Ghost in the Shell Arise: Border 4 - Ghost Stands Alone (2014) - full transcript
In the year 2027, a year following the end of the non-nuclear World War IV, a bomb has gone off in Newport City, killing a major arms dealer who may have ties with the mysterious 501 ...
Per the Special Anti-Terrorism Measures Act,
we now place all terminals in the designated
area under Public Security's electronic control.
"Give back our water!"
Anticipating that cyberterrorism against
Harimadara Heavy Industries will lead
--to a shutdown of operations, Home
Affairs has... --HQ to Squad 357.
Transfer command to Section 9.
This is Priority One.
Murderers!
Murderers!!
Give back our water!
--Give back our water!!
--Despite increasingly fierce protests,
a contract has just been signed
between a Kuzan water company
and the Japanese giant Harimadara.
"Give water to the war orphans!!"
"Give water to the war orphans!"
It's starting.
All channels within the revised limits are clear.
All Home Affairs and MLIT lines
now under our control.
Ready for domination.
Begin.
All lifelines, surveillance, etc. for
the building and roads now dominated.
Profiling cyberbrains and terminals
of 4,022 people in the area.
1,102 require follow-up.
Aramaki! I'm not giving you my crime scene!
This is Section 6. Who said you
could infiltrate our comm lines?!
We need to prevent casualties,
not play departmental musical chairs!
Or will you take the fall when we can't
even pin down their means of attack?!
Chief Aramaki, explain yourself.
Vice-Minister Kitahara.
I thought you were attending
the celebratory banquet?
What you warned me of is happening, then?
We got an anonymous tip that a Qhardi
group mobilized three hours ago.
Anonymous?
Can you trust it?
Yes. The Yotsubashi Building
area is definitely the target.
The old ape's sure fired up,
considering we're flying blind here.
Batou, this is the outfit
we've been after ever since
the cyber-contamination
at Harimadara four months ago.
"We"? You mean you.
Did you make this, Major?
It ain't a toy, rookie.
It's a military-grade virtual comm link.
It's almost impossible for hackers to listen in.
Section 9 forced the domination through.
We'll have orders soon.
Nab one of the terrorists.
I want bait to draw out our prey.
Is it that super-wizard-class
hacker, Fire-Starter?
Isn't that just what you want?
We don't even know if there's
really someone pulling the strings.
What I want is to formally
establish my spec ops team.
If you're scared of unknown enemies, drop out.
Piss off.
"Corporate Killers"
You're the only one that green.
Our status as an independent
offensive unit is riding on this.
Public Security handles the incident,
and we handle what caused it.
Go.
The enemy just gave the go-ahead.
Capture them!
You deserve this...
Greedy rich-country bastards!
Today, we've followed
the principle of free trade
to maintain fair prices that will
spur postwar economic recovery.
This was his only weapon. Something's fishy.
The riot squad opened fire?!
The west team's slaughtering protesters.
Some are even shooting other cops!
It's the biggest simultaneous Ghost Hack ever.
It's crazy, but it's the only explanation.
There's no tech that'd
control 100 people at once.
The perps on my watch are all dead, too.
Check the riot squad's lines and
find out what caused the attack.
There's a log that might be Starter's, but...
Then this isn't hacking. It's a virus.
I don't see one in the sequence.
It's a self-destructing Stuxnet-type.
Someone must be sending packaged
actions meant to control groups.
You, eh?
I made a deal with the devil for the
sake of rebuilding and independence!
Just like you wanted!
And it invited a second
slaughter by water and e-money
to follow the first slaughter with guns!
--You said cyberbrain tech and the prosthetics
industry --I want a media blackout now.
--Would build us a future,
--This is Priority One!
But hope wasn't what they
brought to Qhardistan!
They merely sowed the seeds of betrayal
that would grow to bleed
away my people's pride!
Have a taste of what that felt like!
Then you'll have no choice
but to grant me asylum!
Because this is a civilized, pacifist nation!
Oh, is it?
Optical camouflage!
You can't stop Fire-Starter.
Someone hacked my line?!
Major?!
Saito!
Shit.
Hello!
Give me a weapon!
Okay!
Major, I'll be right there!
Don't be stupid. Go after
the one who hacked me!
On your knees!
I'll shoot you dead if you resist.
That was outta nowhere!
This was your job, moron!
Sorry! That was an accident.
Equip some handrails!
Do it, Saito.
I let him get away, sorry!
"Section 9 Office"
Idiots!
You finally take the job, and then you
execute someone on the national Net?
Who, me? You have no proof.
Are you claiming you had no choice?
You're a super-wizard-class
hacker in an ace unit.
Was the Army overestimating you
when it rated you five stars?
Tell me about the virus
and that heavy cyborg girl.
No cyber-virus was detected.
The girl's name is Emma Tsuda.
Apparently she's famous on
the Net as a game app maker.
Nine hours after her arrest,
that's all you've got?
I guess a former Special A Rank
inspector for the Army like you
gets to have lots of talented subordinates.
My people's dedicated effort
got multiple perps captured alive.
Wow, great work arresting
some mindless packaged drones.
We could've stopped it if
we'd had special authority.
Then stop playing gangsters and join Section 9.
Unless you work directly for Home Affairs,
you do get official oversight
and you don't get secrecy.
Can you guarantee I'd be able to stay myself?
Cutting-edge equipment can protect
cyberbrains and prosthetic bodies.
And my Ghost? My beliefs?
Depends on how skilled you are.
I'll even consider a budget.
Create an international
counterterrorist agency for us
with the same budget as the Rangers.
I'm gonna go eat.
Aramaki, it's been a while.
Colonel Hozumi. What brings
Army intelligence here?
I'll take the girl now.
Care to explain?
They're from a squad I trust.
Ex-major Motoko Kusanagi, of the 501.
Hated your master so much
you became a stray, eh?
Your intel's dated. They recreated my rank.
The cyber-virus used is
crucial for us to investigate.
Explain why it's crucial, please.
It's a triple package of brainwashing,
Ghost infiltration, and false memory creation.
False memory? Last I checked,
the government doesn't admit that's possible,
despite all the reports.
Virus units entered this
country via a certain broker.
Trust me: You won't even
manage to indict that girl.
Unfortunately, she's been
transferred to Unit 501.
When?
The moment I agreed to
their request for cooperation.
I've never thought you were clever, but this?
You'll regret any foolish stubbornness.
Terror by false memories...
Your claims are finally proven, Major.
So is the existence of a virus
that enables Ghost-hacking.
Here's your next job:
Escort the girl to Unit 501.
What? There was really a request?
Signed by the Defense Minister.
Now give me one of your men in exchange.
Did your scary ex-colleague
make you want a guard?
I want information sharing.
Go renew old workplace friendships.
Can I ask one thing?
What is it?
Assuming I did shoot her...
...why didn't you use my
Ghost infiltration key to stop me?
I can't answer hypothetical questions.
I see.
This is Dr. Zhinzhee Bekka Arr Thied,
the one the Major killed.
She's Qhardi, but she graduated from
Kuzan Royal University as Valedictorian.
A big player in Kuzan water importation
since the provisional government days.
But she supported terrorism when she realized
the world would forsake her people, eh?
She's smart and she's got motive,
but she's not a hacker.
Someone else packaged this.
What about the girl we captured?
Her name's Emma Tsuda.
A 17-year-old war orphan.
She makes hit cyberbrain games, which she
copyrights under the name "Tin Man."
"Tin Man"... As in The Wizard of Oz?
What's that?
--In spite of everything, I still believe --Supposing
she's a teenage super-hacker, how does she fit in?
--That people are really good at heart.
--Don't tell me she's the one you're after?
--I wish to go on living even after my death.
--I'll know when I dive into her Ghost.
lshikawa, stay on the virus and the girl.
Saito, you go to Section 9.
Paz and Borma, you release the bait.
Batou, Togusa, and I will escort the girl.
We're starting the second round.
Suggestion for you,
Miss "Hothead Who Charges In Blind."
How about I become team leader
and lead us in a sensible retreat?
Brave thing to say in my cyberbrain space.
Step outside and let's fight!
Whoa, knock it off, you guys!
He's finally on the move.
Thought I'd die of boredom!
It might be cool if we could ride in you.
The Major requested a personnel transport
shaft from the Maintenance Department!
Will we pilot you from inside?
Isn't that our mobile arsenal?
Where would the weapons go?
We can just resupply each other.
If we armed this guy, he could be our backup.
Backup, eh?
Why are we using an outdated Logistics model?
Ape-Face couldn't get the budget the
Major wanted, so he gave us these bots.
Neurochip-type Als are hard
to hack or infect, anyway.
So basically, it was us or the junkyard?
What? Not good enough for the
ex-cop still wearing a necktie?
My late father said looking
classy shows faith in yourself.
Watching you, ex-Ranger, I see what he meant.
Bold words, kid.
Mr. Batou suggested modifying us
so people could ride us!
I think it's a really great idea!
What do you think, Major?
Don't talk nonsense. I hate machines
who pretend to have personalities.
She's here.
Did you hack my line to
deliberately get yourself caught?
What is "Fire-Starter"?
Is it really the name of a hacker?
Intelligence wants you. Military courts
don't do plea bargains, you know.
I smell seawater.
We aren't even allowed near the sea.
Programmers are like weapons:
We're forbidden by law from moving freely.
So you are the group's hacker.
What are you after?
Long ago, glassblowers had no freedom,
because glasswork funded the state.
If they left the country, they were blinded first.
You're a refugee?
That's why you started a massacre?
Do you think cyberbrains make people happy?
Are your memories trustworthy?
Or were they planted by someone?
When micromachine-based cyberization
came to pass, experts worldwide warned us:
"False memories will be used to commit crimes."
Every organization wants
that technology. My technology.
You mean you successfully
made memory-manipulation tech?
Your memories might even be...
I'm diving right here, right now!
Saw that coming.
We don't know what this virus is.
What if you get infected?
I'll blow it away, and her cyberbrain with it.
A hacker who commits mass murder
just to escape deserves assassination.
During your dive?!
Your cyber warfare style is twisted.
I prefer the term "super-wizard-class."
"Wizard"... Magician.
Magician who can't go home...
I'm diving straight in through her line.
Uh-huh, ignore protocol.
Hey, somethings weird.
You're being hacked!
They're doing it through her cyberbrain!
What's going on? This isn't just backfire!
Emma... Danger... Emma...
You...
Major!
I'm sorry, Emma... I'm sorry.
It's okay. I wanted this.
Don't cry, Brinda.
There are two Ghosts in there?
I heard about Section 9's meddling.
You couldn't have shot her before
she started blabbing about asylum?
That shooting is currently under
investigation, Deputy Director Amagata.
I can imagine the profound
effects this incident will have
on the Next-Generation Weapons
Review Committee you serve on.
The year-end industry fair has been cancelled.
And thanks to pressure from
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
we won't be unveiling our
prototype weapons, either.
It's shaking the foundations of the company.
I hear you're pressing for large-scale
water sales even after Dr. Thied's death.
I have a duty to fulfill my contract.
And effective use of resources is
key for an international company.
There are some out there who
can't even secure drinking water.
If you just want to criticize my economics,
I'm going back to work.
You're not cut out for government work.
Start an NPO and go live
in some refugee camp.
He's annoying.
He's a classic ex-politician, and he owes
me one from my intelligence days.
Which means he's a reliable source.
NPOs, camps... and Foreign Affairs?
The council on weapons development!
Was that the objective behind the
cyberterrorism against Harimadara?
Lately there's a debate about
whether next-gen weapons
should be produced domestically
or developed abroad.
The overseas faction'd be thrilled if
a domestic manufacturer got attacked.
Here we go: an NPO that
"treats cyberization disorders."
They disseminated cyberization
and learning devices
in refugee camps in Kuzan during the war.
And domestically?
Got a hit on that girl in the
same NPO's treatment records.
Cyberization rejection syndrome.
Apparently she ran away
from a war orphan facility because
she rejected being cyberized.
Not wanting a cyberbrain means you're sick?
The white paper on cyberization
the MHLW released after the war
classifies it with anorexia.
That's news to me.
The cyberization business
is insanely big money.
Pretty predictable that people who
don't want it get treated as sick.
Could she be a genuine multiple personality?
The prevailing theory is that
personalities split but Ghosts don't.
The issue is, what did that NPO
have to do with a business deal
motivated by military development?
Go at the military-industrial complex
from both ends: soldiers and companies.
It's me. The others got caught.
Don't worry, you'll see them in the afterlife.
Hello!
Y-You a cop?
I-I prepared a confession.
Let me call my lawyer--
You're not getting that chance.
You killed our bait, so you're
gonna tell us everything.
Started to miss your old home?
I'm only here to bring in
your witness, Lt. Col. Kurutsu.
Tsumugi is standing by. Dive if you want to.
Assuming she has a Ghost, that is.
What do you mean?
I'm stepping out.
As a member of the committee, I need to
be at Harimadara's product inspection.
Still obsessed with getting promoted?
It's something you ran away without doing.
Nice to see you, Kusanagi.
I didn't think we'd have another
chance to work with you.
Are these your men?
Yes. Batou and Togusa.
This is Tsumugi Dokuro.
They're both cyber warfare tactical officers.
"Both"? Are they sharing a body?
She says they're two identical
twins in one conjoined body.
I dunno how they move.
The world's full of surprises.
Let's get started.
So, only the body came back.
What do you mean?
She's a technical officer in
Lt. Col. Kurutsu's command.
She was investigating a hacker with
a special neurochip-type cyberbrain.
He's known as "Scarecrow,"
and he's a suspect in the
terrorist attack on Harimadara.
Another Oz character?
Huh?
Our conclusion is that he's a
special spy based on postwar tech.
Emma was the one who reasoned it out.
She hypothesized a hacker
with the same disorder she had.
Someone who had to incrementally
replace his brain with neurochips
and prosthetize his body to survive.
She had that disorder?
Personality attenuates, and self hood can't
be retained without auxiliary cyberbrains.
Emma transformed her impairment into
her signature trait, as did Scarecrow.
Emma regularly used advanced
cyberization to structure her self hood,
but Scarecrow is different.
To compensate for his attenuated personality,
he dubs the Ghosts of others,
steals their bodies,
and assumes their identities.
Like the scarecrow who can't think
inserting a false brain into his head.
Seriously?
In other words, this is...
The body is Emma's, but it's
being operated by a man's brain
which is only one-third the normal size
and cyberized with neurochips.
So what I dived into was
the girl's dubbed Ghost.
What happened to her brain?
Ghost Dubbing would've degraded it.
It's either in the trash or
sliced up in his research lab.
That's awful...
Poor Emma. I'm sorry.
It's okay, Junior. Don't be afraid.
I know the lions will come.
The people with courage...
Who are you? Tell me who you work for.
I am a scarecrow. My brain is fading away.
I am tin. My heart is fading away.
Is that Emma talking, or her dubbed Ghost?
Tin Girl, give me the scarecrow man's name.
His name is Brinda Jr. Please, don't blame him.
Got a hit at a postwar nursing home!
And the same NPO is involved with it.
Brinda Jr., age 32.
After he was cyberized, he became an
accountant at an employment agency.
His personality's thin,
but he memorized a 200-digit number
in two seconds for an IQ test.
That's textbook for someone
with special cognitive abilities.
Find out which organization
set him up as a hacker.
Roger.
I'm diving into that man's Ghost.
There are only a handful of proven
double Ghosts in existence.
We don't know the dangers.
I want to know which Ghost has motive.
You're doubting Emma? She's the victim here.
Then I'll confirm that.
Batou, be my backup in case they back-hack me.
Two against two, eh?
Togusa. Get all the records copied.
Roger. Oh, here...
Sorry, it's a call from my dad.
Hey Dad, it's been a while. Yeah.
Batou! Restrain Togusa!
Got it. I'll become the Lion.
A Mateba, still?
Don't move!
Major!
Let's go.
This is crazy! I found a Starter
log on his comm-it's the virus!
He must have kept the virus
inactive within his neurochips.
His infiltration was unexpectedly quick.
So, it combines victims' memories of past
hostility with objects in front of them
to plant instantaneous false memories?
I can get deadly, right?
That was your last breath if you don't.
Don't underestimate me!
The scarecrow is the virus's host and
Togusa's brain is the package, right?
Yep. But the infection route's
disturbingly selective.
Only people around you are being infected.
Does that mean the onset can be regulated?
That'd be impossible without
a third party to switch it on.
Which I guess means it's a virus
whose damage can be controlled.
Then it's military.
Reanalyze yesterday's infection data.
We don't want to chase the virus; we want
to chase the enemy in possession of it.
I wish to go on living even after my death.
Hidden data?
For these 620 reasons, we oppose
cyberization without free choice.
Reason: We submit that
software within the cyberbrain
is vulnerable to third-party tampering.
Reason: Electronic alteration
of memory causes abnormalities
in the totality of our independent
will referred to as the "Ghost."
Do you actually think a world without
infection and infiltration is possible?!
Tsumugi! You alive?
I'm running a sim of the
scarecrow's brain. Help me.
You have Emma Tsuda's Ghost infiltration key,
don't you? Make me a backdoor.
I see, you're going to use
Scarecrow's cyberbrain structure
to approximate a vaccine?
Reason: There are currently seventeen
possible ways to alter our memories.
Shit!
Major! Why won't you use my
Ghost infiltration key to stop this?!
It's no use. Brinda won't let her.
I will become anyone. I've inputted
and erased many Ghosts.
I disappeared, too... Who am I?
Was Unit 501 a target, too?
Aren't you a victim after all?!
There was no other way.
What are you after?
Don't disappear, Emma.
Let's go on living after our deaths, together.
They're here.
An attack barrier!
Major!
Colonel!
They fought each other with attack barriers.
One of them got forwarded.
I can't believe it was stronger than ours...
You were infiltrated for a moment.
Delete all relevant operational
headquarters from the cyberbrain Net.
Go after Brinda. There's nothing left to do here.
Damn stray dog...
Looks like we pulled it off.
The host and Starter are still active.
We can see the ocean, Emma.
This creeps even me out, Major.
Report.
Col. Hozumi from Army intelligence
was the one to recruit Brinda Jr.
"Scarecrow" is an op cooked up
by their old Investigations Section
during a period when they were
working on Ghost Dub devices.
Hozumi got on the Next-Gen Weapons
Review Committee through Foreign Affairs.
But she wasn't there long,
and Kurutsu of Unit 501 took her seat
at Vice-Minister Kitahara's recommendation.
Unit 501 got a hold on Hozumi
through military musical chairs, eh?
Reason: We can prove
that false memories
compel us to commit murder, suicide,
--and other criminal acts.
--Which one built the pod?
Unknown. But Army intelligence decided to
rally by interfering with the Review Committee.
I'd guess that somewhere in there,
the two hackers became aware of each other.
The attack on Harimadara is the connection?
There's no evidence they did it.
But Hozumi is in the overseas
weapons development faction,
and Harimadara's a domestic faction stronghold.
Who shot our bait?
A Kuzan water cartel hit man.
Hozumi's playing with serious fire.
She used the pretext of wartime industry
to interfere in Kuzan's affairs while
she was stationed there during the war.
If she can't subdue the domestic faction
and give the cartel the profits she promised,
it'll retaliate against her.
Starter analysis results?
Couldn't pin down the trigger,
but I got my answer
from the fact that we couldn't find
the infection route into the building
even though Section 9 had domination over it.
It was a C4ISR network.
A military communications system.
Things are starting to come clear.
Col. Hozumi's the one
who activated Starter
and patched the virus through
to infect the VIP room's security.
She was after the woman the guard shot.
Senior Vice-Minister Kitahara,
who's with the domestic faction.
That massacre was a
smokescreen for one murder?!
Guess she's a born war-lover.
Why snipe Tin Girl?
That was a bluff.
She must've wanted to get rid of us
and get Tin Girl safely to the 501.
So her little visit to Section 9
was a smokescreen, too?
She backed down so easily because
she was after Unit 501 from the start.
So she could set up anti-cyberbrainist
Emma Tsuda as the massacre's ringleader.
Harimadara, the Vice-Minister, the 501
She had a threefold plan to take them all out!
What about the Ghost of
the girl who got dubbed?
If she does have her own will,
Why'd she knowingly let Hozumi use her?
Just from the circumstances, the scarecrow
is the one you've been after.
He didn't necessarily write the virus.
Hozumi said there was a broker.
If she told the truth,
someone out there made and sold it.
That's who I'm after.
This is all speculation. Right now,
there's only one way for us to get proof.
I assume you have Togusa's location.
We'll meet en route.
We're going to capture both Ghosts--
the scarecrow's, and the girl's.
Togusa's the problem.
Blowing a married teammate's
brains out ain't my job.
We know for sure this infection
plants false memories, right?
You saw him talking to his dead father.
There should be a shared form.
I'll get infected, so you ID it and
version up your makeshift vaccine.
You want to mirror your own brain?
Worst case scenario, blow my brains out.
So that's my job?
If you don't like it, make me the leader.
A checkpoint?
You're on the wanted list
as a suspected terrorist!
Shit, it's Section 9! The ape
used to be in Army intelligence.
He cut a deal with Hozumi, and he's framing us!
She may just want us to think so.
I'll send Section 9 our intel.
After all this, you're still relying on him?!
--No.
--Why, then?!
My Ghost is whispering that I should do it.
Wait! Where are you going?!
Stop!
We promised we'd go far away.
Goodbye.
I released the package!
I'm going on ahead.
I told you to shoot if things went south!
Take a damn gun with you...
Major...
She's in pieces!
If she's a neurochip version, she's still alive.
We'll go on living.
It's a Ghost Dub, not a transfer?!
That's a Harimadara prototype!
Major!
Two Ghosts have been dubbed into that thing.
We're going to stop it! Logicomas,
give me everything you've got!
Yes, sir!
Where the hell would they
abandon their own lives to go?
The ocean.
Huh?
They're not going anywhere! This ends here!
Next-gen weapon or not, its brains are rookies.
Aim for the eyes and legs,
and it's a piece of cake.
For real?!
Got you now!
What's that?
It's Army intelligence! The bastards
requested an artillery strike!
You've cut off your sensory system?!
Crap!
You discarded intensity regions...
Recognition systems, memory fields,
the Net that maintains your architecture...
You even jettisoned your own Ghost!
You want a life you've
stripped all meaning from?!
Goodbye.
It's over.
Return to base. We're going
to Kuzan, by way of Benares.
The world's cyber economy has only just begun.
I'll pay whatever it takes
to reconcile with the cartel--
On your knees, hands in the air!
Oh, the wanted poster. Told you so.
You're just like that Section 9 chief.
Never happy unless you're
digging up what's dead and buried.
It's something you ran away without doing.
Nothing's going to change, Kusanagi.
We're an independent offensive unit.
We stand independent of the system,
and we have truly discrete
personalities that don't get packaged.
When we're officially approved
as top priority, we'll root out
all the sorry bastards who conspire
because they're afraid of a scandal.
And you count me as one of them?
I never changed your channel. Contact me
whenever you want to come home.
You're free to go. We voided the
wanted notice Col. Hozumi put out.
Vice-Minister of Defense Kitahara
wants to thank you.
Is that some sort of joke?
A political one.
Section 9 just went through
Col. Hozumi's possessions
and confiscated a Ghost Dub device
and an outline of the Scarecrow op.
They couldn't arrest her, though.
No--but then she confessed.
Her chopper was shot down
with Kuzan weapons.
She's afraid enough of the cartel's revenge
to request protective
custody and a plea bargain.
So she'll get off scat-free.
I'll make sure she doesn't.
The NPO she worked with is a front
for dirty cyberbrain business.
Not only that, we've detected Starter
in her cyberbrain, just like your intel said.
She got a lot of people injured or killed,
and I'll make her pay for that--
even if I can't take her to court yet.
Where did she get the virus?
Through a broker, she says. She claims
to know nothing about its author.
I see.
Was it really the cartel
who tried to kill Hozumi?
Even if it was someone who wanted
to prevent us from investigating her,
I'm sure any trace of them is long gone.
Major.
All of you came? I didn't know
I had such admirable subordinates.
You could've been attacked while in custody.
We've been keeping an eye on all
the suspicious characters who came by.
One more thing. I told the
Minister of Home Affairs
that your team contributed
to deterring the virus.
Use your vaunted cyberbrain to read
Public Security Commission report N2077.
As of tomorrow, you get special authority.
Without official oversight.
This case isn't over.
Investigate the high-level hacking
virus and any organizations involved,
and plan to attend plenty
of funerals along the way.
I shot Thied.
You must have had a hunch that an
intelligence bigwig was behind this,
meaning you would've wanted
an intel advantage at any cost.
So why didn't you stop me?!
Because I don't have
your Ghost infiltration key.
No organization will ever have it.
I promised your late commander that.
Bottom line, all we figured out
was that someone out there
used a couple of anti-cyberbrainist hackers
and a miserable water company chick.
We may be looking for a crime
worth sacrificing lives over,
but all we have are money-mad war profiteers
and a man and girl obsessed
with casting things away.
For now, that is.
Which one had agency, the man or the girl?
Did they even have real will?
When they blocked my infiltration, at least.
But they fled with nowhere to go,
then had to transfer into that weapon.
That think-tank's cyberbrain
had a massive output system.
Hmm?
What if the reason they cast away
what made them themselves
was to output the last thing left into the Net?
You think that's where they were going?
Pouring the last shreds of their Ghosts
into the Net... Is that even possible?
It's been researched,
but it's impossible to prove.
But in the moment their Ghosts were lost,
I got the feeling they'd fused.
That two lives had become one...
That isn't like you. Ghosts are the
most independent things in this world.
Even the ones being controlled are
fundamentally, eternally standalone.
Like our squad, yeah?
Yeah.
Well? The floaters are all ready.
I got a set of two.
Even someone with a
titanium skull wouldn't drown.
You seriously want to swim
in the ocean in midwinter?
Gotta shake off those
memories of almost drowning.
Plus it ain't too often I get
to see you in a swimsuit.
That's your real goal?
--Huh?
--Unbelievable.
No, no! I'm doing this all for you!
I'll take a rain check.
I'm telling you, you got it all wrong!
Wavering sorrow and hatred
It all dims over time
Creaky (spirits)
We're taken, we're taken away
Away
Broken-off memory freezes in the sky
This heart rent asunder
Splitting in two (splitting)
We're making, we're making our way
Nowhere
We split in two (slipping)
We're slipping, we're slipping away
No way home...
(Ghosts...)
Broken (spirits)
We're breaking, we're breaking away
Away
Vanishing (slipping)
We're going, we're going insane
No way...
Severed souls sleep
Unable to dream
Wandering (spirits)
We're calling, we're calling your name
Your name
We split in two (slipping)
We're sleeping while slipping away
No way home...
(Ghosts... left to roam...)
(Lost... no way home...)
(Ghosts... left to roam...)
(Lost... ghosts... no way home)
(Ghosts...)
we now place all terminals in the designated
area under Public Security's electronic control.
"Give back our water!"
Anticipating that cyberterrorism against
Harimadara Heavy Industries will lead
--to a shutdown of operations, Home
Affairs has... --HQ to Squad 357.
Transfer command to Section 9.
This is Priority One.
Murderers!
Murderers!!
Give back our water!
--Give back our water!!
--Despite increasingly fierce protests,
a contract has just been signed
between a Kuzan water company
and the Japanese giant Harimadara.
"Give water to the war orphans!!"
"Give water to the war orphans!"
It's starting.
All channels within the revised limits are clear.
All Home Affairs and MLIT lines
now under our control.
Ready for domination.
Begin.
All lifelines, surveillance, etc. for
the building and roads now dominated.
Profiling cyberbrains and terminals
of 4,022 people in the area.
1,102 require follow-up.
Aramaki! I'm not giving you my crime scene!
This is Section 6. Who said you
could infiltrate our comm lines?!
We need to prevent casualties,
not play departmental musical chairs!
Or will you take the fall when we can't
even pin down their means of attack?!
Chief Aramaki, explain yourself.
Vice-Minister Kitahara.
I thought you were attending
the celebratory banquet?
What you warned me of is happening, then?
We got an anonymous tip that a Qhardi
group mobilized three hours ago.
Anonymous?
Can you trust it?
Yes. The Yotsubashi Building
area is definitely the target.
The old ape's sure fired up,
considering we're flying blind here.
Batou, this is the outfit
we've been after ever since
the cyber-contamination
at Harimadara four months ago.
"We"? You mean you.
Did you make this, Major?
It ain't a toy, rookie.
It's a military-grade virtual comm link.
It's almost impossible for hackers to listen in.
Section 9 forced the domination through.
We'll have orders soon.
Nab one of the terrorists.
I want bait to draw out our prey.
Is it that super-wizard-class
hacker, Fire-Starter?
Isn't that just what you want?
We don't even know if there's
really someone pulling the strings.
What I want is to formally
establish my spec ops team.
If you're scared of unknown enemies, drop out.
Piss off.
"Corporate Killers"
You're the only one that green.
Our status as an independent
offensive unit is riding on this.
Public Security handles the incident,
and we handle what caused it.
Go.
The enemy just gave the go-ahead.
Capture them!
You deserve this...
Greedy rich-country bastards!
Today, we've followed
the principle of free trade
to maintain fair prices that will
spur postwar economic recovery.
This was his only weapon. Something's fishy.
The riot squad opened fire?!
The west team's slaughtering protesters.
Some are even shooting other cops!
It's the biggest simultaneous Ghost Hack ever.
It's crazy, but it's the only explanation.
There's no tech that'd
control 100 people at once.
The perps on my watch are all dead, too.
Check the riot squad's lines and
find out what caused the attack.
There's a log that might be Starter's, but...
Then this isn't hacking. It's a virus.
I don't see one in the sequence.
It's a self-destructing Stuxnet-type.
Someone must be sending packaged
actions meant to control groups.
You, eh?
I made a deal with the devil for the
sake of rebuilding and independence!
Just like you wanted!
And it invited a second
slaughter by water and e-money
to follow the first slaughter with guns!
--You said cyberbrain tech and the prosthetics
industry --I want a media blackout now.
--Would build us a future,
--This is Priority One!
But hope wasn't what they
brought to Qhardistan!
They merely sowed the seeds of betrayal
that would grow to bleed
away my people's pride!
Have a taste of what that felt like!
Then you'll have no choice
but to grant me asylum!
Because this is a civilized, pacifist nation!
Oh, is it?
Optical camouflage!
You can't stop Fire-Starter.
Someone hacked my line?!
Major?!
Saito!
Shit.
Hello!
Give me a weapon!
Okay!
Major, I'll be right there!
Don't be stupid. Go after
the one who hacked me!
On your knees!
I'll shoot you dead if you resist.
That was outta nowhere!
This was your job, moron!
Sorry! That was an accident.
Equip some handrails!
Do it, Saito.
I let him get away, sorry!
"Section 9 Office"
Idiots!
You finally take the job, and then you
execute someone on the national Net?
Who, me? You have no proof.
Are you claiming you had no choice?
You're a super-wizard-class
hacker in an ace unit.
Was the Army overestimating you
when it rated you five stars?
Tell me about the virus
and that heavy cyborg girl.
No cyber-virus was detected.
The girl's name is Emma Tsuda.
Apparently she's famous on
the Net as a game app maker.
Nine hours after her arrest,
that's all you've got?
I guess a former Special A Rank
inspector for the Army like you
gets to have lots of talented subordinates.
My people's dedicated effort
got multiple perps captured alive.
Wow, great work arresting
some mindless packaged drones.
We could've stopped it if
we'd had special authority.
Then stop playing gangsters and join Section 9.
Unless you work directly for Home Affairs,
you do get official oversight
and you don't get secrecy.
Can you guarantee I'd be able to stay myself?
Cutting-edge equipment can protect
cyberbrains and prosthetic bodies.
And my Ghost? My beliefs?
Depends on how skilled you are.
I'll even consider a budget.
Create an international
counterterrorist agency for us
with the same budget as the Rangers.
I'm gonna go eat.
Aramaki, it's been a while.
Colonel Hozumi. What brings
Army intelligence here?
I'll take the girl now.
Care to explain?
They're from a squad I trust.
Ex-major Motoko Kusanagi, of the 501.
Hated your master so much
you became a stray, eh?
Your intel's dated. They recreated my rank.
The cyber-virus used is
crucial for us to investigate.
Explain why it's crucial, please.
It's a triple package of brainwashing,
Ghost infiltration, and false memory creation.
False memory? Last I checked,
the government doesn't admit that's possible,
despite all the reports.
Virus units entered this
country via a certain broker.
Trust me: You won't even
manage to indict that girl.
Unfortunately, she's been
transferred to Unit 501.
When?
The moment I agreed to
their request for cooperation.
I've never thought you were clever, but this?
You'll regret any foolish stubbornness.
Terror by false memories...
Your claims are finally proven, Major.
So is the existence of a virus
that enables Ghost-hacking.
Here's your next job:
Escort the girl to Unit 501.
What? There was really a request?
Signed by the Defense Minister.
Now give me one of your men in exchange.
Did your scary ex-colleague
make you want a guard?
I want information sharing.
Go renew old workplace friendships.
Can I ask one thing?
What is it?
Assuming I did shoot her...
...why didn't you use my
Ghost infiltration key to stop me?
I can't answer hypothetical questions.
I see.
This is Dr. Zhinzhee Bekka Arr Thied,
the one the Major killed.
She's Qhardi, but she graduated from
Kuzan Royal University as Valedictorian.
A big player in Kuzan water importation
since the provisional government days.
But she supported terrorism when she realized
the world would forsake her people, eh?
She's smart and she's got motive,
but she's not a hacker.
Someone else packaged this.
What about the girl we captured?
Her name's Emma Tsuda.
A 17-year-old war orphan.
She makes hit cyberbrain games, which she
copyrights under the name "Tin Man."
"Tin Man"... As in The Wizard of Oz?
What's that?
--In spite of everything, I still believe --Supposing
she's a teenage super-hacker, how does she fit in?
--That people are really good at heart.
--Don't tell me she's the one you're after?
--I wish to go on living even after my death.
--I'll know when I dive into her Ghost.
lshikawa, stay on the virus and the girl.
Saito, you go to Section 9.
Paz and Borma, you release the bait.
Batou, Togusa, and I will escort the girl.
We're starting the second round.
Suggestion for you,
Miss "Hothead Who Charges In Blind."
How about I become team leader
and lead us in a sensible retreat?
Brave thing to say in my cyberbrain space.
Step outside and let's fight!
Whoa, knock it off, you guys!
He's finally on the move.
Thought I'd die of boredom!
It might be cool if we could ride in you.
The Major requested a personnel transport
shaft from the Maintenance Department!
Will we pilot you from inside?
Isn't that our mobile arsenal?
Where would the weapons go?
We can just resupply each other.
If we armed this guy, he could be our backup.
Backup, eh?
Why are we using an outdated Logistics model?
Ape-Face couldn't get the budget the
Major wanted, so he gave us these bots.
Neurochip-type Als are hard
to hack or infect, anyway.
So basically, it was us or the junkyard?
What? Not good enough for the
ex-cop still wearing a necktie?
My late father said looking
classy shows faith in yourself.
Watching you, ex-Ranger, I see what he meant.
Bold words, kid.
Mr. Batou suggested modifying us
so people could ride us!
I think it's a really great idea!
What do you think, Major?
Don't talk nonsense. I hate machines
who pretend to have personalities.
She's here.
Did you hack my line to
deliberately get yourself caught?
What is "Fire-Starter"?
Is it really the name of a hacker?
Intelligence wants you. Military courts
don't do plea bargains, you know.
I smell seawater.
We aren't even allowed near the sea.
Programmers are like weapons:
We're forbidden by law from moving freely.
So you are the group's hacker.
What are you after?
Long ago, glassblowers had no freedom,
because glasswork funded the state.
If they left the country, they were blinded first.
You're a refugee?
That's why you started a massacre?
Do you think cyberbrains make people happy?
Are your memories trustworthy?
Or were they planted by someone?
When micromachine-based cyberization
came to pass, experts worldwide warned us:
"False memories will be used to commit crimes."
Every organization wants
that technology. My technology.
You mean you successfully
made memory-manipulation tech?
Your memories might even be...
I'm diving right here, right now!
Saw that coming.
We don't know what this virus is.
What if you get infected?
I'll blow it away, and her cyberbrain with it.
A hacker who commits mass murder
just to escape deserves assassination.
During your dive?!
Your cyber warfare style is twisted.
I prefer the term "super-wizard-class."
"Wizard"... Magician.
Magician who can't go home...
I'm diving straight in through her line.
Uh-huh, ignore protocol.
Hey, somethings weird.
You're being hacked!
They're doing it through her cyberbrain!
What's going on? This isn't just backfire!
Emma... Danger... Emma...
You...
Major!
I'm sorry, Emma... I'm sorry.
It's okay. I wanted this.
Don't cry, Brinda.
There are two Ghosts in there?
I heard about Section 9's meddling.
You couldn't have shot her before
she started blabbing about asylum?
That shooting is currently under
investigation, Deputy Director Amagata.
I can imagine the profound
effects this incident will have
on the Next-Generation Weapons
Review Committee you serve on.
The year-end industry fair has been cancelled.
And thanks to pressure from
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
we won't be unveiling our
prototype weapons, either.
It's shaking the foundations of the company.
I hear you're pressing for large-scale
water sales even after Dr. Thied's death.
I have a duty to fulfill my contract.
And effective use of resources is
key for an international company.
There are some out there who
can't even secure drinking water.
If you just want to criticize my economics,
I'm going back to work.
You're not cut out for government work.
Start an NPO and go live
in some refugee camp.
He's annoying.
He's a classic ex-politician, and he owes
me one from my intelligence days.
Which means he's a reliable source.
NPOs, camps... and Foreign Affairs?
The council on weapons development!
Was that the objective behind the
cyberterrorism against Harimadara?
Lately there's a debate about
whether next-gen weapons
should be produced domestically
or developed abroad.
The overseas faction'd be thrilled if
a domestic manufacturer got attacked.
Here we go: an NPO that
"treats cyberization disorders."
They disseminated cyberization
and learning devices
in refugee camps in Kuzan during the war.
And domestically?
Got a hit on that girl in the
same NPO's treatment records.
Cyberization rejection syndrome.
Apparently she ran away
from a war orphan facility because
she rejected being cyberized.
Not wanting a cyberbrain means you're sick?
The white paper on cyberization
the MHLW released after the war
classifies it with anorexia.
That's news to me.
The cyberization business
is insanely big money.
Pretty predictable that people who
don't want it get treated as sick.
Could she be a genuine multiple personality?
The prevailing theory is that
personalities split but Ghosts don't.
The issue is, what did that NPO
have to do with a business deal
motivated by military development?
Go at the military-industrial complex
from both ends: soldiers and companies.
It's me. The others got caught.
Don't worry, you'll see them in the afterlife.
Hello!
Y-You a cop?
I-I prepared a confession.
Let me call my lawyer--
You're not getting that chance.
You killed our bait, so you're
gonna tell us everything.
Started to miss your old home?
I'm only here to bring in
your witness, Lt. Col. Kurutsu.
Tsumugi is standing by. Dive if you want to.
Assuming she has a Ghost, that is.
What do you mean?
I'm stepping out.
As a member of the committee, I need to
be at Harimadara's product inspection.
Still obsessed with getting promoted?
It's something you ran away without doing.
Nice to see you, Kusanagi.
I didn't think we'd have another
chance to work with you.
Are these your men?
Yes. Batou and Togusa.
This is Tsumugi Dokuro.
They're both cyber warfare tactical officers.
"Both"? Are they sharing a body?
She says they're two identical
twins in one conjoined body.
I dunno how they move.
The world's full of surprises.
Let's get started.
So, only the body came back.
What do you mean?
She's a technical officer in
Lt. Col. Kurutsu's command.
She was investigating a hacker with
a special neurochip-type cyberbrain.
He's known as "Scarecrow,"
and he's a suspect in the
terrorist attack on Harimadara.
Another Oz character?
Huh?
Our conclusion is that he's a
special spy based on postwar tech.
Emma was the one who reasoned it out.
She hypothesized a hacker
with the same disorder she had.
Someone who had to incrementally
replace his brain with neurochips
and prosthetize his body to survive.
She had that disorder?
Personality attenuates, and self hood can't
be retained without auxiliary cyberbrains.
Emma transformed her impairment into
her signature trait, as did Scarecrow.
Emma regularly used advanced
cyberization to structure her self hood,
but Scarecrow is different.
To compensate for his attenuated personality,
he dubs the Ghosts of others,
steals their bodies,
and assumes their identities.
Like the scarecrow who can't think
inserting a false brain into his head.
Seriously?
In other words, this is...
The body is Emma's, but it's
being operated by a man's brain
which is only one-third the normal size
and cyberized with neurochips.
So what I dived into was
the girl's dubbed Ghost.
What happened to her brain?
Ghost Dubbing would've degraded it.
It's either in the trash or
sliced up in his research lab.
That's awful...
Poor Emma. I'm sorry.
It's okay, Junior. Don't be afraid.
I know the lions will come.
The people with courage...
Who are you? Tell me who you work for.
I am a scarecrow. My brain is fading away.
I am tin. My heart is fading away.
Is that Emma talking, or her dubbed Ghost?
Tin Girl, give me the scarecrow man's name.
His name is Brinda Jr. Please, don't blame him.
Got a hit at a postwar nursing home!
And the same NPO is involved with it.
Brinda Jr., age 32.
After he was cyberized, he became an
accountant at an employment agency.
His personality's thin,
but he memorized a 200-digit number
in two seconds for an IQ test.
That's textbook for someone
with special cognitive abilities.
Find out which organization
set him up as a hacker.
Roger.
I'm diving into that man's Ghost.
There are only a handful of proven
double Ghosts in existence.
We don't know the dangers.
I want to know which Ghost has motive.
You're doubting Emma? She's the victim here.
Then I'll confirm that.
Batou, be my backup in case they back-hack me.
Two against two, eh?
Togusa. Get all the records copied.
Roger. Oh, here...
Sorry, it's a call from my dad.
Hey Dad, it's been a while. Yeah.
Batou! Restrain Togusa!
Got it. I'll become the Lion.
A Mateba, still?
Don't move!
Major!
Let's go.
This is crazy! I found a Starter
log on his comm-it's the virus!
He must have kept the virus
inactive within his neurochips.
His infiltration was unexpectedly quick.
So, it combines victims' memories of past
hostility with objects in front of them
to plant instantaneous false memories?
I can get deadly, right?
That was your last breath if you don't.
Don't underestimate me!
The scarecrow is the virus's host and
Togusa's brain is the package, right?
Yep. But the infection route's
disturbingly selective.
Only people around you are being infected.
Does that mean the onset can be regulated?
That'd be impossible without
a third party to switch it on.
Which I guess means it's a virus
whose damage can be controlled.
Then it's military.
Reanalyze yesterday's infection data.
We don't want to chase the virus; we want
to chase the enemy in possession of it.
I wish to go on living even after my death.
Hidden data?
For these 620 reasons, we oppose
cyberization without free choice.
Reason: We submit that
software within the cyberbrain
is vulnerable to third-party tampering.
Reason: Electronic alteration
of memory causes abnormalities
in the totality of our independent
will referred to as the "Ghost."
Do you actually think a world without
infection and infiltration is possible?!
Tsumugi! You alive?
I'm running a sim of the
scarecrow's brain. Help me.
You have Emma Tsuda's Ghost infiltration key,
don't you? Make me a backdoor.
I see, you're going to use
Scarecrow's cyberbrain structure
to approximate a vaccine?
Reason: There are currently seventeen
possible ways to alter our memories.
Shit!
Major! Why won't you use my
Ghost infiltration key to stop this?!
It's no use. Brinda won't let her.
I will become anyone. I've inputted
and erased many Ghosts.
I disappeared, too... Who am I?
Was Unit 501 a target, too?
Aren't you a victim after all?!
There was no other way.
What are you after?
Don't disappear, Emma.
Let's go on living after our deaths, together.
They're here.
An attack barrier!
Major!
Colonel!
They fought each other with attack barriers.
One of them got forwarded.
I can't believe it was stronger than ours...
You were infiltrated for a moment.
Delete all relevant operational
headquarters from the cyberbrain Net.
Go after Brinda. There's nothing left to do here.
Damn stray dog...
Looks like we pulled it off.
The host and Starter are still active.
We can see the ocean, Emma.
This creeps even me out, Major.
Report.
Col. Hozumi from Army intelligence
was the one to recruit Brinda Jr.
"Scarecrow" is an op cooked up
by their old Investigations Section
during a period when they were
working on Ghost Dub devices.
Hozumi got on the Next-Gen Weapons
Review Committee through Foreign Affairs.
But she wasn't there long,
and Kurutsu of Unit 501 took her seat
at Vice-Minister Kitahara's recommendation.
Unit 501 got a hold on Hozumi
through military musical chairs, eh?
Reason: We can prove
that false memories
compel us to commit murder, suicide,
--and other criminal acts.
--Which one built the pod?
Unknown. But Army intelligence decided to
rally by interfering with the Review Committee.
I'd guess that somewhere in there,
the two hackers became aware of each other.
The attack on Harimadara is the connection?
There's no evidence they did it.
But Hozumi is in the overseas
weapons development faction,
and Harimadara's a domestic faction stronghold.
Who shot our bait?
A Kuzan water cartel hit man.
Hozumi's playing with serious fire.
She used the pretext of wartime industry
to interfere in Kuzan's affairs while
she was stationed there during the war.
If she can't subdue the domestic faction
and give the cartel the profits she promised,
it'll retaliate against her.
Starter analysis results?
Couldn't pin down the trigger,
but I got my answer
from the fact that we couldn't find
the infection route into the building
even though Section 9 had domination over it.
It was a C4ISR network.
A military communications system.
Things are starting to come clear.
Col. Hozumi's the one
who activated Starter
and patched the virus through
to infect the VIP room's security.
She was after the woman the guard shot.
Senior Vice-Minister Kitahara,
who's with the domestic faction.
That massacre was a
smokescreen for one murder?!
Guess she's a born war-lover.
Why snipe Tin Girl?
That was a bluff.
She must've wanted to get rid of us
and get Tin Girl safely to the 501.
So her little visit to Section 9
was a smokescreen, too?
She backed down so easily because
she was after Unit 501 from the start.
So she could set up anti-cyberbrainist
Emma Tsuda as the massacre's ringleader.
Harimadara, the Vice-Minister, the 501
She had a threefold plan to take them all out!
What about the Ghost of
the girl who got dubbed?
If she does have her own will,
Why'd she knowingly let Hozumi use her?
Just from the circumstances, the scarecrow
is the one you've been after.
He didn't necessarily write the virus.
Hozumi said there was a broker.
If she told the truth,
someone out there made and sold it.
That's who I'm after.
This is all speculation. Right now,
there's only one way for us to get proof.
I assume you have Togusa's location.
We'll meet en route.
We're going to capture both Ghosts--
the scarecrow's, and the girl's.
Togusa's the problem.
Blowing a married teammate's
brains out ain't my job.
We know for sure this infection
plants false memories, right?
You saw him talking to his dead father.
There should be a shared form.
I'll get infected, so you ID it and
version up your makeshift vaccine.
You want to mirror your own brain?
Worst case scenario, blow my brains out.
So that's my job?
If you don't like it, make me the leader.
A checkpoint?
You're on the wanted list
as a suspected terrorist!
Shit, it's Section 9! The ape
used to be in Army intelligence.
He cut a deal with Hozumi, and he's framing us!
She may just want us to think so.
I'll send Section 9 our intel.
After all this, you're still relying on him?!
--No.
--Why, then?!
My Ghost is whispering that I should do it.
Wait! Where are you going?!
Stop!
We promised we'd go far away.
Goodbye.
I released the package!
I'm going on ahead.
I told you to shoot if things went south!
Take a damn gun with you...
Major...
She's in pieces!
If she's a neurochip version, she's still alive.
We'll go on living.
It's a Ghost Dub, not a transfer?!
That's a Harimadara prototype!
Major!
Two Ghosts have been dubbed into that thing.
We're going to stop it! Logicomas,
give me everything you've got!
Yes, sir!
Where the hell would they
abandon their own lives to go?
The ocean.
Huh?
They're not going anywhere! This ends here!
Next-gen weapon or not, its brains are rookies.
Aim for the eyes and legs,
and it's a piece of cake.
For real?!
Got you now!
What's that?
It's Army intelligence! The bastards
requested an artillery strike!
You've cut off your sensory system?!
Crap!
You discarded intensity regions...
Recognition systems, memory fields,
the Net that maintains your architecture...
You even jettisoned your own Ghost!
You want a life you've
stripped all meaning from?!
Goodbye.
It's over.
Return to base. We're going
to Kuzan, by way of Benares.
The world's cyber economy has only just begun.
I'll pay whatever it takes
to reconcile with the cartel--
On your knees, hands in the air!
Oh, the wanted poster. Told you so.
You're just like that Section 9 chief.
Never happy unless you're
digging up what's dead and buried.
It's something you ran away without doing.
Nothing's going to change, Kusanagi.
We're an independent offensive unit.
We stand independent of the system,
and we have truly discrete
personalities that don't get packaged.
When we're officially approved
as top priority, we'll root out
all the sorry bastards who conspire
because they're afraid of a scandal.
And you count me as one of them?
I never changed your channel. Contact me
whenever you want to come home.
You're free to go. We voided the
wanted notice Col. Hozumi put out.
Vice-Minister of Defense Kitahara
wants to thank you.
Is that some sort of joke?
A political one.
Section 9 just went through
Col. Hozumi's possessions
and confiscated a Ghost Dub device
and an outline of the Scarecrow op.
They couldn't arrest her, though.
No--but then she confessed.
Her chopper was shot down
with Kuzan weapons.
She's afraid enough of the cartel's revenge
to request protective
custody and a plea bargain.
So she'll get off scat-free.
I'll make sure she doesn't.
The NPO she worked with is a front
for dirty cyberbrain business.
Not only that, we've detected Starter
in her cyberbrain, just like your intel said.
She got a lot of people injured or killed,
and I'll make her pay for that--
even if I can't take her to court yet.
Where did she get the virus?
Through a broker, she says. She claims
to know nothing about its author.
I see.
Was it really the cartel
who tried to kill Hozumi?
Even if it was someone who wanted
to prevent us from investigating her,
I'm sure any trace of them is long gone.
Major.
All of you came? I didn't know
I had such admirable subordinates.
You could've been attacked while in custody.
We've been keeping an eye on all
the suspicious characters who came by.
One more thing. I told the
Minister of Home Affairs
that your team contributed
to deterring the virus.
Use your vaunted cyberbrain to read
Public Security Commission report N2077.
As of tomorrow, you get special authority.
Without official oversight.
This case isn't over.
Investigate the high-level hacking
virus and any organizations involved,
and plan to attend plenty
of funerals along the way.
I shot Thied.
You must have had a hunch that an
intelligence bigwig was behind this,
meaning you would've wanted
an intel advantage at any cost.
So why didn't you stop me?!
Because I don't have
your Ghost infiltration key.
No organization will ever have it.
I promised your late commander that.
Bottom line, all we figured out
was that someone out there
used a couple of anti-cyberbrainist hackers
and a miserable water company chick.
We may be looking for a crime
worth sacrificing lives over,
but all we have are money-mad war profiteers
and a man and girl obsessed
with casting things away.
For now, that is.
Which one had agency, the man or the girl?
Did they even have real will?
When they blocked my infiltration, at least.
But they fled with nowhere to go,
then had to transfer into that weapon.
That think-tank's cyberbrain
had a massive output system.
Hmm?
What if the reason they cast away
what made them themselves
was to output the last thing left into the Net?
You think that's where they were going?
Pouring the last shreds of their Ghosts
into the Net... Is that even possible?
It's been researched,
but it's impossible to prove.
But in the moment their Ghosts were lost,
I got the feeling they'd fused.
That two lives had become one...
That isn't like you. Ghosts are the
most independent things in this world.
Even the ones being controlled are
fundamentally, eternally standalone.
Like our squad, yeah?
Yeah.
Well? The floaters are all ready.
I got a set of two.
Even someone with a
titanium skull wouldn't drown.
You seriously want to swim
in the ocean in midwinter?
Gotta shake off those
memories of almost drowning.
Plus it ain't too often I get
to see you in a swimsuit.
That's your real goal?
--Huh?
--Unbelievable.
No, no! I'm doing this all for you!
I'll take a rain check.
I'm telling you, you got it all wrong!
Wavering sorrow and hatred
It all dims over time
Creaky (spirits)
We're taken, we're taken away
Away
Broken-off memory freezes in the sky
This heart rent asunder
Splitting in two (splitting)
We're making, we're making our way
Nowhere
We split in two (slipping)
We're slipping, we're slipping away
No way home...
(Ghosts...)
Broken (spirits)
We're breaking, we're breaking away
Away
Vanishing (slipping)
We're going, we're going insane
No way...
Severed souls sleep
Unable to dream
Wandering (spirits)
We're calling, we're calling your name
Your name
We split in two (slipping)
We're sleeping while slipping away
No way home...
(Ghosts... left to roam...)
(Lost... no way home...)
(Ghosts... left to roam...)
(Lost... ghosts... no way home)
(Ghosts...)