Silly Kukushkin

Section 9 goes hunting for Philip Kukushkin, a Russian who appears to understand how the post-humans are made. In a hotel, an engineer boasting that he holds the code sits down with two Indian agents while a hidden watcher looks on. At headquarters, Aramaki briefs the team: Foreign Affairs has been trailing Kukushkin, a second-class cyberbrain specialist and former Russian intelligence hand whose body is entirely artificial, and he now seems to be seeking asylum through the Indian Embassy. Hoping to reach him before John Smith does, the squad heads out.

At the Hotel Daifuku, Kukushkin waves off a drink from a fellow Russian, then suddenly chokes to death before Kusanagi's group can reach him. The autopsy blames a polonium-induced prosthetic failure, but the corpse has no cyberbrain, marking it as a remote body. Suspecting the obvious Russian trail is a decoy, Kusanagi splits the team to find both the real Kukushkin and his killer. Purin and Batou trace him to a robot named Ginger, into which he had copied his mind before the hit, unaware that the invisible post-human Suzuka Mizukane is eavesdropping.

Once the team recovers Ginger, Suzuka closes in and hacks Purin and Batou, forcing them into Autistic Mode while Kusanagi gives chase and loses her in traffic. As the group drives off to question Ginger, the disguised Russian, revealed as a full prosthetic, ambushes them, and Kusanagi subdues him to seize his braincase for later. With Suzuka now racing after them in a car loaded with an RPG and a rifle, the confrontation is far from over.

Directed by Sōichi Masui and written by Daisuke Daitō with Kenji Kamiyama, the episode aired in both Japanese and English on May 23, 2022. It follows All Will Become N and leads into I've Awoken. Togusa, still missing, is only referenced here, and the Tachikoma likewise appear only in passing.