Terrorists claim to have possession of a girl who was kidnapped sixteen
years ago. Section 9 are called in to rescue her; however, they soon
realise there is something very wrong - the girl is the same age she
was when she was kidnapped all those years ago!
Section 9 are
assigned to guard a very wealthy and reclusive businessman who has been
targeted for assassination by an international crime syndicate. But
they seem to have lost him? Back at the headquarters, the Major has
become disturbed by the behaviour of the Tachikomas; their artificial
intelligence is developing too fast, leading them to act erratically.
Kusanagi's reservations about their future usefulness is about to come
to a head, and will have moral implications for certain members of
Section 9.
Meanwhile, Batou has other concerns as he goes undercover
to spy on Pavlo Zaitsev, a former Olympic silver medalist and a
personal hero of his. Zaitsev is suspected of leaking sensitive
information to an unknown party. The assignment calls into question
Batou's attitudes towards his Section 9 duties and forces him to make a
decision.