Reasons Leading to Flameout

Reasons Leading to Flameout is the tenth episode of the Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 anime series.

Plot[]

Section 9 investigates a possible post-human hacker who uses the web to incite physical attacks on people. The trail leads to a high school student.

Summary[]

Tatsuya Hisata, a man at an airport, sends a text message with a picture to someone and is soon attacked and accosted by two eyeless people, which grows into a mob of people who chase him down.

At Section 9 Batou and Togusa meet with Ishikawa, Boma, and Purin and learn about a new job Purin reported. In the computer section, Purin details how a man had his cyber brain fried at the Fukuoka Airport, the man in person was Tatsuya Hisata, and Purin shows visual data on the attack. Tatsuya died from having his brain hacked by three million different people. Major then appears and claims that the person who may be responsible for the attack was the Post-human Suzuka Mizukane. Batou, Togusa, Pazu, and Saito are assigned to search for Suzuka, and Major has Ishikawa and Boma are to surveil the IR system around the airport. As for Purin, she's given no responsibility by Major, so she investigates a few hacking incidents that match the case of Tatsuya's death. She also reviews the visual feed of the time of Tatsuya's death and spots a commonality of a man at the scene of related deaths. The man's name was Koji Kogure, and Purin confronts and interrogates him. Purin learned from him that he could see what attacked Tatsuya through a mobile app called "Peep Hole," which allows people to see what the "target" sees. The app itself is run by someone known as the Nameless King. Koji, who wants an audience with the king, is hacked by him and allows her to see him. She's directed to go through a door to find him, and Purin does this without hesitation.

Inside the room that the door led to, Purin meets with the Nameless King, a fish with a crown on it, and learns from it the motive behind the attacks surrounding Think Pol. Think Pol is a jurisdiction where users decide whether a hated person is guilty or innocent. This explains the reason why three million hackers made Tatsuya die. Yakuza Kenji Isshi was another example; although his brain wasn't fried, his client list was stolen from him, and his mangled body was found days later by a car. Purin and the Nameless King then debate between moral justice and righteousness, and Major intervenes, calling out the Nameless King's actual name, Shinya Uotora.

In the real world, Shinya takes off the cyber VR he wore, and his mother tells him about some "friends" who have arrived, Major, Batou, and Togusa. Shinya then confesses that he "created Think Pol"; however, he's not the mastermind behind the attacks and the creator of Think Pol, just the Peeping App. In truth, Think Pol was found by Shinya and his friends, who used it on one of his teachers Takeru Hamabe, and after his brain fried, it expanded onto different targets. Furthermore, it was Shinya's motive to democratize Think Pol by releasing it to the internet. Just then, a new target is announced, and it's Prime Minister Tate, who at that moment was targeted by the eyeless mob. Coming to Tate's rescue were Major, Tatsu, and Batou all managed to defend him from the mob successfully.

Afterward, the Section 9 group talks about how Tatsuya managed to get three million on his attackers while only Tate managed to get two thousand. Think Pol was also closed down for good, and as for Shinya, the Major notes that he hasn't learned his lesson quoting him that the country will go downhill. Major then orders the group to find some intel on the Post-human Takashi Shimamura, and as Batou leaves, he's asked by Purin whether or not a lead was found on Suzuka. However, he says he didn't, compliments her for her excellent job, and disparages her naivety for allowing her to get hacked by them.

Characters[]

Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Season 1 Episodes

Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045 Season 2 Episodes