Angely i demony kruzhili nado mnoj, Angels and demons circle above me,
rassykhali ternii i vechnye puti. through the thorns to the stars.
Ne znaet shast'je tol'ko tot, Only those unable to perceive its call...
kto jevo zova ponjat' ne smog. ...do not know happiness.
Naljubuites', naljubuites'. Watch in awe, watch in awe.
Aeria gloris, aeria gloris.
Naljubuites', naljubuites'. Watch in awe, watch in awe.
Aeria gloris, aeria gloris.
I am calling, calling now,
spirits rise and falling.
Soboj ostat'sja dol'she. To remain myself longer.
Calling, calling, in the depths of longing.
Soboj ostat'sja dol'she. To remain myself longer.
Naljubuites', Watch in awe,
aeria gloris.
So, they're here...
Aramaki won't go any further than me. Tell him that.
I understand, sir.
Come in.
Pardon us.
Bureau Chief Niimi, a warrant has been issued for your arrest, charging you with...
...instigating murders during the full-scale investigation of the Sunflower Society,
as well as the death of Hisashi Imakurusu.
Will you come with us, please?
I've heard about what happened with the narc squad.
But do you think I even ordered Imakurusu's death?
As for narc squad leader Gayle Yasuoka,
he's proving to be far more forthcoming than we expected.
Apparently, he recorded all of his conversations with you,
so he is being most cooperative with our investigation.
The Laughing Man incident is also related to your objective in having Imakurusu killed,
so I expect that we will have a great deal to discuss with you.
Very well. I am ready.
Take him away.
I'm going back to HQ for now.
Borma, you go with Niimi and sit in on his questioning.
Paz, you go to the DEA's Human Resources Division...
...and track down the remaining narc squad members.
That's where we'll start.
- Yes, sir. - Yes, sir.
Assemblyman Kanzaki?
That was splendid work you did in that incident with my daughter.
No, sir, I merely did my job.
What are you doing here, Assemblyman?
I've fallen from power. I have a lot of free time on my hands.
You seem to be using this as an opportunity to get to the heart of the case.
Who do you think Niimi answers to?
I can't answer that.
No one will hear you.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yakushima?
So, I was right?
Watch yourself. When push comes to shove, that man has some scary supporters.
It's not widely known, but he has a lot of pull with the Navy.
I appreciate the warning.
Oh, I was just thinking out loud...
Batou, how's your investigation coming on that man who had the file?
I haven't turned up anything yet.
I see. That man is a material witness who seems to know...
... how the deleted medicine and the Laughing Man incident are connected.
Find out what he hoped to accomplish with the list of vaccine recipients ASAP.
One other thing. I have some troubling information regarding the source...
... of that powered exoskeleton.
I'll give you the details at HQ. Let's meet up there.
Yes sir.
Was that the Chief?
Yeah. The Chief collared a guy named Niimi who was pulling the strings behind the narc squad.
No kidding... So, maybe my getting perforated was worth it.
But what was that about a powered exoskeleton?
A toy the narc squad got their hands on somewhere.
The Major took it on.
She overheated, and now she's swapping her body for a new one.
Is she okay?
Well, yeah, but...
What you said was for real. My eyes got hacked, too.
I'm outta here. I've got a ton to do.
I'll leave this here with you for the time being.
This is...
Wait, you mean by the Laughing Man?
I'm with Public Security Section 9. I called a while ago.
Speak up when you come into a room! You'll give somebody a heart attack.
I'd like the member roster for the Narcotics Suppression Squad, complete with photos.
The DEA is fundamentally an outfit without faces.
Drifters, musicians, gang members...
So there's no telling if the faces they have now are the same as those in here.
Must be nice to be a desk jockey...
You're Mr. Aramaki of Public Security Section 9, aren't you?
Excuse me, I'm with Kyoto Sports.
How did you get in here?
So, anyway...
I was wondering if I could ask you some questions.
This man is your older brother, isn't he?
"Yosuke" here was arrested on charges of drug trafficking the other day,
and he's currently being held at a police hospital to treat a severe drug addiction.
Have you heard anything about this?
He does look like my brother,
but I haven't seen him once since he went missing during the war.
Would you mind telling me about it?
Hey, wait a minute! My picture!
This is your new prosthetic body, Motoko?
It looks just like the one you have now! You should've ordered a custom job.
I don't care how it looks.
What're these? It's chock full of options that are against regulations!
Wow, my body gets all hot just imaging what you could do with all this!
Still... Are you sure you want me here as your official witness?
It's not a problem, is it? You have a valid license, for one thing.
Could you zip me up?
The doctor sure is late, huh?
Thanks.
I'll go see what the holdup is.
Great, thanks.
Aramaki, Public Security Section 9.
I want to see my brother.
I'm sorry, sir, but my orders from the top brass say that you mustn't be allowed to see him...
...because you're a family member.
Give me three minutes. I only want to see if it's him.
I'm sorry, sir, but those are the regulations...
I see.
What is my brother's... What is Yosuke Aramaki's condition?
I can't answer that, either, sir...
I understand.
I'm so sorry for keeping you waiting.
My name is Sano. I'll be overseeing the procedure.
Come now, this can't be your first time. Don't worry, I promise I won't hurt you.
All right, let's begin the examination right away.
As the official witness, I'll need you to wait outside the room.
So, this is your new body, is it?
During the transfer, I'm going to turn off all of your networking functions.
This room will be completely isolated from all electronic signals...
...until your prosthetic body swap is complete.
Do I have your permission?
Just get it over with, okay? I'm in a hurry.
My, we're impatient, aren't we?
All right, I'm going to take a look under the hood now.
This is a fine body you have...
The old man's kinda late, don't you think?
Did having your eyes hacked by the Laughing Man turn you into a worry wart?
I'm supposed to get some intel from the old man here.
I guess I'll try to track him down.
Huh? He already came back, then left again.
He ran an ID check on a reporter from the parking garage.
On a news hound?
That's strange. The Chief's running in autistic mode.
What's his GPS say?
His car's at the Invited Refugee District.
The log says he parked there three minutes ago.
In a dangerous place like that?
What the hell is he thinking?
I'm gonna go check it out.
Yosuke!
That you, Yosuke?
You back already?
Nice duds you got there... Got yourself a woman?
Do you know Yosuke?
You're Yosuke's little brother, right?
You look just like him. I knew it the minute I saw you.
Yosuke was here?
Yeah. He was taken away by the police yesterday, though.
Could you tell me what happened?
Everybody around here respected Yosuke.
It was Yosuke who brought order to this place.
Before that, this place was just another lawless zone.
But in spite of all that, the police showed up all of a sudden and took Yosuke away.
So it had nothing to do with drug trafficking, then?
Of course not!
I recorded everything the police did on here.
It should prove Yosuke's innocence. We've got to help him!
No signs of a struggle... So, he got out on his own, huh?
Can you pull up video from inside?
I found the residential district's camera log.
The Chief's meeting with somebody...
That feed's pretty rough... Can you clean up the noise?
It might take a while.
Do it!
Ishikawa, I found out the current faces of the three remaining narc squad members.
I'm sending you the whole set of data.
Roger that. Send it over.
That's them, huh?
Take a number, fellas. I'll get to you in a minute.
What are you doing? Let go of me!
We got a tip about you! Sit still!
What's the meaning of this?!
What are you doing? You won't find anything!
Found it.
Wha...?
You framed me, you bastard!
What are you doing?!
Come along quietly!
So, it was a trumped-up charge, just as I thought...
Yeah, those guys are real dirty bastards.
I bet those guys wanted to score some points, so they framed Yosuke.
In all the time I've known him, I never seen Yosuke touch drugs, not even once.
With evidence as ironclad as this, I'll be able to prove my brother's innocence.
Thank you. I promise I'll repay the favor someday.
That's okay...
For one thing, you ain't goin' back in one piece!
Major...
I cleaned up the noise!
Hey, those are...
What's the matter?
I'm sending it to you now!
Hey, those two are...
Man, they totally suckered the Chief!
His autistic mode's been disengaged.
The cops are gonna be here soon. You're finished.
Geez, what the hell is that? Some kinda drug?
This is bad.
The authorities are en route to the refugee residential district...
...to catch a drug deal in the act and make a bust!
Son of a bitch!
Your brain isn't hurting you, is it?
What a dumb joke. You know the brain can't sense pain.
Oh, don't be like that. Let's take our time and enjoy ourselves, shall we?
Or could it be... that you don't like me?
No offense, but that's it exactly.
Now that we have that out of the way, could we get this over with?
I don't have a lot of time to spare.
My, how impertinent you are...
I just locked down your speech center.
Of course, no one would come to your rescue no matter how loudly you shout.
Miss Kusanagi? How are we feeling?
Oh, my! What a rebellious look in your eyes!
That simply won't do.
What do you think of a world without red? Isn't it pretty?
I really don't want to do such barbaric things...
But you and your friends went a little too far.
The cops are there!
I see 'em!
Police!
Huh?
Hey, is he really...
What the hell? Damn it...
Crap...
Hang in there, old man!
What's this? Is this supposed to be a joke at my expense?
You're giving off some unpleasant brainwaves.
Use my eyes for the time being.
You're the Laughing Man, aren't you?
Actually, this is the third time we've met. Did you know that?
Though I'm not the one who first started calling me that...
You're awfully audacious to sneak into a place like this.
What did you come here for?
To get you to help me.
Don't you have that backwards?
True enough.
But my back is already against the wall, and this is the only option I could come up with.
I figured if that sonuvabitch God hadn't abandoned me, you'd lend me a hand.
Talk about self-centered... And the way you talk is both polite and blasphemous.
This is one time when I mustn't fail, no matter what.
If I don't do something, all the phonies in the world will be legitimized.
You sound like you're shouldering all the problems of the world by yourself.
So, what does the hero of the net want me to do for him?
I'll tell you the whole story behind the Laughing Man incident.
And after that, I want you to stand back and do nothing while I face my final challenge.
And if by some chance I should fail and die,
I'd like you and your people to bring this incident to light.
Unbelievable...
"The mark of the immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause,"
"while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one."
That was written by psychoanalyst Wilhelm Stekel.
It's just like I sensed when I first got to know you.
You're the type of person I don't like, Mr. Smartypants.
But don't you fall into the former category, too?
All you'd have to do is ask for help, and I'd help.
Must be hatred of one's own kind.
All right, all right. Could you please do something?
I don't know if I'll be able to keep my word, though.
Knowing you, you will.
I'll leave you my memories and then go.
I'm counting on you.
I'll leave you to it.
Now, then...
I'm going to miss you, but I'll let you die peacefully now.
The needles!
What's going on?
Don't worry, it's nothing.
Major.
What's up?
They got to the old man.
Chief Niimi, it's time for your questioning.
Mr. Niimi?
Chief?!
How's your new prosthetic body working?
Just fine, as you can see.
You're in better shape than I expected, Chief.
I suppose...
I'm sorry to hit you with this right after you woke up,
but I have one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.
Start with the bad news.
Bureau Chief Niimi attempted cyberbrain suicide.
Parts of his speech and memory centers were erased.
This makes his testimony legally inadmissible as evidence.
And now for the good news... It's about your brother.
The whole thing was a disguised operation...
...cooked up by the remaining members of the narc squad.
I can't say that's entirely good news...
It may turn out that your brother really had been over there.
The fact of the matter is that while I'm out there eagerly trying to expose the truth behind crimes,
I never knew that my brother is living somewhere out there under that cold sky.
I had always believed that justice meant carrying out my duties...
...while turning a blind eye and deaf ear to my loved ones,
but to be honest, I'm not so certain anymore.
But you're going to keep on fighting the good fight, right?
She's so cold and human
It's something humans do
She stays so golden solo
She's so number nine
She's incredible math
Just incredible math
And is she really human?
She's just so something new
A waking lithium flower
Just about to bloom
I smell lithium now
Smelling lithium now
How is she when she doesn't surf?
I wonder what she does when she wakes up?
When she wakes up?