Disclaimer: As always, I do not own GITS, any of the venues, or any of the characters. They belong to Shirow Masamune. I write fanfic only for entertainment value, and to improve on my writing skills. I hope you enjoy.

Chapter 3: Remnants

"Talking"
Thinking
(Cyberspeaking)
(Figure it out)

I noticed it had rained as I pulled out of the parking garage. The lights glittered on the road like spirits twinkling out of view at the rising of the sun. The wet roads gave a false impression of slickness, and I chuckled as my tires caught on the pavement of the entrance ramp to I-9.

I like driving in the rain, it gives me time to think. There aren't normally a lot of drivers out at this time of night, and the rain deters most of those. It's a good time to think through events, try to make sense of those things that don't quite fit into place.

This morning Aramaki and I had a discussion about the Major's return. He explained about the loss of contact. I didn't handle it well, we argued viciously. Why didn't Motoko at least drop me a line? That's not like her.

So the last thing I remember, of before she disappeared, is the Major telling me she needed to dive into the PuppetMaster's mind to understand what he knew.

"He said he'd been watching me. I need to know what he means."
"Why?"
"Because I feel he knows whether I'm real or not."
"Those brain cells in your brain box say that you're human. You're just being irrational."
Then I saved her from a heavily armored Fuchikoma, she was in bad shape. "What happened next Batou?"

My voice brought me out of my trance and I realized I was outside of Tokyo on my way to Kyoto. I turned the car around and started back. The gas gauge was just at ¾ tank, I had plenty to get home. "I woke up in the Hardware Unit at Section 9. They were putting me back together." But what of the brain box I rescued? That must have been when they put her in a different body and sent her into Section 6 to clean up. But why does that feel so wrong?

I decided since it was so late, I would just stay at my safe-house. I went in and sat down in my chair, beer in one hand and remote in the other. I never turn it on, but it must be a guy thing to want to hold the remote. Much like naming our dicks.

I must have dozed off. The alarm ringing startled me. As I focused around me, snippets of my dream filtered back through my mind.

"The keys are in the pocket, the code is"
"2501"
"Yes."
Deceptively young eyes looked at me. "Let that be our password whenever we meet." The door closed behind her and she was gone.

"I need to lay off the beer." I started coffee and went in to take a shower.

ssssss

Halfway to the office, my car phone rang. "Batou speaking." Motoko's face appeared on the screen.

"We have a new assignment, Aramaki wants to meet with us in 45 minutes."

"Okay." I'd already looked away to focus on the road.

"Batou…"

"Mmm" I looked back to see concerned eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, why?"

"Your cyberlink is off-line. That's why I called your car phone." She was tapping the side of her head and frowning.

"I was wondering about that since this phone isn't on an ultra-secure line."

"So, are you?"

"I'm fine Motoko." Silence hung on the line. "Can I ask you a question?"

"No, I'm not PMS'ing, and yes, you're acting VERY strange." I smiled, she sounded normal for the first time since she came back.

"Not exactly what I was thinking. Do you ever wear your hair up?"

"What kind of question is that?" She frowned again, making a ridge between her eyes form.

"Are you going to answer me?"

"I rarely wear my hair up. That's one of the reasons why I like the body I have, short hair." She ran a hand over the edge of her hair.

"What do you hold it up with?"

"Batou, where is this going?"

"Do you use ribbons?"

"No. I usually pull it back and use clips to keep it from falling forward."

"Okay, thanks."

"Batou…" Even without looking, I could tell she was tapping a foot in agitation.

"Yes?"

"I want you to get an analysis run when you arrive. I'm not sure your blackout left you unaffected."

I agree, that's when my ghost started whispering to me. "I'm fine."

"It wasn't a request."

What could I say? Before I had time to reword my instinctive response, she disconnected. My cyberlink is off huh? I walked through my optional functions and reflagged it. Not sure when THAT happened, but it did. "Clips huh?" I reached into my pocket and pulled out a dark green ribbon. It matched the eyes. "Who would I have trusted enough to let into my safe-house?" Only Kusanagi. I put it back in my jacket, sure that when I figured it out, I would be able to unravel the mystery of why I'd been feeling so uneasy.

A/N: Sorry I didn't get this posted last night. Went out for a family dinner and came back with food poisoning, never got near the keyboard (shrug). Hope everyone had a great week, and I'll probably update Thur/Fri.-TK