"Major." "Hey, Major!" "What was that?" "Virtual reality?" "I'm on vacation." "Don't be so casual about entering my lobby." "Well, my mistake." "There's been a terrorist bombing in Nishinouchi." "The vic's were a foreign-owned water company exec, a Trade Ministry official, and a domestic weapons manufacturer." "The top entry in that terrorism grid list you gave Public Security was right on target." "I assume they were secretly meeting to discuss water prices." "A toast now, took some Foreign Affairs guards with them." "There was also an explosion at the Yamanote Dam." "The dam?" "Don't know if it's related." "But it belongs to a foreign-owned water company, and there's a retired Trade official on staff." "The bureaucrats in that industry have some intense turf wars." "So, who asked for us?" "Section 9, as usual." "Well, they failed to put your list to good use." "They have managed to track down the perps." "They say they can't secure 'em, though." "Too outgunned." "Call everyone in." "I'm coming too." "Duty calls." "I'm so sorry." "Five hours, seven minutes." "That's a record-length vacation for you." "Is it the police this time?" "Or the Cyberbrain Development Bureau?" "I'll make it up to you." "Don't forget what we talked about, okay?" "Are you serious?" "Of course." "Either way, you better get going." "Your customers are impatient." "Right." "Wow, can't believe you've been with that guy for three months!" "That's a new record for you." "Don't be so casual about using that Ghost infiltration key." "According to your precinct, he's Detective Naoharu Mizuki." "Is that right?" "Yeah." "He's was a senior of mine." "Was this all that he had on him?" "Yeah, his holster was empty." "Guess his piece was washed away." "Either that or stolen." "Hard to believe the gun under his jacket would get washed away." "And why would somebody steal his gun but not take his wallet." "A prosthetic specialist..." "Huh, he sure doesn't look cyborg guy to me." "You got eyes." "They rounded up all the unclaimed property in the area, right?" "Something in here must tie back to him." "What am I?" "Your errand boy?" "If the dam incident was really an accident, then yes." "Lieutenant!" "I found something strange, sir." "What have we got here?" "They look like prosthetics." "Mermaid's legs..." "Report." "Lots of injured cops." "Six perps are still at large and running." "They're on their way to Ward 4." "They plan well for the police strategy." "Yes, specially since they secured an escape route ahead of time." "This group is obviously highly trained." "They must have a commander out there somewhere." "Ishikawa!" "I picked up their line!" "The seventh one." "That's their leader." "This is a cutting-edge ghost lock so don't bother resisting." "I'll make him order his friends to surrender." "Ishikawa, run a forced recognition program." "Roger." "Abort the operation." "Put down your guns and surrender." "Repeat." "Abort the operation." "Put down your guns." "Uh-Huh?" "Aw man, no shootout?" "Look, I got one!" "You're a useful little guy, aren't you?" "We just nabbed the last one." "Good." "Hand them over to Public Security." "A virus alert?" "It's the guy you captured!" "This pain..." "The ghost lock released?" "Major?" "Shit." "Saito!" "Don't kill him!" "No more of that!" "Damn, it always feels gross having someone infiltrate my ghost - even the Major." "Tell me about it..." "Your fault for aiming at the head." "Don't hand them over yet." "We'll take them to a lockup with cyber facilities first." "Why can't I just interrogate them here?" "Their fake memories don't interest me." "So what does?" "How about their contaminated ghosts?" "I'm sorry I had to call you down here like this." "I have no problem performing my civic duty." "So I understand you're in charge of the dam." "Let's see..." "Dr. Zhinzhee Bekka Arr Thied, correct?" "Please, call me Thied." "Tough-looking secretary you've got." "Yes, he's very reliable." "As for your background, it says here you're originally from the Republic of Kuzan." "There's still a lot of conflict there namely with the Qhardi ethnic minority waging a war of independence, is that right?" "Such a heartbreaking situation." "And... er... you're Qhardi yourself?" "Yes." "And like the majority of my countrymen, I wish for nothing but a peaceful solution." "As for that explosion..." "I'm told it was a valve malfunction." "Now, if I'm not mistaken, your company sells water, right?" "For what type of use?" "Precision machinery businesses." "That industry actually relies on 100% pure water." "So things like prosthetic manufacturing?" "Yes." "Chief..." "You idiot!" "The Trade Ministry invited them to set up a plant here!" "Are you intentionally trying to make more enemies?" "No, but I..." "Hey!" "Whoa!" "Hold on!" "That's evidence!" "I'm grateful you were able to recover the goods that were stolen from our warehouse." "Can we take them with us." "Yes, of course, you can." "But..." "Chief!" "You heard me." "A detective died, sir." "You think I don't know that?" "Go to Nishinouchi and get me information." "Why Nishinouchi?" "There was a bombing there, apparently done by Qhardi terrorists." "Consult with me before making any moves on this case." "Sure." "So if the explosion was intentional and he wasn't a victim, then..." "What?" "Don't worry about a thing!" "I'm on it, Chief!" "Don't make me regret sending you, Togusa!" "They're a gang of Qhardi weapons smugglers." "I met them on an undercover op once." "So if these guys are only trying to send weapons to their buddies back home, then they've got no reason to attack this country." "Yeah, but you heard their statements:" "They said they were against the pricing agreement, which is why they bombed the site of the meeting." "But you think those were just planted memories, huh?" "I bet all of them are infected with the virus." "That's probably what interfered with my ghost lock." "Well done." "You subdued them in no time at all." "Thank you but we could have done it even quicker if Section 9 would adjust its comms standards to ours." "I read your report." "So we're dealing with a false memory virus that can infiltrate, hack, and brainwash simultaneously?" "Yes, it's a self-destructing Stuxnet-type." "Other than the symptoms at its onset, it leaves no trace behind." "Electronic manipulation of memory is difficult, if not impossible." "It's never been successfully confirmed." "So you say but past incidents tell us that a maker and a broker clearly exist." "Yeah." "Somewhere out there is a super-wizard-class programmer known as "Fire-Starter" who created the virus that also bears his name." "And no one's been able to uncover his identity until now." "You know something." "Well, a clue, at least." "A tattoo." "All the terrorists you caught have the same one." "It's a symbol used by Scylla, the figure head who once led the Qhardi Separatist Army." "I've heard of the guy." "Word is he's a master of cyber warfare." "Is he this Fire-Starter then?" "Can't be." "He died during the war." "You're going to find out if that's true or not." "I'll authorize limited access to Section 9's database." "You can read the details there." "Is that all?" "You're complaining?" "I gave you all the Logicomas that I have, with our weapons and the permission to use them as well." "Predicting terrorist attack is one thing but my team needs the power to act on our research." "Meaning?" "Meaning I want special authority and an approved budget." "And your crappy comm lines made backward compatible with ours while you're at it." "I don't believe this!" "How can you expect more when your team isn't even regulation size yet!" "This unit is standardized to the perfect specs." "We don't need any more people." "Then the whole team will go down the second you get hacked, the same way those terrorists did." "I don't agree with these "perfect specs" of yours either." "Your unit's supposed to have, at least, six members and one commander." "If you want authority and a budget, get one more person." "If they're not going to pony up the cash, I guess we're stuck in this dump for a little while longer." "I'm just glad we've got a lab to use." "Yeah but with the way we wear out our prosthetics, this maintenance facility isn't gonna cut it..." "Plus we've got to pay out of our own pockets for any upgrades." "And those aren't cheap." "The training ground instructors make better money, I hear." "I understand but trust me." "We'll get everything we need and more." "So quit your bitching and solve this case!" "His nationality's unknown." "He uses multiple bodies to conceal his identity, hence the name Scylla." "That's a multi-headed sea monster from Greek mythology, in case you haven't read The Oddysey." "He's a military genius, a separatist leader and a master hacker... and it says here: his specialty is tunnel ops." "So what does that mean?" "That's when he bombs some place's lifelines and then infiltrate them electronically while they're busy being restored." "Basically, it lets you launch a cyber-attack from within your enemy's defenses." "This is exactly what the Qhardis did in their war against the Government in Kuzan." "As a result, Kuzan joined forces with a number of advanced nations and used their aid and weapons to contain the Qhardi revolution." "As it turns out, one of those nations happen to be ours." "When the war was over, no one recognized the Qhardis' independence, and most of the guerillas were disbanded and then slaughtered." "So the idea here is that Scylla was believed to be dead but is actually still alive and developing an advanced cyber virus." "Plus he changed his name to Fire-Starter and is seeking revenge..." "I follow the logic, but is that possible?" "In a conflict zone, you can get away with all sorts of human experimentation." "So sure, Scylla could still be alive." "I'm telling you he's dead." "It could be a successor then?" "Right?" "Either way, they are not selling the virus without testing it." "If that's the case, you think he was using the guerillas to repeat one of his tunnel operations he's famous for?" "It's possible but it bothers me that nobody was carrying a detonator." "Borma, check out the crime scene." "Roger that." "Paz, you and Saito pay those guerillas a visit." "I want to know who trained them." "Batou and Ishikawa, look for signs of more tunnel ops." "What are you gonna do?" "Dive into the guerillas' cyberbrains and search for the virus?" "I've got to get a body tune-up first." "A tune-up, huh?" "From her boyfriend, an ex-military prosthetics tech." "I thought he was a Navy sailor?" "You're thinking about the last one." "He got into a fight with her, and she put his dumb ass in the hospital." "What about the rich Cyberbrain Bureau guy?" "Poor soul beaten last two weeks." "Six boyfriends in six months!" "She's vicious." "No, she's smart." "I never sleep with the same woman twice either." "Because enemies could strike at them to get to you?" "No, because it's my policy." "You should still do background checks on them, at least!" "What if one of them's a spy?" "Even so." "That beats hearing, "I want a family"." "Yeah, since you could die at any time." "This is no kind of job for a family man." "So the late detective's Mizuki weapon wasn't found?" "No." "So we don't know if he fired his gun." "But if he did, it would prove that this was a crime and no accident." "Do you think somebody wanted it to look like one?" "Well, the cause of death was drowning, but he lost a lot of blood antemortem," "Also several of his bones were broken or missing." "So the body is too damaged to tell if he had been shot or not but your opinion is that he was, right?" "Detective Mizuki was investigating weapons smuggling... and his most recent meeting was with a Qhardi organization." "I suspect he was killed because he uncovered some kind of proof, sir." "Then the dam explosion was intentional." "You're suggesting it was carried out just to bury evidence?" "Quite an imagination, you've got there." "I guess you're turning down my request then?" "No, not at all." "Go investigate." "Try and find a connection between the two incidents." "Mmmm...ah..." "All alone?" "You're complaining?" "Not a bit, sir!" "Humans can never perfectly reproduce the movements." "A slight slope, a distance from the target, a few milligrams difference in weight..." "The brain may not have the precision of a machine but it's quite adapt at solving these problems on the fly." "Your brain is particularly beautiful, and its appreciation of both human and uniform standards." "You're exaggerating." "There's nothing wrong with you." "So it still hurts?" "Try moving your leg now." "Lovely." "What's "lovely"?" "Your leg." "The pain is gone now." "Send me a bill, okay?" "I'll give you a discount if you don't forget our promise." "You're a strange one, aren't you?" "Not as strange as you." "Hey, you." "You're blocking my scan." "Oh, sorry." "Isn't having natural eyes like that a hinderance to your work?" "No and it's normally not this hard to find the epicenter." "I take it you know a lot about the combustion process?" "Yeah, I learned the basics overseas back during the war." "I see." "Are you a full cyborg?" "Uh-huh, almost." "Then maybe you can help me figure something out." "I'm no expert but... don't cyborg bodies react like human ones do?" "So then why did his hands stay open after he burned..." "What do you mean?" "When a natural human burns to death, the muscles contract, and as a result, they form fists and then bend forward." "They assume a fetal position or what's called a boxer's pose." "You mean heat rigor?" "Yeah." "Well, what about it?" "The guard's corpse is standing up straight." "Not only that, his hands are open too." "It must be a property of the bomb or his prosthetics." "Prosthetics?" "Hello?" "Last checkup?" "Two weeks from today?" "I gotcha." "No, I'm working right now, sorry honey." ""Honey"?" "Thank you for all of your help." "C-4, dynamite, glycerin, and chemical fertilizer..." "I think we just found their hideout." "This place definitely has a mad bomber vibe to it... but do we have any clue as to what they actually used to pull this off?" "There's order coming down the line!" "Someone calling himself Scylla just instructed the "Second Army" to mobilise." "Those bastards are leaking all the Public Security's moves!" "The Waterworks Bureau's server blew and took out the whole floor." "What did they use?" "The same accelerant found at the Nishinouchi crime scene was spread across the ceiling and even the ducts." "We're talking an omnidirectional blast here." "The air itself blew up." "A fuel-air explosive?" "That makes this is a dummy hideout then." "They obviously got a more advanced lab somewhere else." "Looks like Scylla's issuing us a challenge." "The Waterworks Bureau is starting repairs." "If you ask me, the hacker's already in!" "Then figure out their next target." "Don't let them dig any more tunnels." "Thanks for your cooperation." "I'm getting used to being questioned by the police." "There's been a ton of prosthetics thefts lately." ""Mermaid's legs", and that's one of your products?" "Not the most artistic name, I admit." "My female customers quite like it though." "Do you recognize these legs?" "They look like mass-production models." "Take a look at the tag here." ""Ariel."" "I've asked around, and there's no such model on the market." "I don't carry it either." "It must be some designer's brand name." "Sometimes they use mass-production models as a base and then customise them to buyer's demands." "I'm looking for names." "I have a list that I can give to you." "Give me a moment." "Thanks for your help." "Cops love lists." "That should keep him busy for a while." "Public Security found our dummy safe house." "Are your comm lines secure, Colonel Hozumi?" "This is troubling." "We have one of Intelligence's independent lines." "And you, why haven't you killed that detective?" "There's no need." "He doesn't have any influence." "The real issue is that Ariel's been leaked." "We retrieved the sample before it was analyzed." "We took care of the factory too." "I didn't expect you to panic and blow it up though." "We're lucky Ariel was mounted in time." "Otherwise, your bungling would have hindered our plan." "Our plan was to use Ariel as a way to smuggle explosives to the Qhardis!" "Not suicide bombers!" "Circumstances have changed." "If overseas weapons development becomes domestic, distribution channels will vanish." "So those Qhardis were just pawns?" "We're upgrading." "Fire-Starter can create all the soldiers we want." "Get those guerillas who were arrested released." "I won't give you the data until they're free." "But they aren't even your fellow countrymen." "Even so, Scylla wouldn't abandon them." "Very well." "There are three more usable Ariels." "One of them conveniently close to you." "Does it really have to be her?" "Your feelings are getting in the way." "Just activate the woman's Ariel." "Get our allies released first." "Understand?" "Ride with me." "I trust you haven't told anyone that it was I and you who killed Scylla, right?" "Correct." "That op is a stain on both our records." "It would be highly inconvenient for it to come up again now." "Especially since you dived right into the power game as soon as you made LTC." "If they think they can use the military-industrial complex to profit from murder, they're wrong." "I'll wipe out all their trade routes to foreign cartels, and make domestic weapons engineering bigger than ever." "Just like Lt. Col. Mamuro wanted." "I'm not playing your game, Kurutsu." "Unfortunately, Scylla is a game you can't quit." "She has to stay dead." "You used this before." "Bury it and whoever's using Scylla's name - permanently this time." "If you don't, the brass will bury you, just like they did that op." "Becoming independent of the system doesn't make you free." "You're a lot like the programmers from last century, who expected too much from the birth of the Net." "Even Section 9 is only putting with you up as a test." "When they see fit, they'll restrain you with a ghost infiltration key and get rid of you." "I'm not going to let anyone infiltrate my ghost again." "It doesn't matter who they are." "So that was Motoko Kusanagi?" "So what's your impression?" "Can you win?" "If you wish me to, yes." "You really came?" "Well, I did promise." "I haven't prepared anything at all." "Yeah, I figured as much." "But let's take care of this first, okay?" "Saito and I questioned that Qhardi gang, but there wasn't any trace of their tactical commander." "I was lucky enough to find the rental server they used, at least." "Multiple hacks into public sites..." "Bastards have made progress on their tunnels." "Do you know where they're striking next?" "Someplace with water and precision machinery." "Sadly, 78 places in the city fit that description." "Check them all out." "Damn... you know Intelligence subcontracting pays a lot better for half the work." "So, still enjoying your "tune-up"?" "Yes, so I'm dropping this connection." "I heard all that noise." "Wow!" "Your coworkers sure are in and out of your lobby a lot, aren't they?" "It's fine, I ran them off." "Tell me, do you think I'll ever get to be in your lobby?" "That depends if you work with me or not." "If I told you I needed one more person, what would you say?" "Tuning you up whenever I want sounds real tempting, but I don't get involved with the military or the police." "I see." "I did some first aid on your sensors... but you still need some lab work." "The pain is gone." "I'll just do the rest myself." "Then let's get to unpacking." "You know, I remember when I first met you, all the other engineers did warn me." "They said you were the queen of customer complaints which is sort of true." "Oh, so that's why they handed me off to you?" "Well, actually, I asked them to." "What?" "You fascinated me." "You couldn't decide whether you should treat your body as an object or as a living thing." "That made me interested in you." "At the facility I was in before, they thought I was an oddball for always wanting to sleep in a bed and take showers." "You know, when I was prosthetized on the battlefield, they said," ""A cyborg doesn't need an everyday life; all they need is good equipment."" "That's why I switched to prosthetics engineering." "Because I wanted to treat cyborg bodies the same as human ones." "As a kid, they gave me this everyday-living training outside the facility." "So I could learn how to be more like a normal human." "I don't really remember much." "Just that everything seemed so bright..." "I do remember that I came back ahead of schedule though." "Still... even from the start, I had to have an orthodox body." "I knew that I wanted to look human." "Your prosthetic body isn't a thing." "It's your real body." "And it mustn't be treated as a thing... not by anyone." "Including me." "I really do wish that was true." "I'll prove it." "But how?" "It's a surprise." "We're missing the key piece: the bomb." "How the heck did they get it into such a heavily guarded meeting place?" "Did the perps say?" "No but they insist that they're the ones who did it." "Despite the fact that none of them have any memory of the bomb itself." "They're fall guys." "They probably have nothing to do with the damn thing." "Then we'll have to monitor all 78 locations until we can narrow down their next target." "Seriously?" "Contact me if anything happens." "Hey, you're wearing heels..." "You'd do anything to get your prosthetics tech boyfriend to join the team, huh?" "Maybe that was a yes." "This is what you wanted to show me?" "They're regular customers of mine." "Their average age is about 70." "They're all full-body cyborgs..." "The affluent elderly are at the core of cyborg development these days." "Not soldiers." "Prosthetic bodies give them second lives and much more fulfilling lifestyles." "More and more foods for cyborgs are being developed every day." "Here, try it." "It's good." "First time allocating memory to taste, huh?" "Ah, the new bride is pregnant, by the way." "It's a whole new world, one where humans don't discriminate... between prosthetics and flesh." "I've said it before but you really are strange." "Unfortunately when it comes to the future, there are plenty of people who reject it and plenty more who are left behind." "I want to bring the future of cyborg technology to the third world." "Will you come with me?" "You should live by your own free will and use your power to do something good." "Not at the beck and call of people you can never trust." "The war is over, you know." "It's still going." "The nations it grew inconvenient for pulled out, that's all." "Sorry but I still have things to do in this country." "I see." "Are you free later?" "If you and I share a lobby, we can meet whenever we want." "There is a chance I might touch your ghost." "I'll let down my barrier." " You're sure?" " I may fry your brain if you infiltrate me." "I'm willing to take that risk." "This is your body." "These are your hands." "Motoko, run!" "Akira!" "You all right?" "Yeah..." "I'm sorry." "This is my fault." "You got my condolences." "Paz and Section 9 are on the scene." "Your attacker was a pro, even if he did screw up." "It's unclear if this attack was tied to the bombings or not, but to be safe, we'll be giving you police protection." "I don't need it." "How is Akira?" "He's fine and once we're done questioning him, we'll send him home... with assigned bodyguards." "Thanks." "The military authorities won't give me any information on Scylla." "So I wish you will tell me your connection to him." "Call me if you need help, alright?" "So this is Scylla's revenge, ah?" "Good thing your boyfriend is a civilian." "We don't have to suspect a leak." "They got us." "Number Three was a materials control center on the coast." "I picked up a go order in Scylla's name 30 seconds before the explosion." "Then the whole line disappeared." "At this point, surveillance is worthless." "Find a weapons engineer on their customer list who could be connected to this." "Weapons engineer?" "Get info on the vic's too." "Move it." "Find something." "The virus, the bombs, the tactical commander, where the messages from this fake "Scylla" come from..." "I don't care." "Hey, I've got a suggestion." "Why don't you finally tell us why you're so sure that Scylla 's dead?" "Excuse me." "Aw, you!" "I was told that I could find Major Kusanagi here." "What do you want?" "State your business." "Hose gave me a list." "Turns out it was a fake." "He met with another detective as well, one who mysteriously died after getting info from him." "So what's your point?" "Prosthetics-related crimes happen a lot." "And it seems techs are always getting the blame." "My point is the mananger of the dam that exploded the other day." "Hose outfitted her bodyguard too." "What are you trying to say?" "Seeing your boyfriend getting attacked like that, can you tell me how it made you feel?" "Angry at the perp, and guilty about what happened to Hose?" "You probably think it's your fault that he got attacked." "He felt the same things too." "Anger and guilt." "Trust me, he's hiding something." "Think..." "The dead detective, the dam, the prosthetics and even you." "Everything links back to Akira Hose." "I think you need to get those human eyes of yours replaced!" "Now get the hell out of here!" "Ow... hell!" "Do you think I'm an idiot, Colonel!" "An attack barrier!" "Calm down." "If the domestic faction takes away your arms industry rights, you'll be killed by all of the cartels, won't you?" "Yet you're in a rush to kill me and steal my data?" "What a joke!" "And this coming from the person who couldn't even get my people released?" "Where is the data?" "Our deal is over, Colonel." "I appreciate the info on her and for Scylla's revival, but I'm leaving the country." "I advise you to do the same, and quickly too." "There's no need." "We've managed to successfully package the virus with cyberbrains." "In fact, we'll be using your cyberbrain for the final upgrade." "Now become Scylla, just like you wanted." "Arggggh!" ""His hands stayed open after he burned," huh?" "It's just like the call said." "The assigned officers are dead, and Akira Hose is missing." "So the Major wasn't the target?" "Hold on, look at this list." "It's just a guess, but I think the fuel-air explosions were actually the prosthetic limbs themselves." "There is another full-cyborg guard in that part of the building." "The limbs' admin records have the same signature on them..." "Hey, wait!" "What are you...?" "Tell me who this is?" "My attack barrier expands every second you delay." "If you don't want your brain fried, tell me!" "You're killing him!" "He gave us power..." "He's the new Scylla!" "It was like magic." "A battle-learning program left to us by the dead Scylla..." "He gave it to my cyberbrain, along with the virus." "I've never even had military training, but now I can even fight you people!" "Give me a name." "Akira Hose!" "He's like you!" "He's Japanese!" "So Hose escaped." "Any idea where?" "Why ask me?" "What other suspects do you have your eye on right now?" "Zhinzhee Bekka Arr Thied." "She's the head of a Kuzan water company and, if I'm right, she's most likely the sponsor of the weapons ring." "I found the tunnel exit!" "A domestic weapons company..." "Harimadara Heavy Industries!" "The execs are touring today with the Senior Vice-Minister of Defense!" "Recommend a barrier, and give the data to Section 9." "Paz, Borma, Saito, get over there." "Get a bomb squad and a prosthetics tech on site." "Intel says that a destructive cyber-attack is likely." "Do you mind explaining to me what's happening?" "You have to evacuate." "You're a target ma'am and so is this facility." "Wh..." "Wh..." "What's going on?" "!" "It's a bomb!" "Get out of here!" " We're too late!" " Shit!" "Paz, Borma!" "This way!" "Help me!" "Please help me!" "Crap, the smoke's closing up my throat." "Mine too." "That was close." "Are you all right, Vice-Minister?" "Yes, I'm fine, thank you." " Logicoma." " Yes, sir!" "Wait!" "That thing's one of our products!" "Get down!" "That's all the info on Colonel Hozumi." "That's fine." "We get intel and, in return, you get a grace period." "Now wait a minute." "Please tell me what she has to do with Scylla!" "Just ask her yourself." "I'll admit your contaminated brain is intriguing, but I'm cutting our connection before the infection spreads." "Goodbye now, sir." "Contaminated?" "I'm being bankrupted by a special tax on foreign companies?" "How can this be happening?" "Sounds like the work of the domestic faction." "Where are you going?" "To kill the Colonel?" "She's all washed up." "You and I are too." "My advice to you is to escape now." "Your company's going to be crushed under the pretext of this nation's taxes." "And you will be killed by the cartels if you don't do something." "Major, you okay?" "I'm fine." "Go with that detective and subdue the bodyguards." "I'll take care of Scylla." "Alone." "Damn, she's stubborn." "And scary too." "What the...?" "A Mateba, in this day and age?" "And what's wrong with that?" "This is the gun I trust the most." "A blood trail." "Looks like someone got shot." "Sure does." "Ariel huh?" "These are the prosthetic bombs." "That wasn't you just now." "So who the hell infiltrated my vision, huh?" "Don't move!" "There was only one soldier I could empathise with in the insanity of that war and, of course, it was Scylla." "So naturally, I've always wanted to ask you why he was killed." "But then I finally realised that you didn't kill Scylla." "Now go home because if you don't, your Ariel will activate." "Even I can't stop it." "What's going on here?" "That bastard infiltrated my vision exactly like you do!" "Well, Major, answer me!" "Where the hell is the Army?" "That thing is gonna kill us all!" "It's been seized." "It won't stop until we shut down whatever it's packaged with." "Transplanted memories." "What?" "The packaged cyberbrains are the virus's hosts." "They converted the tactical program I set loose in Qhardistan to memory." "My copy!" "What the hell are you saying?" "Motoko." "I had targeted you, but in the end, I was the one who was captured." "It was my cyberbrain that was packaged." "So if you fire, you'll save everyone." "What you fell in love with was this world." "Until the day it betrays you, keep on loving it." "Scylla..." "I'm glad I met you." "What?" "It stopped..." "Life's a bitch." "The poor bastards survived a world war, only to find out it never really ended, and they were all expected to take their own lives." "Apparently, there's no other way they can get out." "Guess it was the same for you, huh?" "You were Scylla after all, am I right?" "You commanded the separatist army and then you faked your own death." "Later, all those guerillas you led were hunted down and killed." "I can see why you wouldn't want to talk about that." "I stopped switching bodies so often when that op ended." "It turns into an identity crisis." "I lose track of who I am... so much so that I want somebody to tell me I'm more than just a robot." "That's why you have to make your own tweaks even on your mass-production hubs?" "Anyway, it's amazing you managed to control so many bodies in such a short time." "I'm going to sleep a little." "You can go." "Call it cyborg solidarity." "I'll keep watch and make sure they don't fit you with any sketchy parts." "All right, suit yourself." "You could at least say "Thanks"!" "The bullet I found at the scene of the crime was fired from this lieutenant's gun." "I also found Mizuki's weapon at his home... and a huge deposit was made into his account." "Mmmm..." "Good work." "You can go." "Arresting a fellow cop is got to to make you some enemies." "Aren't you afraid guys from his precinct will come after you?" "It comes with the territory." "I'll watch my back." "Is that all you came to ask me?" "How would you like to join my team?" "Uh?" "It's a top priority independent offensive unit." "Well, excuse me." "Hello?" "What?" "I thought we had two weeks!" "No, don't worry." "I'll be right there." "Just hang on." "I gotta take off!" "My wife's water broke!" "Huh?" "As in she's about to have a baby!" "No, don't worry honey, I'm on my way now!" "We'll talk again soon, Major." "Yeah, I'm leaving now!" "So he's natural, married, and a father?"