Ghost in the Shell - Scene 7: Hope in Deep Waters

• June 1, 2008
• James Skemp
• dvd / movie, philosophy

[7 Hope in Deep Waters]

(Kusanagi is diving, until the pack on her back starts lifting her up towards the surface. It is very similar to the opening credits.)

A cyborg who goes diving in her spare time. That can't be a good sign. When did you start doing this? Doesn't the ocean scare you? If the floaters stopped working.

Then I'd probably die. Or would you dive in after me? No one forced you to come out here with me.

I just--

(It's night. Batou and Kusanagi are still on the boat.)

So, what's it feel like when you go diving?

Didn't you go through underwater training?

I'm not talking about doing it in a damned pool.

I feel fear. Anxiety. Loneliness. Darkness. And perhaps, even...hope.

Hope? In the darkness of the sea?

As I float up towards the surface I almost feel as though I could change into something else.

As though you want to quit Section 9?

Batou, how much of your original body do you have left?

Are you drunk?

Convenient, isn't it? With the merest thought, the chemical plants inside our bodies could metabolize all the alcohol in our blood in about ten seconds allowing us to sit here drinking while on stand-by. If a technological feat is possible, man will do it. Almost as though it's wired into the core of our being. Metabolic control. Enhanced sensory perception. Improved reflexes and muscle capacity. Vastly increased data processing speed and capacity. All improvements thanks to our cyber-brains and cyborg bodies. So what if we can't live without high-level maintenance? We have nothing to complain about.

It doesn't mean we've sold our souls to Section 9.

We do have the right to resign if we choose. Provided we give the government back our cyborg shells and the memories they hold. Just as there are many parts needed to make a human a human there's a remarkable number of things needed to make an individual what they are. A face to distinguish yourself from others. A voice you aren't aware of yourself. The hand you see when you awaken. The memories of childhood, the feelings for the future. That's not all. There's the expanse of the data net my cyber-brain can access. All of that goes into making me what I am. Giving rise to a consciousness that I call "me." And simultaneously confining "me" within set limits.

Is that why you dive into the sea with a body that only sinks?! What is it you see in the water's darkness?

"For now we see through a glass, darkly."

(Kusanagi looks shocked. Both Batou and Kusanagi look at each other.)

(Batou:) That was you, wasn't it?

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Ghost in the Shell - Script

• ghost in the shell