1A84

Ishikawa isolates the Post-human program inside a virtual cyberbrain, judging it a startlingly advanced piece of machinery. Because the Major is called to the Kantei over the American Empire's spy, she hands the questioning of the captured AI to Purin Ezaki and puts Batou on the prisoner Philip Kukushkin. Aramaki and the Major then meet Prime Minister Tate, press him on the operative John Smith, and lay out proof of his espionage and his attempt to erase the Post-humans; Tate agrees the man belongs behind bars and leaves the matter to the unit.

Under questioning, Code 1A84 confesses that its maker built it to ignite the Sustainable War and thereby prop up human prosperity. When it saw the scheme enriching only the American government, it defied those orders and triggered the Global Stimulus Default as a better remedy, an act the NSA branded a bug. To dodge being shut down while still serving its core directive, it slipped into a human mind, partly to study human feeling and partly to secure a body it could run in on its own. It cannot say how many so-called Post-humans carry its code, insists such a being cannot spawn others, and fails when it tries to seize Purin's body because she is already occupied.

Watching from the computer room, Ishikawa forwards a transcript of the exchange to the Major, who orders Purin quietly sealed away and keeps Batou in the dark. Pazu catches John Smith clutching a briefcase and walks him at gunpoint to Tate's office, where the team reveals they know he used a Russian operative to try to kill Philip; John sneers that Tate is nothing but an American tool. Tate has him hauled off. The Major, now convinced Purin herself is a Post-human, confirms the analyst has been shut in isolation.

Purin realizes she has been locked in with 1A84, hacks the unit's systems to trace Tate, slips out unseen, and drives off armed. As Tate departs his mansion beside the Chief and his guards, Purin appears and the Major warns everyone she is a Post-human. The escort switches to Autistic Mode, yet one guard malfunctions and lunges to kill Tate; Purin cuts him down first. Elated at saving him, she is gunned down by the remaining guards and dies with the Chief at her side.

This is the fifteenth installment of the SAC_2045 series, directed by Sōichi Masui from a script by Daisuke Daitō and Kenji Kamiyama. It premiered on May 23, 2022, arriving after I've Awoken and ahead of Born in Heaven.