In the Kuzan Republic, the Minister of Defense, who is expected to take part in a meeting of the Next-generation Weapon Coordination Council, has ordered an advance onsite inspection. Public Security Section 9, headed by Major Motoko Kusanagi, must secure the area and clear it from a rumored terrorist threat.

Smart Brain, once Japan's largest company, lost its power due to repeated internal conflicts and was placed under government control with the goal of exterminating Orphnochs. Mari Sonoda, who is living with Orphnochs at the Western Laundry Store Kikuchi, when Takumi Inui, who had disappeared several years earlier, reappeared.