I'm a soldier, znatchit ya... I'm a soldier, and that means...
...i otvetchik i sud'ya ...that I am both defendant and judge.
Ya stoyu na dvuh kontsah ognya I stand at both ends of the fire.
Ogibaya virazhi, Leaning into the curves,
obgonyaya smert' i zhizn', overtaking life and death,
ya begu srazit'sya s ten'yu lzhi I'm running to fight the shadow of lies.
Skol'ko b nitej ne plyol obman, No matter how tangled the web of deception is woven,
pokazhet lik sveta istina... truth will always illuminate the outline of the light...
Save your tears for the day...
...when the pain is far behind.
On your feet, come with me.
We are soldiers, stand or die.
Save your fears, take your place.
Save them for the Judgment Day.
Fast and free, follow me.
Time to make the sacrifice.
We rise or fall...
Hey, look at this!
I found a top-secret file on the Individual Eleven...
...in the National Police Agency's server array!
Really? Show us! Show us!
That's very interesting, all right...
Let's see here...
I wanna see, too!
Where is it?
It's this one.
I'm impressed that you found this.
I wish I could look at it, too...
Come on, now. You shouldn't dive into places like that without permission.
Nothing on this Earth can stop their curiosity.
If they come across any inappropriate data, we'll just delete it.
Our main priority is hardware maintenance.
You're too soft on them, sir.
I can't believe you let them buy you off with a souvenir like that...
A man in a red lab coat... is eating red bean jam sweets.
The man with a sweet tooth... was too sweet.
That wasn't very funny.
Sounds like you guys are having a good time in here.
Mr. Batou!
You aren't up to your usual mischief, are you?
You're hurting our feelings, Togusa! Mischief... As if!
We were looking into the Individual Eleven in our own little way.
I mean, you can't even create a vaccine for that virus that Borma found...
...because you can't pinpoint the factor that triggers it, right?
Yeah, yeah...
Well, that's certainly true.
Right?
So we tried looking through the data that the police have.
Take a look at this! We checked out the eleven people who killed themselves,
and it looks like they have lots of things in common, including the jobs they had.
Former Self-Defense officers, police officers, and mercenaries, too.
And another point that can't be ignored is that each had a prosthetics level over 50%.
Also, they say that there are about 20,000 virus carriers that they know of, right?
If we don't hurry up and create a vaccine,
there's no guarantee that there won't be more victims like that reporter Togusa met.
That isn't your job.
Aw, but...
We've asked Spring-8 to handle the examination of the dead Individual Eleven.
That's why we're on our way out there to meet up with the Major.
The Major said to bring one of you with us.
- Oo, that sounds like fun! - Take me, take me!
But I guess we can't take any of you if you'll be missing your maintenance check.
Over here! Over here! I'm done with my maintenance!
You are, huh? Okay, let's go.
Yes, sir!
Figures, it's his personal unit.
Huh? Hey!
C'mon, wait for me!
What's going on?
I hadn't given it its oil yet...
What's going on around here?! He always gets to go!
It's strange...
We haven't had natural oil put in us since we got these new bodies,
so why do you suppose he still has his position as Mr. Batou's personal unit?
And I get the impression that the differentiation in our individuality...
...is even stronger than before, too.
Hey, Proto, why do you think that is?
I can't really say.
Maybe it's because we set up a main server for you,
and you were reprogrammed to allow you to keep individual information separate.
You'd better start behaving yourselves!
Otherwise, we'll never be finished!
We can talk here without being bothered by anyone, right?
Yeah. And the passage of time doesn't apply here, either.
Anyway, to get back to what I was saying,
setting aside those Individual Eleven that they think had manifested virus symptoms,
what do you think about these "individualists"?
For people who stress the importance of individuality, didn't they seem to lack it to you?
That's certainly true.
They may say that they look for value in their individual differences...
...by searching for isolation on the net or for proof of their own existence,
but their attempts to reject people with different ideas...
...is one factor that binds them all together, don't you think?
Yeah, you're right!
I think that they're a group that seemed to have an identity, but didn't.
They're people who tried so hard to find individuality...
...that they lapsed into a state of non-individuality.
In a sense, I get the feeling that these people are the opposite of us.
I think you're right.
Even though we're obligated to synchronize with each other,
we somehow managed to acquire individuality at one point.
And now that we've got them to respect those differences as individuality,
we only have to synchronize vital information now.
If that's the case, and these individualists have become a group that's free of identity...
...exactly because they are trying to be individuals,
who is it who makes the decisions of the group as a complex entity?
As far as the Individual Eleven go, I'd say that the one who made the decisions...
...was Gohda of the Cabinet Intelligence Service.
But they say that the terrorists who attacked the Chinese embassy were individualists...
...who turned up on their own, not because of a virus or whatever, remember?
Admittedly, some sociologists say that the copycats who turned out in droves...
...during the Laughing Man incident are the real origin of the phenomenon.
If that's true, wouldn't that mean that in their minds, they shared a common vision...
...that resembled this current situation even before Gohda got involved with his plans?
Making the expulsion of refugees the general consensus of the citizenry, huh?
If you're going to put it like that, it means that the refugees were already...
...carrying out terrorist acts even before the Individual Eleven came onto the scene, right?
It's pretty strange. Even though no one is issuing commands,
all the parties involved spontaneously began to move in the same direction.
Or maybe humans have a third identity for making decisions.
Something besides the individual or the collective.
What do you mean?
For instance, there's Dawkins, who looked for the promotion of the self...
...in genes on the micro level,
and Lovelock, who focused on the extreme macro level, on an Earth-scale body.
The Earth biosphere!
The two of them published works at roughly the same time that,
although they had opposing themes, could be said...
This one! This one!
...to have arrived at roughly the same conclusion.
What kinda stuff is written in there?
I guess it's about how humans are the most logical entity,
as well as the smallest unit possessing consciousness,
and they both postulate and refer to the existence of the holonic architecture...
...of a species that is both greater than and smaller than itself.
On other words, they imply that the factor that's determining...
...the actions of both the individualists and the refugees...
...either exists on the micro level and is smaller than each person,
or is on the macro level, and is greater than the group.
Gosh, that's hard to follow...
It's simple!
It means that as it is now, the net, which didn't exist before humanity called it into existence,
loosely comprises a subconscious mind in the form of the general consensus of the whole...
...via their mental-level net and the electronic network which now covers most of the Earth.
...that loosely forms a subconscious mind in the form of the general consensus of the whole!
You follow me?
So what you're saying is, humans' bodies and minds are already two separate things,
but they haven't noticed it yet?
That would be my blunt, personal opinion, yeah.
But we were leaning towards the conclusion that the body and mind are inseparable!
This change of mind is a complete 180!
If that's the case, then it would mean that Gohda deliberately manufactured...
...mediators that would accelerate that slow process?
Hey!
I'm done. Hurry up and take my place.
Sorry about that. Our discussion got pretty heated.
Let me synchronize the data of what you talked about, okay?
Okay.
Oh, I get it... That's an interesting thought.
Isn't it, though?
But there have been times lately when I've felt like...
...my consciousness and my body were two separate things.
How do you mean?
I guess it was a sensation that I was looking down at myself from high in the sky.
Hey, I've had that, too!
Are our individual selves in our individual bodies?
Or is there just one "self" that's shared between us as a group Tachikoma?
Considering that synchronization is our natural state, I'd have to say it's the latter.
Yeah, but the will of our god, the Major, is interposed between the two.
Yeah, but our individualization still progressing...
...in spite of the fact that natural oil is banned now.
We ought to be completely homogeneous, and yet we have individuality.
And if we're subconsciously experiencing the physical sensation...
...of a disconnect between body and information, that means...
Could it be?
A Gho...
Hey, wait just a minute. We shouldn't jump to any conclusions.
Couldn't that simply be a sense of dissociation...
...caused by the addition of our agent functionality?
That's possible, all right, but I can't help but feel that there's a third self somewhere,
something other than the body and the spirit.
I understand how you feel.
Back when we fought that Jigabachi,
I was instantly able to carry out my role as the Major's "suit" without any fear of death.
When it happened, there was a part of me somewhere that was detached,
saying that my body was no longer my own.
Was it different from that indescribable feeling of ecstasy we experienced...
...when we wanted to save Mr. Batou?
I think so. This was more of a matter-of-fact action, something programmed into us.
In which case, I hate to say it,
but that third self you sensed might have been different from the one in a human.
Besides, we haven't even been told where the server is...
...that all our shared data is stored on, remember?
That might be what our third self really is.
So what we thought was a Ghost was just a hallucination, huh?
Maybe, but we might need to devote some more serious thought...
...to that third self that you said you sensed.
Let me synchronize the data of the sensation.
Sure.
Is there any chance that these results are wrong?
Probably not.
We found dissolved fragments of proteins in the pilot's blood...
...that had once made up micromachines.
We weren't able to pull any concrete information about that...
...out of the cyberbrains of those Individual Eleven guys, though.
These are pretty much the results that I was expecting.
The pilot's test results are a major find, though.
Does this mean that we're ruling the pilot's death as "murder by micromachine"?
Although we can't deny the possibility that he took them himself.
In a perfect world, there would have been evidence in the corpse's cyberbrain...
...that the flight of those eleven helicopters acted as some kind of trigger.
But that's too much to ask for.
Did you have more luck with the explosives?
According to our molecular-level analysis, it's identical to C4 that's made on the peninsula.
These days, they find lots of C4 just like that among the confiscated goods...
...that come into the country via the Taiwan smuggling route.
What was that?
Tachikoma! Can you see anything from where you are?
It looks like there's been an explosion!
We've been taking on a lot of terrorism-related investigation work lately.
Maybe that's made us a target...
Hey, what happened?
Tell us everything that you know.
Well, sir, it looks like something exploded...
Yes, we have a sector that handles flammable items. Yes, that's right.
That's weird, nobody's running out of the building...
Is the place empty?
Actually, we received a threat a few days ago that said that a bomb would be planted here.
We've been on heightened alert, but...
Talk about your clouds with silver linings...
Except there's a possibility that Dr. Asuda, the chief scientist here,
was working in the building since this afternoon.
Why didn't you say that in the first place?!
Major, we're at the blast center.
From what I can see, this is the kind of damage you'd get from a gas explosion.
Any casualties?
They said that a scientist by the name of Asuda was here, but we're still looking.
Asuda?
Tachikoma. Pull up the data on that researcher.
This is probably the man that they mean.
Um...
Hm? What's up?
The thing is, I've seen this person before somewhere.
Maybe you met him when they were running a structural analysis on you guys.
That's what I thought at first, too, but there's no matching records in my memory.
HQ, check the IR Systems on all roads that have access to Itami and Niihama airports...
...as well as the ones inside the airports themselves,
and see if they've picked up anyone who matches Dr. Asuda's records.
Understood.
Major, what's the story?
I'll explain later. Hand over the scene to the local cops and come back to the tilt-rotor.
He's probably headed for Niihama Airport.
Guys!
Geez, you don't have to shout.
Check to see if you have any records that match this man.
I don't know how, but I'm positive that I have memories of meeting him before.
Let me think... Who is he, again?
I'm positive that I've seen him before, but I don't have any matching data in my memory, either.
But wouldn't that mean that you've never seen him before?
All right, that's enough! Cut it out!
This is so frustrating! I know it's there, but I can't remember it!
I guess your synapses aren't connecting.
"Synapses"? Lay off those organic analogies, okay?
Hey, does it seem to you like this one memory...
...is in a partitioned sector of our cyberbrains, but we can't access it?
Dr. Asuda is the scientist who single-handedly developed...
...the prototype model of the neurochip used in the Tachikomas' AI.
Are you saying that he's the Tachikomas' dad?
I suppose you could put it that way.
We also had Dr. Asuda personally assist us when the Tachikomas were being rebuilt.
He also helped us come up with ways to eliminate the risk of experience loss...
...by adding agent functionality and giving them a redundant memory architecture.
You think that this Dr. Asuda had something to do with the explosion?
He probably committed the crime himself.
To accomplish what?
To defect from the country, taking the fruits of his labor with him.
The doctor prided himself on developing the neurochip on his own.
But his status is that of a state-sponsored scientist.
Even though he developed that revolutionary AI,
he couldn't get a personal patent on his work.
For those and other reasons, we followed the Doctor's wishes and arranged things...
...so that he would be able to run structural analyses on the Tachikomas to let him...
...study their current condition, as well as the extent of the neurochips' development.
So that's why you told us to bring along one Tachikoma...
If that's true, why do we have a vague memory of the Doctor?
Because we deleted your memories each time you underwent a structural analysis.
But he probably wanted to leave some record of his achievements somewhere,
so he inserted a memory of himself into some part of your memory.
Major, we've located Dr. Asuda in the lobby of Niihama Airport.
Good work. Keep him under surveillance.
Chief.
Right. I just had all of the flights leaving for North America grounded.
That'll be a big help.
Thank you for your help in this matter, Prime Minister Kayabuki.
There's no need to thank me.
We were able to stop one of our country's top minds and the fruits of his AI research...
...from sneaking out of the country.
It's thanks to the hard work of my men that you are able to say that.
May we have your attention, please.
The departures of all passenger flights to North America...
...have just been delayed due to poor weather.
Oh, so that explains it...
But I still can't remember this Dr. Asuda.
My synapses are stopping one step short of connecting...
Didn't you say that you hated that expression?
Hey, I know!
Hey, Proto. I'm gonna open up this guy's head.
What's all this about?
You're tired of just synchronizing, so now you want me to hand over my whole AI?
No, I'm just gonna check to see which part of your AI the partitioned sector is in.
You little fool! You can't do that!
- What's wrong? - What happened?
It... It's not there! It's gone! His AI is gone!
Does this mean that each and every one of us is brainless?!
Where the heck are our AI's, then?
May we have your attention, please.
The poor weather that had caused the delay of all flights to North America has cleared up,
Dr. Asuda, I presume?
You're in violation of the Arms Export Control Act. You're coming with me.
so we will now resume flight operations.
Flights will resume boarding at this time, so please proceed to your departure gate.
I refuse. I'll do my work in a country that properly recognizes my rights.
May we have your attention, please.
The poor weather that had caused the delay of all flights to North America has cleared up,
You became a state-sponsored scientist in exchange...
...for all the funding and equipment you could ever want.
so we will now resume flight operations.
You should know better than anyone that you have no right to do this.
Flights will resume boarding at this time, so please proceed to your...
It's too bad. And here we brought this little guy to the lab for a visit.
I see.
Um...
Are you... my father?
Your father, huh?
Their condition is stable for the moment,
but there's no telling what might trigger another collapse.
We think that you inserted memories of yourself into them without permission.
Will you tell us how to erase them?
Long ago, there was once a nameless carpenter who had built a castle...
...who deliberately left behind the tools that he had used to carve...
...his name in the attic as proof that he had taken part in the work.
Are you even going to erase that trivial act of sentimentality?
I am.
When you surrender something to the government in exchange for power,
that's the price you pay.
Delete file C9 in partition #8 of the hub cyberbrain...
...that I built into that satellite at your request.
All right.
Major? What's he mean, "satellite"?
Oh, I get it! The reason we felt like our self was somewhere other than in our bodies...
...was because our AI's were synchronizing through that hub cyberbrain in orbit, wasn't it?
That's right.
Which means that our server is up on that satellite, too, huh?
So does that means that we were perceiving that super-high...
...birds-eye view as our third self?
Our AI's aren't equipped with sense organs,
so when we were thinking, we never noticed what path our consciousness was taking.
Oh, so that's why we don't need any mind-body unity...
...between our bodies and programs anymore!
Now I also understand why I wasn't afraid of dying!
Still, I can't believe it's up in space... That's pretty amazing...
The thing is, I don't think that I want to have your memories erased.
Don't worry about it.
The ideals I envisioned for my AI will probably end up on the net somewhere.
Major, what's gonna happen to this guy?
Since we're the ones who caught him, that should give us some leeway.
If he's lucky, he'll get sentenced to prison.
And if he isn't so lucky?
He might spend the rest of his life toiling away in obscurity inside the facilities at Harima.
Maybe I'll bring the Tachikoma to see him every once in a while.
I don't know if that would help.
He was looking for freedom, but now he's no longer free.
Just like us.
Finding out a galaxy...
...of planets and stars within me...
Listening to each of them...
...singing the same silent melody...
I've never seen such beauty...
In possibility...
No speck of doubt or fear...
Wake up!
I hear a voice,
hear a voice calling out to me...
I see inside,
see the light now ever holding me...
All the truth, all I need...
...to make of this reality, it's inside...
The beauty within the shell...
I hear a voice,
hear a voice calling out to me...
I see inside,
see the light now ever holding me...
All the truth, all I need...
...to make of this reality, it's inside...
Right here within the shell...