*This story never went over though a lot of people thought I should make it into a Naruto/Ghost in the Shell crossover. Maybe I'll get back to it one day.
Enjoy!
Ghost in the Shell: Ghost Dive
Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Ghost in the Shell
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Yes, I'm still alive. Between two jobs I don't have a lot of time to write. This is one I've been working on in the background for a long time and I finally got a chapter finished.
This story will draw from almost the whole spectrum of Ghost in the Shell material including the mangas and the various anime series. It is assumed the reader is already familiar with the cast of characters of Ghost in the Shell and the general background of the series. (If not you will be seriously lost). The only thing I'm excluding is the live action movie as far as material to use is concerned. For additional background stuff check out the Ghost in the Shell Wiki.
I'm treating this as a prologue/one shot for now with the option of continuing it if it goes over. I really should be concentrating on my other stuff.
Chapter 1/Prologue
It was a moonless night and it was storming out. Lieutenant Kusanagi Motoko of the Unit 501 was hunting her latest quarry: A Quardistan*① insurgent who had blown up a diplomat's home and family in revenge for his false promises to the Quardis that cause a huge political uproar in the small country. It was the beginning of what would explode into a civil war that would rip Quardistan apart….
Motoko was chasing the insurgent down an alley in the rain. She was running hard. As she quickly gained upon him the Lieutenant felt a slight warmth on her forehead. It was then she realized a laser sight was being trained upon her. Before the cyborg woman could react she was shoved to the ground hard and the sniper's bullet whizzed over her. Two shots rang out from behind her and Motoko saw the Quardi runner and the sniper that was aiming for her both hit the ground dead with bullet holes in their heads. "Are you alright Motoko?" asked a male voice above her.
She rolled over and glared up at the man. "Shiro! I had it well in hand!"
Motoko saw his smile above her in the rain. "No you didn't rookie. That's why you've got me. You may be a genius wizard-class hacker but you still aren't an expert at hunting humans just yet. Come on, get up." He held out his hand and said, "There is still plenty of work to do tonight."
She clasped hands with him and he pulled her up….
….
Newport City, Japan 2029
Motoko woke up bleary eyed in her apartment safe house and realized she'd been dreaming of years ago before World War IV really heated up. Her indigo hair was a mess*②. 'Good god, I was still in my teens then….I'm twenty-six now and have been a Major for years….I wonder what made me think of him.' She looked at the clock and saw it was 5AM. The Major groaned. "I might as well get up. I've only got a half hour left before my alarm goes off anyway." Motoko got out of bed and quickly showered and dressed before having some breakfast. As she ate the beautiful cyborg woman brought up several various newsfeeds in cyberspace to catch up on any major events that had occurred while she'd been sleeping.
'The Prime Minister's cabinet has issued new domestic policies designed to improve the public's….'
'Stocks in the steel industry are up an average of 15% thanks to the new...'
'Religious leaders are demanding more political freedom in an effort to….'
'Hanka Precision Instruments is recovering after their recent scandal. Their new management promises….'
After going through twenty six newsfeeds of extraneous information in cyberspace Motoko tuned in on one that actually interested her. 'Mitsubishi Heavy Industries latest submarine Ise was completed its maiden voyage today and sets a new standard for cavitation driven subs around the world with its silent movement. The Self Defense Forces have stated this triumph of technology will boost contracts for the domestic military industrial complex…..In other news protesters at the Capitol are moving against the possibility of new submarine technology represented by the Ise causing a new naval arms race….'
"For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction." grumbled the Major in an uninterested tone as her chin sank into the heel of her palm in an expression of total boredom. "People just aren't happy unless they are complaining about something."
….
Section 9 Headquarters
Major Kusanagi pulled her car into the armored parking garage that doubled as a motor pool for Section 9. She saw Batou getting out of his car own as she parked. He half waved at her and said, "Morning Major. Ready for another fun filled day?"
She gave a lopsided grin to her comrade in arms and said, "Isn't every day a fun filled day in Section 9? Let's go see what Chief Aramaki has cooked up for us today."
"No doubt old ape-face will have something in mind." chuckled Batou. Then the man with sleepless eyes shivered. "I just hope he doesn't slap me back on training detail. I hate training others."
"We all have to take our turn at it Batou." she quipped as they entered the building.
Travelling through the Fuchikoma*③ maintenance bays they heard the spider-like think tanks arguing amongst themselves in their childlike voices about the advantages and disadvantages of synthetic versus natural oil in their systems. Batou's personal Fuchikoma was bragging to the others that it had natural oil and the others didn't….Things naturally unraveled from there….
Motoko glared evilly at Batou as they walked by and mouthed 'troublemaker' to him. The big gray haired man had the decency to look sheepish.
As they took the elevator up to the office area to report in the Major thought to herself, 'Boma and Paz*④ just got back from assignment and are on leave. Saito's out on Special Assault Squad training so that leaves Togusa, Ishikawa, Batou and I on standby provided the Chief hasn't already got plans for us somewhere.'
….
Chief Aramaki's Office
Batou and the Major reported in to Chief Aramaki's Office and saw that Togusa and Ishikawa were already there. Minutes later Aramaki came in and was standing before his people explaining their next operation. "As you all know the Director of Internal Affairs Nagumo Awaya died two weeks ago of natural causes." said the Chief. "He was found at home and passed away in his sleep."
"Of course we know about it Chief." said Batou irritably. "It was all over the news. The eulogy they gave painted that old crook out to be some kind of saint. Are we suspecting he was actually murdered?"
Aramaki shook his head. "No, we suspect he was kidnapped."
"The late Director of Internal Affairs is no longer listed as 'dead' but rather 'missing' Chief?" asked Togusa incredulously. "Was Nagumo's body stolen?"
"Director Nagumo's cybernetic body was interred with a fake brain case." explained the Chief of Section 9. "This is standard procedure so his e-brain with state secrets stored in it are properly disposed of."
"Then somebody took Nagumo's dead brain in its case and made off with it?" asked Motoko with an eyebrow raised. 'That makes absolutely zero sense.'
"Evidence has it that Nagumo's brain may not be dead as we were led to believe." said Aramaki gravely. "Several government agencies he had access to have been hacked since his 'death' and if Nagumo himself isn't doing it we believe someone else who has his brain in their possession may be accessing the agencies through his neural pathways….In other words, Nagumo's brain is still living but whether he is the culprit or not is in question."
"Then we have to track down his cyberbrain and either recover it or destroy it." said Ishikawa.
The Chief nodded. "Most of the agencies involved are worried their dirty laundry dealing with Nagumo in the past will go public and cause a huge scandal. The Prime Minister himself sent the orders for Section 9 to take care of this as quickly as possible. We have a copy of Director Nagumo's ghost infiltration key so if his neural patterns access cyberspace there is a chance we can net him by matching the pattern." He handed Motoko a printout of the agencies' names. "Those are the agencies who have admitted they were breached by Nagumo. God only knows how many haven't admitted things…."
"All right; we're on it Chief." said the Major. "Ishikawa; use the ghost key and start a widespread search from here. Maybe we'll get lucky and find an active hit. I'm going to start searching these agencies in cyberspace and see if any trails were left behind. Batou and Togusa; I want you two to go down to the Tokyo Prefectural Headquarters where Nagumo's brain was when it disappeared. Hopefully there will be some clues there."
….
Tokyo Prefectural Headquarters
Togusa and Batou arrived at the Prefectural Headquarters in Tokyo an hour later. After going through the customary security checks the pair went down to the lab area where Nagumo's brain had been before it vanished. "Security cameras are on both entry doors and the center of the lab so there are no gaps in coverage." said the building's security chief. "There is positively no way someone could have come in or out without being seen. Furthermore both doors have electronic locks that are top of the line models. Bypassing them without detection is virtually impossible."
'Not if you have a decently skilled hacker or the right equipment.' thought Togusa. "Were there any gaps in the camera feed during the night that Nagumo's brain vanished 8 days ago?"
The security chief replied, "On the night of the disappearance there was a power outage for 90 seconds that affected the entire building. The emergency generators kicked in as they are programmed to so we don't believe it happened at that time. Besides, the cameras have battery backups so there should be no gaps in the footage aside of the lights being out. My people can show you the timeframe and you'll see what I mean."
"We'd better check the room first and then take a look at the camera footage." said Batou.
….
"So the brain cases for disposal are kept in preservation cases on these racks and locked." said Togusa as he examined where Nagumo's brain had been. "The next morning the preservation case for Nagumo was found to be empty though. Who was it that discovered the case was empty and at what time?"
The security chief answered. "It was Hasegawa on first shift. When she opened the case around 9AM she discovered it was empty."
"Were there any signs of tampering on the case or the lock on it?" asked the long haired detective.
The chief shook his head 'no' and said, "Hasegawa was shocked since third shift locked it up the night before. Everything was checked and logged properly."
Batou was looking over the logs and said, "Who was the third shift person that signed off on the brain cases the night before?"
The security chief looked at the logs and said, "It was Ito Hiro." He sounded surprised. "Normally Keichi signs off on everything."
"This is news to you?" asked Togusa.
"Well, Ito isn't the shift leader." said the security chief. "I just assumed it was Keichi Rokuro as always."
'Seems that security here isn't so tight here after all.' transmitted Batou to Togusa on an encrypted frequency. 'This is going to be a royal clusterfuck, I can just tell….'
The long haired detective just sighed….
….
Section 9 Headquarters
'….And that's what we've got so far Major. This is going to take some time since we're going to have to start from the bottom up.' reported Togusa.
Motoko groaned. 'Well, nobody ever said it would be easy. I'll see what I can come up on my end. Ishikawa's had no luck either. Keep me updated. Kusanagi out.'
'Will do; Togusa out Major.' acknowledged the detective.
The Major was in cyberspace tracking various agencies that had been hacked by 'Nagumo' and was looking for signs of entry. 'There are so many holes in their defenses that nearly anybody could break in.' she thought to herself as she looked into Kawanishi Electronics. 'They need to hire somebody to revamp their cyberspace protection pronto. Oh well; it makes matters easier for me.'
Diving into Kawanishi Electronic's defense systems, Motoko was soon maneuvering around their attack barriers, traps and mazes to find out what had been accessed from the outside recently. 'They are constructing a new barrier maze around this area but it's not complete yet. Let's see if 'Nagumo' was here.' As the Major glided about she soon found data pertaining to Director Nagumo having made major investments in Kawanishi Electronics using public funds in exchange for political backing. With a look of distaste on her face she thought, 'Can't say I'm surprised but this is just on the surface. This is nothing that other politicians don't do. I wonder what other secrets lie deeper….'
It wasn't long before Motoko found a trail leading to the exact nature of the late Director of Internal Affairs dealings with Kawanishi. 'Nagumo funded overseas slave trading to make products for Kawanishi….That carries a lifetime prison sentence here in Japan. This is what our hacker was after. Now to look for access points that have been used recently….' Motoko soon ran into a reflection of herself. 'What's this? They've been infected by a decoy mirror virus. I wonder if our mysterious hacker left them here to cover his tracks. Time to pull out of Kawanishi's network and look elsewhere.'
….
Tokyo Prefectural Headquarters
While the Major was exploring in cyberspace; Togusa and Batou spent hours talking to the employees at the brain lab. They had already spoken to Hasegawa and the first shift employees and came up with very little. Then the pair started reviewing the security footage. They saw the camera footage of the third shift leader Keichi Rokuro leaving early and turning things over to Ito. "I've already checked the brain boxes and done the software checks so don't worry about them Ito." said Keichi over the camera. "Sorry I have to leave early but the wife's in the hospital you know."
Ito nodded on the screen. "I understand Keichi, don't worry about it." As the film continued Keichi made small talk with Ito for a few minutes and the power went out. When it came back on Keichi left and Ito started to go over the sign off sheet.
Togusa said, "Stop the film and rewind to fifteen seconds before the power outage. Zero in on sector 14." Ask the camera playback zoomed in on the area in question it showed the lock on Nagumo's brain case was not fully latched. "Looks like Keichi left the lock open intentionally and Ito never bothered to follow up." said Togusa. They watched as Keichi opened the door and exchanged further small talk with Ito before he made to leave.
"So Keichi held that security door wide open for nearly 2 minutes before he left." said Batou. "Someone with optical camouflage could easily have slipped in during that time and lifted an unsecured case. Switch to the other camera so we can watch the case while Keichi and Ito were talking." Then the former Ranger growled, "We definitely need a background check on Keichi Rokuro."
The two Section 9 agents watched the brain case in the footage and then the screen fizzled out. "There's our power outage again." mumbled Togusa. When the lights came back on in the video feed the brain case was locked but there were no other apparent differences. Keichi bid his farewells and closed the door behind him leaving Ito in charge.
Togusa said to Batou, "So Keichi kept Ito occupied while he held open the door for someone with optical camouflage and the person swapped the cases during a convenient power outage. With the case unlocked it would have been easy to get in, swap the case and get out in 90 seconds."
"Optical-camouflage?" asked the security chief. "I thought that stuff was only available to the Army."
Batou shook his head. "Old Type 17 opto-cam is available on the black market. Let's look for a bit of distortion in the camera footage. Maybe we'll get lucky and spot something."
After watching the film the three more times Togusa spotted what they were looking for. "There in front of that desk lamp. The light was refracted for a moment. Looks like someone slipped by. Older optical camouflage did that."
"So we need to question Keichi Rokuro and Ito Hiro." said Batou. "We'll need to see them both as soon as possible but Keichi comes first."
….
Section 9 Headquarters
Ishikawa was looking through his visor at the multiple hits on the cyberspace that 'Nagumo' had accessed over the last week on the net but unfortunately the hacker seemed to be constantly moving around. The bearded man frowned. "He's used twenty three different access points in the last week and they don't follow a specific pattern. We're going to have to check these physically to verify if they have anything in common." He radioed Motoko. 'Major, we're going to need more manpower; there is simply too much ground to cover as it is.'
Motoko replied, "I'll call in Paz and Boma then. It looks like their leave is cancelled." 'They are going to be thrilled….'
….
Two hours later the (less than thrilled) Paz and Boma reported in to see the Major. Soon the members of Section 9 were all talking in the 'lobby' area of Motoko's personal network. She asked, "Batou and Togusa, have you had any luck on finding Keichi Rokuro's whereabouts?"
"We're searching his apartment right now and the place seems to have been uninhabited for some time." answered Togusa. "The power wasn't even on when we got here. We're questioning the neighbors as well."
Batou added, "The real estate company that owns this building says the rent has automatically been deposited every month since Keichi and his wife moved here 6 months ago. We're going to follow that money trail and see if this 'wife' is in the hospital as he claimed. She may not even exist."
The Major nodded and turned to Ishikawa. "What do you have Ishikawa?"
"The last time that 'Nagumo' was on the net was 11 hours ago in Akihabara where there are dozens of electronic cafés with access." said the bearded man. "I've pinned the access terminal down to a place called Wizard's Haven that specializes in virtual reality gaming. After that the trail goes cold. One of us needs to go there physically to check the shop's surveillance cameras."
"And by one of us you mean me and Boma." said Paz.
"That's why I called you two in." said Motoko to Paz. "Unless Togusa and Batou need backup on their end finding Ito Hiro then I want you and Boma to head to Akihabara."
Boma asked Batou, "Do you guys need me in Tokyo proper?"
Batou shook his head and said, "Go with Paz. It's better to move in pairs anyway."
"I'll keep looking on my end." said Major Kusanagi. "Everywhere I've been so far has had loose defenses. It makes me wonder if this hasn't been planned for months." She glanced at the others. "We all have our work cut out for us; let's go."
….
Akihabara
Boma and Paz arrived at Wizard's Haven and found it was primarily filled with otakus and gamers of all ages. The soon were talking to the manager of the place and after identifying themselves as public security agents were given access to the security cameras. Bringing up the files from 11 hours before they found out who was accessing cyberspace using 'Nagumo's' identity. Paz frowned. "That's Ito Hiro from the briefing earlier today. He's one of the guys Togusa and Batou are investigating!"
Boma pointed out a detail on the screen. "Ito's got a large backpack with him too. You could easily fit a braincase in it." as the two watched Ito Hiro start 'gaming' they noted he ran contact cables to and from the backpack.
"So essentially we've got Ito running commands to the backpack and the backpack wired directly into the interface….and in the backpack is presumably Nagumo's braincase." said Paz. He quickly radioed his findings to the others on an encrypted frequency….
….
Togusa was checking Keichi Rokuro's bank account information when he received the call from Paz and Boma. "Looks like we can implicate Ito as well then." said the detective to Batou.
Batou nodded. "We can track down Keichi later. Let's head for Ito's apartment."
….
Batou and Togusa sped across town to where Ito Hiro's apartment was. They came racing up in their car just in time to see Ito leaving the apartment complex and heading towards his own vehicle carrying a backpack. As the two Section 9 agents' car screeched to a halt, the gray haired former ranger hopped out and trained his gun on the lab technician. Batou yelled, "Police! Freeze Ito Hiro! Put your hands in the air and keep them where I can see them!"
Ito pulled a machine pistol from his pack and ducked behind a nearby car. He then opened fire with his weapon from his position low to the ground. Batou and Togusa dived clear of his fire in opposite directions and saw their car get riddled with gunfire. Looking at the damage, Batou yelled, "Shit! He's using hollow points!" He transmitted to Togusa, 'I'll try to keep his attention while you circle around behind him. Hopefully he won't make a break for it.'
'Got it Batou.' replied Togusa. Amidst the gunfire exchanges between Ito and Batou people were screaming and running away from the firefight. Unfortunately Ito ran using the various vehicles for cover. Batou rapidly gave chase but it quickly became a game of cat and mouse between the parked cars. Worse still, Ito didn't seem to be running out of ammunition in spite of the fact he was spraying down the parking lot with lead.
Batou switched to infrared saw the criminal reach into his backpack through a car window and pull another clip out to reload. 'Damn it! Ito must be carrying a dozen clips in that backpack!' thought the man with sleepless eyes. The gray haired man took a shot at Ito and narrowly missed the man's head causing Ito to take flight again….
In the meantime Togusa was keeping his head low and moving as quickly as he could to pincer Ito. The long haired detective saw the criminal running towards him and away from Batou. Togusa was moving in to take Ito out of the equation. He closed to three car lengths away and shot Ito in the shoulder from head on causing the lab technician to cry out and drop his weapon which clattered to the ground.
Ito tried to grab his machine pistol with his other hand but Batou had already pounced on the man before he could recover his gun. Togusa came running up and kept Ito covered while Batou slapped some handcuffs on the fugitive….
….
Section 9 Headquarters
It took quite a cleanup squad to go sort through the mess that Ito made while trying to escape. A lot of personal property was shot to ribbons but by some miracle there had been no civilian casualties. While Ito Hiro was transferred to Section 9 for questioning his backpack was found only to have ammunition and a data memory backup in it. Ishikawa was soon questioning Ito about the location of Nagumo Awaya's braincase as it wasn't in the lab technician's apartment.
….
"Let me get this straight." said Ishikawa. "For a week you were in possession of Nagumo Awaya's brain and used it to hack into various agencies that Nagumo had dirty business with. You recorded that data onto the memory module that you were carrying and planned to use that information to blackmail the companies involved or you would release the information to the public. Now the braincase is in the hands of Keichi Rokuro and his wife Keichi Seiko along with a copy of the memory module. Seiko was the one that actually stole the case under optical camouflage and masterminded this whole plot. She even told you what companies to hack for data."
Ito nodded. "The world needs to know about Nagumo's crimes!"
Ishikawa sighed. "And being the civic minded idealist you are you decided to get rich in the process….jeezus."
….
Outside the interrogation room Major Kusanagi was listening in along with Chief Aramaki. "Chief, Nagumo's personal nurse was none other than Keichi Seiko." said Motoko. "Togusa just verified it. She was the one that reported Nagumo's death by natural causes to begin with. I don't think Ito knows it but Seiko must have had this planned for weeks if not months."
"….And now Keichi Seiko and Keichi Rokuro are in possession of Nagumo's brain and a copy of Ito's data." grumbled Aramaki. "We'll put a dragnet out on those two and all of their known accounts and passports will be frozen."
"They could still attempt to leave the country under a false identity." said the Major.
Aramaki nodded. "That is why we have to redouble our efforts."
….
The Section Nine agents were soon back in Motoko's 'lobby.' "Tell us what you've got on Keichi Seiko; Togusa." said the Major. "She seems to be the brains behind this mess."
A holographic image of Keichi Seiko came up on screen. She was an attractive Japanese woman with short black hair. Togusa said, "Keichi Seiko, age 31. Former Army nurse that specializes in cybernetic brains. Her claim to fame in the service was discovering a captured enemy officer who was thought to be brain dead was actually in a false death state. Once she figured out how to wake him he had valuable information. Her Army record aside of that is spotless."
Togusa continued. "After the war she got married and after several nursing jobs in the Tokyo area she became Nagumo Awaya's personal nurse. She held that position for three years until Nagumo 'died' two weeks ago. It's not unreasonable to assume she placed Director Nagumo in a false death state and set up the whole thing. Bringing Nagumo out of his false death state would allow her to use the brain to hack the system easily."
"Why didn't she just hack his brain herself then?" asked Boma.
"She probably didn't have the background knowledge." answered Togusa. "While she was a very good medical technician there is no evidence that she was a high level hacker. That's where Ito came in since he is an advanced level programmer."
Batou asked, "What about Keichi Rokuro then? Is he a programmer as well?"
"He is but Keichi Rokuro is nowhere near the level of Ito Hiro." replied the long haired detective. "He went to programming school but dropped out. I can't say he doesn't have some ability in the field but I see no reason to involve Ito if he had the skills himself to begin with."
"Good point." said Paz. "Did Ito indicate anyone else was involved Ishikawa?"
Ishikawa shook his head. "Ito swears it was just the three of them but we can't rule out the fact that Ito Hiro was left in the dark about certain details. He's naïve and as far as he knows the Keichi couple picked up the brain this morning for 'maintenance' when they really hung Ito out to dry. He gave them a copy of his memory module too so as far as they are concerned Ito Hiro is expendable."
"So Seiko and her husband took off without a trace." said the Major. "The question is; where are they? I'm going to access their financial account that paid for the empty apartment. The money in it had to be deposited from somewhere."
….
Motoko was soon back in cyberspace and tracing various bank accounts that the Keichi couple had. She soon found a web of interconnected private accounts that were obviously designed to throw off anyone trying to unravel a money trail. It took the Major nearly 30 minutes before she got the trail she was looking for. 'Keichi Rokuro rented a car this morning under a false name shortly after picking the brain case from Ito. This is just the sort of break we needed.'
After accessing the car's CPU via the highway control system Motoko found the vehicle in question was heading north away from Tokyo. 'What's the destination?' she thought. 'The car is driven by a Sagawa Electronics CPU….Access!' A moment later the Major was cross referencing the destination with data on the case to see if anything correlated. 'Odds are they are going to a safe house north of Tokyo that Director Nagumo Awaya had set up in case he had to lay low for a while….all paid by taxpayer's money of course….'
….
Major Kusanagi addressed her men back in the 'lobby.' "Alright guys, they are headed for a safe house that belonged to Nagumo Awaya north of Tokyo proper. I'm transmitting the maps of the building to you now. Everyone meet at Platform 21 and we'll go out there via helicopter under optical camouflage. We strike tonight. Standard assault gear and combat body armor. We're not taking any chances with this one."
….
Nagumo Awaya's Safe House
Section 9 arrived at the Director's safe house at 1:15AM a silently surrounded the building. It was a large two story affair that was covered in cameras. Ishikawa was tied into the outside surveillance systems and was quietly neutralizing them. Both Batou and the Major were infiltrating the inside cameras to find the Keichi couple's whereabouts and just as importantly, Nagumo's braincase. Boma and Paz had already pulled the CPU on the rental car parked outside that Keichi Rokuro rented that morning and were standing by. Togusa was on standby to cut all communications. Soon enough, Batou located the couple via the security cameras and wired the others the information he found….
….
Rokuro was sitting on a large bed laughing with his wife Seiko. "To think that this whole scheme was old man Nagumo's all along! Did he really think we were going to bring him here for a stored backup body so he could leave the country?"
Seiko smiled. "He was paranoid about being assassinated by political rivals and terrorists. Nagumo dug a hole too deep to get out. The old fool was an idiot to think I'd carry his little plan out. Once we're in South America we'll sell his information off to the highest bidder and then we can go live wherever we want in style."
"I just worry Ito will get caught and spill the beans too soon." said Rokuro. "Of course, the idiot is a firearms freak. Knowing him he'd hole up in his apartment and shoot it out rather than surrender."
"Hopefully he'll die before giving up." said Seiko darkly. "Ito is a real idiot to think we're planning to expose Nagumo's secrets for anything but personal gain."
Rokuro nodded, "As gullible as Ito is the world won't miss him. All we have to do now is sit pretty for two days until the representative from the Gavel Republic*⑤ gets here and grants us the diplomatic immunity to get out of Japan."
….
'What a terrific couple.' transmitted Batou to the others. 'They are a real pair of model citizens.' he added sarcastically.
"Ishikawa; how long till the external cameras are all out?" asked Motoko.
'45 more seconds Major.' answered the bearded man. '….We're clear; Togusa, cut the phone lines.'
'All external communications have been cut.' radioed Togusa. 'We're ready to roll Major.'
"You heard the man." said Motoko over the radio. "Move in!"
….
The various members of Section 9 entered through the ground floor, the skylight and the windows without trouble. Travelling quickly through the halls Togusa was the first at the door to the couple's room. Motoko and Batou were right behind him.
Seiko and Rokuro were caught totally unawares when the door and windows to their room blew in. "Police!" said the Major. "Do not move. We have you surrounded!" The Keichi couple raised their hands in defeat….
'Rats! No firefight.' thought Batou. 'They didn't even try to resist.'
After a short search Nagumo's braincase was located. It was plugged into a charger to keep his life support going. Rokuro and Seiko were transferred to Section 9 Headquarters for further questioning along with the braincase and the couple's backup memory module that they received from Ito….
….
Chief Aramaki's Office
"….So it was Nagumo's idea to fake his own death and he was ultimately betrayed by Keichi Seiko and her husband." said Aramaki. "What a tangled web they wove. A two day turnaround has the Prime Minister pleased Major. Well done."
"There is enough data on the memory module to put Nagumo Awaya to death several times over Chief." said Motoko. "Of course, none of it will ever go public."
The Section 9 Chief shook his head. "Like most of the things we are involved in it never happened."
….
End of Prologue
POSTSCRIPT:
*① Quardistan is an imaginary Third World Nation from the Ghost in the Shell: Arise anime series.
*② I'm going with Motoko's appearance in the original manga; indigo hair, red/pink eyes.
*③ Fuchikomas were the original Ghost in the Shell Manga spider tanks. I'm going to be using this model at the exclusion of the other types (Logikoma, Tachikoma, Uchikoma).
*④ For some reason Boma/Borma and Paz/Pazu are spelled and pronounced differently depending on the source unlike the other characters. I'm using the original manga translation (be it correct or otherwise).
*⑤ The Gavel Republic is another small Third World Nation in the Ghost in the Shell universe. It was in the original manga.
Well, it's a start. I wanted something fairly self contained in the prologue. The Ghost in the Shell universe is a lot more complex than other things I've written with the possible exception of my crossover story Infinity Divide. We'll see if this one is worth continuing. See you next time. Blue out. 4/18/18