Innocence

In 2032, Public Security Section 9 investigator Batou is assigned a disturbing case: a line of gynoids have killed their owners before destroying themselves. Partnered with Togusa while Major Motoko Kusanagi remains absent, Batou discovers that the machines' apparent malfunctions point toward illegal experimentation and the powerful corporation Locus Solus.

The deeper the investigation goes, the less reliable the boundary between person, machine, memory, and imitation becomes. Hacked perceptions and manufactured ghosts lead Batou toward a facility where human consciousness has been treated as raw material, forcing him to confront what remains of innocence in a world where bodies can be built and minds can be copied.