Blessings of Stardust: Virtual Damage

[madimpossibledreamer]

In honor of the fact that I watched the new Ghost in the Shell movie and actually enjoyed it (for having changed the Major's background, it wasn't the angstfest I expected to which I heartily applaud) here, have Blessings of Stardust fic.
It could have used more Batou, Aramaki is as awesome as ever, and they brought in the Tachikoma and I'm kind of sad they did.  (It's no Stand Alone Complex, though.)
(I like that there was another girl on the team but who the hell was she supposed to be??  And the rest of the cast/setting felt less Japanese.  I still feel that people are getting hung up on shells and missing the ghost thing, and if the original creator and original anime director didn't have a problem with the casting of the Major...I did want to see more of Section 9 backing up the Major, because this ain't the West and it's a group effort, not Lone Hero Complex.)
~Dreamer~

Main Points:
Persona 4 Ghost in the Shell inspired au
Summary: After Jacking In.
Word Count: 505
Rating: Gen

           “Hanamura.”  He’s left part of himself running in reality, just because he’s terrified that if he jacks in with his Magician powers he’ll get trapped forever, and judging by the almost-comatose victim it’s not a place he’d want to be.  So he hears the voice behind him.  It’s the Captain.  Still, it’s hard to pull himself out of it.
           “I’m almost sure the perp edited her perceptions, at least slightly.  I’ll fixed what I can but he did some real damage.  We should check to see if she had any brain scans, so I can do a better job,” he finds himself answering, still shivering, and in response a trenchcoat is gently set around his shoulders.
           “How would that help?”  The voice is softer, now.  Like how they talk to victims, but he’s got residual trauma, now.
           “Well, I created a copy of what she looks like now.  Which, yes, will fly in court, assuming you can get a hack bank to sign off on it.  I can see some places where it’s obvious what damage was done, so I can fix those, but he basically went in and took a weed whacker to the inside of her head.  There’s so much damage it’s hard to see what was there before.  It’s hard to tell what was normal.  If she’s had any brain scans, that’ll give me more to work with.”  It’s only after the fact that he notices the boyfriend is still here and listening in on every word.  Dammit, Hanamura, I know you’re out of it but you gotta stop doing this.
           He doesn’t realize he’s broadcasting until Narukami offers him a reassuring smile, at which point he just sighs.  Come on, pull it together. 
           “She did,” the man says abruptly.
           “What?” Yosuke asks, caught off guard.
           “Have a brain scan.”  He takes a deep breath.  “She was gonna get implants, but her sister caught the Shadow virus.  Which is when she swore off ‘em forever.” 
           Eyes wide, Yosuke nods.  “That’s a good reason,” he croaks, and is confused when his throat is dry.  Yuu pulls out a water bottle and offers it.  You realize I’m gonna chug this whole thing down, right?  That earns the slightest hint of a grin around the eyes—he’s still getting used to Narukami’s quiet expressions—and drinks the whole thing down fast enough he thinks he might make himself sick.  He doesn’t, though, which is the main thing, and then tells the man, “Okay, that’s good, because that’ll make it a lot easier to put her back together, okay?  Before you know it she’ll be back.”
           “They won’t want her as a witness?” the man asks, and he has to remind himself—oh yeah, Unplugged. 
           “The state she’s in, you think she could be a witness for anyone?” Yosuke asks mildly, then adds, “Besides, we’ve had echoes—that’s copies of people—as witnesses for years, just for cases like this.  It’ll be fine.”
           If the man can derive any reassurance from that, he’s done his job.