Come on, take a load off.
You want a proper home-cooked meal, don't you?
You put in a hard day at work, so you deserve it!
Your old man is a big ol' dummy.
I can't tell her that I'll be busted back down to beat cop
because I messed up big time and made trouble for everyone.
Just to make a glass of water this size, it takes...
Just let it go.
That was quite a punch.
A toast to the victor.
The Minister and I don't see things the same way.
That much is obvious.
The Minister would never test me to see whether or not I'd storm an orphanage.
He had a meltdown and declared the unit get dissolved immediately.
The papers were backdated to yesterday,
and the Minister of Defense already signed off on it.
I have two pieces of news for you.
One piece of news is good, and one piece is bad.
You'll remember that I told you the budget to form your unit
was passed by the National Council, right?
That was just a placeholder.
The real thing is triple the budget amount you requested,
and will be used to create an international rescue unit.
That way, nobody can say we aren't doing anything to help as civilians die
or that we're buying peace with cold, hard cash.
But that's just for public consumption.
The budget's 80% is founding capital earmarked to create a Shell Squad.
It will answer only to the PM, and I'll be running the show.
It'll be a meritocracy with no ranks. The unit's guiding principle...
will be to seek out crime and nip it in the bud.
An organization that will always be on the offensive,
the kind that you and I have dreamed of.
How well it does will be up to you and your team.
Another round of whatever they were having, on me.
They were cut from the budget, saying they were a waste of money.
Go over those contracts and bring them signed,
tomorrow morning at 6 sharp.
At 8 a.m., you'll be at the collection of all of those brainwashing devices.
I'll be waiting.
He pulled one over on everybody.
The Minister, that orphanage, and even us.
This means that the whole "orphanage gone rogue" thing was total BS, too.
Did I miss a good show?
And I've got one other fun bit of information.
I spotted that Ape-face's car right outside.
I planted some fireworks in the tire wells.
Oh, crap.
Chief!
Already hard at work, I see. Hand it off to Vehicle Division.
Son of a... He outsmarted us again!
Chief!
Make sure our paychecks have lots of zeroes.
It's time for lunch already.
Work harder, people!
I won't be able to afford meat or air conditioning!
The reason we don't get snacks is because people are gaming the system.
THREE MONTHS LATER
JULY 27, 2029
I'm roasting alive!
To hell with this!
How am I supposed to stay in here if I can't use the damn AC?!
I'm out of here!
Nobody's gonna spot me in daylight all camo'd up like this.
Plus, I ain't cut out for round-the-clock surveillance work!
Pressure sensors and a Gorgon land mine?
A dummy?
It's real?! That's no way to set up a mine like this!
I'll take this beauty home with me.
It's me.
Has there been any activity?
In the past 32 hours, there's just been two phone calls about nothing important.
Other than that, there's been zilch.
No staff change, no deliveries, nothing.
Go on, have a swig.
Thanks, don't mind if I do!
This is watered down.
Just like the intel we got from our Korean contact,
the "Puppet Master" has begun tampering with every terminal on the net.
That mysterious super-hacker that no one's ever seen?
They've got something to do with this stakeout?
Their activity pattern suggest that they're trying
to interfere with the upcoming secret meeting with the Gavel Republic.
Then the secret meeting ain't so secret, is it?
Is the guy I've been surveilling the source of the leaked intel?
He's the former leader of its military junta that's requesting asylum in Japan.
Nothing more than that.
You came all this way to tell me that?
No. Summon Kusanagi on your team's comm channel.
Tell her to come to Flat 17.
Huh? But the Major's on summer vacation.
Her leave is cancelled.
How's this feel?
Sorry to keep you waiting!
Huh? Where's Phalanx?
Enjoying herself with an Endorno probe! Boooo!
I'd say it's time for a price hike.
I have to say, having someone like Motoko with 16 squared tactile sensor elements
takes the resolution to a whole nother level.
It uses optical fibers, so it's immune to EM interference.
Wait, your haptic region multiplier goes up to 5?
Now where did you get your hands on such a naughty little equalizer?
I put it together. It's designed to work with micromachines.
It's a prototype!
I can feel the adrenaline.
Oh dear! What's this?!
Endorphins? This is bad!
I can feel it in my stomach! I'm gonna be sick!
You're all slippery and slimy! Are you a slug or something?
Thank goodness you were playing with an organ that didn't have any terminals!
Damn it, don't treat that Ghost key like a toy!
What do you want?
Emergency meeting. Aramaki's waiting at Flat 17.
Tell him to expect me there in 20.
Darn it, you always do this!
You said you'd devote your whole vacation to us!
Vacation's over.
When you leave, do me a favor and activate the room's seal.
I'll call you later, okay?
Hey! Gimme back my equalizer!
The interpreter's condition has stabilized.
Someone seems to be butting in.
It must be Aramaki.
Yes, sir.
Don't do anything unless I tell you to.
Good morning, Minister!
Hello, Aramaki. What can the Foreign Ministry help you with?
It's about the Gavel Republic.
Utility, 6. Trouble, 1. Rank E.
They're not very important, I'd say.
For the time being, they don't have nukes, either.
Diplomatically and economically, they're a little nation of little import.
It was originally under military rule,
but they've been reasonably democratic ever since their revolution.
One of your subordinates provided tactical instruction
to the revolutionary army, as I recall.
Oh, is that so?
Col. Malles, the former leader of the junta,
is currently residing in our country under the pretext of seeking medical treatment.
He doggedly continues to funnel aid to the pro-junta faction.
As a result, the pro-junta faction still controls the country's platinum deposits.
What is this secret meeting about, then?
ODA that won't do any good.
It isn't money that was earned, so it won't be used responsibly,
and since it's viewed as payoff for past exploitation,
it won't earn us any gratitude.
That's a tough spot you're in.
The press is bound to run some off-the-record statements.
So, what is the government's position?
The situation is delicate in the extreme.
If we don't get the lay of the land, it'll make managing public opinion difficult.
Do we kick out Col. Malles and continue sending aid,
or do we accept his request for asylum and cut off aid?
If we follow the money from the platinum, we might learn some interesting things.
We mustn't waste the taxpayers' money.
So there's someone who provided tactical instruction to the junta.
That's...
Intelligence Department can stay out. I've been granted special jurisdiction.
Hey!
Make yourself scarce.
She's the Foreign Minister's interpreter.
I know that.
Because she and our Togusa used to be close.
Twenty-three minutes ago, a virus got into her.
We're currently tracing the location of whoever sent it.
How did they learn that she'd been infected?
Information beats all.
Our culprit loves to be on the move.
He changes location and every seven minutes, he accesses her for five seconds.
So until we catch the guy,
she's literally on the hook helping us like this.
What's the virus that's trying to reach her Ghost?
An early model HA-3.
So we have a little over two hours, then.
Ishikawa and Borma are tracing the hacker's location by car.
Join them.
SEISHIN PRECISION MACHINERY
Say, Major.
I heard something from Mayumi from Public Security's armory.
Is this about how she's actually 62?
No, I... Really?!
No, not that.
Its spec sheet says that a 3.5 inch barrel Seburo snab
can be fired 12 times in three seconds and pinhead a target at 25 yards.
Is that accurate?
Any of us can do that aside from you and Saito.
Quit joking around.
Against a target silhouette, most of its shots will hit at even 100 yards.
A snab is meant to be used after closing in to five yards,
but that's nothing special.
I haven't heard that, not even in target shooting circles.
What we need to have is the ability
to get close enough to put down the target with 100% certainty.
If you're into sharpshooting,
get yourself a super-compact cruise missile, get to a good distance,
and fire it at an elephant.
By the way...
What's this I hear about you using a revolver as your primary?
Are you scared of jams when you're carrying two guns in a two-man cell?
I'm partial to the 2007, that's all.
I'm the one whose butt is on the line.
Switch to a 5mm, 20-round Seburo.
Aww...
And what's with the shotgun?
It's loaded with all slugs, so it can punch through most cars.
Our job isn't to pulverize things.
Leave shooting through walls to rifles.
It can be pretty handy, though.
I doubt you'll need it this time out.
We're just tracing the hacker who got the Foreign Minister's interpreter.
We're using her as...
Don't worry. We'll cut the line before the HA-3 can reach her Ghost.
We have to locate the perp before then.
HA-3?
A military AI created during non-nuclear WWIV.
Something like that.
What sort of virus is it?
A so-called personality hijacker type.
It's harmless by itself,
but once its genome is assembled, it springs into action.
If it were the latest model,
it would have an incubation period and be impossible to trace.
We're lucky that it's an old dog.
There's nothing lucky about this!
Don't worry about it.
Whatever happens, she'll walk away unharmed.
Why would anybody want to infect her with something like that now?
Don't wreck the car, Togusa.
I understand how you feel, but they get in the way, so push them down.
Sorry, but I'm not a robot.
That's what makes you such a newbie.
Geez! What the hell are they throwing out, bricks?
Hey!
Relax, I'll be right there!
We're 40 seconds behind on our route overall!
I'll be done in five seconds.
UPLOAD COMPLETE
Sorry about that.
If we slack off, the city'll drown in its own garbage!
How many days have you been sleeping at the office?
I don't even know anymore.
Thanks to this job, I barely recognize my kid
and my wife is shouting that she wants a divorce.
She thinks I'm stepping out on her.
She's the one who's acting suspiciously.
You two oughta know if the other person has it in them to cheat.
They're just screwing with us, aren't they?
It's like a little island from the trash left over from making Garbage Island.
If our route covered a restaurant area, there'd be even more!
I'll write you a letter of recommendation.
This pile is crawling with jungle crows.
Hello, police? Somebody threw away a perfectly good old guy again.
I'm gonna hit 'em with the gas!
Owe!
Never throw away broken glasses in plastic bags, damn it!
These syringes have "test sample" written on them!
Unless guys like us stage protests like the foreign workers,
they won't buy armed suits for us to use.
Things were so much easier back when I was in Sacred Citizen Relief Center.
Yo! Tragic proletariat!
Don't just stand there like a broken-down robot,
and get to work!
Okay, on to our next stop.
Man, I wish I could go home.
Watch it, dumbass!
I guess there are other folks besides us sanitation workers who're in a hurry.
Oh, crap! If we don't make the next traffic light, we'll be late!
Damn! We never make it in time!
This is pointless.
Even if we track the guy down, he's gone by the time we get there.
Keep griping, and it'll reflect poorly come bonus evaluation time.
We should just kill the guy with an attack barrier!
Kusanagi's en route to the next probable area.
Search that location and try to find something.
Something? Like what?
Anything!
Damn it, that old fart!
Oh, dear. The garbage men are gone.
Garbage men were here?!
Are you with the Sanitation Department?
Were they just here or not?!
They were.
But by the time I came down with my own trash, they'd already left.
One of them loaded up the trash,
but the other one was making a call.
Hey! Take these!
A garbage truck? We'll get ahead of them!
Kusanagi, are you listening?
Remember how when we were at Flat 17, Nakajima wanted to take over this case?
Yes.
Malles received a call from him.
He seems to be selling off platinum through fake companies.
How's the interpreter?
We're maintaining her as-is. I don't want to tip our hand.
Aren't you reading too much into it?
You want to do a half-assed investigation?
It might just be a prank by a bored garbage man.
What's with the exasperated sigh, Major? Cut that out!
If she had been under the HA-3's control, the Gavel Republic's representative
probably would've been killed at the secret meeting.
Why do you suppose they attacked with something as outdated as an HA-3?
A new version wouldn't be traceable when it was found,
and all fingers would point at Malles, the former leader of the junta.
So this is to pin the blame on someone else?
Maybe it's a coincidence? Like, maybe the HA-3 is all they had?
Not possible in this case.
It blows my mind that your simplistic thinking doesn't seem to bother you.
So you're saying Malles is behind it?
Him, and whoever leaked the intel about the meeting.
I wonder if your Ghost will ever start whispering in your ear.
Major. We got the garbage truck's route map.
I'll send it over OP257 using code cypher STRAUSS.
Okay.
ME, THE HOTTIE TOGUSA, THE NEWBIE
PINCER MOVEMENT
Togusa, did you get that?
- Let's do it! - Huh?
How 'bout we switch next time
and I collect the trash and you make the phone call?
Pass.
You're so desperate to know how your wife feels that you'll Ghost hack her?
She wants a divorce out of the blue and refuses to see me.
Maybe so, but I'm amazed you got your hands on a barrier breaker.
I met a nice guy at my favorite watering hole.
When he heard that I was stuck collecting garbage all day,
he offered to leave the barrier breakers along my route for me.
That's a pathetic sob story, man.
Her lawyer wouldn't let me see her.
Yeah? Go for truck 1205.
Some cops just asked for your route map!
Manager? Why on earth would they want to know that?
I have no clue why!
They know about the Ghost breaker!
I have to warn that nice guy!
Wire fluid tank 3 low! Switching to backup tank!
What? Major!
We'll be fine!
Don't worry, we're almost there!
There he is! That's him!
Hey! You're in danger!
You ratted me out?!
What... What just happened?
Togusa! Are you okay?
Type 17 optical camouflage?