Kurutan calls the Major to the hospital where a young girl has had her heart involuntarily donated to another doctor. There is also fear that with an artificial heart, she may eventually be forced to become a Full-Conversion Cyborg. This causes the Major some angst as she struggles with her own transformation into a full-body cyborg.
Section Nine investigates a company that produces artificial organs, a refugee camp, and organized crime. They find, instead, it is a bunch of medical students making money by stealing organs from the hospital that they work. Kusanagi terrifies them by pretending to be a Yakuza assassin.
Tropes in this episode include:
- A Bloody Mess: Kusanagi stabs a pipe of red fluid.
- Combat Pragmatist: When Batou challenges Kusanagi to see whether male testosterone is better than female guile, Kusanagi hacks into his cyberbrain and makes Batou punch himself in the face.
- Let Off by the Detective: The medical students had good intentions when stealing organs, but Motoko scared them straight and told them that getting involved with the yakuza and black markets would be throwing away the prosperity they already have.
- Men Are Strong, Women Are Pretty: Batou tells Kusangi she should just get a male full body prosthesis so she'll be stronger and have more authority. Kusangi shows she doesn't need strength when you can hack your opponent's body and make him punch himself.
- Organ Theft: The medical students are stealing organs and selling them on the black market.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: Tomoaki thinks his influential parents will get them off the hook, so Kusanagi decides to throw a shock into them.
- Shout-Out: The Jameson-model cyborg is from the 1930's pulp sci-fi series by Neil R. Jones.