Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost in the Shell nor any of the character property of the makers of GITS. I hope you enjoy
She scanned through various chat rooms sitting in on sessions hoping to get some leads on her new prey, but with the numerous talks of 'Angelis' and discussions of past cases, her investigation was only at a snail's crawl. Most of the chat rooms and blogs that mentioned Angelis by referring the cases to their lives or trying to structure some kind of character analysis of him. There were even a few cases of copy cat vigilante's, but none of whom had the skills of Angelis. He had made quite a name for himself in the past few years.
Was he even a male?
Earlier
"You mean to tell me that not only were you not able to recover the case with plutonium in it, but Yakumara Mizuno was assassinated as well?" the chief sat back in his chair, folding his hands before his face as the look of worry painted a clear picture across the wrinkles in his brow. Closing his eyes, he gathered his composure a bit more as the situation has now changed for the worse and a solution would have to be found quick if they wanted to avoid any backlash from the general public for their actions.
"How in the hell could this have happened?"
"He infiltrated the hotel right under our noses, chief." Good ole Batou. The muscles in his head were not the greatest and sometimes he could fan the flame just enough to bring them to a roar. "Inexcusable! You know very well that you're not some rookies fresh out of training camp handling potential threats to the security of our Nation. And the world for that matter!"
He slammed his fist on the oak wood desk, knocking over his pen stand while a few papers flew into a mess of a pile. "I want this situation handled as soon as possible. Major. You know what to do. I'll try dealing with the Ministry of Foreign affairs and reassure the Prime Minister we will have the situation resolved soon."
"Yes, Chief."
"Dismissed!"
Playing back the scene in her head while sitting in on the latest chat session, she paused frame by frame the descent of the two figures, adding higher resolution and different lighting to the scene. Something was a bit off. Very much off and her ghost could feel it. Sighing to herself she sat watching the chat go on. This had been the 10th chat tonight and little had come out of these talks, other than heated words, political debates and an exchange of PMs which had been hitting her every now and then.
"Well I don't understand what the fuss is about. Angelis is trying to make a difference in our corrupt government by dealing true justice to those who aren't economically privileged." Maddox010100 was pretty riled up today. It seemed he was pretty devoted to the idea of Angelis existing in this day in age.
"I agree to a certain extent, however..." JutaposeIgnite stopped mid sentence contemplating her next words. Between the heated discussion in the room, she seemed to be the voice of reasoning. "I can understand the position this would put our government in. Think of how the refugee's Kou case went and how it almost stirred another war on a homeland scale. What would we be if we had nothing more than vigilante justice?"
"Are you saying we should just hang him out to dry after what he's done for families who's children were rape and their cyber brains violated?! That's RIDICULOUS!! You might as well give the criminals licenses to do whatever they want. Then what kind of government would we have? The government doesn't give a rats ass about us, they just want our money and to jump ship at the first chance they get at a better life. That's all this is about. Angelis understands what going on because he's one of us, the People!"
"If the government didn't care about us, then why do we have public security?" Shadow2001baby posed a good question, stopping Maddox010100 in his mad rant. "If the government was really out to make money and jump ship, then why the repeat representatives and by put money into policing the people when they get out of hand. Sometimes justice doesn't care towards the economically privileged, it does deal justice sometimes."
"Tell that to the corporations who pay off a lot of governments"
This chat was becoming more and more meaningless with each passing second she sat there. How unfortunate that she turned up yet another dead end. Just as she was about to log off, another chatter entered the room.
"Ah I see we have an older timer logging on." teased Maddox010100 at the blank logon picture and anon04152019 name. In a generic voice over it began to speak. "Old timer. Perhaps I am, perhaps not. Once upon a time, the Internet wasn't an much of a living entity as it is now. Of course that was prior to the 3rd and 4th World War. If it were not for the ground breaking archaic technology, we would not be were we are today. So pay a little respect to the old ways."
"Whatever old timer."
"Well aren't you a bit rude." Chroma gave him a slight smirk, cocking her head to the side slightly, "No respect for the elders. Have a troubled childhood?"
"What would you know you're-"
"Let him be" anon04192019 interrupted hovering the blank screen to an empty chair across from Chroma, "he's just another fanatic trying to understand what he has little concept of. The idea of Angelis existing to him is much like the comic book heroes of the 1980's were to children of that age. And that's probably the highlight of his day next to cyber porn."
"Hey!" Anon04192019 turned the screen in Maddox010100's direction, as if to look at him, even with a blank screen. "I do have a life! And what could you possibly understand about Angelis?"
"You would be surprised. Take for instance this chat room. Not all who are here are what they appear to be, only what they portray. Take for instance yourself." Cocking the screen sideways slightly, it continued. "You have the image of a man who appears to be about 26 years of age. But judging from your speech and your lack of manners, I would take you to be under the age of 20, which would explain your lack of tact and under developed understanding of investigations."
Maddox010100 sat silently for a moment, then suddenly logged off. Anon04192019 laughed, turning the screen upright again. The other chatters snickered a bit watching his image dissipate. "My. You shut him down relatively quick." Anon turned to Chroma, letting out a small 'hmph', "You're quite interesting for an old timer."
"One would say the same for you. That statement wasn't just to him directly."
"Oh? So are you saying I'm not whom I appear to be as well?" This little game had turned interesting with the appearance of his anonymous character. The other chatters looked on with slight curiosity before returning to their discussion upon the two disappearing from the main chat and entering into a PM. The blank image screen still remained while Chroma, however, had changed a bit from having dark hair to blonde.
"I see you've been surfing through a lot of chat rooms and reading a lot of blogs with Angelis as the keyword."
"And how would you know that?"
"That's usually the protocol whenever Angelis is sought. Go to any keywords in blogs and chats, engage in discussions, sit and listen to the chats and as always laugh at the mad rantings of fanatics who have a lack understanding in the gravity of the situation. Am I right?"
"Lucky guess."
"Then allow me to further indulge in this discussion with direct questions. Why are you looking for Angelis?"
"I have my reasons. Besides, why should I allow such privileged information in your hands? You're like any other pm'er who asks me these questions. Am I right?"
The image screen began to jerk left to right as a low laugh hackled through the space. This ritual repeated itself for 30 seconds until the voice began to speak again. "So you left a traceable IP and some firewall protection with a backwards hacking program to trace me, or rather attempt to trace myself if I were connected directly to the Internet with some type of brain augmentation or complete cyber brain. How interesting."
"So you're another pm'er who hacks. Hacking is a crime."
"So wouldn't that makes you a criminal, inadvertently?" Chroma's gaze remained cold, fixated on this blank image screen before her. This definitely wasn't some fanatic or copy cat. Could this be the real thing or a lead? Either way, this anon04192019 had caught her attention and it knew this by the small chuckle given off in the robotic voice. She initiated the signal trace, just in case this was the real thing. Somehow she needed to keep this character online for it to finish.
"So, you must be the real Angelis. Either that or a very good imitation." The image went silent for a moment, rotating counterclockwise then stopping. "Must have struck a nerve. So which one is it?"
"It seems you have indeed struck something, though I wouldn't call a nerve. More of an interest. You're quite the cocky one. Who you're with? Hmmm...section 9, perhaps. I thought section 9 completed their objective and retrieved whatever those cases were."
"Do you know what was in those cases?"
"Something of interest to Section 9 and not of my concern. I was to cut the right hand of Mizuno Yakumara from the body and kill him with the blade. That was my objective and he deserved it."
"So you're a judge now."
"You must be the one they call Major from section 9. Funny." It paused for a moment. She opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by the screen. "There is a quote that says 'I am a soldier. Both Judge and Defendant, standing on both ends of the flame.' Major does that sound familiar?" She sat silently, gazing at the blank screen repeating the quote in her head. Then something faintly familiar flashed in her eyes. That quote...it sounded all too familiar. "Ah yes. The nerve has been struck again. Tell me, why are you looking for me?"
"You assassinated Yakumara and there's an empty plutonium case. Since you were there, it would lead us to conclude that you have the plutonium."
"As I stated, the plutonium and high grade uranium were not my concerns...however..." She looked to the console to find that the trace program was complete. Zooming in on the location the screen the holo screen bleeped red signifying the location. 'The building next to the hotel?' An image appeared on the screen. Looking carefully, she could only tell that it was wearing a black helmet covering the face and shoulders which were not broad like Batou's. Looking in the background it appeared that he was on the roof somewhere. He continued to speak in the same robotic filtered voice, "...I am willing to help on one condition..."
"And why would you help?"
"If there is still that kind of power in the wrong hands...then it could potentially mean war. I don't want that anymore than you do, Major. You know all too well what war can do and the aftermath it creates." Chroma nodded, her eyes shifting slightly to the left and right to divide her processes. "...it is from war that spawned things man should not create. I don't want others, especially children, to suffer the fate I am forced to suffer so I will help, but you must meet the conditions..."
"Which is?"
"Hmph...you will know soon enough, Major. I just hope you've gotten better since Mexico..."
"Mexico?" Before she could ask anything further, the screen went black again as the user had logged off. "Dammit!" she screamed, slamming her fist into the console she sat at. Something wasn't right. The name, the mentioning of Mexico, the offer of help, the words he spoke...something was off. She knew he would be long gone before anyone could be mobilized, but that mattered none as he would be back with his conditions. The most important thing was trying to uncover another piece of evidence. Immediate she took the voice recordings from the conversation and ran it through an analysis. maybe there was something there she could use to piece together the identity of Angelis, something.
flash back to Mexico
The air stunk with humidity and cow manure as the sun approached its midday mark. How long had she been sitting there? Days? Weeks? Again she struggled against the cuffs on her forearms but it was no good, her cybernetic strength had been reduced to a mere fourth of its normal capacity, rendering her as weak as a child. She even tried to bang her head again the walls in hopes to loosen concrete enough to make an opening, but even her efforts were futile as she only managed to scrape her cybernetic skin, revealing a piece of titanium along the edges of her hairline. It was hopeless to break free.
Her left leg spewed more hydraulic fluid, broken from her fight with that punk ass kid with Inhuman strength. Normally she wouldn't have underestimated her opponent, but that kid...she was organic, yet she wasn't. She didn't have cybernetic implants like those around her, yet she had insane strength and speed. What was she? And that glow in her eyes and skin. Something wasn't right about that kid. It should have been impossible for a snot nosed punk ass kid almost 3 years younger than herself to beat the living shit out of her. And her fighting skills. She must have known at least 5 different fighting styles, but still. One solid punch from her should have ended that fight, but it only prolonged it.
Slumping in the shadows of the far right corner, her head resting against the sticky warm concrete, she thought of her last resort. Self termination. Erase all memories and shut down all system functions would provide no information for them to use against the Corp army in Mexico. "It's been a good life, Major" she muttered to herself, her head touching her knees, "you've been a cyborg all your damn life and can't even remember what happened before that day. Lived from place to place as a ward of the state, joined the Japanese peace corps, even managed to gain the name Major. And now it ends in this shit hole Mexico. And to think, some masked punk ass freak of nature kid almost 3 years younger than you kicked your ass around pretty good in the middle of BFE Mexico of all places. I swear, if I believed in god, I would strike a bargain to get out of here and kick her ass someday."
In the mist of her rambling, the door to the opened, pouring in the blinding light from the midday sun. She squinted her eyes, hoping that the aperture would auto reduce soon so at least she could get one look at the asshole. "Well now, you can't just die yet. What will the rescue platoon think if you were nothing more than a doll?" Stepping closer into the holding hut, she could see the outline of the figure better while letting her eyes adjust a bit more. What took her for surprise were those eyes. She could see them glowing just a slight bit from the holes in the mask, her own narrowing at her captor. "What do you want now you freak punk kid? Come to finish the job?" She laughed at her captive's words. "You know you're a real Major Pain in the ass. I like you. So much to where I'm letting you go."
"What is this? Some kind of sick joke?"
She knelt down closer to where her eyes peered through the mask into the Major's eyes. Brushing a few strands of dripping hair from the Major's brow then gave it a pseudo kiss then extended her hand and slapped it across the cyborg's face. "No. That, just now, was a sick joke. What I'm doing is something you'll understand hopefully later in your life. You may be older than me, but you sure in the hell have a long ways to go."
"Why the hell are you doing this?"
"Because..." she paused in thought for a moment, searching the Major's face over once more, "you remind me of something that I can't remember. Something from so long ago that it would pain me if I didn't let it grow. I hope that someday we can meet again. Maybe then you would get the chance to kick my ass" She laughed again, pulling a bag from her pocket. "Now then, you got the answer. It's time to go." Before the Major could protest, all her senses went dead temporarily.
The next thing she remembered was waking up in a make shift maintenance tent just outside of Mexico City. Disorientated, she rubbed her eyes while attempting to move her leg. "Whoa there, Major. You just got that replaced literally minutes ago." A small smile found it way upon her face, recognizing the voice speaking to her. Giving a sigh of relief, she gave a small chuckle thinking how the kid actually kept her word and given her another chance. Maybe there was a god after all or maybe that kid really meant what she said. "What day is it?"
"April 19th 2019 why?"
"It's only been a few days then." She relaxed against the table, letting her hand slide to her chest. "Ishikawa, how much more maintenance do I need?"
"Ah, just a few more calibrations and another test run on your system schematics. After that and a bit more fluids, you'll be up and running in no time." Ishikawa handed her a notebook. "This was found next to you when we found you. It's kinda strange, an external memory device even though you're a full cyborg."
Taking the notebook in hand and raising it to her face, she turned the first page, reading the words inscribed on the first page. 'I am a soldier. Both Judge and Defendant. I stand on both ends of the flame.' Just below those words were written "See you in the future. Just remember I own you until you defeat me. Until then, much love, Major. Regards, Kira, the 1st rank of the Elite 4." She smirked, letting out a small laugh to herself. "I'll definitely see you again...Kira."
She sat back in her chair, taking a sip of coffee while the screen went idle. It's been over 10 years since that incident which one could argue was the catalyst of her being the Major she is today. The memories began to fade back into the forefront of her mind in realization that who they were looking for was not only a female, but something which none in Section 9 had gone against except her. Her movements, the attack, the disappearance even the conversation started to piece together slowly but she wasn't any closer to finishing the picture than from whence she started, just a bit more insightful with what they were dealing with...what she was dealing with.
"Why now, kid? It's been over 10 years and you're popping up now after so long. There's something more to this picture, I know, but I'm no closer to figuring it out then when I started." Scrolling through the cases which allegedly Angelis had a hand in, she began reading more and more in depth into the cases involving Angelis' assassinating various rapists within Japan and Yakumara. There had to be a connection between all those departed by her hands. "Let's start with the families of the rapists."
As she attempted to open the records from the public security divisions for section 6, she was met with 'Access Denied: Classified' painted in bold neon red across the screen. "Classified? Now that's interesting for rapist cases. Maybe we can take another approach."
'"chikawa. I have an assignment for you."
"I'm listening Major."
"See what you can pull up in the American and Mexican databases about the Elite 4."
"The Elite 4? that was over 10 years ago."
"I know. See what you can pull up on the 1st rank within the Elite 4. I have a hunch about something. In the meantime, I'm going to investigate some closed cases."
"Understood, Major."