Recolle app
Jan. 24th, 2030 12:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
standalonehumanPLAYER
YOUR NAME: Agnes
18+?: Yes
CONTACT: Plurk: Furikuchan
CHARACTERS IN GAME: N/A
RESERVATION LINK: http://recollecters.dreamwidth.org/2271.html?thread=82655#cmt82655
YOUR NAME: Agnes
18+?: Yes
CONTACT: Plurk: Furikuchan
CHARACTERS IN GAME: N/A
RESERVATION LINK: http://recollecters.dreamwidth.org/2271.html?thread=82655#cmt82655
CHARACTER: CANON SECTION
NAME: Togusa (First name never revealed in canon.)
AGE: 27
CANON: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
NAME: Togusa (First name never revealed in canon.)
AGE: 27
CANON: Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
CANON HISTORY:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togusa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Ghost_in_the_Shell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Security_Section_9
Little is known about Togusa's childhood and early police career. He was born in 2003, and grew up while the Third World War was raging, primarily between America and China. Japan never committed their military to active fighting, but was still subject to nuclear bombings. In the wake of the Third World War, Japan was able to grow into a much more active superpower on the world political and economic stage, thanks to the development of micromachines. Micromachines were used both environmentally, in order to remove radioactive fallout from the atmosphere, and began to be used medically, in the treatment of disease and the development of cyberbrain technology.
Togusa began his career in Japan's police force young, and by 2024, was already a member of Public Security Section 1, dedicated to investigations on serious criminal cases, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Togusa and his partner Yamaguchi were involved in the investigation of what would later come to be known as The Laughing Man case.
At the time, it was just the kidnapping of Serano Genomics CEO, Ernest Serano. The kidnapper had walked in and out of Mr. Serano's home completely unseen, because he had hacked the cyberbrain of anyone who looked at him to make them not see him. He had posted a ransom, then, out of the blue, three days later, had appeared on television, holding Mr. Serano at gunpoint, demanding that he tell the world the truth about something. Once again, the kidnapper hacked the eyes and cameras of everyone who saw him, displaying only a strange graphic instead of his face. By the time police arrived, The Laughing Man was gone, and no one knew what he looked like.
The original Laughing Man incident was followed up by a string of blackmail attempts on other micromachine corporations. But Togusa always remembered the original incident. It didn't sit right with him, because it was so out of character of what The Laughing Man followed it up with. Everyone else who got near the case would look at The Laughing Man as a hacker first. Togusa would always remember one desperate man with a gun.
Some time after The Laughing Man incident, a new Public Security section, Section 9, was formed, under the jurisdiction of Chief Daisuke Aramaki. The Section was specifically designed for counter-terrorist actions and cyber-warfare, in the wake of an increase in cyborg-related crime. The rest of the unit was mostly made up of ex-military cyborgs, people who had fought in World War IV. Even Togusa is unsure of why Major Kusanagi selected him to join the team. Whenever he asked about it, her only explanation was that she wanted to break up the predictability of the team. He thought differently than the rest of them. Chief Aramaki would echo a similar sentiment, that each member of the team had something unique to bring to the table, Togusa's strength being that he worked best alone, but that individual successes were really reflective of Section 9's teamwork.
Despite being recruited to Section 9, Togusa never upgraded into a prosthetic cyborg body. He still proved himself as being capable both as an investigator, and in most combat field work. He continued to carry his preferred service revolver, even into combat situations against cyborg opponents. He'd keep it as a sidearm or last resort, even if he was packing a heavier gun. Both of these facts would often get pointed out by the rest of the team as idiosyncrasies, that Togusa was somehow old-fashioned or stuck in the past. They would use it as a reason to treat him like a rookie and a kid, which only served to goad Togusa into trying to prove himself more. But in professional situations, Togusa would often be the most disciplined of the group, sticking to proper procedure.
By 2030, Togusa was married with two children, and had integrated well into the now-seasoned Section 9 team. When on investigations, Togusa would most often be the member of the team to physically return to a scene of a crime, while the others would investigate through video footage or net data. After a Japanese Minister was held hostage in a botched cyber-terrorist attempt, it was Togusa going back to where the incident had happened that made the break in the case.
One night, Yamaguchi called Togusa out of the blue, telling him that he was investigating some sensitive data, and needed a second opinion. It was about the Laughing Man case, which parts of Section 1 were still looking at. Togusa planned to meet his friend at Section 9 HQ, but Yamaguchi never made it. Yamaguchi was killed in a suspicious car wreck when he was on his way there. He had left behind only a series of photographs, all of very mundane scenes. Togusa was unwilling to accept that Yamaguchi's death was merely an accident. His instincts told him to investigate what Yamaguchi had been on to, and after some arguing his case with Aramaki, he got three days to turn up something.
It was only Togusa's perspective that would have figured it out. All of the photographs had been taken, with no camera. They were confidential still shots that could only have been taken from the points of view of officers within Section 1. This meant that Section 1 was, for some reason, infecting their own officers with surveillance micromachines. And Serano Genomics turned out to be the micromachine manufacturer who was selling the machines to the police. The current head of Section 1 was about to retire and had a partial stake in the company. Thanks to Togusa, all of this was made public. At first he was angry, because it looked like Section 1 was going to be able to pin the incident on a police Captain and fire him in disgrace, instead of taking any accountability. Whatever Yamaguchi had been onto had been enough to kill him, but was this all going to just go away?
Instead, The Laughing Man immediately re-surfaced, after six years of silence, at the Section 1 Superintendent's press conference. He continued to demand the truth out of Serano Genomics, but over what? That was still a mystery. But Togusa's actions had drawn him out of hiding. He had been waiting for someone to find out what Yamaguchi, and now Togusa, had found out. After six years, Togusa was back on the Laughing Man Case.
The Laughing Man carried through on a threat against Superintendent Daigo's life, by using a modular delayed computer virus: to literally hack 39 people at once and turn them on Superintendent Daigo. The Major protected Daigo at the scene, while Togusa and Battoh tracked down who they thought was the originator of the virus: Nanao. He had previously worked at Serano Genomics, and had been involved in the creation of the Interceptor spying micromachines, so the situation looked like it fit. While it turned out that he was the originator of the virus, he was not The Laughing Man, himself, and Togusa arrived just barely too late: Nanao was killed by members of Section 1, supposedly resisting arrest.
Although they had saved Superintendent Daigo's life, Togusa and Aramaki declared their intentions to Daigo to continue the investigation into the true intentions of The Laughing Man. This would put nearly every other government agency against Section 9, in the long run. Every time there was a break in the Laughing Man case, there would be a subsequent cover-up by one of the other Ministries or agencies in the Japanese government, just like Nanao's curiously-timed death. This only made Togusa more determined to find what it was The Laughing Man was after.
Finally, Section 9 uncovered a hack into the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare. The Ministry, itself, had just had some ultra-top-secret information hacked, but reported absolutely nothing. The hack was traced to a facility treating individuals with Cyberbrain Closed-Shell Syndrome, a blanket term for people with maladjusted disorders as a result of cyberization. Because of the nature of the facility, it is naturally isolated from the Net. So how could a hack have originated from there?
Togusa was sent in to the facility undercover to find the source of the hack. He posed as a new social worker, and tried to get close to some of the children in the facility, including a deaf-mute named Aoi. The children's ward contained a group of children with savant-level ability for building and breaking down net barriers. So, clearly, someone had been using them to be able to pull off the high-level hack into the Ministry. Togusa learned that someone named 'The Chief' had supposedly visited the ward on the day of the hack. But he couldn't figure out anything else before he blew his cover. Togusa had to fight off the facility's full-conversion cyborg, eventually killing the man, but he was knocked unconscious before the Major and Battoh could get in to extract him.
Togusa had blown the operation, and the finishing touch was when he went to give a sketch of the patient he had interacted with, Aoi. Although he pulled the image directly from his cyberbrain memory, he came up with a drawing of The Laughing Man's logo. He had been hacked the entire time he was in there.
Togusa obsessed over the case. They had narrowed down what sort of information The Laughing Man was after, but the sheer volume of information within the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, was too much to go through. The possibilities were endless, to anyone else. But Togusa was sure that he could figure it out.
Perhaps because of his own perspective on technology, Togusa was the one to determine that The Laughing Man was after something that wasn't available digitally. A hacker that skilled could get his hands on any digital information. But maybe he was looking for the physical location of something that he couldn't get any other way. Although Aramaki had ordered Togusa to cease looking into it, the Major backed Togusa's idea, and told him to go ahead with his instincts.
In order to crack the case, Togusa had to physically go check the records at the Ministry's file room, one at a time. It took days, but eventually, he found that the Laughing Man had already come and gone, because something important was missing.
The report was a list of names treated for Cyberbrain Sclerosis (a gradual degeneration caused by the implantation of cyberbrain micromachines) with a traditional vaccine, called the Murai vaccine after its founder. The current most common treatment for Cyberbrain Sclerosis involved the use of micromachines, just like the ones that Serano Genomics used. But this was proof that the micromachines were not as effective a treatment, and that Serano Genomics, as well as some other top government officials, had suppressed the release of the vaccine in order to push micromachine treatment that would make them money, but that led to a great number of deaths due to the lack of availability of the vaccine. However, a number of those same government officials were suffering from Cyberbrain Sclerosis, and using the Murai Vaccine, themselves, because they knew it worked. This list would be the nail in the coffin for all their careers. It had been worth killing Yamaguchi over.
Unfortunately, it was also almost worth killing Togusa over. Togusa's discovery of the list's existence tipped off government officials, including the current head of the Japanese DEA unit. The DEA was sent to kill the protest group who had ended up with the list after the Laughing Man had gotten it, and Togusa happened to be in the way. He tried to fight off the DEA members to allow the group's leader to get away with the list. Togusa eventually escaped, but was shot and wounded.
Section 9 found out about what had happened by directly viewing Togusa's memories of the DEA raid. The DEA attempted to go after one of the government officials they were worried would leak the list, and tried to go after Section 9, themselves. Infuriated at what they had done to Togusa, Battoh and the Major tore apart the powered armor suit that the DEA had sent after them.
Togusa unfortunately had to recover while the rest of the team could continue the investigation. He still refused any prosthetic treatment, and insisted on healing up naturally. He wasn't able to rejoin the team until after the Major had made direct contact with the Laughing Man, and then confirmed the entire story about the Murai vaccine with Ernest Serano, himself. Section 9 pulled Serano into protective custody to ensure his testimony on the matter.
Togusa returned just in time for Aramaki to confront the man at the top of the Murai vaccine cover-up: Superintendent General Yakushima. Aramaki planned to arrest the man, but was informed that the rest of the government was not going to make a move against Yakushima until after the general elections, which were still over three months away. Instead, another government cover-up was on its way. And Section 9 had just been deemed expendable.
Togusa had thought he was going in there to wrap up the entire case, and instead, he was arrested and thrown into custody. Togusa was interrogated about Section 9's supposed involvement as the Laughing Man. They asked leading questions about what he knew about Section 9 plotting against the government, and Togusa realized the entire Section had just been thrown to the wolves.
But Togusa told them nothing. And after 15 days, he was inexplicably released. Only to find out that after many days of fighting, the entire rest of Section 9 had been arrested, brought in on treason charges, and quietly put to a summary trial. Except for Major Kusanagi, herself, who was reported dead.
Togusa, himself, was out in the wind. Section 9 was gone, he'd even lost his cover job at a local security firm. He could get no clearance or information on what was happening, and Aramaki had completely disappeared from the public eye. Three months later, the general elections happened, and immediately afterwards, the entire investigation broke. Superintendent General Yakushima was a traitor, he was being arrested by the local DA, Section 9 was getting none of the credit. The whole truth about the Murai vaccine was going to be made public, but the people who had actually done the work were dead or traitors, and there was no guarantee that Yakushima would actually going to pay for his crimes. His use of force in bringing in Section 9 was even being lauded by the public.
Togusa could finally completely understand what had driven the Laughing Man to stop hiding on the sidelines and shove Serano in front of a camera with a gun, to try to force out the truth. There was only one way that Togusa could get justice, and that was to kill Yakushima himself. he went to the Ministry building completely prepared to throw his life away to kill Yakushima.
Togusa never saw Battoh coming.
Battoh brought Togusa in, revealed to him that the entire thing had been a work by Aramaki. They had to leave Togusa in custody because he was human, they couldn't afford to fake his death like they had done with the Major. And they'd been watching Togusa from a distance, and somehow, the Major had even predicted exactly what he would do. Aramaki had gotten leave to 'rebuild' Section 9, which actually meant maintaining his entire original team. Togusa was just happy to have his life back.
CANON PERSONALITY:
Togusa has an overbearing sense of justice and procedure that colors everything that he does. He is a police officer because he wants to make the world a better place, but he runs into obstacles in actually affecting people because of the disconnected nature of the world in 2030 Tokyo. He believes that there is goodness in the world, despite the horrific things that he sees on the job. He is always the most emotionally affected by something horrible happening. He will often voice objections to police or government cover-ups where the rest of the team has been jaded to the fact that they will happen, because that isn't supposed to be a part of the job. He is often treated by the team as naive because he is constantly surprised about corporations and government agencies protecting themselves over the people that they are supposed to be serving.
When these instances happen, Togusa always reacts the most angrily, as well. He has a notorious temper, which comes out most of the time when someone is abusing their power. What he perceived to be rough treatment of a child in a treatment facility sparked his temper instantly. After having to play along with an American Empire CIA Agent who turned out to be setting Togusa's partner Battoh up to kill someone, it was Togusa who finally snapped at the man once the situation was over.
But Togusa's temper can be easily disciplined. When he has a superior officer who has earned Togusa's respect, like the Major or Daisuke Aramaki, Togusa will fall into line and trust their judgement, for the most part. He works best when he is paired with someone else with an even bigger temper. When he is with Battoh, Togusa finds himself settling into the role of being the voice of reason. When he is with the Major, he can be confident in simply following her orders, while occasionally voicing concerns on his own initiative. It's when he is alone, or cut off from the others that Togusa makes rash, impulsive, or emotional decisions, sometimes with large consequences. It was when he was alone that he over-stretched his ability in the cyberbrain closed-shell syndrome facility, and got caught. It was when he had no backup that he got attacked by the DEA and played hero to try to save everyone else. And it was when he had been left alone for three months that he decided to try to take justice into his own hands.
This all combines into a hero complex, both for himself, and for the people he works for. He respects the Major and Aramaki, and even Battoh greatly. But once he is more relaxed around people, he can give and take a joke. He has a slight inferiority complex, but it only leads him to push himself harder to keep his own skills up the level of his cyberized coworkers.
Togusa sees it as his job to remain less connected to the net than the other members of Section 9. He hasn't upgraded any further than a cyberbrain, and he doesn't want to. Partly because he takes pride in his own human skills, and partly because he knows it would change his perspective on the world. The Major sometimes acts like her body isn't her own, or it doesn't matter what happens to it or how it changes in reaction to what she does. That mentality scares Togusa. So even after he has gotten wounded, he still wants to remain himself.
Similarly, he prefers to keep an older-model gun, one with no cybernetic or connective upgrades, because his own human mind and intuition and skill are greater than any machine. A gun that won't fire until it gives back some kind of targeting solution is useless. He also reads a lot, and has an appreciation for art, things that cannot be reproduced digitally. The experience of the world that they live in is different than anything that can be reproduced in the net, and so, ultimately, Togusa wants to retain his connectedness to the physical world.
The very same analytical mind that makes Togusa a good investigator makes him rather philosophical about the world around them. He is the one most often wondering about people's motivations, or asking about the difference between how a cyborg sees the world and how he does. He questions Battoh's need to lift weights, even though the man's muscles will never get any stronger. In a way, it is all Togusa still trying to figure out how he fits in with the world. That questioning, combined with his sense of justice and desperate desire to help the world, all combined for him to not only crack the Laughing Man case, but to follow the Laughing Man's mentality and go after Yakushima personally.
Togusa takes his job seriously, and he will follow down leads with an almost obsessive amount of zeal. When he was certain that he was looking for the physical copy of a report that the Laughing Man was after, it was going to take a very focused effort, which Togusa was completely willing to put forth, to find it.
Off the clock, Togusa is a family man, and tries to keep his family life separated from his work, not just for their protection, but so that he keeps some kind of balance. Once he's off the job, he's off the job. What little time he gets for his wife and kids belongs to them. But it is difficult for Togusa to find the balance of being as involved in in-depth investigations as he would like to be, and also not missing out on watching his children grow up. In addition, he keeps his job at Section 9 a secret from his wife, claiming he instead works corporate security, so at least he can explain having to keep odd hours, and there was a reason for him ending up in the hospital with a bullet wound. Even when he was left alone, he didn't explain the truth, keeping up the facade of the unemployed father and husband for his family's sake.
SKILLS/ABILITIES:
Cyberbrain:
Togusa has been outfitted with a cyberbrain, like the majority of the world's population in Ghost in the Shell, but with minimal cyberization, so his capabilities with it are not as encompassing as some other characters in the show.
In Togusa's case, his 'cyberbrain' is a micromachine bio-neural electronic interface. His brain is still completely flesh, but implanted with micromachines that travel throughout the brain following active signals. The miniature machines translate the brain's electrochemical signals into output that can be interfaced with computers. (This is the basic first augmentation that needs to be done for anyone to mentally control a prosthetic body, for example.)
-A backup copy of all of Togusa's experiences are 'black boxed' within his cyberbrain, allowing him to replay and re-experience his own memories IF he has an interface that can show his own visual input on a monitor. Other people can view these recordings either on monitors, or in full experience with the use of a VR monitor. (In cases where the signal can't be separated from the noise, a full dive would be required to see what Togusa saw.)
-Using wireless communication, Togusa's cyberbrain can allow him to send and receive audio and video transmissions to other people within the same network. (He still requires a phone to call people outside of the Section 9 communication network.)
-Togusa does not have the external network ports usually found on most cyborgs on the back of the neck. In order to directly interface with computers with a neural link, Togusa needs to use a 'dummy barrier' or an external processor that wraps around the back of the neck. While this can protect Togusa from backlash and damage from hacking attempts this way, it means he is slower to get information out of systems than someone who is full-conversion like the Major.
-However, because there is a processor that is converting all of Togusa's visual and auditory signals into computer code, a skilled hacker who can understand the programming language of the cyberbrain can reverse the signal, and input their own code, essentially hacking Togusa's eyes and ears. (This was the preferred method of The Laughing Man in order to keep his identity a secret.) It would need to be a very skilled hacker, though, because of the level of security and attack barriers protecting Togusa's cyberbrain thanks to his association with Section 9. (In instances where Togusa has been hacked, however, even replaying the memories from his cyberbrain would show the altered content that Togusa remembers.)
-Togusa has no other prosthetics, so his brain does not have an external brain case. It cannot be removed from his body and put inside another prosthetic shell, like the other Section 9 members can do.
Police Work/Detective Skills:
Togusa has extensive training in police field operations and undercover detective work. His specialty within Section 9 was information-gathering and the physical side of detective work, but he was also able to hold his own in a combat situation. Qualified sharpshooter-level with handgun, he is also shown to be able to shoot assault rifles and submachine guns (although he vastly prefers his own service revolver). He is also capable of operating the multi-ped 'Tachikoma' think-tanks.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togusa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Ghost_in_the_Shell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Security_Section_9
Little is known about Togusa's childhood and early police career. He was born in 2003, and grew up while the Third World War was raging, primarily between America and China. Japan never committed their military to active fighting, but was still subject to nuclear bombings. In the wake of the Third World War, Japan was able to grow into a much more active superpower on the world political and economic stage, thanks to the development of micromachines. Micromachines were used both environmentally, in order to remove radioactive fallout from the atmosphere, and began to be used medically, in the treatment of disease and the development of cyberbrain technology.
Togusa began his career in Japan's police force young, and by 2024, was already a member of Public Security Section 1, dedicated to investigations on serious criminal cases, under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Togusa and his partner Yamaguchi were involved in the investigation of what would later come to be known as The Laughing Man case.
At the time, it was just the kidnapping of Serano Genomics CEO, Ernest Serano. The kidnapper had walked in and out of Mr. Serano's home completely unseen, because he had hacked the cyberbrain of anyone who looked at him to make them not see him. He had posted a ransom, then, out of the blue, three days later, had appeared on television, holding Mr. Serano at gunpoint, demanding that he tell the world the truth about something. Once again, the kidnapper hacked the eyes and cameras of everyone who saw him, displaying only a strange graphic instead of his face. By the time police arrived, The Laughing Man was gone, and no one knew what he looked like.
The original Laughing Man incident was followed up by a string of blackmail attempts on other micromachine corporations. But Togusa always remembered the original incident. It didn't sit right with him, because it was so out of character of what The Laughing Man followed it up with. Everyone else who got near the case would look at The Laughing Man as a hacker first. Togusa would always remember one desperate man with a gun.
Some time after The Laughing Man incident, a new Public Security section, Section 9, was formed, under the jurisdiction of Chief Daisuke Aramaki. The Section was specifically designed for counter-terrorist actions and cyber-warfare, in the wake of an increase in cyborg-related crime. The rest of the unit was mostly made up of ex-military cyborgs, people who had fought in World War IV. Even Togusa is unsure of why Major Kusanagi selected him to join the team. Whenever he asked about it, her only explanation was that she wanted to break up the predictability of the team. He thought differently than the rest of them. Chief Aramaki would echo a similar sentiment, that each member of the team had something unique to bring to the table, Togusa's strength being that he worked best alone, but that individual successes were really reflective of Section 9's teamwork.
Despite being recruited to Section 9, Togusa never upgraded into a prosthetic cyborg body. He still proved himself as being capable both as an investigator, and in most combat field work. He continued to carry his preferred service revolver, even into combat situations against cyborg opponents. He'd keep it as a sidearm or last resort, even if he was packing a heavier gun. Both of these facts would often get pointed out by the rest of the team as idiosyncrasies, that Togusa was somehow old-fashioned or stuck in the past. They would use it as a reason to treat him like a rookie and a kid, which only served to goad Togusa into trying to prove himself more. But in professional situations, Togusa would often be the most disciplined of the group, sticking to proper procedure.
By 2030, Togusa was married with two children, and had integrated well into the now-seasoned Section 9 team. When on investigations, Togusa would most often be the member of the team to physically return to a scene of a crime, while the others would investigate through video footage or net data. After a Japanese Minister was held hostage in a botched cyber-terrorist attempt, it was Togusa going back to where the incident had happened that made the break in the case.
One night, Yamaguchi called Togusa out of the blue, telling him that he was investigating some sensitive data, and needed a second opinion. It was about the Laughing Man case, which parts of Section 1 were still looking at. Togusa planned to meet his friend at Section 9 HQ, but Yamaguchi never made it. Yamaguchi was killed in a suspicious car wreck when he was on his way there. He had left behind only a series of photographs, all of very mundane scenes. Togusa was unwilling to accept that Yamaguchi's death was merely an accident. His instincts told him to investigate what Yamaguchi had been on to, and after some arguing his case with Aramaki, he got three days to turn up something.
It was only Togusa's perspective that would have figured it out. All of the photographs had been taken, with no camera. They were confidential still shots that could only have been taken from the points of view of officers within Section 1. This meant that Section 1 was, for some reason, infecting their own officers with surveillance micromachines. And Serano Genomics turned out to be the micromachine manufacturer who was selling the machines to the police. The current head of Section 1 was about to retire and had a partial stake in the company. Thanks to Togusa, all of this was made public. At first he was angry, because it looked like Section 1 was going to be able to pin the incident on a police Captain and fire him in disgrace, instead of taking any accountability. Whatever Yamaguchi had been onto had been enough to kill him, but was this all going to just go away?
Instead, The Laughing Man immediately re-surfaced, after six years of silence, at the Section 1 Superintendent's press conference. He continued to demand the truth out of Serano Genomics, but over what? That was still a mystery. But Togusa's actions had drawn him out of hiding. He had been waiting for someone to find out what Yamaguchi, and now Togusa, had found out. After six years, Togusa was back on the Laughing Man Case.
The Laughing Man carried through on a threat against Superintendent Daigo's life, by using a modular delayed computer virus: to literally hack 39 people at once and turn them on Superintendent Daigo. The Major protected Daigo at the scene, while Togusa and Battoh tracked down who they thought was the originator of the virus: Nanao. He had previously worked at Serano Genomics, and had been involved in the creation of the Interceptor spying micromachines, so the situation looked like it fit. While it turned out that he was the originator of the virus, he was not The Laughing Man, himself, and Togusa arrived just barely too late: Nanao was killed by members of Section 1, supposedly resisting arrest.
Although they had saved Superintendent Daigo's life, Togusa and Aramaki declared their intentions to Daigo to continue the investigation into the true intentions of The Laughing Man. This would put nearly every other government agency against Section 9, in the long run. Every time there was a break in the Laughing Man case, there would be a subsequent cover-up by one of the other Ministries or agencies in the Japanese government, just like Nanao's curiously-timed death. This only made Togusa more determined to find what it was The Laughing Man was after.
Finally, Section 9 uncovered a hack into the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare. The Ministry, itself, had just had some ultra-top-secret information hacked, but reported absolutely nothing. The hack was traced to a facility treating individuals with Cyberbrain Closed-Shell Syndrome, a blanket term for people with maladjusted disorders as a result of cyberization. Because of the nature of the facility, it is naturally isolated from the Net. So how could a hack have originated from there?
Togusa was sent in to the facility undercover to find the source of the hack. He posed as a new social worker, and tried to get close to some of the children in the facility, including a deaf-mute named Aoi. The children's ward contained a group of children with savant-level ability for building and breaking down net barriers. So, clearly, someone had been using them to be able to pull off the high-level hack into the Ministry. Togusa learned that someone named 'The Chief' had supposedly visited the ward on the day of the hack. But he couldn't figure out anything else before he blew his cover. Togusa had to fight off the facility's full-conversion cyborg, eventually killing the man, but he was knocked unconscious before the Major and Battoh could get in to extract him.
Togusa had blown the operation, and the finishing touch was when he went to give a sketch of the patient he had interacted with, Aoi. Although he pulled the image directly from his cyberbrain memory, he came up with a drawing of The Laughing Man's logo. He had been hacked the entire time he was in there.
Togusa obsessed over the case. They had narrowed down what sort of information The Laughing Man was after, but the sheer volume of information within the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, was too much to go through. The possibilities were endless, to anyone else. But Togusa was sure that he could figure it out.
Perhaps because of his own perspective on technology, Togusa was the one to determine that The Laughing Man was after something that wasn't available digitally. A hacker that skilled could get his hands on any digital information. But maybe he was looking for the physical location of something that he couldn't get any other way. Although Aramaki had ordered Togusa to cease looking into it, the Major backed Togusa's idea, and told him to go ahead with his instincts.
In order to crack the case, Togusa had to physically go check the records at the Ministry's file room, one at a time. It took days, but eventually, he found that the Laughing Man had already come and gone, because something important was missing.
The report was a list of names treated for Cyberbrain Sclerosis (a gradual degeneration caused by the implantation of cyberbrain micromachines) with a traditional vaccine, called the Murai vaccine after its founder. The current most common treatment for Cyberbrain Sclerosis involved the use of micromachines, just like the ones that Serano Genomics used. But this was proof that the micromachines were not as effective a treatment, and that Serano Genomics, as well as some other top government officials, had suppressed the release of the vaccine in order to push micromachine treatment that would make them money, but that led to a great number of deaths due to the lack of availability of the vaccine. However, a number of those same government officials were suffering from Cyberbrain Sclerosis, and using the Murai Vaccine, themselves, because they knew it worked. This list would be the nail in the coffin for all their careers. It had been worth killing Yamaguchi over.
Unfortunately, it was also almost worth killing Togusa over. Togusa's discovery of the list's existence tipped off government officials, including the current head of the Japanese DEA unit. The DEA was sent to kill the protest group who had ended up with the list after the Laughing Man had gotten it, and Togusa happened to be in the way. He tried to fight off the DEA members to allow the group's leader to get away with the list. Togusa eventually escaped, but was shot and wounded.
Section 9 found out about what had happened by directly viewing Togusa's memories of the DEA raid. The DEA attempted to go after one of the government officials they were worried would leak the list, and tried to go after Section 9, themselves. Infuriated at what they had done to Togusa, Battoh and the Major tore apart the powered armor suit that the DEA had sent after them.
Togusa unfortunately had to recover while the rest of the team could continue the investigation. He still refused any prosthetic treatment, and insisted on healing up naturally. He wasn't able to rejoin the team until after the Major had made direct contact with the Laughing Man, and then confirmed the entire story about the Murai vaccine with Ernest Serano, himself. Section 9 pulled Serano into protective custody to ensure his testimony on the matter.
Togusa returned just in time for Aramaki to confront the man at the top of the Murai vaccine cover-up: Superintendent General Yakushima. Aramaki planned to arrest the man, but was informed that the rest of the government was not going to make a move against Yakushima until after the general elections, which were still over three months away. Instead, another government cover-up was on its way. And Section 9 had just been deemed expendable.
Togusa had thought he was going in there to wrap up the entire case, and instead, he was arrested and thrown into custody. Togusa was interrogated about Section 9's supposed involvement as the Laughing Man. They asked leading questions about what he knew about Section 9 plotting against the government, and Togusa realized the entire Section had just been thrown to the wolves.
But Togusa told them nothing. And after 15 days, he was inexplicably released. Only to find out that after many days of fighting, the entire rest of Section 9 had been arrested, brought in on treason charges, and quietly put to a summary trial. Except for Major Kusanagi, herself, who was reported dead.
Togusa, himself, was out in the wind. Section 9 was gone, he'd even lost his cover job at a local security firm. He could get no clearance or information on what was happening, and Aramaki had completely disappeared from the public eye. Three months later, the general elections happened, and immediately afterwards, the entire investigation broke. Superintendent General Yakushima was a traitor, he was being arrested by the local DA, Section 9 was getting none of the credit. The whole truth about the Murai vaccine was going to be made public, but the people who had actually done the work were dead or traitors, and there was no guarantee that Yakushima would actually going to pay for his crimes. His use of force in bringing in Section 9 was even being lauded by the public.
Togusa could finally completely understand what had driven the Laughing Man to stop hiding on the sidelines and shove Serano in front of a camera with a gun, to try to force out the truth. There was only one way that Togusa could get justice, and that was to kill Yakushima himself. he went to the Ministry building completely prepared to throw his life away to kill Yakushima.
Togusa never saw Battoh coming.
Battoh brought Togusa in, revealed to him that the entire thing had been a work by Aramaki. They had to leave Togusa in custody because he was human, they couldn't afford to fake his death like they had done with the Major. And they'd been watching Togusa from a distance, and somehow, the Major had even predicted exactly what he would do. Aramaki had gotten leave to 'rebuild' Section 9, which actually meant maintaining his entire original team. Togusa was just happy to have his life back.
CANON PERSONALITY:
Togusa has an overbearing sense of justice and procedure that colors everything that he does. He is a police officer because he wants to make the world a better place, but he runs into obstacles in actually affecting people because of the disconnected nature of the world in 2030 Tokyo. He believes that there is goodness in the world, despite the horrific things that he sees on the job. He is always the most emotionally affected by something horrible happening. He will often voice objections to police or government cover-ups where the rest of the team has been jaded to the fact that they will happen, because that isn't supposed to be a part of the job. He is often treated by the team as naive because he is constantly surprised about corporations and government agencies protecting themselves over the people that they are supposed to be serving.
When these instances happen, Togusa always reacts the most angrily, as well. He has a notorious temper, which comes out most of the time when someone is abusing their power. What he perceived to be rough treatment of a child in a treatment facility sparked his temper instantly. After having to play along with an American Empire CIA Agent who turned out to be setting Togusa's partner Battoh up to kill someone, it was Togusa who finally snapped at the man once the situation was over.
But Togusa's temper can be easily disciplined. When he has a superior officer who has earned Togusa's respect, like the Major or Daisuke Aramaki, Togusa will fall into line and trust their judgement, for the most part. He works best when he is paired with someone else with an even bigger temper. When he is with Battoh, Togusa finds himself settling into the role of being the voice of reason. When he is with the Major, he can be confident in simply following her orders, while occasionally voicing concerns on his own initiative. It's when he is alone, or cut off from the others that Togusa makes rash, impulsive, or emotional decisions, sometimes with large consequences. It was when he was alone that he over-stretched his ability in the cyberbrain closed-shell syndrome facility, and got caught. It was when he had no backup that he got attacked by the DEA and played hero to try to save everyone else. And it was when he had been left alone for three months that he decided to try to take justice into his own hands.
This all combines into a hero complex, both for himself, and for the people he works for. He respects the Major and Aramaki, and even Battoh greatly. But once he is more relaxed around people, he can give and take a joke. He has a slight inferiority complex, but it only leads him to push himself harder to keep his own skills up the level of his cyberized coworkers.
Togusa sees it as his job to remain less connected to the net than the other members of Section 9. He hasn't upgraded any further than a cyberbrain, and he doesn't want to. Partly because he takes pride in his own human skills, and partly because he knows it would change his perspective on the world. The Major sometimes acts like her body isn't her own, or it doesn't matter what happens to it or how it changes in reaction to what she does. That mentality scares Togusa. So even after he has gotten wounded, he still wants to remain himself.
Similarly, he prefers to keep an older-model gun, one with no cybernetic or connective upgrades, because his own human mind and intuition and skill are greater than any machine. A gun that won't fire until it gives back some kind of targeting solution is useless. He also reads a lot, and has an appreciation for art, things that cannot be reproduced digitally. The experience of the world that they live in is different than anything that can be reproduced in the net, and so, ultimately, Togusa wants to retain his connectedness to the physical world.
The very same analytical mind that makes Togusa a good investigator makes him rather philosophical about the world around them. He is the one most often wondering about people's motivations, or asking about the difference between how a cyborg sees the world and how he does. He questions Battoh's need to lift weights, even though the man's muscles will never get any stronger. In a way, it is all Togusa still trying to figure out how he fits in with the world. That questioning, combined with his sense of justice and desperate desire to help the world, all combined for him to not only crack the Laughing Man case, but to follow the Laughing Man's mentality and go after Yakushima personally.
Togusa takes his job seriously, and he will follow down leads with an almost obsessive amount of zeal. When he was certain that he was looking for the physical copy of a report that the Laughing Man was after, it was going to take a very focused effort, which Togusa was completely willing to put forth, to find it.
Off the clock, Togusa is a family man, and tries to keep his family life separated from his work, not just for their protection, but so that he keeps some kind of balance. Once he's off the job, he's off the job. What little time he gets for his wife and kids belongs to them. But it is difficult for Togusa to find the balance of being as involved in in-depth investigations as he would like to be, and also not missing out on watching his children grow up. In addition, he keeps his job at Section 9 a secret from his wife, claiming he instead works corporate security, so at least he can explain having to keep odd hours, and there was a reason for him ending up in the hospital with a bullet wound. Even when he was left alone, he didn't explain the truth, keeping up the facade of the unemployed father and husband for his family's sake.
SKILLS/ABILITIES:
Cyberbrain:
Togusa has been outfitted with a cyberbrain, like the majority of the world's population in Ghost in the Shell, but with minimal cyberization, so his capabilities with it are not as encompassing as some other characters in the show.
In Togusa's case, his 'cyberbrain' is a micromachine bio-neural electronic interface. His brain is still completely flesh, but implanted with micromachines that travel throughout the brain following active signals. The miniature machines translate the brain's electrochemical signals into output that can be interfaced with computers. (This is the basic first augmentation that needs to be done for anyone to mentally control a prosthetic body, for example.)
-A backup copy of all of Togusa's experiences are 'black boxed' within his cyberbrain, allowing him to replay and re-experience his own memories IF he has an interface that can show his own visual input on a monitor. Other people can view these recordings either on monitors, or in full experience with the use of a VR monitor. (In cases where the signal can't be separated from the noise, a full dive would be required to see what Togusa saw.)
-Using wireless communication, Togusa's cyberbrain can allow him to send and receive audio and video transmissions to other people within the same network. (He still requires a phone to call people outside of the Section 9 communication network.)
-Togusa does not have the external network ports usually found on most cyborgs on the back of the neck. In order to directly interface with computers with a neural link, Togusa needs to use a 'dummy barrier' or an external processor that wraps around the back of the neck. While this can protect Togusa from backlash and damage from hacking attempts this way, it means he is slower to get information out of systems than someone who is full-conversion like the Major.
-However, because there is a processor that is converting all of Togusa's visual and auditory signals into computer code, a skilled hacker who can understand the programming language of the cyberbrain can reverse the signal, and input their own code, essentially hacking Togusa's eyes and ears. (This was the preferred method of The Laughing Man in order to keep his identity a secret.) It would need to be a very skilled hacker, though, because of the level of security and attack barriers protecting Togusa's cyberbrain thanks to his association with Section 9. (In instances where Togusa has been hacked, however, even replaying the memories from his cyberbrain would show the altered content that Togusa remembers.)
-Togusa has no other prosthetics, so his brain does not have an external brain case. It cannot be removed from his body and put inside another prosthetic shell, like the other Section 9 members can do.
Police Work/Detective Skills:
Togusa has extensive training in police field operations and undercover detective work. His specialty within Section 9 was information-gathering and the physical side of detective work, but he was also able to hold his own in a combat situation. Qualified sharpshooter-level with handgun, he is also shown to be able to shoot assault rifles and submachine guns (although he vastly prefers his own service revolver). He is also capable of operating the multi-ped 'Tachikoma' think-tanks.
CHARACTER: AU SECTION
AU NAME: Hitori Togusa
AU AGE: 27
PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES: Completely human, lacking his cyber-brain. Missing the bullet wound scars on the right side of his chest and back.
AU NAME: Hitori Togusa
AU AGE: 27
PHYSICAL DIFFERENCES: Completely human, lacking his cyber-brain. Missing the bullet wound scars on the right side of his chest and back.
AU HISTORY:
Hitori Togusa was born to middle-class parents in Kawasaki, Japan. An only child, his father was a typical salaryman, and his mother worked at a local shop. In his youth, Togusa had a great interest in baseball, and played on his middle school team, but wasn't quite good enough to make his team in high school. He was an industrious student, eventually gaining an interest in criminal justice.
But he was more interested in the American criminal justice system. He had very few ties to any sense of national pride in Japan, so rather than trying to compete in the aggressive Japanese University system with students with more resources and better grades than him, he got himself accepted to Recolle University, and moved to America.
The American lifestyle fit with Togusa's personality better. He had more of a sense of purpose and an ability to take pride in his scholastic learning. Things moved at a faster pace, and he was always excited to see and learn more things. But as he advanced through college, his sense of civic duty led him away from a potential career towards law school, and into a more physical career. He graduated Recolle University and got accepted into Recolle's police academy very soon after.
Although Togusa's English is excellent, and his cultural acceptance of America is great, he is still sometimes treated like an outsider and a newbie on the force. He retains an idealistic view of what the law should be, and what their jobs as police officers entail, rather than allowing himself to get jaded. Quite often on the job, he has tried to further investigations, only to get shut down by a superior officer. He is currently considering pushing his career towards investigative services, but lacks a superior officer who would recommend him for the detail. While he is very observant and polite, he is only barely passing with a handgun, since he didn't pick up the skill until he entered the police academy.
Togusa longs for a family and some roots of his own, but hasn't settled down yet. He was engaged to his college sweetheart for too many years, and when a promotion failed to materialize at work, his engagement also broke apart. The two of them drifted apart amicably, but Togusa still regrets the missed opportunity. Still, she accused him of wanting the concept of a family more than he really wanted to specifically be with her, and Togusa knows there is some truth to the accusation.
But, without a family for a while, he may be able to re-focus on his duties, and see if he can prove himself to the upper brass.
AU PERSONALITY:
Togusa retains a very idealistic view of what it means to serve the public trust. He is a police officer, and through that duty, he is doing what he can to change the world. Having not grown up in the wake of one nuclear World War (III) and one non-nuclear World War (IV), Togusa's sense of duty didn't have a more unified Japanese national pride behind it. He left Japan for America, to be able to study criminal justice in a very different country, and his sense of duty began hinging around a more American idea of service and justice.
Togusa tries to epitomize procedure while on the job. Stricter regulations come to him easily, and he shows overly-proper respect to his superior officers. For the most part, his coworkers chalk it up to him being Japanese, rather than him trying to brown-nose. In his mind, if he can't keep to the smaller rules, then he won't keep to the larger more important rules in a crisis. So, police regulations can act as a kind of guiding structure to keep him on a just path.
So far, Togusa's temper has only ever come out in private. When his attempts to follow up an investigation are blocked, he is complete courtesy and politeness to his superiors, but his anger will come out in other ways. He is nearly personally affronted by the news of corrupt government officials or political cover-ups, and the extra powerlessness he feels at being unable to bring those kinds of people to justice seeds itself as a deep frustration.
Togusa remains very philosophical, and without a family, his sense of balance off the job has to come from continuing his education. He reads everything he can get his hands on, particularly the works of Western thinkers that were rarer in Japan.
Togusa is more casual with his friends than he is on the clock, but he does find himself drawn to other people who have come to Recolle from Japan. Perhaps once he is away from home, he is trying to find the missing sense of nationalism that sent him to America in the first place.
Hitori Togusa was born to middle-class parents in Kawasaki, Japan. An only child, his father was a typical salaryman, and his mother worked at a local shop. In his youth, Togusa had a great interest in baseball, and played on his middle school team, but wasn't quite good enough to make his team in high school. He was an industrious student, eventually gaining an interest in criminal justice.
But he was more interested in the American criminal justice system. He had very few ties to any sense of national pride in Japan, so rather than trying to compete in the aggressive Japanese University system with students with more resources and better grades than him, he got himself accepted to Recolle University, and moved to America.
The American lifestyle fit with Togusa's personality better. He had more of a sense of purpose and an ability to take pride in his scholastic learning. Things moved at a faster pace, and he was always excited to see and learn more things. But as he advanced through college, his sense of civic duty led him away from a potential career towards law school, and into a more physical career. He graduated Recolle University and got accepted into Recolle's police academy very soon after.
Although Togusa's English is excellent, and his cultural acceptance of America is great, he is still sometimes treated like an outsider and a newbie on the force. He retains an idealistic view of what the law should be, and what their jobs as police officers entail, rather than allowing himself to get jaded. Quite often on the job, he has tried to further investigations, only to get shut down by a superior officer. He is currently considering pushing his career towards investigative services, but lacks a superior officer who would recommend him for the detail. While he is very observant and polite, he is only barely passing with a handgun, since he didn't pick up the skill until he entered the police academy.
Togusa longs for a family and some roots of his own, but hasn't settled down yet. He was engaged to his college sweetheart for too many years, and when a promotion failed to materialize at work, his engagement also broke apart. The two of them drifted apart amicably, but Togusa still regrets the missed opportunity. Still, she accused him of wanting the concept of a family more than he really wanted to specifically be with her, and Togusa knows there is some truth to the accusation.
But, without a family for a while, he may be able to re-focus on his duties, and see if he can prove himself to the upper brass.
AU PERSONALITY:
Togusa retains a very idealistic view of what it means to serve the public trust. He is a police officer, and through that duty, he is doing what he can to change the world. Having not grown up in the wake of one nuclear World War (III) and one non-nuclear World War (IV), Togusa's sense of duty didn't have a more unified Japanese national pride behind it. He left Japan for America, to be able to study criminal justice in a very different country, and his sense of duty began hinging around a more American idea of service and justice.
Togusa tries to epitomize procedure while on the job. Stricter regulations come to him easily, and he shows overly-proper respect to his superior officers. For the most part, his coworkers chalk it up to him being Japanese, rather than him trying to brown-nose. In his mind, if he can't keep to the smaller rules, then he won't keep to the larger more important rules in a crisis. So, police regulations can act as a kind of guiding structure to keep him on a just path.
So far, Togusa's temper has only ever come out in private. When his attempts to follow up an investigation are blocked, he is complete courtesy and politeness to his superiors, but his anger will come out in other ways. He is nearly personally affronted by the news of corrupt government officials or political cover-ups, and the extra powerlessness he feels at being unable to bring those kinds of people to justice seeds itself as a deep frustration.
Togusa remains very philosophical, and without a family, his sense of balance off the job has to come from continuing his education. He reads everything he can get his hands on, particularly the works of Western thinkers that were rarer in Japan.
Togusa is more casual with his friends than he is on the clock, but he does find himself drawn to other people who have come to Recolle from Japan. Perhaps once he is away from home, he is trying to find the missing sense of nationalism that sent him to America in the first place.
SAMPLE
Togusa turned on the overhead lights on the firing range. Why Section 9 HQ needed such a huge firing range when there was never anyone on it was a mystery. When he comes down here at odd hours, though, it feels like his own personal sanctuary.
"You know the Major has started padding our munitions requisition budget every time we're in for a long investigation now? She calls it the Togusa Bullet Tax." Battoh had joked about his habit last month, trying to get a rise out of him.
At the time, Togusa had just straight-faced the comment and raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. "Is that so? Does she do the same thing to gas up that ancient clunker you drive? Or does that come out of your own pocket?"
Hilarious in the moment. But the comment had stuck in Togusa's mind because of how much truth there was to it. The night's operation wasn't sitting well with Togusa, and so here he was, back on the range to clear his head.
The Mateba M2008. He placed the gun down on the range shelf with careful reverence. Unlike the full-automatic handguns that everyone else in the department used, Togusa depended on the six-shot automatic revolver. He could recite the well-rehearsed list of reasons why he objectively preferred the gun. The revolver mechanism was far less prone to jamming than with a clip, the sport configuration meant that he could fire faster, the iron sights were more dependable than some computerized targeting system. And, frankly, if you weren't capable of getting the job done in six shots, then something had gone very wrong.
It wasn't like he was itching to fire a weapon; he'd shot off plenty of rounds just hours before, when Section 9 had interrupted a hostage situation at a high-class android geisha house. The workers, themselves, had been hacked, and turned on the clients. Togusa had put a round right in the head of one who had been threatening to kill the man she was restraining. He'd personally led out the Minister they'd been there to rescue. Everybody's alive, good job, go on home. So why was he down here, like he was chasing down some unfinished business?
Togusa flipped the switch to send the paper target down the range. He checked the gun's cylinder, flipped off the safety, and shifted into a shooting stance. Breathe. In. Out. He didn't even have to issue a conscious command for his cyberbrain to adjust his auditory processing. But his own mind, his 'ghost,' the Major would put it, still noticed the just perceptible difference that cut off the top range of his hearing so the upcoming sounds of gunshots wouldn't deafen him.
That was why he was on the team, wasn't it? He still noticed and processed the things in the physical world that the military cyborgs who lived in the world of data had learned to ignore. And that very physical instinct was nagging at him, telling him that everyone had missed something at the scene of the crime. But what was it they were missing? That was anyone's guess.
Togusa steadily and smoothly raised the gun. For range shooting, he still closed his left eye. The Major or Battoh probably just filtered out information from their off-eye. Something streamlined and cybernetic like that. Call Togusa old-fashioned, then.
Full breath in. Half-breath out. Hold.
He wanted to go back to the geisha house. But that wasn't his call. A cop doesn't get much control over where he's assigned, even here at Section 9. It might be better justice to follow up on an investigation. Back on the force, Togusa's sense of justice had been cut off at the knees plenty of times by people who refused to order follow-ups. But Section 9, but Daisuke Aramaki was different, right?
Six shots rang out in succession. Togusa held position for a heartbeat, another, before lowering his gun. He flipped the far light on, and looked at the tight grouping of shots in the center of the paper.
This? This he had control over. Damn good control, if he said so himself.
Togusa turned on the overhead lights on the firing range. Why Section 9 HQ needed such a huge firing range when there was never anyone on it was a mystery. When he comes down here at odd hours, though, it feels like his own personal sanctuary.
"You know the Major has started padding our munitions requisition budget every time we're in for a long investigation now? She calls it the Togusa Bullet Tax." Battoh had joked about his habit last month, trying to get a rise out of him.
At the time, Togusa had just straight-faced the comment and raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. "Is that so? Does she do the same thing to gas up that ancient clunker you drive? Or does that come out of your own pocket?"
Hilarious in the moment. But the comment had stuck in Togusa's mind because of how much truth there was to it. The night's operation wasn't sitting well with Togusa, and so here he was, back on the range to clear his head.
The Mateba M2008. He placed the gun down on the range shelf with careful reverence. Unlike the full-automatic handguns that everyone else in the department used, Togusa depended on the six-shot automatic revolver. He could recite the well-rehearsed list of reasons why he objectively preferred the gun. The revolver mechanism was far less prone to jamming than with a clip, the sport configuration meant that he could fire faster, the iron sights were more dependable than some computerized targeting system. And, frankly, if you weren't capable of getting the job done in six shots, then something had gone very wrong.
It wasn't like he was itching to fire a weapon; he'd shot off plenty of rounds just hours before, when Section 9 had interrupted a hostage situation at a high-class android geisha house. The workers, themselves, had been hacked, and turned on the clients. Togusa had put a round right in the head of one who had been threatening to kill the man she was restraining. He'd personally led out the Minister they'd been there to rescue. Everybody's alive, good job, go on home. So why was he down here, like he was chasing down some unfinished business?
Togusa flipped the switch to send the paper target down the range. He checked the gun's cylinder, flipped off the safety, and shifted into a shooting stance. Breathe. In. Out. He didn't even have to issue a conscious command for his cyberbrain to adjust his auditory processing. But his own mind, his 'ghost,' the Major would put it, still noticed the just perceptible difference that cut off the top range of his hearing so the upcoming sounds of gunshots wouldn't deafen him.
That was why he was on the team, wasn't it? He still noticed and processed the things in the physical world that the military cyborgs who lived in the world of data had learned to ignore. And that very physical instinct was nagging at him, telling him that everyone had missed something at the scene of the crime. But what was it they were missing? That was anyone's guess.
Togusa steadily and smoothly raised the gun. For range shooting, he still closed his left eye. The Major or Battoh probably just filtered out information from their off-eye. Something streamlined and cybernetic like that. Call Togusa old-fashioned, then.
Full breath in. Half-breath out. Hold.
He wanted to go back to the geisha house. But that wasn't his call. A cop doesn't get much control over where he's assigned, even here at Section 9. It might be better justice to follow up on an investigation. Back on the force, Togusa's sense of justice had been cut off at the knees plenty of times by people who refused to order follow-ups. But Section 9, but Daisuke Aramaki was different, right?
Six shots rang out in succession. Togusa held position for a heartbeat, another, before lowering his gun. He flipped the far light on, and looked at the tight grouping of shots in the center of the paper.
This? This he had control over. Damn good control, if he said so himself.
AU ADDENDUM
Date: 2018-08-01 04:30 am (UTC)