Ishikawa, can you pinpoint Togusa's present location?
Eh? Not a problem, what's wrong?
Togusa's cyberbrain's been hacked into!
Papa, we're going the wrong way.
You're the Puppeteer?
Why are you abducting all those children?
Where have twenty thousand kids vanished to?
We only wish to utilize resources that have slipped through the net of society.
Soon, you will experience this for yourself.
Batou!
I've found Togusa's present location.
The Cyberbrain Implant Hospital in Kohoku Ward.
Now I get it. You could get the implant performed without arousing any suspicions...
... if you made a parent bring his child down to the hospital himself.
Erase the child's memories, send her over to an elderly invalid's home, and the abduction is complete.
Afterwards, you'd only need to alter my memories to make me think that I had lost her.
Don't feel too bad about getting your memories altered.
In today's world, the incidence of such cases...
... are already more common than, say, traffic accidents.
You're offering me one last alternative?
That's the place!
I won't let you take my daughter.
Listen, will you do as Papa says?
Start running as fast as you can when Papa lets go of your hand.
Run?
That's right.
There will be a loud bang, just like at the school sports meet.
Once you hear that, run that way and keep running.
Don't stop, and don't ever look back.
Can you do that?
Yeah.
Good girl. Close your eyes.
I'm so sorry. Goodbye.
Togusa!
I love you.
TOGUSA!
Max, Musashi!
It's OK, everything's fine.
Major!
I must apologize for holding off until the last moment to save you.
Major, you're not the Puppeteer? Where were you all this time?
Papa!
Wandering on the net alone after leaving Section 9, ...
... I came across this unconventional case by chance.
Eventually I found out about the abductions, and began my own investigation into the matter.
I can't believe that you actually used Togusa as bait! Didn't you stop to think that you might be endangering his family as well?
I set him up with safeguards, of course.
Thanks to him, we can finally unmask the Puppeteer.
Isn't the Puppeteer just a system built into the healthcare monitoring network?
Rather than a system, I would call it a collective consciousness formed by the elderly invalids hooked up to the network.
However, there must also exist...
... a hub cyberbrain who integrated them in the first place.
A hub cyberbrain?
Hey, isn't that...
The data from my network trace being extracted from Togusa's cyberbrain.
Ah, Batou! Long time no see!
You're looking well! Good to see that you've been taking care of yourself.
The elderly monitoring system has contained a backdoor function ever since it was designed.
Look.
This is the full scope of the rhizome formed by the collective consciousness of those elderly invalids in the network.
There is no concept of a center in a rhizome, ...
... therefore the hub has no fixed position within the rhizome, or rather, the rhizome itself is constantly in flux.
I get the idea, but who does that hub cyberbrain belong to?
Max, Musashi, report your findings.
Well?
Ah, how do I put this...
You failed?
b..but we managed to locate his current whereabouts.
And where would that be?
The complex grounds of the Seishomin* Welfare Center which takes charge of the elderly monitoring system. *聖庶民 (seishomin), meaning "Sacred Citizen".
The personnel have arrived. Releasing locks.
It's been a while, Major.
Indeed.
Though I wish it could have been under happier circumstances.
Why did you change your mind and return?
We'll talk about that later. Right now, our priority should be to catch the Puppeteer.
Munei Ito, member of the Diet's House of Representatives.
Finding out why he was marked for death is our one key to uncover the Puppeteer's identity.
Munei has long been an advocate of a racially pure Japan, ...
... a reactionary conservative nationalist.
He frequents the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has close ties with the Treaties Bureau.
He participated in the plan to assassinate Ka Ru-Ma.
Major, you mean...
I had a contract with the Treaties Bureau to covertly assassinate Ka Ru-Ma, ...
... but the Puppeteer got there first.
So you were only responsible for the subsequent coverup?
That's more or less it.
We also discovered that Munei instigated an management reshuffle at the Seishomin Welfare Center...
... in order to solidify his control over the facility.
How will that benefit him?
Isn't this a welfare facility that provides elderly healthcare monitoring and vocational training?
Right. But several rogue politicians are using it as a front for something entirely different.
In actual fact, he is using his cover as treasurer to run a power elite education project.
In other words, a glorified brainwashing facility.
So this is what Raj Poot meant about government involvement.
If the Puppeteer was using this place as a temporary holding center for the abducted children,
then Munei turning it into a brainwashing facility would pose a problem for him.
Chief.
How about we conduct a forced search?
Finding the children should be our top priority,
But conducting a raid will cause a scandal.
When that happens, those shitty politicians won't be the only ones whose asses get toasted.
Ishikawa, how's the situation?
Is that the Major?
Geez, you could have turned up sooner.
Although we've verified the receipt of a massive quantity of components that may have been used to construct HC-25 brainwashing devices,
that alone is insufficient evidence to justify a raid.
What about images from the inside?
I could only obtain footage from the workshop zone.
The education zone is protected by a firewall in the form of complex barrier maze.
It looks to be completely impenetrable.
There are only refugees here.
The abducted children are being held in the education zone, then?
That can only mean that this facility was built with the abduction infrastructure in place from the start.
If not, it's hard to imagine that a politician would dare to introduce such an audacious policy.
You mean to say that the Puppeteer have must have been one of the system designers behind this project?
Ishikawa, prepare the decoder for an attempt to hack through the barrier maze.
I'll make the dive.
If worse come to worst, ...
... Section 9 can carry on so long as you and Togusa remain.
Batou.
I absolutely refuse to hear such talk from you.
Are you implying that you'll be retiring as well after this?
I appreciate your sentiments, but I only came here to unmask the Puppeteer.
It's true that we may need to hang someone out to dry this time, ...
... and at this point, I have nothing left to lose.
Chief. It's unfortunate, but I say we raid them.
The Puppeteer is waiting for a chance to eliminate Munei.
I do not wish to see this opportunity slip us by.
But how are we going to pick out the Puppeteer?
At this point, we still have yet to determine his identity.
Leave that to...
... my ghost's whisper.
Woo! It feels great!
Hi! Long time no see, everyone!
Here goes.
Move out!
As I thought, nothing beats the thrill of racing along in a physical body again.
Really? My joints seem a bit creaky though.
Look like another intrusion like before, but something feels different this time.
In any case, secure the perimeter.
Understood.
Professionals like us, huh?
In that case...
... let's get to know each other a bit.
Another hacking attempt by the Investigations section? What a complete waste of effort.
Let's do an inspection before we leave.
Pazu and Boma, secure our route of withdrawal.
Roger that.
Who are you people?
Why would you want to know? I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.
Huh? The comms were cut off.
Security cyborgs incoming.
Major, go on ahead.
The one who went in is done for. Go after those still outside.
Understood.
They opened fire without any warning. So this place really is a highly sensitive government front.
He's coming after us.
Over there will be fine.
No heat signatures or shadows...
... a Kyo-Re cloaking device? That means...
Your information is antiquated.
They don't refer to the Model 3302 as a cloaking device anymore.
Finish them.
Roger!!
Back me up. I've almost taken control of the system.
Leave it to me. Hasn't it always been this way?
Togusa, where are you now?
Major.
I'm currently approaching the roof via the outer wall.
Good. Carry on and rendezvous with the Chief on the roof.
I've located the children.
Let's go!
Representative Munei, this is Public Security Section 9.
We have already verified the situation here.
It seems we have no choice but to insist on a full scale search of this facility.
Public Security?
Although not under its official auspices, this is a vital facility for the nation.
How dare you Public Security people come barging in here with your overinflated sense of justice!
Representative.
Even so, it is clear from the situation here...
... that it is our job to intervene in such matters.
For a public official, ...
... you do not seem to be able to comprehend the crisis facing our nation right now.
If we carry on as we are, in the near future, our nation's prosperity will be displaced by that of foreigners.
To prevent this from occurring, we are investing in this education program for these wards of the state, ...
... entrusting our nation's future to them.
Is there anything wrong with that?
The funding for this investment wouldn't happen to have been procured through the exploitation of those elderly invalids and refugees in your care, would it?
That couldn't be helped.
Just think, ...
... what have they ever done for this country?
They never started a family, or raised children, and are themselves exempt from taxation.
Selfishly wasting away their lives, and then expecting us to take care of them in their dotage.
What a shameless lot.
If it were up to me, I would even lay a tax on them to make up for the loss to the state caused by their being no longer fit for the workforce.
This is nothing but rhetoric.
What, then, have politicians like you ever done for this country either?
Indulging in egotism, and placing political self-preservation above the needs of others.
Who was responsible for ignoring such social problems until things came to a head?
I am proud to say that I, for my own part , have always been conscientious towards my duties.
Even if it infringes upon human rights, and violates cyberbrain ethics?
That is an unfortunate but necessary sacrifice.
You really are a bloody-minded fellow.
Major. we've verified the number of the children being held here.
It's nowhere near twenty thousand, at most three thousand kids.
Is that right? Switch over to autistic mode.
Roger that.
Representative.
Did you know that the system in this center...
... has been automatically abducting children?
These children aren't orphans. A large proportion of them have been abducted.
It was our investigation into the abductions that led us here, ...
... therefore, you are an important witness in this case.
Although I was the director of this project, ...
... this is the first I've heard of such a bug in the system!
In that case, allow us to question the system designers involved.
It was I.
It was I who designed the core principles behind the Solid State system.
Togusa, take the lot of them into custody!
Yes, ma'am!
Batou, before this guy's memories vanish, I want to dive into his cyberbrain.
Back me up!
Going manual!
Batou, are you reading his signal?
Yeah. I'll amplify the output.
I see the memory unit, but the signal strength is dropping fast.
Batou, can you amplify his output signal any further?
I'll get a Tachikoma to help. You disengage for now.
There's no time for that.
Do you see me, Puppeteer?
Puppeteer?
I mean the hub cyberbrain who integrated the rhizome of the "Kifu Aged".
Hub?
His visual signal has dropped out...
We're losing him...
Hey, what's wrong?
Batou, I'm routing his audio signal over to my speech center.
I should offer you my thanks. This has gone far enough, disengage now!
Munei posed the greatest obstacle to Solid State.
I have considered purging him myself many times, but the problem was that the man is a luddite who eschews the use of cyberbrain technology.
Who are you? What was your motive in abducting those children?
Who I am is not important. As for my motive, perhaps it is not that different from Munei Ito's.
This country has reached the stage where we must take drastic measures in order to shift it from its doomed course.
The problem of the more than six million so-called "Kifu Aged", ...
... the rising unemployment rate in contrast with the shrinking able working population, ...
... and the low birth rate.
There is no end to the issues that need to be dealt with.
Did you know that...
... even in this society so plagued by a low birth rate, ...
... annually no less than fifty thousand children die needlessly before they reach the age of six?
A full thirty percent of these can be attributed to domestic violence and abuse...
Well? Can you do it? ... another eighty percent...
I can try. ... another eighty percent...
Even if the counselors, police,
or other relevant authorities are are made aware of the situation, they are powerless to prevent it.
The social welfare system has failed them. And so the potential of these children is lost to us.
Major!
If you keep this up, he'll take your consciousness with him when he dies.
Therefore?
Therefore I have focused on gathering and recycling these inadvertently misplaced resources.
I look for children listed on the abuse watchlist network as living in high-risk homes, and change their household registrations in order to give them a new life.
This is the core principle behind the Solid State system?
Correct.
Of course, aiding the "Kifu Aged" was also an indispensable goal.
They were desperately seeking their own raison d'etre.
Although they were unable to leave behind genetic progenies to inherit their DNA, at least they were able to leave successors for posterity, ...
... so that their assets would not be escheated to the state. Furthermore, they were offered an opportunity to achieve something greater by participating in this grand enterprise.
Needless to say, they were elated, and agreed to join my cause.
You realize that this is criminal conspiracy?
Certainly.
But the ends justify the means, and there were no other means.
Removing those high-risk children from jeopardy was my foremost concern.
Even though I sacrificed my own life in the process, I regret nothing.
On the contrary, I may have finally found my reason for becoming a public official.
All that remains now is to establish Solid State as a permanent institution, and to enhance its infrastructure.
But by purging everyone who came in contact with the system one after another, ...
... you drew our attention to your plan.
I had not considered how those who were killed must have felt, but like I said, there were no other means.
With Ka Ru-Ma I can understand, but why did you want to eliminate Munei?
Because he intended to keep the children here in detention.
It was pointless to turn them into brainwashed elite cadres, when they could be given a new life of their own.
Although education is important, the children must be allowed free will to make their own choices out in the world.
That is the difference between I and Munei, and the main reason I must eliminate him.
However, this time round, you people intervened.
Still, my tactics seem to be working fairly well to this point, ...
... since I have managed to hack directly into your virtually impenetrable cyberbrain from across the plug link.
Major!
You committed suicide just to lure me into connecting?
You are one tough customer, ...
... but while I trap you within a thought maze, the rest of Section 9 can easily be dealt with.
Now that's something you don't see everyday.
A rare competent bureaucrat, if an arrogant and self-righteous ass...
... and one who actually knows me. Who are you, really?
Haven't you figured it out yet, Kusanagi Motoko?
How many arrogant, self-righteous asses do you know?
Until this moment, I was incarnated across a myriad of egos.
Come now, that a collective consciousness can unconsciously begin to act autonomously, ...
... is not so hard to believe.
With this, Solid State is established, ...
... and I, the vanishing mediator, now move on to the society beyond.
I can't see a thing. Can someone give me a situation report?
You finally woke up.
Batou, there you are. How's the situation?
Where am I?
Then, lastly, what do we do with the children?
Hmm... we probably should send them back to their real parents for the time being.
Even though their memories have been altered, and even though we know about their maltreatment at home?
But that may be for the best.
I can't answer that right now - and that decision may be out of our hands anyway.
The kids who found adopted parents before the brainwashing program began, ...
... those who that have already left the facility, what is to become of them?
It will be dealt with on a case by case basis. They'll just have to wait while our complex judicial system comes up with a decision.
Chief, is there anything we can do?
To that, I can only answer that we can only continue struggling within the rules, ...
... and hope for the best.
We can only watch and pray that they may one day grow up to achieve their potential...
... and answer the question that we could not.
Solid State system. Now that I think about it, it really is an ironic name.
He actually used the cyberbrain network formed by those old folks as a transistor to store his own consciousness.
Just like a arrogant bureaucrat to think of such an idea.
Anyway, when we finally identified the Puppeteer, I got the shock of my life.
What do you mean?
It came to light after that guy died and while you were out of it.
In truth, that official has been dead for the past two years.
His name was Koshiki Takaaki, age thirty-three.
Coming from a family of bureaucrats, he was groomed from youth to be a member of the elite cadre.
After graduating from college, he immediately began working for the Ministry of Health.
Perhaps the only reason he became a bureaucrat was because he did not have anything better to do with his life.
Soon afterwards, he began refusing to turn up at the Ministry for work for some reason.
Because he was an information technology prodigy, he received special permission to remote a cybernetic body to work from home.
Eventually, he distinguished himself through his work at the Ministry.
Two years ago, his talent was recognized, and he was reassigned...
... to the Health-Welfare joint project headed by Munei. He secretly built his own infrastructure into the project sometime during its development.
But here's the thing. Because he was an such an unobtrusive non-descript fellow who kept to himself, ...
... even with all the work that he had done, ...
... no one ever found out that he had really died at home from illness.
Thanks to him, the true identity of the Puppeteer will remain forever a mystery.
Are you implying that the guy's remote cybernetic body...
... was used to impersonate him by persons unknown?
Possibly.
Or rather, that is probably the case.
If we consider those old folks, it might also have been a subconscious action taken by their collective consciousness, ...
... but we have no way of verifying that now.
I see.
Except for...
... the record of your conversation with Koshiki taken by the Tachikoma.
Do we still have that record?
We should, although for some reason when Koshiki died, ...
... the Tachikoma insisted that the record had no further value.
Batou, did you hear the conversation?
Who knows.
At this point, it doesn't really matter, does it?
The old folks, the abused children, ...
... both matters are being brought to a resolution.
Although we were unable to unmask the Puppeteer, we can consider this case more or less closed.
This scandal will really hurt those rogue politicians, eh?
I'm mystified, Batou.
In retrospect, what was I thinking back then?
What was I searching for, when I decided to sojourn in the net alone and loitering?
The truth? My true self?
Or that special someone?
Perhaps I was only projecting the frustration at my own helplessness onto the system.
What? Are you getting introspective on me now?
You should be satisfied after all that, right?
So, what do you plan to do in the future?
Continue with your lonesome personal-inquiry-for-an-investigation?
I think I've had enough of that.
Although being bound by constraints was tedious, ...
... I couldn't bring myself to accept a life free of them.
In the end, it made no difference whatsoever.
Does that mean what I think it does?
Are you thinking of returning to Section 9?
But what about Togusa?
Won't that affect his career?
If his career were so easily stalled, then clearly, this was the furthest his ability would have gotten him anyway.
That's not for you to worry about.
Maybe.
But you know, Batou, the net is indeed vast and infinite.
Soon, the next unimaginable stage of society will begin to take form.