Togusa is on the trail of the Laughing Man again, and this time, his investigations lead him towards both a leading micromachine corporation and an NGO called the Sunflower Society.

=A hacker and thief by the name of Cash Eye plans on infiltrating a vault during a party, and Section 9 is called in to prevent it. But there are a number of strange elements in this case that don't all add up.

While field testing new recruits, the Major finds herself hacked, and an old woman tells her a story from her past.

Kuze manages to take down the jamming plane, but becomes trapped in rubble with the Major. The Tachikomas begin discussing what to do about the nuclear submarine they have spotted, and Batou manages to convince the special forces that have been sent to kill them to listen to him.