Hi.
Lady Dojima?
Huh? Ms. Karasuma? She left right after Haruto did.
Say what?! Haruto was attacked by the Factory?!
Why would they...
Understood.
Michael, my boy, we seem to be standing at a crossroads.
Crossroads?
That's right.
Do we protect the STN-J, or do we obey the Administrator to the bitter end?
Have you lost some weight?
Are you feeling all right?
I see. It must have been terrible for you.
Welcome home.
I feel like it'll disappear...
...the instant I look away.
I just kept counting...
...all the many traces of loneliness...
...that I'd vomited up.
In this time that seems so dry,
...my heart is thrashing around and drowning.
It takes those lies that make my head spin...
...and tears them to pieces.
And the place I lose my way in...
...is a dim, hazy world.
No luck. She's not answering her cell or her home phone.
So she must have been...
Don't make it sound so ominous!
Maybe she's out on an errand and can't answer the phone.
No, Karasuma has always made sure that she could at least be reached.
If there's no answer at all, it might be safe to assume that she's been hunted.
But why the hell would the Administrator be hunting us?!
Zaizen is trying to begin hunts using humans rather than Witches.
Using the power of Orbo.
But what about us hunters?
As far as Zaizen is concerned, hunters may no longer be necessary.
But even so, he...
Zaizen is in a delicate position right now.
Solomon is opposed to Orbo research.
It might be more accurate to say that they're actively trying to prevent it.
That's what that raid was about, too.
HQ was trying to find out the secret behind Orbo.
Hunters may be nothing more than Witches in Zaizen's eyes.
With his hunt prospects shot now, it's no surprise that he's considering eliminating us.
You sure know a lot.
How do you know all this?
Hey, am I right? How do you know all this inside info from HQ that we...
I...
I'm sorry, Sakaki.
I'm actually a Solomon agent sent in to uncover the truth behind Orbo.
In other words... you're a Solomon spy?!
You were lying to us this whole...
You're wrong!
You're wrong... It's not like that.
While we're at it, I wasn't really a replacement, either.
What're you talking about?
My real assignment was to find out a secret having to do with Witches here in Japan.
Not everyone in the STN is after the same thing.
That's just the kind of organization that Solomon is.
So, assuming that this Karasuma lady got taken away by the Factory,
...what's your next move, Amon?
We rescue her.
Mr. Amon...
You're planning on sneaking into the Factory?
But...
Michael.
Michael! What's he doing here?
Michael left the STN-J building!
Hey, what happened?
To you, I mean! You said you could never leave!
If I stay inside the organization, and if I do what they tell me to do, they'll let me live.
But I learned that a life inside that kind of cage doesn't mean anything.
Michael...
Besides, if Haruto and Karasuma were attacked,
...that means it's not safe inside the cage anymore, either.
Amon!
This will mean defying Zaizen.
Looking at Robin, something occurred to me.
No, Robin MADE me realize something.
That I have to be strong, too.
But back to rescuing Ms. Karasuma, Amon... What do you have in mind?
In our current situation, we can't even put together an operations plan.
First, we'll put top priority on recon at the Factory.
We have to find out what conditions Karasuma is being held under.
If you're going to be sniffing out what's going on inside there,
...use the STN-J as your base of operations.
But what if the Chief or Hattori are around?
I don't think you need to worry about that.
The Chief's on our side already.
The Chief? That's nuts!
Not as nuts as you think.
I'll help out, too, if you don't mind.
But I'll do things my own way.
I'll check into this Zaizen guy.
Zaizen...?
Oh, I get it! I'll join you!
Me, too!
No. You shouldn't be seen in public just yet, Sakaki.
But I...
Amon's right.
You should go lie low someplace for a while.
Lie low? Where?
We have a client. Could you clear out for a while?
Sorry.
And do something about the mess on this desk.
Huh? Oh, sure.
Of all the... First that lover of his, and now her damn boyfriend!
Mr. Nagira is just too kindhearted.
No, it seems to be a decision solely on the part of the Japan branch,
...rather than an order from Solomon headquarters.
The instant they learned that headquarters wasn't going to act,
...they restored our budget.
But it's most likely too early to see it as a move towards reconciliation.
Which brings me to my point. I'm changing the hunt project.
Use only those who are verified to be compatible if you have to.
I want a new unit put together immediately.
You're increasing the hunts, sir?
We're going to handle all the hunts here, even those that the STN-J used to perform.
So this means that...
Yes.
I understand.
The STN-J, hm?
That got it, Hattori. Move on to the next one.
Yes, sir.
But, Chief, are you sure it's all right to do this without informing the Administrator?
What are you saying, Hattori?
We're trying to rise up in revolt against the Administrator, understand?
You expect us to ask permission first?
Okay, I've cut all links to the Factory.
This should also keep them from monitoring our mobile terminals, too.
I managed to get a copy, but half of it's blanked out.
Talk about bureaucracy!
Still, I'm impressed.
Linking Zaizen to Toudou's disappearance 15 years ago like this...
It's just a wild guess.
So, could you take us out there?
To where?
To the place that will fill in these blanks.
That's the second time today.
He goes out a lot more than I thought.
He's hard at work?
That's right, keep the STN-J under surveillance.
No, surveillance is fine for now.
Timing will be crucial.
I want to keep our squabbles as hidden as possible from headquarters.
Zaizen was the lead investigator on Toudou's disappearance?
Just as we expected.
When we checked with Toudou's mother,
...she said Zaizen even went into his room and looked through his belongings 15 years ago.
His belongings? But didn't Toudou disappear in Europe?
His objective must have been the retrieval of research material Toudou left behind.
Solomon would never leave material lying around...
...that belonged to a man who participated in their core research.
The questions here are why did Toudou disappear, and what did he leave behind?
If we can answer those, we might learn the story behind the creation of Orbo, too.
Not to mention the cause of the trouble between HQ and Zaizen.
Michael, is there anything you can do to look into that?
It won't be easy. We cut our links to the Factory.
Michael, if you go through the police net, you might be able to come up with something.
For one thing, it looks like the Administrator is in constant contact with the police.
Michael, do some digging along that line.
O-Okay.
Our results are irrefutable,
...but there's still no reaction from headquarters at all.
It seems that the Japan branch and the police...
...are both waiting to see what HQ's reaction will be.
So, it all hinges on whether or not we can get headquarters to accept Orbo.
Headquarters ISN'T afraid of me getting ahead of them with this Orbo research?
There may have been some sort of secret in Toudou's research itself.
So, there's no way to break this standoff if don't we find out what that is...
How are things?
Lousy.
I know what you mean. It's like being pasteurized.
I think you mean "put out to pasture."
This is a special delivery from the Master, so you should dig in before it gets cold.
It's from Harry's?
You're a lifesaver!
All I've been eating since I got here is stuff that's like pet food.
Gee, pardon me for feeding you.
Um... I didn't really mean it like that.
Another squad member was damaged today?
I see. I understand.
Why is this happening?
Why does Orbo eat into the human psyche?
One of the imprisoned researchers is being moved to Europe?
Solomon's direct orders?
They want personal custody of that man...
That's...
The Chief was on the ball today...
A Solomon researcher?
That's right.
This guy who's been in solitary confinement as a suspect in some brutal crimes...
...is actually a researcher who used to work at Solomon headquarters.
And this is where it starts to get interesting.
Zaizen's been digging up information on this guy since last night.
Is there any way we can talk to this man?
I asked the Chief to look into it, but it doesn't look like it'll be easy.
I see.
Michael, check along those lines to see what Zaizen is after.
Okay.
It seems that this thick wall by the name of Zaizen has a little hole in it, after all.
Right.
Michael, I just took over from Dojima.
Okay.
Europe?
What is it?
Amon, about that researcher... It looks like he's being transferred to Europe tomorrow.
And it was a direct order from Solomon.
When is he being moved?
It doesn't say... But I don't think it'll be too much longer.
Michael, continue your investigation.
Okay.
Chief, I have some information that I'd like you to look into ASAP.
It's no use.
They won't even admit that he's being transferred to Europe,
...much less tell us when they're moving him.
Perhaps it's being kept under wraps by Solomon HQ.
Why would they do that?
Well, the Administrator and HQ are...
Plus, if the Administrator was looking into it, too, that means...
You know, you're right! We might be able to use that!
Uh, Chief? Where are you going?
Off to play politics, Hattori my boy.
Sir?
So what you're saying is that Zaizen is trying to obstruct the activities of Solomon HQ?
Yes, sir.
Any why, exactly, do you want to know when this man is being moved?
The STN-J, sir.
If we leak that information to them now, they should move to stop Zaizen.
Ah, I see.
If we manage to cause some internal strife with this, it will put Zaizen at a disadvantage.
You aren't normally this devious, Kosaka.
Well, I...
All right, then.
Sir?
It's me. There's something that I want you to find out for me right away.
Dojima! Get some morphine from the car!
Maria...!
Maria?
T-The Devil's child...?
Now I understand...
Toudou, you went and created her, didn't you...?
The Devil's...
The Devil's child, Ro...
Hey!
The Devil's child?
Yes?
My name is Amon. I came by the other day.
There's something else I'd like to ask you, if you don't mind.
I'll speak to you, Mr. Amon, but I'm afraid I'll have to ask your friend to leave.
It's all right. She says she doesn't want to see me, so I'll go.
Yes, what is it?
I believe you may already know what this is about.
I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean.
It's about the photograph in your son's room.
I'd like to know about the woman with your son in the photo.
I don't know who she is.
But she was with your son, so...
That was taken when he was in Europe.
I haven't the slightest idea what sort of people he associated with while he was over there.
I see. I'm sorry for dropping by unannounced.
Oh, right. The reason I asked was that I thought your son was married to her.
To Maria.
He'd never do that.
Not with that witch...
He'd never...
Maria, she's...
You heard that?
She's that woman.
Yes.
Just how far back do I need to go?
Tell me.
It's all so vivid that it hurts.
The truth is, nothing can be shared,
...so I never looked back.
...all those promises...
...inside me eventually...
...gave up on that light from some other time,
...like the light of a morning you can't return to.