| ShortSummary | - --05-15
- 172800.0
- The largest live fire exercise ever conducted by the Japanese Self Defense Force takes place in advance of the Prime Minister's planned announcement of the repealing of the Refugee Special Action Policy. As part of this exercise, a group of soldiers with Ground Self Defense Force have staged a 5:30 AM practice raid against a building where a simulated refugee terrorist group is alleged to be keeping a think tank. A Jigabachi helicopter is dispatched to destroy the tank, but after firing an anti-tank missile into the target the pilot of the helicopter suffers a massive heart attack, and the Jigabachi begins to spin out of control. The on-board Artificial Intelligence gets the helicopter back under control and the military officers in charge of this particular drill decide to abort it out of concern for the safety of their troops; however, the AI aboard the Jigabachi refuses to acknowledge the order to return to its parent JMSDF aircraft carrier. Acting on the assumption that the chopper is under attack, the AI overrides the flight controls of other armed Jigabachi aircraft, an air tanker from the carrier, and several nearby military bases, ordering these units into a tight defence formation in the heart of the Niihama Refugee Residential District. By 8:45 AM the situation has escalated; the Jigabachis have openly engaged anyone and anything the AI has diagnosed as a threat, and if the choppers do not leave the area soon they will not have enough fuel to make the return trip to their bases. Section 9 and the GSDA are placed on standby in anticipation of being ordered in to resolve the conflict when Aramaki is unexpectedly approached by Kazundo Gouda, the head of the Cabinet Intelligence Service, who explains that the probable reason for the helicopter AI's refusal to comply with the stand down order is that the AI is still receiving transmissions from the dead pilot's cyber brain. Acting on this assumption Gouda transfers control of the situation to Section 9, and outlines a plan that calls for Batou and Kusanagi to take a handful of Tachikoma tanks and lure the Jigabachis out to a secluded area of the refugee district, allowing Saito to snipe the deceased pilot's cyberbrain. Wasting no time, Section 9 puts the plan into action. Though they manage to recall the helicopters, the damage has been done. The whole incident served to strain relations between the refugees and the government, and Section 9 begins to suspect a conspiracy.
- The Tachikomas locate a stealth gate accessible only through the European Satellite system; after passing through the gate, Borma recovers a suspicious file believed to be the virus that infected the Individual Eleven. Ishikawa and Borma attempt to figure out how the virus in the file affects its victims by using the external memories of an infected Individual Eleven member. They succeed in learning that the virus is activated by reading all of Patrick Sylvester's previous essays in addition to The Individual Eleven, but the price for this success is high: Borma is seemingly knocked out by the virus. Meanwhile, Togusa is sent to search for a written copy of "Individual Eleven", the political essay bearing the same name as the terrorist group, but at every place he can think of to check, no one seems to be able produce an actual written copy of The Individual Eleven. When Togusa decides to make one last stop he unexpectedly finds himself confronting a suicidal man who has become infected with the virus, and learns from him that there never was a written essay by that name. Elsewhere, Kusanagi, Batou and Saito have been dispatched to Kagoshima after the man behind the attempt on the prime minister's life unexpectedly turns up on an IR system near the city. The man, named Hideo Kuze, has gone there to rendezvous with the other members of the terrorist group known as the Individual Eleven. Section 9 intends to arrest Kuze at the Kagoshima war memorial, but Kuze and the other assembled members of the Individual Eleven leave before Section 9 arrives. As Kuze and the Individual Eleven drive to Kyūshū they share the stories of their crimes to pass the time, until they reach the Kyūshū Radio Tower; upon reaching the roof of the tower, the group commits mass suicide by mutual decapitation with katanas on live television.
- Someone has discovered a tactical nuclear device in the Kyūshū Telecom Tower in the Japanese capital of Fukuoka, and some 35 million citizens are subsequently evacuated over a five-day period to allow the Ground Self Defense Army to safely defuse and remove the device. The assumed culprits behind the bomb are militant refugees, but Section 9 thinks otherwise, and with the Prime Minister's permission, enter into the hot zone to investigate the bomb first hand. Borma and Pazu are sent to inspect the bomb itself, which appears to be a dirty bomb, but upon closer inspection, Borma deduces the device had elements of an implosion bomb which uses American explosives. The unexpected discovery of American explosives creates confusion among the techs disarming the bomb, as the refugees have always used C-4 explosives in their bombs. While Pazu and Borma handle the bomb diffusion, Batou takes Gouda up to the roof of the radio tower for a discussion with the man. Using the Major's external memory, Batou plays with Gouda's mind by calling him second-rate, ordinary, and a copycat in an effort to bruise his ego and obtain information on the Individual Eleven and the refugee situation. The plan works, as Gouda provides his insight to the case and its turn, in the process revealing information that could only be known to the mastermind of the entire incident. Meanwhile, the Major and Saito commandeer a GSDA disposal truck, and masquerading as the bomb removal team, secure the plutonium from the bomb. The Major plans to transport the plutonium to Spring 8 for analysis with the hope that the techs at the facility can link the plutonium from the nuclear bomb to the plutonium from the CIS-run nuclear power plant in the Uchikon 7 district of New Tokyo's Shinjuku Refugee District. Since Section 9 believes that Kuze did not obtain plutonium in Russia, the revelation that the Cabinet Intelligence Service is behind the bomb will defuse the growing belief that the refugees must be expelled from Japan. Elsewhere, Aramaki meets with the Prime Minister to urge her not to send in the Ground Self Defense Army, but the PM feels she has no other choice in the matter; everything discovered so far points to the refugees. At Aramaki's urging, she decides to present his report to the cabinet in an effort to stop the oncoming civil war.
- Aramaki calls a briefing to discuss the events surrounding the sudden appearance and murder/suicide of the members of the Individual Eleven. Techs briefing the team think that the sole survivor of the group may be using a unique face made by a face-sculptor with an artistic background. Only two known people in the area have the skill to create a face of that caliber, making Section 9's job somewhat easier. Unfortunately, when Batou and Togusa arrive to speak with their assigned face sculptor they discover that the man has already been killed by someone imitating Pazu. Section 9 sets out to clear his name, while ordering Pazu to keep a low profile until the case is solved. When a detective working the face sculptor murder turns up dead, Pazu asks to see the client list for the dead face sculptor, and happens across the name and face of an ex-lover. Pazu tracks her down and learns from the woman that after he left her for no apparent reason she became obsessed with Pazu and eventually created an exact copy of his body and face. Eventually the two get in a struggle and one dies. However, it is impossible to tell whether the surviving Pazu is the real one or not, but Kusanagi muses that since both were nearly identical, it doesn't really matter.
- The JMSDF lets loose with another round of naval artillery-fire and missile strikes as refugees on Dejima attempt to evacuate the island aboard makeshift rafts and boats. In an attempt to save as many refugee lives as possible, Kusanagi orders the Tachikoma units to secure as much space as they can find on the net to store the refugees' memories and ghosts, but the Tachikoma units disregard these orders. Taking matters into their own hands, the Tachikomas decide to commandeer a satellite and drop it into the path that a missile launched from the sub would take in order to prevent the missile from hitting its intended target. They succeed in commandeering a satellite, but in their haste to save the team the Tachikomas realize too late that the satellite they have chosen is their own AI satellite. Undeterred, the Tachikomas continue with their plan, saving copies of their memories in the space gathered for the refugees. Elsewhere, Section 9 and Section 4 arrive at the bridge head with the plutonium, and are met by members of the GSDA. As Section 9 and Section 4 explain the situation the SLBM slated to destroy Dejima is launched; however it is intercepted before it could reach Dejima. Down at the docks, Batou succeeds in locating both Kusanagi and Kuze, who are evacuated from the island by a GSDA helicopter. Back at the cabinet room, Kayabuki and several security men loyal to her corner Chief Secretary Takakura, who is arrested by Aramaki. Following his arrest, the PM and Section 9 turn their attention to Gouda, who is planning on defecting to the American Empire. Accompanied by Aramaki and Togusa, a SAT team storms and secures the floor where Gouda and his American entourage are located. Gouda states that he is beyond the reach of the Japanese justice system, as he informed the Police of his actions by letter prior to the Dejima incident. However, Kayabuki has labelled Gouda a Japanese asset for his outstanding skills, requiring him to stay in Japan or face execution from the Self Defense Force to prevent him from falling into enemy hands. During the conversation, an elevator arrives to take Gouda and the Americans to the ground floor, but when the doors open at the top Kusanagi fires multiple rounds from her assault rifle, shooting Gouda's head off. However, at the same time, the CIA assassinates Kuze to prevent him from becoming a rallying point for the refugees. Some time later, Section 9 is disbanded and the staff has seemingly transferred into a militarized unit. With the Tachikomas gone, Kusanagi and the others are now reliant on less emotional, slightly more advanced AI vehicles/roller tanks that she identifies as the Fuchikoma . Kusanagi, lost in thought, snaps out of her day dream and realizes her next mission with all her former Section 9 members, courtesy of Togusa. Batou then leads her team off in their new roller tanks to their next job, and Kusanagi leaves once they have gone, taking her own path.
- On his way home from work Togusa becomes involved in a domestic dispute between Yukadi Shisharow and her boyfriend when the lady suddenly trips in front of Togusa's car and screams for help. In an effort to protect the woman Togusa fires several rounds into the man's prosthetic limbs in an effort to disable him; despite this, Togusa fails to prevent the young lady's death. Since Togusa carried out the shooting while off-duty, a preliminary hearing is convened to ascertain the facts in the case. The suspect's parents hire a well-known lawyer to defend their son, and the man wastes no time attempting to make Togusa look bad, first by criticizing his choice of handgun and then by claiming that Togusa acted out of a subconscious hatred for cyborgs, and that the defendant suffered from defective prosthetic parts. When Section 9 sets out to clear his name they stumble across some interesting information about the suspect's lawyer, which Kusanagi reveals in court. The unexpected disclosure of compromising evidence against the defense prompts the lawyer to drop his charges against Togusa, while the state formally brings murder charges against the suspect. However, the lawyer and his client are later severely injured in a car accident, with the episode implying Section 9 to be responsible.
- Batou and Togusa test eight potential new recruits for Section 9. Each man is paired off to create four different teams, and each team is tasked with tracking the Major; however, the Major proves to be a difficult target to track, and eventually she loses all four teams attempting to track her. Shortly after losing the last team Kusanagi is unexpectedly hacked, leaving her in a seemingly empty street with no communication links. Kusanagi seeks to find a way to escape the hack, which leads her to wander into another part of town. Here, she happens across a shop that stores people external memories, and learns of the story of two child cyberbodies carefully preserved in the shop. The bodies once belong to a boy and girl who were involved in a terrible plane crash, and eventually the two children became the only survivors of the wreck. While the boy was in the hospital he learned that he was paralyzed, except for his left hand, which he used to make origami cranes non-stop for the girl, but one day the girl, who had been in a coma since arriving in the hospital, unexpectedly went downhill fast, and was moved to the OR. The boy believed that she had died, but one day some two years later she was brought to the hospital in an effort to convince the boy to switch to a full cyborg body after previous attempts by a relative and doctor had failed. The boy was reluctant to do so at first because the girl had difficulty with the fine movement skills of the body, but eventually relented and went full-cyborg. Years later the boy, who had been searching for the girl since he left the hospital, happened across her child issue cyborg body in a lab and took upon himself to preserve it. When Kusanagi inquires as to the current whereabouts of the boy, she learns that he was shipped out in the last days of the war, and has not been heard from since. Before Kusanagi leaves, she carefully folds her sugar wrapper into an origami crane and places it in the car beside the boy, saying "I'll bet that even now...that girl is still searching for the first boy she ever loved."
- Representatives from the American Empire have arrived in Japan to discuss a new security treaty, and Section 9 plays a part in securing the building where the talks are taking place. In their off-time, members of the different security-teams strike up a poker game, but so far Saito has won every hand. Intrigued by this, the Tachikomas assigned to the security truck shift their discussion from the reason for the new security treaty to the reason that Saito is consistently winning a game of chance. For a raise in the game, Saito offers to share the story of how he acquired his poker face and why it's helping him win. In 2020, the American Empire invaded Central America in an effort to stop the drug trade. Tired of Japan's uninvolvement in the war, Saito decided to hire himself out as a mercenary, and was picked up by a group fighting to keep Mexico's provisional government in place. One day Saito caught wind of a Special Forces team, who happens to be UN Peacekeepers, with a tactical nuclear weapon that would be passing through the remains of a destroyed town that Saito was in. Saito decided to engage the group, and managed to kill a total of three people before the spec ops team determined his location. Headed by Major Kusanagi, the remaining members of the team stormed the hospital Saito was using, but not before he managed to kill two more men. With his back now against the wall Saito foresaw that he would lose his left eye in a shootout with the Major, but thought that she may not have the correct software to snipe him at medium range. As a result, Saito tried to engage Kusanagi before she could download the midrange sniping software, only to learn that she already had the software and had intentionally acted as though she didn't to lure Saito out and neutralize him. Impressed with his ability, the Major took Saito with her, which is how he ended up working for Section 9. As the episode comes to a close, the possibility arises that the story which Saito just told was completely fabricated, perhaps using the plot of an old movie, but when Saito also wins the next round the Tachikomas wonder if he may have been telling the truth after all.
- The Chief Cabinet Secretary formally relieves the PM from her ministerial duties because of her decision to call on the UN to mediate in the Dejima crisis. Along with Aramaki, Proto and Togusa, the PM is moved under guard to an abandoned room of the building. Although the PM and her Section 9 escorts are split up they are not out of the fight; Aramaki produces a small caliber firearm and Proto, Section 9's bioroid, manages to gain access to the net, where he finds Section 9's Tachikoma units. Through them, Proto gains access to the building blueprints and up-to-date information on Section 9's Dejima operation, as well as the location of the Prime Minister. With this information in hand, Togusa and the Chief set out to rescue the PM and put the brakes on the Dejima situation before things get even worse. Elsewhere, The Major and the rest of Section 9 manage to infiltrate Dejima Island in their captured military chopper, but before the team can safely disembark a number of Jigabachi aircraft descend upon the helicopter, disabling the rotor. Kusanagi bails from the chopper before it crashes, intending to locate Kuze, while the rest of the team is tasked with presenting the "missing" plutonium to the UN inspection team. Unfortunately, Section 4 has been dispatched to retrieve the missing plutonium as well, and they mistake Section 9 operatives for militant refugees, resulting in a shootout across the streets of Dejima as both sides attempt to secure and present the plutonium. Meanwhile, Kuze leads a small band of refugees armed with Stinger missiles to the docks of Dejima island. The quartet manages to shoot down the E2C Hawkeye responsible for the communications jamming signal over Dejima, and allow the refugees to gain access to his cyberbrain once more. From the refugees Kuze learns of the developing situation: the Army and Navy are attacking the island with airstrikes, missiles, and naval artillery; they have also deployed radiation scrubbers in the air in and around Dejima to prevent any fallout from the nuclear material the refugees have from escaping the area unchecked. For the moment, Dejima Island is safe from invasion because the only land bridge into the facility has been destroyed, but the army has begun to move portable bridge equipment in to rebuild the head. As Section 9 races against the clock to stop the fighting, the Tachikomas monitoring the Dejima situation make a disturbing discovery.
- On Dejima island a crisis develops. The refugees have moved away from Japan in an effort to create an autonomous region they can call their own. The Cabinet Intelligence Agency is exploiting the situation in an effort to fan the flames of separatism, with Gouda vowing to give Kuze "his very best script". With Dejima now cordoned off by officers in riot gear, Section 9 decides to launch a surgical strike against the militant refugees which aims to capture Kuze. The belief is that if Kuze is captured the situation of Dejima will die down. Upon arriving in Dejima Section 9 splits into two groups: The Major and Ishikawa dive the net for Kuze's cyberbrain, while the others head into Dejima with a spec ops truck and two Tachikoma units. The ground team learns that Kuze has been in Dejima, and garnered a great following among the refugees, while the Major succeeds in locating Kuze's cyberbrain. Her plan is to hack Kuze's eyes to determine his whereabouts, but she encounters a vicious backlash of sorts after coming into contact with Kuze. The experiences rattles the Major, but she succeeds in locating Kuze in a camouflaged harbor in Northeastern Dejima. Section 9 assembles at the point, and prepares to raid the three fishing trawlers lying at anchor. While checking out one of the trawlers Kusanagi discovers a cyberbrain filter and deduces immediately that Kuze is not in the harbor, but before she can relay this information a gunfight erupts between armed refugees and Section 9, leading to the loss of a Section 9 recruit named Yano. Batou hounds Kusanagi for the previous mistake before learning from her that Kuze has gone to Russia with the intention of purchasing plutonium from the mob.
- A patient undergoing a routine medical procedure unexpectedly takes a turn for the worst, and the medical staff mount a frantic effort to save him. During the operation it becomes necessary for the Doctor in charge of the operation to look into the man's external memories, at which point he identifies his patient as the terrorist "Angel's Feathers", one of the world's most wanted men. After struggling over whether to adhere to the doctor-patient privilege or inform the police of his discovery, the doctor finally opts to do the latter. The information he gives the police sparks a multi-national counter-terrorism operation, with several nations sending members of the very best special forces teams they have to offer; in Japan's case, this means Batou and the Major of Section 9. During the briefing in Berlin they learn that Angel's Feathers uses high explosive bombs to strike at high-rise buildings to kill his targets, and acquired his name from the thousands of glass shards that fall to the ground as a result of these explosions. The man in charge of the briefing explains that they have reason to believe Angel's Feathers will stop in Berlin before proceeding to his next target, and on that note the briefing concludes. While staking out on a cold night, Batou oversees a blind girl named Theresia searching for her father. It's revealed that Theresia's father is in fact Angel's Feathers, who was making his regular trip to Berlin to visit her. Batou and Kusanagi stake out their meeting place and are forced to apprehend Angel's Feathers in front of Theresia. Much of this episode pays homage to the Wim Wenders film Wings of Desire .''
- The Prime Minister summons Aramaki after the leaking to terrorists of plans to ship plutonium from the Uchikon 7 district of the Shinjuku Refugee District. Despite a Coast Guard raid that managed to halt a weapons sale to the terrorists, there are lingering worries that the refugee terrorists may still attempt to capture the plutonium. To counter this Section 9 is covertly assigned the mission of escorting the material out of the refugee district. Commanding the operation is Kazundo Gouda, who is assigned Section 9 to oversee the transfer. He and the team are inserted into the refugee district by paradrop, and arrive at the Ground Self Defense Army check point where they are redressed in clothes befitting refugees and tasked with guarding a beat up SUV and shuttle bus commandeered by other members of Section 9 for the purpose of moving the plutonium. Meanwhile, Gouda discusses the mission with the commanding officer of the GSDA check point, who assigns three men to help Section 9 with their transport of the plutonium. Shortly thereafter the team departs from the camp and proceeds to head out of the refugee district via the beltway and interstate. Along the way the team encounters several of the refugees who live in poverty within Shinjuku. During the trip out of the refugee district the team encounters a roll over accident involving a garbage truck, prompting Section 9 members to dismount from their vehicles to investigate further. During a conversation with the refugees near the truck a GSDA member mistakes a bent pipe in the hands of one refugee for a pistol, and the ensuing shoot out results in the needless death of several refugees and ill feelings among the group. These feelings are further increased when, after arriving at the intended destination, the team discovers that they were used as a decoy, and that the plutonium Section 9 believed they were guarding was in fact shipped by sea.
- The Prime Minister calls a meeting of her cabinet to discuss the refugee situation. During the meeting several cabinet members attempt to distance themselves from the problem, while top-ranking military officials and local law enforcement voice their concern over the sudden influx of refugees to Dejima Island. When a recess is called the Prime Minister meets with Aramaki and Kusanagi, who alert her to the existence of "cyberbrain hubs". During her briefing with Aramaki, the Prime Minister reveals that her lack of clout is being taken advantage of by some members of her cabinet and exploited for their own ends. It seems that some members of the cabinet are attempting to force the PM out of the picture, and Section 9 is asked to look into the matter. Meanwhile, Ishikawa returns from the Korean Peninsula and briefs the rest of the Section 9 members on what he found out about Kuze's past. During the war Kuze was in the Ground Self Defense Army, and was ordered to Korea shortly after the country unified to safeguard the North Territories from the retreating People's Army. Kuze was assigned to a mechanized battalion, and his unit saw action in defense of a refugee village along a river near the Korea/China border. Since Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution prevents Japan's military from deploying overseas in any official capacity a press blackout had been in effect, but this worked against Kuze's unit when rumors began to circulate that they were somehow involved in the refugee slaughter. One day Kuze exchanged his gun for a camera and went into the refugee camp near his base, and after a time became a well accepted member of the refugee village. When the GSDA forces received orders to head home Kuze disappeared, presumably heading west . Ishikawa reports that the last known location for Kuze was in Taiwan, and the briefing concludes on that note.
- Tired of manipulation by Gouda, Aramaki decides to take the initiative to conduct his own investigation on the Individual Eleven case while simultaneously looking into the Cabinet Intelligence Agency. Section 9 is split into two teams, one focused on digging up additional info on the two aforementioned cases, and the other tasked with locating an ex-GSDA officer identified as a person of interest in a series of shootings at a local TV station. While on a stakeout of a Taiwanese vegetarian restaurant, Batou and Togusa find out that Section 1 has been fed false information about the same ex-GSDA soldier, and have set out to kill him on the assumption that the man is a world renowned terrorist. Batou and Togusa arrive too late to save the man, and both sides determine that someone behind the scenes is feeding disinformation to Section 9 and Section 1.
- Batou confronts Kuze in an effort to stop him from leaving with the plutonium, but Kuze ends up disabling Batou's right leg and left arm, putting Batou out of commission. When Kusanagi arrives at the scene, she and the Tachikoma assigned to her destroy the other GSDA combat-suit and manage to locate Batou, who informs them of Kuze's escape. Kusanagi and her Tachikoma race after Kuze, and in the process meet up with Saito and his Tachikoma. Together, they race to the harbor in an attempt to stop the fishing trawler from leaving, but the refugees provide cover fire for Kuze, and manage to keep Section 9 at bay long enough for the trawler to escape from the harbor and make it out to sea. Nevertheless, Section 9 regroups at the top of the hidden sub base to wait for the tiltrotor to arrive, but when the aircraft sets down to retrieve the team, the suicide bomber who came with Kuze manages to gain access to the tiltrotor and detonates his bomb, destroying the aircraft, killing two Operators, and seriously injuring Ishikawa. The loss of the tiltrotor removes any chance of Section 9 pursuing Kuze, so the team shifts its focus to getting medical attention for their wounded comrades. Kusanagi and the remaining Section 9 members attempt to retrieve data on the plutonium purchase by accessing Sagawa's records, only to discover that their records have been deleted. Taking all of this into account, Aramaki and Kusanagi outline a hypothesis that has the Cabinet Intelligence Service pulling the strings behind the plutonium deal, and further speculate that Kuze may not have acquired the plutonium he is after from the Russians. In the middle of this briefing, Section 9 receives word that the Coast Guard net has spotted Kuze's boat attempting to enter Dejima. The Coast Guard Cutter and the fishing trawler exchange shots, leading to a fire on Kuze's boat, but just when it seems that Kuze will be captured, Nagasaki unexpectedly suffers a massive blackout, allowing Kuze to escape from the trawler with the plutonium. However, when he inspects the case, he discovers that he had been given lead bars instead of plutonium, but hides this revelation from the refugees.
- The Tachikoma units, through the use of a satellite, have spotted an American Empire ballistic missile submarine carrying nuclear submarine-launched ballistic missiles off the coast of Okinawa. The discovery has the Tachikoma tanks concerned; they cannot hack into the submarine's computerized equipment to determine the vessel's orders, and to make matters worse, the SLBM's carried by the submarine are designed to go clear into the stratosphere before returning to earth. This revelation means the submarine can hit Dejima Island from its current location and position and that the missile can not be traced back to the submarine, thereby absolving the American Empire from any blame for a nuclear attack. The Tachikoma tanks believe that the sub is preparing to destroy Dejima by launching a nuclear tipped SLBM at the island, which will eliminate not only Dejima Island and its refugees but also the Ground Self Defense Army soldiers stationed in Nagasaki and the Maritime Self Defense Force cruisers around the island. Elsewhere, Batou and the rest of Section 9 are heavily pursued by Section 4, dispatched by the JGSDF to retrieve the plutonium allegedly possessed by the militant refugees. Section 9 seems to have the upper hand until Batou and the others are cornered by Section 4 members in an open air plaza. In a bold move, Batou reveals himself to Section 4 and attempts to convince them that they are being set up by a third party. Since Batou's eyes are of the type that the members of Section 4 have, the team leader and the other members of the Rangers listen to Batou as he explains that a submarine is preparing to nuke Dejima, and Section 4 realizes that if the plutonium is not presented to the GSDA soon they will launch a full scale military invasion of the island. Wasting no time, both Section 9 and Section 4 head for the bridge with the plutonium. At the bridge site, the GSDA has finally succeeded in erecting a replacement for the section of bridge destroyed earlier. Unaware of the nuclear threat posed by the nuclear submarine, the GSDA prepares to invade Dejima to pacify it ahead of the expected arrival of the UN inspectors. Elsewhere, Kusanagi finally locates Kuze, but both find themselves trapped under rubble following a JMSDF air raid. Trapped in a warehouse, and with missiles and naval gunfire pounding the position, Kuze explains that his revolution is meant to be a sort of mass migration/evolution into the net, and that his ideals and the ideals of the Individual Eleven virus were enough at odds with each other that he was able to break the virus' hold on him. As the two converse, Batou heads for Kusanagi's position to rescue her from the impending nuclear strike.
- Section 9 regroups from the fire-fight, and the body of their dead teammate is airlifted out of Dejima. Desperate for information on where a mob/refugee deal would go down, Aramaki pulls some strings and learns that the probable location for such an act would be Etorofu island. Section 9 is therefore dispatched to the island with the objective of stopping the deal while a request is formally made for a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force security net to catch Kuze if he happens to evade capture. On the way to the island Kusanagi explains that Kuze is very rapidly rising to power, and may eventually become a dictator of sorts if he is not stopped soon; she further explains that the refugees can see and feel what he experiences in real time, which helps him win over the refugees. Upon arriving in Etorofu Section 9 splits into three groups: Batou, Saito, and two Tachikomas head to an abandoned Russian submarine base believed to be the site of the deal, Togusa and the Major head to see a man named Kroldane who has helped Kusanagi in the past, and the rest of the team remains with the tiltrotor. Kusanagi discovers that Kroldane has been killed by an attack barrier after diving and hacking into something he should not have seen, and when she calls up the records for his diving, she discovers a plan by the mob to sell plutonium to the refugees for 240 million yen. Kusanagi also uncovers evidence that the Cabinet Intelligence Service and Kagazaki may be pulling the strings behind the deal. Armed with this information, Section 9 sets out to stop the deal. Meanwhile, one of the refugees aboard the boat confronts Kuze over the death of Ginsetsu at the hands of the Individual Eleven. The man intends to detonate a bomb he has strapped to his jacket, which will kill Kuze and sink the ship, unless Kuze can explain the purpose for the refugees' trip to Russia. Kuze explains his plan, and ultimately wins over the young man, but when he sets out to purchase the plutonium his group of refugees become involved in a three-way firefight with two SDA-issue armoured suits and Section 9's Tachikomas.
- Section 9's Tachikoma fleet is down for routine maintenance. While the technicians inspect the fleet, the think-tanks begin a philosophical discussion on the Individual Eleven case and the implications and motives behind it. Gradually, this discussion shifts to the topic of the self and the reason that the Tachikomas have felt the sensation of looking down on themselves. Meanwhile, Togusa, Batou, his personal Tachikoma, and the Major report to Spring 8 to gather evidence collected by the staff from the 11 deceased members of the Individual Eleven. While there an explosion rocks the facility, and Batou, Togusa, and the Tachikoma dash to the scene. Having learned that a man named Asuda may have been in the building the team regroups aboard the tiltrotor for a trip to Niihama Airport. Along the way Batou and Togusa learn from the Major that Asuda is the inventor of the Tachikoma AI, and may be attempting to defect to North America to obtain patent rights which he can not get in Japan as a state sponsored scientist. Asuda is taken into custody in the airport lobby, and on the return leg of the trip to Niihama shares an important secret about the origin of the Tachikoma AI system with the team before bonding with Batou's personal Tachikoma. Asuda's information helps solve the mysterious "out of body" feeling the Tachikomas have been experiencing; it turns out that this new fleet's AI and central server are located on a satellite in space. He also admits that he had secretly inserted a program to have the Tachikomas instinctively remember him as a way to have his achievements recognized.
- Following the nuclear World War III and the non-nuclear World War IV Japan passed an act known as the Refugee Special Action Policy, inviting war refugees from all across Asia to enter Japan. Hundreds of Asian refugees took Japan up on the offer to enter their country, and have taken low-paying jobs handed out to them by various companies looking for a cheap work force. Gino, a combat pilot and World War IV veteran, is one such refugee. Through Gino's eyes we experience his daily life as a refugee working as a helicopter pilot for a corporate CEO. He is angry and depressed and plots his revenge. The episode contains strong references to the film Taxi Driver, which has many similar themes . At the end of the episode, when Section 9 is sent to investigate his plots, Kusanagi comments to Batou that Gino is just one in the long line of pitiful souls who fantasize about fulfilling the goals they can never accomplish.
- Following Ishikawa's intelligence reports, the Major heads to Taiwan to investigate a lead on Kuze. She learns that Kuze's presence had a powerful effect on the refugees, and that people believe this has encouraged a smuggling ring for narcotics and explosives. As she prepares to leave the police station, the detective discloses that her plane will not leave until tomorrow, giving Kusanagi some much needed free time. While on the streets, Kusanagi meets a street kid with aspirations to make it big by dabbling in the drug trade. The kid is already in trouble for stealing cocaine from the Shouji and reveals to the Major that he and his friends intend to pressure-mold the drugs into figures for shipment overseas. At the end of the day the Major heads for her hotel, and the kid spends the night with her, but at dawn Kusanagi discovers the kid has left. On her way to the airport the Major discovers a bath-house key in her pocket book, and following the lead recovers the remaining cocaine. Deducing the kids' location to be the Yakuza headquarters Kusanagi storms the building, catching both the Shouji and the three Yakuza heads off guard. With two separate weapons pointed at the Yakuza heads and the Shouji, Kusanagi discloses her terms: In exchange for the kid and a promise from the Yakuza leaders not to retaliate against the refugees on Taiwan, the Major will hand over the Shouji's stolen cocaine. The Yakuza agree to her terms, and force the Shouji gang to let the kid and the Major escape from the building unharmed. At the airport, Kusanagi suggests that the kid create a future for himself rather than getting caught up in a pointless gang war. The first terminal of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Yuanshan Grand Hotel was presented in the episode.
- The prime suspect behind an attempt to blackmail the Ministry of Energy has turned up dead in Nihima City, ostensibly the victim of a tragic accident; however a more thorough examination of the body turns up evidence of homicide. Togusa follows up on the death of the suspect, and obtains "photographic evidence" which the man had intended to use against the Ministry of Energy; however the film piece has been exposed to light, and subsequently turned completely black. With most members of Section 9 still assigned to guarding the Prime Minister, Togusa is assigned a Tachikoma and sent to the Shinjuku Refugee District of New Tokyo to investigate the photo lead. After an accidental encounter with the dead man's fiancée the two of them decide to investigate the death together. They learn that the man, named Kontan Kanji, had accepted a mysterious job in exchange for the promise of a new cyber body, and had been put to work descaling the walls of a subterranean structure in the Uchikon 7 district, which was submerged in the last war. Although the Ground Self Defense Army is now guarding the primary entrance to the site Togusa and Kanji's fiancée managed to find an alternate route into the facility. After descending into the heart of the building, Togusa discovers that the building is in reality an old nuclear power plant and the "photographic evidence" was not a photo but a radiation badge. Someone has authorized the excavation of this pre-war relic but their identity remains unknown. They flee the scene and manage to contact Section 9, where a formal investigation into the facility is started. However, when he tries to contact her, Togusa discovers that Kanji's fiancée has disappeared.
- A formal investigation into Mr. Todokoro has yielded evidence that he may be managing former Secretary General Yakushima's assets. This prompts the government to launch its own investigation into the allegations but there are two problems: Todokoro's vault is state of the art, and only he can access the assets in the vault. The other more immediate concern is that a hacker and thief by the name of Cash Eye plans on infiltrating the vault during an exclusive high society party. To keep Cash Eye from stealing and/or destroying valuable evidence Section 9 is called in to prevent the theft. However, it is all a ploy by Section 9 to find a cache of illegally laundered money, with Kusanagi posing as Cash Eye. They trick Todokoro into opening his own vault, where they find the money. The overall plot and some of the scenes in this episode pay homage to the film Ocean's Eleven.
- The failed attempt to secure the ex-GSDA officer for questioning has proven the straw that breaks the camel's back: Major Kusanagi decides to go directly into the Cabinet Intelligence Agency database to determine what Gouda is up to without all the added wires and strings. With the help of Tachikomas, who mount an assault on the building's defense barriers, The Major hacks into the Cabinet Intelligence Agency Server Decatoncale to uncover Gouda's motives. During her question and answer session with Gouda she learns that he once had ambitions to be counted among the powerful, but has since resigned himself to never having that position. He aims to create/produce a hero for the masses, someone whom they can identify with beyond simply knowing that person's face or name. Gouda expects this person to take command of the situation he is currently creating and bring about some type of conflict which he believes will benefit Japan in the long run by returning the country to its former glory. Elsewhere, Batou, Borma, and Togusa are out to stop a suicide bomber, but so far have only been playing catchup, until Batou plays a hunch and has the Chief check out the local surveillance systems for the people thought to be the bombers. His hunch pays off, as the images of the bombers reveal them all to be refugees, prompting the chief to issue warnings to all police districts in the city to watch for refugees acting suspiciously. One such refugee turns up: a girl claiming to have a bomb at a subway station. Batou and Togusa arrive to find the girl surrounded by SAT officers. She was almost convinced to surrender by Togusa, until Batou arrives and forcefully subdues her . It was revealed that the bomb was in her stomach and the girl was close to sheer anxiety and fear to detonate it . As such afterwards, she had to be placed under isolative medical care .
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