01. DI: Reboot - REEMBODY

Two police helicopters race into downtown New Port City, where they join their brethren in hovering around a staggeringly tall skyscraper. A swarm of flashing red and blue lights surrounds the plaza at the base of the tower. Hordes of SWAT members race into the main lobby even as a white-shirted officer directs people fleeing the building to safety. Sniper teams target the building from a rooftop across the street, and all of it happens in the first 30 seconds. Thus opens the first episode of Ghost In the Shell "Stand Alone Complex" 2nd Gig.

A battered white van with a simple logo on its side reading "For Micromachining, Use Seishinkouki¹ Co., Ltd" pulls up to a swath of yellow police tape and halts, just outside the building's plaza. Inside, Motoko asks Batou what he thinks of the current situation. Watching the building's hacked video feed, he replies "Their response was quicker than I expected."

2 years after its official disbanding, Section 9 is reassembled and ready for action. The current terrorist action makes it likely that they will finally be given official permission to act, so Motoko tells the team to prepare to brain dive her for a briefing. Batou cracks a quick joke, reminding the rest to keep their firewalls up "to circumvent detection".

It seems that 23 minutes prior, an armed group seized the Chinese Embassy on the forty-sixth floor of the skyscraper. There are at least 10 hostages, and the number of terrorists is unknown; the group has proclaimed itself to be the "Individual Eleven". Saito and Togusa prep their gear and remark that the government will have to release them from the indefinite standby order. Togusa asks if the terrorists have made any demands, and Motoko replies that they want to get rid of the Asian Refugees immediately. Batou points out that the Chinese government regularly airlifts its refugees to Dejima (a man-made refugee island/city in Nagasaki Bay) which could explain the choice of target.



Boma and Ishikawa have hacked the facility's networks, and report on the SWAT teams' situation; they have censored the media and initiated communications jamming. Radio and cyberbrain communications are blocked, and all the cameras in the building have been cut. The terrorists are using voice-only to negotiate with the police.

Saito is in one of the nearby helicopters, with a deck-mounted rifle at his side. He notes that the building's windows are visually screed, and sets to work neutralizing them. Motoko tells the team to make final preparation and wait for the signal from the Chief; she adds "If the Chief is unable to persuade the leadership to let us go, we'll halt our surveillance, retreat from the building, and go get smashed at a strip club!

Aramaki is meeting with the new ruling government, a conservative backlash against the post-war liberal policies and the corruption of the Yakushima regime. The new PM is Yoko Kayabuki, the first female Prime Minister of Japan. At her left sits a pale, white-haired man with hard eyes, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takakura - the powerbroker behind the new coalition government.

Aramaki's boss, the Minister of Home Affairs, brings him up to speed, explaining that the timing of the terrorist incident is extremely unfortunate due to the fact that plans had already been laid to repeal the refugee legislation, announce an indefinite suspension of refugee immigration, and begin a step-wise reduction of relief sectors. Thus, the media cannot learn of the terrorist's demands, or it will appear that the ruling party has appeased them.

Aramaki points out that the situation requires expediency, and Yoko gets to the point. She offers to allocate budget funds to rebuild Section 9, but only on the condition that absolutely none of the hostages is killed. He agrees and asks to be given permission to issue an order to that effect; the Minister of Home Affairs tells him to slow down - they are in the process of legally reinstating them.

Aramaki is dismayed that they are waiting on paperwork, but holds his temper and his tongue when Yoko reinforces the Minister's statements. Batou cracks wise about the Cabinet's pussyfooting, suggesting that Section 9 become terrorists and stage a coup. Motoko points out that they are an illegal armed military group - "Just look at the facts, we're already there."

While waiting for orders, the team discusses the new Cabinet and the refugee situation. Togusa points out that while the refugees were a source of cheap labor during the post-war reconstrution era, now the tax and unemployment rates are rising every year. "Consider also the wanton use of taxpayer money to fund the current policy towards refugees, who continue to stream into the nation, and it's not too difficult to see why restless elements have appeared."

Motoko mentions that, should Section 9 succeed in this mission, they will be getting some new recruits. Togusa cockily asks who is supposed to keep up with them, to which she replies by reminding him not to count his chickens before they're hatched just as Saito cuts in with news: he's neutralized the visual screens. However, the terrorists are using phyiscal blinds as well, so the Major makes the decision to ghost-hack one of the terrorists to get intel on the situation inside the Embassy.



Meanwhile, a SWAT scout team is gathering intel. Unfortunately, they aren't Section 9.

Kusanagi completes the ghost hack on a terrorist wearing a bandana, and using his eyes takes stock of the situation inside. Hostages are lined up against a wall, skirts and trousers around their shins to prevent movement. Four other armed men are in the room. Suddenly, gunshots sound. One of the terrorists is down, and so is a SWAT member. A second cop is taken hostage. The terrorists decide to move up the deadline in response, even as the site-commander for SWAT realizes he's lost contact with his scouts.

Motoko comments that there doesn't seem to be a leader of the group, and completes her count of the terrorists at nine. The group continues to monitor the situation while, back at Yoko's office news of the escalation is delivered. The terrorists have said that they will execute the police officer, and then one hostage every 10 minutes unless she publicly announces that she will comply with their demands.

Aramaki demands that she take action, pointing out that the media censorship won't hold out much longer. He argues that she has the authority to order a military strike against the terrorists, and suggests that she send Section 9 in under the guise of a SWAT team. He even says that in the event of a failure, she may disavow any knowlege of his actions. Backed into a corner, she takes the out - Section 9 is authorized to act.

Aramaki orders the SWAT team to conduct a raid in exactly 15 minutes. He informs Section 9 to infiltrate the embassy and eliminate the terrorist threat. He stresses the paramount importance of hostage safety. "Fifteen minutes..." Batou quips, "You say it so casually after making us wait for so long."

The team converges and Motoko establishes the op units - Batou & Togusa, Paz & Saito, and her with Ishikawa and Boma. They head into the building, right through the front door.

Inside, the Individualists are beating information out of their hostage SWAT officer. After extracting the planned incursion routes, they move half the hostages to cover block the fire escape.

Motoko explains that she will keep them distracted until the last second, then make them attack each other with her ghost-hacked friend and his gun. The terrorists notice the elevators moving, and four of them converge on the entrance.

In a stunning visual sequence, we switch back and forth from Bandana's eyeball stream (which the team is watching on their way up) and a 3rd person view of the scene.

A masked man looks into Bandana's eyes and twitches an eyebrow at his odd behavior.

Bandana twitches, sweat beading on his face and neck.




Headmask starts to ask what his problem is when, without warning, Motoko opens fire.






Headmask goes down, and then the terrorist next to him.







She fires into a cyborg with cybernetic eyes similar to Batou's, but his body is heavily modified and apparently bullet-proof.



The red-coated terrorist closest to the elevator finally reacts.





We see Bandana's death from his own perspective.






Now we see from Batou's point of view as he closes his remote feed just as the elevator doors open.





Batou takes out Red-Coat. The cyborg flees and Batou, optical-camou making him near-invisible, sprints after him.











Footnotes:
¹ This is a reference to Masamune Shirow's publisher Seishinsha.