This episode is started out in a large cyber chatroom. People are connected and chatting through their cyberbrains. The Host announces the topic of discussion - The Laughing Man and his recent reappearance. There are five "registered users" who do the talking, and a large audience of others listening in. This is a chatroom, so people wear Avatars to mask their real identity. A new person joins the chatroom, it is Kusanagi (although her avatar looks pretty different from her real appearance.) She says she heard that there was someone here with interesting theories on the Laughing Man.
They begin chatting. A speaker in a blue coat (the same the Laughing Man wore in the kidnapping incident) and wearing a Laughing Man face wonders why the Laughing Man came back suddenly, only to disappear again. The other chatters don't take him seriously, thinking he's making immature statements, and his Laughing Man face he's wearing is idiotic. Blue Coat removes the face, and says that they can start the topic then. The woman with the teacher Avatar suggests they talk about why the Laughing Man returned. The chatter in the Leisure Suit responds that it's because he's bored. Teacher responds that she understands that much, but wonders if he could be a different person pretending to be the Laughing Man. Leisure Suit laughs, asking why she believe the Laughing Man is male. Blue Coat chimes in, saying his sources say he's male, and if she were a female, she wouldn't have reason to call herself Laughing Man. The man with the Babe Ruth avatar interrupts, saying that the Laughing Man has never even referred to himself as that. Blue Coat counters, saying the kidnapping recording showed a clearly male figure. Leisure Suit says it could have been a decoy.
Teacher interrupts, saying they're getting off topic, and she would like to talk about how this new appearance is completely different from the kidnapping incident that made The Laughing Man famous. Although the links to Micromachines are there, she thinks that trying to assassinate the general is too violent for his style. She says it's very likely that this new one's a fake. Babe Ruth asks why they assume the Laughing Man's only interested in blackmailing Micromachine companies? after all, wasn't the kidnapping incident violent? Teacher says that she doesn't think Laughing Man has done any impulsive crimes like that since the first incident. Blue Coat agrees, after all, the Laughing Man is a Class A hacker, and it just isn't "cool" to use people to assassinate someone, and the Laughing Man has never killed anyone before. The others in the group seem to be in agreement, this new Laughing Man must be a fake, and the discussion is over.
Babe Ruth puts out another question, asking why do they assume the Laughing Man is "cool"? Blue Coat snaps back, saying he has to be cool, because he's done so many cool things. Babe Ruth says he's not saying the Laughing Man isn't cool, afterall, he's a sophisticated hacker, and he heard the virus used in the assassination was amazing. Teacher says that's true, the police couldn't even find a trace of the virus. Leisure Suit reminds everyone that the virus writer, Nanao, was killed. Blue Coat chimes in, Nanao was killed, so that must mean the fake is dead. Teacher wonders why he was killed, and Leisure Suit says because it's a conspiracy. Blue Coat says his "sources" say the blackmailed corporations hired an assassin to kill Nanao. Leisure Suit doesn't believe him, or his "sources." Teacher says that there would be no way for the corporation to track down Nanao before the police did. Babe Ruth agrees, also pointing out that it wouldn't be like the real Laughing Man to get caught so easily, another reason to think Nanao is a fake. Blue Coat spins another theory... maybe the real Laughing Man killed him. Leisure Suit isn't impressed, and says it was probably just by a partner in crime like the police said. So, they are back to where they started, they all, again, agree that Nanao wasn't the real Laughing Man.
Babe Ruth says he wants to discuss the question he asked earlier, why must they assume that the reason for Laughing Man's crimes is to blackmail companies? Blue Coat says because it wouldn't be "cool" otherwise. But again, Babe Ruth asks, was the kidnapping crime all that "cool"? Everyone stops and thinks. The Chat Host decides that they can't ignore how the Laughing Man started, and so they must take a look back at his first crime. With that, everyone starts watching the weather report video. As they watch, the discuss how this is the only time that the Laughing Man is seen in person. They talk about how precise the Laughing Man is, even changing the show's graphics. Teacher mentions there's a rumor that those graphics were only changed on a rebroadcast. They finish watching the recording of the Laughing Man holding Serrano's CEO at gunpoint. Leisure Suit speaks first, he says looking at this again, it isn't actually all that "cool." Laughing Man's hands were shaking while holding the gun. Blue Coat insists that's what makes it cool. Teacher says that this crime is reckless when compared to all his others, not cool. Babe Ruth disagrees, it was the reckless act of trying to expose the company's lies that drew everyone to him, and that is what's cool. Blue Coat agrees, that combined with the fact he hacked into the media is what makes him so cool. Leisure Suit says that the two of them are ignoring what came after the kidnapping incident... the messages and blackmailing.
We see old television news clips. The Laughing Man using his hacking skills to blackmail companies. In one instance, he has hacked a corporation's electricity system to paint his face in lit windows on the side of their building. In another, he somehow managed to arrange desks on the roof of another corporation's building to paint his face. We see what follows as clips of the Laughing Man media blitz, CEOs with the Laughing Man's face, hacked and controlled by him? an instance where a corporation's gardening robots were hacked to mow the estate's lawn to paint the Laughing Man face. Leisure Suit remarks he has a t shirt with a picture of this on it. Teacher goes into detail about what happened when the blackmailing started, people feared that the stocks of the corporations being targeted would drop. Because of this, new laws were created to protect the stocks, but right in the middle of this, the Laughing Man disappeared. They start discussing the rumor that the companies made a lot of money off their stocks, because of the Laughing Man's popularity. Maybe the companies plotted together and created this? or maybe each instance was started by a different person? maybe all the blackmailing was done by other people, and that's why it's so different from the kidnapping.
Kusanagi speaks for the first time. She says there's no use in debating if the offender from six years ago is the same as the recent one... but what is of interest is why the image was reused in the first place. The Host decides to play a video while they debate it. We watch a video which shows various usage of the Laughing Man symbol. It is used on everything now, in graffiti, on toys, in movies, on T-Shirts... etc. They talk about the person who claimed to create it, how he claimed someone hacked into his database and stole his design.
Teacher wonders why there's such a boom in interest over this case, and Blue Coat answers... he says because it's a crime that isn't solved, but seems like it should be. Leisure Suit agrees. Babe Ruth says that what attracted him was his first crime, and the spirit involved in trying to get a corporation to admit it's lies. Blue Coat agrees with that. Teacher says that the recent incident first occurred because of people suspecting the illegal use of Intercepter devices. So isn't that also in the same spirit? Leisure Suit reminds everyone that it was none other than Serrano Genomics that created the Intercepter device (The Serrano president is who the Laughing Man kidnapped.) Teacher theories that maybe everything is the work of companies manipulating stock prices. Blue Coat says that's too boring, and Laughing Man must exist. Leisure Suit says that he just wants him to exist. The two bicker.
Babe Ruth speaks up again. He says no one wants to talk about what he's been interested in, and he offers some information to the group. He says according to his sources, that the official story saying all the people trying to assassinate the General were effected by a virus is a lie. Everyone looks intrigued, especially Kusanagi, who knows this is the truth... but doesn't know how Babe Ruth does. Everyone demands Babe Ruth explains why. He says he was hacked into the crime scene at the time, and that's how he knows. Everyone is surprised... they ask if he wanted to carry out the assassination. Babe Ruth explains that is not it, he just wanted to see what would happen. He believes that the 39 attempted assassins acted on their own free will. He says he got the feeling that many others were trying to do what he was. Kusanagi private messages Babe Ruth... to his surprise. She asks him if he "saw it." He doesn't respond.
The group finds it hard to believe, but Blue Coat says he also felt the strong urge to go there. Teacher says that if all these people were acting on their own free will, maybe the Laughing Man was one of them. Babe Ruth disagrees, he says all those captured were just fans like them. Leisure Suit asks what he's implying then, that the fans just reacted to Nanao pretending to be the Laughing Man at the assassination notice?
Babe Ruth says this isn't true... he found a sever belonging to Nanao, and he shows it to the other chatters. There are lots of program simulations on things like blackmailing micromachine makers... but the crime of sending out the assassination notice? not there. If it was Nanao doing all this... then why would he run a simulation for all his other crimes, but not this one? Kusanagi commends Babe Ruth's research. Blue Coat says that this could mean Nanao was just another imitator like the 39 assassins. Leisure Suit isn't convinced... if it wasn't Nanao calling the shots, and he was just an imitator like everyone else, how come Nanao he wasn't effected by any of the viruses? Babe Ruth counters.... maybe Nanao was just set up by the real people in control, perhaps the people only meant for Nanao to commit the crime, and then fail and be killed, so he could be identified as the Laughing Man.
Teacher asks who would benefit from doing something like that. Babe Ruth starts saying he thinks it would be the police... but he starts stuttering and shaking, as if someone was hacking him. Everyone is shocked and keep watching... except Kusanagi... she's the one doing it. She has contacted him, and isolated him in a private chat. She tells him that he seems like he knows what he's talking about. She starts questioning him, asking if at the time of the crime, he saw her decoy barrier being destroyed. By saying this, Babe Ruth realizes her true identity, the woman who helped stop the SP at the crime scene. He's a little scared now, and tells her that he did see it, and the dangerous barrier that destroyed hers. She asks him if there are any fragments from it left over. He says there is, and gives her the fragments. She thanks him. He says she's welcome, but has one question, he says at first he thought everything was plotted by the police... but the barrier put up was something better than police could create... he wonders, could it really have been the Laughing Man? Kusanagi doesn't answer... she gives Babe Ruth a friendly warning... saying if he learned too much, he could be in danger, and she releases control of him.
Back in the chatroom now, Blue Coat asks if Babe Ruth was disconnected. Babe Ruth says he's fine, but he must be going... everyone is surprised, they want him to continue with his information. Babe Ruth says he's sorry, and with that, he leaves the chat room. Everyone is disappointed. Leisure Suit says that no matter how hard they try, they're not going to be able to find the truth. Teacher asks how he knows this, maybe the real Laughing Man could even be watching them right now.... (and with this, the camera focuses on the host.) Leisure Suit says that when you start thinking like that, everything is over. the case is too complicated, and he's tired of it. Teacher gives her final thoughts... that the Laughing Man is just a phenomenon created by accident by something this rotten world. Blue Coat says if that's true, then everyone is all just a bunch of imitators. Teacher continues, saying even if there is a big conspiracy like Babe Ruth said, that it can't be ignored that there are similarities between the kidnapping and the assassination notice. Kusanagi interrupts. She says she believes that those two crimes are the only ones that were committed by the same person, the rest were all imitations created by hero worship. The host looks at her, snaps his fingers, and tells her she's sharp. With that, Kusanagi is hijacked, disconnected from the chatroom, and forwarded to a new world. She lands in some sort of library. and hears the host complaining... saying he doesn't want to "go" complaining to someone for not letting him stay longer. Kusanagi follows after him, turns the corner, and in front of her is the Laughing Man cloaked in the darkness... but before she can do anything she's disconnected...
We are now in the "real world," no longer in any cyberspace. Batou is in the middle of talking to Kusanagi, asking what she thinks of something. Kusanagi says to herself that she was unable to trace the strange place she was just in. Batou notices that she wasn't paying any attention to him the whole time, and asks if she was dived into the net. She doesn't respond, and the annoyed Batou says how dangerous that is to do while she's driving. Kusanagi says it's no big deal, and she could drive this area in her sleep. She asks Batou what he was asking her about, but he is too annoyed to repeat himself, and says it's nothing. Talking to herself, she thinks over the Laughing Man case, about the phenomenon created by all the imitators, and how there's two pieces left to the puzzle. Batou asks what she's talking about, and she says it's nothing.
Trivia/Did You Notice?:
The recording of the weather report is different than the one seen in the 5th episode, as suggested by the chatters.
