THE GHOST IN THE SHELL (攻殻機動隊 THE GHOST IN THE SHELL)

You called for me, Colonel?

Yes, I'm getting a tad sweaty, so I was wondering

if you might wipe it off for me.

No…

Threat has ceased operation.

Returning to normal mode.

My complimentary Tomliand model…

hated the thought of wiping my sweat that much?

OCTOBER 1, 2029

TWO DAYS LATER

Please evacuate the designated area immediately!

I repeat…

- Somebody must've died. Terrorism? - Yeah! Awesome!

This is the police! Clear the road!

Major.

Picking up a crazed robot is a job for the police.

I don't care if elections are around the corner,

do we need to be providing advertisement for Public Security?

I wonder if Ol' Ape-face got any jobs from the Minister of Internal Affairs.

Our only target is the Hanka Precision Tomliand model.

It has nothing to do with the police and their little trash pickup op.

Don't let it escape! Block its path!

I'm bored out of my damn skull.

What the hell is this? That ain't the Tomliand!

Damn it, this wasn't even my job.

You fed me a line, Newbie.

The police were hunting down something else.

I caught the Tomliand myself.

I pulled a lot of stupid crap in my younger days,

but I never foisted crap jobs off onto my senior officers.

Nobody bothers with the seniority system anymore.

If that's the attitude you're gonna take,

- I have a few ideas on-- - Togusa.

Fill out the paperwork on that Tomli and send it to the Chief.

Send me a copy.

We're going to Prefectural Police HQ.

This really sucks.

How about some nice, soothing music?

We strongly condemn! The police's use!

Of these violent and inhuman methods!

Corpses don't have rights, but machines have their own advocacy group?

Life sure comes cheap these days.

Don't even bother.

Griping about population explosions here won't get you anywhere.

They're a bunch of unfeeling bastards who would act like forgiving saints

if their whole family got murdered.

Every last one of 'em, they're just looking out for themselves.

NIIHAMA PREFECTURE POLICE STATION

Yes. Yes, that's right.

They say they're from something called

the "Shell Squad," a special assault force from Public Security Section 9.

Sir! Yes, sir!

Er… Go right in.

CRIMINAL IDENTIFICATION SECTION PHYSICAL EXAMINATION DEPARTMENT

My answer's the same as the last time. I'm not doing a joint examination!

Take the hint, or I'll lock you up!

Do all the cops here moonlight as comedians?

Oh. Sorry about that.

The robotics industry people keep hounding me.

Public Security Section 9. Give us a general rundown on the robot cases.

Well, 99% are being written off as malfunctions.

Caused by the microbe disaster. Or cyberbrains.

Or prosthetic engineering.

Self-termination cases are on the rise.

By deliberately causing a malfunction in their own systems,

the robots give themselves permission to attack humans.

Are you saying it's a robot uprising?

Sounds like something from a pulp sci-fi novel.

My original specialty was social pathology,

and let me tell you, there's been a clear risk increase in recent years.

Any chance they're being programmed to do so?

That was true in four cases.

Those were solved by following the "personal grudge" angle.

Whether it's due to company reparations or stricter regulations,

it follows the same pattern each time.

What's your take on the cause of the increase in cases?

It's because they're being discarded. They're no longer wanted.

So there's a never-ending stream of units

ending up on the streets, to say nothing of going feral.

It's especially bad with love dolls and industrial-use models.

New models hit the market whenever a product gets updated,

and the old ones get abandoned one after another.

According to psychologists, it's due to a hollowing out of the spirit

that happens in a time of information overload.

Or that rampant consumerism has fueled its own unique desires.

The robots just want us to stop treating them as disposable.

If it was me, I'd program them at a hardware level to suck it up.

Is that a personal opinion you wrote in the comment section of a report?

I give out a lot of those. You know, personal opinions.

Go check out Hanka Precision next.

Just me and Togusa?

Are you making any headway in your investigation, Daisuke?

Your hobbies aren't something to boast about to the public, Col. Tonoda.

That Tomliand was a work of art,

but I can't stand the mechanical aroma the others give off.

Even that one you brought with you,

I can smell her white blood from way over here.

There are no robots in my outfit.

Really now?

The fact is, I'm canceling your personal protection detail.

I came to tell you in person.

What?! You can't do that!

There's no guarantee that the Trichoderma and Arnateria I'm using now

won't attack me just like the Tomliand did!

We've determined the incident wasn't a terrorist act directed at you, Colonel.

You will be fine.

I should be going.

Daisuke! Daisuke!

Who on earth is that guy?

During the war, he was known as Col. Red Demon,

the wily devil who ran the old Investigations Division.

If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be where I am today.

Two days ago, he was attacked by a Tomli in his home,

and we were called in, as a formality.

To determine if it was a simple robot malfunction or an act of terrorism.

So, not terrorism then?

It wasn't terrorism.

Then HQ is going to take over this case?

No, we'll keep digging.

What on earth for?

Because inside the Tomli's cyberbrain case that attacked the Colonel,

SOS was written in blood.

It was put there deliberately, obviously,

and we've only found it in the eight units we've captured.

Our culprit made those eight Tomlis go berserk

in the hopes that someone would find the SOS they wrote.

Only the police and the culprit know about the SOSs

mixed in with the increase in robot incidents over recent years.

And the shipping inspectors at Hanka Precision.

They must have known.

I'm going back to providing security for the EC economic policy cabinet meeting.

The three of you handle it.

- No going rogue, you hear? - I won't!

Batou, were you listening in?

Basically, we got involved because of an attack on a VIP,

but a weird message was found inside the robot's head.

Looks like the cause and the culprit will be found inside Hanka Precision.

HANKA PRECISION INSTRUMENTS

Chief Inspector Kubonuma, Shipping Inspection Division.

Y-Yes, that's right, President.

Explain this.

Was it you who put that message in all 23 sample Tomliand units?

Or do you have accomplices helping you?

H-Has there been a complaint about an inspection error?

I am not a fan of such archaic methods, but needs must.

Make sure he at least has a cyberbrain.

And how are we feeling?

I'll report this to the union…

The union, eh?

With my automated factory, we won't need one of those for 300 years!

I sent those special Tomli samples to 23 special clients.

Of those, seven went berserk and were written off as malfunctions by the police.

And although we were able to recover 14 of them ourselves,

we can't reach the owners of the remaining two!

If their heads were destroyed, there would be no issue,

but I do not want for them to be analyzed with the software still intact!

I was…

I was asked by Link and Adam, who are in stage 4 imprinting,

to rig all 23 units to go berserk with an SOS in them.

In return, the girls let me…

Doctor, was that the serum talking?

It's taken full effect, sir.

One of our clients wants a culprit, so cut him loose.

Yes, sir.

Now, then.

Let's tie up some loose ends.

HANKA PRECISION INSTRUMENTS

That's not what I'm saying, and you know it!

How is that any different from a class system?

The person with seniority is always right and the people below him are twisted?

Even monkeys know when to show some manners.

Give it a rest!

I'm flashing back to my days as a detective.

Like I told you…