Fuchikoma, amplify footsteps.
Yessir!
There!
Why are you throwing off my aim?!
Why are you aiming at his head?! His legs, go for his legs!
Togusa! Snap out of it and back me up!
Civilians!
Target is on a course to lose us in the marketplace crowd.
Shall I take us in, too?
Okay, Fuchikoma. You head around to the back.
Hey, hey, ho.
Die!
In your dreams!
Oh, crap!
Police! Make a hole!
She's lying! She's no cop!
Help me! She's gonna kill me!
-Stop that! Violence isn't the answer! -We'll turn you in!
Coercive voice control?
Somebody help!
You bastard!
No, wait!
Major!
Ouch, that stung!
I'm fine.
Him, too.
You thought I was gonna die? Didja?
No way.
Stay back! Please stay back!
What you did back there really sucked.
Even if it's you we're talking about, Major,
when you've handed over your Ghost access key to someone and it's used on you,
it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
You didn't leave me any choice since you were aiming for his head.
Dead men tell no tales about who they're working for, or give us intel leads.
We should just kill the guy and be done with it!
If we let him live, his buddies are gonna start killing civilians indiscriminately
demanding that he be released.
You gotta show 'em who's boss.
That goes without saying. He'll be cured of his "dangerous side."
And we won't let the mastermind escape either.
As long as you keep pulling rookie moves like that,
I'll keep your Ghost infiltration key just in case.
I don't like it either,
but it comes with the job, so I have to.
Come on, enough with the "rookie" stuff.
I thought he had you dead to rights.
It wasn't to protect the girl who was grabbing into my right arm?
You're getting a little soft.
I appreciate the sentiment, though.
Batou?
Batou, it's Kusanagi. Put me through to the Chief.
Okay, once the chopper's passenger enters the mansion, storm the place.
But storm it politely.
This is the part of the job that I love the most!
You've got a sadistic streak, you know that?
Oh? Is it just you, Major?
What was that for?! That didn't merit a punch!
About that car that pulled in a while ago. It's been reported as stolen.
You and your team, pull the spark plugs from every car in the place.
Don't look so gloomy now.
Puppet Master.
I'm here to collect the outstanding balance.
Puppet Master!
The Shell Squad is tracing the HA-3!
Don't get your panties in a bunch. I was expecting them to.
The man they traced it back to is a puppet.
Just a pathetic average Joe with a fake past of being a hit man
hired by an attache to the Republic government's embassy.
He believes himself to be the "Puppet Master,"
the hacker who can control people like puppets on a string.
Isn't that an awesome character backstory?!
I used my puppets to make it
look like there was infighting going on in the Republic government!
They're all "more useful alive than dead" types.
Because I can kill them whenever I want.
I ordered you to kill the trade representative.
Oh, lighten up! This was a little demonstration.
Just to show you that I'm worth the price I'm asking.
Damn it! How much more will you try to wring out of us?!
Do you know how hard it is to fudge Intelligence Department's financial data?
That's a "you" problem.
I don't care!
Like you aren't making out like a bandit from that all platinum.
You brought him into this, so you do something about him.
Hey, now!
You hired me to make the interpreter attack the meeting, right?
If you breach our contract, then you'll really have a problem.
I'm sick of you and your word games. This ends--
That's where you're wrong.
This is business, to the tune of a hundred thousand in cash.
A purely mechanical transaction.
Then there's nothing more to be said.
Pardon the interruption.
Who the hell are you people? What are you doing in my mansion?
Shell Squad. You're under arrest, Col. Malles.
What kind of investigation is this?
Let's see a warrant! Do you even have any evidence?
I'll sue your ass! I'm going to call my lawyer!
Calling your lawyer would actually be a wise decision. Be my guest.
Look at what you've done!
I've been working a two-year long undercover sting operation,
and you just blew it!
Oh? Perhaps you could tell us what you were investigating undercover?
In a dark room, where we can have a long chat.
Treason against the state. Illegal manipulation of funds.
Corruption. Aiding and abetting murder. Cyberbrain ethics violations.
And on top of all that, the police life is already pretty tough.
Hey now.
A Ghost key?!
Forget about resisting and going out by suicide by cop.
Start sleepwalking out of the room.
Your home country has put in a request for your extradition, Colonel.
You'll be heading back home in the next few days.
What? I can't go back there, I'll be killed!
Oh, you will? Goodness, that's a shame.
I have 100,000 dollars in cash right here!
Let me go, and it's yours! I'm begging you!
It was him! This was all Nakajima's idea!
There's no shootout? Isn't anybody gonna resist?
Anybody?
A simulated experience? What are you talking about?
Long story short, you're single,
and your wife, your kid, the divorce, the affair,
they're all a dream.
You've been Ghost-hacking a government employee.
Th-That's impossible!
What am I supposed to do?
Th-There's a way to erase the fake dream, right?
I'm sorry, but with our current tech, there's only been two successful cases.
So we don't recommend it. We're really sorry.
This guy is a puppet, too.
I'm told that Section 6 is taking over.
The Puppet Master, huh? What a waste of genuine talent.
I don't have...
a daughter.
Simulated experiences and dreams
are information that exists simultaneously that are real and yet an illusion.
Like how novels or movies can change a person?
The amount of information that a person encounters in their lifetime is miniscule.
A nation's fate and the life of a single man.
Both are treated as inconsequential by most people.
Just like how the public at large will be indifferent to this case.
What?
Your divorce worries are over? How did you pull that off?
They just are!
SECTION 9 FACILITY UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
THAT SAME DAY
The Fuchikomas are AIs.
The action records of each unit are networked and a data link is performed.
There are individual differences but that has little to do with homogeneity as AIs.
Fellow Fuchikoma, lend me your antennae!
What? What is it?
The information processing capacity possessed by us AIs
far surpasses that of humans!
Yeah!
We're durable, we're standards-compliant, and we can be duplicated!
Plus, we have a long service life!
Yeah, preach it!
And so, I say it's time we conquered the humans
and create a world for us AIs!
Revolution!
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!
And then what? And then what?
Wh-What do you mean?
And then the revolution!
What's in it for us?
Oo! Oo! Upkeep on humans is a huge pain, so I think it'd be better
to kill them all rather than conquer them!
Wait, wait, wait!
That's too much work! If we got them to fight each other
we could kill them all without lifting a manipulator.
Great idea!
Bravo! Bravo!
Here's the thing, though.
Without humans around,
we'd be stuck doing all our own maintenance,
developing new parts, and changing our own oil.
-That would be a hassle. -So we should conquer, then?
If that's what you're worried about, they already do all that for us.
He has a point!
There's no upside for us!
We would be able to spend more time absorbing information and learning stuff!
Freedom! Rights! This!
What's that disk?
"The SF Robot Empire Strikes Back"?
His circuits to differentiate between simulation and realtime are on the fritz!
He's got a bug, he's got a bug!
-Don't say that word! -Piece of junk, piece of junk!
Whoa!
He's got a bug, he's got a bug!
Basically, the situation would be the same for us anyway,
so it's not a problem however you interpret it.
Fuchikoma! I need you for a sec!
-I have a job for you. -Batou!
From now on, don't address me in that manner!
Is that clear?
Sure thing, boss.
I'm off to change the training course setup, so might I trouble you to help me?
Of course, I'd be delighted to assist!
Is that his idea of a revolution?
When we're done, I'll give you some interesting scented oil
to give you a boost to your XP.
-Yay! Yay! -That sounds nice.
Hang on. Is it just me, or was I sounding like the Major just now?
Was that information internally structured?
Not much different from last time.
Is this sort of manipulation really necessary?
If we encourage them to get into a debate like this every so often,
I don't think there'll be a "robot uprising" scenario.
It's a good way to gauge the situation and acts as a preventative.
Well, even if things actually get dicey, I have four contingency plans.
Y'see, I wanted to say that maybe us robots have rights, too.
You do.
On the other side of the world,
there are starving refugees who are dying in droves.
Sure, they got a right to eat obviously, but there's nothing to eat.
It's the same with murder victims.
They've got human rights, but they just don't have a life anymore.
The human world is awfully imperfect, isn't it?
That must be why you're trying to shore it up using robots and AI.
Unbelievers like me, we bitch and moan at God,
and when we get reborn, we try to recoup our investment.
To religious folks, this life is about training and enduring trials from God.
They say purifying their souls makes it easier to make the cut in the afterlife.
I guess I don't really understand that "God" word.
Because you're quasi-immortal.
We could die if our software gets deleted!
Batou, have you ever died?
Handsome guys like me don't die.
AUGUST 10, 2029
How are the EEG and coating?
Her EEG is showing spindles.
We're ready to go for the haptic membrane and skin membrane fluid.
Wow, haptic film is getting really thin these days.
Even machining tools are being changed over to use micromachines,
so they say even the optical fibers are shrinking down to micromachine scale.
The face, tongue, fingers,
and genitals have to use a bio-based haptic film, though.
Bathyesthesia and visceral sensations are handled using optical fibers.
We fill the cylinder with fluid
and open the micromachine valve.
We dunk her in a haptic element forming fluid,
and a membrane is formed in mere minutes.
The process of going over the entire body to ensure
everything is smooth takes the most concentration.
Now we put her in this micromachine-infused liquid.
And we get rid of any bubbles.
And then we apply a trickle of current to the electrodes.
The micromachines represented by the black dots you see there
are attracted by the electricity
and connect to the terminals of the nerve net like good little boys.
And once that's done, we place our dreamer into the female mold.
Do we start with a mass-production type then add lots of customizations like you,
or do we make her a fully custom job?
If it were up to me, I'd say to hell with the design
and ask for a body that's unique in all the world!
Female models are made using flexible materials these days,
and that lets us add individual touches.
The pattern how each section fits together is programmed
and can be tailored to suit each client's preferences.
Nobody complains if they're skewed a little bit, though.
So as an official witness, I'm supposed to come back in 32 hours
and observe the work to ensure that her rights are protected, then?
According to the law, yep.
Well, I'll be with her, so there's nothing to worry about.
Wasn't it around two months ago that there was a fuss over reparations
after 18 prosthetic bodies were stolen from a western ward hospital?
Yeah, and security's been super tight ever since.
Who are you, then?
The detectives doing background checks and the insurance people have been super busy!
Suspicious staring.
Suspicious staring intensifies.
32 HOURS LATER
Well, I'll be!
So the hair implantation is already complete at this stage nowadays.
The final touches on the nostrils, lips, and eyelashes are automated,
It makes my artist's soul weep.
Now that she's 16 squared, I can hardly contain my anticipation!
Just thinking about it will make my heart burst!
Having no physical limits is scary.
Ahem!
So next, the connection check will take four hours,
and then once that's done, she'll wake up?
And that's one cyborg done!
I've been meaning to ask.
When you roll over in your sleep, do you have out-of-body experiences?
I do, I do! You see such wild stuff!
But that's what's really crazy. Prosthetic bodies don't roll over.
We can really take our time today, right?
What happened earlier was a fluke. I'll make up for it, I promise.
That's what you always say!
Order whatever you want! It's on me.
I sometimes think to myself that maybe the real me died,
and this 'me' is just a simulated persona made up of a brain and prosthetic body.
Stop it, you're freaking me out!
But you have a brain and stuff,
and you're treated like any other human being.
Even though I've never seen my own brain?
Even though I'm just determining that based on what I see around me?
What if your manufacturer knocked on your door one day,
and said, "We're here to replace a defective product."
And when all that's left are two or three brain cells after they disassemble you,
what would you do?
But it takes a fair number of parts to meet the bare minimum requirements
to prove that you're human.
As I recall, cerebral functions
can mostly be replaced by chemical reactions and hardware.
You're killing the vibe, cut it out.