for saying so, sir." "Take care of yourself, too, Colonel." "What's his M. O. gonna be for his sniping?" "The same as mine." "He'll use his Haw/re ye to establish a satellite link, and then take his shot." "Which means its only a matte!" "of time before we lose the ability to track him by GPS." "Yeah, we have to catch him before then." "Lemme take oven I'm gonna gel a look a!" "his face." "Don'!" "let him spot you." "I have confirmation." "No doubt about it, this is our guy." "Togusa!" "The lR-System has picked up one of the kids." "Really?" "What's his location?" "Walking through the grounds oi the Kohoku public housing projects." "Hey, that's near where I live." "Okay I'll go check I!" "out." "I'll put in a ca}!" "to the PPD." "I guess it's back to investigating those 20,000 abduction cases for us..." "Looks that way." "Damn, I guess we have to put the Major on the backburner for now..." "Treaty Review Department #6 Archive Room" "The Puppeteer, I presume'?" "It's certainly a fitting name." "I received an inquiry a few minutes ago from Public Security Section 9... masking me if I knew who a hacker known as the Puppeteer might be." "My answer was, "Sorry, I don't."" "So, what did you want to talk to me about'?" "I came here to refund your payment." "As far as we're concerned, as long as you carry out your assignments, we don't care what you do to get the job done." "I'm sorry, but you won't be seeing me again." "In that case, I'll leave a net channel open for you to contact us." "Feel free to" "This one's a puppet, too'?" "What a waste." "And she was so talented, too..." "The sun's about to come up..." "Still, why do you think he decided to come here now?" "You don't think it's to carry out Ka Rum's revenge'?" "That would make the most sense, but how would he have gotten his hands on that intel'?" "Even we were left out of the loop on that little tidbit." "You have a point." "Geez, how much longer is this guy gonna keep driving around town'?" "Come to think of it, there's that building again." "Hey, isn't that the" "Togusa, the kid just went into apartment 602 in building N25." "Can you find it?" "Yeah, I know this neighborhood like the back of my hand." "A Noble Rot Senior Citizen..." "Give him back!" "Everything I have is invested in that boy!" "I'd sooner will it to somebody off the damn street than let the government take it!" "Anyway, the boy would've died of abuse if I hadn't taken him in..." "That's the will of the people of all those who live in the Solid State..." "It's our little game..." "No, our just economic action!" "If you don't want to kill yourself like the others, keep your nose out of our society!" "Consider yourself... warned..." "I'm definitely getting the feeling that his sniping target is in there." "Yeah..." "Turn off his cyberbrain and assign a guard to him, okay'?" "Yes, sir." "Cardiac arrest confirmed." "Requesting disposal of remains and retrieval of nursing system." "Disposal'?" "That's strange, didn't he have some family somewhere'?" "There's a six-year-old kid listed in his file..." "Data error, maybe'?" "I shouldn't complain, that's one less job for me to do..." "Sacred Citizen Relief Center I shouldn't complain, that's one less job for me to do..." "Sacred Citizen Relief Center" "Data error?" "No, he's missing because I rescued him." "Which means that even if I hadn't come here, the boy would've been... taken into custody by them as par!" "of their standard procedure." "Special operatives committing suicide..." "Vanished children..." "Noble Ho!" "Senior Citizens..." "The will oi the people oi those who live in the Solid State..." "Hang on, what does "Solid State" mean in the first place?" "What did that old man mean?" "It's me." "Thank goodness, I finally got through!" "Honey, you've got to come home at once!" "Our daughter is missing!" "That clinches it..." "Let's get after him!" "Wait!" "Shit, he's got optical camouflage'?" "What the hell is going on'?" "!" "Kiddie Security" "Her GPS is turned off..." "Is it the Puppeteer'?" "But she doesn't have any cyber implants yet!" "I need you to pinpoint which satellite he's using!" "Now that we've lost track of him, the instant he starts to shoot is gonna be our first and last chance to get him!" "I can probably find that satellite for you, but how are you gonna actually spot the guy'?" "He should be in this zone..." "He'll know where we are, but we'll be able to spot his position from up here." "Change into this." "You're too easy to see." "There's no time." "If we can beat him to the punch, I should be able to take him!" "Let's get started." "Bingo!" "Send it to me!" "This guy's his target'?" "I've got a back-trace on his position!" "SE-37..." "That's where he is'?" "Send my data back at him!" "They're lining up a shot on me?" "!" "Saito!" "Did I nail him'?" "Sit tight!" "I'll go check!" "Damn it, hurry up!" "Huh'?" "Daddy'?" "Well?" "Have a little faith in you!" "skills, why don'!" "ya ?" "That's a relief..." "Now, then..." "Hey, who was that guy you were gunning for'?" "Why were you trying to kill him'?" "It was to avenge the General's death..." "I'm gonna kill every last one of you Japs." "To get revenge'?" "Don't give me that crap!" "Where'd you get your hands on that piece of intel'?" "It was a tip that I got from a double agent." "He said he'd tell me who masterminded the General's death, so I should go kill him." "And what's the name of this double agent'?" "An assemblyman named Munei who spends a lot of time at the Foreign Ministry..." "Old man, I need you to collar an assemblyman by the name of Munei ASAP" "Also, here's a picture oi the guy that Haj was trying to kill." "Looks like he's the mastermind behind the hit on Ka Hum." "If I'm not mistaken, the man in this picture is the assemblyman named Hitoshi Munei..." "What're you trying to pull'?" "The guy you were trying to whack is the same guy who fed you your intel!" "That's his problem." "Maybe he wanted to commit suicide or something." "Commit suicide'?" "Hey, are you sure the Puppeteer isn't pulling your strings, pal'?" "Shit..." "Maybe it is." "If that S.O.B. was human, I would've killed it right off the bat..." "If it even got to me, I'm gonna be so pissed..." "The Puppeteer isn't human'?" "It's the name of the mechanism for abducting kids that's built into the Solid State..." "The Solid State'?" "Hey!" "What the hell is the Solid State'?" "You really don't know'?" "It's the nursing net..." "The government of this democratic country of yours goes around abducting children..." "It's too damn funny..." "Old man, I need a paramedic team and a chopper over here." "And do some digging into this Munei guy's background." "Something fishy is going on." "Understood." "So anyway, I found her right after I called you." "It sounds like she was with the neighbors since this morning." "She was, huh'?" "Well, I'm just glad that it was a false alarm." "You shouldn't leave the house without telling Mommy." "Okay!" "Good girl." "I'll drop her off at school." "I'll have to go right back to the office after that, though." "Are you sure'?" "You look exhausted." "Just seeing you two makes me feel better." "Really?" "Well, if you say so." "See you later!" "What is it'?" "Nothing!" "Togusa!" "We have Raj Puhto in custody." "Looks like the Puppeteer was involved in this one, too." "Which means that the Major is" "Yeah." "Bu?" "the Major might not be the Puppeteer after all." "Raj Puhto says that the Puppeteer is the name of an abduction mechanism that's built into the nursing net." "Abduction mechanism?" "Yeah." "Plus, he called the nursing net the "Solid Stale,"" "and implied that the government is involved somehow" "To tell you the truth, when I ran into the Major, she told me to stay away from the Solid State." "At first, I thought that "solid state" was referring to cyber implants." "In other words, she was telling me to stay away from her." "Bu?" "maybe she was actually telling me to stay away from the nursing net." "My guess is that Ka Rum and his group uncovered this mechanism, tried to exploit it for their plot, and got themselves purged." "That makes sense..." "It's from Mommy." "Give me a minute." "Hello'?" "You ignored our warning." "Hey!" "That mistake will cost you your adorable little daughter:" "Togusa!" "What's wrong?" "!" "Ishikawa!" "Can you get me Togusa S current location I?" "!" "I can look it up." "Why?" "What's up?" "His cyberbrain S being hacked!" "Daddy'?" "This isn't the way to school..." "Shit..." "So you're the Puppeteer, huh?" "What's your plan, and how do the abducted kids fit into it?" "Where did those 20,000 children disappear to?" "We are simply recycling Ghosts that have been foolishly allowed to go to waste." "I am about to let you experience for yourself exactly what some of them went through." "Kohoku Cyberbrain Surgical Hospital" "Kohoku Cyberbrain Surgical Hospital Batou!" "I have a fl): on Togusa S location!" "He's at the Cyberbrain Surgical Hospital over in Kohoku New Town!" "Now I get it." "Ii the kids' own parents take them to the hospital, the doctors will perform the cyberization surgery without suspecting a thing." "Then you overwrite the child's memory, the parent drops off their child with a senior citizen, and the abduction is complete." "After this, you'll wipe my own memory, and my daughter will have vanished." "You don't need to feel bad about having your memories altered." "In modem society memories are constantly being altered on a subconscious level." "The probability oi such alterations already exceeds that of being in a traffic accident." "So I'm being given a choice, huh?" "That's the place?" "I'll never let you people take my daughter." "Listen, honey." "Do you think you can do what Daddy's about to ask'?" "When Daddy lets go of your hand, run away as fast as you can." "R u n away?" "That's right." "You're going to hear a bang, just like field day at school." "When you hear the bang, run with all you've got." "Once you start, don't stop running for anything." "And whatever you do, don't look back." "Can you do that'?" "Okay, then." "Close your eyes." "I'm sorry..." "This is goodbye, honey." "Togusa!" "I love you." "Togusa!" "Max!" "Musashi!" "Everything's okay." "Don't worry." "Major'?" "I had to wait until the very last second." "Sorry about that." "So, I guess this means that you aren't the Puppeteer..." "Where have you been all this time'?" "Daddy!" "Ever since I left Section 9, I've been wandering the net, secretly stepping in on my own to solve crimes that couldn't be dealt with through organization-based methodology." "In the course of doing that, I came across these abduction cases, and have been conducting an independent investigation of my own." "I can't believe you used Togusa as bait!" "Did you ever stop to think that you might be putting his family in their crosshairs'?" "I made sure that I had safeguards put in place." "Thanks to those, we should now know who the Puppeteer really is." "What'?" "You mean "Puppeteer" isn't the name of a system that's running on the nursing net'?" "Instead of calling it a "system," it would probably be more accurate to call it a gestalt of all the senior citizens who are attached to the nursing net." "But there's an independently-running hub cyberbrain that manages the whole thing." "A hub cyberbrain'?" "Hey, are those what I think they are?" "!" "I constructed them out o!" "data I found drifting in the net." "Hi, Mr. Baton!" "Long time, no see!" "It's nice to see that you're doing well!" "The nursing net has had a back door installed in it eve!" "since its design stages." "Look." "This is the full view oi the rhizome that's been woven by the senior citizens' gestalt." "A rhizome doesn't contain the concept of a "center "" "That's why the hub cyberbrain is constantly in motion." "That, or the rhizome itself might be acting as the hub." "Okay, so now I know what's going on." "But who or what is the hub cyberbrain'?" "Max!" "Musashi!" "Report your findings." "What's the problem?" "Um, I don't know how to break this to you..." "You failed?" "B-But we did manage to pinpoint its location, though!" "Well, where is it'?" "The Sacred Citizen Relief Center building!" "That's where the heart of the nursing net is!" "They've arrived." "Disengaging locks." "It's been a long time, Major." "I suppose it has." "It's too bad that this reunion wasn't under happier circumstances." "What made you decide to come back'?" "Let's save that discussion for later." "Our first order of business right now is to apprehend the Puppeteer." "Hitoshi Munei." "Assemblyman in the Lower House." "The reason why he was marked for death is our sole lead in uncovering the true identity of the Puppeteer." "He's a reactionary conservative nationalist who's always been a vocal supporter of the formation of a ruling class comprised of pure-blooded Japanese." "He's in constant contact with the Foreign Ministry, and he also has strong ties to the Treaty Review Department." "He was also involved in Ka Rum's assassination." "What're you implying, Major'?" "I contracted out to the Treaty Review Department so that I could make it look like Ka Rum had been assassinated." "But the Puppeteer got to him before I could." "So, you were only responsible for covering up his death afterwards." "Yes, more or less." "We've also learned that Hitoshi Munei has secured a leadership position in the day-to-day operations of the Sacred Citizen Relief Center." "What's in it for him'?" "The place is just a relief center that provides senior health care and vocational training." "True." "However, thanks to the patronage of certain politicians, in addition to its public persona as a tax-exempt foundation, it acts in reality as a training agency for the power elite." "So the place is a veritable brainwashing factory..." "That must be what Raj Puhto meant when he implied that the government was involved." "If it's being used as a temporary central clearing house for the abducted children, it means that the fact that Munei is using it as a brainwashing factory is what the Puppeteer has a problem with." "Chief." "How about conducting a compulsory investigation'?" "Our top priority is to find the missing children." "Yeah, but raiding the place will cause a scandal." "If that happens, it won't just be a scumbag of a politician that catches heat for it." "Ishikawa!" "How's it coming?" "The!" "you, Major?" "You picked a he}!" "of a time to rejoin the fold..." "I found evidence of a massive amount of equipment being brought in that was based of!" "o!" "the HC-25 brainwashing machine, bu!" "{hats pretty flimsy evidence as a basis to conduct!" "a raid." "How about footage from the inside?" "I only found footage from their manual labor wing." "The defense barrier protecting the education wing is a complex virtual experience maze." "I had no luck at all sneaking in." "Just looks like refugees..." "So the abducted children are being held in the education wing..." "Which means that the abduction mechanism had already been built into this place during its planning stages." "If it weren't, I'd have a hard time imagining that a rank-and-file politician would have the guts to propose such an audacious policy." "So you believe that the Puppeteer was among those who were involved in laying the project's groundwork?" "Ishikawa." "Use decoys to make it look like hackers are trying to dive the place." "I'm going in." "If this blows up in our faces, it'll give you guys some cover." "If you and Togusa are still around, Section 9 will be able to carry on." "Batou." "I don't like to hear that kind of talk." "Oh, so you're the one who's going to retire this time'?" "I appreciate your consideration, but the only reason I came here is to ID the Puppeteer." "It's certainly true that you always need someone who can get their hands dirty for you." "And besides, I don't have anything to lose right now." "Chief." "No offense, but I'm going in there myself." "The Puppeteer is waiting for a chance to eliminate Munei." "I don't want to let this chance slip by." "But how do you intend to go about finding the Puppeteer'?" "We still don't have the foggiest idea who he really is." "We still don't have the foggiest idea who he really is." "I'm going to keep my ears open." "My Ghost will whisper it to me." "Gosh, this is kinda awkward, huh'?" "Hup...--'" "Hup...--'" "Hup...--'" "Hi, everybody!" "Been a long time, huh'?" "Here we go..." "Let's do it!" "There's nothing like the thrill you get from zipping along in a physical body, is there'?" "Really'?" "I dunno, I'm not used to my joints yet..." "This looks like another basic attack, but their response seems strange..." "Go to alert status just in case." " Understood." " Understood." "A fellow pro, huh'?" "Oops!" "Okay, I guess we have each other's attention..." "Hacking from the Public Prosecutors' Office again, huh'?" "They're wasting their time." "I'm going out to inspect the facility." "Paz and Borma, secure an evac route!" " Roger:" " Roger:" "W-Who are you people'?" "What good would that do you'?" "Then I'd have to kill you." "I've lost communications'?" "Here come the security cyborgs!" "Major, you go on ahead." "The one who got inside is as good as dead!" "Go after the think-tanks!" "Got it." "Opening fire without so much as a warning, huh'?" "This must be a key government facility, all right..." "Wow, he's following us..." "That's fine with me." "No thermal signatures or shadows..." "Kyo-Fie's "Cloak of Invisibility," huh'?" "Which means they're" "Your intel's way out of date!" "They don't call Type-3302 a cloak of invisibility." "Son of a" "Shit!" "You little-- Get off of" "Mow 'em down." "Roger!" "Back me up." "I'll be able to gain control of the system in a few more minutes." "Leave it to me." "Haven't we always worked this way'?" "Togusa!" "What's your current position?" "!" "Major?" "I'm making my approach up the wall of the building." "Good." "Make you!" "way to the roof and rendezvous with the Chief!" "I've found out where the children are." "Let's go!" "Assemblyman Munei." "We're Public Security Section 9." "We've already seen for ourselves what you're up to here." "Judging from what we see here, a large-scale compulsory investigation would seem to be unavoidable, wouldn't it'?" "Public Security'?" "This facility might be off the books, but it's the government's most vital agency." "You self-righteous Public Security pissants have no business here!" "Begging your pardon, Assemblyman, but from what I can see here, this looks exactly like the sort of situation that we have to intervene in." "You're a public servant, but I don't think you understand the gravity of the threat that this country faces." "If nothing is done, one day in the not-too-distant future, our country's prosperity will be supplanted by other races." "To prevent that, we're expending tax revenues on these children without families, providing them with an education, and entrusting our future to them!" "Just what, exactly, do you find wrong with that'?" "Those taxes are money that you've exploited out of the elderly and the refugees that you bind to this place!" "That couldn't be helped, either." "Stop and think about it." "What have they ever done for the good of this country'?" "They don't build families or have children!" "They don't fulfill their duty as taxpayers!" "They live their lives only for themselves, and then say, "I'm old, take care of me!"" "Their selfishness is appalling!" "If I had my way, I'd put a new tax on them to make up for the tax revenue we lose because they're too old or can't work anymore!" "You're splitting hairs." "In that case, perhaps you could tell me what you politicians have been doing all this time'?" "Who will take responsibility for you placing self-preservation and vanity above your duties, and constantly putting the pressing problems at hand on the back burner'?" "I'm proud of the fact that I have taken responsibility for it." "Are you also proud of violating human rights and cyberbrain ethics laws'?" "I believe that those were steps that had to be taken." "You refuse to budge, don't you'?" "Major, I rah a check on the number of children here." "But it's nowhere near 20,000." "It's more like 3,000 at most." "I see." "Switch you!" "comm channel to autistic mode." "Roger." "Assemblyman." "Were you aware that a system to automatically abduct children was designed into this center'?" "These children aren't orphans." "The vast majority are children who were abducted." "It was our investigation into those abductions that led us here." "You yourself are a material witness in that case." "I've overseen this project from the very beginning, and I certainly don't recall incorporating a bug like that into the system!" "In that case, we'll question the people who came up with the system!" "It was me." "I was the one who devised the core concepts that the Solid State system is founded on." "Togusa!" "Take everybody into custody!" "Roger!" "Batou, I'm going to dive this guy's cyberbrain before his memories pull a whiteout!" "Back me up!" "I hope I'm in time!" "Batou, I'm connected." "Gotcha." "I'm boosting your signal." "I see his memory field, but the output is dropping." "Batou, do you think you can boost his output'?" "Let's try going in through a Tachikoma." "Come back up!" "There's no time!" "Can you see me, Puppeteer'?" "Can you see me, Puppeteer?" "Puppeteer..." "That's the name oi the hub cyberbrain that oversaw the Noble Hot Senior Citizens' rhizome." "Yes..." "I'm entering his right visual center." "Saccades have halted." "Fixational eye micromovements, too..." "Hey!" "What happened'?" "Batou, I'm patching him into my speech center." " Don't be stupid!" "Come up, then dive again!" " I owe you a debt of gratitude." "Munei was the Solid State's greatest bottleneck, you see." "I've tried to purge him time and time again, but he's an old-fashioned type who hates the thought of cyberization." "Who the hell are you?" "What are you using the abducted children for?" "Setting aside the matter oi my identity for the moment, perhaps my motives were the same as Munei's." "This country has reached the point where someone has to step in and take action." "The problem of 6 million-plus Noble Rot Senior Citizens..." "The growing unemployment rate, and the proportionally decreasing worker population that's continuing unabated." "And then there is the declining birth rate..." "There is no end to the problems that must be addressed." "Were you aware that even though there is such a furor over the declining birth rate, 50,000 children under the age of six needlessly lose their lives every year'?" "30% of those deaths can be attributed to domestic abuse." " Well'?" "Can you do it'?" " And in 80% of those cases..." " I'll try." " And in 80% of those cases child guidance centers, the police, or other relevant authorities were aware of the situation, but they were unable to prevent the deaths." "This country's systems have already collapsed, and the potential oi the individual is declining considerably." "Major!" "Stay in there much longer, and you're gonna whiteout along with him when he dies!" "That's when I came upon the idea oi recycling Ghosts that were needlessly being damaged." "I find at-risk children though the abuse surveillance net, and then launder their family registers." "I thought that would give them a new chance at life." "So, that's the core concept of the Solid State system?" "That's right." "But to make it work, the assistance oi the Noble Rot Senior Citizens was essential." "They hunger for something that will give them a reason to exist." "Although they wouldn't be able to pass down their DNA, their posterity would exist on paper, and there would be someone to bequeath their estate to." "In this way, instead oi forfeiting their personal property to the state upon their death, they could simply use the net and continue to take part in this economic action." "They happily gave my plan their approval." "You realize that what you're doing is a crime, don't you?" "Yes, but ii those ends had absolute priority, those were the only possible means." "My main task was to save these children who were in danger as soon as I could." "For that reason alone, I have no regrets about what I've done, even though it's cost me my life." "On the contrary, it means that my life as a bureaucrat had meaning." "All that remained was to reinforce the Solid State system..." "".10 make it into a self-perpetuating mechanism." "Maybe, but by purging one by one those who meddled with your system, ...it drew attention to your plan, and it was found out." "Considering how they must have felt when they knew that their time was near, it was an understandable reaction on their part." "Ka Rum I can understand, but why Munei'?" "Because he held the children prisoner here." "If they simply ended up becoming his brainwashed elite, my giving them a new lease on life was all for nothing." "Children need an education, but if you don't release them out into the world, they won't develop a strong will of their own." "That was the point of contention between Munei and me, and it was the main reason why I had to eliminate him." "But you people had to go and show up this time..." "Regardless, my plan has now progressed smoothly to its next phase." "I've never been able to hack your cyberbrain, but now I've succeeded in getting you to link me directly into it." "Major!" "You killed yourself just to lure me into linking with you?" "!" "You're a formidable opponent, but if I can momentarily trap you in a though!" "maze," "I should be able to eliminate Section 9 all at once." "I'm surprised." "Your thinking is arrogant and self-righteous, but you have so much drive that it's a waste of your talent to be a bureaucrat." "Plug you know all about me..." "Who the hell are you?" "!" "You still haven't figured it out'?" "Come now, Motoko Kusanagi..." "Surely there can't be many people in your memory who are burning with this much egotistical righteousness." "We've synchronized with countless consciousnesses over the years." "It shouldn't come as a huge surprise that your deep collective subconscious came to life." "With this, the Solid State will be complete." "And now, let's become a vanishing mediator and go take an active hand in the next society." "I can't see anything." "Somebody give me a status report." "Finally awake, huh'?" "Batou'?" "Are you there'?" "What's happening'?" "Where am I'?" "So, what have they decided to do with the children'?" "Well, it looks like they're going to be returned to their real parents for the time being." "Even with their memories overwritten, even knowing about the abuse..." "I wonder if that's really what's best for the kids." "Perhaps the fact that they can't answer that question after all this highlights the limitations of our system." "What'll happen to those kids who found foster parents and managed to get out before their brainwashing education could begin'?" "We'll probably have to wait a long time for the verdicts of what I expect will be some rather complicated trials as they go through them on a case-by-case basis." "Chief, what can we even hope to do about things like this'?" "The only thing I can tell you is this:" "All we can do is continue to work within the rules that govern us to make a stand against the unjust." "I only hope that when they're grown, they've reached their full potential and will find the answers that we weren't able to." "When you think about it, the "Solid State system" is a pretty ironic name." "The guy's metaphor of choice was "transistors" to describe the cyberbrains of senior citizens..." "That's definitely something that a stuffed-shirt bureaucrat would come up with, isn't it'?" "I have to admit, I was a little freaked out to learn who the Puppeteer really was." "How do you mean'?" "We learned a few things after you lost consciousness when he died." "That pencil-pusher actually died two years ago." "Name, Tateaki Koshiki." "Age, 33." "Born into a family of civil servants, and was on the fast track to elite status since childhood." "Joined the Ministry of Management and Coordination right after graduating college." "But he quickly grew frustrated and began refusing to come to work, possibly because he had become a civil servant with no sense of purpose." "Due to his cyberbrain skills, he was allowed to work from home via a remote prosthetic body and after that, he apparently carried out his duties in an indifferent manner." "Then, two years ago, Munei brought him onto his project out of respect for his abilities, which would be carried out by manipulating both the Welfare and Management Ministries." "When he did, Koshiki independently designed and implemented his abduction system." "But his problem was, he wasn't the kind of guy who stood out." "In spite of this huge job that he was working on, not one damn person noticed that he had gotten sick and died at home." "Thanks to that, the true identity of the Puppeteer is gonna remain a mystery forever." "So does that mean that somebody else entirely was using that remote body to cause all this'?" "It's possible." "Actually, that theory is probably more likely." "Even with those old folks that had formed a gestalt with him, their actions were caused by their collective unconscious." "So there's no way for us to find out for sure now." "Oh." "Except, that is for the conversation between you and Koshiki that was recorded in the Tachikoma's' memory." "It's still in there'?" "It should be, but they claim that when Koshiki died, ...all of his memories underwent a whiteout." "Were you listening in on that conversation, Batou'?" "Yeah, kinda." "But at this point, it doesn't really matter, does it'?" "The old-timers, those kids who were being abused, all that stuff is on its way toward being resolved now." "Even if we didn't find out who the Puppeteer really was, this case is still more or less closed." "Written off as a scandal involving a handful of bad-apple politicians'?" "It's the strangest thing, Batou..." "What have I been feeling so jaded and disillusioned about'?" "What do you think I was searching for as I was wandering the net'?" "Truth'?" "Friendship'?" "Or maybe a certain special someone'?" "Maybe I just wanted to blame this organization or even the system for my own sense of helplessness." "What's gotten into you'?" "You turning all meek and modest on me'?" "Did you get whatever it was out of your system'?" "So, what're you gonna do now'?" "You plan on keeping up that "conducting investigations chosen by personal deduction" routine of yours by yourself'?" "Maybe I've had my fill of that, too." "When I'm operating under restrictions, I definitely feel constrained by them, but without those restraints, it doesn't feel like my actions are accomplishing anything." "I guess I'm right back to where I started from..." "What's that supposed to mean'?" "That your way of saying you're coming back to Section 9'?" "But what about Togusa'?" "Won't I get in the way of his development'?" "If that keeps him from growing, he wasn't gonna go any further anyway." "I wouldn't sweat it if I were you." "Maybe you're right." "You know, Batou, the net truly is vast and infinite." "Maybe a new society we've never even dreamed of is already being born." "Razgon, poliot, prizok, raschet padenija." "Accelerate, jump, calculate the fall." "Obo vsem ja znala na pered." "I knew what would happen beforehand." "Verila, chto reazbivaju hrupkij led." "I believed I would make it across." "Dlia chego'?" "What's it all for'?" "It's a real illusion..." "Oh, yeah..." "Najti, chtobi poteriat." "To find, that I can lose." "Upast, chtobi podnia'tsi." "To fall, that I can stand." "Ostivaja, vozgorafsi." "To freeze, that I can ignite." "Otkrit v sebie sebia I kraja ne bojafa." "To find myself within me and not fear the edge." "Pogibaja, vozrozdats'a." "To die, that I can be reborn." "Odin glotok otkil potok somnenij." "One gulp has unleashed a torrent of doubts." "Znaju Ii prav tot kto ne lgal'?" "How do I know the honest man is right'?" "Kto mudrec a kto sebia im vidaval'?" "Who is truly wise, and who is just pretending'?" "Dlia chego?" "What's it all for'?" "It's a real illusion..." "Dlia chego?" "What's it all for'?" "It's a real illusion..." "Najti, chtobi poteriat." "To find, that I can lose." "Upast, chtobi podnia'tsi." "To fall, that I can stand." "Ostivaja, vozgorafsi." "To freeze, that I can ignite." "Otkrit v sebie sebia I kraja ne bojafa." "To find myself within me and not fear the edge." "Pogibaja, vozrozdats'a." "To die, that I can be reborn." "V novij mir." "Into the new world." "V novij mir." "Into the new world." "Najti, chtobi poteriat." "To find, that I can lose." "Upast, chtobi podnia'tsi." "To fall, that I can stand." "Ostivaja, vozgorafsi." "To freeze, that I can ignite." "Otkrit v sebie sebia I kraja ne bojafa." "To find myself within me and not fear the edge." "Pogibaja, vozrozdats'a." "To die, that I can be reborn." "V novij mir." "Into the new world." "V novij mir." "Into the new world." "V novij mir." "Into the new world." "Najti, chtobi poteriat." "To find, that I can lose." "Upast, chtobi podnia'tsi." "To fall, that I can stand." "Pogibaja, vozrozdats'a." "To die, that I can be reborn." "V novij mir." "Into the new world." "V novij mir." "Into the new world." "V novij mir." "Into the new world."