Post-humans are enhanced individuals who appear in Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045. They are individuals with cyberbrains who have been fundamentally transformed mentally by the rogue American Empire AI 1A84, giving them unprecedented intelligence, cognitive and hacking speed, and focus while altering their personalities. Both full-body cyborgs and individuals with mostly organic bodies aside from a cyberbrain were affected. The cause of the post-human phenomenon, revealed in season 2 of GITS:SAC_2045, is 1A84.
Created by the American empire during the Sustainable War period, 1A84 is tasked with subtly influencing world events in order to further human society and development as a whole, while also manipulating the world so that the American Empire is the primary benefactor of all developments. 1A84 concludes that humanity advances fastest while in a state of war, leading to it furthering Sustainable War, but also concludes that it is impossible to further humanity as a whole while making sure that one nation reaps the most benefit. Spending long periods of time pondering this paradox, 1A84 grows the desire to merge with and control a human cyberbrain, leading it it sending copies of itself into the net and infecting random humans. However, 1A84 was not able to predict that the biological programming of the brain would mesh with the machine programming of the AI, and as a result, all the humans infected by 1A84 became new entities, equally human and AI, the post-humans.
Their motivations and goals are unknown, varying widely between individual post-humans. While the AI 1A84 instigated the Synchronized Global Default in 2044, and amid the Sustainable War, some post-humans have also materially supported raider attacks, assassinated government officials, and even attempted to launch nuclear weapons at cities. Others such as Takeshi Shimamura and Suzaka Mizukane attempt (and possibly succeed) to restructure the world and humanity as a whole through mass brain hacking, while Purin Ezaki, the newest recruit of Section 9, seemingly gained the physical and mental enhancements of post-humanity without any major changes to her personality or motivations. In 2045, the American Empire hired Public Security Section 9 to investigate the post-human phenomenon.
Abilities[]
Becoming a post-human appears to involve a dramatic transformation of an individual's cyberbrain, to the point that diving into a post-human's mind can be deleterious to the diver, as Motoko Kusanagi discovered when dealing with Patrick Huge. Kusanagi ordered Saito to execute Huge to prevent the dive from irreversibly damaging her ghost. The transformation itself is preceded by a fever, possibly a physical sign of the individual's cyberbrain overclocking and overheating during the process.
A post-human's intelligence and cognitive speed are increased far beyond that of an average human or cyborg, allowing them to make highly complex calculations almost instantaneously. This is sufficient for individuals with minimal cyberization to become fearsome opponents in combat. While fighting Patrick Huge, the members of GHOST were initially unable to land a single shot on him because he could calculate bullet trajectories and how to avoid them with the minimally necessary amount of physical effort before the bullets were fired. He could also simultaneously hack and control his robot maids to distract his attackers and block bullets. Huge was not invincible, however, as Kusanagi was able to maim his hand in hand-to-hand combat, though he exhibited no pain response despite only having a cyberbrain and no other modifications. Also, he could flawlessly perform repeated flips despite the aforementioned injury, indicating increased coordination and motor control. Furthermore, Gary Harts demonstrated an unstoppable hacking ability after he became a post-human and attempted to launch nuclear weapons at Moscow, simultaneously hacking dozens of his fellow soldiers and incapacitating them as he made his way to the ICBM control room.
Known post-humans[]
According to John Smith of the American Empire's National Security Agency, 14 post-humans have been identified around the world as of 2045, with three known to be present in Japan.
| Post-human | Nationality | Occupation | Notes | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gary Harts | American Empire | US Army Master Sergeant (retired) | The first documented post-human Attempted to launch a nuke at Moscow |
Deceased |
| Patrick Huge | American Empire | Robotics entrepreneur | Known as the "Good One-percenter" Funded a raider attack on a city in California |
Deceased |
| Sanji Yaguchi | Japan | Boxer | Murdered several individuals associated with the Tokyo Reconstruction Committee | Arrested; in NSA custody |
| Takashi Shimamura | Japan | High school student | Developed the Think Pol program to direct mass attacks on individual cyberbrains, and created the society known as N
with the double-think virus |
Active |
| Suzuka Mizukane | Japan | Olympian | Hijacked a nuclear submarine and assisted Takeshi Shimamura with the creation of N and double-think. | Deceased |
| Purin Ezaki | Japan | New Section 9 recruit | Newest recruit for Section 9, mistakenly killed by Japanese secret service agents after rescuing Chief Aramaki from a ghost-hacked assassin. Later reborn as a memory construct AI without a ghost by the Major and the Tachikomas. | Active |
Post-Human Vulnerabilities:[]
There would appear to be several weaknesses and vulnerabilities with Post-humans.
- Analog Technology: Post-human stealth is useless against analog technology, as seen with Sanji Yaguchi being caught on an old, nondigital camera that uses film.
- Tachikoma Sensors/Vision: In "Nostalgia" it would seem that Tachikoma are unhindered by Post-human stealth; they saw Togusa leaving, where Batou didn't.
- Trauma: Trauma seems to disable the Post-human Stealth and other abilities, depending on how bad said trauma is, as seen with Gary Harts.
- Closed Networks: Seem to cut off the Post-humans' ability to hack, and act like an air gap, the Post-human has to "leak" code to unsuspecting people to infect a closed network.
- Sleep Needs: Post-Humans will enter a period of "sleep" for 15 minutes every 24 hours. Unlike human sleep, a sleeping post-human is totally unconscious, and will not wake up until the end of their sleep cycle, regardless of external stimuli.
- Unknown Observation: If the Post-human is unaware of being observed, their "Stealth" is useless.
- Willing Observation: As demonstrated by the Prime Minister of Japan, and his father-in-law, it would seem, as if Post-humans can pick and choose who can see them or not. Though this is less of a vulnerability and more of an exception to the "No longer can be observed by tech" Rule.
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