In the near-future city of Niihama, where cyberization and prosthetics are commonplace, Batou of Public Security Section 9 shares tiny romantic sparks with the super-wizard class hacker Ishikawa. Both are terrible at being honest with their feelings, and they spend their days exchanging awkward words during missions.
One day, they begin investigating a series of cyber hacking incidents. The common thread among the victims is the use of the latest chips from the major prosthetic manufacturer 'Po
Lovers in the Cyber Labyrinth - That fist pierces the cyberworld.
That's wrong, he thought.
Batou stared at the communication terminal clenched in his hand. The vital data graph on the screen was plummeting at a steep angle. Ishikawa's ghost response was growing fainter and fainter. Like a light trembling in the distance, it seemed about to vanish at any moment.
Dawn in the Tachibana district. The air in the back alley was bitterly cold. At the edge of the dim sky, just a hint of pale white was beginning to mix in. By the wall piled high with garbage bags, a stray cat gazed steadily up at Batou's massive frame.
(Why?)
His hand trembled. He desperately fought the urge to crush the terminal with the power of his military-grade full prosthetic body. Beside him, Siren looked up at Batou with an anxious expression. The tips of her platinum blonde twintails, reaching down to her waist, flickered with a blue light.
"[scared]Batou-san, Ishikawa-san is..."
"[serious]Silence."
That was all he said before turning the corner of the alley.
The sign for the bar "Shelter" leaked just a faint amount of light. He descended the stairs and pounded on the iron door with his fist. Twice. The designated signal.
The door opened. The smell of cigarettes and whiskey. Across the counter, Gouda was polishing a glass. The surgical scar running across the top of his cleanly shaven head was shadowed in the dim interior lighting. He set the glass down the moment he saw Batou's face.
"[sad]...It's Ishikawa, huh."
"[serious]Yeah."
Batou pushed Siren's shoulder, guiding her inside.
"[angry]I'm going too! If it's cyber warfare—"
"[serious]You're the one being protected."
Batou spoke without turning around. His low voice was swallowed by the walls of the bar.
"[angry]Don't get in the way."
"[surprised]...!"
Siren's purple prosthetic eyes faintly tinged with red. Anger. But—Batou was no longer looking at her.
Wordlessly, Gouda slid a mug of hot milk across the counter. He placed it slowly in front of Siren.
"[gentle]Go on. Rookie."
Gouda jerked his chin towards the door.
Batou nodded just once. He flipped up the collar of his leather jacket and dashed out into the dawn-lit alley. In less than thirty seconds, the sound of his footsteps had faded into the distance.
Left behind in the bar, Siren trembled, her hands still wrapped around the mug.
"[sad]...Why? Am I just a burden?"
"[gentle]That ain't it."
Gouda held his glass up to the light, speaking as he peered through it.
"[gentle]That musclehead's the type to charge off alone when someone important to him gets hurt. Protecting someone, to him, means not letting anyone else lay a finger on 'em."
"[sad]..."
"[laughing]Gahaha! When a boiled octopus gets serious, nobody can stop it. Saw a fool with the exact same face as him on the battlefield thirty years ago."
Gouda gave a wry smile and set the glass back on the counter.
"[gentle]...All we can do is wait. Trust in those muscles of his."
---
The air changed.
The cyber-drug den sprawling beneath the Tachibana district. Batou, who had leaped down the stairs three at a time, stopped in front of an iron door. A yellow warning display was plastered on it: *Electromagnetic Barrier Active — Unauthorized Access Will Burn Out Cyberbrains*.
(Cyberbrains, huh.)
Batou raised his right leg. The sound of the hydraulic pressure in his military-grade full prosthetic knee joint surging.
DOGOOOON.
The iron door crumpled from its hinges and blew inward. The hinges tore off, embedding themselves in the concrete wall. Dust billowed up. Batou stepped through without hesitation.
And then—
A voice echoed through cyberspace.
'[sarcastic]This is my garden now, Batou.'
A soft, sweet voice. The voice of the instructor once relied upon most in Public Security Section 9. Now—the voice of an internationally wanted criminal.
'[sarcastic]There's no point in a muscle-brain who can't use a cyberbrain coming here. The barrier is seven layers deep, with traps deployed at one hundred and twelve points. It might not matter to you, since you're not cyberized—but any cyberized intruder would have their ghost burned out on the very first step.'
Batou didn't answer.
Before him was the drug den, a converted underground factory. Under the flickering of dim fluorescent lights, server racks lined the walls. Countless cords snaked across the floor, and cooling fans whined with an irritating noise.
Batou walked up to the nearest server rack.
'[sarcastic]Oh? What do you plan to do? Without any cyber warfare equipment?'
"[angry]Your cyberbrain doesn't matter to me."
Muttering that—Batou swung his prosthetic arm down.
CRASHAAAAAAN!!
The server rack snapped clean in two, scattering sparks. Coolant sprayed out, and severed cables drooped to the floor.
Something burst in cyberspace.
'[surprised]...! What are you—'
"[angry]For me, physics is faster!!"
Batou roared as he smashed the next server.
CRUNCH.
The iron casing crumpled in his hands. Circuit boards cracked and shattered, the sound of capacitors bursting echoing in succession. One after another—with every step, Batou pulverized every server within reach.
'[angry]That method... is cheating.'
For the first time, agitation crept into Kurasawa's voice.
'[angry]Why are you destroying a cyber battle... with physical force?! Such a primitive—'
"[angry]Shut uuuup!!"
A third server rack slammed into the wall from a kick by his prosthetic leg.
DOGON.
In that instant—one layer of the barrier in cyberspace peeled away. Simultaneously, the Kurasawa program enveloping Ishikawa's ghost weakened slightly.
A small notification appeared on Batou's communication terminal.
*Officer Ishikawa: Vital Signs Slightly Increased.*
(She's—still alive.)
Something trembled deep in his heart. Not just anxiety and anger. A small, but definite hope.
Batou headed for the fourth rack. He clenched his fist.
'[cold]You should have seen her past.'
Kurasawa whispered in a gentle voice.
'[cold]She killed two hundred and forty-seven people at the age of thirteen, surviving by trampling on people's cyberbrains. Her hands are stained dark with blood. Even so—do you think she's worth protecting?'
Batou didn't stop walking.
He walked. He smashed a server. He walked further.
"[serious]...I saw it."
He muttered low and gruffly.
"[serious]I saw all of it. Her past, the dirt on her hands, everything."
As he punched away the fifth server, Batou gritted his back teeth.
"[angry]Even so—she ate my curry, said it was good, and smiled!!"
CRASH.
The sixth server scattered sparks and fell silent.
"[angry]That alone is enough, damn it!!"
A silence born from Kurasawa fell over cyberspace. Something—something invisible—warped ever so slightly.
---
The deepest part.
The control room of the abandoned factory was clean, unlike the other floors. Equipment bearing the Poseidon Corporation logo was lined up, and cyber monitors covered an entire wall. In the center—a man sat in a leather chair.
His black hair, streaked with white, was slicked back, a faint smile playing on his lips. A black eyepatch covered one eye. A special prosthetic right arm moved eerily. Numerous plugs were inserted into his neck and back, his consciousness continuously maintaining the barrier in cyberspace.
Kurasawa.
Batou stepped into the control room.
Countless cables tangled on the floor, and three backup servers in the rack against the wall were still running. But already—most of the barrier had been stripped away.
"[serious]...You came, Batou."
Still seated in the chair, Kurasawa spoke. A faint cyber-light leaked from behind his eyepatch.
"[serious]Let's end this. Ishikawa... I couldn't protect her. And you, it seems, will be the same."
Batou didn't answer.
He simply walked slowly closer. One step. Two steps. He stopped in front of Kurasawa.
"[cold]There's no way to free her anymore. Her ghost has been eroded down to the deep-layer cyberbrain. Eventually—"
"[serious]...Shut up."
Batou grabbed the main power cable of the cyber terminal.
Kurasawa's eyes widened.
"[surprised]—Hey, stop—"
YANK.
The cable was pulled out.
In that instant.
Every monitor in the control room blacked out simultaneously. The barrier stretched across cyberspace vanished from its very foundation. Kurasawa's prosthetic arm convulsed violently, and the light in his eyepatch died.
"[angry]Wh... what have you—"
Batou grabbed Kurasawa by the shoulder. With the strength of his prosthetic arm, he dragged him out of the chair.
The former instructor. The man who had taught him tactics. The man Ishikawa had admired.
(Even so—right now, he's the enemy.)
"[serious]The things you've broken—"
Batou clenched his right fist.
"[angry]I'll fix them!!"
To the face.
CRUNCH.
The fist shattered his cheekbone, sending Kurasawa's body flying into the wall. He crumpled to the floor with a thud. His eyepatch came off, exposing the prosthetic eye beneath. But—it was no longer connected to the cyber network.
Lying on the floor, Kurasawa let out a small laugh.
"[gentle]...I see. So that's the kind of guy you are."
That was all he said before losing consciousness.
For a moment, Batou looked down at him. The self who couldn't protect his former instructor. The self who hadn't known Ishikawa's past. The self who had crushed a steel beam in a fit of jealousy. It all—raced through his mind.
(But, right now—)
Batou knelt on the floor. He took out Ishikawa's communication terminal and connected it to his prosthetic body's cyber terminal.
Immediately after—his consciousness was pulled into a deep darkness.
---
The deepest layer of cyberspace.
It was like a pitch-black sea. Nothing could be seen. No sound. Only an endless, bottomless darkness spread out.
But—faintly, there was a presence.
Batou, as a ghost, walked through the darkness. There should have been no light, no form—yet somehow his feet moved. He could advance.
(Where is she?)
And then—he found her.
Deep in the darkness, a small shadow trembled, hugging her knees. Emerald green hair glowed faintly. Her face was buried in her knees, unseen. Her shoulders shook in small, convulsive tremors.
Ishikawa.
Batou spoke.
"[gentle]Ishikawa."
The shadow—flinched violently.
"[crying]...I told you not to look."
A muffled voice. Wet with tears.
"[crying]My past... you saw all of it, didn't you. I killed two hundred and forty-seven people. Even though I was just a child—I destroyed people's cyberbrains, their ghosts, trampled on them—and survived because of it."
Her words broke off, trembling.
"[crying]I didn't want you to know... that I'm this filthy of a person."
"[crying]I thought... if you knew, you'd hate me."
Batou remained silent.
"[crying]I... I..."
"[gentle]I saw all of it."
Batou spoke quietly.
"[gentle]Even so, I'm here."
Ishikawa's shoulders trembled again.
Batou approached her ghost. He reached out his hand—and noticed that his own hand was glowing faintly. Contact between ghosts. But—somehow, it was warm.
He wrapped both arms around Ishikawa's body.
"[gentle]Your past, your sins, your stains—I'll accept all of it."
In his arms, Ishikawa's entire body stiffened.
But—Batou didn't let go. He said nothing, just continued to hold her.
"[crying]...Why."
"[crying]Why would you... for me—"
"[serious]Isn't it obvious."
Batou let out a small breath.
"[serious]Because I said myself that I'd protect you."
With those words—something cracked with an audible sound.
Ishikawa pressed her head against Batou's chest. She clung to his back with both hands and began to cry out loud.
"[crying]Idiot..."
"[crying]Too late... you're too late, idiot...!"
Her trembling fingers dug into Batou's back. Her tears, crossing even the boundaries of their ghosts, seeped into his chest.
"[gentle]...Yeah. I'm sorry."
Batou buried his face in Ishikawa's hair. The emerald green semi-long hair emitted a faint glow.
"[gentle]The bad dream is over now."
---
The darkness of cyberspace slowly be
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