I do not own Ghost in the Shell or any of its characters.
Pupeteer
"What is it, Chief?" Kusanagi asked.
"Meet me at Megatech Body Inc., both of you," Aramaki said.
"Chief, do we need to discuss-" Cane began.
"Trust me," Aramaki said. "This is important. It might be the Puppeteer."
Cane's eyes narrowed.
"Understood," Kusanagi said. "We're on our way."
She hung up and both got up, quickly getting dressed. While on their vacation, Cane had moved a suitcase of some of his clothes into Kusanagi's apartment, on her orders, and grabbed some clean clothes out of that, then put on his pistol harness and work coat, which had his magazines in it. He'd gotten a new harness, however, which had a strap across the chest to hold it more stable, then also included several pouches for magazines for his M22 rifle. He picked it up as he passed it and they left quickly, meeting Aramaki at the R&D section of Megatech. Aramaki met them at the door, beginning to explain the situation as they made their way through the building. About two hours ago, one of the manufacturing cells had begun to build a military model, fully-cybernetic body on par with Kusanagi's, doing so on its own. Then, about ten minutes ago, two minutes before Section Nine arrived, the body was completed and immediately fled. Batou was currently out commanding the search for the body.
"Ah, Aramaki!" a scientist shouted happily, grabbing Kusanagi by the arms from behind. "Thank you so much for finding our body!"
Cane's fist slammed into the side of his face with only just enough force to make him stagger away. "Hands off. She's a member of Section Nine."
"Oh," the scientist said, dismayed.
Just then, Batou contacted them all, reporting the body had been located and was headed back to Section Nine HQ. They all hurried outside, taking their cars back to HQ as well, meeting Batou in a lab where the body, now missing its arms and feet, was being studied. After a few moments, as the scientists tried to access its programming, the body reactivated, reacting as though protecting a ghost. Cane frowned. Unless someone had managed to swap into the body before they found it, or was placed in the body while it was being manufactured, the body should be a robot. It shouldn't have a ghost.
"There was a slight resemblance to the ghost lines you find when they've been dubbed," Kusanagi said to Batou and Togusa a little while later, as they were leaving the lab.
"They didn't have the same degradation, though," Cane said.
"You know about degradation?" Kusanagi smirked, raising an eyebrow.
"One of the techs mentioned it," Cane said.
The other three laughed before Kusanagi nodded.
"Well, you're right," Kusanagi said. "That's why I called it a slight resemblance."
"So, what, you're saying the machine wanted offspring so bad it decided to make its own?" Togusa asked.
"No, I don't think the cell's capable of that," Kusanagi said.
"What's a manufacturing cell again?" Cane asked.
"The machines that create cybernetic bodies and parts," Kusanagi said.
"Right," Cane nodded.
"Still, hey, even some plastic dolls seem to have souls," Batou said. "And given the number of neuro-med devices the machining cell crammed into the 'bot, it really wouldn't surprise me if there was some sort of ghost in there, too."
"Neuro what now?" Cane asked.
Kusanagi sighed, shaking her head but smiling. "Not important. Batou's being an idiot."
"I'm serious!" Batou said.
"So, assuming that this was a hacker, and they wanted a special body, why would they do it in such an obvious way?" Cane asked. "Wouldn't it be easier to just commandeer the controls when a body's already being made, then either swap with the person that gets it, or act like you're them until no one's looking?"
"I was thinking something similar, though more technical," Kusanagi said. "They were skilled enough to hack through one of the most advanced, top-secret barriers in the world, but they did it in a way that made them easy to catch. What's the point?"
"Let's forget about the theft theory," Aramaki decided. "Togusa, I want you to do a thorough check on Megatech Body, okay?"
"Er, Chief, this was my day to go home and catch a few winks," Togusa said.
"And I'm supposed to be in recovery for a concussion, a broken arm, and an adrenaline overdose," Cane said. "Just go."
"Batou," Aramaki continued. "We've sealed off all nets that deal with secrets of the Megatech Barrier Class. I want you to double-check that they're functioning or not."
"Right," Batou nodded.
"I'll reconstruct the Barrier Maze myself," Kusanagi said. "We're going to try diving into our robot tomorrow, right?"
Aramaki nodded, only for a speaker on his desk to crackle to life.
"Chief, a Mr. Nakamura from the Foreign Ministry is here to see you," Aramaki's secretary said.
Aramaki stared at the speaker in confusion and surprise for a moment. "Send him in."
Cane and the others all bowed out before the guest entered. As he did, Cane watched him go, then frowned.
"They're here to take the robot, I'll bet," Cane said.
"I think you're right," Kusanagi nodded. "If it's the Puppeteer, he's supposed to be from America."
"Speaking of, why did you never suspect me of being him?" Cane asked.
"I did," Kusanagi said. "At least until the first time I saw you trying to hack through a door while being shot at."
Cane grimaced. "I still have the scars from that."
"What happened?" Batou asked.
"It took him so long we both got shot half a dozen times before I just blasted the door open," Kusanagi said.
They all stopped as they reached Cane's car, Kusanagi and Batou opening the passenger-side doors as Cane waited for a car to pass to get in.
"You all notice?" Cane asked telepathically.
"Yeah," Kusanagi replied in kind. "Someone was at the entrance. They're not tailing us, though."
"It's Twenty-Nine-Oh-Two Opto-Cam," Batou said.
"Section Six is up to something dangerous," Cane said. "Motoko, head back inside with your own camo."
Kusanagi nodded, heading back inside, and Cane looked to Batou.
"Go grab your car," Cane said. "You'll probably need it."
Batou nodded and hurried away. After a few minutes of waiting in his own car, a hole was blasted out through the wall and the cloaked Section Six members they'd noticed before headed for a car, then sped off. Cane was about to follow when Batou passed him.
"Wait here," Batou ordered him. "Don't go anywhere without the Major."
Cane nodded and headed back inside and up to the lab where Kusanagi was standing with Aramaki. Aramaki was ordering all flights held if anyone onboard was a US official or from the Foreign Ministry, but Cane doubted it would be that easy. As soon as Aramaki had passed the order, they headed to the roof to take a chopper. Batou reported in on his pursuit, and after a minute, the pilot reported that the Foreign Minister was trying to fly to a US Nuclear Submarine, but the trackers Kusanagi had planted on the Puppeteer's body didn't match up. Finally, Aramaki ordered them to set up a roadblock and for Batou to pull over the car he was tailing.
Cane picked up his rifle, double-checking his HV rounds as Kusanagi did the same with her own rifle. The roadblock was set up quickly, and once it was, Kusanagi and Cane got in position on either side of the road, rifles ready, and waited. However, just shy of the roadblock, Bato rear-ended the car hard enough to ruin the car he was in, which he'd appropriated along the way to avoid his own being marked as a tail. The car the Puppeteer was supposed to be in spun out of control, then skidded to a stop in front of the roadblock. Cne swore and sprinted forward, but just as he did, there was an explosion in the back of the car. He swore, speeding up, resisting the urge to use adrenaline yet, and grabbed the driver, yanking him out as Batou dragged the passenger out. Kusanagi went to check on the Puppeteer, only to report that the body had been blasted. A portable battery was rushed over to keep the Puppeteer's body online, and Kusanagi quickly linked herself, diving into the body to try and learn about the Puppeteer and what Section Six had been trying to do.
"It feels like a giant, stable memory field," Kusanagi informed them all as she dove, to make sure they knew she wasn't in danger and keep them up to date on what was happening. "The gate's open and I'm being invited in. What mode is the Substitute Barrier?"
"Don't worry, Major," Batou said. "I'll make sure you don't get pregnant."
"What a lovely concept, Batou," Kusanagi said, Cane kicking him in the shin. "Puppeteer! I can't understand your visual patterns. Batou, let him into my linguistic field."
"Be careful, Motoko," Cade pleaded, as much as warned.
"Project Two-Five-Zero-One," a new voice said, this one male. "My code name."
"Corporate Investigations...information gathering...ops...damage to core memory...proceeding, Kusanagi reported.
"It's...a project to increase points," the Puppeteer's voice continued. "Games where it builds dummies of itself and then runs away. Neutron Inc.'s experimental Bittson AI...and...injecting programs into specific ghosts, and then increasing certain corporate and individual points."
"Damn!" Aramaki swore. "We weren't able to prove the connection between the Foreign Ministry and you, in that case, you S.O.B.!"
"Chief, he can't hear you," Batou reminded him. "Want me to hook you up, too?"
"I cruised all the nets, and became aware of my own existence," the Puppeteer said. "The original programmer considered this a 'bug,' and in order to separate me from the net, moved me to a physical body."
"We'll need records that prove that, Puppeteer," Kusanagi said.
"I hid the records one-hundred-eighty-six days ago inside the central memory field of Neutron Inc.," the Puppeteer said. "If contact with me are delayed for any reason, the records will be automatically transmitted to Section Nine."
"Do you have any names of specific companies and individuals who have increased their points in those records?" Kusanagi asked.
"Of course," the Puppeteer said.
"Outputs dropping below measurable levels!" Aramaki warned. "Recalling Major Kusanagi!"
"There's a flattening of the prosthetic body signal," Kusanagi said. "It's about to white-out. You've got to compensate enough to increase autonomous output."
"Right," Batou said.
"White-out!" Kusanagi said. "The Net's starting to collapse all over the place!"
"There's a terminal, an effector, that wasn't in my original form," the Puppeteer said. "If I lose it, I'll revert to a non-unique form again."
"Damn, he's disappeared!" Aramaki said urgently. "His Net's gone completely independent, Major! All connections lost!"
"His Autonomous Output is still continuing, though," Kusanagi said. "Where are the signals coming from?"
"Major, he's augmenting himself with the signals from your own prosthetic body!" Batou warned Kusanagi.
"Batou, plug Kusanagi's output in here!" Aramaki ordered. "Then we can monitor him from her side!"
"So, their signals are harmonized and she's right on him, eh?" Batou asked. "Damn! I can't tell if he's entered her!"
"Just to be safe, randomize the barrier's code conversion frequency," Kusanagi instructed. "I'm going to try and transfer his form to the memory boxes."
"Major, we can probably solve this case even without him!" Batou argued. "If you dive too deep, you'll fuse your memory with the net-work itself!"
Kusanagi didn't respond, and they couldn't hear the Puppeteer anymore. Cane swallowed hard, staring at Kusanagi.
"Hey, come on, Motoko," Cane said, kneeling beside her and cupping her cheek. "You need to come back. I can't lose you."
He frowned as a noise began to register to his ears, just barely. He turned, staring into the distance, barely able to make out a helicopter. It began to turn, and he caught the flash of light reflecting off of a scope. His gut dropped as he realized what was about to happen. He stepped to his left, and his entire body went completely cold. Somewhere in his brain, he knew that both his chest and his back were in agony. He knew he'd been shot by a high-powered sniper rifle, and as he collapsed, he looked to Kusanagi, seeing a deep gash in the side of her cheek, but his bones had deflected the bullet just enough to save her. He hit the ground, still not feeling anything but knowing that it was there. His mind was separated from his body. He realized his spinal cord had been damaged. And his mind was fading rapidly. Except, he could hear something, suddenly. Someone was calling his name. He knew the voice, but his mind was fading too fast for him to place it. Then, just as his sight faded, he felt something, a sensation like he was moving. Being pulled. Drifting into the air by the back of the head. Then, everything was gone.
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