Convinced that the cyber terrorist known only as the Laughing Man has resurfaced, Section 9 accelerates their investigations, Major Kusanagi goes into a virtual chat room devoted to the Laughing Man and has an unusual encounter. But the people there, and the views they express, are they simply fantasy, or is there truth?

Problems from the rest of the world intrude as well. A serial killer has turned up who skins his victims alive in the unique pattern of a T-shirt. Section 9 must discover the identity of this killer before he claims his next victim. Togusa, meanwhile, goes undercover at an institution for sufferers of closed cyberbrain syndrome, but he finds more than he expects, including a clue in the Laughing Man case. And then, one of the Tachikomas has decided to go out for a joyride, and befriends a little girl who is looking for her lost dog…

Estimated despatch 5-10 days after ordering.